Wichita County Commissioners Court heard a presentation Sept. 5 from Boyd PLLC on a proposed weigh station and inspection facility near U.S. 287 and Burnett Ranch Road. The consultant described a conceptual plan that includes a scale house, an inspection bay with a 5–5.5 foot inspection pit, gravel truck areas, septic for sanitary service and utilities routed under U.S. 287. Construction and site work were presented as likely candidates for phasing across multiple fiscal years.

The consultants said the estimate was budgetary and conservative. "This is a rough cost estimate, and I wanted to shoot high," said Blaine Boswell of Boyd PLLC, who walked the court through the site layout, utilities and inspection-bay design. He told the court the project was being considered for fiscal 2027 and that a fully integrated design, permitting, bidding and construction sequence would take roughly two years from notice to proceed.

The nut of the discussion concerned cost, operations and outside agency roles. Commissioners and staff pressed whether the Texas Department of Public Safety would provide funding or permanent staffing and whether TxDOT requirements would increase costs by forcing conduit bores under U.S. 287. A court member noted historical, less-expensive approaches discussed about a decade ago and cautioned that the current estimate appeared substantially larger than earlier, simpler concepts.

Consultants described the site and utilities: power options on both sides of the tracks (one requiring a bore), potable water and no local sewer — a septic field is proposed — and drainage considerations tied to existing reinforced concrete pipe under the frontage road. The scale house concept separates a public work area from employee space; the inspection bay concept included open short walls with provisions (structural steel) to allow future enclosure and roll-up doors. DPS requested features that include an employee bathroom at the inspection bay, a hazmat shower and hose bib, inspection lighting and an air compressor. The presenters said DPS had requested that inspection pits be five to five-and-a-half feet deep to allow troopers to work beneath vehicles.

Cost items flagged in the presentation included a modular versus ground-up building choice; a 25 percent contingency was shown on the consultant's conservative budget. The consultants identified $75,000 as the rough line for platform scales and emphasized possible phasing: site and utilities in one year, building in a subsequent year, or opening an open inspection area and scales first to begin operations. The court discussed reuse of an existing Precinct 2 building as a temporary scale house to reduce early capital outlay.

County and consultant discussion referenced Colorado City as an operational example; presenters said that jurisdiction reported roughly $1 million per year in gross revenue at a facility with similar traffic and that revenue depends on how often the facility is actively run. County officials stressed the project’s safety benefits and possible secondary effects (drug interdiction, hazardous-material inspections) in addition to revenue potential.

No formal vote or funding decision was taken at the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to continue technical follow-up, investigate potential TxDOT safety or transportation grant opportunities, clarify DPS’ likely operational commitment and explore phased options to reduce short‑term budget impact. Further agenda items will be required for any formal action to create funding or contracts.

Ending: Staff said they would return with more specifics on grant options, DPS commitments and a phased cost schedule for future court consideration.