Courthouse renovations tops special agenda

• County Judge Allison Harbison

Approving a change order and payment for courthouse renovations topped the agenda at a special meeting of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court held Wednesday, Aug. 28.

In the prior week’s meeting, discussion was had over procedural discrepancies that led to work on the courthouse renovation project being done that was outside the approved scope of work.

Additional electrical and plumbing changes that were found to be necessary during the renovation led to increased costs for the project.

The original bid was for $87,320 while total expenses ended up at $104,928.34, with an overage of $17,608.34.

“Now I’m gonna start this off by taking full blame for any overages or anything. I apologize for that. I did not realize that we got that far over budget,” County Judge Allison Harbison said. Harbison then pledged to keep a closer oversight of future projects to ensure they stay within budget.

“But after saying that and taking responsibility for that, I wanna reiterate that we turned a useless space into a permanent commissioners’ courtroom that we can have every Wednesday,” she continued.

Harbison also pointed out that the new space would be available for voir dire, offices for the commissioners and a conference room.

The new facilities should be complete and available for use starting this week, according to Harbison.

Roscoe McSwain, Comm. Pct. 1, stressed that it was because procedures were not followed that the cost overruns occurred. Mc-Swain addressed Paul Hagler, contractor for the project, with some tips on how to avoid this kind of situation in the future.

“The process wasn’t followed and it ain’t all your fault,” he began. “But for your safety of your business, in the future, follow that scope. The work you bid on that’s the work you do, no extra, because you’re not going to get paid for it if the scope hasn’t been approved. So, in the future, just come back to court once we get far enough into a job and we see things were overlooked. We’ll see what we want to do.”

After discussing the details of the last received bills, the commissioners approved paying the final invoices from Hagler Painting for the renovation work.

In an earlier meeting, the court had approved requesting bids for four new Ford F-150 pickups for the sheriff’s department. Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, reported that because of the new model year starting recently she only received one bid for the vehicles.

“The 2024 orders closed last week, so they couldn’t order any. The 2025 pricing came out Monday, which is when the bids were due,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell stated that none of the dealers had any vehicles in stock that matched the requirements of the bid, specifically the police package equipment, necessitating them having to be ordered.

In light of this, the commissioners voted to extend the bid deadline to Sept. 13 in order to allow dealers to quote updated pricing. The bids will then be opened in court on the 14th.

The court approved closing CR 4188 as requested by the owners of the property the road traverses. Since the road begins and ends on the landowners’ property and is not used by anyone else, the commissioners agreed to the closure.

The court also re-appointed Harbison and Tom Bellmyer, Comm. Pct. 4, to serve as the county’s representatives on the DETCOG Board of Directors.

In the commissioners’ reports, Harbison reported that the county had been awarded a Community Block Development Grant for work on Rosehill Road. Rosehill Road is located in Timpson and the project will be a joint project between the City of Timpson and the county.

Harbison also announced that Brazos Transit in now providing rides within the county once a week to all county residents who need transportation. The service is on a first-come, first-served basis and must be scheduled a week in advance. The cost will be $3.50 per trip, $7 for a round trip. To schedule a ride residents can call 979-778-4480 or 800-272-0039 or visit www.btd.org.

In other business, the court approved paying the weekly expenses and the current payroll.