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COMANCHE -- Voting on the board members
of the Comanche Central Appraisal District, banning the sale of aerial
fireworks for the Christmas and New Year holiday season, accounting
for FEMA and Certificate of Obligation revenues and approving a draft
Floodplain Permitting process were some of the more notable matters
that were considered and acted upon in Commissioners Court on Monday.
Judge James Arthur presided at the
December 10 regular meeting with Commissioners Garry Steele, Kenneth
Feist, Bobby Schuman and Jimmy Dale Johnson attending. Other county
officials present and participating included County Clerk Ruby Lesley,
County Auditor Joey Boswell, County Sheriff Jeff Lambert, County
Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust, Chief Deputy Chris Pounds and County
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg and his assistant Trish
Grimshaw.
Casting Votes for Appraisal District
Board
Judge Arthur circulated a list of ten
individuals who had been nominated for the Board of Directors of the
Comanche Central Appraisal District. Ruby Lesley stated that Royce
Lesley, who was on the list of nominees and is currently serving, did
not wish to have his name considered.
There was discussion regarding whether or
how the county should split its votes in order to assure the election
of preferred candidates. The names of Sam Sparger and Gary Davis were
initially mentioned. The matter was tabled while the needed
information on the total number of votes to be cast by all of the
member entities was researched.
It was eventually determined that the
county has 1,590 votes to cast out of a total of 5,000. Votes are
apportioned among the county's various taxing districts pro rata to
the total amount of taxes assessed and collected. Besides Sparger and
Davis, individuals nominated included Gaylon Atkins, Dennis Cox, Jerry
Cupps, Billy Ray Evans, Jerome Hall, Rachel Hilliard, and Mark
Simmons.
After further discussion Bobby Schuman,
seconded by Kenneth Feist, moved that 800 votes be cast for Sam
Sparger, 395 for Billy Ray Evans and 395 for Garry Davis. The vote of
approval was unanimous.
Acknowledging Order Appointing Plumlee
Garry Steele made a motion acknowledging
an order from District Judge James Morgan appointing former Justice of
the Peace Rex Plumlee as a Community Supervision Officer for the 220th
District Court Community Supervision & Corrections Department. Bobby
Schuman seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.
County Holidays for 2008
Judge Arthur distributed a list of 13
days proposed as paid holidays for county employees, the same list of
occasions as in 2007. After brief discussion Kenneth Feist made a
motion to approve the list, Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded and the vote
of approval was unanimous.
County paid holidays include New Years
Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial
Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and two
days each for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Garry Steele then made a motion to pay
county employees a $100 net cash bonus for the month of December.
Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.
County Health Authority Appointments
Jimmy Dales Johnson made a motion to
reappoint Drs. Byrd and Livingston to jointly serve as the County
Health Authority for 2008. Garry Steele seconded and the vote of
approval was unanimous.
It was noted that Dr. Byrd took care of matters in the central and
southern portions of the county and Dr. Livingston handled the
northern end of the county. It was stated that neither physician
receives any salary other than reimbursement for required training for
fulfilling the functions of the office.
Discretionary Exemptions for
Competitive Bid Requirements
Joey Boswell noted that there are
exceptions in the law that normally requires public bidding procedures
be followed on expenditures in excess of $25,000. He cited Local
Government Code Section 262.024 as providing one exception when there
had been damage incurred to public property, and then related it to
recent flood damage to county roads.
There were questions and answers relating
to additional exemptions and how they relate to the county's current
situation. It was noted that most items needed for the flood recovery,
other than perhaps materials, had already been purchased or contracted
for by public bidding.
Bobby Schuman then made a motion to
exempt from public bidding procedures all materials purchased for the
flood recovery work. Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded and the motion was
unanimously approved.
Holiday Pay Policy
There was a lengthy discussion over
county employee pay for work on holidays and for overtime. Matters
such as FEMA cleanup project deadlines, election related overtime and
the unique aspects of labor law for law enforcement workers were
brought up for consideration, as well as reminders of problems the
county had incurred with wage and hour auditors in the past.
In the end, it was decided to leave pay
policies unchanged, and remain, what was believed to be at least, in
compliance with applicable federal pay laws.
Transmission Repair for Tanker
Firetruck
Garry Steele discussed the need for a
transmission repair on the county's fire tanker truck, which currently
can only be driven at 5 mph. The truck, which was recently acquired
through the Forest Service, is based at the Promontory Park VFD
facility, near the center of the county.
Steele estimated the repair cost will
likely be well in excess of the $500 provision for repairs currently
budgeted. He added that we are now getting into the wintertime fire
season when a tanker is needed and that something needs to be done to
repair the truck.
Bobby Schuman volunteered to help locate
a place to get the transmission repaired. No formal action was taken.
Burn Ban & Aerial Fireworks
Ray Helberg distributed two maps, one
showing drought severity and the second showing Texas counties with
burn bans. Comanche County currently is a moderate-to-low drought
severity rating and has a restricted burn ban in place.
In response to questions, Helberg stated
that if things get much more dry he will be recommending a total
outdoor burn ban because of the heavy presence of winter-dead foliage
resulting from wet conditions earlier in the year.
It was noted that the time to act on
banning aerial fireworks was now because the law required such a ban
to be enacted prior to December 15.
Bobby Schuman made the motion, seconded
by Garry Steele, to leave the restricted burn ban in effect and to ban
aerial fireworks. The vote of approval was unanimous.
Credit Cards for County Officials
Joey Boswell discussed the process of
applying for credit cards for each of the four precincts, and asked
what credit limits should be requested for the cards.
Bobby Schuman made a motion authorizing
Boswell to apply for four credit cards, numbered one through four for
each precinct, through the Comanche National Bank, with a $4000 credit
limit on each. Jimmy Dale Johnson seconded Schuman's motion and the
vote of approval was unanimous.
FEMA Projects Funding & Accounting
Update
Trish Grimshaw gave the Commissioners an
update on the status of FEMA paperwork and flooding disaster recovery
project funding.
Bobby Schuman asked Joey Boswell
questions about the accounting for the FEMA and Certificates of
Obligation funds.
Boswell tried to explain it all to
Schuman's satisfaction. He reviewed the unique fund accounting
requirements for the proceeds of the two sources of funding being used
for flood disaster recovery work. Billy Ruth Rust joined in fielding
the continuing series of questions regarding the handling of the
receipts and expenditures of the two funding sources.
The discussion then drifted into when and
under what circumstances should "minus" signs appear on the various
lines and items on the financial reports and whether they indicated
revenues or expenditures and positive or negative balances.
Jimmy Dale Johnson mentioned various
meanings of the term "credit" and expressed his lack of appreciation
for how the "d_____d bookkeepers" utilized the word. He added his
belief that the accounting matters should be "a whole lot simpler."
There was also discussion regarding
problems encountered during the most recent round of bidding for
county depository services and the resulting disappointing interest
rates being earned on the funds on deposit.
Floodplain Permitting Process
Trish Grimshaw reviewed some of the
changes in the most recent draft of the Floodplain Developement Permit
Application. She noted some items that had been included at the
suggestion of the state floodplain administrator, and the additional
suggestion that the permit package should be reviewed by the County
Attorney or some legal counsel.
There was discussion whether County
Attorney Charles Williams would be willing to undertake a review of
the permit documentation and, if he would, as to when it should be
expected to be returned with his recommendations.
Grimshaw noted that Williams' earlier
stated reluctance to review the documents was not absolute, but rather
a desire to review a completed and proposed set of documents, rather
than a series of works in progress. She offered her opinion that the
permitting process could be ready to implement by the end of January.
Garry Steele said he believed the
permitting process was much more lenient than it started out as. Jimmy
Dale Johnson said he hated to do it, but that the county did not have
any choice.
As drafted, a floodplain permit
application will be required for virtually all structural development
including all new structures or substantial improvements, relocation
or replacements of both residential and non-residential structures.
Other developmental activity including fill, grading, any watercourse
alteration or unspecified other also will require a permit
application. The application fee is $10, and if the affected property
lies within a flood zone, an additional $50 site inspection fee and
certificate of compliance is required.
Garry Steele made a motion to refer the
permit application documents to the County Attorney for review and
comments and request that they be returned by the first of Feburary.
After further discussion Bobby Schuman seconded Steele's motion. The
vote of approval was unanimous.
Resolution for Joint Primary Election
Ruby Lesley described the resolution as a
routine item required because the county does not have sufficient
voting equipment nor polling locations to conduct entirely separate
party primary elections on March 4. The resolution is necessary for
joint elections.
Garry Steele asked for explanation on how
the same equipment can be used in both elections. After Lesley
explained it all to his satisfaction, he offered a motion to approve
the resolution. Kenneth Feist seconded and the vote of approval was
unanimous.
During the discussion, Jimmy Dale Johnson
stated more than once his opinion that the Republicans hadn't brought
any money to the table when they joined the party primary process and
then stated his preference not to be even voting in the same room with
them.
Treasurer's Monthly Financial Report
With laughter and mirth, Bobby Schuman
offered a motion, and Jimmy Dale Johnson quickly seconded, Billy Ruth
Rust's Treasurers Report before she even had a chance to present it.
Rust noted that new law required monthly,
rather than quarterly, County Treasurer's reports and then dispensed
copies of the same. The report showed Comanche County with $5.386
million in combined investments and cash funds at the end of November.
There was further discussion of the
county's financial activity, non-cash expenditures and what the
"minus" signs represented.
There was also discussion about the
number of "100 Year" floods that had occurred in the last 20 years.
Garry Steele commented that as bad as the recent flooding was, that
the county precincts, roads and bridges were likely to end up in
better shape than when they started as the result of federal flood
disaster assistance.
The vote of approval for the Treasurer's
report was unanimous.
Sheriff and Jail Operations
Jeff Lambert opened his report with the
good news that one of the two lawsuits that had been filed against his
office had been dismissed.
Lambert noted that his office had donated
two junk vehicles to the Comanche High School for their auto mechanic
vocational education class. He noted that he tried to give one of the
vehicles to DeLeon High School but that they did not offer such a
course of study.
Lambert distributed a statistical summary
for his office's activity during the recently completed fiscal year.
The report showed 373 arrests, 482 civil processes served, 2,089 calls
for service and dispatch, 643 reports filed and an estimated 34,000
phone calls answered.
The report also noted that patrol expense
incurred of $485,000 was $91,000 under the budget. The jail's expense
of $1,212,000 was $84,000 under budget. Jail revenues came within
$8,000 of completely offsetting jail expenditures. A total of 21,656
in prisoner transport miles was logged.
Kenneth Feist asked if the listed jail
expenditures included payments on jail bonds and was told that they
did not.
Budget Amendments and Payables
The Commissioners passed on officers
reports, and then acting on unanimous votes, approved both regular and
emergency budget amendments, approved the payment of $407,174.77 in
accounts due and owing, and approved the payment of salaries and
related benefits coming due prior to the next regular meeting set for
December 26. |
