HENDERSON COUNTY–Commissioners’ Court of Henderson County voted May 17 to approve two floodplain permits for the Integrated Pipeline (IPL) project, which will move water from Lake Palestine to Dallas-Fort Worth.
County Floodplain Administrator Joy Kimbrough said one permit is in Precinct 1 to tunnel under Cedar Creek north of State Highway 31. The other permit is located between Farm to Market (FM) 59 and FM 753, crossing Hollywood Lake south of Athens.
The permits are for an 84-inch portion of the IPL, which is a Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) project to bring water from Lake Palestine to connect to Cedar Creek Lake and Richland-Chambers Reservoir water pipelines and eventually move that water to Dallas-Fort Worth.
The court also approved a list of eligible projects for the American Rescue Plan Act, coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds and to proceed with necessary project implementation.
The eight types of projects include UT Health COVID-19 expenditures, water supplies, broadband infrastructure, law enforcement equipment, HVAC air quality, road infrastructure, the Senior Citizens Building at Henderson County Regional Fair Park and financial software, according to County Grant Coordinator Jessica Brown.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Tuley said that during meetings, the court has “looked across what has happened over the last 18 months to two years, that our citizens are going to be able to see stuff that we’re taking with this, say the ice storm, that we don’t get in that problem again, law enforcement, the Senior Citizens building and the fairgrounds. So I think that they’re going to be able to see some of this money that the county is given and they’re going to be able to touch it, it’s not going to be behind the scenes. So I’m kind of proud of the court of how we’ve stretched all these eight across our county that everybody should be able to see.”
Traylor & Associates, which was hired to navigate the funding process, said the list was not all inclusive and that it is the list of items at this time. County Judge Wade McKinney said this is a multi-year process that will continue until 2026.
In other business, the court:
• Approved the canvass of votes for the May 7 state constitutional amendment special election, with 4,075 votes totaling a 7% turnout of eligible voters.
• Approved accepting the fiscal year 2022 Indigent Defense Grant Program Award of $65,514.
• Approved applying for the Edwin A. Blue and Janice Owen Miller Charitable Fund grant application for 2022, as requested by the County Historical Commission to purchase a laptop, scanner and two external hard drives to scan historical items into an electronic format.
• Approved accepting a petition for creation of Emergency Services District (ESD) 12, located in Precinct 3, for which the Chandler Volunteer Fire Department would be the main department.
• Approved setting a public hearing on creation of ESD 12 for June 7 at 9:20 a.m.
• Approved a merchant processing agreement application and fee schedule with Merrick Bank.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Oncor to run power lines down County Roads 1200 and 1201 for work between Malakoff and Willow Springs, which is in Precinct 1 between Athens and Cross Roads.
• Approved the payment of April sales tax bills in the amount of $2,207.43.
• Approved the payment of fiscal year 2022 bills in the amount of $294,348.96.
• Approved appointing Logan Hulse as the County Veteran Service Officer.