Originally posted October 22, 2026, 6:10 p.m. CDT. Weather, traffic and other time-sensitive details reflect the original publication date.

GRANBURY — Hood County commissioners on Oct. 13 authorized County Judge Ron Massingill to sign a memorandum of understanding with Tarleton State University, according to the court's agenda and the official meeting video.

The agreement establishes an educational partnership that lets student interns assist the Hood County Office of Emergency Management, the agenda shows.

Commissioners also approved three purchases for the county's Road Operations department: a tractor truck, a tandem steel wheel roller and a compact track loader, according to the agenda.

TARLETON INTERN PARTNERSHIP

A representative of the county's Office of Emergency Management told commissioners the agreement is a requirement from the university, according to the meeting video.

The office has its first intern, and the agreement lets him get course credit for the internship before he graduates in December, the representative said in the meeting video.

He has completed fingerprinting and a background check, the meeting video shows.

Commissioner Jack Wilson seconded the motion, which carried unanimously, according to the meeting video and the agenda.

ROAD EQUIPMENT

Tractor truck: a 2027 International HX620 tractor truck from Southwest International, bought through a Buy Board cooperative contract at a total cost of $172,599.43, according to the agenda.

Road Operations Director Todd Tuggle told the court the truck replaces a 21-year-old 2005 Sterling with a little over 200,000 miles, according to the meeting video and the county's Road Operations page.

He said the Sterling truck plant shut down in March 2009. Parts can still be bought, but lead times run months, so a breakdown could keep the truck out of service for a long while, according to the meeting video.

Roller: a 2026 Hamm HD 12i VV tandem steel wheel roller from Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc., through a Buy Board contract, at a total cost of $75,900, the agenda shows.

Tuggle said in the meeting video that the roller replaces a 25-year-old 2001 roller with a little over 4,000 hours and that the department is down to one steel wheel roller.

Those rollers go out every day and are used year-round on asphalt, base and dirt, he said in the meeting video.

Track loader: a T66-2 T4 Bobcat compact track loader from Bobcat of North Texas, through a Sourcewell contract, at a total cost of $71,280, according to the agenda.

In the meeting video, Tuggle said the loader is a skid steer with a high-output hydraulic system, which nearly all attachments now require.

The county has rented an asphalt planer several times that its current skid steers cannot run, and none of those skid steers has a cab, he said in the meeting video.

Commissioner Jack Wilson moved to approve each of the three purchases, and Commissioner Dave Eagle seconded, according to the meeting video and the agenda.

All three motions carried, and the truck and roller votes were announced as unanimous, the meeting video shows.

As noted in the meeting video, the purchases are capital requests.

EDITOR'S NOTE

This story's account of the discussion comes from the county's auto-captioned meeting video, and the intern's name is not included.

A copy of the agreement was not attached to the posted agenda, and minutes of the meeting had not been posted when this story was written.

SOURCES

  • Hood County Road Operations department page: