By Jerry Morgan, Reporter

COMANCHE -- The possibility of the Proctor trash dump station operated by Precinct #3 being closed caused attendance at the Commissioners semi-monthly meeting to be larger than usual.

Other subjects of significant interest discussed included the appointment of a new Family Consumer Science Extension Agent, the problem of thefts and vandalism to county road signs, and a demand for the county to pay a claimant $25 million.

All active members of the Court were present at the 9:00 a.m., Monday, October 23 meeting.

New Family Consumer Science Agent Appointed

In the first agenda item following the reading and approval of the minutes of the prior meeting, District Extension Service supervisor Ron Wooley introduced Sharon Watson to the Commissioners as his recommendation for the person to fill the vacant Family Consumer Science Agent.

Watson has two degrees from Texas A&M - Commerce, a BS in Home Economics and a MS in Counseling. She has 15 years of experience in teaching, primarily as a Family Consumer Science teacher and FCCLA advisor, primarily in areas east of Dallas. She currently resides in Mesquite.

Wooley stated, "We recommend her to you, with an effective date of November 27."

Commissioner Garry Steele commented that Watson had a very impressive resume.

County Judge James Arthur inquired if Watson would be moving to the county and was assured that she would be.

Watson stated that although she had worked most of her life in urban and suburban areas, that she had been born and raised in a rural area and looked forward to life in Comanche County.

Commissioner Bobby Schuman made a motion to approve Watson's appointment. Commissioner Chris Biggs seconded and the vote to approve was unanimous.

Proctor Dump Site Discussion

Commissioner Schuman opened the discussion by stating that he had been informed by the trash pickup service that they had been contacted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding a planned inspection of the Precinct #3 trash dump site in Proctor. Schuman said that it would have to be cleaned up or else the TCEQ would close it.

Schuman said, "We've changed the dump days from Monday to Tuesday, and close it on Monday. It's full Saturday and Sunday and it's open on Tuesday morning. And, they dump it on Tuesday. And it worked good last week. It's full now (on Monday), but they'll be there in the morning to dump them, and we'll be open all day. It's a little bit congested, and a little bit overflow, but it's nothing like it was."

Schuman indicated that the trash service had been told that the TCEQ was not eager to close the site, only to see that it was cleaned up and operated effectively. He then added his, and apparently the other Commissioners, opinion when he said, "So we're not planning on closing it. We're going to change the days and see how that works. We don't want to close it. It's costing the county some money, but we put it in there for a purpose. It's been there for seven years and I think it has done real good. We've had lots of people contact me and they're wanting to leave it open. I'm not for closing it. I'm just saying the health department or somebody else may close it for us after a complaint has been filed... But we're not going to close it as far as we're concerned. We're going to make it work. We're going to leave it on an honor basis because we don't have the money or feel we need the expense to pay somebody to run that thing. And I know we're not getting all of the revenues off of it, but we're doing as good as we can. This last week worked pretty good... We're going to try that change and see how it works for us."

Schuman noted that the pickup days were Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. He then invited any of the meeting attendees to speak who wished. At least three took him up on that invitation.

One man said, "We're here because we thought we'd be up that well known creek without a paddle, without that dumpster." He suggested that if the price per trash bag needed to be raised, that he would be willing to pay the higher price.

Schuman responded that he knew a lot of people did not pay the price, but that he was not for raising the price, adding that many on limited incomes use the dump site. He noted that the dump site helps keep down littering problems along county roads.

Garry Steele added his opinion that unless directed otherwise by a higher authority, that he was in favor of keeping it open.

Another Proctor area resident noted how much less trash had been dumped in Walnut Creek since the dumpsters had been provided at the Precinct #3 dump site. "We'll support you anyway we can. Anything we can do to the state, anything we can say, we'll support you. We appreciate the Commissioners..."

Schuman noted that the County now has an Environmental Deputy hired who can be of assistance in identifying and bringing charges against illegal trash dumpers.

Proctor area resident Felix Laughlin, who had written the letter of complaint and sent photos to the Texas Health Department, asked to speak. He defended his letter writing and subsequent posting of notices in the Proctor area regarding the prospect of the dump closing.

Laughlin and Schuman verbally sparred over what had been said and what actions had been taken in response.

It was noted by County Auditor Joey Boswell that the dump site had been established by the Commissioners Court as a whole. Garry Steele added that its fate would be similarly determined.

Steele said, "Hopefully the community will help support this thing in keeping it a little bit neater, which will alleviate the Health Department and TCEQ's problems as far as the supervision over it."

Laughlin expressed his hope that the community would also help in the financial support of the dump site and in keeping it open.

Emergency Management and 9-1-1 Addressing

County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg was asked to speak to the Commissioners. He began by noting that there had been a lot of good rains in recent times, which had produced a lot of plant growth, which, when winter get here, will provide a lot of fuel for wildfires. He indicated that the total outdoor burn ban may need to be discussed sometime in the near future.

Helberg indicated that things in emergency management had been running pretty smooth with no major emergencies to deal with other than traffic accidents. He added that he had provided close to 30 new addresses in the county during the last two months.

Judge Arthur asked Helberg to repeat the number of new addresses he had provided in the last two months and when he heard the number “30” the second time he said, "Holy mackerel!"

Garry Steele said there's a lot more growth occurring than people realize, and Helberg added that much of it was not very visible.

Judge Arthur continued to express his amazement. Others noted that most of the growth was retirement-based, adding that the county was a good place to retire. Arthur said that was wonderful.

Helberg noted that his office is now able to be fully functional in working on the GPS (global positioning satellite) addressing for 9-1-1 addresses.

The Commissioners then began discussing the persisting problem of vandalism of county road signs.

Bobby Schuman noted that the signs are being stolen in his precinct. He said he had directed his crews to cut the aluminum sign plates, which cost about $23 each, into two pieces. "We haven't lost as many of them by making them smaller," he added. "We can still get our county road sign on there...and save costs on it. That cost is terrible the way they are stealing them."

Judge Arthur asked why someone would want to steal a road sign. Schuman noted the aluminum was worth something. Steele noted it might be just for the thrill of it, adding that he had found many stolen signs in creek beds and ditches. He also added that it was a statewide problem and not confined just to this county.

An audience member stated that a railroad crossing sign had been stolen on the previous night.

Garry Steele commented, "You just don't realize how serious this can be if someone is having a heart attack and you can't find the road. People die while you are waiting for them to get there, and you just don't realize the damage you have done."

Schuman noted that last year in Precinct #4 the vandals went as far as switching county road signs. He was visibly upset by the recall of the incident.

It was noted that sometimes the signs aren't stolen or switched, but sometimes simply pushed over.

Steele noted that sign stealing and vandalism was a crime.

Judge Arthur closed the discussion with the statement, "They need to reinstate the draft and get some of those bums off the street." The audience members and Commissioners laughed and expressed their agreement.

Disputed Claim for Payment

Joey Boswell passed around a demand letter and related documents that had recently been received by County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust.

Threats of lawsuits seeking $5,000,000 in damages were made regarding four current and former county officials and a local area attorney. The letter further demanded Comanche County to make payment of $25,000,000.

Boswell noted that he was not going to approve the payment and asked the Commissioners to express their agreement with him on his decision.

County Clerk Ruby Lesley noted that the claimant, who remained unnamed during the meeting, had recently made an attempt to file documents which did not appear to qualify for public filing. County Attorney Charles Williams agreed with Lesley's assessment and wrote a letter of opinion to that effect.

Lesley returned the documents and Williams' letter to the claimant. The documents were described as relating to a disputed real estate title transfer many years earlier.

Garry Steele commented that he agreed with Boswell's denial of payment and later added his opinion that it was a frivolous claim.

Billy Ruth Rust later requested formal direction from the Commissioners as to how to respond to the demand for payment.

Steele offered a motion to deny payment of the claim. Chris Biggs seconded and the vote to approve the motion was unanimous.

Sheriff and Jail Operations

Sheriff Jeff Lambert reported that his office had billed for out-of-county prisoner housing over $1,181,500 in the county's fiscal year which ended in September. He added that the jail had expended $1,166,600 during the same time, leaving an operating profit of around $15,000. Joey Boswell noted that actual collections during the year were slightly less than the total billed, but added that full collection of amounts billed was expected.

Lambert added that the jail had spent $47,000 less than the budgeted total for the fiscal year.

Garry Steele noted that congratulations were in order.

Although it was not noted during the meeting discussions, Boswell has several times in the past offered his estimate that if the county operated a jail only for its own prisoners, and no paying out-of-county inmates, that it would cost the taxpayers around $500,000 a year.

Lambert answered questions about the new Environmental Deputy by noting that she has been taking training and that a pickup has been purchased and a trailer donated from Precinct #3.

Lambert also presented the quotes for major medical insurance on county prisoners. Bobby Schuman asked about how many times the policy would have been needed in the past and only one instance was discussed.

Lambert stated in regard to the insurance, "I don't know if I have an opinion on it one way or another."

Garry Steele indicated his interest in further study on the matter and said that the need for it should be kept in mind.

Other Business

Two routine requests for the County to allow a pipeline under a Hamilton County road that enters Comanche County for only around a hundred yards and joins Highway 1702 and to bury cable in the right-of-way on CR #252 were supported in turn by Commissioners Schuman and Biggs and unanimously approved.

Commissioner Garry Steele referred to a replacement cost evaluation study for county buildings and said that he would be working with the other Commissioners and county officials regarding the values which are useful in determining the insured values for fire and casualty insurance purposes.

The Commissioners formally adopted the retirement plan as budgeted in the current fiscal year.

Commissioner Steele noted that the old hospital building now referred to as the County Annex Building, would need daily inspections of the unused portions during the winter months because of the freeze threat to the fire sprinkler system. He added that a $25,000 sprinkler valve would need a heat lamp and that the heating system should be adjusted to keep the temperatures in the unused part of the building from dropping below 50 degrees.

Ray Helberg volunteered to make the daily inspection on the days when he was in town. Jeff Lambert said he could have his maintenance man cover the times when Helberg was out of town.