Grimes County commissioners approve routine motions; defer personnel manual for further committee work

Grimes County Commissioners Court met on Wednesday and approved a slate of routine items while directing further work on the county personnel manual and several personnel processes.

The court approved a consent agenda of routine items, appointed a new county AgriLife Extension agent, authorized a one-year, no-commitment trial of a web-based elections task management tool to be paid from election contract funds, accepted two subdivision road projects into the county’s maintenance program, approved on-call testing contracts for road construction materials, and took other recurring administrative votes.

Why it matters: the decisions affect near-term county operations — election preparation and scheduling, acceptance of subdivision infrastructure into the county-maintained road network, and contracting for construction testing — while the personnel manual remains unresolved and will receive additional committee review before a final adoption vote.

Votes and procedural outcomes

- Consent agenda (items 6A–E): Approved. Commissioner Chad Mallett moved to approve the consent items; Commissioner David Tellis seconded. The court voted by voice; the motion carried.

- Appointment of AgriLife county extension agent: The court voted to appoint Matthew Pfeiffer as Grimes County AgriLife Extension agent, start date Feb. 10, 2025. County Judge Joe Fowles moved; Commissioner Philip Cox seconded. Voice vote: approved.

- ElectTask (elections task-management web tool): The court authorized a one-year, no-commitment trial of the ElectTask web-based tool at a one-year price of $2,267, to be paid from the elections contract surplus funds, and authorized the county auditor’s office to make necessary contract changes before any multi-year commitment. Commissioner David Tellis moved the initial approval and amended the motion to authorize the county auditor’s office to make needed changes; the court approved by voice vote.

- Emergency pay related to winter freeze call-outs (facilities): The court authorized emergency pay for county employees called out during the January freeze. Motion carried by voice vote.

- Acceptance of roads and drainage for King Oaks Section 3 (Cambridge Drive and Oxford Lane): Approved by motion of Commissioner Chad Mallett; seconded by Commissioner David Tellis. Motion carried.

- Acceptance of Muirwood (Murwood) Phase 2 into the maintenance period and reduction of security to 20% of total construction cost: Approved by motion of Commissioner Chad Mallett; seconded by Commissioner David Tellis. Motion carried.

- On-call contracts for geotechnical and construction materials testing services: The court approved an on-call contract with CME Testing & Engineering Inc. (agenda item 17) and an on-call contract with Terracon Consultants Inc. (agenda item 18). Motions carried by voice votes.

- Auditor software contract renewal (debt book/lease/subscription management): Approved. Motion carried by voice vote.

- Appointment to Emergency Services District No. 1 board: The court appointed Amanda Willard to a two-year term ending Dec. 31, 2026. Motion carried by voice vote.

- Commissioners Court rules of procedure, conduct and decorum: The court approved updated rules with an agreed change clarified by the county attorney; motion carried by voice vote.

- Designation of judge pro tem: Commissioner Chad Mallett was designated judge pro tem to act in the absence of the county judge. Motion carried.

Discussion highlights and staff reports

Elections software: Rachel Walker, Grimes County elections administrator, described ElectTask as a web-based tool that “will allow us to put our election related deadlines as well as the administrative, task association associated with those election tasks into one tool.” She told the court the vendor agreed to a one-year, no-commitment trial at $2,267 and that the product imports the state election-law calendar automatically. Walker said the trial would be funded from elections contract surplus funds and would not draw from the county’s general fund. The court asked that the auditor develop a measurement tool to assess labor savings before a multi-year commitment.

Personnel manual: County staff presented a revised personnel manual that has been through a multi-member review committee and multiple attorney reviews. County staff and the court agreed the manual still needs refinement on travel policy language, holiday payout consistency, electronic time-sheet compatibility, and placement of certain content; the court asked the review committee, county attorney and county auditor to meet and finalize draft language. No adoption vote was taken; the court tentatively planned a special meeting after the Feb. 26 regular session if the committee can complete its refinements.

IT and records backlog: Greg Cannon, IT director, gave a detailed status report on county IT projects. Cannon said the sheriff’s office migration and disk expansion are in progress and that the county is restoring a very large archive of records and surveillance video. “I don’t have an exact amount, but we’re guessing it’s close to 8,000,000 records,” Cannon said of the files being migrated; he said the restore had been running 10 days and estimated a few additional days to complete. He also said the county will need to move certain WatchGuard camera systems to cloud-hosted options within the year or find an alternative provider.

Facilities: Facilities director Rodney Floyd reported on repairs made for a recent freeze and requested authorization to pay employees for emergency call-outs related to the freeze; the court approved emergency pay. Floyd also briefed the court on ongoing work at the Justice Center Annex, the animal shelter paving and interior mechanical and fire-suppression installs.

Roads and subdivision work: County Engineer John Stiver and Development Coordinator Sean King summarized recent road work and development reviews. King described punch-list work on King Oaks Section 3 and reported contractor work was inspected and approved. Stiver summarized ongoing base-repair projects, tree removal, a planned ditch project on Magnolia Springs, and reminded the public that heavy trucks and extended projects require special road-use permits. He also noted the county is updating subdivision and floodplain regulations and posted the mobility plan for public comment.

What the court did not finalize: The court moved several items to later consideration: real-property matters (possible sale of county properties in Navasota and Anderson) were shifted toward the end of the agenda and the court prepared to discuss them in executive session under Local Government Code §551.072 (deliberation regarding real property).

Next steps and calendar notes

- Personnel manual: review committee to meet with county attorney and county auditor; tentative special meeting after the Feb. 26 regular session if needed. - Emergency Management Services coordinator hiring: court authorized the hiring team to screen 11 applicants, narrow the list to two or three finalists, and return finalists to the court for interviews; county staff set a Friday closing date for the posting. - ElectTask trial: trial to be used for the May election; the auditor will track outcomes and a measurement plan for labor savings will be prepared for future budget decisions.

The court moved to executive session on pending real-property deliberations near the end of the public meeting.