Shelby County Today

November 13, 2024 - A number of line item transfers and budget amendments were accomplished through approval of the Shelby County Commissioners’ Court during their meeting held November 6, 2024.

Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, explained to the commissioners the Fiscal Year 2024 line item transfers, budget amendments presented to them covers all funds of the general ledger and provides budget for those line items that are short budget. Funds that have additional income receipts, it provides recognition of that income and adjustment of those expenses that are supported. This is what typically is done at the end of every year to put all of the line items and funds in the bank.

County Judge Allison Harbison confirmed this action is taken to balance the previous year’s budget.

After reviewing the document, Commissioner Roscoe McSwain suggested all the commissioners need to review the expenses, especially those that went over budget and needed the contingency account to supplement that overage.

“It behooves the court to look at this closely and see who received contingency, and then go see why they received it. See if it was a justifiable cause that benefits the taxpayers and the people of Shelby County, or if there was misuse,” said McSwain.

McSwain stated he wasn’t accusing anyone; however, if a department is exceeding its budget, then maybe it needs more funding on the next year’s budget to offset that difference. He also suggested they would then be aware of an expense that may not be needed.

“That's a good comment, and that's exactly why we should only use contingency for things unforeseen, or things that we could not have budgeted for ahead of time. So that at the end of the year, when we have those anomalies that happen in those departments or funds, we have that contingency to help balance this all out, just as we're doing today And still have some money left over, not stretching ourselves too thin,” said Porterfield.

In understanding the amendments, McSwain and Porterfield discussed differences in some of the departments budgets, and specifically in the case of the Sheriff’s Department Porterfield noted that the overtime account was over budget $150,000 while on health insurance $123,000 less was used which helps cover the overtime expense.

“So in inmate 379 [line item] inmate house, we increased their budget, it's going to take $160,450 to balance it. That's up and above $60,000 we had to balanced budget.
So we spent $220,000 on Panola County,” said McSwain.

A motion then carried with Commissioner McSwain moving to approve the line item transfers and budget amendments and a second being heard by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer.

The commissioners then moved on to FY2024 Cash Carryforward and take action to amend the Precinct 1 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.

Porterfield explained that item six, seven and eight of the agenda are in conjunction with the rest of the year-end actions of the meeting, and that the county will be recognizing the cash balance that Precinct 1,2,3 and 4 had at the end of fiscal year 2024.

“Mr. McSwain, Precinct 1, you have available to recognize $423,270.36. You can pick the account you want budgeted in, and typically it’s in either fixed assets or gravel,” said Porterfield. 

Porterfield highlighted for McSwain and the other commissioners a portion of funds which are part of finalizing invoices at the end of the budget year, “There's an account called 900. It has a balance of $5,283. That is the invoices that came in in October that we backdated to September. The backdating means the expense, it's recorded in September, but the cash gets paid in October. So we're taking that out of your cash balance. So each precinct will have a different number on that second line, depending on the number of invoices you will receive for you in October, backdated to September.”

Commissioner McSwain moved to budget his full amount into fixed assets so it can be transferred next year to oil or gravel, whichever one it needs to go to. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer and it carried.

The commissioners then discussed the FY2024 Cash Carryforward for Precinct 2 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.

Judge Harbison stated that Commissioner Jimmy Lout had $203,898.22 available and Commissioner McSwain had spoken with Commissioner Lout, who wasn’t present for the meeting.

Commissioner McSwain moved to put the full $203,898.22 into fixed assets and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith. The motion carried.

The commissioners then considered FY2024 Cash Carryforward and taking action to amend Precinct 3 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.

Commissioner Smith moved to recognize $89,039.67 and put it in fixed assets. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer and the motion carried.

The commissioners reviewed the FY2024 Cash Carryforward for Precinct 4 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.

“I’ve got a bridge and a substantial amount of work that I have got to do back over out of the Tenaha area and it's from the storms that we had and I haven't gotten an estimate yet on what it’ll work, so I'm probably going to send a substantial amount of this cash into my bridge construction account so that I can cover the cost of that bridge,” said Commissioner Bellmyer.

Commissioner Bellmyer moved to table the cash carryforward for his precinct for a later date. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith and it carried.

The commissioners considered lifting the burn ban, or leaving it in place and Commissioner Smith remarked that everywhere he has been in Precinct 3 was fairly damp as of the meeting.

Commissioner McSwain moved to rescind the burn ban and Commissioner Smith seconded his motion. The motion carried.

The commissioners moved to de-obligate $1,500 fund balance from the Pct. 3 barn project and allocate it to the Huber well project bringing the total allocation for the Huber well project to $558,240.46.

Judge Harbison said these funds are American Rescue Plan Act funds and not commissioner funds. 

Commissioner smith moved to de-obligate the funds and allocate them to the Huber Well project. Commissioner Bellmyer seconded the motion and it carried.

Commissioner Smith moved to list for auction an International Pro Star Truck and Belly Dump Trailer on PurpleWave. Commissioner Bellmyer seconded the motion and it carried.

Constable Josh Tipton said that Tenaha has agreed to donate a Tahoe to the Constable 5 Department, minus the equipment, and he said his office would buy the equipment.

Constable Tipton said the vehicle Deputy Constable Pope drives is “on its last leg” and something is going to have to be done soon.

Judge Harbison inquired from Pope as to what is wrong with the vehicle he drives. He outlined mainly electrical, and transmission issues and that the vehicle is a 2010 model and it’s almost at 200,000 miles.

The vehicle in Tenaha is a 2018 model and has 72,000 miles and Pope said Chief Jake Metcalf spoke with the council in Tenaha about donating the vehicle to the Constable 5 office. Pope said $5,000 would be needed for the purchase of the equipment for the vehicle including radar, console, and cage.

Judge Harbison asked if the current one he drives doesn’t already have the same equipment. Pope described the camera system as not functioning, which he said is very dangerous, and he said the radar works but not well. He also indicated the console isn’t of any value.

“So his in-car camera, the in-car camera that he’s currently running, my wife and I bought personally off of eBay. And it was one that, back when I first started, over 15 years ago, it's the old disc style camera.” said Constable Tipton. “It is so outdated, but we had to have something.”

Judge Harbison stated the total cost of equipment and installation for the donated Tahoe would be $11,383.50. Pope said that a new vehicle, with equipment installed would be around $90,000.

Constable Tipton stated his office is doing everything they can to be frugal without county funds and Judge Harbison said they recognize that in his budget.

Commissioner Bellmyer commented there are five new sheriffs pickup trucks on order and he didn’t know their timeline on them are, and the status of the vehicles currently in use, he asked about one of those being a possible candidate because he didn’t know if they are any better or worse than the donor vehicle.

“Tenaha and Timpson is geographically different because of Highway 59. John is paid through the city of Timpson and he does work traffic. You can't work traffic in a pickup. I've tried, I've done burnt brakes off, I've burnt calipers up, you know, if you meet a car running 90, 100 miles an hour, you're going the other way, but you’re fixing to have to get up to 120, 130, and you don't want to be running that in a pickup,” said Tipton.

Tipton elaborated that pursuits travel through Timpson often from Nacogdoches, Rusk and Panola counties and he mentioned multiple business in Timpson. Tipton stated a pickup truck for his Deputy Constable isn’t suitable because of the job he has. He said Pope hasn’t been able to work much traffic lately because of the condition of the vehicle.

Judge Harbison said she would really like to see the item be put off until the beginning of the year.

Commissioner Roscoe McSwain said a new vehicle was asked for during the four months of budget discussion and the commissioners denied that request. He stated it was unpleasant to him that after being 36 days into the new budget they passed, someone is coming to them and asking for something not in the budget.

“It’s happened the last several years, people think it’s just a revolving door, it’s not we got a budget to follow and it should be stuck to. That’s it,” said McSwain.

McSwain suggested there is an issue with the city of Timpson that Judge Harbison has to address, but he said that subject wasn’t going to be discussed at that moment.

Judge Harbison stated it has to do with their inter-local agreement and she would talk with Constable Tipton about it if he wanted.

Addressing bringing the vehicle to the commissioners after adopting the budget, Tipton said, “We are a working constable’s office, we’re not a sit on our rear constable’s office. Okay, we’ve asked [repeatedly].”

Judge Harbison said she has reapplied for the Sheriff’s Department for $350,000 through SB22.

“After the first of the years when we get a new sheriff in, and we’re going to need to spend that money, and we bought four or five vehicles and that may free up even more over there. If you’ll just give us to the first of the year,” said Judge Harbison.

Constable Tipton responded, “With all due respect, if we’re just going to get somebody else’s hand-me-down we’ve already got a hand-me-down, we’ll just keep what we got,” said Tipton.

After Constable Tipton left the meeting, McSwain had more to say on the issue of vehicles for constables and seeking funding for them.

“We’ve talked about going out for constable SB22 grant, and that’s what it comes down to not having no patience and thinking just you is all that matters, you’ve got to have what you want when you want it,” said McSwain. “So now we’re going on with that discussion, and over the next three months before it comes time to file for it, we’ll see if that applies to this and we can buy a new vehicle for that precinct like me and you (Judge Harbison) discussed when the time comes.”

Judge Harbison entertained a motion on the donation of the Tahoe from the city of Tenaha and Commissioner McSwain moved to table the issue. Commissioner Bellmyer seconded the motion and it carried.

During Commissioner comment portion of the meeting, Commissioner Bellmyer shared a progress report from Precinct 4.

“TxDOT has been in discussion for the last two years on different bridges that we're going to build and TxDOT has made an announcement just this past week that they're going to build three new bridges, one in Precinct 3 at County Road 3012 and then two in Precinct 4, one on County [Road] 4054 and one on 4098 which are going to be a big help,” said Bellmyer. 

Bellmyer went on to explain that the bridge on County Road 4054 is a bridge that he has limited loads on for some time now. He said the bridge has been on the repair list and a lot of work has been done on the bridge. 

“TxDOT had told us several months ago that we were on the November round. They've already awarded these bridge construction. The same contractor that previously built a bridge of Precinct 3 and a bridge of Precinct 4 have been awarded those three bridges,” said Bellmyer 

Bellmyer was excited that within the next 60 days they'll likely be started on those bridges and he remarked it’s a plus for our Precinct 4.

“I just want to kind of give the court an update because we spent a lot of money this year in Precinct 4 on oil sand that did a lot of work and I just give you a quick update on the roads that we paved this year in Precinct 4, because we in years past haven't paved much of any road,” said Bellmyer. 

According to Bellmyer, a lot of the progress made this year on oil sand was through oil sand manufactured by Precinct 1.

• County Road 4323 - which is previously a paved road, a quarter mile of repair and replacement 
• County Road 4098 - which was previously a paved road, four miles worth of repair
• County Road 4714 - half a mile of overlay on an existing road that had come apart
• County Road 4356 - three quarters a mile of new pavement
• County Road 4293 - three eighths of a mile of new pavement
• County Road 4780 - half a mile of repair overlay

The meeting was adjourned at 10:32am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Weekly Expenses.
2. Payroll.
3. Bids for road maintenance materials for Shelby County.
4. Take action to approve the FY2024 Budget Line-Item Transfers and Budget Amendments.
5. FY2024 Cash Carryforward and take action to amend PCT 1 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.
6. FY2024 Cash Carryforward and take action to amend PCT 2 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.
7. FY2024 Cash Carryforward and take action to amend PCT 3 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.
8. Rescind the current burn ban.
9.  De-obligate $1500 fund balance from the Pct. 3 barn project and allocate it to the Huber well project bringing the total allocation for the Huber well project to $558,240.46.
10. Precinct 3 Commissioner to list for auction an International Pro Star Truck and Belly Dump Trailer on PurpleWave.
11. Adjourn.

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:

1. FY2024 Cash Carryforward and take action to amend PCT 4 Road & Bridge FY2025 Budget.
2. Discuss and possibly consider seeking bids for installing handicap ramps on certain sidewalks of the Courthouse to provide more access points for handicap accessibility.
3. Discuss and possibly approve a Resolution adopting a Technology Policy for applications prohibited on governmental computers and mobile devices pursuant to Texas Senate Bill 1893.
4. Josh Tipton to address the Court in regards to purchasing a 2018 Tahoe from the City of Tenaha to be used as a patrol vehicle.

November 6, 2024 - The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the Paxton WSC Jackson plant public water system, 2100031, to issue a Boil Water Notice on 10-30-2024, to inform customers, individuals, or employees that due to conditions which occurred recently in the public water system, the water from this public water system was required to be boiled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

The public water system has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of 11-6-2024.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Alison Rhone at 936-332-4439.

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October 30, 2024 - Due to a water leak the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the Paxton WSC Jackson plant public water system to notify County Road 3173 to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).

To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes.

In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

When it is no longer necessary to boil the water, the public water system officials will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact Alison Rhone at 936-332-4439.

November 6, 2024 - City of Tenaha confirms they have lifted their burn ban, as of November 6, 2024.

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October 17, 2024 - City of Tenaha issued the following burn ban declaration on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

Declaration of Disaster and Order Prohibiting Outdoor Burning

Whereas, The City of Tenaha is under imminent threat of severe damage, injury of loss of life or property resulting from the threat of wildfires due to extremely dry grassland fuel, drought and other weather-related conditions; and

Whereas, The Mayor of the City of Tenaha has determined that to mitigate the hazard posed by wildfires during the current dry conditions, extraordinary measures must be taken to alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property, 

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor of the City of Tenaha: 

1. That a local state of disaster is hereby proclaimed for The City of Tenaha pursuant 418.108 (a) of the Texas Government Code.
2. This Declaration of a local state of disaster shall continue for a period of not more than seven days from the date of the declaration unless continued or renewed by the Mayor of The City of Tenaha.
3. All outdoor burning is prohibited in the incorporated areas of The City of Tenaha. This Order does not prohibit outdoor burning activities carried out by Federal Certified Agencies.
4. This Declaration of shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filled promptly with the City Secretary of The City of Tenaha.
5. This Declaration of the local state of disaster activities The City of Tenaha Emergency Management Plan.

This Proclamation shall take effect immediately from and after its insurance; ordered this 17th day of October 2024. 

November 6, 2024 - The Shelby County Commissioners approved rescinding the current burn ban during the November 6, 2024 meeting.

Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison encouraged that if members of the community decide to burn that they not just set fires and leave, but to monitor closely what they start.