The need for a county fire investigation specialist was presented Monday morning to the Brown County Commissioners Court by Captain Tony Aaron of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.
It was explained that the Sheriff’s Office needed to either hire someone to fill the position of fire investigator or contract this service out to the City of Brownwood, as there is no one currently employed by the county with this type of expertise. The most probable solution expressed by Aaron would be to utilize Fire Marshal Buddy Preston’s skills and experience.
Training an existing employee in fire investigation was also considered. There are currently no officers that are interested in this responsibility within the Sheriff’s Department according to Aaron. The cost of continuing education in comparison to utilizing the expertise of someone who already has extensive experience was noted.
Aaron told the Commissioners that of the approximately 40 calls per year throughout the county that involve suspicious fires, of these about 5 per year are found to be set intentionally.
Judge West asked if Aaron could present something in writing for the city to consider, such as an inter-local agreement, and also stated, “…keeping in mind that the budget is extremely tight and will be again next year.”
“We need someone with experience because more experience means more efficiency. Experience makes a difference besides the amount of training,” stated Commissioner Richard Gist with concern.
The Commissioners then agreed to wait until more information was available such as cost of the continuing education verses contracting and reviewing the written information to be presented to the city.
In other county business, Brown County Commissioners approved a proclamation declaring the month of May as Military Appreciation Month. James Masters of the Veterans Services was asked by the court to read aloud the proclamation which recognizes Veterans and reminds all citizens that we need to show appreciation to our Veterans and those currently serving in the military, thanking them for their service. Some of the services that would be held in the coming weeks honoring the Military, both past and present were also announced.
911 Telecommunications were also recognized by Commissioners who retroactively proclaimed April 11-17 as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. No action was taken last week with hopes representatives could attend this weeks’ meeting. Tony Aaron of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Buddy Preston City of Brownwood Fire Marshal accepted the proclamation on these telecommunicators’ behalf.
The court then moved to the now weekly consideration of implementing a burn ban. Judge West noted that he thought he knew what that answer will be…followed by Commissioner Kelton’s response, “We’re good.” Commissioner Traweek then jokingly stated, “If it catches on fire now, it’s arson.” To which West responded, “We’d have to get an investigator.” A bit of laughter was heard from those present, and then the matter was tabled due to the recent rains.
The next items considered were three tax resale deeds which were all approved unanimously.
The last item on the agenda was the announcement of the 1:00 reconvening of the Commissioners’ Court at the Brownwood City Hall for a meeting with FEMA representatives concerning the Base Flood Elevation for Brown County.
Photo: Captain Tony Aaron (left), County Judge Ray West (center), and Brownwood City Fire Marshal Buddy Preston (right)
