By Cathy Passmore

A resolution authorizing signatories for contractual documents for the Orca-El Oso grant was approved at the October 31 Commissioners Court meeting after discussion between county officials and "Punch" Humphries, speaking on behalf of the project.

Along these lines, Humphries said that the Harold Brown & Sons Engineering Firm from Lampasas is their choice for the water construction project.

The project which has been approved by ORCA will help the El Oso Water Supply Corporation extend their water lines into areas near FM 1144 to better serve rural water customers.

The recommendation for the engineering firm was approved. Commissioner Isidro "Stormy" Rossett asked about preconstruction conferences to be held in November. County Judge Alger Kendall, Jr. said, "They will have meetings in San Antonio." He also said that after additional study, the acceptance to indemnify the insurance policy with Orca-El Oso had been made.

In other business, county officials approved a yearly contribution of $698.50 to the Council of South Central Texas to match a sum from the Texas Department of Agriculture for "Texans Feeding Texans." This is a grant program which authorizes the delivery of meals several times a week to citizens in the county who are 65 or over and homebound. The program runs from September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008.

County officials announced that David Purser will be one of two appointees to represent the county on the board of the Karnes County Economic Development Corporation. One other representative is yet to be named.

The court also accepted the bid for time warrants for three years from former County Judge Alfred Pawelek that will allow the purchase of a 2008 Ford F150 Supercab pickup truck for Commissioner Rossett’s Precinct 4 at an APR of 4.85 percent interest.

Further county business included the approval for the purchase of a new copier for the county clerk’s office and the method of purchasing uniforms for county employees.

The uniform purchasing policy will be included in the upcoming revision of the county policy handbook.

County officials approved a contract with Waste Management Company for the installation and removal of trash containers from the county trash collection station. The contract involved is for three years. After discussion, authorization was granted for the payments prior to approval of regular, reoccurring bills in order to expedite the timely payment of these bills.

At the close of the regular meeting, County Judge Alger Kendall, Jr. announced that TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) had notified the county "that plans are being made to widen FM 81, from Helena to Runge, in the year 2009. Each lane on the roadway is presently 10 feet and will be widened to 12 feet each, with a two-foot-wide shoulder addition in both directions."