Commissioners accept tower bid, agree to street closure for motorcyle races

Gonzales County commissioners unanimously approved a bid by Motorola Solutions to build three new emergency radio communications towers to be located in Gonzales, Belmont and Waelder during their regular monthly meeting Monday, July 28, at the Gonzales County Courthouse.

Commissioners also approved closing down Cal Maine Road near Waelder from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1 and Saturday, Aug. 2 for street racing by the 48th National Bikers Roundup, which is gathering at the JB Wells Park, Arena and Expo Center this week as well as allowing a film production company to use the District Courtroom to shoot scenes for a movie on Wednesday, July 30.

Tower power

Due to disagreements among court members on how best to proceed, the county has bid the emergency communications tower project multiple times in the five years since the Texas General Land Office awarded the county the $6,071,588.57 mitigation grant in 2020 to help pay for an overhaul of the county’s communications system in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which happened in 2017.

Of that amount, $554,139.10 was already used to pay for a new 300-foot guyed tower located in Smiley, which was completed in November 2022 by Victoria Communications Systems. The county also added two generators for a total project cost of around $900,000.

Last December, the county awarded a $4.998 million bid to LCRA by a split 3-2 vote to build the towers as well as two new shelters, three emergency backup generators, a trunked radio network with geographically-redundant central control systems, interface with or replacement of existing dispatch console equipment, and redundant IP-based microwave backhaul.

However, that amount was $73,777.36 over the county’s construction budget, with a construction time of 399 days from notice to proceed to substantial completion. The county would have had to pay the overage out of its own funds, but would own the towers upon them being finished, though it would use LCRA’s own radio system to operate, allowing LCRA to have operational use of the towers as well.

After two new commissioners were elected last year and seated in January, the court rescinded the LCRA bid acceptance in March and decided to simply bid construction of the three towers as well as two new shelters including foundation, lighting and HVAC, electrical service to three sites, and three emergency backup generators and transfer switches and three new fenced tower site compounds with gravel base and grounding systems.

Two bids were received on July 14, 2025, but only one before the 2 p.m. deadline — the Motorola Solutions bid for $2,676,952. A second bid submitted by Echo Towers LLC of Houston was only received by email at 2:03 p.m. — three minutes after the deadline.

It was not also submitted in person as required by the bid specs and did not include a bid bond or other necessary documentation which would make acceptance of that bid — had it been the lowest and best — impossible for legal reasons.

“Whenever there's deficiencies, it poses problems on acceptance,” County Attorney Eddie Escobar said. “That's the general rule. I would just caution if there's deficiencies in the bid, is that a forecast of, what the company is going to provide? What I can tell you is, if there is no bid bond on that bid, then that creates a major problem on acceptance.”

After some discussion, commissioners agreed to accept the Motorola Solutions bid. The project is expected to be completed within 337 days. Next, the county will be working with Hanson Engineering and Langford Community Services to go through the purchasing cooperative to buy equipment that will go on the towers when completed.

Street closure

Originally, commissioners were being asked to consider closing County Road 112 — also known as Monthalia Church Road — so participants in the National Bikers Roundup could hold street races this Friday and Saturday.
Roundup organizers said they usually have a place that can serve as a racetrack at sites chosen to host the gathering, but there is no such place available in Gonzales County. The airport cannot be closed without advanced prior notice due to concerns about air traffic.

County Judge Pat Davis said organizers had looked using about three-quarters of a mile of the Monthalia Church Road and found it sufficient for a street race, with room to set up for first responders and to have a place to safely enter and exit the temporary speedway. They also indicated a willingness to donate $1,000 to the Monthalia Methodist Church to make up for any disruptions in the area.

However, Precinct 3 Commissioner Roy Staton said he had spoken to residents who did not want the road closed or the noise that would come from street racing — even if held during daylight hours.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Donnie Brzozowski then suggested using Cal Maine Road near Waelder in his precinct as it does not have any residences along the stretch that would be used and could be shut down relatively easily for short periods of time. He also suggested that the Catholic Communities of Gonzales and Waelder, which runs St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waelder, would be grateful for a donation if the group wanted to make one.

Commissioners agreed unanimously to closing Cal Maine Road from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

However, according to Antuwan "Da Mayor" Waters, the races now have been canceled out of concern about safety for riders and attendees.