County receives donations for Falls on the Brazos

(Falls County, Texas) - During a Falls County Commissioners Court meeting on July 13, approval for receiving donations for Falls on the Brazos Park passed unanimously. 

The two donations will go to beautifying the park and making it easier for users to enjoy the space. Conner’s Rock donated three loads of pea gravel for the playground area. There is currently little gravel in the area. A barrier will have to be put down before the gravel can be laid, but procurement of the barrier, either plastic or woven fabric, is underway. 

The second donation was from Chris Martinez Insulation and consists of 10, 55-gallon barrels to be used as trash cans at the Park. These will hopefully minimize the amount of littering onsite. 

Other business discussed are as follows.

Falls County Trash Day

Falls County Trash Day will take place on Aug 1. Road and Bridge is set to have dumpsters out at locations, which will be released later in the month. They will also be posted in the Falls County Courthouse Annex and in The Marlin Democrat.

Road Closing Petition

A petition has been filed to close a portion of County Road 491, encompassing the section from State Highway 7 until the dead end, where the old bridge is out. It is a distance of about .4 miles according to the petition. The petition, filed by Terry W. Hurst, has a total of eight signatures from the landowners on the surrounding properties. Texas Transportation code requires a waiting period of 20 days to allow any contest to the petition. It will be revisited during the August 10 meeting, which will be the first commissioners meeting after that 20-day period. 

Hail Damage

The devastating storm on May 27 caused hail damage of eight county-owned buildings. Abercrombie, Simmons, & Gillette, Inc, the county’s insurance agency, has designated a total of $346,647.53 to Falls County. Because the courthouse is under contract, it is not covered, though it is one of the eight buildings. Bids were received for repairing the Falls County Road and Bridge site, as well as the Falls County Museum Building, and the Adult Probation Office. After discussion, it was decided that repairs to the Museum and to the Road and Bridge Office could wait, but that the Probation Office needed immediate attention. Between Lone Star Construction, Parsons Construction, and Montgomery Construction and Roofing, Montgomery won the bid. Total cost for repairs comes to $42,414.23 and encompasses clearing off the current roofing materials, attaching insulation, attaching 60 mil roofing materials to the roof and up the parapet walls, as well as installing prefinished coping at the roof perimeter, and clean-up/haul away of old materials.

TxDOT Grant

Falls Count received a Notice of Eligible Grant Award Allocation from the Texas Department of Transportation in past weeks, detailing that the county is eligible for $110,131 from the County Transportation Infrastructure Fund Grant Program. This has been underway for a number of months and had a detailed application process, including giving TxDOT a list of the proposed road renovations to be made. Commissioners approved a “resolution and order” to approve the program agreement, the motion passing unanimously.