West Buffington to become one way
ANDERSON- Proceed with caution when traveling near the Grimes County Annex in Anderson, as TxDot will transition West Buffington Avenue into a one-way street.
According to Grimes County Road and Bridge Engineer Harry Walker, the transition is planned for Monday, June 3. Traffic will run eastbound from Texas State Highway 90 toward the courthouse.
Appropriate signage will be put into place, but Walker warns to proceed with caution. “It’s going to be a big change because so many are used to driving that direction so be alert because there will be some people that will make mistakes for a while. I think it’ll be beneficial to the overall flow of traffic.”
Safety Award
Lisa McCraig, risk management consultant for Grimes County was on hand to present Grimes County with the Zero Lost Time Safety Award by the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool for successfully completing the 2018 coverage year with no lost workdays due to injury.
Grimes County is one of 115 counties to receive the accomplishment. An official press release read by McCraig stated, “through its commitment to safe practices among county employees, Grimes County works to reduce employee injuries and obtain substantial savings for taxpayers by minimizing workers’ compensation cost.”
When presented with the award, Grimes County Judge Joe Fauth III replied, “Awesome. I gladly accept that.”
Other business
Commissioners approved the auction of laptops with the funds being returned to the information technology (IT) budget. IT director Greg Cannon explained the laptops were outdated and oversized making them ancient in the IT world and he doesn’t anticipate much profit from the sales.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Barbara Walker confirmed with Mr. Cannon that all data and hard drives were removed from the laptops before auction.
Commissioners also approved a waterline installation permit for Wickson Creek SUD on CR 186.
Mr. Walton requested a plat for the Triple C Estates Subdivision that divides his 21.802 acres of land into eight lots.
There was discussion about a deeded easement on a portion of the property. The concern from Precinct 1 Commissioner Chad Mallett whose precinct includes the property in question that is just outside Iola city limits, stated his main concern is having a private drive that if not maintained could possibly create a safety problem if emergency personnel aren’t able to access the property.
Grimes County lawyer Jon C. Fultz proposed that the commissioners could approve the preliminary plat with a final approval pending further review so they wouldn’t impede progress.
Commissioners agreed and voted for the preliminary approval of the plat.
Salary Grievance
Committee
Names were drawn to fill the position on the Salary Grievance Committee (SGC) in accordance with Local Government Code 152.014 and 152.015 in an event that an elected official has a salary grievance.
Nine members serve on the committee with six being elected officials and three citizens drawn from the grand jury pool.
New citizen member names drawn were Marilyn Burk of Anderson, Mark Powell from Waller and Lonza Feldhans of Navasota. These names are pending acceptance from each selected.
In an event one or multiple of the above refuse the position, five other names were selected as alternates.
Burn Ban
No action was needed to the burn ban that was lifted Sept. 12.