Saturday, September 7, 2024
The Hood County Commissioners Court implemented a pipeline permit policy during a regularly scheduled meeting July 9.
According to Precinct 2 Commissioner Nannette Samuelson, this policy will protect taxpayers from the cost of repairing county roads should they be damaged by pipeline construction.
"I get calls almost weekly from people complaining about this company or that company tearing up the county roads, so this policy will require a permit and a bond to ensure that the roads will be restored if they are damaged," she explained.
The policy states that any person, company or corporation desiring to place utilities or pipelines in or across the rights-of-way of public roads in Hood County shall obtain a permit from Hood County Commissioners Court for the construction, operation and maintenance of said pipeline. Public utilities are not subject to this policy.
Prior to the start of construction, the permittee must also fill out a form and turn it in to Hood County Road Operations at 3640 W. U.S. Highway 377 for approval by Commissioners Court.
Road Operations Director Donald Linney told the court the idea of implementing a pipeline policy had been previously discussed. He explained that the proposed pipeline permit had originated in Jefferson County but has since been modified to suit the needs of Hood County.
Hood County Judge Ron Massingill asked Linney if he is notified in advance before pipeline construction takes places. Linney said normally companies will notify the judge first, but he will usually be informed of the construction about four or five months ahead of time.
"If this was to go into effect, they would tell us where they're crossing at, and at that time, we can determine what routes they're going to use to get to that crossing," Linney said.
"You could also go out and take pictures of the before so that what it looks like afterwards, you would know whether they had restored it to the same quality that it was before they were there,” Samuelson said. “That's the complaints that I get is that they're tearing up the roads. Mr. Linney and his crew are awesome. I call them and then the next day, they're out there, or even the same day. But that's us spending taxpayer money to fix a problem that was caused by a private company, and this just protects the taxpayers. This is our fiduciary responsibility to ensure that we are protecting the roads.”
As the policy outlines, the permittee shall immediately, at its own expense, repair or replace all public property and all private property, including, but not limited to, driveways, fences and mail boxes, located in, along or adjacent to public right-of-way, which may be damaged or destroyed by any action or inaction of the permittee.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Kevin Andrews said this new policy will promote better communication — especially stemming from recent construction damage that had occurred. He clarified that he’s not criticizing the pipeline operators but said this permit will allow the county to pinpoint areas that need addressed and to better assess any construction damage moving forward.
Due to uncertainty within the court regarding public notification procedures, Samuelson made a motion to adopt the pipeline permit policy for Hood County, with the condition that County Attorney Matt Mills clarify the necessary procedures. Following a second by Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson, the motion passed unanimously.
