County approves high-tech fuel system
With an eye on savings and security, Grimes County commissioners approved the purchase of the FCS fuel system and 40 vehicle kits for the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office at a cost of $33,504. The request was made by IT Director Gregg Cannon at the March 1 Commissioners Court meeting.
Cannon advised that the 13-year old Phoenix Fuel System is obsolete and the County is unable to get hardware support or software updates.
Cannon said, “If it goes down, we’re down, There is no backup plan for it.”
According to Cannon, of the bids received, FCS is the most expensive system but the best for the auditors, sheriff’s office and IT.
Cannon said, “The system now is not very good at reporting who is using what fuel. The reports are hard to create and understand. This system provides a lot more in-depth information of how fuel is used and it has the ability to prevent unauthorized use of the fuel system.”
PC Tech III Andrew Duncan described the vehicle kits saying, “The individual kits attach to the car and run back to the car’s computer. There’s a reader on the car and a reader on the gas pump.”
According to Duncan, when the car is fueled, accurate mileage, oil life, maintenance issues and other data is reported in-house.
Duncan said, “It’s more of a cost up front for preventive maintenance. Hopefully, we don’t have cars breaking down for reasons we don’t understand because now we’ll have that information to look at. We need to get ahead of this before it turns into a bigger expense later.”
VFD districts sparks discussion
After lengthy discussion and presentations from Plantersville-Stoneham VFD Fire Chief Jessica Bomar and Todd Mission VFD Fire Chief Cassandra Malone, commissioners tabled action on approving new fire district boundaries for the Anderson, Richards, Plantersville, Whitehall and Todd Mission VFDs. According to 911/Environmental Coordinator Kat Lee, the changes were prompted by response times and Anderson, Richards and Whitehall VFDs had signed off on the changes.
The bulk of discussion was related to the request by both PSVFD and TMVFD to provide service to the portion of the Plantersville city limits below SH 249. Both entities also requested to provide service along SH 249. County Judge Joe Fauth was in receipt of a Resolution passed by the City of Plantersville in support of PSVFD servicing the entire Plantersville city limits, including the area below SH 249.
Commissioner Phillip Cox thought the Navasota Fire Department should have been included in the discussions and Emergency Management Coordinator David Lilly acknowledged that the proposed district changes had not been reported to the County’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee because those plans haven’t been finalized yet.
Meetings may be viewed in their entirety at https://grimescountytx.granicus.com.
Other court action:
•Approved Consent Agenda items which included the Treasurer’s list of claims and bills, payroll, the Treasurer’s monthly report for January and budget amendments and/or line-item transfers.
•Received the GCSO 2022 Racial Profiling Report from Chief Deputy Martha Smith who reported no complaints.
•Received a report from Building Maintenance Manager Rodney Floyd about the December flood repair and his recommendation to house the county clerk’s department in commissioners court March 16 - April 4 while repairs are made.
•Approved Elections Administrator Rachel Walker’s request to terminate Vista Solutions contract May 4.
•Received Road & Bridge Report from Subdivision Coordinator Todd Greene.
•Tabled action requesting appointment of a County Liaison Officer for Grimes County from the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM).
•Tabled action regarding an Amended Lease Agreement with CHI St. Joseph Health Grimes Hospital for which negotiations began April 2022.
•Approved proposed ARPA expenditures.
Public comments: A citizen requested that Commissioners Court consider recording workshops in the interest of transparency.
Burn Ban: The burn ban remains lifted.