Hardin County commissioners approve budget amendments, grants, contracts and equipment purchases; table Silbey property sale

Hardin County Commissioners Court on Feb. 21 approved a package of budget amendments, grant revenue recognitions, contract authorizations and equipment purchases for county departments and voted to table a request from the city of Silbey regarding nine properties sold in trust.

The measures were routine items submitted by county department heads and included bookkeeping amendments to close out FY24, creation of revenue and expense line items for airport grants, multiple vendor agreements for records preservation and software, and vehicle trade-ins and purchases for the sheriff’s office.

Votes at a glance (motions and recorded outcomes taken from the public record):

- FY24 budget amendments and transfers presented by County Auditor Angela Gore (agenda item 6): Motion carried (mover: Commissioner Kerckendall; second: Commissioner Cooper). The amendments included transfers within Road & Bridge and line-item changes across departments for salaries, materials, software licenses, and other accruals. The auditor said some expense increases were offset by increased local tax revenue and accrual adjustments.

- Airport fund budget amendments to record three reimbursement grants (agenda item 7): Motion carried (mover: Commissioner Cooper; second: Commissioner Cook). Assistant County Auditor Candace McKinney said the grants were for ramp/routine maintenance ($37,657), Airport Rescue Plan funding ($11,687.55) and a coronavirus response grant ($9,000); line items were created to segregate revenue and matching expenses.

- City of Silbey request to sell nine properties sold in trust and relinquish any county proceeds (agenda item 8): Motion to table passed. Commissioners said three affected entities (city, school board, county) should meet to resolve competing interests before the court acts; no intergovernmental agreement was in hand so the court tabled the item to allow discussions.

- Adoption of resolution to submit a two-year sexual/assault prevention and crisis services grant application to the state Office of the Attorney General (agenda item 9): Motion carried (mover: Commissioner Kuyendahl; second: Commissioner Young). Lisa Nicks, identified as the local victim assistance center director, said the grant award window allowed a $40,000 increase (an additional $20,000 per year) this cycle and that the award supports direct victim services for adults and children; no local match was required.

- Sale-of-assets revenue and related budget amendment for Sheriff (agenda item 10): Motion carried (mover: Commissioner Cook; second: Commissioner Kuyendahl). The court created a line item for proceeds from a sold 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe and increased the vehicle purchase line to use the proceeds for replacement vehicles.

- Reimbursement to Leah Hicks for an invoice to Blueprint for AI note-generation software tied to a CSCD mental health grant (agenda item 11): Motion carried (mover: Commissioner Kirkendall; second: Commissioner Young). The county approved reimbursement of $1,382.

- Contract/proposal with Miratech for HotDocs (agenda item 12): Motion carried. The County Attorney presented a $1,008 proposal to be paid from the Child Protective Services software license line; the court authorized the county judge to execute the agreement.

- Contract with Cofile Technologies for preservation of district clerk records (agenda item 13): Motion carried. The District Clerk requested a $25,143.48 contract to preserve books and minutes, with 50% due at pickup and the balance on completion to be paid from the District Clerk Preservation Fund.

- Health department tire invoices (agenda item 14): Motion carried. The court approved payment of two invoices from Stokes Tire & Service for vehicle tires to be paid from grant funds; the second invoice was slightly lower than the amount posted with the agenda after the vendor agreed to a reduced price.

- Amendment No. 2 to LJA Engineering professional services for Saratoga Road Improvements (CDBG project) to extend the term so work can be completed (agenda item 15): Motion carried.

- Construction contract authorization with LZ Services LLC for parking-lot improvements (agenda item 16): Motion carried; the court excluded the AgriLife parking lot for now because adding asphalt or concrete there would require digging a detention pond.

- Sheriff vehicle trade-ins and purchase of three Chevrolet Silverado PPV trucks via cooperative purchasing (agenda item 17): Motion carried. Trade-ins included multiple Chevrolet Tahoes and the total purchase price net of trade-ins was reported at $169,443; a cooperative fee of $300 was also recorded.

Across the items, commissioners said the agenda materials and supporting documents were posted with the agenda and available to the public. No contested votes or roll-call dissents were recorded on these items.