Court directs staff to combine Public Works job descriptions, prioritizing development services expertise

Rashad Moore, presenting on behalf of county roads and public works, told the court that “with public works, coming back together, development services is what I think the county needs to focus on.” He walked commissioners through an organizational chart that would group road and bridge, fleet maintenance, parks, traffic and permitting under a consolidated Public Works department and offered two staffing options: an Assistant Director for Development Services (engineer preferred) or a Development Services Manager with land-development experience.

Moore said the assistant-director option targets an engineer with “5 to 7 years of experience” and that a separate Floodplain and Right-of-Way Administrator role would manage permitting, inspections and floodplain applications. He described the changes as largely a retitling and reclassification of existing budgeted roles rather than adding headcount.

Commissioners questioned whether the county should require a Professional Engineer and debated pay bands and recruitment strategy. One commissioner said combining the job descriptions would “pull from a wider range of candidates” and another called option 2 (development manager) “more realistic” to fill locally. The court settled on directing staff to draft a combined job description and bring reclassification and titles back to the commissioners for formal action.

The discussion emphasized practical goals: reduce permitting delays, improve coordination on subdivision acceptance, and create a single point of responsibility for right-of-way enforcement and floodplain administration. Moore noted training and certification requirements for the right-of-way/floodplain role, including floodplain-management certification and a TxDOT LGP-101 project-management credential.