The Hill County Commissioners Court approved the creation of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) during a regular meeting held Tuesday, October 8.
Hill County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator & Radio Administrator Chris Jackson and CERT organizer Chris Clark spoke to commissioners about the effort, which includes training citizens to help themselves and their neighbors in emergencies or disasters. Additional training is available to those who would like to join a response team and provide resources to first responders.
Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hemrick told the court that there have previously been local CERT teams not affiliated with the county, but he sees opportunities for the program under Clark’s leadership due to his CERT experience.
The volunteer organization will operate under the command of Hill County’s Office of Emergency Management. Neighborhood and community volunteers can be trained in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.
Those who want to become further involved with the CERT can join the response team, which focuses on providing resources to professional responders like severe storm spotting, event crowd control and fire scene rehab.
Team members can assist others in their neighborhood following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. Response team members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
County Judge Justin Lewis said that the program would operate on grants and donations for the most part, and he believes it will be fruitful for the county. “The changes we’re going to have to make to address this growing county need to start today,” Lewis said.
An agreement with the county will be back before the court at a future meeting, but the court voted to approve creation of the CERT.
An inaugural training class is expected to be scheduled in early 2025 to allow the team to be ready to deploy for storms and grass fires in the spring and summer months.
Commissioners also approved a tax abatement agreement for Elawan Pitts Dudik Solar II, which involves a small extension of the company’s solar project south of Malone adjacent to the first phase of the project. Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Holcomb voted against the agreement, but it passed with the rest of the court’s approval.
Mike Dixon, the county’s economic development counsel, said that the company’s capital investment for the solar energy production facility is projected to be $32,585,000, qualifying the project for a partial tax abatement that starts at 30% and decreases over the six years of the agreement.
There were no comments directly related to the project during the public hearing on the proposal, although Hill County resident Kim Holley spoke and said that she believes Hill County should plant more trees.
Commissioners approved a culvert setting policy in an effort to streamline the process throughout the county and protect county roads. “If you can’t keep water off of a road, you can’t keep rock on it,” Lewis said. He added that many of the county’s culverts are stopped up, undersized or in the wrong place. The policy outlines minimum requirements and states that plans must be approved by the appropriate commissioner.
The court rejected two bids received for the old Precinct 1 barn at 115 Avenue A in Blum. Commissioner Holcomb said that both bids were lower than the appraised value.
Commissioners discussed republishing the request for bids but opted to hold off until Holcomb discusses the issue with the appraiser to determine if the appraisal truly reflects the current value of the property.
Financing options for the installation of the bi-directional antenna and public safety radios at the county jail were discussed. The court previously approved the project, which will address issues with radio service in the jail. Motorola offered financing at 5.69% interest, but the court ultimately opted to borrow the money from the county’s reserves to eliminate interest charges.
A memorandum of understanding between the sheriff’s office and Fayette County Sheriff’s Office was approved. The agreement will allow the entities to work together on criminal interdiction efforts.
Hill County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Robinson told the court that he was approached by a local Department of Public Safety trooper about Fayette County’s work to address drugs, human trafficking and other crimes along the interstate. The agreement will allow Fayette County to perform operations along Interstate 35 in conjunction with Hill County. Fayette County will provide training to local deputies at no cost, although any individuals arrested locally would be incarcerated in the Hill County jail.
The court approved a request from the sheriff’s office to allow Robinson to purchase his sidearm upon his retirement, and for sheriff’s office employees to purchase Sheriff Rodney Watson’s for him ahead of the change in administrations. State law allows retiring peace officers to purchase their weapons from their employer. Robinson said that replacement guns have already been purchased and are slightly better than the guns they are replacing.
Robinson informed the court that he will be retiring December 2, and said that he has enjoyed his time with Hill County. Lewis pointed out that Robinson has been “running the show” at the sheriff’s office and asked if the sheriff had a plan to replace him through the end of December. Robinson said that he believes he will have things in place for the sheriff’s office to run through December. He added that he is in contact with the sheriff and he is still around.
Commissioners set a public hearing for November 12 on a proposal to abandon an undeveloped portion of Rabbit Shadow road off of Farm Road 1713. The road was originally platted for a subdivision that was never built out, and there is no actual road at the location.
Commissioners approved the county’s annual contract renewal with the Statewide Automated Victim Notification Service. The county receives grant money for the program, which notifies crime victims when perpetrators are released from jail or when there are other related updates.
In other action, the court approved a radio policy to outline requirements for use of the county’s public safety radios, approved a formal policy for the county’s information technology and Criminal Justice Information System audits, approved an adjusted career advancement policy for the sheriff’s office to reflect county-wide cost-of-living increases and approved an agreement with Capital Area of Texas Regional Advisory Council for healthcare preparedness services.
In open forum, Hill County resident Kim Holley told the court that she had concerns about the national outcome of the 2020 election. She said that other countries are going to one-day voting and hand-counted, numbered paper ballots. Lewis informed Holley that Hill County does use paper ballots with unique identifying numbers that are retained as required by law. The retained ballots can be counted by hand if there is an issue.
The court’s next regular meeting date is Tuesday, October 22, at 8 a.m. in the Hill County Courtroom of the courthouse.
The Lakelander 