Magistrate Donny Lefevers recognized workers from the County Road Department and the state for their efforts in clearing roads after last week’s flooding during Tuesday’s Bell County Fiscal Court meeting.

“We had some really bad damage in this area and I didn’t know if we could even get it cleaned up. But those guys really stuck out there and worked hard for us and made a major difference,” he said. “Even to have one lane open on 119 was miraculous. We did a lot of cleaning up. I’d also like to recognize the people of Bell County. That next morning they were out there at daylight in force cleaning up their yards. It’s a testimony to the kind of people we have here and why I  wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Judge Brock said he agreed on all accounts.

“We definitely had a bomb go off in Arjay, Right Fork, Straight Creek, Kettle Island, parts of Balkan, Cardinal, that storm moved through there and got one section down on 119 and parts of 92. It did a lot of damage,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of storms, been involved in disasters and this one ranks. From a damage standpoint (Emergency Management Director)) George (Smith) told me we’re up close to a million dollars in just local stuff.

“You’re right about the resiliency of our people, they helped their neighbors. We had some folks that were stranded — almost had to do a swiftwater rescue up in Kettle Island but the Rescue Squad determined that the folks were safer staying in place than getting into a boat in that kind of water,” Brock continued. “That is terrifying, even for those that are trained. I think one of the ladies was 86 so you can imagine how terrified they were. We are resilient people and we’re a whole lot tougher than we realize we are until we get tested. A lot of folks got tested.”

He added that even though the Arjay and Kettle Island communities are used to dealing with flooding, last week was as bad as they have seen.

“I was raised in the Kettle Island community and I had never seen water run like that in my entire life. It was hard to believe and the pictures and videos I saw posted on social media do not do it justice when you’re standing on top of it,” Brock said. “Water is a powerful thing.”

Brock said the road department crews worked until 2 a.m. Friday night and were back out by 7 a.m. Saturday morning. They also worked all day on Sunday and all week working to get all the roads passable.

“They’re out there right now. On that front, we’ve still got a lot to do and I’m going to ask for people’s patience,” he said. “We’ve got severe damage in certain spots and we understand that we’ve got a lot of ditches that are full, a lot of tiles that are stopped up. We’re aware and we’ve got a list but we’re having to do the worst places first.”

In a separate matter, Magistrate Eddie Saylor asked Brock to clarify that the county does not spray to kill weeds along the county’s roads.

“We do not spray,” Brock said.

“A lot of people see spraying going on along 119 and around KU poles, they are concerned that they’re spraying right against their houses,” Saylor said. “Do we have any type of ordinance or anything that would prohibit that from happening?”

Brock said those were all state regulations and the county doesn’t have any way to stop it in areas the state deems a public safety issue.

“I don’t care to enlist (County Attorney) Chris (Douglas) to find out if something like that exists, but I’m afraid we’d be getting into an issue of public safety and the state basically has more power there than we do,” he said. “I know on the utility easements that we can’t tell them what to do on those.”

In other business the court:

— approved payment to Hinkle Contracting for the amount of $752,967.74 and payment to Willis Paving for the amount of $36,625.00 for blacktopping of various county roads (to be paid when funds are received)

— approved payment ot Jones Excavating for the amount of $40,674.35 for the Little Clear Creek Road FEMA project and $96,249.61 for the Cardinal Road FEMA project;

— approved payment to Inclusion Solutions, LLC for the amount of $6,848.54 for election equipment;

— accepted Big Oak Trail and Gordon and Delmar Lane into the Bell County Road System;

— changed Oscar Pursiful from Tax Clerk to Court Security Officer at same rate of pay effective August 15;

— changed Austin Poindexter and Jody Risner to the rank of Sergeant at the Bell County Sheriff’s Department at $16.25 per hour effective August 15;

— changed Cody Wilson from full-time Dispatcher to part-time Dispatcher effective August 15;

— hired Colton Partin as part-time Dispatcher at $11.25 per hour effective August 15;

— changed Richard Barlow, Amy Hoskins, and James Yates from part-time deputy jailers to full-time deputy jailers effective August 15;

— changed Christine Pierce from part-time EMT to full-time EMT, and Brenda Feltner from part-time Paramedic to full-time Paramedic effective August 15;

— changed Korrey Morgan from Advanced EMT to Paramedic at $17.00 per hour upon completion of licensure;

— hired Laura Ledford as full-time Dispatcher at $11.25 per hour effective August 15;

— hired Janet Rice, Branden Thomas, and Nathaniel West as part-time deputy jailers at $9.00 per hour effective retroactive August 5;

— approved the 2023 Bell County Property Tax Settlement, the 2023 Bell County Franchise Settlement, and the 2023 Bell County Gas and Oil Settlement from Bell County Sheriff Mitch Williams;

— accepted checks in the amount of $29,586.96 from Sheriff Mitch Williams and in the amount of $23,937.34 from County Clerk Debbie Gambrel.