WASHINGTON CO. COULD UPDATE OFFICIAL SEAL

  

Washington County may be changing its official seal.

A workshop held by county commissioners today (Tuesday) focused on the possibility of updating the design of the seal used by county officials for government documents, communication and general branding.

Commissioner Candice Bullock called the county’s existing seal “plain” and said a redesign would help to provide uniformity among various county offices and departments. 

The county is being assisted in the seal recreation by Charlie Kelm.  Bullock said the redesign would act as a first step in potentially revamping the county’s website, as well. 

County Judge John Durrenberger was in favor of developing a new seal, saying it would be “a good restarting point.”

After discussion, commissioners agreed to look further into the project, getting input on prospective designs from individual court members and potentially the community. 

The workshop also covered the topic of health insurance renewal rates for county employees.  Human Resources Director Angela Mlcak said the county has had a 5.1 percent increase in health insurance rates, but has not adjusted the employee contribution rate since 2010.  A decision is needed by June 28^th for if the county will continue to contribute 98 percent of employee-only health coverage or change the contribution level.  The overall cost to the county for health insurance is $2.6 million, and it would need to absorb approximately $145,900 should it decide to maintain the same level.

Also at today’s meeting, the court:

• Agreed to issue requests for qualifications for the Washington County Courthouse landscape project, possibly through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  The county is working with GrantWorks for the project.  Bullock said the county will wait to see a fixed cost estimate before choosing to fund the project via ARPA or another funding source.
• Approved a contract with GovOS, the county’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) collections platform. 
• Approved renewal of interlocal agreements between the county and the Brazos Valley Council of Governments for E-911 public safety answering point services and database maintenance services.
• Authorized the county engineer’s office to advertise for bids for an alternate bulk – Jet A aviation fuel supplier.  The county will go through the bidding process again after the bids that were previously submitted came in after the deadline.