An agreement was approved Monday by Brown County Commissioners for the repair of two county roadways which have been damaged during the construction of a new electric substation being built near Brookesmith, in Precinct 1 according to Brown County Commissioner Gary Worley.
Heavy equipment as well as heavy parts including 3 huge transformers being transported to the location has caused significant wear and tear of two county roads, CR 221 and CR 222. The transformers, which weigh approximately 750,000 pounds, have been transported one at a time on a special hauling truck’s trailer which had 112 wheels to support the enormous weight. These wheels were mounted on 8 axles which were hydraulically controlled to keep the load level as it traveled. The axles can move up and down and are able to individually be turned. The axles and their heights are manually controlled as the load moves down the road at a “snail’s pace,” top speed of 10 miles per hour.
“These roads have been getting undue traffic which is tearing them up since the substation construction began in 2011,” said Worley.
Worley explained to the court that Oncor has agreed to be responsible for “any repairs above any normal maintenance of the roads and to rebuild, or retop, the roads when the substation project is completed.” The portion of the roadways being utilized by Oncor are on CR 221 from FM 586 to County road 226 and on CR 222 from the intersection of CR 221 to the second entrance of the Brown SVC entrance, which is the location of the substation.
The agreement will be submitted to Oncor for final signatures.
Pictured above is the first of the transformers which was moved through Brownwood on May 16th on its way to the substation in Brookesmith.
In other matters on Monday’s agenda:
*Commissioners approved the annual road report, which states there are 743.6 miles of roadways within Brown County.
*Chief Deputy Bobby Duval received approval for employee changes of 3 jailers and 1 road crew boss for Precinct 2.
*Commissioners approved a salary change requested by Commissioner Worley for road crew employee Shane Moody who was hired in May at a the base road hand salary to be given a raise of approximately $2000/year (effective July 1st) due to skill he has shown while in a probationary period as a new hire. Worley stated that he has shown skill operating most of the county equipment and has progressed through training to the level of #2 road hand. The funding for the raise is available in the budget for Precinct 1 according to Worley.
*Precinct 2 Commissioner Joel Kelton received approval for a private line installation for Westbound Water Supply Corporation of Cisco. According to Kelton, the water supply line will cross CR 414 at CR415 and will require a cut of the caliche roadway. This cut will be done according to county specifications.
*Commissioners approved the Treasurer’s/Auditor’s report
Commissioners Court recessed until their next regular meeting at 9:00 a.m. on July 1, 2013; however, notice of a special meeting of the court was given due to commissioners plans to attend the Brown County Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday, June 21st.
