Commissioners consider needed updates, proclaim April 'Child Abuse Awareness Month”

Limestone County commissioners started updating some “antiquated” policies such as utility agreements, subdivision regulations and plat requirements dating back to 2010 at their meeting Tuesday, April 8.Judge Richard Duncan reminded those in attendance that property owners are required to seek county approval before splitting up a property to sell.“One of the things that is a concern is what might have happened up in Precinct 3, where we let someone divide some land up and next thing you know, we’ve got trailer houses all over, next to beautiful homes,” Duncan said. “I don’t know where we draw that line, to be frank with you but our (policy) is a bit antiquated.”Robbie Pettigrew of the Road and Bridge Department tracked down the policies on subdivision regulations and plat requirements from the neighboring counties of Hill, Robertson, Leon, Freestone for consideration and comparison, should they choose to update subdivision regulations.The questions of who should lead the charge and who would enforce changes were not easily answered. Commissioner Jody Goodman pointed out that a “county engineer” is referred to repeatedly in the policy, but since Limestone County does not have an engineer, the policy needs to be rewritten to designate that responsibility to someone.Forrest asked if they had a line in the budget for consulting, but Auditor Natasha Goodman said they did in the past but not anymore. Forrest suggested contacting Ted Kantor, the former County Engineer of Ellis County, to see if he would be willing to help, and Pettigrew requested that a few others be involved in the process. The court approved authorizing Road and Bridge Administrator James Trantham to contact Kantor for a quote on updating the policy.Duncan said that he had recently been made aware that the county’s standard utility line agreement has wording that the other party should be getting a bond, as well as other guidelines that have not been enforced. He suggested having Kantor or whichever engineer is chosen to work on the subdivision regulations and plat requirements update this policy as well, which was approved by commissioners.Having spoken with Jeff Simpson of Outdoor Management Services, Commissioner Micah Anderson proposed outsourcing the right-of-way spraying and brush control spraying on county roads, stating that a professional with proper equipment would provide more efficient coverage.“We tried last year to do our own spraying, but the equipment we had in-house was one five-hundred-gallon sprayer and one tractor…” Anderson said. “While it did perform very well on the roads that we did spray, the efficiency was very lacking due to the fact that we have 1,000 miles of county road in one direction.”He suggested choosing a certain number of miles per precinct for a trial run, to see the quality and efficacy of the work. To spray 2,000 miles of county road, the cost would be roughly $100,000; such a large ticket expense would require the use of the bid process.Forrest suggested doing a test run this season with 20 miles of priority road in each precinct, then budget for the whole county for next year, should they be satisfied with the results of the test run.Commissioners approved authorizing Trantham to contact Simpson for a quote for spraying 80 miles of county roads.Representatives from both the Limestone County Child Welfare Board and the Bi-Stone CASA (Court Appointed Specialist Advocates) for Children showed up in full force for the reading of a Proclamation naming April Child Abuse Awareness Month. “We want to thank y’all for all of the work that y’all do,” said Duncan, addressing the representatives in the audience after reading the proclamation.(If you are interested in getting involved with the Child Welfare Board, visit their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/share/18zqQxgNEU/?mibextid=wwXIfr. If you would like to help Bi-Stone CASA for Children, visit their website at https://casafreestonelimestone.org/contact/ and fill out the form!)Duncan also read a proclamation recognizing the important, life-saving work that dispatchers perform daily, designating the week of April 13-19 as National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.Commissioners approved an upgrade with Tyler Technologies Enterprise called Justice Case Access that will improve and expand access to court documents and information for legal professionals and the general public.

In other business, the court:

• Approved the consent agenda;
• Took no action on the County Burn Ban (it remains off at time of press);
• Approved the monthly operation reports and the monthly safety report;
• Approved for record the lease of election equipment to the City of Kosse for the May 3, 2025 election;
• Approved selling scrap culverts through Jerry Lee Kennedy; 
• Tabled the utility line agreement with American Engineering for the Prairie Hill Wind Project; and
• Approved three budget transfers: 710 — Emergency Management: moving $750 from equipment repair to vehicle repair for the repair of Emergency Coordinator Matt Groveton’s Suburban; 711 — Jail: moving $2,080 from medical equipment and supplies to furniture to buy breakroom furniture and chairs for pods; 712 — Road & Bridge: moving $20,000 from contingencies to overtime to cover overtime costs.

The next regular Commissioners Court meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, at the county courthouse. The meetings are open to the public and available for live streaming or later playback on YouTube (search: Limestone County Commissioners Court). The agenda and relevant attachments are available online

The agenda and relevant attachments are also available online at

https://limestonecotx.portal.civicclerk.com/.