By Leia Jobe/reporter2@trcle.com
Johnson County commissioners will discuss the status of the courthouse renovation Wednesday and will also consider awarding a bid for repairing the roof of the Johnson County Corrections Center in Cleburne.
County Judge Roger Harmon said he is concerned about the status of the courthouse renovation, which is now in the final punch-out stage where contractors and officials walk through the building to touch up minor blemishes throughout the interior and exterior of the building.
“We did a walk-through this morning, and I was very disappointed at the overall cleanliness of the building, especially how dirty the floors are,” Harmon said. “It’s going to take a lot of work.”
It will be at least February before the commissioners court can officially move into the building, Harmon said. The county held a rededication ceremony in late November to celebrate the courthouse’s reopening after almost two years of restoration.
“We’re not going to accept it until it’s perfect,” he said.
The court will also consider bids for the repair of the jail’s leaky roof, which is an urgent problem, Harmon said. If the bids are unacceptably high, the court could reject them all, he said.
“The bids came in pretty high,” Harmon said.
The court’s consultant for the project, ARMKO Industries, helped write the bid specifications. Company representatives will discuss the repair job in a workshop session with the commissioners.
The court will also consider accepting a grant that would allow the county to hire and train an additional officer to enforce environmental regulations in the county.
Sheriff Bob Alford said the county has one officer, Steve Shaw, working on environmental problems, which include illegal dumping and chemical spills from industrial vehicles. Shaw’s workload is too much for one person to handle, Alford said, and the grant money would help hire a new officer to keep the county safe by enforcing environmental restrictions.
“It’s a very successful program,” said Capt. Troy Fuller. “Adding a second officer to the program will be a great benefit and will allow us to be more proactive.”
Fuller said the grant is still being written and will be up for approval by the court on Wednesday.
The commissioners will consider preliminary paperwork with GrantWorks for the Texas Community Development Block Grant to install a new 250,000 gallon water tank with 5,280 linear feet of 12 inch water pipe east of Lillian.
“The special utility district had applied for that grant,” Harmon said. “It’s going to be a big benefit to the area because the water pressures are low. That area of the county is growing very rapidly, and the water pressure’s going to be critical.
“This will help them tremendously with the water pressure. As the population grows, you have to increase capacity, and that’s what this will do.”
Also at the meeting, the court will consider continuing an agreement for the Cities Readiness Initiative. The inoculation program is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, said the county’s emergency management coordinator, Gerald Mohr.
The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Room 307 of the Guinn Justice Center in Cleburne.
