The Shelby County Commissioners heard from Andrew Harmon, Deep East Texas Council of Governments Assistant Executive Director, over the Shelby County Broadband Planning Committee during their June 19, 2024 meeting.
“We were notified by the state Comptroller's office. They have newly, in the past couple of years here, formed the State Broadband Development Office and they are beginning to roll out some more funding programs and opportunities for our communities here in the region,” said Harmon. “The first requirement to be eligible for the opportunities that they are going to be rolling out over the next couple of years is to have a broadband committee formed in each of the counties.”
Harmon said that committee can consist of as many stakeholders as the county sees fit from any city or community that would be beneficial to be a part of the committee to reach the minimum requirements for the sake of being eligible for upcoming.
The approval of the committee, said Harmon, would help to make the county eligible for the technical assistance program.
“The state has contracted out a firm called Cobb and Finley. They have offices out of Houston and Dallas but they are a nationwide infrastructure consulting company and they're going to be directly paid and assigned to communities that don't have the resources to hire on broadband staff,” said Harmon.
Harmon explained that the under this program Cobb and Finley would answerable directly to Shelby County’s committee and work with the county to identify areas that might be more expensive for a private company to come in develop the broadband infrastructure in the region. 40 counties are being included in the program.
“They would basically arm you guys with the information and outreach so you wouldn't have to necessarily do it yourself, but they would be taking input directly from you guys because obviously no one knows Shelby County more than its residents and the commissioners and judge,” said Harmon.
Judge Allison Harbison put together a committee on the previous week with short notice and established members including herself, Chris Davis, Casey Anderson, and Andrew Harmon.
A motion by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer was made to approve the committee with the addition of Ann Blackwell, Roscoe McSwain, and Clint Porterfield. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Jimmy Lout and the motion carried.
A motion was then made by Commissioner Bellmyer, and was seconded by Commissioner Lout to approve the submission of application for the Technical Assistance Program to the Texas Comptroller’s Office, and the motion carried.
The commissioners considered the donation of an oil tanker trailer for Precinct 1.
“This is a oil factory trailer that stores to the hop or road oil while we're making oil sand with the mill,” said Commissioner Roscoe McSwain.
McSwain explained that Bryan and Bryan, the company the county buys road oil from, brought the trailer to set at the mill and use. The salesman who works for Bryan and Bryan that deals with the county is trying to clear up some things and get the title transferred to Shelby County.
“So they want to donate the trailer to Shelby County, and it's a asset to us and it's an asset to them,” said McSwain. “That way, when they deliver oil, they don't have to wait.”
Commissioner McSwain moved to accept the donation of the trailer from Bryan and Bryan Asphalt, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Jimmy Lout and the motion carried.
The commissioners discussed the bid for four cab hauling trucks for the new rich department.
“Last week, we had received our bid for the four cab haul trucks, and we reserved the right to have a week in between before awarding the bid and after we looked at the bids, we talked to the salesman and noticed that he had bid the basic plain as he can get trucks to have the lowest bid,” said McSwain.
Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, contacted GrantWorks because the salesman has four other trucks that are in the assembly line for August. According to McSwain, the trucks bid on for Shelby County won’t be available until November.
“If we take the four trucks he already has in the assembly line, he ordered for stock, we should receive those trucks in September,” said McSwain. “The difference of the add-on is the movement of those trucks is not just for the timeline, it's to shorten the distance of time we have to wait to receive the trucks.”
McSwain stated the four trucks he has is a $5,519.12 upgrade compared to what he had bid. Through communication with GrantWorks, it was learned that’s it’s acceptable to have negotiation on something that has only received one bid.
Commissioner McSwain moved to accept the bid with the new bid being $147,864.11 for a completion date of August 22. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith and it carried.
County Judge Allison Harbison inquired how many years it’s been since any of the precincts had bought a truck like that, and McSwain stated no one had in the 16 years he’s been in office. He said he has always bought used trucks.
“I guess I just wanted the public to know that we don't buy these large trucks every day. This is an investment, this is a 20-year investment,” said Judge Harbison.
The commissioners considered a sanitary control easement between Shelby County and the Paxton Water Supply Corporation to comply with requirements recommended by TCEQ.
“It's a sanitary control easement that limits the use of the property covered by this from any type of use that would be environmentally unsound for the operation of the well itself,” said John Price, County Attorney. “There's a long list of things that the county can't do. You can't put septic tanks, sewage tanks, things of that nature only County property, we're only talking about the public right away on County Road 3182.”
Commissioner Smith moved to approve the easement and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer, the motion carried.
The commissioners considered a proposal for upgrading and modernization of the courthouse elevator from American Elevator Technologies Inc. as presented by Michael Williford.
There have been constant issues with the elevator potentially due to grounding issued and Judge Harbison stated Chris Davis, courthouse security, would be monitoring the weather and should there be threat of overnight thunderstorms in the forecast, he will shut down the elevator.
Although this could be helpful, Williford indicated the computer board is so sensitive lightning may not have to be in the direct vicinity for it to have an impact.
After discussion over repairs to the elevator Commissioner Jimmy Lout moved to move forward with the elevator work and the motion was seconded by Commissioner McSwain. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 10:24am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Pay weekly expenses with the addition of bills from Windstream for the Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 office and Constable Precinct 3 office. 2. Current Payroll. 3. Certification of the Shelby County Broadband Planning Committee. 4. Submission of Application for the Technical Assistance Program to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. 5. Donation of an oil tanker trailer for Precinct 1. 6. Bid for four (4) cab haul trucks for the Road and Bridge Dept. 7. Sanitary Control Easement between Shelby County and the Paxton Water Supply Corporation to comply with requirements recommended by TCEQ. 8. Upgrade and modernization proposal for the Courthouse Elevator from American Elevator Technologies, Inc. 9. Adjourn.
