Rural Road Speed Limits a Focus Of Final County Meeting of 2025

The Fayette County Commissioners Court held their final meeting of the year on Monday, Dec. 22.

At the top of the agenda were a pair of items to establish a 40 mile per hour speed limit on Bauer Rd. in Precinct 2. First up was a public hearing on the proposed speed limit change. Kirby Keilers, who lives along Bauer Rd. Said he often witnesses cars driving at an unsafe speed. One time, he recalled, a pickup pulling a trailer hit a bump so fast that the trailer came off the ball hitch and crashed into his fence.

After the public hearing, the Commissioners voted to approve an order finding the “prima facie” speed limit unsafe. The “prima facie” speed limit on county roads is 60 miles per hour according to state law. Pct. 2 Commissioner Clint Sternadel proposed a speed limit of 40 miles per hour, which the court approved unanimously.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Fayette County EMS reported that medics responded to about 4,200 calls so far this year, which is a slight increase above last year’s call volume.

Revenue for the year stood at $2.5 million, which was about $200,000 above projected revenue for the year, and that did not account for revenue from December. Furthermore, the EMS department is expecting a $92,000 check from the State of Texas to reimburse the department for local medics who deployed to the Hill Country for the deadly July 4 flood.

Commissioners also set their meeting schedule for next year. Regular meetings will take place on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month except for the last three meetings of the year. Those meetings will take place on the second and fourth Mondays due to conflicts with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

In other business, the Court reviewed six proposals from accounting firms to conduct the County’s 2025 independent financial audit. A committee of county staffers reviewed the six firms. County Auditor Cindy Havelka recommended the firm KM&L from Lake Jackson. Havelka said KM&L has experience auditing the books of several nearby counties with a similar size to Fayette County. KM&L’s proposed a fee of $44,000 for the independent audit along with $5,000 for additional auditing services, if needed, related to federal grant programs. Commissioners voted unanimously to accept all proposals and award the job to KM&L.