County Commissioners Meet and Hear Update on County Beautification
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – The Houston County Court of Commissioners met Tuesday, Jan. 10 to hear about the work of the environmental officer and other business relating to county employees.
After opening prayers and the pledge of allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flag, Houston County Judge Jim Lovell opened the meeting noting the good turn out including some of the recently sworn-in officers.
The court heard a report from Community Service/Environmental Officer Delman Orme who told the court of his activities to keep the county facilities clean and beautiful. He plans to plant flowers near the downtown courthouse and has been working with several of the commissioners to get trash cleaned up in their districts. Orme also asked the court for permission to remove part of the fence at the old jail to provide better access to the facility which was approved unanimously.
Houston County Sheriff Randy Hargrove was on hand to petition the court for non-exempt license plates for an un-marked patrol unit used by the Houston County Justice Center. Hargrove told the court the unit is used to transport inmates and since some jailers are unarmed, he did not want the unit to stand out. This was also approved.
The court also approved an agreement with NCR for online and in-person credit card transactions for payments of taxes and other transactions with the county. The court heard this option would cost the county nothing in credit card fees, with these being paid directly by the customer.
In other business, the court approved:
- Cataloging and transferring of some surplus equipment between departments
- An increase to the county life insurance plan
- Accepting reclaimed asphalt materials provided by the Texas Department of Transportation
- Accepting Houston County Tax Office continuing education transcripts for Laronica Smith and Tena Smith
- Approving BIS Consulting LLC to create an online property search website for the Houston County Tax Office
- $6,500 were approved for repairs to the air conditioning/heating unit at the jail
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
