Ihope everyone had a very nice Easter. What a wonderful time of the year. It was good to see so many folks in church on Sunday morning. I do the Children’s sermon in our church, and it was great to have a larger than normal number of kiddos join us. I do have to admit that while sitting down on the floor is not that hard, sometimes the getting up can be a little rough, but we got it done and the kids had a good time.
Last week we had three town hall meetings; one in Rockdale, one in Cameron and another in Thorndale. We also had the first full meeting of the Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee. It was wonderful to get out and be able to speak with so many folks and hear from you all. These events are always rejuvenating to me. Sometimes the questions can be tough, and I know many elected officials who shy away from these events, but I really enjoy getting to hear from folks and learning what’s important to Milam County. Look for more of these in the next few months.
The Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee (LRPAC) is made up of Milam County Citizens from all over the county and a wide array of occupations. We set this up to help give the Commissioners Court some guidance on infrastructure needs to address both the growth the county is currently experiencing, and the increased growth we expect in the years to come. While many of these needs are easy to see (Jail expansion/constructions, South Milam County Annex, an improved Justice Building), a LRPAC can give the Commissioners Court some added items based on the occupational knowledge and location backgrounds each of these committee members come to the table with. The LRPAC will also be able to help address the questions of when, where, how and how much; questions that haven’t always been asked nor answered in the past.
The 2025 budget process has already started, actually, we started the process in December. This month we will have department head meetings to go over the rough draft and work on getting things laid out for an initial draft of the budget. In May and June, we will firm things up so that when we get to the Commissioners Court budget workshops, we are fine-tuning the proposed budget for publication in late July. We will then hold public town hall meetings on the budget in late July and early August so we can get some public feedback.
The professional building is open for business. They are still tidying up the place and unpacking, but it is open. The professional buildings house the Health Department, WIC, AgriLife, along with our County Liaison Officer with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and the new position of County Grant Manager. If you need any of these services, then they are available. We will look to put on an open house event sometime later this month or early in May after everyone is fully moved in and unpacked.
Lastly, the solar eclipse is Monday, April 8. I am not real sure to what extent the temporarily increased population here to watch the eclipse will have on Milam County, so we issued a Disaster Declaration just to make sure that Milam County has preferred preference or a higher priority to any aid we might need from the state of federal agencies working with the local counties. It is advised that you make sure you have adequate supplies and fuel on hand as well. In other parts of the country where these events have happened there have been issues with supplies running short temporarily, so just be prepared. I’m not saying run out and buy up all the toilet paper and whatnot, just be ready in case you need something. Personally, I’m stocking up on s’mores supplies.
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