Palo Pinto Courthouse to be rewired
Jun. 15—PALO PINTO — County commissioners Monday committed $338,000 from their capital improvement fund to bury new copper wiring at the courthouse, sheriff's department and other county buildings.
A company called Polarity was chosen from two bidders. The work will mean some courthouse visitors or workers could be asked to move their vehicles as lines are buried.
"There's going to be some heavy equipment — a crane, some trucks," TexRan Directional Drilling owner Manny Ramirez told commissioners. "Be patient. It's going to be an inconvenience, I'm not going to lie to you."
He added his portion of the work should last two to three weeks once the cable is delivered.
Ray Bertrand, the county's representative from its information technology contractor, said the Polarity network will replace a system that has become frustrating to workers at their computer stations.
One employee in the gallery volunteered that offices are having to reboot systems multiple times a day.
"It's going to help tremendously in troubleshooting network problems," Bertrand said, after praising work the company already has done in the Mineral Wells courthouse annex. "We're very impressed with it."
He said the underground network will accommodate two, two-inch conduits.
"If one building goes down, they don't all go down," he said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jeff Fryer asked Bertrand how much the upgrade will save the county in the long run, which the consultant replied is unknown, specifically.
"Once you get through this is the rewards," he said. "This is the tough year. I think we're heading in the right direction."
County Judge Shane Long recommended the county make the investment.
"We've discussed this many times," Long said. "We're 20 years behind, maybe more. I think it's what we need, tough as it is. The bottom line is, we're either going to do this or we're going to get fileted (by the staff)."
In other action Monday, commissioners:
—Learned the county must either buy a new computer system server by the end of the year or become dependent on finding used parts for the model now in place.
Bill Moser, sales vice president for Net Data, told the court the IBM server for the Palo Pinto courthouse will no longer be made by year's end.
"The good news is ... you've got till the end of the year," Moser said, indicating commissioners can plan a replacement server in budget talks just now getting underway for the 2022-23 fiscal year. "You have time. Don't wait till the middle of November."
—Kept the burn ban in effect for unincorporated parts of the county.
—Placed a county-owned building next door to the courthouse up for auction from July 5 to July 19.
Commissioners want a buyer who will remove the shuttered building immediately west of the courthouse known as the Old Cafe.
Long said Texas statute forbids counties from destroying assets, but if no one bids on the building the court could legally level the wooden structure.
He said the court hasn't decided what to do with the lot once it's vacant.
Long said the auction advertisement will publish in the Weatherford Democrat.
—Learned from Fryer that electricians finishing up the courthouse annex in Mineral Wells are waiting on "some parts" to complete their work.
Fryer said the former Bank of America building is close to welcoming its permanent county satellite offices, including auto registration and a sheriff's station.
"It's all minor stuff now," Fryer said. "We've got to get the painters out there."
—Joined a full gallery in applauding Cmdr. Clay Roundtree, the county's Veterans Service Officer, for earning the 2022 AmVet of the Year Award.
"We're proud of you," Long told Roundtree. "And we appreciate your service to the county."
