San Patricio County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Friday to solicit separate sealcoat contracts for each precinct after hearing options from County Engineer John Hernandez.

Hernandez told the court that last year’s countywide funds for sealcoat work were spent and that each precinct must now fund its own portion of the program. He provided cost estimates per mile for single- and double-course sealcoat, exposed base options and associated reshaping and advised commissioners on procurement options.

“We exhausted all those monies in the past year,” Hernandez said, explaining why precinct-specific budgets are necessary. He asked commissioners to provide an approximate amount per precinct so staff can prepare bid documents and start the program for the coming year.

The court also discussed procurement structure. Hernandez outlined three options: a single countywide contract, separate contracts for each precinct, or a single contract that allowed multiple contractors. County purchasing staff and an attendee with procurement training cautioned that a single contract with multiple awardees (A/B/C options) may not be permissible under the county’s procurement rules, and that the two feasible approaches are separate contracts by precinct or one countywide contract.

Commissioners debated tradeoffs: separate precinct contracts could make the work accessible to smaller contractors and reduce the size of any one award, but if only one contractor bids the county could end up with the same vendor across all precincts. Commissioners asked the engineer to contact neighboring counties to learn how they structured similar programs and for staff to circulate the cost breakdown in email and paper form.

After discussion, a motion to issue separate contracts for each precinct passed on a voice vote. The court directed staff to email and provide hard copies of the cost estimates and to prepare bid documents allowing each precinct to award its own contract. The resolution was recorded as adopted by voice vote; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the minutes.

The decision affects road maintenance planning and budgets across San Patricio County’s four precincts. Commissioners were told to finalize and communicate their precinct budgets promptly so bidding and scheduling can begin.

The court moved on to other business after the vote; staff said they would follow up with a written timeline for the procurement steps.