COMMISSIONERS TO CONSIDER FIREARMS PURCHASE FOR SHERIFF’S OFFICE
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office will seek the authority to trade in current firearms, and to purchase new firearms for the department when they meet with the Washington County Commissioners next Tuesday, April 21st, and 9:00 am, at the Washington County Courthouse.
The Sheriff’s department is reporting that the current weapons are 10 years old. According to Sheriff Otto Hanak, the company, Sig Sauer, has been chosen as the company to purchase the new weapons, and will accept the department’s trade-in’s, which will lower the purchase price of the firearms. All 35 of the proposed new weapons will cost less than $5,000, due the high trade-in value of the current weapons.
The commissioners will also award a bid for the 2015 Seal Coating Contract. Last month, the commissioners granted the authorization to the Road and Bridge Department to re-advertise for sealed bids after not receiving enough bids during a previous attempt. The bidding is due April 20th at 2pm.
The Emergency Services office will seek permission to purchase a 2016 Ford Explorer for the Advanced Community Paramedic in the Burton area, to be paid for by the EMS Donation Fund, not with taxpayer money.
An Affordable Care Act policy will be established by the commissioners to determine who is offered benefits through the county. Currently, an employee has to work thirty hours to be offered benefits. The new policy being discussed will involve a part-time or flex time employee work hours to be looked at yearly, and if these employees work an average of 30 hours throughout the year, they will be offered benefits in order to comply with the AFA.
The commissioners will also discuss accepting an offer for Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefits Pool to provide Washington County with the Affordable Care Act Reporting and Tracing Service. The company will help keep track of employee participation and hours and will create a report, which will be free of charge for the first year. After that, the commissioners will decide whether to continue with the company, or produce their own report.