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By JERRY MORGAN, Reporter

VAN DYKE -- The Board of Directors of the Comanche County Consolidated Hospital District, the governing body of the Comanche County Medical Center and Doctors Medical Clinic, spent half of its most recent meeting in closed session to discuss personnel matters.

The Board met at noon on Tuesday, April 29, with Board president Gale Easley conducting the meeting. Members Joe Locke, Charles Mazurek, Janna Morris and Billy Ray Evans attended and Karen Petty was absent.

Executive Session

After a quick approval of the minutes of the previous monthly meeting, and Kathy Johnston's report that Dr. Dickey had nothing to present in the Medical Staff Report, the Board went into executive session, less than three minutes after the call to order and Kevin Storey's invocation.

The executive session lasted almost an hour and included Chief Executive Officer Kevin Storey, Chief Financial Officer Tom Letz, Personnel Administrator Peggy Jordan and Medical/Surgical Director Steve Raines.

Following the resumption of public session the Board took no action on executive session matters.

Financial Report

Tom Letz presented the financial report. He referred the Board to a March and nine month year-to-date statement of revenue and expense which showed a loss for the month of $292,380 and for the nine months of $845,722.

Letz commented that hospital's March billings of $2.3 million were close to the budgeted revenues. March billings were 98% of budget and the nine months year to date were 93% of budget.

He pointed out that they are using a very conservative means of estimating deductions from revenue for contractual items, bad debts and other revenue deductions. As a result, net revenues for the month were only 92% of budget and 90% of the budget for nine months.

Letz continued to state his expectation that the deductions situation would improve as various delayed payments are received, hopefully for more than accrued.

Significant personnel cost related adjustments were made during the month as the balance sheet analysis and cleanup continues. An increase in the provision for employee health insurance costs and for paid time off accruals, along with the payment of retention bonuses for nurses, all combined to negatively impact earnings by around $200,000.

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By LAURA KESTNER, Editor

Two Coryell County residents spoke to the Middle Trinity Groundwater Conservation District directors during their most recent regular session, Thursday, May 1, 2008, to gauge the director’s reaction to Coryell County joining the MTGC district.

All directors – Jerry Fronterhouse, Rodney Stephens (chairman), George Bingham, Fred Parker, Jerry Hinshaw and Ed Dittfurth – were present for the afternoon meeting in Dublin, as were Joe Cooper, MTGCD manager; Sharon Mainord, executive assistant; and Wes Burris, field technician.

Wyllis Ament, president of Coryell County’s Tablerock Conservation District board, and Jack Wall, a Coryell County commissioner, explained that although it is still too early for any action, they just wanted to see if the directors were amenable to the idea.

“I was up here in Stephenville when we were initially trying to form the Middle Trinity district,” Ament said, “and I see some familiar faces are still around – it’s good to see you guys. What’s happened to us in Coryell County is that we have enabling legislation that was passed last year that established the groundwater conservation district in Coryell County, subject to the confirmation of the voters. And our election for confirmation, is in November.”

Ament said that at this time, their chief objective is to get confirmed, and that they hoped to get confirmed as a tax-based district. “Subsequent to that happening, we’ve had a lot of pressure put on us to go ahead and explore, if you will, joining up with another groundwater conservation district. One of our options is the Middle Trinity district. As a board, we’re more inclined to ask you folks for the opportunity to join this district, than we would be to go with a large metropolitan area like McClennen County.”
Since they’ve not been confirmed yet, Ament said they thought they would have a lot of time to explore their options, knowing they would be required to join another county in some fashion within four years.

“But, in the time that’s passed, between the time we got our enabling legislation and the approaching election in November, we are subject to being included in a priority groundwater management area,” he said.

“TCEQ has recommended that we join a five-county groundwater management district,” Ament said, “that includes Hill County, McClennen County, Bosque County, Coryell County and Falls County.” Ament said that state Senator Kip Averitt, “the chairman of the National Resources Conservation committee on the senate side,” is also proposing that they join the five-county district that includes McClennen County.

“We’re shying away from McClennen County because we feel we have more in common with the Middle Trinity district, as far as our economy, and our groundwater management,” Ament said. “And so we’re not here to ask this board to let us join the district, because we’re not confirmed. ...Those who were here when this district was being formed back in 2000, 2001 and 2002, (know) that we pretty much were forced to drop out because of Hamilton County, and Bosque County dropped out, and that left us not being a contiguous county.”

What followed was a general discussion between the MTGCD directors and Ament and Wall, with some “ifs” and “whens” discussed, including several comments on other counties, and their near-future groundwater district needs, including Bosque and Eastland, as well as a brief discussion on procedures required for consolidation, including election locations, election costs, etc.

“We’re certainly not ready to ask you to take us in yet,” Ament noted, “but I would say, based on what’s coming down, we may be back.”

Commissioner Jack Wall told MTGCD directors that Coryell County could bring additional tax revenue and a little more strength in numbers, and that he felt that the election results in November would be positive. “Our public is being pretty well educated at this time with the need to protect our groundwater,” Wall said.

“Do you think it would make it easier for y’all to get confirmed if you knew that you could come in with Middle Trinity?” Director George Bingham asked.

Both Wall and Ament said they thought it would help.

After more discussion, including the future growth potential for Coryell County, and the somewhat “unknown” aspect of Fort Hood, which makes up one-third of the county, Director Bingham said, “You’ve read our rules and management plan.”

“Right,” Ament said.

“Are you satisfied with it?” Bingham asked.

“If you should decide that sometime in the future that we could work together,” Ament said, “then all we would ask is that we come in as an equal member. We’d take up your management plan, your conservation plan, and work with what you’ve got going.”

There was then a brief discussion on the number of directors that would be needed for each county if the district grows, with Ament noting at one point that, “A board can get too big” and become unmanageable at some point.

Eventually, Ament said that “Even though it’s still a long way from decision time” he wanted the Middle Trinity board to know they were interested in joining.

“We have a lot of respect for the district,” Ament said, “and we have a lot of respect for, especially, your general manager, and we feel like this is the place that we can fit. I just wish this was something we could have accomplished a long time ago.”

“I think it would be an advantage to all of us to enlarge our district,” Director Jerry Hinshaw said, adding that he thought that with a larger district there’d be better input into future legislative changes.

Ament said that from what he understood, more and more single-county districts would be forced to consolidate. “Even the ones who have been confirmed,” Ament said.

Joe Cooper agreed, adding that with the “winds of change in Austin” bigger was going to be better, and noting that “groundwater doesn’t understand political boundaries.”

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