County selects new annex floorplan

Grimes County commissioners approved the floor plan for a new business annex behind the Grimes County Justice and Business Center and authorized MBC Management to move forward with the design phase. The motion to approve the 16,345 square foot Option 2 floor plan at Hie June 21 Regular Meeting passed 4-1 with Commissioner David Tullos abstaining.

The new facility will consolidate the majority of county services at 270 FM 149 West in Anderson and relieve the County of its $3,000 monthly rental obligation for the Adult Probation office in Navasota.

Joining Adult Probation in the new space will be Road & Bridge, 9-1-1/Environmental Permits, Emergency Management Services, Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace office complete with a courtroom and the Texas Dept. of Public Safety. A goal of County Judge Joe Fauth is to restore driver’s license renewal capability in Grimes County and provide a driver testing site.

The main difference between Floor plan Option 1 at 15,111 square feet and Option 2 is the addition of an office for District Judge Gary Chaney to conduct bench trials and hearings. New legislation allows Waller County to hire an additional district judge which will increase Chaney’s availability in Grimes County and speeds up the docket.

New truancy laws will potentially increase court time for the JPs. Pct. 2 JP presently utilizes the JP 3 courtroom in Navasota for his cases. The new building includes a JP 2 courtroom.

Fauth’s recipe for funding the estimated $4,494,875 construction cost includes $2.8 million in ARPA (America Rescue Plan Act) funds earmarked by the court for the facility plus revenue from the sale of Anderson annex, 8-acres at the Navasota annex plus the reallocation of ARPA funds from other projects that are not panning out – which brings estimated revenue to $5.3 million.

Auditor Jessi Murphy expressed reservations about “spending money we haven’t really received.” Tullos was also concerned about depending on property sale revenues as well as unforeseen needs as they enter the budget cycle.

In a separate motion, commissioners approved the reallocation of projects earmarked for ARPA funding to the construction of the Business Annex. Those include $50,646 in uncommitted ARPA funds; fairgrounds water line, $15,000; fairgrounds septic redesign, $25,000; Stoneham helipad, $47,870 andAnderson water well, $23,511.

Emp med up 7%

Commissioners approved renewal of the county employee medical, dental, life and vision plans. Health plan rates increased 7.7% while dental decreased 3%. According to Human Resources Director Talitta Coleman, the County can expect to pay an additional $70 per employee for the county- funded employee portion of medical benefits. Auditor Jessi Murphy projected an increase of $168,000 for all benefits in the 2023-24 budget.

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, budget amendments and/or line-item transfers.

•Approved plan documents for Corebridge Financial (Valic) for Grimes County’s 403(b) and 457(b) retirement plans effective Oct. 1, removing the 401(k) provision, allowing employees to take distributions at age 59 ½ as opposed to 70 ½ and authorized the county judge as signatory.

•No action was taken pending further review related to a request to remove the 207(k) exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act which determines how overtime is computed for certain members of law enforcement.

•IT Director Gregg Cannon provided an overview of the County’s new website and discussed changes made for security, ADAcolor compliance for the visually impaired and its mobile-friendly enhancements. He also discussed current and future IT projects.

•Approved Cannon’s newly created IT Website Maintenance Policy and added commissioners to the distribution list.

•Directed Cannon to rewrite the proposed Security and Surveillance Camera and Use Policy.

•Approved an upgrade to EL5 Onsite Edition Version 5 in the Watchguard Patrol Officer Camera System at a cost of $10,300 annually.

•Approved Auditor Jessi Murphy’s request to become a member of the TIPS Purchasing Cooperative.

•Approved a Local Participation Agreement with TxDOT and authorized auditor to amend the budget by $42,251.60 for Grimes County’s share of acquisition and construction costs for a detention pond on SH 30 beginning at CR 171 to 0.1 miles east of FM 244 and authorized the county judge as signatory.

•Approved awarding engineering services for GLO Hurricane Harvey grant to Huitt-Zollars, Inc.

•Approved acceptance of a Right of Way Deed of Dedication for 335-feet of ROW on CR 424 from James and Dorothy Hassell and authorized the county judge as signatory.

•Approved the replat of Lot 6, Block 10, Section 1 in Mill Creek Estates in Pct. 2 into Lots 6A and 6B.

•Approved a request from Jewell Lawson for a variance from the Grimes County Subdivision Rules to subdivide 10.01 acres into three tracts as follows: 1.1 acres for a family cemetery, 3.09 acres with a 40-foot-wide easement conveyed to daughter Laurie Schultz with the remaining 5.89 acres retained by Mrs. Lawson.

•Reconvening from Executive Session as permitted by Section 551.072, Texas Govt. Code, commissioners approved a request regarding density of roads in the KRAT Subdivision on CR 127 in Pct. 1 pending full conversion of 100% of the construction bond to a maintenance bond which will remain in effect until the subdivision reaches the 50% build-out requirement.

•Approved a renewal of the Contract for Services for flood control and drainage with the Bedias Creek Soil & Water Conservation District #428 and authorized the county judge as signatory.

Burn Ban: The burn ban remains lifted.