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COMANCHE -- Comanche County once again
has four Commissioners serving on the County Court as Jimmy Dale
Johnson of DeLeon was appointed and sworn-in on Monday, November 27,
to serve in the Precinct 4 post.
The Precinct 4 Commissioner position had
been vacant since the passing of Clyde Brinson in May. Johnson was the
winner in the November 7 general election for a four year term to
begin in January.
In the first item of business at the
Monday morning meeting, Judge James Arthur exercised his authority to
fill the vacant post by appointing Johnson to begin his public service
a little more than one month earlier than he would have otherwise.
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NEW
COMMISSIONER APPOINTED EARLY. County Judge James Arthur, shown
with back to the camera, made the decision to appoint Jimmy Dale
Johnson, shown with hand raised, to serve the remaining five weeks
of the term of his predecessor, based on Johnsonıs victory in the
November 7 election. People witnessing the event included, from
the left, Jason Johnson, Sherry Ward, Jimmie Dee Johnson, Judge
James Morgan, Sue Brown and Kenneth Feist. |
The appointment and swearing-in process
consisted of the reading and recitation of two lengthy sworn
statements and the written attestation thereof. At the completion of
the swearing-in, Johnson was greeted by applause from those present at
the meeting and responded with the statement, "I'm looking forward to
working with you all." He then shook hands with the three serving
Commissioners - Bobby Schuman, Garry Steele and Chris Biggs - and sat
in the Precinct 4 chair at the Commissioners table.
The next item of business involved
insuring a fire truck. Promontory Park volunteer fireman and County
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg noted that the Promontory
Park VFD had received a $65,000 emergency grant from the Texas Forest
Service to replace the brush fire truck that had been burned up while
fire fighting near Carbon in early January. Helberg stated that the
truck body had already been purchased and that the bed was under
construction in Arkansas.
Helberg noted that the state agency's
procedures required that the vehicle be purchased first and then the
request for reimbursement could be filed. "We can do that," he noted.
The same procedure would be followed for purchase and subsequent
reimbursement for the truck bed and, again, that would not be a
problem since the department had raised some funds for the effort and
would be reimbursed. The problem, however, was the Forest Service's
requirement that full liability and casualty insurance be carried on
the fire truck.
Helberg described how he had obtained
various quotes on the required insurance and that the best quote he
had been able to obtain for physical damage insurance was $3,100 per
year. He added that liability insurance was available through the
Texas Forest Service for only $150 per year, but that the department
could not afford the high cost of the physical damage coverage.
Sherry Ward, the County Judge's
secretary, said she had checked with the Texas Association of Counties
(TAC) and was told that the cost for both liability and physical
damage coverage should be no more than $1,200 per year if the new
truck was added on the County's policy. She added that the cost for
the balance of the fiscal year would only be $408, since there would
be no addition for liability coverage.
Garry Steele asked if there were other
fire trucks from volunteer fire departments on the County's policy and
Ward responded that there was at least one from the Energy VFD.
Bobby Schuman reminded them that it was a
state requirement that the fire truck be fully insured. Chris Biggs
indicated that he didn't think the County had any choice in the
matter.
Garry Steele suggested that the best
solution would be for the Promontory Park VFD to obtain liability
coverage through the Texas Forest Service and that the County would
provide physical damage coverage under its policy with TAC. Sherry
Ward noted that both physical damage and liability coverage could be
obtained for the $408 premium for the nine month balance of the fiscal
year.
Steele then revised his motion to have
the County provide complete insurance protection for the balance of
the fiscal year. Chris Biggs seconded the motion and the vote of
approval was 4-0.
The next order of business concerned
another fire truck, in this case a tanker truck that had also been
obtained through the Texas Forest Service to serve all of Comanche
County. It is planned to be based in Comanche, due to its central
location, facilities, qualified drivers and need for a reliable
tanker.
County Emergency Services Coordinator
Helberg noted that the tanker truck needed a dump valve to be
installed in the rear of the tank, and that it needed new hose reels
and a manifold built to allow hookups to other fire trucks. He noted
that the cost of the dump valve alone was around $550. He requested
the County authorize $750 to be spent to put the truck in serviceable
condition.
Garry Steele noted that the tanker is not
usable at present, since its previous dump valve had apparently been
removed prior to its delivery to Comanche County. His Precinct 1
workers had been fabricating a plate of approximate 10 inch by 12 inch
dimensions with a four inch drain to cover the opening that was left,
but that when he was told that a dump valve was needed, he had ceased
work on the plate.
Helberg added that it would take
"forever" to dump 5,000 gallons of water through a four inch drain.
In response to questions from Bobby
Schuman and Judge Arthur, Garry Steele said that the dumping of water
would be into a nurse tank where other fire trucks could be refilled
while the tanker truck was making another run for more water.
Judge Arthur reiterated that the truck
would serve the entire County as needed. Garry Steele added that the
truck was needed in service because weather conditions were dry and
the frosts were killing vegetation. Ray Helberg added his opinion that
a request for a total burn ban could not be far away if significant
rain was not received soon.
Bobby Schuman stated, "If we've got to do
it, I make a motion that we do it." Chris Biggs quickly added his
second and the vote to approve was unanimous.
The Commissioners then acted in rapid
order to separately approve bonds for Commissioner Bobby Schuman,
County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust, District Clerk Brenda Dickey,
Secretary to County Judge Sherry Ward, County Attorney Charles
Williams, County Clerk Ruby Lesley and County Judge James Arthur.
The Commissioners next considered a
proposed list of 2007 County holidays as prepared by Judge Arthur, who
noted that the list was basically a restatement of the 2006 list with
dates revised as necessary and was provided only as a guide. After the
list was passed around and discussed, Bobby Schuman asked where was
Martin Luther King's birthday. Billy Ruth Rust noted that the federal
holiday, which falls on January 15 this year, had been provided as a
holiday one recent year. She later added that it had been a problem in
Erath County when they had not included it. Both Garry Steele and
Judge Arthur commented that since it was a federal holiday that it
should be included in the County's list of holidays offered.
Judge Arthur read the 13 holidays on the
list and began with New Years Day on January 1, and then in turn,
Martin Luther King's birthday on January 15, Presidents Day on
February 19, Good Friday on April 6, Memorial Day on May 28,
Independence Day on July 4, Labor Day on September 3, Columbus Day on
October 8, Veterans Day on November 12, Thanksgiving on November 22 &
23, Christmas on December 24 & 25. At the conclusion of his reading,
Garry Steele made a motion to approve the list of holidays as
presented, Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded and the vote of approval was
unanimous.
Sheriff Jeff Lambert advised the
Commissioners that the County Jail had passed its inspection, although
the inspector noted that there were some improvements which needed to
be completed before the following year's inspection. He added that
some of the improvements would likely be fairly expensive,
particularly those to certain locks in the original section of the
jail. Other needed corrections were to the automatic closers on
certain doors and the replacement of certain plumbing fixtures that
had been repaired through the years with corrections-grade fixtures.
Bobby Schuman, who had represented the
Commissioners Court during the jail inspection, said that the
inspector had been highly complimentary of the County Jail, the
Sheriff, and all of the personnel working there and how well it was
run. He added regarding the inspector, "He's never had any major
problems here. He's been here several times."
Sheriff Lambert noted that he was not
having any particular problems with the jail other than having to make
arrangements for a temporary replacement of the jail nurse, who will
be unable to work for a couple of months due to pregnancy. Lambert
said he had located some temporary nursing help, but was still hoping
to find additional help.
In response to a question, Lambert noted
that the prisoner count was holding pretty steady at near the maximum
levels. A short discussion of the inmate housing situation followed
which included references to growing federal demand for housing
illegal immigrants on a short term basis.
Lambert invited the new Commissioner and
to Kenneth Feist, who will begin serving as Commissioner of Precinct 2
in January, to come out and visit the County Jail and see how it all
works. Following a comment by Bobby Schuman to Jimmy Dale Johnson
regarding the sound of the doors locking and closing you in, Lambert
grinned and added, "Commissioner Schuman is somewhat claustrophobic.
He wanted out."
Lambert said that he had been notified of
a possible lawsuit from a former prisoner back in 2002 and added that
it had all been turned over to the legal counsel at TAC. He added,
"I'm not even sure if there's going to be a lawsuit or not... I'll
keep the court updated when I find out more."
Garry Steele inquired if it was a federal
lawsuit and was told that it was and that the prisoner had a history
of such actions. Steele noted that federal courts were fairly strict
in what type legal actions they would allow to proceed.
In other actions, the Commissioners acted
unanimously on Sheriff Lambert's recommendation and approved the
deputation of former Deputy Sheriff Mitchell Best as a Reserve Deputy
Sheriff. They also unanimously approved a request by United
Cooperative Electric to lay an electrical service line under CR 440 in
Precinct 3. |
