County shores up Pinebrook project
At the July 5 Regular Meeting of Grimes County Commissioners Court, commissioners moved to ensure road safety by approving Change Order No. 2 for $22,260 and Change Order No. 3 for $13,380 for the Pinebrook Extension Project in Pct. 2. In late 2022, Grimes County purchased 14,375 square feet of land at the end of Pinebrook Road for the purpose to extending it to SH 249.
On March 15, commissioners awarded the Pinebrook Extension Project contract to Norman Construction Services. According to Road & Bridge Engineer Harry Walker, the contractor has “been battling poor soil conditions.”
Walker said, “As a result of that, we’ve over excavated the material on-site to remove a lot of heavy organic material. We took 18-inches of material off. We got down to what we thought was a good clay layer we could work with. After getting it exposed and letting it dry out, it’s not suitable to put pavement on without stabilization.
The first Change Order in the package is to provide an 8% of cement to that subgrade.” Walker continued, “The material there is a silty clay, it’s really bad material to work with,” and added that Norman Construction will not warrant the project without the stabilization.
Change Order No. 3 substitutes a concrete pavement. According to Walker, project costs will still be within the States’ allowable parameters for contract increases.
Pct. 2 Commissioner David Tullos, who pushed for the extension before being elected, pointed out that TxDOT discovered a wetland adjacent to that area during the construction of SH 249.
He said, “For an additional $13,000, we’re going to have a far superior road that our Road and Bridge Department is not going to have to worry about maintaining in the future.”
Meetings may be viewed in their entirety at https://grimescountytx. granicus.com.
Other court action:
•Approved Consent Agenda Items which included a waterline installation permit for Wickson Creek SUD on CR 172 in Pct. 1, the Treasurer’s List of Claims and Bills, payroll, budget amendments and/or line-item transfers.
•Received a report from Building Maintenance Manager Rodney Floyd on county projects and repairs.
•Approved Floyd’s request to place three IT Department surplus items up for auction.
•On a vote of 4-1 with Commissioner Phillip Cox voting nay, approved reimbursing the maintenance and ITdepartments, district judge and the district attorney’s office $536,909.92 for costs incurred from flooding caused by a broken pipe Christmas Day 2022. Reimbursement will be made from the claim payment received from TAC (Texas Association of Counties) for labor and overtime, travel, equipment rental, office supplies, computer hardware, copiers and damage to and repair of furniture.
•Agreed to schedule workshops to discuss/revise the Grimes County Order of Abatement of Public Nuisances, Junk Vehicles and Litter and the Grimes County Order for On-Site Sewage Facilities.
•Received the Road & Bridge Report from Engineer Harry Walker.
•Tabled discussion/action to approve changes to Grimes County Subdivision Rules and Regulations related to road and drainage design standards.
•Approved an Interlocal Agreement with the Town of Anderson granting Grimes County jurisdiction to oversee and regulate subdivision plats and approve related permits in the city’s ETJ and authorized the county judge as signatory as well as an Interlocal Agreement for the maintenance of roads, law enforcement and 9-1-1 services.
•Approved revising the Grimes County Out of County Travel Voucher meal reimbursement rates effective Oct. 1 as follows: Breakfast from $11 to $15; Lunch from $12 to $16 and Dinner from $23 to $30.
•Received a presentation from Allen Boon Humphries Robinson LLC. about Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs).
•Took no action on a request to allow food vendors use of the Justice and Business Center parking lot.
•Approved honoring the previously agreed upon fairgrounds rental fee of $4,500 for the Brazos Valley Kennel Club for their March 2024 dog show.
•No action taken related to ARPA expenditures or the Strategic Plan.
•Took no action regarding sale of the Anderson Annex and a portion of the Navasota Annex property upon reconvening from Executive Session pursuant to Texas Government Code 551.072 Burn Ban: The burn ban remains lifted.
Public comments: Dawn Marie Baletka represented the Brazos Valley Kennel Club and spoke about the agenda item related to fairgrounds rental fees and nonprofits and how the dog show benefits Grimes County. Erin Wilhite and father-in-law George Wilhite, speaking about the Order of Abatement agenda item, advised of an illegal dump on FM 1227.