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COMANCHE -- All members of the Comanche
County Commissioners Court were on hand for their regular meeting on
Monday, January 22.
The relatively short and fast-paced
meeting was presided by County Judge James R. Arthur, and attended by
Commissioners Garry Steele-Precinct 1, Kenneth Feist-Precinct 2, Bobby
Schuman-Precinct 3, and Jimmy Dale Johnson-Precinct 4, along with
County Clerk Ruby Lesley and County Auditor Joey Boswell.
The first action item on the agenda
concerned the installation of utility meters at the County Annex
Building, the old Comanche hospital building.
Garry Steele noted that all of the
utilities were interconnected between the portions of the old hospital
owned by the County and that still owned by the Hospital District. He
noted that the biggest problem would be in separating the water
service.
Steele said that splitting the electrical
service was already underway. A small amount of re-plumbing would be
required to separate the gas utility, although it was not described as
much of a problem. A gas service cutoff of two or three hours would be
required, however, and Steele indicated they would wait until a warmer
time to make that change.
Steele recommended that the utility
splits be completed as soon as possible. He noted that there would
still be a settlement required between the County and the Hospital for
the period of time when the utility meters were only combined utility
billings.
Steele said splitting the water utility
billings would be more difficult, however, as water line tracing would
be required and some significant replumbing might be necessary.
In response to a question from Joey
Boswell, Steele said the only utility splitting needed would be
between the hospital-owned building and the county-owned portion, not
between the different offices utilizing the County's portion.
Shannon Steigleder, acting administrator
for Comanche County Medical Center, asked how much the cost would be
to the hospital.
Steele responded that he could not
provide an answer, however, he believed that the cost should be split
evenly between the two entities, as per the interlocal agreement. He
added that if that was a problem, it could be renegotiated.
Steigleder requested that a cost estimate
on the water portion be presented to the Hospital District Board of
Directors.
Steele responded that he had no objection
to the request.
Bobby Schuman made a motion to turn the
matter over to Garry Steele to handle on behalf of the County. Jimmy
Dale Johnson seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous with
Steele stating that he would handle it. He added that he just didn't
want the County and the Hospital to get into a future hassle over
utility billings.
Steele later indicated that the County
was planning on proceeding with the gas utility meter splitting and
asked Steigleder to inform her Board. He said he would advise the
Hospital when to expect a temporary interruption of its gas service.
The Commissioners next acted to
acknowledge letters from the Texas Department of Transportation
requesting the County to establish alternate routes on CR 103 and CR
235 for use while the roads are closed for bridge rebuilding.
Commissioners Steele and Feist, in whose precincts the roads were
located, briefly studied a county road map during the meeting.
Garry Steele made a motion acknowledging
the letter and Kenneth Feist seconded. The vote of approval was
unanimous.
The Commissioners also acted on unanimous
votes to acknowledge certificates presented by Bobby Schuman and
Kenneth Feist certifying their completion of training in the Public
Information Act and Open Meetings Act.
The Commissioners next considered an
amendment for a ten year extension to a contract for a radio tower
lease by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Jimmy Dale Johnson questioned the need
for a ten year extension and whether the $200 annual lease was
sufficient.
Judge Arthur recommended that the
Commissioners approve the lease amendment. Garry Steele said he didn't
have a problem with it.
After Johnson re-read the contract and
expressed his reluctant consent, Garry Steele offered a motion,
seconded by Kenneth Feist, to approve the amendment. The vote of
approval was unanimous.
The next order of business was to discuss
jail inmate medical services procedures.
Shannon Steigleder, the hospital's acting
administrator, and Linda Moore, an indigent care and social services
coordinator for the hospital, were present for the discussion with the
Commissioners and the Sheriff.
At the previous Commissioners Court
meeting, then hospital CEO Evan Moore had asked for consideration of
the problem of inmates not being able to pay the medical service
deposits that are required of other non-emergency, self-pay hospital
patients. The Sheriff's Office has not been paying the medical costs
for in-county prisoners, and the hospital is not getting paid for
their services in the majority of the cases. The cost of out-of-county
inmates is billed back to their home county.
Joey Boswell asked Sheriff Lambert about
the results of his research on the matter with the Texas Commission on
Jail Standards.
Lambert responded that a small portion of
the inmates' commissary accounts could be taken to pay for medical
costs, but certainly not all. He added, however, that whether or not
there were sufficient inmate commissary funds available, the County
was obligated to provide medical services to inmates. He then read
from the applicable regulation.
Steele commented that this was a
relatively small quagmire, in a monetary sense.
Shannon Steigleder said that the hospital
had also been researching the matter, but was unable to offer a
definitive response at this time due to the change in hospital
administration.
Steele stated his opinion that further
research and discussion was needed before the matter could be
resolved. He suggested that a workshop between the two entities be
held in order to arrive at a solution.
Steigleder agreed that further research on the matter was needed. She
stated that the hospital had been unpaid for about $9,500 in medical
services provided to in-county inmates.
Boswell suggested that the matter be put
on the Commissioners agenda when the Hospital notified that it was
ready to further discuss the matter. Steele suggested that a working
meeting might be held during the interim and that the matter be put on
the agenda in either the end of February or the first March meeting.
Judge Arthur suggested the second meeting
in March would be the best time since he would be unable to attend the
first March meeting. It was agreed to reconsider the matter at the
second March meeting.
Jimmy Dale Johnson asked Steigleder if
the Hospital could continue treating prisoners on the same basis as
before until the matter could be resolved. Steigleder indicated that
they could.
Sheriff Jeff Lambert discussed the
upcoming Sheriff's auction to be held on March 17 and noted that the
Commissioners could include any of their unneeded equipment in the
sale if desired.
Lambert advised the Commissioners that
the jail was expecting a surge of inmates from Lampassas County due to
a two week planned shutdown of that county's jail for repairs.
County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust
distributed copies of the Treasurer's Quarterly Report to the
Commissioners. The report covered the first quarter of the County's
fiscal year and was dated December 31, 2006.
The report indicated receipts of $1.712
million, disbursements of $1.857 million, with net transfers in from
reserves of $400 thousand. The total cash balances for all funds grew
from $85 to $340 thousand during the quarter.
Bobby Schuman made a motion to accept the
Treasurer's Quarterly Report, seconded by Garry Steele, and the vote
of approval was unanimous.
The Commissioners reviewed and approved a
number of non-emergency budget amendments, acting unanimously on a
motion by Jimmy Dale Johnson, seconded by Garry Steele.
The next order of business was to audit
and approve accounts due and owing. A list of payables totalling
$125,729 was reviewed. There was considerable discussion regarding
various billings. One matter of discussion involved the financial
procedures necessary for Precincts 1 and 2 to share the cost of a
mechanic.
After discussion, the accounts payables
list was unanimously approved on a motion by Jimmy Dale Johnson,
seconded by Bobby Schuman.
County Emergency Services Coordinator Ray
Helberg advised the Commissioners of a grant request that needed
approval, but was not on the agenda for the current meeting.
The grant, which needed to be filed by
the end of January, would be funded by the Governors Division of
Emergency Management and would cover half of Helberg's cost to the
County.
The Commissioners discussed having a
special meeting to be called for the following Thursday, and then
agreed to a January 26, 1:00 p.m. meeting to review and consider the
Emergency Services grant application. |
