ROCKWALL COUNTY —
Rockwall County commissioners voted this week to issue $2.45 million in bonds to complete financial requirements for engineering on seven unfunded road projects.
The $2.45 million will be combined with about $4.5 million that already is available. The commissioners court decision on Monday will not require a tax rate increase.
Commissioners took the action after a lengthy discussion with two financial advisors from First Southwest — W. Boyd London Jr., managing director, and Marti Shew, assistant vice president.
Rockwall County is moving forward to get engineering and advanced planning completed on seven road projects that currently don’t have funding. The county is following the advice of its road consultant, John Polster of Innovative Transportation Solutions Inc.
“Some people may question that wisdom,” Polster said at the Jan. 27 meeting of the Rockwall County Planning Consortium. “But my answer to that is John King and FM 740 North.
“When the opportunity came for funding to be allocated for projects that are ready to go, John King and 740 North benefited from being essentially shovel-ready. So that’s the same plan, even though we don’t know for sure how we’re going to get these projects funded. We do know we will never get them funded if we never start.”
The seven road projects are as follow:
• Widening a 1.8-mile stretch of Texas 276 from two lanes to six lanes.
• Widening a 1.6-mile section of Farm to Market 740, from Farm to Market 1140 to Farm to Market 549. This road will be widened from two lanes to four lanes.
• Reconstruction of the interchange at the Interstate 30 and Farm to Market 551 intersection.
• Widening 11.5 miles of Texas 66 in Rockwall and Collin counties. The project will stretch from Texas 205 to Farm to Market 1777. The highway will be widened from two lanes to six lanes
• Widening a one-mile section of FM 549, from Texas 66 to I-30. The stretch will be widened from two lanes to six lanes.
• Widening 2.2 miles of FM 549, from Texas 276 to Texas 205. The project will involve widening the road from two to six lanes.
• Widening 5.3 miles of Farm to Market 552, from Texas 205 to Texas 66. The project will involve widening the road from two to six lanes.
Commissioners also discussed the merits of hiring an owner’s representative for the planned construction of Rockwall County Courthouse. They discussed the issue during a workshop, but took no action later during a special meeting.
The fee for an owner’s representative could be about $300,000.
During the discussion, County Judge Chris Florance asked an owner’s representative team — commercial real estate developer Austin Lewis and architect Matthew King — to describe what they do.
“Our job is to represent you, not the contractor, not the architect, not the engineer, not the consultant,” Lewis told commissioners. “It’s to represent the county and the taxpayers of the county. That is our complete job.”
He said the owner’s representative is involved in activities that require “attention for individual items that come up every single day.”
King added that the owner’s representative is “your eyes and ears on the ground.”
Commissioners took no action, but Commissioner Lorie Grinnan said that she “would encourage that the court consider bringing in some sort of professional to assist in going through the process.”
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