A Greenville man will remain as a member of a panel helping to oversee transportation projects in the region.
The Hunt County Commissioners Court re-appointed W.D. “Dee” Hilton to the Sulphur River Regional Mobility Authority (SuRRMA). The vote was part of a busy, but brief, regular session Tuesday morning, during which the commissioners also approved some changes to a project of replacing the exterior north and south steps at the Hunt County Courthouse.
Hunt County Judge John Horn said Hilton had agreed to remain with the SuRRMA, where he represents Hunt County alongside Danny Duncan of Commerce.
“He’s done a really good job,” Horn said of Hilton’s tenure.
The SuRRMA represents Hunt, Delta, and Lamar counties, and has supervised several area transportation projects, including the expansion into four lanes of State Highway 24 from Commerce to Paris.
The commissioners approved $41,000 in three change order proposals for the work on the courthouse steps being conducted by from Harrison, Walker & Harper.
Horn said the need for the changes, which include providing and replacing 42 extra terra cotta pieces that were broken and non-repairable on north and south sides, had been discovered after the effort began last year and will not represent an increase in the cost of the project.
“That construction is going to come out of what they had planned as a contingency expenditure,” Horn said. “There is still money in that contingency account.”
Crews are currently involved in rebuilding the steps at the courthouse, under a project being paid for through state grant funding.
An engineering study revealed the rebar and the concrete supports inside the steps had eroded due to water leaking through. As the courthouse is listed as a historical landmark, the repairs are being performed in order to match the existing nature of the steps, including using the same type of material in the construction.
Work began in October 2014 on the south steps and in December on the north side.
Since October 2006, only one entrance or exit is available to the public at the courthouse, on the ground floor doors on the north side.
The second floor doors on the north and south sides of the courthouse were closed for security reasons and are designated for emergency access only.
It has yet to be determined whether the second floor doors will be reopened once the repairs are finished.