Transferring debris collected after Imelda is now being transferred from the Orange County landfill to a landfill in Newton County. The transfer of the debris started the first week of January.
Emergency Management Coordinator Joel Ardoin reported to the Commissioners Court on Tuesday that contractor Ashbritt has already removed ten loads of debris totaling 844 cubic yards. Orange County was granted an extension to its permit for using the local landfill for the debris by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Maintenance Director Kurt Guidry informed the Court that renovations to the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor are progressing nicely. Texturing on the sheetrock should start next week with painting of the interior walls to begin after that. Doors have been ordered for the building.
Guidry gave an update on repairs to the facilities at the Claiborne West Park. The walls are up and ready for texturing in the office building at the park.
The brick work on the pavilions at Claiborne West Park is completed. Unfortunately, two water leaks have been determined to be at the ballpark and at Pavilion 1. As a result, there is no water at the pavilions. Finding the leaks and fixing them is a priority before any clean up can be done at the pavilions.
The dates for early voting in the March 3 primary elections were set by the Commissioners Court on Tuesday. Early voting will start Tuesday, February 18, and run through Friday, February 21. Voting each of those days will be from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Early voting will continue on Saturday, February 22. The hours will be extended from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The final week of early voting will be Monday, February 24, through Friday, February 28. The same hours of 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM will be used that last week of early voting.
There will be one of the four early voting locations in each of the county precincts. The Orange Public Library, the Orange County Expo Center, the Orange County Airport, and the Raymond Gould Community Center in Vidor will be the early voting locations.
On Tuesday, March 3, there will be 34 voting precinct locations in the county. Citizens voting early can use any of the four designated polling locations. On election day March 3 citizens must cast their ballots in the voting location found on their voter registration card.
The Commissioners approved purchase requests from five department heads during the meeting. Lisa Reeves with Management Information Systems was approved to purchase Windows Server licenses and ten Window licenses for $36,795.
Insurance on the aircraft used for spraying by the Mosquito Control has gone up in cost. Director Patrick Beebe was granted permission to transfer $1,000 to fund the insurance for the remainder of the year.
Judge Troy Johnson of the County Court at Law 2 was approved to purchase a new copier for $5,327. Sabrina Gray will be purchasing two SCAG Cheetah 61-inch lawn mowers for the Parks Department. The cost will be $18,299.98 some of which is covered by insurance on the two mowers that were flooded during Imelda.
Road and Bridge Engineer Clark Slacum gave his monthly report to the Court on his department. During his report Slacum requested an allocation for the purchase of asphalt material. The request was granted to purchase the material for $21,523.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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