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The Polk County Commissioners Court continued to explore options for the provision of school safety services for Goodrich ISD during its regular meeting Tuesday.
“We met and put in a lot of hard work on it. What you have before you is a summary and an interlocal agreement between GISD and the Precinct 1 constable’s office,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Guylene Robertson said.
Chuck Cotton, a deputy in the Precinct 1 constable’s office, agreed.
“We have been working diligently on this, trying to come up with an agreement that works well for everybody. Some of the biggest concerns that I’m hearing is going to be the financial responsibility of the school versus the county. We still have the salary that will be covered by GISD, $50,000. I’ve talked to HR. We went over the comparable salaries, things like that. We think it will work. We got an additional cost for the workers comp insurance and the unemployment. Should be around 6% or 7% is what I’m being told. We put 8% to make sure its covered in there,” Cotton said.
“Goodrich ISD will provide a vehicle – the cost of the vehicle and all the repairs and maintenance. We’re going to give him an allowance of $500 which I think is going to be adequate to cover uniforms for a year. The officer will be responsible for his own equipment – belt, handgun, handcuffs, things of that nature. GISD will also provide an office for that officer and they will equip it with everything that he needs – computer, printer, file cabinets, if need by a safe. I think that covers that major changes that we made to the contract. We’ve tried to tackle everything that I’ve heard come up,” Cotton said.
“We’ll have to send to legal counsel for them to review and advise,” County Judge Sydney Murphy said.
“I just want to say thank y’all for the time and for trying to work with us. Hopefully in the future we can continue to work together. We appreciate the consideration,” GISD Superintendent Daniel Barton said.
The Court approved new boundary lines for the Alabama-Coushatta and Indian Springs volunteer fire departments.
“The fire marshal has met with Chief Lindsey Phillips of Indian Springs VFD as a follow-up to assess the department’s rebuilding process. Indian Springs is meeting its quarterly reporting requirements and participating in regular training. However, they still continue to face some challenges so the fire marshal encouraged them to continue training and to work toward restoring their relationship with Allegiance Ambulance. The fire marshal has proposed the following interim boundary arrangements which have been reviewed and agreed upon by both Chief (Willo) Sylestine of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe Volunteer Fire Department and Chief Phillips representing Indian Springs. So basically the Alabama-Coushatta Tribal VFD will assume responsibility for all territory outside of the Indian Springs neighborhood and serve as the firsthand department for that area and Indian Springs VFD would retain responsibility for the territory inside of the neighborhood. Both departments have committed to providing mutual aid upon request in support of emergency operations within each other’s designated areas,” Murphy said.
“Indian Springs Volunteer Fire Department is in a rebuilding stage right now. If you remember a few months ago the department over there had just about become not working. They didn’t want to answer calls. They didn’t want to respond to any calls. This is where we had to look at some options. The option we chose was to try to replace the leadership with a new chief and recruit new members and try to build that department back up. That’s where we’re at today. I want to commend them on their efforts. They’re doing a great job,” County Fire Marshal John Fugate said.
“The problem is they have a lot of still-new people on their department that are not fully trained and so in order to reduce some of that load off of them on runs and also provide better service to our citizens, we proposed this change temporarily on their territory. And basically, if you look at their territory map, the only change is a stretch of highway out there where Alabama-Coushatta actually has trained personnel at working highway incidents. I met with both of these chiefs of the departments and they both agree this would be a good move for them,” Fugate said.
The Court discussed the surface lease agreements expiring June 30, 2026 for Polk County school land in Throckmorton and Baylor counties and approved the recommendation presented by Precinct 3 Commissioner Milt Purvis who has been researching the current market rates for lease.
“I want to be fair to our taxpayers and the children at the schools. We have some very good stewards of the land, the people that lease it, and I want to be fair to them,” Purvis said.
The Texas Historical Commission voted in January 2026 at its quarterly meeting to award a third supplemental grant to Polk County under Round 11 Texas Historical Courthouse Preservation Program so the Court approved accepting the additional funding in the amount of $413,472 for the courthouse restoration project. This figure represents 47% of the county’s increased cost.
The Court approved a resolution supporting a statewide wireless 9-1-1 service fee adjustment and sustainable funding model for next generation 9-1-1.
A sheriff’s request to apply for the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority Grant – and authorization to pay the $9,000 county match from the sheriff’s asset forfeiture funds – was approved.
Change orders for the General Land Office Community Development Block Grant Regional Mitigation Water Projects were approved as follows: Change Order #1 to GLO Contract No. 24-065-044-E536 modifying the scopes for Shiloh Ridge WSC and Soda WSC projects; and Change Order #1 to GLO Contract No. 24-065-044-E537 modifying the scope for Damascus Stryker WSC project.
The Court approved the following expenditures from maintenance capital outlay buildings (budgeted funds), as follows:
- All Weather A/C and Heating in the amount of $24,510 to replace HVAC units at the Polk County Annex and Regional Health Building;
- Dillon Air Conditioning & Heating in the amount of $8,400 to repair the HVAC system for the aging department;
- Dillon Air Conditioning & Heating in the amount of $15,200 to replace the HVAC system for Precinct 1 Road & Bridge;
- Ferrara’s Heating & Air Conditioning invoice in the amount of $5,272.35 to repair boiler at adult probation;
- Ferrara’s Heating & Air Conditioning invoices for a total amount of $16,887.46 to repair purge fans at the Polk County Jail;
- FW Walton in the amount of $10,264.20 for roof repair at the Polk County Commerce Center;
- Lake Livingston Overhead Doors in the amount of $17,332 to install swing gates at the Polk County Jail and maintenance department; and
- Strickland Plumbing, HVAC & Electric Inc. in the amount of $7,340.71 for water leak repair at the Polk County Judicial Center.
In personnel matters, the Court approved personnel action form requests submitted by department heads since the last meeting and approved the payment of vacation time accrued by Corrections Officer Lisa Thomure.
Fiscal year 2026 budget revisions and amendments as presented by the county auditor’s office were approved.
During informational reports, the Court received the 2025 report from the Piney Woods Lakes Chapter Texas Master Naturalists regarding the Gazebo Nature Preserve at the Lake Livingston Dam; received the annual report from the Office of Emergency Management; received the annual report from the permits office; and received the annual report from the grants and contracts department.
Additionally, Sheriff Byron Lyons reported that the jail had a surprise inspection on April 15 that they passed with full compliance; and County Clerk Schelana Hock reported that the cities of Corrigan and Onalaska will have elections on Saturday.
Items on the consent agenda included:
- Approval of the schedules of bills;
- Approval of an order designating surplus property;
- Receiving and recording personnel action forms submitted by elected officials since the last meeting;
- Receiving the county auditor’s monthly report pursuant to Local Government Code Sec. 114.025;
- Receiving the county treasurer’s report for March 2026;
- Receiving the county treasurer’s fiscal year 2026 second quarter report;
- Receiving the county treasurer’s fiscal year 2026 second quarter investment report;
- Recording the continuing education certificates for elected officials;
- Receiving and recording Umbriel Solar’s annual tax abatement compliance report;
- Receiving notice of runoff primary election and consolidation of voting precincts from the county clerk for the May 26, 2026 election;
- Accepting tobacco settlement proceeds in the amount of $24,550.25; and
- Approval of the submittal of a request to the state comptroller for unclaimed rural electric cooperative capital credits.
The Court concluded with a budget workshop in which it reviewed requests for new personnel and salary adjustments, capital purchases and new vehicle leases and also reviewed the retirement plan assessment for 2027.
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