County approves Reverse 911 contract

ANDERSON- Grimes County Commissioners approved the contract for Reverse 911 services with Hyper-Reach in their regular scheduled meeting Wednesday, April 24.

The service provided by Hyper-Reach allows community members as well as those outside the community that would like to register to receive notifications, to receive alerts and messages whenever an emergency occurs in the area including weather-related emergencies.

According to Katherine Lee, Grimes County 911 Database maintenance coordinator, Brazos Valley Council of Governments (BVCOG) must approve to allow Grimes County to use Hyper-Reach, but Lee says that it won’t be a problem since an entity within BVCOG already uses Hyper-Reach.

Lee stated that the city of Franklin uses Hyper-Reach currently and the service was in alerting the public during the recent tornado that devastated the city.

The contract with Hyper-Reach will begin after May 1, when the current contract expires.

Iola wastewater

treatment

Commissioner’s will revisit the interlocal agreement the county has with the city of Iola regarding wastewater treatment or on-site sewer facilities to determine if revisions or termination of the current contract need to take place.

Precinct 1 commissioner Chad Mallet stated the initial plan was for Iola to build a wastewater treatment plant but currently that hasn’t been done. He noted that ideally a treatment facility should be built but the funding that has been received to date funds the design phase of a treatment plant but not the construction of a treatment plant.

Commissioners elected to table the agenda item and place it on the May 1, agenda.

Grimes County has a similar contract with the city of Bedias, so commissioners agreed to examine the contract with Bedias and Iola to see how they compare. Mallet will also contact Iola mayor Christine Stover and invite her to join in the discussion at the May 1, meeting.

Other action

City of Anderson mayor Gail Sowell is not seeking re-election due to moving to family property outside of Anderson city limits.

In turn Sowell is resigning as a representative of Grimes County on the BVCOG Board.

County Judge Joe Fauth III, stated that he discussed with Plantersville mayor Karen Hale as taking over for Sowell as a representative on the board. Hale agreed.

Commissioners agreed to accept Sowell’s resignation and appoint Hale to the BVCOG board.

The annual planned maintenance agreement for 600 kw standby generator at the Grimes County Law Enforcement Center with Cummins Southern Plains in Houston was approved.

Designated April 28, 2019, through May 5, 2019, as Soil and Wastewater Stewardship Week in Grimes County.

Burn ban

No action was needed regarding the burn ban that’s been lifted since Sept. 12.