The Gray County Commissioners held their first bi-monthly meeting on November 2, 2026, beginning with: considering the minutes of the previous meeting, paying the bills as presented by the County Auditor, and considering any line-item transfers and budget amendments; all were approved.
Next was to discuss concerning road closures in the county for the Meitner Data Center Project, to which Commissioner Logan Hudson addressed the commission.
“There have been complaints about roads being closed during construction. The complaintant was asked to come today, but they didn’t show. Just to be clear, the property in question, the road is open, but here recently they’ve had to take a detour because the road was closed.”
“How long was the detour?” Commissioner John Mark Baggerman asked.
“About eight miles. It was an eight mile detour because it had rained. If it hadn’t rained, there wouldn’t have been a detour and he could’ve taken the road. He had access to where he usually comes in, but because it rained, he couldn’t get to that road and had to take a detour.”
With no further discussion on the matter, the commission moved to their next item, discussing and considering the TIDC Grant Resolution for Fiscal Year 2027.
“This is a yearly grant that we get for indigent defense counsel,” Judge Porter said. “I have to have approval from the commissioners court to sign it.” The resolution was approved.
Next was to discuss and consider contracting to level the north courthouse sidewalk through ground stablization.
“We have talked to Childers Brothers and they have agreed to do it for $12,599,” Judge Porter said. “This is not budgeted, but that swag in our sidewalk is getting worse. They are saying that we have basically an underground cavern underneath the foundation of the courthouse on the north side. We hauled three wheelbarrow loads of dirt to fill it four years ago. It has washed underneath the foundation. They’re telling us that it will take 300 pounds of four-pound foam which will harden and stabilize the foundation, raise the sidewalk, and hopefully resupport the stones on the north side of the courthouse because they are shifting a bit. They have done this in other courthouses and historical buildings, and they are certain this will fix the problem.”
With no further discussion, the item was approved.
Next was to discuss and consider TxDOT aviation concerns about the McLean Airport, to which Commission Hudson addressed the commission.
“I got an email from TxDOT Aviation asking what the current condition is of the airport and the operational status. I had a discussion with Jeff about it, and we agreed that it just isn’t feasible to continue maintaining that airport for use. So we need to let TxDOT do what they want to do with it.”
With no further discussion, the commission agreed to close the airport and to let Commissioner Hudson notify TxDOT Aviation of the closure.
The commission then went into an executive session, and upon their return, moved to the next item; discuss and consider retaining Vanessa Buzzard for any future economic development negotiations and contracts.
“We’re having legal questions that I don’t think are ethical for me to answer from people who are interested in tax abatements,” Judge Porter said. “I have referred them to Vanessa to ask her and she has expressed that she does not really work for the County is not retained. So I’m trying to navigate that.”
“I have received a lot of calls, and it’s sort of an awkward position because until they actually file for an abatement, you usually retain me for counsel at that time,” Vanessa said. “So I don’t presume anything and all I can tell them is I haven’t been retained by the County and I don’t speak for the County. Anything that I would represent to other legal counsel would be at the request of the counsel. I presume to negotiate anything for the counsel. But these calls are coming frequently.”
“The law is so specialized, but about 90% of my practice is prosecution,” County Attorney Josh Seabourn said. “When you start getting into tax abatements and stuff like that, it’s specialized if you don’t do it every day. We’ve done a handful since I’ve been here, but it’s a little out of my wheelhouse. As you start discussing provisions to put in abatements and things you can negotiate, and remedies inside those, you need someone who does it every day or more than we do because they have more experience with that. If you ask me to prosecute a DWI, I’m your guy, but if we start getting into civil stuff of this nature, I can handle it, but there are other people who do it better than me.”
“Ms. Buzzard, we haven’t ever paid you through any abatements, right?” Judge Porter asked.
“I have done this on both sides,” Vanessa said. “I have represented companies at times, but from the County’s side, we are usually always have stipulated that the applicant pays the attorney. The County has never paid me directly. I should point out that the calls that I’m getting are procedural. Most of the times these projects are in the very beginning stages, they haven’t filed for their reinvestment zone-they’re at the very beginning. So it’s been very procedural.”
“Should we wait to get an abatement in hand to hire someone?” Commissioner Arrington asked.
“But these are procedural questions that I don’t feel like I should answer,” Judge Porter said.
“Tell them to come to court and come see us,” Commissioner Hudson said.
“I don’t think the commissioners court should answer them either,” Judge Porter replied. “These are procedural questions on definitions for tax abatement guidelines and criteria. I think when they have a question on a definition that is black and white in front of them, then Vanessa would probably be a better person to navigate that than us.”
“I agree, but I don’t think we should be paying Vanessa to do that for us,” Commissioner Arrington said. “If they call her asking these questions, she needs to charge them. We shouldn’t have to hire her for that.”
“I think one way to handle that would be to include those hours in their abatement bill,” Vanessa said. “These questions are coming from their legal counsel. Every commission has some local procedures and preferences even though the state statute is still the same. We can just accumulate the hours if you wanted to if it gets to that point.”
“That’s my only concern is that we would have the means to invest and answer a lot of questions that never result in an abatement and that we have that expense,” Commissioner Hudson said.
After a back-and-forth discussion between the commissioners and Vanessa, the agenda item died due to a lack of motion.
Next was to accept a gift from Larry Baker for a 10,000-watt electric heater for the Perry Lefors Terminal attic space, which was approved.
Next was to consider approving tax bids for struck off property 853 S. Sumner with taxes due at $11,922.31 with a bid of $2,800.27, and part of 818 Campbell, lots 13-14 with a bid of $100; both were approved.
With no further items on the agenda, the commission went into the miscellaneous portion, addressing 4-H facilities.
“So there was an archery competition last weekend and there was a lot of people there,” Judge Porter said. “You currently have an archer who is wheelchair bound and there were three others who came to the event, and those bathrooms are not ADA compliant. With the permission of the commissioners court, I would like to call Intersect and see if they would be willing to redo the bathrooms out at the bull barns to be ADA compliant.”
The commission granted permission with no opposition.
Another issue was the leftover tin from the east side wall, which was agreed to be put into storage within Precinct 2. The commission was also made aware of the need for a new freezer and the disposal of the old one so that they can run their own concession during events.
