V. Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
Marion County Commissioners finished off spending most of their American Rescue Act Funds this week as they replaced old, missing, or broken equipment.
Precinct 1 Commissioner J.R. Ashley purchased an E60 R2 Series Bobcat Compact Excavator for $129,341. Ashley said the equipment has a movable grapple attachment which can be used to more easily remove trees from properties.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Jacob Pattison replaced a work truck which recently broke down and would cost more to fix than the truck was worth. He purchased a 2024 Ram V-6 for $90,385.
Ralph Meisenheimer, Precinct 3 Commissioner, purchased a 2024 John Deer 5075E Cab Utility Tractor with loader, grapple, cutter and tiller for $91,900.94. Meisenheimer said his mowing tractor had been down for over a year and this would also allow him to work oil into roadbeds instead of having to subcontract.
The County received $1,914,024 from ARPA and has spent all but $643,660. The remaining funds have been allocated to additional projects.
Commissioners marked the funds as “Revenue Loss” so they had more flexibility in using them, but have to have it all spent by December 31, 2024, or the balance returns to the federal government.
“The ARPA funds are not property tax monies, but funds supplied by the federal government,” said Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur. “I have no intention of letting any of these funds return.”
Other projects included the replacement of the roof on the jail, and roof and upgrades at the Kellyville Community Center.
Commissioners also considered creating a “Beneficiary Agreement” with Friends of Jefferson Animals to create a County-wide Spay and Neuter program to the tune of $20,000, also using ARPA funds, but Pattison requested it be tabled until the next meeting so he could get answers to some questions. Pattison did not elaborate on those questions.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Gered Lee also raised questions about how FOJA would ensure that only County residents would be able to use the program’s funds. FOJA representative Dina Carroll said they learned a lot during their first voucher program and this would include address verifications as well as a time limit on the use of the voucher so that if not used, it could be re-assigned
Repairs to the roof of the jail came in under budget, so repairs were made to the awning and guttering on the Austin Street side of the jail. Even with the additional $10,880 expense, the project came in $35,120 under budget. A total of $229,684 of ARPA funds were budgeted to the project.
In other work projects, Commissioners renewed the Cypress River Airport’s agreement with TxDOT for routine maintenance. The airport spent $111,111.11 this year, of which TxDOT will reimburse 90%.
They also approved the renewal of the storage tank liability insurance and an application for insurance at the airport.
Lastly, Commissioners discussed a road situation which has arisen due to the potential development of adjacent property.
Cypress Chapel Road, off FM134, was believed to be a County road. However, title work has determined it is a private road servicing a cemetery, church, land owners, and leads to the City’s gun range. The County has done patch work on the road for a number of years.
Title work uncovered that the City has a 25-foot easement on property, adjacent to the private road, but has never developed it beyond running a water line to the range. At one time the easement was a “wagon trail” to the range which was formerly a City dump. At some point, due to lack of maintaining the easement, the private road was built.
Commissioners gave LaFleur authority to discuss the issue with the parties to determine a solution and bring back to them for approval.