Supervisors approve continuity-plan updates; staff to lead courthouse access and review generator strategy

Worth County supervisors approved updates to three county plans — the emergency action plan, the county continuity of operations plan and the courthouse security plan — and discussed next steps for courthouse access and generator maintenance.

The board approved the plan updates by motion and voice vote. Officials said the updated continuity of operations approach is an umbrella plan with departments responsible for developing internal, department-level continuity procedures. The board asked that departments prepare and attach their internal continuity plans to the county document.

Staffing and access: county personnel said that, because the county no longer has a dedicated courthouse custodian, Rick Anderson, the county general administrator, agreed to assume courthouse access responsibilities when he is present; when Anderson is not available, staff from the sheriff’s office may provide access and system knowledge because the courthouse fire panel is located in the dispatch area.

Generator and facilities discussion: department heads described progress on a new building project (interior concrete poured, upcoming bidding for office and purchase shop) and reviewed generator readiness. Staff reported a temporary portable generator is staged to power vaccine refrigerators until ordered parts arrive for a larger unit. A supplier estimate discussed in the meeting placed the cost to replace a generator unit at roughly $13,000, a figure staff said appears to represent replacing the generator unit only and not including wiring or transfer-switch labor.

Maintenance recommendations: staff relayed vendor guidance that portable trailer-mounted generators benefit from periodic maintenance — vendors suggested general servicing such as coolant and hose replacement every three to five years — and that generators should be tested annually under load to avoid wet-stacking issues on modern Tier 4 units.

Why it matters: the updated plans set department responsibilities for continuity, and generator maintenance and replacement planning affect the county’s ability to maintain refrigeration and critical services during outages. Supervisors asked staff to compile a list of generators, their ages and maintenance histories and to include generator replacement planning in future capital planning.

Next steps: staff will collect departmental continuity plans and signatures for the plan updates, assemble a generator inventory with manufacture years and maintenance history, and bring capital-plan recommendations back to the board.