PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE The 2009 agenda for County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse and administrative assistants Teresa Morris, left, and Dianne Seery includes, among other projects, expansion of the Lampasas County Office Building, the construction of an animal control facility and repairs to low-water crossings damaged by floods. Construction of an addition to the Lampasas County Office Building, as well as dealing with rising costs in law enforcement, road paving and county services, likely will highlight the coming year for county officials.

After the Lampasas County Commissioners Court in April approved $4 million in tax notes for an annex addition, the former Brooks Supermarket building was demolished to make room for the new structure. Removal of the old concrete floor will begin soon, County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse said, and construction of the office building addition will follow.

"I would hope it will be [completed in] 2009, but I can't guarantee that it will," the judge said of construction.

Once the new office space is ready for occupancy, county employees working in offices on Live Oak Street will move into the annex, and the county will sell its buildings on Live Oak, Boultinghouse said.

Increasing costs for the sheriff's department, indigent health care and juvenile probation -- which together account for half the county budget -- likely will limit what the county can spend in other areas, the county judge said.

"Law enforcement continues to be a challenge," he said. "In years past, we'd get somebody trained, and they'd go somewhere else where the pay is higher."

Commissioners will continue their efforts to raise salaries for county law enforcement closer to the figures paid in surrounding counties, Boultinghouse said.

Although the Commissioners Court tries to pave as many miles of road each year as possible, the judge said, asphalt emulsion prices rose significantly in 2008 and have not dropped much, even with oil down 70 percent from its high mark in July.

The Commissioners Court will consider asphalt emulsion bids this month.

"Hopefully we will find something we can afford," Boultinghouse said. "If the price stays high, we may not be able to pave much."

Despite increases in several budget categories last year, Lampasas County did experience some fiscal relief in 2008.

The county recently received $436,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Rural Community Affairs to fund repairs to low-water crossings at Simms Creek, School Creek and Binion Creek. The crossings were damaged during flooding in the spring and summer of 2007.

The Commissioners Court in June selected Waco-based Tabor & Associates Inc. to provide engineering services on the crossings. A pre-construction meeting is set Jan. 16.

"Hopefully we can start the construction in the next few months," Emergency Management Coordinator Angela Rainwater said.

In addition, the Central Texas Council of Governments has agreed to provide three new computers for the county judge's office, a new generator for backup power at the Lampasas County Jail, hand-held two-way radios for emergency manage- ment and a camera to use in documenting damage from natural disasters.

Boultinghouse does not expect major capital expenditures in 2009, however.

"If there's a big outlay, it will be on an emergency basis," he said. "We don't have anything planned."