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Hood County court approves truck purchase, grant policy and multiple administrative actions
Summary
At its April 8 meeting the Hood County Commissioner's Court approved reimbursements, an appointment to the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, a vendor parking permit for the Granbury Wine Walk, a $245,000 brush truck purchase, a revision to the comp-time policy, adoption of a grant policy, subscription to a third-party fraud hotline, and payment of $371,895.03 in bills.
Hood County commissioners handled routine and substantive administrative business April 8 in Granbury, approving a series of motions that included equipment purchases, personnel-policy changes and financial authorizations.
The court approved reimbursement of $240 to the county judge for PFIA training taken online in October 2024 after a canceled in‑person session; Commissioner Andrews moved the measure and Commissioner Wilson seconded. The court appointed Mr. Lusk to a four-year term on the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District beginning June 1, 2025. The court also authorized signing the City of Granbury27s event application to permit vendor parking around the historic courthouse for the Granbury Wine Walk scheduled April 252626.
On public-safety equipment, the court approved purchasing a 2022 Ford F-600 brush truck from Gary (also referred to as Jerry in the record) Mercer for $245,000 from Fund 55 and exempted the purchase from competitive bidding pursuant to a discretionary exemption in the Local Government Code; fire officials emphasized the vehicle27s larger 700‑gallon tank and operational value for local grass- and brush-fire responses. Chief Becker and a volunteer/designer who built the truck described its design and immediate availability, and commissioners voted unanimously to purchase the truck.
The court revised the county27s compensatory-time policy to allow employees to request the use of holiday time prior to using accrued comp time, a change championed by Sheriff27s Office payroll staffer Jody McGuire and Treasurer Melissa Welberg as a protection for shift workers who otherwise risk losing holiday leave. Commissioners voted to strike a sentence that would have automatically charged vacation, sick or holiday after comp time was exhausted.
The court adopted a revised grant policy and procedures intended to clarify the commissioner's court as primary authority for grant decisions and to require project-manager identification for preexisting grants. The court also authorized the county auditor to subscribe to a third-party anonymous hotline to receive fraud, waste and abuse reports at a cost not to exceed $1,000 annually; staff cited a vendor quote of roughly $690/year for the service.
Finally, the auditor reported expenditures of $371,895.03 for the reporting period; the court approved payment of the bills. Commissioners noted that $32,175 of the total covered housing inmates in a neighboring county.
What happens next: Staff and departments will implement the revised comp-time and grant policies; the auditor will subscribe to the hotline; and the sheriff's office will take delivery of the brush truck and manage related outfitting and maintenance costs.
