WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS APPROVE PURCHASE OF HANDGUNS FOR NON-UNIFORMED OFFICERS

  

Washington County Commissioners today (Tuesday) agreed to use sheriff’s office donation funds to purchase new handguns for non-uniformed officers.

Fifteen SIG Sauer P365 9mm handguns with optic sights will be purchased at a total of $11,722.  

Chief Deputy Jay Petrash said the new pistols are for the sheriff’s office’s plain-clothed officers and are lighter than what those in uniform would carry.  As with the new pistols that were approved for uniformed officers during the court’s meeting on August 8^th, Petrash said the greater availability of 9mm ammunition is a main reason the sheriff’s office is switching from .357 caliber.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath thanked Petrash and the sheriff’s office again for opting to use donation funds, rather than taxpayer dollars, to purchase the handguns.

Commissioners also voted to enforce no parking signs placed on the county property located on Blue Bell Road between the constable’s office and the Stripes convenience store.  No parking signs were added earlier this year to address issues with semi-trucks parking at the location, which is the same place that a drop box site will be set up by Texas Parks & Wildlife this fall to test wildlife samples for chronic wasting disease. 

Hanath said the 18-wheelers parking on county property is “a huge liability.”  He said this is not a matter of the county government “going after” the people who found a need to park there, but rather a matter of protecting the public from that liability.  County Judge John Durrenberger added that this will keep taxpayers from having to pay to repair the damages caused by the semi-trucks continually parking in the lot.

The court later opened a meeting for the Pecan Glen Road District to formally propose a property tax rate for the residents in the road district.  The proposed rate is $0.33407 per $100 valuation, which is considered to be the voter approval rate but is less than the no-new-revenue rate of $0.345564 per $100.  Last year’s rate was $0.373879 per $100.  The tax rate, which supports road improvements within the Pecan Glen subdivision, only applies to residents who live within the road district’s boundaries.

Also at today’s meeting, commissioners: 

• Approved the purchase of two 2024 Freightliner dump trucks from Houston Freightliner for the Engineering and Development Services Department through a state cooperative purchasing program.  The purchase total is for $250,436.
• Authorized the county judge to engage a real estate appraiser to appraise real property being considered as a site for a storage facility for county records. 
• Approved an order for a special election, the Texas constitutional amendment election, to be held on November 7^th.  There are 14 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution that will be considered by voters.  Elections Administrator Carol Jackson said the state legislature is requiring new hours for the last two days of early voting: those two days, November 2^nd and 3^rd, must be open for early voting for 12 hours.  All other weekdays will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Approved subdivision variance requests for land divisions fronting Dillard Road in Precinct 1 and Affleck Road in Precinct 3.
• Approved a pipeline bore permit application across the Koether Road right-of-way in Precinct 4 for a dual natural gas pipeline by Magnolia Oil & Gas Operating, LLC.
• Discussed formal notices for a water service installation by Corix Utilities in the Washington Bridge Road right-of-way in Precinct 1 and for fiber installation by AT&T in the North Berlin Road right-of-way in Precinct 3.