Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Concrete from Cement Mixer Trough for Sidewalk

Concrete from Cement Mixer Trough for Sidewalk

PALO PINTO — Residents of south Palo Pinto County pleaded with their county commissioners on Monday to protect them from a concrete plant planned along South Bosley Road — and from the concrete trucks they fear will endanger safety there.

"Concrete trucks weigh a lot — the infrastructure there is lacking," Brian Sharp told the court, after describing the road, which connects with U.S. 281 south of Interstate 20.

Sharp said he walks South Bosley Road and that it's barely wide enough for vehicles to pass each other. He said the road's intersection with U.S. 281, where it becomes Natty Flat Road, occurs at the bottom of a hill where drivers' line of sight is limited.

"Because you cannot see far enough to make a good start in a regular vehicle, much less a heavy truck," Sharp said.

Paul Colvin of Santo said he's often seen near-miss accidents on South Bosley Road.

"There are too many blind spots on the road," he said. "It's just an accident looking for a place to happen."

Gary Herron said there once was a "No Trucks" sign on the road.

"No. 1, they are not starting off as good neighbors," Herron said. "No. 2, we feel like as a community we've been passed around from entity to entity. Each one tells us, 'I can take care of that, but I can't take care of that.' "

And Ron Daly, who lives south of the road, said he regularly hauls people out of a ditch along South Bosley Road.

"I have 21 new neighbors around me," he added. "We're asking the commissioners court to look and study and see what we can do."

That will be limited at best.

The Hamilton Ready Mix plant's permit already went through its public comment period, including a June 2 public hearing in Mineral Wells. An email from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Tuesday said the plant became fully registered on July 7.

At the meeting on Monday, County Judge Shane Long told the residents the court had heard their concern.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jeff Fryer said he, too, had been in touch with the Texas Department of Transportation about the intersection in his jurisdiction.

"I can try to see what we can do to try to make it safer," Fryer said, acknowledging that Natty Flat Road ends up being a truckers shortcut. "I don't want them on that (road) either."

Commissioners meeting in Palo Pinto also:

• Learned that there were 55 fire calls in June, a month that traditionally averaged 17 calls.

"So we have more than tripled our average fire calls," Emergency Management Coordinator Mistie Garland said.

Garland reported the 1148 Fire at Possom Kingdom Lake burned 457 acres and was 80 percent contained (it was listed at 95 percent contained by that afternoon on the Texas A&M Forest Service website).

"They were flying that with infrared (scopes) last night to see if there were any hot spots," she said, after dropping the news the National Weather Service is not predicting a wet winter. "So we are going to have a warm, dry winter on top of this."

• Heard a favorable report from information technology consultant Ray Bertrand.

"All the servers were 100 percent around July 1," he said. "We have had no events to note at all, which is good."

Bertrand also reported the county, which recently bought 20 replacement desk computers, has identified 64 to eventually replace. He recommended a five-year replacement schedule begin once the current crop are swapped out for newer desktop computers.

• Heard the last doors are being stained for the courthouse annex in Mineral Wells and temporary locks are being installed in the tax office satellite there.

Later Monday, Mineral Wells Fire/EMS Chief Ryan Dunn said the department's final inspection of the former Bank of America found no issues and the department had recommended the city OK the annex's certificate of occupancy.

That critical document was signed the previous week, City Manager Dean Sullivan said.

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