Court approves amended agreement

November 12, 2022

By Emily Banks Wooten
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The Polk County Commissioners Court approved an amended agreement with Goodwin Lassiter & Strong for engineering services for the water infrastructure projects to be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) during its regular meeting Tuesday.

“We had the original agreement, but we need to amend it now that the scope of work has been determined,” County Judge Sydney Murphy. The county is using its ARPA funds to provide interconnectivity and water infrastructure in the unincorporated areas of the county.

A request from the county clerk to utilize the judicial center break room to temporarily house voter registration records was approved. Previously, the tax assessor-collector served as the voter registrar and was responsible for disseminating the voter registration cards and the county clerk and her staff were responsible for running the elections. However, the Court approved an order transferring voter registration duty from the tax assessor-collector to the county clerk on June 14. The change is effective Jan. 1, 2023.

Proposed revisions to the Polk County subdivision regulations were discussed and a public hearing on the revisions was scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 13. “We adopted the subdivision regulations basically a year ago and we knew it was going to be a work in progress,” Murphy said. The revisions primarily affect RV/tiny house parks and mobile home rental communities.

The Court approved a resolution supporting additional measures to secure the U.S.-Mexico border against criminal activity. “We received several requests from Dr. Babin and other legislators. Previously, we weren’t being impacted. Now we are, with fentanyl, drug trafficking and human trafficking on 59 and our law enforcement at the border,” Murphy said.

Requests for capital purchases to be paid from the general fund balance and included on the fiscal year 2023 reimbursement resolution for the year-end issuance of legally authorized debt were approved, specifically, a request from the Precinct 1 justice of the peace for the purchase a desktop scanner not to exceed $1,000 and a request from information technology for the purchase of computers for the annual technology rotation not to exceed $30,180.

An offer to purchase Lot 19 of Block 12 of Section 1 of Impala Woods, tax foreclosed property in Precinct 2, was approved. An amendment to the SAAFE House lease agreement was also approved.

In personnel matters, the Court reviewed personnel action form requests submitted since the last meeting and review two authorized emergency hirings, one at the jail and one at the sheriff’s office. Additionally, the Court approved fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023 budget revisions and amendments as presented by the county auditor’s office.