Commissioners approve cyber insurance renewal, receive bids and discuss capital asset rule and road inventory

The Washington County Commissioners approved routine administrative items including renewal of the county's cyber insurance policy, the receipt of bids for a street-paving program, and administrative updates to capital-asset accounting and road inventory.

Cyber insurance: Insurance representative Nat Miller Brown presented the county's cyber policy renewal, noting a premium increase of approximately $76.87 (from $22,008.93 to $22,009.70). The carrier's coverage includes forensics, ransom negotiation and system rebuilding, and an app to speed claim notifications. Commissioner Tony Cardwell moved to approve the renewal; the motion passed by voice vote.

Community Crossings bids: Staff opened bids for the Community Crossings paving project (2026). Reported bids were: Temple and Temple Excavating and Paving Inc. at $1,497,509.00; C and R Construction and Consulting LLC at $1,649,102.00; and Mac Construction at $1,886,343.40. The board voted to receive and accept the bids for consideration; no award was made at this meeting.

Capital asset policy: A staff member presented a first reading of an ordinance to adopt a capital asset policy that raises the capitalization threshold so that items with a useful life of more than one year and acquisition cost of $10,000 or more will be capitalized. Staff said the State Board of Accounts requires counties to adopt a capital asset policy and provided examples used in audits; the board will address the ordinance again at a future meeting.

Roads and bridges: Public works/highway official Rick reported storm-related cleanup, announced federal reimbursements totaling $64,837.68 to the bridge fund, and asked the board to correct Medlock Road's inventory length from 0.3002 miles to 2.1734 miles. The board moved and approved the inventory correction.

Ending: The board completed these routine administrative items and adjourned after a final motion to adjourn.