Making good progress across the county
Your county government made a lot of progress in 2019 and Milam County is truly “Moving Forward.”
Progress was made in countywide unity, economic development, cleanup improvements, healthcare and sanitary regulations, with a lot of “firsts.”
At the outset we completed the courthouse roofing project, started under Judge Barkemeyer. The roof was leaking badly and the county had secured a grant to help with the repair work. The roof is now completely repaired, the exterior has been cleaned, the scales of justice have been repaired, the clock is working and the chimes are now chiming. We now have courthouse security with a metal detector and guard to prevent someone from entering with a gun.
In April we held the first ever Milam County “Moot Court” competition at the County Courthouse. Each of the five schools in the county sent teams to compete in the two-day event. The teams were judged by the lawyers and judges of Milam County. This was the first time that all five schools of the county competed against each other in a single event. The event was very successful and it will be held again in April of 2020.
In August we held the first ever Rockdale-Cameron Football Banquet at the KC Hall in Rockdale. Over 300 people attended this community building event to help bridge the dying “river divide” between these two fine communities. We heard from Coach R. C. Slocum, Mr. Wayne Fisher, Esq. and many others about the importance of us all working together to make the County a better place to work and live.
We entered into the first ever agreement to provide for free helicopter ambulance service for any Milam County resident. Milam County is paying a subsidy to PHI helicopter service to fly any Milam County resident who needs emergency care, who is picked up in Milam County or an adjoining County and transported to a local hospital without charge. We are working on an agreement to bring 24/7 telehealth medicine to the County as well.
Countywide clean up is well underway as well. We held a free tire removal day and collected thousands of tires that we disposed of. We began pursuing legal action against those who will not clean up their property with new County wide clean up regulations. In fact, two violators are being prosecuted and more are being considered. Finally, the Thrasher property on the east end of Rockdale is under County control and being cleaned.
We held the first economic summits in the county. In fact, we held four summits at various locations in the county to learn how we can help ourselves grow the county economically. Hundreds of people collectively attended these four events to learn what needs to be done. These events clearly brought this crucial issue to the forefront of every interested person in the county.
In terms of economic development, Milam County is now poised to be the largest solar producer in the state, we have two new high tech “bitcoin” miners in the county and we have Whinstone working on blockchain and artificial intelligence. Collectively this puts Milam County on the verge of green, high tech county of Texas! In addition, we are finishing plans to move the county out of downtown Cameron to a renovated Milam County Annex which will give us a new facility to provide county services and allow downtown Cameron to thrive again.
On behalf of your Commissioners Court and all of your employees at Milam County, we are working hard to make this a vibrant community with good jobs. We are working hard to make this a place that we can all be proud to call home! We have truly made a lot of progress with a lot of “firsts” and we ask for your continued support.