BEAUMONT — County Judge Jeff Branick made an important announcement at the conclusion of the regular meeting of the Jefferson County Commissioners Court on Monday afternoon.

He said debris pickup in the unincorporated areas ended Dec. 15. It’s very important for homeowners to make sure when placing new construction debris on the roadway that their contractor hauls it off.

The county is not eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement for new construction debris.

Branick added that it was unanticipated the rainfall this weekend would be so heavy and that there would be issues because debris clogged the drainage. Much of the debris is from leaves falling from trees and Road & Bridge crews were cleaning drainage.

In an unrelated matter, a resolution to support regulation of game rooms was tabled. Branick said the district attorney’s office wanted to submit a more detailed resolution.

The resolution read the Texas Legislature granted some counties legislative authority to regulate game rooms. However, Jefferson County does not currently qualify as a county with authority to regulate game rooms, but many counties in close proximity such as Harris County, Galveston County and Chambers County, do qualify under the statute.

Illegal game rooms move across county lines away from counties that are regulating them to unregulated areas.

The commissioners approved that Jefferson County not participate in the 2020 Local Update of Census Address Operation.

They previously said they were concerned about the short time frame to get everything in, lack of personnel and if the cities would participate.

Lastly, Jefferson County will host the Texas Local Technical Assistance Program to hold a heavy equipment expo road-eo on Aug. 8-9 at Ford Park parking lot in Beaumont.

The event is of no cost to the county. All participants will be on duty status from the Road & Bridge precincts as well as employees from surrounding counties and cities.

“TxLTAP (Texas Local Technical Assistance Program) is focused on preserving and enhancing the local road system by delivering quality training and technical assistance to local city/county road agencies in Texas. They offer free training all over the state, and sponsor events such as Heavy Equipment Expos or Rodeos, Snow and Ice Workshops and even Gravel Roads Academies as well as many other types of training for road & bridge crews,” Precinct 2 County Commissioner Brent Weaver previously wrote in an email.

While the expo is a “friendly” competition, it makes sure the event is focused around safety awareness and increasing on the job skills for heavy equipment operators.

“The training provided through this program will increase the performance, safety and training of the participants in their duties in a safe, efficient, environmentally sound, and cost effective manner,” Weaver stated. “This is the same program other counties have hosted in the past. This program will also allow city/county agencies to maximize benefits from their often-limited fiscal and staffing resources.