The burn ban was lifted on Monday at the Brown County Commissioners’ Court meeting after the area’s recent rain and snowfall. Commissioners were in agreement to repeal the ban and reconsider it on next week’s agenda.
“Well my phone tells me that we have a 100% chance of rain on Wednesday, over 60% chance tomorrow and we’re already a bit wet,” said Commissioner Joel Kelton. “We’ve got people who need to burn so I’m okay to remove it.”
In an unrelated matter, Brown County Sheriff’s Captain Tony Aaron received approval from commissioners for the emergency repair of the Brown County Jail’s central heat and air unit on Wing B which went out on December 31, 2012. The unit and parts needed to make the repair were ordered on Thursday through Roberts and Petty of Brownwood and should arrive in 5-7 days. The cost of the repairs were estimated at $12,259.00, which was discussed during reports at the last meeting held on Wednesday, January 2nd, and includes all parts, labor, removal, disposal and permits.
“We did look to get competitive estimates, but in the open meeting, we discussed and disclosed the cost we got from Roberts and Petty, which gives them a little disadvantage and makes it a little hard to get competitive bids,” said Aaron.
Aaron informed the court that more repairs such as this will be necessary in the future.“We will try to salvage any parts we can to use on other units,” said Aaron. “These units are about 11 years old and there are about 20 of them, this is the second one of them that has gone out. They have lived about the extent of their lifespan so this will be a recurring problem in the next few years, just an FYI.”
A jail count of 139 was reported by Aaron who stated that only one inmate as of Monday morning was a contract inmate from another county.
Commissioner Precinct 3 Wayne Shaw received approval for Buster Story to install a private water line on County Road 404. According to Shaw, this line will connect Story’s residence to the Zephyr Water Supply Corporation, which was necessary after his well “played out.” The line will be installed according to county specifications and will not require a road cut or bore, said Shaw.
The Brown County Commissioners’ Court will hold their next meeting on Monday, January 14th at 9:00AM.
