The Polk County Commissioners Court approved submission of an application for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program DR-4781 (April 2024 severe storms) for the purchase and installation of a flood gauge system during its regular meeting Tuesday. These will be electronic flood gauges on farm to market roads and state highways that the Polk County Office of Emergency Management and the state have deemed necessary.
“Over the past number of years, we have been documenting flood activity throughout the county and have identified several areas where we think flood gauges would be beneficial,” Emergency Management Coordinator Courtney Comstock said. If the grant application is successful, the county would be responsible for a 25% match which would come from the emergency general fund reserves.
In other Hazard Mitigation Grant Program business, the Court approved accepting sub-grant awards in the amount of $777,968.10 for the Soda Water Supply Corporation generator project; $989,412.30 for the Tempe Water Supply Corporation generator project; and $225,568.80 for the Shiloh Ridge Water Supply Corporation generator project.
Additionally, the Court approved agreements with Goodwin Lasiter Strong for engineering services and with Langford Community Services for grant administration for all three projects.
An unfunded request from the sheriff’s office for the installation of cameras at the Polk County Jail in the amount of $31,841.60 was approved. Due to the overwhelming population of the jail, sections of the building that were previously unused are now being utilized.
Fiscal year 2025 budget revisions, as presented by the county auditor’s office, were approved.
Items on the consent agenda included:
•Approval of the minutes of the Feb. 11 meeting;
•Approval of the schedules of bills;
•Receiving the county auditor’s monthly report, pursuant to Local Government Code Sec. 114.025;
•Receiving of the county treasurer’s monthly report for January 2025;
•Receiving and recording personnel action forms submitted by elected officials since the last meeting;
•Approval of the 2025 renewal of the Affordable Care Act Reporting and Tracking Service (ARTS) Program with Texas Association of Counties;
•Approval of the business associate agreement and compensation disclosure with The Baldwin Group for insurance brokerage services;
•Approval of the 2025 (updated) emergency management basic operations plan for Polk County, as requested by the emergency management coordinator;
•Approval of Precinct 2 Constable Bill Cunningham’s request to appoint William Purcell to reserve deputy constable;
•Accepting a donation to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in the amount of $10,000 to be used for flock camera maintenance ($6,150) and training expenses ($3,850); and
•Approval of a request from Sheriff Byron Lyons for an asset forfeiture expenditure in the amount of $2,500 for the tobacco enforcement program.
During informational reports, the Court was apprised of the annual local work group meeting of the county conservation partners on March 5 at the Polk County Farm Bureau. Additionally, the yearly informational report from the Texas A&M AgriLife Polk County Extension Office was presented by Alyssa Kimbrough and Jay Diehl.
