The Hill County Commissioners Court met in regular session Tuesday, January 9, and approved the appointment of members to Emergency Services District (ESD) boards.
Ken Goins was reappointed to the ESD 1 Board of Commissioners, and Chad Wilson, a resident of Precinct 1, was a new appointment to the board.
Reappointments to the ESD 2 Board of Commissioners were Kevin Bragg, Jimmy Lehmann and Alan Nisbet.
Commissioners also approved an expenditure for Inovalon software for use by the Hill County Indigent Healthcare office. Coordinator April Cook told the court that the service will allow the office to investigate whether jail inmates have private health insurance that could pay for their care instead of the county. Her research indicated that other counties have saved money with the program.
The cost will be approximately $12,000, which will come from the inmate medical fund, and the county will try the service for a year.
The court also approved the hiring of a part-time employee in the county treasurer’s office. County Treasurer Rachel Parker told the court that the office needs an additional employee to handle its current workload. The expenditure was approved from the county’s contingency fund.
A paid-time-off policy was approved for dispatchers at the sheriff’s office due to the unique schedule that they work. Dispatchers work rotating 12-hour shifts, meaning they get 36 hours one week and 48 the next.
Previously, they were required to use four hours of paid time off to bring them up to 40 hours. Going forward, they will be excluded from this requirement as long as the shortage in hours is due to the rotating schedule.
Various equipment in Precinct 3, including air compressors, trailers and vehicles, was declared surplus material by the court and will be sold online through René Bates Auctioneers.
A public hearing was set for Tuesday, February 13, regarding the placement of speed bumps, speed limits and traffic signs on various county roads in Precinct 1.
The request for proposals for roofing work on the county’s Support Services Building was amended by the court to add more specific language. County Judge Justin Lewis said that after consulting with multiple contractors, it is clear that the roof needs to be replaced. The court will seek bids for the replacement.
Commissioners approved the submission of applications for several grants from the governor’s office, including grants for LED traffic warning signs, voter identification systems and juvenile justice truancy prevention assistance.
The court also approved an agreement with DemandStar, which will distribute the county’s requests for proposals to its network in an effort to get more bids for projects.
Hill County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hemrick reported that after some investigation, the county located the source of one of the recent loud booms that shook windows in Blum, Whitney and other areas of the county.
Johnson County emergency officials reported that a group of individuals set off 140 pounds of tannerite near the Hill/Johnson county line Saturday, January 6, which lines up with one of the incidents. Several others reported over the previous two days are still unexplained.
The court convened in executive session for legal consultation, but no action was taken when open session resumed.
The Lakelander 