County Commissioner’s considered the purchase of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) equipment for the Department of Public Safety (DPS), approved a resolution for the closure of two portions of County Road 2794 and approved Change Order No. 1 to the “Shelby County Jail Emergency Repairs Agreement” during the Wednesday, March 1 meeting.
District Attorney Karren Price and DPS Officer Taylor Buster addressed the court about purchasing EDR equipment for the county, a device that extracts speed and braking action from vehicle computers following traffic accidents.
According to Price, information can be extracted from an EDR in two ways. One is with the driver’s consent. The other is through a search warrant issued by the district judge.
The new EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) equipment is third generation, which means it’s the newest model.
According to Price, DPS doesn’t buy (EDR) equipment for their own staff to use. Counties must buy it, and DPS is in charge of it. “Nobody in the county is certified to use that equipment,” said Price. “So, it’s always assigned to this trooper (referring to Buster). “He’s the one that’s responsible for it.”
Price also said the device she proposed purchasing worked on every make of vehicle except Tesla, Kia and Hyundai. She said the Nacogdoches DPS is purchasing a separate unit for retrieving data from the three excluded vehicle makes. “If me and Buster have a Kia,” she said. “They’ll come over. If they have a Chevrolet, then Buster will come over. So, we’ll trade out.
“Bosch is the only manufacturer of all this equipment,” said Price. “Therefore, there’s no bid.”
Buster explained that EDR equipment records vehicle speeds and braking actions. “Newer vehicles are recording higher speeds, we have some when you plug into it, it’ll tell you they were going 130 miles per hour. That gives us a checking point ... when I run the numbers on the side of the road from a skid mark, and I download that, I’ve got something to give to the District Attorney or the County Attorney to back up the charges in that case. We will be able to collect the data and the evidence from the side of the road, or very shortly after,” said Buster.
Buster said the equipment has an annual renewal fee of $1,500 that could be included in the DPS budget, eliminating the need to request it every year.
Price concluded the proposal saying the DPS would have the new equipment in ten days to two weeks.
After discussion, the court approved the motion.
Price spoke highly of DPS Trooper Buster. “We’re pretty lucky to have him, and I’d like to be able to keep him, and I know you all feel the same way, said Price. “He’s crash team certified. We have never had that here. I appreciate his willingness to go get whatever kind of certification they offer.”
Commissioners also approved a resolution for two portions of County Road 2794.
County Attorney John Price said, “This will clear up the description of the January 2022 resolution where this was approved as far as acceptance of the new road, but will also, of course, close out those portions of 2794 that will be abandoned. I think Mr. Jimmy Lout has seen the road, and I’ve seen pictures of the new road, and they did an awfully good job constructing it. I understand it’s 40 feet wide and fenced off,” he said.
Price said the landowners who aban- doned their property will be getting it back. “The new road is more of a direct shot rather than the ‘L-shape’ it had been prior to construction.”
The last agenda item was Change Order No. 1 to amend the “Shelby County Jail Emergency Repairs Agreement” with Whitaker Plumbing funded by American Rescue Act (ARPA) funds.
“When Mr. Price and I had a meeting last week with the city and their maintenance department, we discussed fixing the problem, so the city isn’t stuck with sewer going through the jail,” said Judge Allison Harbison.
Mark Dawson with Whitaker Plumbing explained changes that will be added to the agreement. “What we’ve been tasked with is installing a sewage screen. It’s a device that has a grated screen that has one-inch spaces that’ll catch whatever’s slipping through,” he said.
“With the original contract being $150,000, we’re only going to have to go $12,000 over the original contract. The new contract with an additional sewage screen involved is only $162,000,” he said.
Dawson says the construction on the jail is estimated to start in 4-6 weeks, around the end of April.
Commissioner’s approved the change in the agreement. Also approved were other agenda items including:
• Approve and pay weekly expenses.
• Public comments on agenda items.
• Approve current payroll. The Shelby County Commissioner’s Court meets Wednesday’s at 9:30 a.m. at the Shelby County Courthouse.