Most areas of the county are “okay” according to Brown County commissioners who held off on implementing a burn ban at Monday morning’s commissioners’ court.
After previous weeks of rain greening up the area and cooler temperatures, county commissioners agreed to take no action on reinstating a burn ban.
Commissioners will continue to evaluate the need for a burn ban each week during regular commissioners’ court meetings.
In other matters on the agenda:
*Commissioners passed on expenditure requests on the agenda for Commissioners Richard Gist of precinct 3 and Bob Clark of precinct 1.
*Approval was given iCON a portion of the NetData software that the county currently uses. iCON, according to Auditor Nina Cox, is the current software used by the Justices of the Peace for Case Management. Cox explained that the agenda item was an update to the software with no additional costs to the county, but that with the update, NetData wanted to have a written agreement established that the county agrees to pay the $12,018/year for the software. Cox stated that this amount has already been paid early in order to receive a discount for the contract period of the 2013 calendar year. In addition, the agreement does state that the county will pay $100/hour billing rate for technicians when needed on site, according to County Judge Ray West.*Commissioners approved a fire alarm monitoring agreement between the county and Carroll Fire and Safety for monitoring of the Juvenile Detention Center and the courthouse. The agreement will become effective as soon as repairs can be made for installation of a monitoring system at the Juvenile Detention Center. According to Judge West and county employee Keith Allen, the contract will be for two facilities instead of just the courthouse at a cost of $480/year, which is only $120 more per year for the additional facility. The current cost is $360/year for the courthouse without monitoring of the Juvenile Detention Center.
*Approval for the 2013 holidays for Brown County was given. The following holidays will be observed by Brown County:
Monday, January 1 – New Years Day
Monday, January 21 – Martin Luther King Birthday
Monday, February 18 – Presidents’ Day
Friday, March 29 – Good Friday
Monday, May 27 – Memorial Day
Thursday, July 4 – Independence Day
Monday, September 2 – Labor Day
Monday, October 14 – Columbus Day
Monday, November 11 – Veterans Day
Thursday/Friday, November 28-29 – Thanksgiving
Tuesday/Wednesday, December 24-25 – Christmas
*Commissioner Richard Gist received approval for the installation of a private line on County Road 261. This line is for Verizon to extend service to a new area. The installation will require a cut across an unpaved road and will be done according to county specifications according to Gist.
