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The DeLeon City Council met in a nearly
four hour session, Thursday, July 27, and addressed a lengthy agenda
before a handful of concerned citizens.
Several of those in attendance related
their concerns (regarding the proposed use of the old DeLeon Nursing
Home for a mental health facility) during the Citizen’s Presentation
portion of the meeting.
Rae Jean Hasty spoke first. “I’m a
concerned citizen,” Hasty said. “My husband, Jack, and I, live at 332
E. Ayers. The address of the previous nursing home is 225 E. Ayers,
which is just across the street from our home. I’m very concerned
about the prospective use of the MHMR. There are lots of homes, the
elementary school, First United Methodist Church, First Baptist
Church, Fair Haven Baptist Church, just a walk away. Please give this
consideration. Thank you.”
The next to speak in opposition of the
proposed use of the facility was Dewaine Lane, of 500 S. Lamar,
directly across from the old nursing home, who said he agreed with
Hasty’s opinion.
Laura Brown spoke next but had two
unrelated issues to address first -- complimenting the police
department for the behavior of Officer Robert Klug on a 911 call
mix-up, and registering a complaint about the condition of Austin St
-- before addressing the nursing home issue.
“I, and several people, want to know what
type of people will be housed there,” Brown said. “Will there be drug
addicts, will there be alcoholics? I would like to know are they going
to be local people or will they be bringing in people from elsewhere?
What qualifications will be needed for the employees and what type of
pay scale will there be? If you’re going to be paying near minimum
wage you’re not going to get qualified people.” Brown also noted that
she was concerned about the proximity of the facility to the
elementary school, and whether any of the patients might attend the
DeLeon schools, as well as what would happen to the property should
there be a change in ownership once it was established.
Since the nursing home sale was on the
agenda, the prospective buyers waited to respond to questions until
that portion of the agenda was reached.
Harold Nabors concluded the Citizen’s
presentation portion of the meeting with a compliment on how well the
city was progressing with the “clean up” and asking for their help in
removing three abandoned mobile homes near his property.
David Dickerson addressed the council and
audience regarding the nursing home.
“I understand the concerns of the
community,” Dickerson said. “Allan Streigler was the person who
initially started this contract. He’s off in Kentucky and he’s asked
me to join him in the operation.”
Dickerson then explained that he,
himself, owned the Pizza Place restaurant in Stephenville, and had the
United Country Real Estate franchise as well as other commercial
property. “We’ve never done anything like this,” Dickerson said. “Alan
has ranch property, some oil wells, and things along that line. He’s a
real fine fellow. The reason I’m here tonight is because when we
contracted we put it in there that we didn’t want to do this unless
the community supported it. So we’re not upset either way how this
goes. Our understanding was that the other bidders trying to buy this
were going to make low-rent housing out of it, or government
subsidized housing. ...I know where most of the crime comes from, and
I don’t think you want that. We came in not knowing whether we wanted
MHMR, some kind of rehab, or what we wanted to do.
When we contacted the hospital, that’s
who we bought it from, we found there was already a need in place in
this community, and that need, basically, had been somewhat
researched. The hospital went so far as to let us work with a Mr. Rick
Goodner, who I’ll let explain the details. I spoke to your city
attorney, she phoned me today, and she evidently has a lot of
knowledge in this area because her husband is the administrator of the
Abilene one. So you have a lot of in-house knowledge about what we’re
trying to do. We’re here tonight to get approval, so that if we can
meet the state requirements and go forth with this, we want a behavior
medical clinic, basically catering to MHMR type clients.”
Dickerson went on to say that he believed
that he and his business partner could “put a viable first-class
operation in here” because there’s a client base for it.
Rick Goodner, Director of Social Services
at Comanche County Medical Center, then addressed the council, saying,
“I’ve been trying to get something like this for years. I’ve been with
the hospital for seven years. We have people here in need of mental
health treatment and what we’re stuck with is MHMR, who will sometimes
take people in and sometimes not. They will send them to Abilene and
San Angelo. So it’s a hardship for the families to see them.”
Goodner also said that it was a hardship
for the Sheriff’s Department, who transports these patients
out-of-town, and for tax-payers who are paying for it.
“I do want to assure you that if we can’t
be good neighbors, then we will not be neighbors,” Goodner said.
“There’s no way we’re going to be a burden on you.” He then proceeded
to address some of the concerns that had been voiced. “The security
will be that each window, in each room, will be secured,” Goodner
said. “Each one of the rooms will be locked down. There will be a
separate generator, so if the electricity goes off, the doors
automatically lock. No one is going to go running out.”
“What kind of people are we talking
about?” Goodner said. “Well, in the initial interview we will find out
if there’s any history of sexual offenses, pedophiles, drug use (I
have to qualify that one), or what is commonly known as criminally
insane. Those people will not be here at all, for the safety of the
staff, and your friends and neighbors, and for you. We’re going to
make sure of that, or we’re not going to do it.”
Goodner then clarified the drug abuse
statement. “Eighty percent of people with mental disorders use alcohol
or drugs to self-medicate,” he said. “They do this because they hear
voices...they do this because they’re depressed and they want it to go
away. They do it for any number of reasons, but it’s mainly due to the
mental illness. So to be honest with you, there’s no mental health
treatment in the world that doesn’t have some kind of drug
involvement. Are we going to put in a drug treatment center? That’s
not in the plans. Will there be some treatment to help people with
mental illness get off drug dependency. Yes, of course. If you don’t
treat both issues, you’re not treating the patient.”
Treating patients who could not afford
treatment was also discussed.
“We will keep one bed open, and possibly
more,” Goodner said, “for an indigent person in the community who does
not have insurance, Medicare, or the money for treatment, so they do
not have to be sent to a state hospital.”
Goodner also addressed the length of stay
-- usually three to five days -- and where the patients would come
from. “From this community every year, we send close to 50 people to
state hospitals.” He also stated that some might come from the
surrounding areas, and maybe as far away as Austin and Fort Worth,
trying to escape the stigma of mental illness.
The issue of employee wages was also
discussed.
“We’re not talking minimum wages,”
Goodner said, “we’re talking top wages. The people who are going to be
hired are going to be paid well, very well. There’s going to be a lot
of outside money coming into the community that wasn’t here before.
Anywhere from $250,000 to $600,000 a year will be coming back into the
community, and we believe it’s closer to $600,000.”
Providing paid internships for teenagers
was also discussed. “We want to work with guidance counselors in the
high school and we hope to catch any of the students who possibly want
to go into this as a career,” Goodner said.
Using local suppliers was also discussed.
“If we can afford to do it locally, we want to,” Goodner said.
When asked if there would be any demands
on the city, Goodner said no. “Our employees will be trained, the
police should not be called,” he said. “In most cases, it’s
counter-productive to have the police show up at a mental health
facility. We should be able to take care of 99.9 percent of anything
that comes up.”
When asked specifically again about
security, Goodner said, “If we find it’s required, it will be done
here, through the police department or sheriff’s department. We would
hire local people for that. But we would have staff trained in most
disruptive behaviors, so there shouldn’t be any need for security.” He
went on to say that most mental health patients get violent only when
they feel threatened. “If anyone does get out, the city will be
notified immediately,” he said, “...but we’re not talking about
criminals, no one is going to try to escape.” Goodner said that those
being treated would mostly be people struggling with anxiety and
depression. “These are people who are scared to death of life, they’re
not going to be out hunting you down.”
Councilman Howard Gifford then asked, “As
far as ownership, I understand it’ll be a private entity more or less,
but can you give us any assurance that three years down the road that
you’re not going to sell it off to the state, to a MHMR system, to
where the City of DeLeon no longer has any control over what takes
place.”
Dickerson responded honestly. “At my
current age, everything I have is for sale,” he said. “But that’s not
the intent.” He then went on to explain that any number of things
could effect whether or not he would consider selling the property,
including, someday, potential health problems. He then added that he
thought the property would produce enough income, after a year or so,
to where he and Striegler would be “very happy owning this thing.”
Dickerson took another opportunity to explain the limited options for
the building. “You can’t put a nursing home back, you can’t put a
retirement center in that building. The only other viable use we see
for that building is government supported low-income housing, and I
don’t want to be any part of that, because that’s going to bring crime
to your neighborhood and I’d rather bail out and let the hospital have
it back.”
Goodner explains the need for such a
facility in the DeLeon area
There was more discussion between Goodner
and council members on potential problems, solutions and the need for
such a facility in this area.
“I couldn’t name any names, and I
wouldn’t” Goodner said, “but coming into town I saw two schizophrenics
who are being treated, so you have that here. Would they end up in the
facility occasionally? Probably. So yes, we would have schizophrenics,
we would have bi-polar, depression, anxiety, panic disorder. For some
reason, this community has more incidences of panic disorders, than I
have ever seen in my life.”
After questions from Councilman Howard
Gifford regarding chemical imbalances, and treatment, Goodner spoke
briefly regarding the subject, but noted that he was “not a medical
person.”
Mike Hare, Chief Operating Officer for
CCMC, then addressed the council, saying that it was a opportunity to
get local people some jobs. “The community I grew up in has always
been a kind, caring community,” Hare added, “and this was evidenced by
when we had the hurricane victims down here at the old hospital. That
was awesome. The hospital supports this. I think it’s an extension of
our services that we offer from our facility. And we whole-heartedly
endorse this.”
There were still a few concerns
expressed, including Dwaine Lane’s concern about property values
falling, Goodner and Dickerson were able to, by all appearances,
alleviate them. In the case of the property values, Dickerson
referenced a similar situation in Stephenville, explaining that one
home sale “was slowed, but it sold for the same value as any of the
other homes appraised in town.”
Councilman Gifford and Dickerson then
discussed how the real estate in the area would be effected if the
building housed some other facility.
“To me, if you let this become a
government housing project, who are you going to have in there?”
Dickerson said. “You’re going to have people who can pay $100 per
month, or $50 per month, based on their salary. What percentage of
them do drugs, what percentage of them are problems, I don’t know your
community, but nation-wide, that’s your people who are breaking in
your homes, and that’s the people who will definitely affect your
property values. But I think you can check that out with your local
police.”
After still more discussion, Councilman
Holdridge said, “Those of you who live near there...basically have
three choices, either these folks are going to do what we were talking
about here, or it’s going to sit there like it is now and draw rats
and squirrels and continue to deteriorate, or some other sort of
business is going to go in. When you think about what types of
businesses could go into that place, none of them sound as attractive
as what these gentlemen are talking about. You may consider it the
lesser of three evils, but that’s what we’re talking about.”
During the entire discussion, no one
explained exactly why “you can’t put a nursing home back in there or a
retirement facility,” as Dickerson stated earlier, or why the building
couldn’t simply be torn down.
In addition to Holdridge, other council
members expressed their favorable opinions of the intended use of the
facility, with Mayor Owen noting that he liked the way these buyers
wanted community approval and involvement, and Councilman Howard
Gifford saying that, “we have local citizens with a need” and that
“DeLeon was a giving and caring community.”
“We don’t know when anybody in here might
need that facility,” Gifford said. “Maybe next week, maybe next month.
For all we know, somebody in here might be using that type of facility
now.”
Eventually, Councilman Johnnye Howell
made a motion in favor of the facility, providing all the state
regulations are met, saying, “I think we need a facility like this”
and it passed by unanimous vote.
Just prior to the vote, Mayor Owen noted,
“If we start getting bombarded with concerns, we may request you to
come back and have a little town hall meeting. Hopefully, we won’t
have to do that.” Dickerson and Goodner readily expressed their
willingness to do so, with Goodner adding, “We’ll be good neighbors, I
promise.”
In other business, council members:
• Accepted a bid from Mark Miller of $552
for a 1971 pickup; a bid of $551 from DeLeon Auto for a 1990 pickup,
and a bid of $301, also from DeLeon Auto, for a 1990 pickup.
• Agreed to accept a bid proposal from
Booe Roofing, of Mundy, for repairing hail-damaged roofs for
city-owned buildings, including City Hall, the police department, the
city yards, the library and minor repairs to the fire hall, for
$35,095.50. The community center, the Senior Citizens Center and the
concession stand at the ballpark, all have shingle roofs, and since
Booe Roofing “doesn’t do shingle roofs” council members agreed to
contact Barr Roofing, the only company who placed a bid for shingled
roofs, to see if they were interested in doing just those buildings.
• Postponed a decision on paving Juarez
Street, pending research on “paving priorities.” Harold Nabors did
tell the council that he and his wife, who live on Juarez Street, had
“been eating dust for two years” and asked them to please reconsider.
• Took no action on a request by Jerry
Jones to allow him to build concrete walls in the creek located at the
corner of East Juarez and Bell streets to conform to natural flow
because Jones was not present at the meeting.
• Explained to Michael Salinas that he
and his brother, Joe, did not need the council’s approval to open an
auto repair and tire shop on Seguin Street.
• Accepted an offer from F&M Bank
approving a city-requested line of credit ($150,000 at 4.75 percent
fixed rate) to be used as interim funding on the Festival Gardens
Community Park project.
• Approved an interlocal agreement with
the County for an annual contribution of $6,974.91 for Comanche County
Emergency Management.
• Agreed, after a brief executive
session, to hire Gaylon Fleming as a city employee, for the customary
probationary period, pending a background check and drug screening.
• Approved a request by Chasity Lopez to
keep the pool open until August 4.
• Took no action on a request by Denise
Hamilton regarding organizing a “downtown planting project.” Hamilton
was not present at the meeting.
• Heard a report from Assistant City
Secretary Jamie Welch on the progress with the Texas Parks and
Wildlife grant for the Festival Gardens Community Park. “Everything is
going very well at the park,” Welch said. “A check has been mailed to
us from Texas Parks and Wildlife yesterday. I’m not sure of the
amount, but I’m expecting it to be about $62,000.”
• Heard a report on the HOME grant
progress, also from Welch, where she noted that things were
progressing rapidly, and there were some “very happy” homeowners.
In the open discussion between the city
officials and city employees, Mayor Owen discussed the continuing city
clean-up, as well as difficulties some customers have had with “the
changing of the cable company from one company to the other.” He also
noted that the police chief search was not working out so far, but
that an applicant would be meeting with the council on Sunday, July
30. (That meeting was later canceled when the candidate withdrew as an
applicant.)
Karen Wilkerson noted that a gun cabinet
was missing from the police department and Council members discussed
pursuing “where it went.”
Councilman Holdridge asked, since there
was currently no code enforcement officer, if there was anyone
“strongly encouraging people to mow.” Mayor Owen said yes, the city
had sent out letters, and even pictures, to let people know they
needed to mow.
Council member Norma Locke noted that
she’d not gotten to talk to all the members of the Cemetery Committee
regarding concerns about the cemetery, but that she was still trying.
Councilman Howard Gifford informed the
council that a new restaurant -- the Ranch Grill -- was going in where
the old Napa store had been. |
