Commissioners’ vote will ensure historical records will be preserved

HAYS COUNTY

Hays County Clerk Liz Gonzalez will be able to move forward with the preservation of old county death and marriage records with the commissioners court’s approval.

At their meeting Tuesday morning, the commissioners approved a contract with Kofile Technologies for assistance with Phase II of the county’s document preservation project. The records to be preserved include marriage records dating back to 1874. The cost of the contract is just over $192,000.

“Part of my job is to preserve and keep the records,” Gonzalez told the commissioners.

She said she has worked with Kofile before on records preservation.

“What they do is deacidify all the pages to keep them from fading,” she said. “They take all the pages that are torn and they preserve them and keep them from tearing, and then they encapsulate them in a sleeve and put them in these books.”

The books, Gonzalez, said, are water-and fire-resistant for up to 30 minutes.

Kofile’s work will also include electronic imaging of the records.

“I know that we’ve had some books destroyed before, so it’s important and it’s responsible,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe.

In other business, the commissioners postponed a vote on a contract with the state’s General Land Office for Community Development Block Grant Funds. The contract for the funds, which are to be used to help with disaster recovery and restoration, will be back on the commissioners’ agenda on June 19.