The Hill County Commissioners Court met in a special session Tuesday, May 7, and ratified the disaster declaration issued by County Judge Justin Lewis May 1.
The judge issued the declaration after Governor Greg Abbott included Hill County in a disaster declaration at the state level April 30.
The declaration cites widespread damage to private and public infrastructure due to recent severe weather and flooding.
Lewis’s declaration was good for seven days before being ratified and approved by the court.
The court heard from Texas Division of Emergency Management representatives working in the county who reported that Hill County has exceeded its threshold for assistance based on the damage reported. The state had not yet met its $53.6 million threshold to receive federal assistance, but the numbers could skyrocket after flood waters recede and more damage is identified and reported.
Commissioners were encouraged to report damage and log any repairs made as they work to make roads passable in their precincts.
In other action, the court approved paying a one-time fee of $29,750 from the information technology budget to extract records from the OnBase records management system that the county has previously used.
Lewis and Information Technology Director Phillip Cantrell reported that the system is underutilized and expensive, and the features exceed what the county needs in a file storage system. The fee will cover extracting a large number of files from OnBase to Imaging Office Systems Inc. software.
Lewis also asked commissioners to review the county’s culvert policy, stating that he wanted to get their input and consider adoption of an updated policy.
The court met in executive session for deliberation regarding economic development negotiations. No action was taken when open session resumed.
The court’s next regular meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, May 14.
