Titus County PCT1

2012-01-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

The campaign season has begun and candidates have signed up to run for the commissioner of Precinct #1. I plan to keep things civil and just talk about my abilities and my accomplishments, not about any real or perceived shortcomings of my opponent. Also, I will use any quotes by my opponent only in the context for which they were intended. As for the road crew, we continue to cut trees. We were fortunate to partner with Kenny Hawkins at AEP and Greg Russell at Bowie-Cass on many trees that were close to or would involve power lines. Their contractors trimmed the trees under the lines and we would then take them to the ground. Many thanks to those who helped us get this done.
We installed a culvert for Mr. Marcentel on CR 1364 and installed a culvert on CR 1317 across the road, replacing a badly corroded one. Much time has been spent on small jobs as we try to negotiate the remaining vacation time for the employees. Maintenance of the equipment, straightening the shop, etc. have been done during December while the crew got in their deer hun.., I mean their vacation time in. We badly need to shovel patch next week if we get some dry weather. We did do some late season scabbing on CR 1360 and CR1361. CR 1695 also had some places that we scabbed due to heavy truck traffic. The rest of the time was spent doing what we've been doing since September; cutting Red Oaks and pine trees.

2011-11-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

It's strangely comforting to have a couple of co-workers/ friends give me a hard time about up-dating my blog. You see, I type these blog reports and it seems as if they go out on the web and nobody reads them. I have not gotten many comments or interaction with followers, so, now I know, at least I have a few followers!
The time worked since my last blog has been busy but not very exciting. We finished our major projects this summer and we have been doing some spot scabbing some minor problem areas. We did some scabbing on CR 1345, CR 1468, CR 1450, CR 1465, and CR 1540. Those were all in the middle section of Precinct #1. We always have some scabbing to do on the Old Paris Rd, CR 1200. We also went to the east side of Tankersly on a very narrow road CR 1124 and scabbed a portion of the road for those residents. CR 1220 was also addressed after the gophers had a field day this summer under the pavement.
We always need to take a few days to a week to "shovel patch" the whole precinct. That was done from September 20 to the 23 and again from November 7 to the 10.
The entire rest of the last two and a half months has been spent cutting dead red oaks and pine trees in the precinct. We have cut no less that one hundred trees, some skinny saplings to behemoth oaks. Our burn pile will be photographed for posterity. It is huge!! As I said during court on Monday, if and when we light it, the space station will report a siting! As I sit here typing this blog, I'm hoping the forecasters are right about the large rainfall expected this evening.

2011-08-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Since we finished our effort to rebuild and/or clean out the ditches over all the precinct, we have really worked hard on resurfacing and scabbing our roads over the west and central sections of the precinct. We started off in June with a complete patching effort over the entire precinct so we could have the time to spend on needed projects this summer. We started on CR1475 where so much ditching had been done. From there we went to CR1362 and repaired several spots with scabs. That road has almost no base, as I have mentioned before, and what base it has is what we have put in during our repairs. Anyway, our work drew two thumbs up from Gayla Dodd, a resident on that road.
We then stopped and sprayed the grass and weeds at bridge railings, intersections and blind corners that we had cut down three weeks earlier and again this year, we got a 100% kill at those locations. Our biggest concerns in precinct one are the highly traveled roads like CR1200, CR 1905, CR 1670 and CR 1635. We began to extend the repairs to CR1200 made last year by a considerable amount, completing almost two miles of new pavement. I think that next year, we will have resurfaced all of the "haul road" portion of CR1200 and most of the other.
We started then on the overlay of the road that Luminant built and donated to the county. It was in serious disrepair after only one year and I asked Luminant for some financial assistance on the expense of an overlay. They agreed and we ran a continuous pavement for 1.4 miles from US271 Bus to FM 2152. It turned out very good, thanks to my talented and hard working crew, and Jeff Parchman at Gerhart Excavating even agreed to keep his dirt trucks off of the soft pavement for two or three weeks while the pavement cured. Unfortunately, somebody realized that we had built a fantastic drag-strip and scarred it up. Ugh!
We had a pretty bad wind storm about this time and spent a good deal of both daytime and night-time getting trees off the roads. But by the beginning of July, the heat was severe and a great time to use a cheap paving method we found in 2009. We take the recycled asphalt that we get from the state for their shared materials program, ie. free, windrow it down the road, let the sun heat it up to 100 deg or more, oil it and mix the heck out of it, then lay it down on the existing pavement as an overlay. Now, it not appropriate for our highly traveled roads but for out-of the-way places where traffic is light, we find that it works well and only costs us the price of the oil. We began on CR 1490, where only one house is at the end of the road. It hadn't been worked on in many years and needed it badly. We then went to CR 1635, CR 1435 and CR 1455 and scabbed several places. From ther we went to CR1360 (Daphnes Prairie road) and put that special mix on over a mile of road. With last year and this year's effort, we should complete that portion of road, that has not been resurfaced in twenty-five years, next year.
6T Ranch purchased some land along CR1550 and was rebuilding a fence. We were able to slip in front of their fence builders and pull a good scallopped ditch the entire length thanks to Mgr. Chad Parrish of the 6-T. We are now working our recycling project on CR 1680 at JR's Bottom and hope to upgrade that mess considerably.
In a side note, the negotiations on the Constuction Management Contract for the loop project is just about completed, and hopefully, we can begin pushing dirt in October.

2011-06-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

We have now completed our ditch work for 2011. We still have more to do in the eastern third of the precinct, but the excavator was a rental and we sent it back May 26th so we could get started on some chores and a complete patching of the precinct. We completed CR's 1450 and 1452, parts of CR 1635, and parts of CR 1660. We installed culverts for Mr Taylor on CR 1780, Mr. Martin on CR 1345, for the county on CR 1680 and also for the county on CR 1317. We have also trimmed the early grass around the bridges, culverts and intersections and will come back in three weeks to spray the regrowth. That method has worked well for us for the last two years.
We have plans to patch CR 1400 before we begin our complete overlay. This is the road that was given to the county by Luminant and has been a problem ever since. We are partnering with Luminant to bring that road into county specs. We also plan to do extensive scabbing on CR 1475 and on CR 1362.

2011-03-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

No big whoop since my last post..., except the most important work that we've done for the future of our roads in Precinct 1. We have been doing major ditch cleaning throughout the month of February and so far in March. People in the precinct are surprised and sometimes upset with the way the ditches were designed to look like and function. Every "old school" road man has told me that no matter how much asphalt or cold mix you put on a road, it won't last long if your ditches allow water to stand at base level or roll down the road instead of into the ditch. We have done parts of CR 1475 and CR 1465 in the Bridges Chapel area. Then we moved to the end of the Old Paris Road and worked the curve back to CR 1350. From there we moved to both ends of CR 1345. We also worked the frequently traveled CR 1317 between Hwy 271 Bus. and Hwy 271 By-pass. We just finished the East end of CR 1535 and will be moving to CR 1450 and CR 1452. I've been told people have given me the nickname "Ditch Don". Understanding the importance of this effort, I answer to it proudly. Precinct 1's crew should be commended for their efforts as well.
We also have spent about a week in February patching some badly damaged road from the snows we had this winter. Culverts were installed on CR 1468 for Mr Coil, on CR 1350 for Ms. Cole, on CR 1046 for Ms. Hendricks and we are going to fix a culvert on CR 1315 this week.
I know many are concerned about the selection of Pate Transportation by the selection committee ( Jerry Boatner, Darrell Grubbs, Mike Fields, Mike Ahrens and me). Let me say that we have been doing every thing we can to follow rather strict guidelines set forth by TxDot. The committee is working as a committee generally works, unpredicably.

2011-02-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Much has happened since my last post. We've had a transition in some of the offices, we've had snow twice and we've started our ditching effort one month earlier than last year. The new electees have been busy getting their Texas Association of Counties training and seem to be adjusting well. They are energetic and eager to do the job. So far, we've enjoyed a month divorced from the controversies that plagued us before the election which is good. I am committed to the effort to keep it that way!
The crew has given me a hard time about wanting to tear up two roads during the cold weather of early December. It has not been done that way before. We did however get both CR1312 and CR1030 torn up, mixed with cold mix and laid down in the middle of December. It seems to be holding, to the dismay of my crew. We do have some scabbing to do on CR1362 but could not get to it in time before the bad weather.
The latter part of December was spent allowing the crew to use up their accumulated vacation days, since they aren't carried over to the next year. We leased another excavator starting in January and began pulling ditches along stretches of the county roads. We began on CR1468, continued down CR1550, and started on CR1465 before the snow hit. That has slowed us considerably. We have installed two culverts on CR1550 that were needed and one on CR1340.
Also during this time period, we have taken a couple of days here and there to try to keep up with our patching.

2010-12-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

We've been really blessed since my last post with some very good weather for what we do. There were a few days of stormy weather but overall we've been able to continue scabbing and patching and here it is, after Thanksgiving. We are all surprised but saddened by some incumbents being beaten at the polls however the new electees may do a very good job. The court is committed to working with the voters choices and doing the business of the county seamlessly with the new additions.
We've been busy with some soft spots in the road on CR1362 and 1363, which we then scabbed over after we dug out the places and back-filled with iron ore rock. The crew then scabbed some areas off of the Hart's Bluff road, CR1662, CR1664, CR1725, and CR1745. We then went over to CR1660 and CR 1435 to scab some areas we missed the first time through.
We started the side-boom mower around the precinct early in November. That machine can operate from the pavement and reach out to some "difficult to mow" areas and clean up some low hanging and broken limbs from the many trees that grace our roads. It was a beautiful site this fall to see the "tunnel of trees" changing color on many of our precinct's roads. This machine not only serves a critical service but also gives the trees this tunnel shape.
We did have to cut some dead or dying trees since my last post. Specifically, on CR1535, CR1048, CR1046, and lately CR1345, we cut and hauled off these trees to our mixing field to be burned during rainy weather.
Our biggest effort has been with culverts. We installed a new culvert for Mr. Barnum on CR1725, an extension on a culvert to accommodate Mr. Blair on CR1046, and a replacement for Mr. Young on CR 1048. We installed a culvert for the county across CR1362 to replace one that had rusted and collapsed. We also replaced a culvert for Mr. Martin on CR1345 and cleaned up some trees near his gate. Finally, Mrs Cathcart on CR1435 has had water run into her house in years past because her house pad sits below grade from the adjoining lot. We installed a concrete tile culvert and deepened the ditch by her house to prevent the run-off from the road adding to the problem during a torrential downpour.
We continue to press on with the counties duties concerning the loop project. Despite what was written in the paper quoting individuals involved with acquisitions, we stay active in overseeing the contractors in all phases of the process, including acquisitions, behind the scenes. But we have not, nor will we get involved with dollar amounts during the process of obtaining the property necessary for the project. We feel our presence would be counterproductive in that area to the county's tax-payers as a whole.

2010-10-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been almost two months since my last post so I'll make this quick. From the time of my last post until the 10th of September, we cut some dead trees on CR1200, CR 1342 for Mr. and Mrs. Hill and one on CR1635. We also did some maintenance on our equipment on one rainy day. We cleaned out a culvert on CR1200 that one of the utility companies had covered with dirt.
On September 13, we began extensive resurfacing on portions of CR1200. Starting on the TLI trucking portion, we resurfaced much of the road between there and the haul bridge. We also did several places up to CR1345, where our responsibility becomes that of Precinct 2, our partner on this shared road. We finished work on CR1200 on September 24.
On September 20, we started mowing the right-of-way for the second time this year. He completed his circuit of the precinct on October 15.
We also took time during this period to make 3900 tons of our own oil blended dirt for light paving. On September 27, we began addressing resurfacing needs in the "middle" portion of the precinct, beginning on CR1468 and then moving to CR1455. We also repaired a portion of CR 1465. We had a minor emergency on CR1360 when a culvert separated during a rain, allowing the pavement to fall through. We installed a new large culvert at what we refer to "the big ditch" and resurfaced.
On October 14, we moved to the development west of Lake Tankersley and resurfaced portions of CR1040, CR1042, CR1035, and a larger portion of CR1038. From there we moved to CR1660 and repaired the road on one of the curves and resufaced several parts of that road. We also installed culverts for Mr. Blake on CR1048 and for Mr. Miller on CR1535. Today, we picked up limbs blown down during the weekend's strong but much needed rain.
As a point of reference, my foreman said, due to the good weather and the reclamation money from the pipeline company, we have already done as much or more road resurfacing than in any year he can remember in his twenty + years with Titus County!
Hopefully, I will not be as negligent posting the next month as I was the last two!

2010-09-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

It has a month and a half since my last blog. We have been taking full advantage of the extremely hot and dry weather since my last post. As I mentioned before, our big job of the summer was a complete resurface of CR1905. I must compliment my employees for a wonderful job on that stretch of road. I am so impressed that I am going to stripe that road like the state does. We also scabbed a portion of CR1430 down to the turn to CR1535. We didn't immediately finish CR1430 because the remainder called for a different process that was more cost effective for a lightly traveled section. Last week, we did finish that whole road however. We worked several weeks on a road best described as a disaster. The outlying section of CR1360 was in terrible shape simply because it had never been shown much attention due to its remoteness and the lack of frequent traffic. We applied the method discribed in the last post of pulling ditches, applying recycled asphalt, and oil to make an inexpensive paving material suitable for that road. Again, it went down well and, if it holds up well, we will do the rest of the road next year. We scabbed portions of CR1250 which is way out near Franklin Co.. During this work, we also took time for some tree cutting after a storm, a charitable repair of the pavement for the MPISD Transportation Dept. and picking up junk that people throw out on the county right-of-way. Just this week, we did some needed repairs on CR1680, CR1683, CR1690, and CR 1670.

2010-07-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

We have finished our first round of mowing the precinct. I have sent home the part-time employee since I now have a full crew devoted to our roads. I was a good thing as the weather has been rainy for much of the time since my last post. We have put in several culverts in the precinct, all for the county instead of home access. We put in two west of Lake Tankersley on CR1042 two solve a drainage problem in that neighborhood. We also put in a new culvert across CR1125 to replace one that was in poor condition. We have reapplied recycled asphalt to the creek bottom road on CR1680 and we have repaired a portion of CR1540 by tearing up the existing pavement, relaying the pulverized material, and topping with a good cold-mix layer. We are looking forward to our biggest job for the summer; the rebuilding of the pavement on CR1905. It should take us about two weeks to complete the job and has been waiting on a good long term forecast. Wish us luck!

2010-06-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well, its been over a month since I last posted and, I could say we've been busy, but that didn't stop me before from posting more often. So... no excuses!!! We continued to excavate ditches until the end of May. In all we cleaned ditches on CR's 1605, 1607, 1609, 1330, 1332, 1333, 1335, 1360, 1362, 1123, 1125, 1040, 1042, 1046, 1048, 1360, 1350, and 1362. In all, I'd say it was the most popular thing we've done among the people in the precinct since I started as Commissioner. Almost everyone was pleased to have the work done. We had to get started however on our mowing of the right-of-ways and I sent the leased excavator back. I plan to start again in December with a larger machine with a cab on the longer stretches of roads so we can work even in bad weather. We split the crew during this time so our patching and road repair could go on. We put in culverts for Mr. Yeago on CR1046, Mr. Johnson on CR 1540, Mr. Stansell on CR1333, Mr. Walton on CR1362, Mr. Irvin on CR 1130, Mrs. Hendricks on CR1046, Mr. Black on CR1362, two for Mr. Chism on CR1362, and one for the county across CR 1125. We started our road refinishing on CR 1330 with a long scab from the curve to the intersection at the Old Paris Road. We also are pulling ditches now with the motor grader on CR1220, CR 1465, and CR 1695. We also should be finished with the mowing by the end of the month. I want to acknowledge the cemetary committee at Bridges Chapel for the up-grade to their cemetary roads. Since we can't use long term methods to repair private roads even in cemetaries, They opted to BUY the asphalt based cold mix themselves, no small feat, and we assisted them in spreading the material. Now they have a very impressive pavement throughout their cemetary.

2010-05-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

We have been busy enough with the cleaning of our road ditches that the utility marking companies are getting a little testy about our calls to Dig-Tess. We have worked so far CR1200, CR1135, CR1605, CR1612, CR1123, CR 1330. We previously had done CR1607, CR 1609, CR 1332, CR1333, and CR1335. We are focusing on the residential areas that have had culverts but that are partially or fully filled in. I have put another crew on doing some digging out of soft spots and then patching the rest of the precinct. Greenhill Cemetary wrote me a request for some help around their property before their decoration event on May the 1st and we completed those tasks. The bad storm of April 24th also caused us to work some over-time to cut up approximately 14 trees that had fallen across the road and haul them off.

2010-04-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here in Precinct #1, we have made March and April our "Ditch Months"! We may also make May part of that as well. We have been using our small excavator to clean out some ditches that have been needing attention such as CR 1607, CR1609, CR 1332, CR 1333, and CR 1335. These are small residential areas that have culverts but were mostly filled in with silt. We also have been busy putting in culverts for several residents on CR 1345, CR1357, CR1455 and CR 1200. We think that a free flowing ditch and culverts are a necessity to maintain our roads in an efficient manner. When the existing ditches dry out this Spring( if they ever do!), our plans are to use the motor grader to pull long stretches of the least populated roads to acheive that goal. We also have been trying to patch the holes after each rain to keep up with our repairs. Hopefully we'll get some warmer weather soon so that we can do some larger road maintenance. One day was spent with a tree service cutting some large trees that had been damaged during the Winter.

2010-03-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

We have been taking every opportunity to get our patching done. I can't say were are 100% but we are close. Some spots with bad drainage have been patched so much that we have overlaid the surface. The roads addressed are CRs 1695,1620, 1770, 1905, 1680, 1683, 1362, and 1360. We also have been riding the precinct during these rain storms to pick up limbs that have fallen in or beside the roads. We also have been adding material to the holes around the precinct mail-boxes so the mail carriers can more easily get up to them.

2010-02-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

The weather continues to be a problem. As we patch and repair the damage to our roads from all the rain, another system passes through before our material hardens and is washed out . But we continue to do what we can to keep up. We now have all of your equipment under roof and out of the weather. The whole project, the all weather materials bunk with concrete walls, the double shed here at the barn, and the single shed at the mixing field, in all cost less than $9,000.00, thanks to our guys who did the construction. In my opinion, dollars well spent. We were able to do some badly needed ditch work on CR 1340 for Mr. Newman. We also installed a culvert for Mr. Robles on CR 1435. Almost all the existing crossroad culverts have been checked and many have been cleaned out or unclogged. We have a fairly large list of projects to complete, such as the drainage ditches in our residential areas, but we will continue to try to keep up with the patching until we get some extended clear weather.

2010-01-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

We've started the new year with some basic chores. Patching of roads after all the rain and hard freezing temperatures was one of our priorities. The entire precinct was traveled and some areas required extensive repairs and some areas were just patched. We are assessing our road repair and resufacing needs for the year and hope that these efforts to keep up with our "chores" will allow us more time and money to do some extra resurfacing during the summer. At least we will not have the pipeline to worry about. Culverts! We have been repairing and replacing several in the precinct and they are badly needed in some locations. Also, we have begun erecting two simple sheds, one at the barn and one at our oil-dirt mixing field, so that ,when we get through, we will have every piece of your, the precinct tax-payers, equipment under a roof!

2009-12-29T06:36:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone reading our blog had a merry and safe Christmas. The past three weeks have been spent trying to get everyones vacation time in while the weather was too bad and wet to get much road work done. We did however get the all-weather materials bunk completed and loaded with iron ore and oil sand. We will begin soon on some simple sheds to park additional equipment under. I have a "thing" about equipment being left out in the weather. We installed some culverts for four of our taxpayers during the interim. We also got some patching done on part of the precinct and did some badly needed scabbing on CR 1250.
Recently in Commissioner's Court, I voted against the other commissioners on an issue that I feel strongly about. We have a very good health insurance policy that we provide as a benefit to our employees. It has been well administered by Health First TPA in the past. However, the agent that we deal with represents Health First and their company is owned by East Texas Medical Center. I feel that is a potential conflict of interest and I would prefer an independent agent that represents "only" our interests. The court has recently been sensitive to making local health care providers accessible to our employees through this plan and that will go a long way to helping my reservations.

2009-12-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

We have officially started on our all-weather materials bunk. Despite the weather, we have cut our grade, installed our pole supports(2 7/8 drill stem), run our roof supports and welded our purling. We are working on running the rebar for our concrete bunks and ditching the perimeter for our concrete forms. We may have to sub-contract our forms and the concrete pour due to our lack of experience, however by doing the rest of the work ourselves, we can afford that to prevent the possibility of an expensive mistake with concrete.
During the intermittent good weather, the crew has been able to scab a portion of CR1616 and ditch a portion of CR1612. We were also able to due some culvert repair and drainage work for Mr. Whitfield on CR 1430. Mr. Huffman on CR 1345 needed some culvert repair where a large truck had turned around in his driveway and broke the end off the tile. We also "tried" to do some badly needed mowing and trimming, but we got so stuck, that we were afraid the precinct would end up looking like the job on the interstate by the state crews. One day we also cut some trees on CR1612, CR 1635 and west of Lake Tankersly. Center stripes were also repainted on several blind hills and curves.

2009-11-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, we literally had a flood. On Thursday, October 29th, we had more rain in an hour and a half than I ever remember seeing. Whew!! We did have one day last week when we could do some much needed patching throughout the precinct. We also were able to unclog some culverts and bridges in the rain. Thanks to my crew who never complained about work that had to be done regardless of the weather. We also got the pad for the materials bunk laid out so we can get started on that next week.
This week we were able to finish patching the worst places in the precinct on Monday. Tuesday, we began installing two sets of tile culverts on CR1540 for Ms. Chism. We ran into probems when we cut a phone cable and had to move to another job while repairs were being made. The cable was in the middle of the ditch, not off to the side per the code so my crew not not liable. In the meantime we installed another culvert on CR1632 that was intended to be done a month ago. Wednesday and Thursday, we got some topping material and scabbed more sections on CR1632 and CR1314. We also had time to finish the tile culverts for Ms Chism on CR1540. Today, we have at least two and, if time permits, maybe three culverts for Mr. Griffin on CR1035, Mr. Johnson on CR1540, and Dr. Robertson on CR1675.
At last the proposition election is over and resolved. The people spoke loud and clear about their wishes concerning beer and wine sales in the city. That sounds like the good "ole" American way of doing things is working!

2009-10-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for better weather. We have been out in the weather however, repairing culverts that have not carried this much run-off since they were installed. We were able to overlay one section of CR 1312, another section of CR1475 and a section of CR1660 close to the old Greenhill Presyberian Church. They will be having their foundational worship service on this Sunday, October 25, and I'm sure they will appreciate smoother roads. We also installed a supplemental culvert on CR 1362 to assist the drainage of their road. CR1362 is in a Post-Oak flat that will not drain very rapidly, regardless of what we do, but we are willing to try this to maybe ease the problem. We also overlayed a section of that road while we were there.
As for the Courthouse, we are dealing with a request by local volunteer fire departments to fund the matching portion of two grants that were awarded to them. Our VFD's are very dedicated and valuable to our county, but we have no allocation in our newly adopted budget for the $30,000+ that they will need. Although we may opt to fund this request, I'm very concerned about the future applications for grants on which we have no input. The county budget was not lightly conceived and more pressure at this critical time in our local economy is very worrisome. On one hand, we welcomed the "Tea Party" to our budget hearings to address their taxation concerns and at the very next meeting, we are asked for a large budget amendment by the VFD's. I guess one thing is for sure: "Ya can't please everybody!"

2009-10-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the construction of a bad weather storage bunk for our materials, I was stepping off the pad and found a treasure. Covered in briars and brush was a rusted old brush-hog. It had been there since Mike Price was commissioner nine years ago. Nobody could tell me if it was any good, so during one of these rainy days, I had the crew dig it out, clean it up, and hook it to a tractor. IT WORKS!!! We rewelded some damage to the frame, sanded out all the rust and painted it. Since we don't need it, I'm going to put it on the auction site along with other items that haven't been used in years and put the money into some extra road work.
We did get some half-way decent weather last week and got to scab some areas on CR 1475, CR 1550 (some of the rebuild was too rough), CR 1695, and CR 1660. We also got to pull some ditches on CR 1660 and help out a resident on CR 1670 with some trashy fill dirt she needed behind her house. Three disability residents also asked for help with their drives to accommodate the mail carriers which we were glad to do for free. Working on private property is generally a big NO unless the resident is documented as "Disabled".
This week we have been cleaning equipment, prepping and painting the precinct's treasure brush-hog, and cleaning some culverts for residents on CR 1362. Hopefully we'll have some better weather next week so we can get started on our building project.

2009-09-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain, and more rain. We have been able to catch up on some equipment maintenance. Some of the larger problem trees and some fallen trees around the precinct have been cut up and piled to burn. The few semi-dry days this week have afforded us the opportunity to do some patching that has been neglected while we were building roads the last two months.
The County has had the last of the budget and tax rate hearings on Monday. I think from the questions posed, we satisfactorily explained the rate and the reasons for the budget changes. The Commissioners as a whole took the lead in giving their employees a small raise, but paying for it without increasing our budget allotment. We all are carrying a certain amount of contingency money that we will have to do without next year. I think that is responsible and sensitive to the harder economic times.

2009-09-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

We have now finished the immediate improvements to the "Pipeline " roads. We do have CR1905 yet to complete, but we have been working hard and fast to beat this rapidly approaching fall temperature. The rain and early onset of cooler temperatures may cause that to be postponed until late spring, early summer. We surfaced the bottom road on CR1680 with the ground up asphalt called RAP. It will be damaged every time it floods that road (often!) and we can blade it back fairly easily. The high ground was surfaced with RAP mixed with oil as an experiment and it layed down well and appears to cohere fairly well. We have other areas of the precinct that are lightly traveled that might benefit from this method because it makes a good surface and is inexpensive.
Some people in the precinct don't know that if you need a culvert for your property, call us. We will come out to assess the need, tell you what size culvert to buy, and we will install it for FREE! We have had some people try to put it in themselves and we can't let them do that because the bar-ditch belongs to the county. We have to maintain it so it needs to conform to certain specifications. If you need one, give us a call.
On the "local option" election, I don't really care one way or the other. The way it is now is acceptable to me. I happen to drink alcohol and have no problem driving out of town to purchase my needs. However, I am sensitive to the arguement that it would boost local sales tax revenue considerably. As far as the Court calling for the election, it is our responsibility to respect the lawfully submitted petitions and let the voters decide the issue.

2009-08-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

We finished to repairs to CR1612 just in time before school started! The work has begun on the remainder of CR1550 and the first part turned out very well in spite of some very hard rains. The road was broken up, ground up, mixed with crude oil, and was laid back down. We are using our new Caterpillar motor grader htat does such an exacting job of finishing the surfacing. The good news is, it's costing less than the depreciation on the old one! In my next post, I will talk more about the "local option" elections here in Titus County.

2009-08-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Precinct #1 hit a bonanza on the auctioning of our equipment. The items brought considerably more than we expected. This will enable us to buy a bigger, more suitable tractor and side-boom mower plus allow us to lease a Caterpillar motor-grader for the same money.
We have finished one-half of CR1550 and have started rebuilding CR1612. We will return to CR1550 after we finish but we needed to complete the repairs on CR1612 before Hart's Bluff School started their classes. We have also started over on mowing the precinct due to the unseasonal rains.

2009-08-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

Our precinct has been very busy since the settlement with the pipeline company. We ordered 300 tons of paving material that week and got it put out Thursday and Friday on CR1550. It was just a start though and then the rains came. We spent all last week cutting trees and cleaning up after the strong rains. We were able to put in an extra culvert on CR1612 at the back of the new development of Stonebriar. That particular property has created more run-off than before and I felt that more road drainage would be beneficial. We have 150 tons more of paving material to be delivered tomorrow and with the help of some dry weather, we should be back on CR1550. By the way, precinct 1 has some equipment on the Auctioneerexpress,com website in case anyone needs a motor grader or a side boom mower!

2009-07-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the hens finally came to roost. After several attempts to negotiate a lower figure, the pipeline company finally settled for no less than the amount I need to complete the repairs to the roads that they damaged. We are busy winding up any project that can't wait for a month or so while we are repairing the damages. We added another culvert to CR1612 to handle the extra run-off from the Stonebriar development, today. We covered the repairs to CR 1355 and CR 1357 with topping and we scabbed a small section of CR 1485. Curtis is still making his way around the precinct, trimming back the limbs and cleaning up where the mower couldn't get with his side-boom mower. Next week, we should begin resurfacing CR 1550 and rebuilding the worst parts. All said, the pipeline company was fair to our precinct in both the negotiations and the settlement.

2009-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

If you will notice around bridges, curves and corners, our spraying of the roadside has done extremely well. I told the crew that I had some secrets to improve the kill on the spraying, all legal and according to the label, left over from my days on the ranch. They still work!!! We have been digging out some soft spots around the precinct, filling with iron ore, and began covering with asphalt today. We have more to do tomorrow before we do some basic patching on Friday.

2009-07-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

See, I told you I have been having issues with my computer! I'm not really repeating myself, I just didn't think the first entry posted yesterday.

2009-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't posted lately, but my hand-me-down computer has been on the fritz since last week. We have finished for now our improvements on CR1200. We have more to do, but I'll wait for the new budget year in October. We will probably move to CR1485, CR1775 and CR1695 for our next projects. We hope to get to finish the repairs to the roads used by the pipeline, CR1550, CR1680, and CR1780, but we must wait for their damage money. We have been finishing up our mowing of the precinct and the spraying of the right-of-way. Also we have been taking advantage of the unusually warm weather by making our own oil sand at our mixing field.

2009-06-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, we have finished the improvements on CR1200. There will be more to come but we will need to wait for the new budget in October. Luminant was generous to provide us with 200 tons of cold mix, so that we could take the "roller coaster" out of the road and the rise to the haul road bridge. We now have turned to our mowing of the precinct and spraying of the rights of way. Also, we are waiting for our new bid on materials to start on July 1st that will save the precinct about 25%. In the meantime, we are making our own oil sand at our mixing field, taking advantage of this unually hot weather. Soon, we hope to get started on finishing our repairs to the roads used by the pipeline, CR1550, CR 1680, and CR1780. We have much in front of us, but we have the crew to get it all done this year. Sorry for not posting more often, but my hand-me-down computer has been on the fritz since last week.

2009-06-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't posted before now but we have been "gittin it" lately. We installed a large culvert for Mr. Easley, the contractor for a couple from out of town, building on the old Coburn Place. We also have been spreading alot of paving material on CR1200 and on the intersecting road CR1220. The expenses are high but that area needed some work badly. We also have had trees to cut off the road after the storm last week, but we were lucky that very little damage occurred during that high wind storm. The mower is still making its way around the precinct, having completed most of the eastern and southwestern portions of the area and working our way north from CR1340. We also have been patching some odds and ends during our "in between" times.

2009-06-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

As an addition to my earlier post, I want to go over criteria for where we patch, scab, redo or leave for a new budget year. I wished we had sufficient funds to make our county roads look like city streets. However, we maintain our roads to be all weather, pothole free,and relatively smooth. Most roads are in good enough shape to require only patching on regular intervals. Sometimes, heavily traveled roads (i.e. CR1200) with many residents require scabbing( a smooth surface treatment on the existing base) on a regular schedule. This doesn't mean shoulder to shoulder cover, but a long stretch of topping to cover past patching. Maybe one or two roads per year can be singled out in certain stretches to be redone. Where the base has been undermined and washed out, we rip up the existing road, mill it into a coarse material, add fresh oil, mix it well and lay it back down from shoulder to shoulder. That could be a heavily traveled road with base problems( i.e. CR 1905) or a badly damaged road with past neglect. Eventually, all roads will be addressed as to their needs, but on a day to day basis, this is the criteria we use.

2009-06-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

The much needed repairs to surface of CR1200 have begun and will continue for some time, weather permitting. We scabbed alot of the stretch between VOC-NET and the haul bridge plus some of the area towards Mrs. Thomas's place. I got a commitment from Luminant to furnish materials for a repair to the "roller coaster" section of the southeastern part of CR1200! Thanks to Doug Blevins and Don Marquardt, that should go along way to relieving some budget pressure that CR1200 always has caused. The precinct mowing crew is steadily working it's way around the area, cleaning up all the ditches from the thick grass and weeds due to the wet weather this Spring.

2009-06-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

We started mowing last week but didn't get far before the rains made it too muddy to negotiate the ditches. We had several trees to cut up that had fallen across the road on Tuesday and Wednesday. One, just off CR1030, required almost all day. Thursday, we found some area in the precinct that we could mow that wasn't too wet and we also did some patching. Friday, we worked the same tasks as Thursday until noon, but all but one crew member took off the afternoon on their comp time.
Today, we continued mowing the ditches and we also started one of my priorities, CR1200. We scabbed about 100 yds of the road where we had patched and repatched. Weather permitting, we hope to get much of the road repaired between VOC-NET and the haul bridge!

2009-05-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, we had some good weather this week to do some road repairs. Monday, while we were waiting for material to be delivered, we mowed and cleaned up the barn and yard. On Tuesday, CR1670 was our starting spot with 125 tons of cold mix to resurface down to the Piney Church turn off. We had to put in a culvert extension for Mrs. Duncan on CR 1468 on Wednesday and did somemore ditch cleaning. Thursday, instead of cold mix, I had 125 tons of oil sand delivered to finish topping CR1670. All the other commissioners use cold mix for this purpose but my foreman says that oil sand is better a better product and cheaper. So-o-o-o we're going to give it side-by-side comparison. Place your bets now! Today we finished CR1670, only to find the pipeline dumps were sneaking around to CR1670 for a short cut. What we didn't catch and make turn around, we'll just add another $10,000.00 to the pipeline bill. If you dance, you've got to pay the fiddler.

2009-05-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Our focus here at Precinct 1 has been restoring our roads to pre-storms status. We cleared some culverts and ditches on CR1680 on Friday. Monday, while it was raining, we greased all our equipment and checked our fluid levels, we burned all the trees and limbs we have cut off the roads, and we did some patching on CR1317. Tuesday, we cut some intersection corners so drivers can see oncoming traffic in Bridges Chapel, handled a drainage problem for Mr. Cannon in the Hayes Addition, and cleaned somemore culverts and ditches. Commissioners Court on Monday was significant for a couple of reasons. Not only did we reject Pilgrim's Prides request for penalty and interest abatement by not taking action on the issue, we tightened up on a much needed policy concerning travel expenses. The loop project is progressing but the court is getting very impatient with the firm handling the administation of the project.

2009-05-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

This has been the rainiest spring since 2000. We have been struggling with all the wind and rain damage incurred during the last 6 days. Sunday morning, on CR 1042, the crew had to cut up a HUGE oak tree so residents could get to church. The roads for the most part have held up well. We have some large pot holes on CR1200 that will be repaired on Friday and most roads need their ditches cleaned of leaves and limbs. Hopefully we can get things back to normal by the time our materials dry out so we can get back to the roads. By the way, I've billed the pipeline company for damages and restoration $253,962.21. Precinct 1 does not plan to be out any money to accommodate the extensive damages done to our roads by the pipeline company.

2009-04-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

The rains are guaranteeing a good growing season for all our farm and ranch operators this year. The roads are holding up pretty well, however we have alot of ditch clean-outs in front of us. We are taking this down time to paint some of our equipment and service our machinery. Wednesday, we had some trees down in the precinct. One on CR1342 required me to call two of the crew back at 6PM to cut it off the roadway, one I pulled off the road by hand, and one I had to call the other two of the crew out at 3:30 in the morning to meet me on CR1455 to get it off the road. Today, we picked up the logs and trash, hauled it off and road the roads for more limbs and branches. We did repair some driveway aprons on the west side of Lake Tankersley and we finally repaired some guard rail on CR1200 that had been damaged years ago.

2009-04-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the precinct meeting was poorly attended. I ran notices in the paper for three days leading up to the event, had hot dogs for 200 people and homemade chili by my friend Chuck Denman. With competition from two area revivals, youth baseball and softball, and a tool /computer show at the civic center, I discovered the level of interest from the precinct when things are going pretty well. I wanted to thank Bob Fitch for leaving the precinct in such good condition, both physically and financially, inform residents about the technology options I am offering to keep everyone informed( E-mail and this blog, and to hear any concerns people had. It may be the first and only event of its kind!
Last week we cleaned more ditches on CR1697 and CR1695, we cut the GRASS, yes grass, from one of the worst roads in the precinct CR1749. We spent a couple of days patching holes. On Thursday, we went back to CR1749 and laid the prettiest pavement for those poor souls and thrilled them no end.
The court is considering abating interest for Pilgrim's as they go through bankruptcy. I think Pilgrim's is a vital industry for the community and overall a good corporate entity. My thinking right now is to reject their proposal for abatement due to our inability as a taxing district to legally do so. Also there are many other businesses that are having trouble or are out of business that expect the same rules and accommodations for everyone.

2009-04-21T06:16:00.000-07:00

We have been busy lately with the clean-up from the storms Friday and Saturday. Friday night was spent on CR1435 and CR150 with downed trees. CR 1350 and CR1680 also had some big trees across the road, but we didn't find them until Saturday morning. During the week however we installed two culverts at the 6T Ranch for Mr. Parrish and we prepared CR 1749 for scabbing. We also used the down time from the rains to patch some roads. CR1130 was patched at several axcesses to driveways and the shoulders needed some repair. Mr. Roy had asked for a "No Outlet" sign to be installed going into the neighborhood. We also patched some places on CR1200. We are making preparations for the precinct meeting this evening at 6 o'clock at the Maintenance Barn.

2009-04-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

The work continues on the two roads that have gotten more attention than they probably deserve, CR1550 and CR1670. The combination of wet weather and heavy loads have damaged the repairs already done. However we must keep up with the repairs so that the normal users won't break an axle! Also, once the pipeliners leave, we can start resufacing as soon as possible. We were able to help Mr. Bassinger on CR1332 with his culvert and respond to a request from the Presbyterian Church to put out some ground cover by their foundation church on CR1660. Rain was forcasted for Easter Sunday and they hold a Sunrise Service on that day. Today, we put up a "No Outlet" sign on CR1130, cleaned out a clogged ditch on CR 1030, and surveyed the precinct after the storms this weekend.

2009-04-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well, last week brought some much needed rain to the county, but didn't do much for our county roads. We did get some routine monthly patching done over most of the precinct, but no major repairs. On Friday, we extended a culvert for Mr. Jenkins to accommodate wider loads in and out of his property. The guys got all of our equipment, the dumps, the haul trucks, backhoes, etc. cleaned out and washed. The funniest thing was a bad smell coming from the refrigerator we have to keep their lunches in during the day. We cleaned it out and found prehistoric tuna salad, rock hard sandwiches, and juice from the Bush Years. What would one expect from a crew of all men!

2009-03-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-03-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-02T13:15:00.002-08:00

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.

2009-03-02T13:15:00.001-08:00

2009-02-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

Now I feel like a veteran politician. I lied! I just thought I was through on CR1550. Nicky Brown, my foreman, said he had 7 or 8 more repairs to make before we moved the equipment to CR1680. We now have those completed and will be on CR1680 next week unless it rains a ton this weekend.

2009-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

We finished the CR1550 stretch from FM2152 to the pipeline access road. Now we'll move our equipment to CR1680 and work on the base there. Maybe by next Thursday or Friday, the repairs on CR1550 will be dry enough for some oil sand paving.

2009-02-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

Today, we had more iron ore hauled in to continue our repairs on CR1550. We dug out 8 more locations and put new base down. One more day ought to complete the initial repairs on that road, so we can then start on CR1680. After several days of sunshine, the base repairs on CR 1550 will be ready for some oil sand topping. Commissioners met with the superintendent of Willbro Co., the pipeline contractor, and discussed the responsibility of their company in defraying the cost of repairs to the county , for the damages caused by their truck-traffic to the roads they are using.

2009-02-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

If you missed the Court meeting, you didn't miss much. The only thing on the agenda was putting Frances Neal back on the MHMR board as our county representative. She does a good job and her term was about to expire.
As for our road work, CR1550 was worked on again. That could be a "weeks long" job unless we can get a lot of dry weather. Commissioners Hinton, Hockaday and I will be meeting with the pipeline superintendent tomorrow to talk about compensations to the county for all the damages incurred.

2009-02-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

We are working hard at tearing up CR1550...and putting new base in all the soft spots that the heavy trucks are causing. We really do ask for patience from all who travel the roads accessed by the pipeline trucks. Our material is a little damp and we hope it will set up so we can top with some oil mix. County Commissioners Court is scheduled for Monday. See you there!

2009-02-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Like Willie Nelson says, we're on the road again. The damaged areas of CR1905 were dug out and new base was replaced. On CR1550, we dug out 6 areas and repaired them between SH2152 and the first crossroad! More to come tomorrow.

2009-02-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

Here's another day of odds and ends. We cut some intersection corners clean of the brush and vines on CR 1255 and also some trees in the area. CR 1342 and 1345 were trimmed of their low branches. We picked up two dead animals in the ditch on CR1340, two more on CR1312 and buried them at the mixing field. Tomorrow, we hope to get back on the pipeline roads of CR1550 and 1905 now that our material is dry and our base repairs are drying.

2009-02-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

Hopefully, we will miss the forecasted rain for today so we can resume or repairs to CR1550, 1670, 1680,and 1905. Today, we put up a "Children at Play" sign for Terry Ward on the far end of CR1200. While we were there, we cut alot of low hanging limbs along the road and down CR 1255 and 1257. I also got a gate for the fence at the new bridge on CR1535.

2009-02-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate "President's Day"!

2009-02-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Today we cleaned out some clogged culverts on CR 1455. It was still pretty wet but it was badly needed if we get the rains forecast for Tuesday of next week. The crew also cut a large snag on CR1435 and some low hanging limbs. All of the wood was hauled to the burn site to burn Tuesday if we get some more rain.

2009-02-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

Due to the rains earlier in the week, we could not apply our oil-sand to the repairs we made to the base on CR 1550, the most damaged road by the pipeliners. Instead we cut several dead trees, some quite large, and broken limbs on CR 1350 and CR 1345. We also cleaned off the corners of a crossroad intersection at CR 1250 and CR 1070. A visit was made to the house of Roman Cardenas on CR1485 to inspect the condition of the road there.

2009-02-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

This is the opening blog to any one who might be interested in the activities of the Precinct 1 road crew and the issues we face in maintaining and improving the quality of the county road. Also I will be posting events and issues that pertain to the conduct of business affairs relating to this precinct; county government, taxation issues,etc. My plan is to post a daily account of our activities and locations. Please feel free to respond with requests or suggestions. Don