Bosque Commissioners approve law enforcement grant at Feb. 5 meeting

During its regular meeting on Monday, February 5, the Bosque County Commissioners Court approved a resolution for a Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Activities Grant (FY 2025) for the Bosque County Office of Emergency Management.

Bosque County Emergency Management Coordinator Kirk Turner said that this $42,143 grant is for courthouse security; however, he did not share the future security plans during the public meeting.

“We don’t talk about details on that,” he told the commissioners. “I’d be happy to talk to each other individually about what we’re doing with that money, but it is necessary money to maintain the security of the courthouse.”

Bosque County Judge Cindy Vanlandingham read the resolution aloud at the meeting.

The resolution stated that the county agreed to provide applicable matching funds for the project as required by the Homeland Security Grant Program grant application.

The county agreed that in the event of loss or misuse of the funds, Bosque County assured that the funds will be returned to the Office of the Governor in full, the resolution stated.

The county designated Judge Vanlandingham as the grantee’s authorized official. The authorized official is given the power to apply for, accept, reject, alter or terminate the grant on behalf of the applicant agency, the resolution stated.

Sound system

The court approved allowing Judge Shaun Carpenter’s office to proceed with getting quotes for a new sound system for District 220th Courtroom.

In an email, the district judge said that the sound system in the courtroom is not working; only one speaker is functional at the judge’s bench.

As a result the jury and gallery are unable to clearly hear the testimony without ensuring everyone is speaking very loudly,” Judge Vanlandingham read from the email.

Funds for a new sound system are available in the court’s operations account, she said.

Line-item transfers

The court approved four line-item transfers, which included:

• $657.99 from software maintenance to conference for two new employees in the Justice of the Peace 2 Office for fiscal year 2024.

• $41 from equipment repairs and maintenance to dues to associations ($25) and PO Box ($16) for funding GL Codes for the remainder of fiscal year 2024.

• $61.49 from building repair and maintenance to fuel to cover the cost for small equipment for lawncare and small generators.

• $684 from recycling expense to equipment repairs which will cover the cost of repairs to the current recycling equipment.

Encroachment

The court approved an encroachment permit application from Mike Gray at 2442 CR 4195 in Precinct 4.

Bosque County Commissioner Precinct 4 Ronny Liardon said that Gray requested the encroachment in order to add a gate for accessing new buildings on his property.

Liardon said he visited Gray’s property to review the plan and will assist him on the day of the construction.

Reports

In the Bosque County OEM report, Turner stated he was working on obtaining $750,000 SERI grant for the county’s aging radio system infrastructure.

Turner also noted that three percent of Bosque County was experiencing abnormally dry conditions.

For December 2023, the county was .4 inches above normal. For 2023, the county experienced 1.47 inches below normal rainfall, the report said. The state wildfire risk was at one or minimal.

The court approved receiving and filing the January 2024 monthly reports from Bosque County Attorney Natalie Koehler, and the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Office.

Usual Business

The court approved and ordered payment of claims, salaries, and wages against both precinct and county funds including the items listed on the expense approval register packet.

The court approved extending the COVID-19 Declaration of Local Disaster issued by the County Judge, pursuant to Chapter 418, of the Government Code for an additional seven days