Wood County commissioners approved an order prohibiting outdoor burning Tuesday morning. 

The burn ban is for unincorporated areas of Wood County for 90 days unless restrictions are terminated earlier based on a determination made by the Texas Forest Service that drought conditions no longer exist or the commissioners court based on the determination that the circumstances that required the order no longer exist.

A violation of the order is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.

The burn ban order does not prohibit outdoor activities related to public health and safety authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Those activities include firefighter training; public utility, natural gas pipeline or mining operations; planting or harvesting agriculture crops; or burns that are conducted by a prescribed burn manager.

In other business, commissioners approved an inter-local agreement with the Alba-Golden ISD for law enforcement services. The AGISD will pay the county $70,000 per fiscal year for a deputy assigned to the school district. The deputy will work a standard 84 hours in each two-week cycle. Any security or extra duty which the school desires will be at a separate expense paid for by the school.

The Wood County Sheriff’s office will provide a resource officer on all days the schools are in session including staff development and any days agreed upon by the county and the district. While functioning as a law enforcement officer assigned to the school district, the officer will have all the law enforcement power of a regular officer.

In another matter, commissioners approved to pay the Andrews Center $40,000 for mental health services in monthly installments of $3,333 from October 2023 through August 2024 and $3,337 for Sept. 2024, payable on the first of each month.

Commissioners approved the sale of surplus equipment through Purple Wave Auctions. 

A bid of $72,000 for a Farmall 85C tractor with front end loader was accepted. The bid was submitted by Sundee Wade of Big Sandy. 

Lease agreements with Xerox for the county judge and treasurer’s office were approved.

Commissioners approved nominations for the Wood County Appraisal District Board of Directors. Those nominations were Sam Curry, Dr. John Johnson, Al Harris, Dan Strickland and Robert Jackson. 

A Nov. 7 date was set for the November Constitutional Amendment Election which has 14 propositions for the voters.

Commissioners approved public hearing dates of Sept. 5 and 19 for the adoption of Wood County, Texas tax abatement guidelines and criteria.

The Oct. 3 regular meeting of the commissioners was moved to Friday, Sept. 29 at 9 a.m.  

A road permit in Pct. 3 was approved for logging purposes. A license agreement between Wood County and VR Systems for new poll pads was approved. The Magnolia Ridge Subdivision in Pct. 2 was approved. 

There were two personnel matters approved by the commissioners. Dalton Hendrix was moved from jailer to jail sergeant. Samantha Mayer was hired full-time as a jailer replacing Diane DeGuerin.

Claims approved included payroll of $421,788; health and dental, $149,377; and accounts payable $680,412.