Fauth call Grimes County “prime place to live”

Grimes County Judge Joe Fauth opened his State of the County presentation Thursday, Jan. 9, with a few highlights of historical significance touching on the past, the present and the future.

In June, the Grimes County Courthouse in Anderson celebrated its 125th birthday with cake, lemonade and Blue Bell Ice Cream. In addition, citizens and elected officials contributed to a time capsule to be opened in 2044.

The courthouse is currently undergoing a facelift and repairs, courtesy of a Hurricane Harvey insurance settlement and additional grant funding from the Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas Historical Commission.

According to Fauth, the Grimes County Historical Commission (GCHC) regrouped in 2019.

He said, “I’m very excited to say a lot of our commissioners are going to Austin this month to receive the ‘Stewardship of the Year’ award for our value and preservation of our historical courthouse. We’ve got a lot of energy in that commission. It’s a very exciting event and we’re happy to receive that award.”

Looking ahead to 2021 or 2022, “a lot of artifacts and a tremendous amount of history” may find a permanent home with the creation of the Grimes County Historical Museum to be located in the current county clerk’s office.

However, the highlight of 2019 was the Dec. 31 groundbreaking for the Grimes County Justice and Business Center which Fauth touched on later.

Road and Bridge highlights

Fauth said that the county department “critiqued the most” is Road and Bridge and reminded the audience that of Grimes County’s 600 miles of roads, only 200 miles are paved.

Efforts in 2019 to improve road and drainage issues included the purchase of additional ditching equipment and hiring a crew. Last year there were 33.1 miles of ditch cleared, 107,126 tons of rock spread and five bridges replaced along with chip sealing and repair of more than 10 miles of county road.

Fauth advised that $1,846,331 in grant dollars are on the way, a new maintenance barn is being constructed off FM 2445 and 10 equipment operators received Public Certifications from the UT-Arlington Public Works Institute.

He said, “This helps our employees work smarter, safer and they’re more effective at the job they do.”

Asking for a round of applause, Fauth announced that for the first time in five years, “We did not have to go to the Governor and ask for an emergency declaration!”

Fauth touched on safety improvement negotiations currently in progress with Tx-DOT such as four overpasses, SH 105 flyover entrance and exit, three overpasses with on/ off ramps and 10-foot shoulders versus 8-foot.

Notable accomplishments

Fauth praised Sheriff Don Sowell’s office for passing its 21st consecutive State Jail Standards Inspection. He said, “For you and me, and for our inmates, it’s important that we provide a safe and secure facility housing our inmates.”

He cited other pluses such as the improved 9-1-1 Call Center equipment and the donation of a 5-ton transport vehicle for high water rescues.

Tax Assessor-Collector Mary Ann Waters and her staff were one of 14 county offices to receive a “silver” recognition from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles “Performance Quality Recognition Program.” Boat and motor vehicle registration as of 2019, can now be registered at her office in Grimes County.

A 5 Star Award for Excellence in Vital Statistics Registration was recently received by County Clerk Vanessa Burzynski and her staff. A public search website has been added – www.grimes.tx.publicsearch.us.

Now available at the county clerk’s office are deed records back to 1854, marriage records back to 1934, and basic birth records nationwide can be obtained at the county clerk’s office – not just at the county of birth or in Austin.

Fauth said he is sharing Justice of the Peace Magistrate duties with the JPs in precincts 1, 2 and 3/4. He was also inducted as a Fellow by the Texas Association of Counties Judicial Academy and was one of 12 chosen by the V.G. Young Institute to attend “Commissioners Court Leadership Academy.”

In addition, Fauth was elected to serve as Secretary for 2020 for the Brazos Council of Governments.

He said, “That allows me to get closer to our neighbor counties to know what’s going on. Maybe there are opportunities to share expenses, projects and help build up our entire community.”

Organization recognition

Fauth touched on two organizations receiving assistance from the county – Grimes County Crime Stoppers and SARC, the Sexual Assault Resource Center.

Fauth pointed out that in the first six months of 2019, anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers increased by 120% over 2018. A weekly fugitive ad is another way the organization reaches out to the community.

Crime Stoppers is also in Grimes County schools, Fauth added.

Citing the P3 Campus anonymous tip program which stands for Public, Police and Private Sector, he said, “It’s all about working together to solve those crimes that happen, but more importantly, to prevent future crimes from happening.”

He continued, “All of us working together makes our community, our county, a safer place and our schools are safer for our students. Teachers can focus on training the kids, teaching the kids and the kids can focus on learning versus bullying and things of that sort.”

Fauth advised that Grimes County has found an alternative to funding to assist SARC by providing unused office space. The office used by the Veteran’s Service Officer Monday-Thursday morning is now staffed by SARC Monday-Thursday afternoon and Friday.

Fauth said, “We now have helped this organization by giving them a facility. If somebody needs that resource, it’s available here in our county.”

Change and transparency

Fauth reminded the audience that commissioner court meetings are now available on video and that the new, simpler county email address adopted earlier this year is first.last@grimescountytexas.gov.

The big news…

Against a backdrop of the architect’s renderings of the new Grimes County Justice and Business Center, Fauth said, “This is a big deal for our county. We’ve been talking about it in excess of 12 years. We finally have the money in the bank, no new taxes, no bond elections. We had a project bid of $10,455,000. We have $12 million in reserve and we’re moving forward.”

According to Fauth, construction will begin in two weeks and projected to be complete in 14 months, about February or March 2021.

The new facility will provide a higher level of security including a secure corridor for inmate transport, three courtrooms, law offices, business offices and ample parking.

A prime place to live

Fauth said that Grimes County added 265 new roof tops in 2019 with a taxable value of $78,143,942.

He added, “The good news is that helps us spread out the tax charges. The bad news is your neighbors are getting closer, but people have figured out that Grimes County is a prime place to live.”

The taxable value of property in Grimes County totals $2,863,354,605 and the county continues to get inquiries from both business and industry.

Fauth then issued an invitation to the Jan. 22 Strategic Planning Workshop to update the plan implemented in 2015.

Fauth closed by saying, “Our goal is to provide the citizens of Grimes County Texas, with the services you expect, for the taxes you pay, to return value in the form of a county that is a safe and secure place for you to live, to work and to enjoy.”