County to obtain disaster funding

By Melinda L. Lucas

A disaster declaration was ratified at Monday’s meeting of the Shackelford County commissioners in hopes that state or federal funding will be available to help repair flood-damaged county roads.

“Due to the large amount of rain at the end of May, the county is facing tremendous economic damages to county roads and bridges,” said county judge Robert Skelton. “It looks severe enough that we would need supplementary help from the government.”

Skelton submitted a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month asking to be added to the list of disaster-affected counties, but approval from the commissioners was necessary in order to make the request official, he said.

Approval came on a motion by Steve Riley, seconded by Lanham Martin.

“We’re working to try and make the roads passable, but we can’t really repair yet,” said Riley. “We will start making repairs as soon as we can.”

Scales Policy

Skelton said that the man who asked several weeks ago about obtaining printed weight tickets from the public county-owned scales is the owner of a company producing “blood meal” fertilizer.

After some discussion, the commissioners decided that they would not change the current policy, which is that if a county employee is available at that time to go print a receipt, it can be provided. 

Maintenance Proposal

Two representatives of Cary Services presented options for maintenance of the HVAC at both the courthouse and the Law Enforcement Center.

J.T. Cary said that the company could service everything from the Courthouse’s complex “chiller” to the LEC ice machines.

Although the commissioners responded favorably to the proposals, no action will be taken until county officials start working on the budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Other Business

•There was no action taken on the burn ban, which will remain inactive.

•Precinct 1 commissioner Ace Reames stated he plans to contact a Graham company about making repairs to the bridge on the Caldwell road.