Johnson County approves interlocal to join Cleburne-led tire collection grant; discusses shared trailer

Johnson County Commissioners on Feb. 24 approved an interlocal agreement to participate with the City of Cleburne and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) in a 2025 tire-collection grant application.

The agreement authorizes county staff to cooperate with Cleburne on the March 6 grant application and to support a multi-precinct tire collection effort similar to a 2023 event that county and city officials described as having collected more than 12,000 tires.

The county judge opened the workshop discussion and invited Leland Pefley, environmental coordinator for the City of Cleburne, to describe the proposed 2025 effort. "In 2023, there are actually we collected over 12,000 tires," Pefley said, and he said the city hoped the county would join the application to expand collection and tracking for recycling or disposal.

Commissioner Bailey and other commissioners pressed for closer county–city coordination than in 2023, including a shared timeline by precinct, better logs of tires and staff time, and joint public outreach. Bailey said Precinct 4 in 2023 had been inundated and required additional trailers. Commissioners discussed using inmate labor again for collection and pickup.

Chris Klaus, the environmental representative from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said the region has identified approximately $25,000 remaining in a grant fund and that the COG and other partners are exploring a larger regional program. "I think these are just, like, an aid, a little band aid to help with collecting the batteries or the tires," Klaus said, adding the COG is also talking with manufacturers and tire companies about potential incentives and longer-term solutions.

During discussion Commissioner Bailey said he had located a privately owned 53-foot box trailer described as clean and usable and cited a purchase price of $5,000. Commissioners discussed the idea of acquiring a county trailer that precincts could fill and later move to a buyer or processor; Bailey said having a trailer would make it easier to consolidate and dispose of tires rather than leaving them exposed to rodents and snakes.

The court then moved from workshop to action and a motion to enter the interlocal agreement with the City of Cleburne was made by Commissioner Bailey, seconded by Commissioner Howell, and approved unanimously.

What the court approved: the county will participate in the NCTCOG tire collection grant application led by the City of Cleburne, and county staff will cooperate on scheduling, tracking, and logistics. The discussion left open follow-up steps including clarifying in-kind matching, whether COG will reimburse county in-kind contributions as it did or did not in 2023, and whether the county will purchase and house a shared trailer for collection.

Background and immediate next steps: county and city staff said the 2025 application is due March 6. Presenters asked precincts to provide preferred time slots for collection (the 2023 operation rotated collection sites by precinct to match available vendor trailers). Staff from the county and Cleburne will prepare the interlocal paperwork and a proposed timeline for court review as necessary.

Votes at a glance: The motion to "enter into an interlocal agreement with the City of Cleburne regarding the NCTCOG tire collection event and grant application" was moved by Commissioner Bailey, seconded by Commissioner Howell, and carried unanimously.

Community context: presenters and commissioners framed the event as an environmental cleanup and a public-safety improvement — reducing roadside fire and mosquito hazards and diverting tires from landfills or illegal dumping. The COG and county will continue discussing disposal options, including reuse by industrial users such as cement kilns and potential manufacturer or private-sector incentives.

No costs for county participation were specified in the court motion; the county discussed a possible separate purchase of a trailer for roughly $5,000 but did not formally authorize that purchase in this meeting.

Speakers and attribution: quotes in this article are attributed only to people who spoke on the record during the meeting; other summary sentences are unattributed when no specific speaker in the transcript made the statement.

Ending: County staff will proceed with the interlocal agreement and coordinate precinct-level schedules and recordkeeping. The City of Cleburne will submit the grant application to NCTCOG by its March 6 deadline.