By Jerry Morgan, Reporter

COMANCHE -- All active members of the Commissioners Court met on Tuesday, October 10, to consider an agenda of diverse and generally routine administrative topics. The meeting was delayed from its usual Monday date by the Columbus Day holiday.

The meeting was chaired by County Judge James Arthur, with Commissioners Bobby Schuman, Chris Biggs and Garry Steele in attendance. Judge Arthur had to leave the meeting fairly early, however, to attend a funeral.

Energy Volunteer Fire Department

The first matter on the agenda, following the reading and approval of prior meeting minutes, was a report by Ronnie Calcote regarding the status of the Energy Volunteer Fire Department. Calcote had met with the Commissioners a few weeks earlier and heard their concerns regarding whether the department was still active following its non-response to more than one fire call in the County. The provision for County funding of the department had been put on hold pending Calcote's promise to do what he could to re-energize the department.

Calcote stated that the Energy VFD now had ten volunteers carrying pagers and eight on the fire phone. He stated that the department had responded to six fire calls in recent days and weeks. The department has requested a heavy truck from the Texas Forest Service and believes that it will soon be delivered. The Energy VFD also has a grant application in the works for a brush firefighting truck.

Calcote expressed optimism that the grant would be approved. He added that there are three Emergency Medical Technicians in the community that have agreed to serve as the department's medical first responders.

Garry Steele asked about the mutual aid agreements and Calcote responded that almost all of the agreements had been completed and the rest were in the process of being completed.

Steele said, "That being the case, I'm very pleased. I'll make a motion that we go ahead and fund for this year at the current rate of all the other volunteer fire departments that we have out in the county."

The motion was seconded by Bobby Schuman and unanimously approved.

Various suggestions and offers of assistance were discussed. Later in the same meeting, the Commissioners directed County Auditor Joey Boswell to prepare a budget amendment for a $3,000 County payment to the Energy VFD.

Precinct #3 Dump Ground

Felix Laughlin was on hand to meet with the Commissioners and discuss the dump site in Proctor. Commissioner Schuman had a copy of a letter and photos that Laughlin had sent to the Texas Department of Health concerning the dump ground maintained by Precinct #3 in Proctor.

Laughlin stated that the problem of overflowing dumpsters occurred mainly on Mondays following the two days the dump ground is closed over the weekend. He stated, "Unfortunately, a lot of people from the surrounding area - Stephenville, Dublin - probably come out to the oasis, Proctor, buy a 6-pack and dump their trash."

Laughlin complimented the trash dump service that Precinct #3 maintained, but noted that since it had ceased being manned over the weekend, that the dumpsters have been overflowing with trash on Mondays. He expressed his hope that the service could be continued and the problems resolved, rather than being shut down entirely.

Bobby Schuman noted the dumpsters are emptied twice weekly, and that even if the site were manned continuously, the problem would remain of more trash being brought in than can be accommodated.
Schuman stated, "This thing costs us a lot of money. It cost a lot of money to put it in. We can't afford to have a man on duty. That's why we quit doing that. What money we are collecting on the honor system is not paying the bills. It costs us $500 something a week to keep that thing open, and we collect about a $100."

Laughlin agreed that some were abusing the system.

Schuman noted that he often has to use precinct workers to clean up the mess, and to separate out materials, wood and metal objects primarily, that the trash service cannot accept. He noted that if the gates are closed, that often trash is dumped along the roadway. Schuman said that the area needed to be patrolled better, but that also costs money for the people of the county.

Laughlin inquired if any of the other three county precincts maintain a trash collection service and was told that Precinct #3 was the only such service. Schuman noted it has been operated for about eight years.
Laughlin asked if the matter of keeping the dump service open would be decided at the current meeting. Garry Steele noted that he believed the matter needed further investigation and discussion and should be tabled for a future meeting.

Bobby Schuman told Laughlin that since he had written a letter of complaint to the Texas Department of Health that the trash dump might likely be investigated and shut down by that agency. He added, "They may come in here and tend to this deal, no matter what we want to do."

Schuman later stated, "All this is, is a community service. You would have been better off, I think, I mean it's your call, to come to the court here and talk to us about it, rather than write the Health Department."

Laughlin expressed his appreciation for the service and his hope that it could be continued.

The matter will be further discussed at the next Commissioners Court meeting.

Judge Arthur then turned the conduct of the meeting over to Garry Steele and left to attend a funeral.
During the exit and transition, District Attorney B.J. Sheppard, who had been sitting in on the Commissioners' proceedings, approached the meeting table and expressed his appreciation to the Commissioners for their budgetary considerations and support for his office. He also extended an offer to the Commissioners to help them in any way that he could. In response, the Commissioners expressed their appreciation for his statement and also offered to help when possible.

Office Assignments at the Old Hospital Building

Garry Steele noted while opening discussion on space assignments at the old hospital building that the new County Fire Marshall had made no-cost arrangements for office facilities and would not need to be considered in the discussion.

A lengthy discussion of the office space needs for the County Emergency Services Coordinator and the County Clerk's voting machine storage ensued. Steele distributed a diagram of the east wing of the old hospital building which showed offices designated for various uses by Emergency Services.

Steele noted, "All of this is proposed. None of it is cut in stone. So, if you've got anything to say, now is the time to do it." He added that he has had conflicting requests for use of space in the facility, and that he was not the final authority on it, but rather the Commissioners Court as a whole.

Bobby Schuman commented that the County had a lot of very expensive electronic voting machines stored in one of the rooms at the building and that County Clerk Ruby Lesley needed more secure work space while preparing them for the elections. Access to various parts of the building was discussed.

Schuman asked County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg to explain how the various rooms currently designated for use in his effort would be used during emergencies. Helberg responded that the use would vary by the type of emergency involved and then laid out several possible scenarios.
In response to a question from County Auditor Joey Boswell, Helberg noted that each county was federally mandated to have some type of emergency response and coordination facility.

Helberg also responded to Bobby Schuman's question regarding the emergency services trailer by noting the trailer was a communications facility, and not an operational command center. He added that you couldn't put nearly as many as would be involved in a large scale emergency or disaster in the trailer.

Garry Steele commented that Ruby Lesley had inquired whether early voting could be conducted in the old hospital building, rather than in the hallway of the County Courthouse as at present. Steele noted, however, that the presence of adult probationers waiting in the lobby of the old hospital building for their required visits would be incompatible with conducting early voting in or near the same area. Problems associated with conducting early voting in the Courthouse hallway were also mentioned.

Lesley commented that it would save her office a lot of difficulty if they could leave the voting machines set up in a secured room where they could be more easily reprogrammed prior to an election. The current storage space is too small and thus they have to be set up and strung together out in the hallway of the old hospital building.

Steele summed up the situation by stating, "We've got two people here wanting the same room." Later, after considerable additional discussion, he added, "I'm tired of being in the middle of this thing."

Schuman objected to the fact that some radio wiring had already been installed in one of the rooms in preparation for use by the Emergency Management office. He pointed out that the Commissioners Court should have been consulted for permission prior to incurring the expense.

In the end, however, it was Garry Steele who drafted a compromise plan that gave more space to the County Clerk in the old hospital building. No provision to change the site of early voting from the Courthouse hallway was made. The space available to the Emergency Management complex of offices was reduced and a buffer of two offices in between the Emergency Management and Count Clerk spaces was left unassigned.

Chris Biggs offered a motion to adopt Steele's plan, Steele seconded and the vote to approve was unanimous.

Refund of Sales Tax Overpayment

Billy Ruth Rust stated that Comanche County had been notified by the State Comptroller's office that it had been overpaid by around $110,000 in state sales tax remittances.

The overpayment, dating back into 2002 and 2003, apparently was the result of a mistaken location of service designation by a large collector of sales taxes.

Rust added that the Comptroller would allow Comanche County to wait until after the current fiscal year to begin repayments, since the tax rates and budget for the current year have already been finalized. She recommended that the County request a two year payout.

Rust said that the Comptroller was trying not to unduly hurt the County, but that the overpayments would eventually have to be repaid. She expressed hope that the amount currently under discussion was the entire amount overpaid.

Garry Steele made a motion to propose a three year repayment period beginning in the next fiscal year. Bobby Schuman seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.

Rust said she would write and send a letter to that effect.

Other Business

In other business the Commissioners:

• Acknowledged an order from District Judge James Morgan reappointing Kay Solomon as the 220th Judicial District Court Administrator.

• Approved an interlocal agreement with the Dublin Independent School District regarding use of electronic voting machines for a bond election on November 7.

• Discussed, tabled, and later reconsidered and approved a sub-recipient agreement for a grant from the Governor's Division of Emergency Management for $17,300.

• Approved the rate of mileage reimbursement for Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg in connection with 9-1-1 GPS addressing work to be paid at the Comanche County rate of 41.5 cents per mile, and not at the State of Texas rate of 44.5 cents per mile.

• Discussed three alternative proposals requested and received by Sheriff Jeff Lambert for major medical insurance for county inmates. Since the matter was not on the meeting agenda, it was agreed to be reviewed and considered at the next Commissioners meeting.

• Heard Sheriff Lambert report that the Texas Department of Public Safety was installing, at no cost to the county, a LifeScan identification system at the jail. Lambert said the $70,000 machine was being installed in counties across the state in an effort to provide a higher level of identifying characteristics of persons charged with crimes.