The Rockwall County Commissioners Court reviewed a consultant recommendation on Oct. 29 that the county consider a first bond issuance of approximately $36 million focused mostly on advanced planning and engineering work for road projects, and then debated how to bridge a roughly $10 million gap to meet all project requests and whether to prioritize a county-led upgrade of Edwards Road.

Consultant recommendation: John Polster, representing the county's transportation consultant (ITS), presented a spreadsheet showing a recommended first issuance of about $36,000,000 and noted an additional $22,000,000 in requests beyond the Trip 21 program. Polster told the court the $36 million figure represents work the county could reasonably spend in the next two years, largely design and PS&E contracts and some environmental clearances, and cautioned against issuing more debt than the county can deploy: "I was coming up with numbers smaller than what I was hearing. And so I'm telling you, this is what I think you could spend in the next 2 years." Polster said environmental clearances often take 18–24 months.

Funding math and shortfall: Polster and staff outlined available funds and requests: roughly $12.7 million in O8/O4 funds and pass-through toll rebates are on hand against $22 million in additional asks, producing an estimated $10 million shortfall if the county funds every request. Commissioners discussed whether to increase a first issuance toward $46–47 million to cover more projects or to prioritize a smaller, executable issuance.

Edwards Road proposal and estimates: Commissioner Stacy proposed accelerating improvements to Edwards Road (three county segments) to make it a higher-quality parallel route during anticipated FM 205 construction. Two cost estimates were discussed: the county consultant provided an estimate of $10,500,000 for the county segments; Kimley‑Horn (developer estimate for the portion the developer will build) provided a $6,300,000 figure that does not include all right-of-way acquisition or full engineering. Commissioner Stacy said adding a 10% engineering allowance to the $6.3 million would bring the developer figure nearer $7 million and that with right-of-way the county share could be in the $8 million range, while the consultant's conservative estimate remained $10.5 million. Stacy said McClendon Chisholm would build the middle segment to county/city specs and the county could complete the two outside segments so the road functions as an effective alternate route during 205 construction.

Proposed funding sources for Edwards Road: Commissioners identified a package of potential sources to reach roughly $7–10.5 million if the court agreed to proceed: a $500,000 first-issuance placeholder for Edwards Road, $250,000 budgeted in the current year maintenance plan, $1,000,000 allocated for the FM 205/550 intersection (item 16 in the spreadsheet), $500,000 shown for Long Branch maintenance (item 24), approximately $6.75 million drawn from O8/O4 pass-through and toll-rebate funds and an option to use strategic project money (about $1.5 million) if needed. Commissioners asked staff to confirm availability and to update the spreadsheet.

Next steps and constraints: Commissioners agreed staff and consultants should rework the issuance spreadsheet and return a revised allocation. Several commissioners emphasized they did not want to issue more debt than the county could spend promptly, and that many of the initial issuance dollars were intended for engineering to keep projects moving while state consultant budgets are constrained. No formal motion or vote was recorded.

Ending: Staff said they will provide a revised funding worksheet for review; commissioners discussed timing with a February debt issuance window in mind.