Freestone County commissioners held public hearings for Freestone’s County and District Clerks during the Wednesday, Sept. 4, Commissioners Court meeting.
The court also kept the burn ban in place, allowed the tax assessor- collector to transfer furniture and some records to the county clerk’s office; and made other decisions concerning the county’s finances and well-being.
As for the county and district clerks, one public hearing concerned the plan for the County Clerk’s Archive Fund, after which a separately voted item was the County Clerk’s Records Management & Preservation Plans for 2024-25.
The other public hearing that day was for the District Clerk’s Archive Fund, followed by the District’s Preservation & Restoration Records Plan for 2025.
No member of the public spoke during either public hearing; and the court approved both plans.
Burn ban remains in place
In other business, since the burn ban remains on the agenda yearround, the commi s sioners add ressed the matter and mentioned they had received requests by some citizens to lift the burn ban. They noted, however, that while there has been a little rain, it was just that, very little rain, not enough to lift the burn ban at this time.
Furniture, records transfer Also at the meeting, Tax Assessor- Collector Dan Ralstin reported to the court he had extra desks and bookshelves at his new office that he did not need and had no room for, and that County Clerk Renee Gregory had expressed interest in using those desks and shelves in her office. Consequently, the court approved Ralstin’s request to transfer the desks and shelves to Gregory’s office.
In a related matter, Ralstin reported Gregory has allowed him to house his permanent records in her facilities and be available to the public.
“They will still be my records,” Ralstin said. “I will still be held responsible; but they (researchers) won’t have to go to two different places to get that (information).”
The court approved that request also.
Insurance price increases
On a different subject, the court approved renewal of the county’s auto, liability and cybersecurity insurance through the Texas Association of Counties risk management pool.
County JudgeLinda Grant noted the new proposed contract is for $118,628 and is larger than last year’s contract because it now includes cybersecurity coverage..
Library update
Also at the meeting, the court approved a contract with the Fairfield Library Association for Fiscal Year 2025.
“The Fairfield Library is currently accredited,” Grant said as she read from a handout of information on the library’s activities. She also noted that the library had 45 events for the summer program; 1,728 attendees; and has 10 computers available to the public that will need replacing in the next 12 months.
Security options proposed
The court discussed security options for Annex II, which houses the Extension Office and the offices of Justices of the Peace 1 and 3; and the Elections Records Program. Most of the county facilities are protected by cameras and controlled access, said IT Director Dane McBroom. He recommended adding security cameras, panic buttons and an alarm to control access to the area. The court approved the proposal contingent on getting a 1295, which is a disclosure of interested parties to the governmental entity or state agency at the time the business entity submits the signed contract.
Court reporters’ salary increases approved
The court approved requests from the district judges to increase the salaries of the Freestone County portion of the annual salary for the 77th District Court Reporter to $46,440, of the total of $101,099 ; the Freestone County portion of the salary for the 87th District Court Reporter will be $20,018 of the total salary of $111,910.
The salary of the Freestone County Auditor will be $69,227; the Accounting Assistant, a new position, will be $50,000; the salary of the First Assistant will be $49, 999; the Second Assistant Auditor’s salary will be $42,480. They also will receive county benefits.
Other decisions
In other matters:
• Grant said the county had sent all notices to delinquent property owners, but the county has to wait two years to allow the property owners to respond before it takes possession of the property.
• The court tabled an extension programming update by District Ag Extension administrator Jay Kingston.
Public statements
During the time allocated for people to give public statements to the court, county resident Charles Morgan urged the court to put limits on the level of noise produced by oiland- gas machinery.
“When we’ve got a thousand gas compressor stations in this county, it’s serious,” he said. “We’ve got people every day having to go to the hospital.”
Morgan said he calls the Sheriff’s Office “every night” to complain about the noise.
On a related subject, Grant noted she had sent a note to State Rep. Angelia Orr, requesting any response Orr could give on the low-frequency noise from oil-andgas machinery, which can be detected by about 8 percent of the public, to find out what is going on with that issue. Grant said she would notify the court whenever she receives a response from Orr.
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