Clark Slacum, Orange County engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation since 2000, retired in December in a position enviable by many.

A meeting hosted Feb. 25 by Orange County emergency management officials had 20 to 25 attend and described as successful.

Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Kelley made the comments in commissioners’ special session this week.

The city of Pinehurst canceled a Tuesday meeting where council was to consider signing City Administrator Robert Ewart to a second one-year contract.

Groundbreaking for a new office to be used by Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Janice Menard and her staff could begin in April, according to county Maintenance Director Mark Wimberley.
Commissioners in special session Monday approved to seek bids for the building based on specifications provided by the Mark Magnuson architectural firm.

Sheriff Keith Merritt and Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Kelley got approval from commissioners Monday to apply for a grant that could put a security boat at the Orange port.

County commissioners stopped short Monday of approving a grant application for a Coast Guard-type vessel that could provide security at the Orange port.

Orange County commissioners agreed Tuesday to jointly apply for a grant with the county’s Economic Development Corporation to simplify the initial steps for a levee planning and feasibility study.

Orange County commissioners Monday approved a payment of $7,500 to Jeffery Ward and Associates to apply for a federal Emergency Operations Center Grant.

In commissioners’ second to last meeting of 2009, Precinct 1 Commissioner David Dubose proposed forming a Wellness Committee early next year that could save health care costs to county employees and ultimately the community.

Orange County emergency management officials seek additional applicants for their Hurricane Ike buyout program and will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the commissioners’ courtroom.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office will use a federal grant to buy digital radios, which Sheriff Keith Merritt said is part of Southeast Texas’ law enforcement future.

The Bridge City Charter Review Commission Tuesday discussed ways to publicize four proposed charter amendments, including one changing present term limits, to be placed on the May ballot.

Bridge City council members said Tuesday they want to get started on the wrap-up of FEMA unit situations. In a workshop, they talked about sending notices mapping out deadlines to vacate temporary housing. Workshops do not constitute final council approval.

A Texas Department of Transportation engineer told commissioners in regular session Monday about an upcoming closure of the overpass where Interstate 10 meets Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Orange.

Look for Orange County Commissioners next year to request state legislation calling for elections of Orange County Emergency Service District board members.

The Orange County Extension office is “better than its ever been,” said County Judge Carl Thibodeaux after Extension staff members offered an annual report to commissioners.