Lavaca County approves telecommunications rollout, AT&T fiber contract and hazard mitigation signatories; canvass acknowledged

The Lavaca County Commissioners Court on Nov. 25 approved a series of administrative and infrastructure measures, including final preparations for a new 800 megahertz public-safety radio system, a secure fiber contract with AT&T and a resolution authorizing signatories for the county's hazard mitigation plan.

The county judge opened the meeting and introduced a telecommunications update delivered by the county's EMS director. The director reported two of three new 800 MHz towers are live (Howlettsville and Shiner), engineers have been on site for weeks, and the system was performing well in tests from multiple directions. He said the county is in a testing phase for handheld radios and that a full switch-over is likely around Dec. 15, plus or minus a week, pending final console updates and a coordination meeting with department heads and volunteer fire departments. The court voted to accept the telecommunications update.

The court then considered and approved a contract with AT&T to provide a secured fiber connection tying Lavaca County into a Harris County core (noted in the packet as Conroe and Tomball). The county auditor flagged a…