Think I’m through travelling this summer. Took a ride to Arkansas, took my red headed daughter Willie Jo on a ride to Florida, my granddaughter Bailey rode with me to New Orleans on her 21st birthday and we went to Annapolis, MD to watch my grandson, Rooster, complete his “Plebe Summer” at the Naval Academy. Missed some rain while we were gone but had 3.3 inches in the gauge when we got home. Don’t have a dog no more so, nobody missed me.
Warhorse Drive was a good idea but turned into that piece of gristle that you chew on that only gets bigger the longer you chew it.
The Project was to start on July 19th and be finished the week of July 23rd. Due to heat exhaustion on the paving contractors part, a short hospital stay, an unmarked manhole (equipment damage and repair as a result), discovery and removal of a large amount of concrete discarded in the middle of the road (and paved over), rain and the contractors equipment breakdown rendering the equipment useless for the last quarter of the Project, we managed to finish the Project on August 8th. AND, we were $1,086 under the estimated cost. (Only took a week for some kid to “burn out” in a dually and test the new surface for durability.) Mazing what you can do when you consolidate resources and efforts.
This past Commissioners Court meeting we started the process of starting the process of building the Jail Addition and Courthouse Annex. We passed an Order authorizing the issuance of Tax Notes to pay for the engineering phase of the construction. We do not anticipate spending all of the $2 million dollars authorized and will apply the surplus to the construction costs. We also anticipate using some of our reserve funds (couple million) when we seek funding for construction which will lessen the burden on taxpayers. All without a tax increase.
Seems that Medina County is extremely favorable when it comes to financial stability. There were 11 banks that bid on selling us the Tax Note. (Our cash on hand column was up $1,424,835.56 compared to this time last year.)
There will be two Public Hearings on the Tax Rate before the Budget for FY 2018-2019 is passed. One will be during the regular Commissioners Court meeting on September 13th and the second will be on September 20th at 6 PM at the County Courthouse in Hondo.
One safety issue that came up during the meeting concerning the Sheriff’s Department item on computer updates was visible addresses in the rural areas. If you can, check your entrance to your residence and see if your address is visible to fire, EMS and Law Enforcement. Help them find you so that they can help you.
On August 27th at 6 PM, Heather Brumage will begin offering HSE classes at the Medina County Annex in Devine. HSE is the new and improved acronym for GED. (Guess someone was offended by the initials.) There is no charge for this and she will be available on that date at 6 PM to answer any questions about the course and the requirements. Classes will be on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 PM – 9 PM beginning September 10th.
We are checking the roadways for obstructed views so that school bus drivers and motorists will have a clearer view of oncoming traffic. Can’t do it all overnight so, give us a week or two.