Since my last post, we helped Kieth Thomas tie his new residential development street at Stonebrier into CR1605. We also cut some smaller dead trees off of several county roads. Today we installed a 32 ft. culvert for the Johnson's on CR1660 and we did some hurried repairs on both CR1550 at the White Oak church and CR 1670. With rain expected tomorrow, the guys had to be in a hurry today.

Despite the threatening weather, we actually got quite alot done this week. There was a culvert on CR1475 that had rotted out, so we replaced it. Also we had to tamp all the dumpsters from "Spring Cleaning" week so the waste management people could pick them up. We got rid of alot of garbage last week! We put in a culvert for the Morrises on CR1364 on Tuesday. Also, we did odd jobs around the yard, like putting some of our materials under the shed so we could do road repair as soon as the the weather clears. We also had maintenance check the differentials on all our large trucks. Dennis, our maintenance foreman, said there had been a rash of rear-end jobs around the county lately and we should make time to check those. Wednesday we had a contractor come out with his lift truck and cut dead trees that were too big or hazardous for us to handle. We cut six large trees in a days contract and hauled them to the burn pile. Today, we checked for damage from the hard rain Thursday, burned the burn pile, and cut a tree on CR1550.

The county is really getting into this "Spring Cleaning". A great effort is meaning shown to clean up around properties in the precinct.Great Job!!! Friday, we cleaned out a ditch and culvert on CR1123 for the Camerons and the Holts so the water would flow off their yards if we get more rain this week. We also picked up the waste fill dirt at Bridges Chapel and brought it back to the mixing field. The rest of the day was spent cold patching precinct roads damaged during the rains last weekend.

It looks like everyone is taking advantage of the "Spring Cleaning Week". Participation hasbeen enough to fill two job site dumpsters!!! at CR1342 and one dumpster on CR1670. We have been doing our monthly patching of roads. We may not get all over the county this week since the heavy rains did some damage. We repaired the road at Bridges Chapel cemetery using 7 tons of material. The cost was $575.00 that we incur to accommodate the families of the deceased. We also plan to bring some fill dirt for the cemetery association and pick up some scree. Nicky Brown says that the doctor will release him to go back to work on Monday.

Since my last post, we've been busy trying to unclog culverts around the precinct. We've also been cleaning up limbs and refuse from the much welcomed rains. Nicky, my foreman, got a slight injury on Monday and should be out for at least a week. We wish him a rapid recovery. We are also checking and tamping the dumpsters scattered around the county for "Spring Cleaning Week". Remember to get those garages and barns cleaned out this week because the trash haul-off is FREE!!!

Since my last blog, I attended the 2009 County Judges and Commissioners Conference to get my requisite 16 hours of continuing education. The sessions were mostly obvious information however there were some very good sessions. The main thing I learned was how fortunate we are to have a functional and cooperative county government in Titus Co. From the questions asked at some of the sessions, it was obvious that some counties have severe problems with the duties and responsibilities of various office holders. It seems the "good ole boys" network is still around in some counties. Trust me, I have only been in office for two months, but I have yet to see anything other than normal disagreements and a cooperative attitudes.
While I was away, the crew worked some more on CR1550, CR1670 and did some much needed clean out of equipment sheds and the county office during the rains.

Since Monday, we have been taking advantage of the weather to repair CR1680, CR1780, the west end of CR1550, and CR1475. Numerous sites were dug out and new iron ore was packed in. Now the pipeline has started hauling dozers, trackhoes and other extremely heavy equipment across the areas repaired last week. We will try to stay ahead of the damage and deal with the repair as it arises. Today we spread 35 tons of oil-sand on CR 1905(the extension of the Green Hill Road) so the faster and busier traffic would not be affected as severely.

CR1680 got a little smoother today. We pulled the ditches and bladed the road down to the curve. Tomorrow, we'll haul some iron ore for some bad holes and finish out to CR1780.

CR 1680 finally got a little smoother today. The ditches were pulled and the road surface was bladed to give a little smoother road. Tomorrow, we'll haul in some iron ore for a couple of bad holes in the road and finish the road to CR1780.