County honors longtime advocate for preservation
The Milam County Commissioners and Milam County Historical Commission honored a longtime advocate for historical preservation on Monday during the Commissioner Court meeting.
The county took the time to honor Dr. Lucille Estelle as Member Emeritus to the Milam County Historical Commission. Estelle has been an instrumental part of the commission for over 50 years.
“A lot of wonderful things have come from Estelle’s leadership,” County Judge Steve Young said. “We are here to recognize her today.”
Historical Commission member Lynn Young honored Estelle with a certificate and a special handcrafted pen made from wood from the courthouse when it was remodeled.
“I appreciate this so much,” Estelle said. “It has been a great honor. When I was 16 I was told by my pastor to remember that the charmed life is a life of service. I believe that. When I came back here I was kind of bored, so I found the Milam County Historical Commission. I thank you so much.”
Commissioners also moved to approve the donation of labor and equipment to maintain certain county roads. Those requests were made at the last court meeting on Jan. 27, but Precinct 2 Commissioner Donald Shuffield wanted to table approval so he could speak with those requesting to donate.
An agreement was reached with Jason Talley to maintain CR 242 and CR 242A. Another agreement was reached with Michael Fulton, owner of Little River Materials, to maintain CRs 253, 254, and 255 west to CR 257.
Commissioners also voted to approve a proposal to make Milam County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.
“I have been approached and Chris (White) has been approached by some citizens to look at this,” County Attorney Kyle Nuttal said. “Several dozen counties in Texas have done this. It is just a statement that we don’t want to infringe on second amendment rights.”
Young said things are also moving along with the development of solar projects in the county. He expects the project at Minerva to come before the court next meeting for approval of a tax abatement.
He also added that Whinstone in Rockdale is moving forward with expanding their Rockdale operations and looks to hire more that 200 employees moving forward. They are planning on taking their company public as of this week.
Young also updated those present on the progress of the move to the former Little River Hospital complex. He said that architect Stan Graves hopes to be done with the plans for the project by May. The county will then go out for bids on the project. He said construction will take six to nine months and that the county might possibly be able to move in by March of next year.
“The primary reason for the move is that the county is housed in nine buildings currently and those buildings are in need of a lot of repair,” Young said. “We had those buildings looked at last spring and the cost of needed repairs is about $900,000. We have this facility available and we need the space and we have figured out a way to pay for it.”
The county has put out a short video about the move that will be available on social media for the community to watch in the coming weeks. The video will be available on the county’s website for viewing soon at milamcounty.net.
In other business the court also: approved a proposal to take in funds for the indigent defense fund; approved a proposal to apply for a grant for youth victim services; appointed Kara Clore to the Milam County Industrial Development Corporation Board; approved authorization of Milam County credit cards; approved the Dorner subdivision plat; and approved utility installations.