Newton County approves final payment for south-county communications tower; budget amendment added

Newton County commissioners voted to approve the final payment for a south-county communications tower project and moved a budget amendment so work on related tower repairs can proceed.

The court approved adding a payment of $194,566.83 to the day's bill pay for Texas Premier Communications for tower installation, microwave equipment and radio upgrades intended to support the sheriff's department. County staff said the contractor would not proceed with repairs on the Blakewood tower until final payment was made.

Commissioners discussed whether the motion approved the payment outright or only to add it to the bill-pay list; staff confirmed the invoice was on the bill-pay docket and that a budget amendment would be processed at the same meeting to cover the cost. The transcript contains several inconsistent renditions of the budget amendment amount when read aloud; the payment amount used in the action (and shown on the vendor invoice in the packet) is $194,566.83, while the spoken budget-amendment line in the transcript includes transcription errors. The court voted to approve the budget amendment and the payment by voice vote.

Members also discussed communications gaps for rural volunteer fire departments and agreed to add a separate agenda item to explore radio coverage solutions and potential county support for repeater equipment and FCC frequency programming.

Motion records from the meeting show the court approved the payment and a corresponding budget amendment; the contractor was expected to resume additional tower work after final payment and any weather-dependent ladder work was scheduled.