WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS DISCUSS ONGOING PROJECTS IN WORKSHOP
Washington County Commissioners gave updates on several county projects and initiatives during a workshop on Tuesday.
The informational meeting covered the county’s lease agreement with the City of Brenham for the 911 communications facility at 301 North Baylor Street, Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds, the courthouse landscaping project, the jail kitchen remodeling, plans for the Lake Somerville EMS station, and the county’s financial committee.
Opening with discussion on the communications facility, County Judge John Durrenberger said the county is negotiating with the city regarding an increase in the lease payment per month to the city. Durrenberger said the county understands and agrees that it needs to increase its monthly payment from the current amount of $1,000, but there are differences being worked out between the two parties regarding how much and how quickly that amount will increase. The lease is part of the interlocal agreement between the city and county for dispatch services. Durrenberger said it is important that the partnership between the two is respected.
Switching to HOT funds, Commissioner Kirk Hanath talked about the work done by the HOT funding committee in recommending to the county how funds are divided up among local tourism entities. He also mentioned that the committee is holding a meeting today (Wednesday) at 1:30 p.m. in the Engineering and Development Services building conference room to discuss suggested changes to that process.
Moving to the exterior courthouse landscape project, Hanath recapped last week’s action to end negotiations with Studio 16:19 and begin talks with Terralab Landscape Architects. He said there is a potential opportunity to pursue funding through the Texas Historical Commission. He said he informed Terralab that this would need to be researched and discussed before proceeding further with negotiations. He also pointed out that there is a possibility to increase the number of parking spaces around the courthouse, but it would create a big change in scope for the project.
Not much discussion was had on the jail kitchen remodel, since the court acted in regular session earlier that morning on an item concerning the project. Commissioners voted to stop negotiations with CGL Companies and move forward instead with talks with DRG Architects for engineering services.
After that, the court transitioned to the EMS station project at Lake Somerville. Hanath said soil sampling is completed, and the county recently met with Keese Architects to discuss and make some changes to design drawings regarding the layout of the facility. Durrenberger said the configuration of the building layout has shifted in order to save as many trees on the property as possible. He said according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for every tree that is removed, 10 more need to be planted. Hanath said the county has also met with Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative at the site to gather information on the options for the electrical buildout.
The workshop ended with a brief update on the finance committee, which meets monthly to discuss the county’s investments. Hanath said it is important for the county to continue evaluating its position in terms of those investments and being vigilant with constituents’ money.