The Commissioners Court approved two capital outlay requests Tuesday. County Judge Brint Carlton said the Court budgeted for capital outlay differently during the new fiscal year. Carlton indicated the Court created a capital outlay contingency fund which can be pulled from with the approval of the Commissioners instead of allocating requested funds to each department. The judge stated that there were enough funds budgeted to get both of the requests. A new vote counting tabulation machine will cost $117,775, and Elections Administrator Tina Barrow said the previous vote counting machine was purchased in 2005. The county should be able to receive $5,000 as a trade in for the old machine. Sheriff Keith Merritt said the bid for the new fire alarm was given in July and was for about $54,000. The price may have gone up slightly since then so the Court approved up to $60,000 for the purchase of the fire alarm to replace the current alarm which is likewise several decades old.
Lynda Gunstream was given approval to proceed with hiring a replacement for a clerk who is leaving her department this month. Gunstream asked for a waiver in the normal waiting period for hiring replacements to give her time to train the new clerk with the tax collection season fast approaching. The Court granted her request and it was discussed that the policy for waiting six weeks to hire was never a written policy just a recommendation previous Commissioners Courts observed.
The agreement with Republic Services for solid waste collection and recycling service was approved for another year with no changes. County Extension Agent Christina Ritter and several 4-H youngsters were presented a proclamation from the Court in recognition of this being National 4-H Week.
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