JUDGE: What’s happening in Milam County

Often times I use these column inches for some in-depth discussion on something. This week I thought I would just take some time and discuss a couple of items going on in Milam County. On any given day there are multitudes of items going on here in Milam County and a great deal of it flows through the County Judge’s Office. So, let’s talk about some of them.

First off, it’s budget time. We have been working to fashion a budget since we started putting together the 2025 budget outline in December. This month we are holding budget meetings with department heads to go over their 2025 budget outlines. We will meet with most of them a couple of times before we have the public hearings where each of the department heads can bring to the commissioners’ court their 2025 budget proposals and then we can finalize the budget for 2025. 

The goal is to have the basic budget plan about 80 percent complete by the time we have the public hearings. This allows us to have a smoother budget process and allows the department heads to better target their needs for the upcoming year.

Secondly, there are many local developments on the south side of the county, especially in the area of the Highway 79 corridor between Highway 77 and Thorndale. If you haven’t seen the Cornerstone subdivision just north of Rockdale on FM 1712, then you need to take a drive over there. They started erecting homes about three months ago and in the next week or so there will be new residents moving into their new homes. The whole subdivision will consist of over 650 homes including townhouses, and they are currently filling as fast as they’re built. And this should continue. 

Currently, there are three other developers who are looking to set up new developments around Rockdale that will consist of anywhere from 200 to 600 homes. But the new home developments are not just in the Rockdale area. In Thorndale, there is the Country Meadows II subdivision that is being built and filled as well. Closely adjacent to Thorndale, there are several developments for homesites that will soon start to fill as well. 

With Samsung production starting sometime next summer and SLR about to begin construction then looking for their first tenants late next year, there will be more developments as well.

These new developments and the growth that goes with those new developments are many of the reasons we are working with our state and federal congressional delegations to address the needs we are facing. Improved water supply and wastewater treatment, road improvements, and help for our first responders are infrastructure improvements and developments that we need to address now to face both the growth we are seeing now and the increasing growth in the future. 

As I have met with our congressional officials and neighboring elected officials, I understand that while we are working hard, in reality, as one of my colleagues in Williamson county put it, there’s no one coming to help. 

This is why the Commissioners’ Court has been working so diligently to address regulatory issues that have never been addressed in Milam County. We have done this in order to help create policies where the growth will primarily pay for the infrastructure needs and not leave it on the backs of those who are already here. Hopefully, with these regulations and with the help of our congressional delegation, we can garner the funding we need and keep that burden off the taxpayer as much as possible.

We are in a new era in Milam County and there are many changes coming. I know there is always some fear and uneasiness over these sorts of changes, but we are working to keep these changes from being anymore unsettling than necessary and we will continue to work to keep Milam County that special place we all love.