A slew of bids for upcoming projects were opened and discussed at the Sept. 27 Erath County Commissioners Court meeting.
The court unveiled a single sealed bid for technology upgrades to the justice center at a cost of about $104,000 from Justice AV Solutions, Inc.
The project would include upgrades to the District Court, the County Court at Law and the JP Court regarding audio visual equipment.
The project was initiated by the district judge and included in the county budget.
“This is considerably less than what we budgeted,” County Judge Brandon Huckabee said. “This company did come and do a walk through and did their due diligence.”
Upgrades to the courts have not been done since 2008 and Huckabee said these improvements should meet their needs for the foreseeable future.
Commissioner Jim Buck asked if Judge Cashon and the other judges needed to review the bid just to make sure it was what was needed before the commissioners approved it.
The commissioners tabled the bid to allow the judges to review it.
Two bids were received on landscaping for the new county annex building. One bid ($19,874.40) was received from Turf and Water and another bid ($24,339.50) was received from Lovell Lawn & Landscape, Inc.. The bids were under the amount required to go out for sealed bids.
Commissioners compared the two different landscapes being offered since Turf and Water’s bid contained more Texas Native plants and Lovell Lawn & Landscape’s bid included crepe myrtles and different tree varieties.
“There will be more maintenance with the Lovell Lawn & Landscape bid,” Huckabee said.
The commissioners accepted the lower bid for Turf and Water.
Commissioners opened sealed bids for indoor and outdoor remodeling for the Donald R. Jones Justice Center.
One bid from 360 TLC, LLC for $137,980 and the second bid was from Iron Horse Mechanical and Plumbing Services, LLC and C & C Construction for a combined bid of $241,094.23.
The job includes the remodeling of four bathrooms, tile floor and wall, painting the exterior of the justice center and replacing outside tiles.
The funds for the project were included in the budget and the court agreed to table the bid to allow facilities to check out the two different bids.
The court also approved the lowering of the speed limit on County Road 401 to 30 mph.
A public hearing was held on the item and a citizen who lives on the road spoke in favor of the speed limit being lowered.
A petition had been started to get the speed limit lowered. All county roads in the state of Texas have a speed limit of 60 unless otherwise designated which makes driving on a dirt road incredibly unsafe, the citizen said.
No one spoke against the speed limit being lowered.
The court discussed what it would take to potentially lower all county roads down to 45 mph but it’s cost prohibitive at this time, Huckabee said, since signage must be posted at the beginning and end of each and every road that is changed.
“It would probably take us $1,000 in signs per county road,” Commissioner Joe Brown said.
“Just because there is a sign there doesn’t mean they are going to drive it,” Buck said.
Signage will be ordered for County Road 401 and will be placed for 30 days before the new speed limit takes effect.
Huckabee said in the future he hoped state representatives would address lowering county road speed limits throughout the state.
Several job descriptions were approved at the meeting including a human resources clerk, an administration clerk and a chief of staff.
All three positions were budgeted for in the recently approved budget.
The burn ban is remaining off for the time being especially since there is more rain expected this week.
Both Commissioners Albert Ray and Dee Stephens offered their thanks for employees helping out overnight when severe weather struck the area.
Commissioner Buck offered his thanks for everyone who helped out with the recent rodeo in its new location.
“The rodeo went through without a hitch. It was pretty well standing room only,” he said.
In other business the court:
■ approved $5,000 to partner with the city of Stephenville for Christmas lights in downtown
■ approved the consent agenda
■ approved 13 paid county holidays
■ approved setting dates for 2024 Commissioner Court meetings (9 a.m. on the second and fourth Mondays unless it is a holiday and then the meeting is moved to Tuesday).
■ approved donating surplus hot water tanks to Lingleville FFA to be used in projects
■ approved cleaning out a drainage ditch on CR 185 to aid with water flow over the roadway
■ approved putting a tinhorn on CR 433 to aid water flow
■ renewed the SAVNS grant contract
■ approved a contract with Kirbo copiers for the Erath County jail
■ approved several line item transfers