WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS TALK REPAIRS FOR HOHENWALDE SCHOOL ROAD, OLD MILL CREEK ROAD

  

Washington County Commissioners addressed a pair of prominent county roads at their Zoom meeting this (Tuesday) morning.

Residents presented questions to commissioners regarding the state of repairs on Hohenwalde School Road and Old Mill Creek Road, asking if the 2020 seal coat bid item on the agenda would address those roads.  County Engineer Ross McCall said work on the two roads will be done through the 2020 Texas County Transportation Infrastructure Fund Grant Program, administered by TxDOT, and cannot be done until the county is approved for the grant.

McCall said the seal coat bid, which was given to H&C Construction out of three bidders, is for routine maintenance on roads, which would not work for Hohenwalde School Road and Old Mill Creek Road as the damage on those roads is much more severe and mainly due to oil traffic.  He said the damage on those roads calls for much more extensive—and expensive—repairs, which is why the county is pursuing a grant.  He said he does not want to do patchwork repairs on these roads, instead wanting to “do it once and do it right”.

According to TxDOT’s website, applications for grants will be accepted April 27^th through May 27^th, with an estimated $250 million in grant funds available.  Information was not available on when the grants are expected to be awarded.

Also at today’s meeting, commissioners approved changes to the county’s compensation and direct deposit policies for county employees.  The compensation policy was amended so that the 3 percent pay raise new employees normally get to their starting wages upon completing 90 days is immediately put into their salaries, removing the 90 day requirement.  Commissioner Joy Fuchs said the change is effective today, so employees hired before this change in the middle of the 90 day period will still get their 3 percent increase.

The county’s direct deposit policy was also changed from an elective to a mandatory policy, meaning all county employees will now need to receive their compensation via direct deposit, not paper paycheck.  Employees will need to be transferred over to direct deposit by May 1^st.

Commissioners also:

• Approved an amendment to an interlocal agreement by the Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG) for the Brazos Valley Wide Area Communications Systems (BVWACS) to add Madison County into the system. Commissioner Kirk Hanath said when more counties get involved in BVWACS, Washington County’s costs will go down.
• Approved an invoice for Hughes Tank Company, Inc. In January, the county approved the purchase of a 12,000 gallon fuel tank from the company for the new Road and Bridge facility.  The purchase totaled $41,701.