(ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX – April 30, 2018) The Rockwall County Commissioners Court met on Tuesday, April 24, to discuss revisions to the County Library’s Borrower’s Card Policy, updates on the county’s Transportation Plan, jail expansion, and several other important action items on the agenda.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved to add driver’s license search capability to the Rockwall County Library software at a cost of $1,000, giving account holders the option to use a Texas driver’s license or official Texas ID card to check out items.
“It creates a convenience for people who don’t carry their library card with them to be able to check out on their proper account and see any blocks they may have,” said Rockwall County Library Director Marcine McCulley.
McCulley said the Library Board of Advisors recommend revisions to the Library Borrower Card Policy to allow the waiving of the nonresident fee for persons who own property in the county but do not reside in the county to obtain a library card. The board also recommended approval of a revision to require only one working phone number, with the option to provide a second working phone number, for the library to contact users regarding their accounts. The policy currently requires two working telephone numbers to open an account with the library. The revisions were unanimously approved by the Commissioners Court.
“A major focus and passion of the Library Board has been to encourage more users to utilize the library, and this is part of that effort to make it a little more user-friendly for our citizens to do business with the library,” Sweet said.
Integrated Environmental Solutions, LLC gained unanimous approval from the commissioners to hold a TxDOT public meeting regarding the FM 549 project on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 in Liberty Hall of the Rockwall Courthouse. The project will see the widening of FM 549 to four lanes from State Highway 205 to State Highway 276.
Commissioner David Magness provided other highlights from the Rockwall County Transportation Plan, noting an upcoming TxDOT public meeting for a major project involving the reconstruction and widening of SH 276 to four lanes from FM 549 in Rockwall County to CR 2472 in Hunt County.
“I want to thank Commissioner Dennis Bailey for his work with ITS and TxDOT in getting this project going,” Magness said. “Although we don’t have confirmation that they’re going to provide the funding for it, this is the first step and it’s looking really good. This is a very big project for Rockwall County.”
The public meeting will be held in an open house format in the cafeteria of Utley Middle School (1201 T. L. Townsend Drive) on Thursday, May 10, 2018 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
A tentative date has been set by the court to hear presentations from the top four of nine total vendors who responded to the court’s RFQ for the Rockwall County Jail Use/Needs Assessment.
After scoring and evaluating each of the nine proposals received, Commissioners Dennis Bailey and Lee Gilbert recommended holding a workshop allowing for hour and half-long presentations from HDR Architecture, DLR Group, HRK, and DRG Architects.
“I was impressed with all the entries that we received for the RFQ,” Bailey said. “We had input from the Sheriff’s Office and the Auditor’s Office, with Commissioner Gilbert and I going through each of the proposals in detail and selecting these four to come in for a court workshop for presentations as soon as possible, so that we can continue this process and know the size of the building, where it needs to go and so forth.”
Sweet said he was very pleased at the amount of responses for the RFQ.
“Commissioners Bailey and Gilbert worked very hard on this and spent a lot of time looking through those over the last week, and I agree that there was a lot of quality in those responses,” Sweet said. “Your jobs were pretty tough as far as scoring and evaluating these proposals, as they were all very detailed.”
The court unanimously approved a motion to bring in the four vendors for presentations, shooting for May 21 as the tentative date to bring in the vendors for the presentations.
The Commissioners Court also gave unanimously approval (with one abstention) for America’s Guardians and the CAC to host their 3rd Annual Bikes for Tykes Teddy Bear Ride fundraiser in Liberty Hall and the parking lot of the Rockwall County Courthouse (1111 W. Yellow Jacket Ln.) on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018.
The event has seen hundreds of riders and general attendees from all around North Texas strap a stuffed animal to their motorcycles and ride around the courthouse with a full police escort. All proceeds from the event’s silent auction held in Liberty Hall benefit the Rockwall CAC. America’s Guardians President Mike “Mad Dog” Meek told the court the fundraiser has raised more than $60,000 for the CAC the past two years.
“Each year we plan on trying to make this event grow a little bit, getting people involved and giving back to the community, especially for the Children’s Advocacy Center,” said America’s Guardians President Mike “Mad Dog” Meek. “For us there’s no better way to give back than to the kids, especially abused kids who need help.”
Other actions taken by the court included:
-Approving the Request for Proposal for financial audit services and authorizing the auditor to advertise by public notice
-Approving an agreement with Nationwide Retirement Solutions to provide their ProAccount plan
-Approving revisions to the Rockwall County Policy on Military Leave
Commissioner Cliff Sevier was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
The Rockwall County Commissioners Court will next meet on Tuesday, May 8, 2018. The Commissioners Court meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month on the third floor of the Historic Downtown Courthouse (101 E. Rusk St., Rockwall, TX 75087). Meetings are open to the public.
Learn more at www.rockwallcountytexas.com.
Submitted press release.
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