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April 3, 2024 - The Shelby County Commissioners took action on several SB22 items involving the Sheriff's Department, District Attorney, and County Attorney during their Wednesday, March 27, 2024, meeting.
Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, spoke with the commissioners about SB22 grant in reference to the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s office and County Attorney’s office, which were items 10-12 on the meeting agenda.
“You'll see some exhibits that have been prepared for each of the salary grants we have received. And I would like to go over these individually, slowly, so that everybody understands the money we've received and what it can be used for,” said Porterfield.
He described for the commissioners’ court if they were to take action on each of the items and approve their exhibit with potential conditions, then the budget would need to be adjusted accordingly because the changes have not been budgeted.
First Porterfield addressed agenda item 10, which is the Rural Sheriff's Office Salary Assistant Grant, and he described an exhibit presented to the commissioners called SO1 for the Sheriff's Office, which received $350,000. Porterfield described how the money from the grant can be used and some of the previous action the court has already taken previously.
“This particular grant can be used for four different things. The first thing is to provide a minimum salary for certain individuals at the Sheriff's Office. You have to provide a minimum $75,000 salary for the sheriff before you can do number four,” said Porterfield. “You have to provide a $45,000 minimum salary for each deputy who conducts motor vehicle stops in the course of their duties, and a $40,000 minimum salary for each jailer whose duties include safekeeping of prisoner's security of the jail and so forth.
“Once you've done number one, which is the first domino to fall, as I keep saying, then you can do two, three or four, but you have to do number one first. You have to use it for those salary increases. Once you do that, you can then use the money to increase the salary of a person described in number one you can then number three hire additional staff or number four purchase vehicles firearms and safety equipment.”
Porterfield then summarized what the county has already done through the commissioners’ actions in court.
“When we adopted the budget for fiscal year 2024 in August of last year, the court announced that we were going to apply for these grants. The sheriff's grant was the only one discussed in that motion to adopt the budget. Mr. McSwain actually led the discussion concerning the minimum of $75,000 and the court made a motion upon adopting the budget to budget for the sheriff's increase,” said Porterfield. “We actually made the amount $75,600; we went just over to make sure we were compliant.”
Porterfield reminded the court they discussed the possibility of having to provide matching funds from the county for the grant, but that has been determined to not be a part of the grant and the county doesn’t have to provide a match.
“We did mention that we were not going to take action on deputies or jailers because they already make the minimum,” said Porterfield. “If you look at the exhibit, we need $17,228 to increase the share of salary to $75,600, including benefits, you will see that that total on the right side of your page in the dollar figures, the total with benefits is $19,903.”
Porterfield explained that, “number four,” which is for the purchase of vehicles, firearms, and safety equipment has $330,000 available for use, and this grant ends on September 30 on the application process.
“We have six months to expend $330,000 or we will return it. With that being said, you can also understand that the $17,228 is a rate to get the sheriff to $75,600. The sheriff will not receive $17,228 in the next six months. He'll get half of it,” said Porterfield.
Porterfield described if you take the $17,228 figure and divide it by 26 pay periods, that will be the rate to get the sheriff to the $75,600, and that the county will not disperse $17,228 in six months, meaning half of that amount of money will be reimbursed to the state.
Porterfield said that going forward on each of the agenda items, the court would need to make each item (10-12) effective March 25, 2024.
Making the effective date March 25 would allow the county to expend the most amount of money they can from the grant in the next six months.
Commissioner McSwain questioned, as an example, if the county even waited until September for the effective date for the salary raise of the sheriff the county could still spend the $330,000 available to them.
“If we can spend $330,000 in the next six months, we don’t lose any of that,” said Porterfield. “It’s only on the salary items we’re talking about for these agenda items, that only half of it’s going to be expended.”
Last fall, Porterfield reminded the commissioners, the court talked about buying tasers and they were waiting on a grant while also discussing in October and November talked about going ahead on the salaries, which would have allowed the county to begin spending the $330,000; however, the county didn't have that money for the salaries.
“If we had started it, it would have been retro, we could have already reported that money spent but we didn't do that,” said Porterfield. “We decided let's wait till the grant application is actually done, let's see how it goes.”
Porterfield elaborated that once work has been paid for, the Texas Constitution prohibits the county from going back and retroactively increasing the pay or providing a bonus. That's why the county is only going to have a six-month window for the salaries, because it didn’t start sooner and only half of it will be expended this year. Next budget year the full amount will be able to be expended. The full $330,000 is available.
“You opened up that can of worms. I want to say what I feel I need to say for the public to hear. Yes, that was an agreement that we would buy the tasers out of these funds last October or September,” said McSwain.
Porterfield said he only used the tasers as an example since it was something they had discussed previously.
McSwain persisted he still had something he wanted to say on the subject involving the tasers for the public’s knowledge, “That was an agreement with the Sheriff's Department, their tasers was working. They said, ‘we have no problem using the tasers we’ve got till we get the grant money provided that we get the things in the budget we need.’ Well, they went six, eight weeks and they say, ‘our tasers don't work,’ and they forced us to pay out of county funds for tasers months ago, instead of waiting to what they said they could live with. And now, in this year's budget, we expended $47,000 or $62,000 for tasers that we didn't have budgeted. It's just that kind of BS that continues to cause us trouble keeping our budget in line.”
Additional information provided by Porterfield to the commissioners was a definition of what sort of ‘safety equipment’ could be purchased using the grant for the sheriff’s department and that included ballistic helmets, plate shields, batons, helmets, shields, body armor, medical gear and masks and likely a number of other things.
Commissioner Bellmyer asked how the receipts from the Sheriff’s Department would be accounted for in reporting to the Comptroller’s Office.
“I’d like to go ahead and open up that can of worms. No grant we ever receive in reimburses or pays your treasurer or myself to administer the grant,” said Porterfield. “So, I will be collecting the receipts, I will be tracking the expenditures, and I will accumulate the data for whoever goes into the portal to submit the grant information.”
Without a designated grant administrator for the county, Porterfield pointed out this will continue to be a difficulty when handling grants.
“So that is always an issue going forward as to who's going to report it. We don't have a grant administrator,” said Porterfield. “I will tell you that my position is the auditor, should not be the person who reports it because the auditor is the one who should audit it and submit the information to the person who puts it in there. It shouldn't be a dual role in a dual function to keep everything credible.”
Commissioner McSwain stated the appropriation for the funds would be through the court and not through the Sheriff’s Department, and he reiterated it would have to go through commissioners’ court.
Porterfield said he was glad that was mentioned by the commissioner and stated that brings up additional subjects for to discuss. He stated a gentleman by the name of Russell Gallahan works in the comptroller's office and is the individual who administers this grant at the comptroller's office and has offered opinions on the processes of the use of the grant. When the grant first was presented, the commissioners’ court was the applying authority for the grant. The District Attorney and County Attorney versions of the grant actually require those office holders to fulfill reporting responsibilities.
“Mr. Gallahan has issued some opinions that basically say that regardless of what the grant Senate bill states, this does not relieve the commissioner's court of their budgetary authorization and approval of pay raises that they normally would do in any other situation,” said Porterfield. “So yes, that's why we're going to go through this one by one and commissioners court is actually going to approve everything that happens and when it comes to the $330,000 expenditures. Yes, commissioners court will go out for bids, commissioners court will get quotes, commissioners court will approve the purchases just like they do any other budget item we have and go through the same process we do weekly.”
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to increase the sheriff’s salary based on exhibit SO1 effective March the 25th and adjust the budget accordingly if we needed, and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith. Upon a vote, Commissioner McSwain voted against, and the rest of the court voted in favor of the motion.
Commissioner McSwain stated he voted no because he doesn’t think it’s the appropriate time to move forward with the item, and he would like to have discussed more with deputy pay and things of that nature in weeks to come.
“I think we should have looked forward to using some of this money if we're going to give raises to other things and deputies, use it out of this money and that might help us in October with our new budget. Having some coverage with this and not have the county fund all of it.”
McSwain said he would like to have seen some of the money used to raise deputy pay, because competition for bay elsewhere is much higher in comparison as he described.
The commissioners were then presented with DA1 for the assistance grant for the District Attorney, providing the District Attorney’s office with $175,000. Porterfield shared he has spoken with District Attorney Karren Price and that she has issued a plan for the expenditure of this money.
“This money can be spent for two things. One is to increase the salary of an assistant attorney and investigator, or a victim assistance court employed at the office or to hire additional staff,” said Porterfield. “The plan for the District Attorney is to do a little bit of both.”
The plan includes a recommendation to increase the pay of the current assistant District Attorney, $40,000 with a stipulation of the start date to be determined by the District Attorney.
There's also a pay increase of $15,000, which will be effective March 25 for the Victim Assistance Coordinator. Also there will be a budget of $85,000 for the possible hiring of an assistant district attorney.
The aforementioned amounts come to $140,000 plus benefits with a new hire for an additional attorney in the District Attorney’s office including insurance.
“So, you see a grand total budget of $173,087.76 of the $175,000,” said Porterfield.
He said that particular amount will give a little leeway next year if the county gets the same grant, but there is the possibility of a health insurance increase.
“You will realize we're only going to expend this in six months. We will send half of this amount back to the Treasurer's Department,” said Porterfield.
Commissioner McSwain moved to approve the rural prosecutor's salary assistance program grant, exhibit DA1, approve DA1 exhibit to increase the salary of the assistant DA or a date to be determined by the District Attorney to increase the salary of the victim assistance coordinator, effective March 25, and to approve possible additional staff of an assistant DA and adjust the budget accordingly. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer, and the motion carried.
Auditor Porterfield presented exhibit CA1 for the County Attorney which he explained follows the same guidelines and uses as the District Attorney. He described a plan of action to increase the salary of the current DA/CA investigator by $20,000, to increase the pay of the victim assistance coordinator by $15,000 and to hire an additional part-time staff at $18,000.
The possible hiring of an assistant County Attorney was also included for $85,000. The total payroll of $138,000 grossed up to $171,098.16.
This was once again, just a little bit below the $175,000 that was received.
“Going forward, again, that gives us a little leeway in case we have an insurance increase, which would be a health insurance increase, which is applicable for the assistant County Attorney, if we so hire one,” said Porterfield.
Commissioner McSwain moved to approve CA1 for the amounts just listed and for the current staff members, effective March 25. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer, and the motion carried.
Karren Price, District Attorney, spoke during public comment and apologized for her absence during the March 13 meeting. She thanked the commissioners for honoring her request and thanked them for moving forward with her request.
“On behalf of the kids that we work for today, we really appreciate what you've done. Thanks so much,” said Price.
During the March 13 meeting, the commissioners approved the purchase of the Guardify Program for storage and access to forensic interviews, as requested by Price.
Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison opened a bid for the purchase of a truck for Precinct 4 from Center Motor Company. There was another bid received; however, it was received 17 minutes past the deadline and the court didn’t open it as a result.
Judge Harbison announced the price quote from Center Motor Company was $66,757.62 for a 2023 F550 Super Cab 4x4 and bed.
A motion by Commissioner Tom Bellmyer to accept the bid as presented by Center Motor Company and use ARPA funds for the purchase, and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith. The motion carried.
The court reviewed quotes for the purchase of a 32’ tandem axle trailer for Precinct 4 from ARPA funds.
Per Local Government Code, Section 262.023 the purchase is less than $50,000.00 therefore, bids were not required.
Three bids were received and considered with one for $15,605 CarTex being the lowest.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to accept the bid from CarTex on a 32’ trailer, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Jimmy Lout, and the motion carried.
Commissioner Bellmyer thanked Blackwell for her help in getting the truck and appreciated the work her office put into that effort.
The disbursement of the Child Safety Fee was considered by the commissioners and Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, recommended a motion to distribute the$10,532 based on past distributions, with 2/3 of the funds going to the Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center, and 1/3 to CASA.
Shelby County Advocacy Center (SCCAC) would then receive $6,845, and CASA would receive $3,686.
Commissioner McSwain then moved to distribute 2/3 to the Children’s Advocacy Center and 1/3 to CASA. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Lout and the motion carried.
Denise Merriman, SCCAC Executive Director, was present with board members and employees of SCCAC. She introduced board members Matt Snider, Tanner Peace, Collin Matthews, and Karren Price, as well as SCCAC employee Anna Register.
The court discussed the possibility of replacing the roof on the Courthouse Annex on the square and
Commissioner Roscoe McSwain moved to seek bids on what it would cost to replace the roof on the Annex with a structure like the Sheriff’s Department and court house received when it was replaced, and the motion was seconded by Commissioner Stevie Smith. The motion carried.
Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, presented the commissioners with a plan to move the Sheriff’s Department fiber contract from AT&T to ETEX for an annual savings of $6,000. The plan would also be increasing their speed from 100mb to 500mb.
“We connected the JP -1 office to the sheriff's office. Well, it's not working like we hoped it would because they are really using the juice over in the Sheriff's Office,” said Blackwell. “They're having trouble at JP -1 with their connections and their phones are connected to that also.”
Blackwell said a quote was received from ETEX, and before the meeting the AT&T bill for service to the Sheriff’s Department as $1,020 a month. The quote from ETEX put the bill for the Sheriff’s Department at $499.99 a month to switch their phones and internet and go up from 100mbps to 500mbps from ETEX.
This would be a savings of $6,000 a year to the Sheriff’s Department phone and internet expense.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to move the contract from AT&T to ETEX. The motion was seconded by Commissioner McSwain and the motion carried.
Commissioner McSwain then moved to put JP1 office on its own contract with ETEX at a cost of $149.95 for 250mbps upload. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bellmyer, and the motion carried.
Constable Pct. 5 Josh Tipton, and Shelby County Sheriff Lt. Chad Hooper were on the agenda to discuss radios with the court, but were not able to make it for the meeting.
In preparation for the discussion, Judge Harbison had contacted representatives with DETCOG and Mike Claude, Director of Public Safety with Deep East Texas Council of Governments, spoke with the commissioners about grant funding which has been used for radio equipment involving numerous counties. He also spoke of the potential for towers being added to Shelby County, which could possibly help with communications on the west end of the county; however, the reality of that discussion was that something like that is years down the road, and radio communications in Shelby County are in serious need of attention.
“That's what we're up against. We need something now. That's why we're here what you got to say and I want we need to really know where we're at and how we get there,” said Commissioner McSwain.
Claude explained that the engineers have told DETCOG towers need be no less than 400 feet to prevent the signal from being impacted by pine trees.
“So we're kind of in the position where we got to do something and I hate to invest in a failing system but we've been investing in it for the 16 years I've been here, and we ain't got nowhere yet,” said McSwain.
The issue of radios was tabled until the next meeting. The meeting adjourned at 10:49am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses.
2. Current Payroll.
3. Start date of April 1, 2024 for the new 911 Addressing Coordinator-Commissioners’ Secretary.
4. Center Motor Company price quote, $66,757.62 2023 f550 super cab 4x4 for Precinct 4 to be paid for out of ARPA funds.
5. Review the quotes and possibly purchase 32’ a tandem axle trailer for Pct. #4 from ARPA funds. Per Local Government Code, Section 262.023 the purchase is less than $50,000.00 therefore, bids were not required.
6. Disburse the Child Safety Fee Fund.
7. Seek bids on what it would cost to replace the roof on the Annex with a structure like the Sheriff’s Department and court house received when it was replaced.
8. Commissioner Jimmy Lout to sell a 2007 GMC 2500 HD Truck on Purple Wave.
9. Take action on SB22 Rural Sheriff’s Office Salary Assistance Grant.
10. Take action on SB22 Rural District Attorney Prosecutor’s Office Salary Assistance Grant.
11. Take action on SB22 Rural County Attorney Prosecutor’s Office Salary Assistance Grant.
12. Move fiber contract from AT&T to ETEX for an annual savings of $6,000. This would also be increasing their speed from 100mb to 500mb.
13. Put JP1 office on its own contract with ETEX. Cost will be $149.95 for 250mbps.
14. Adjourn 10:49am.
Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Constable Pct. 5 Josh Tipton, Chad Hooper and a representative of Bobcat to discuss radios with the court.
April 2, 2024 - Law enforcement agencies served a search warrant on a residence located in the 100 block of Fall Street in Center on April 2, 2024, sometime before 2pm.
Officers served the warrant and detained two men and a woman from the residence, apparently without incident. While officers searched the house, and surrounding area, the three people from the house remained seated and handcuffed outside.
Evidence bags were taken from within the residence and other tools and various items were gathered from a shed outside the residence by officers.
Officers transported the three people from the scene around 3pm and as of this report have not yet been identified to the public.
The Center Police Department issued a press release addressing some details involving recent burglaries and the warrant service of April 2, amongst others.
According to the press release, the Center Police Department Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has been investigating the influx of burglaries that started around January of this year (2024).
Multiple businesses, churches, homes, and storage buildings have been burglarized in the northern part of the city.
In the later part of March, the Center Police Department implemented a task force to put more officers and detectives on patrol during the time the burglaries were happening.
The press release continues in reference to three dates involving burglary investigation, where officers with the Center Police Department Patrol Division conducted a traffic stop on March 31 that resulted in some stolen property being recovered. Members of the CID conducted interviews and gathered probable cause on April 1, to obtain a search warrant for a piece of property within the city of Center.
When officers and detectives arrived at that location, the press release indicates, they recovered multiple items that had been reported stolen from multiple reported burglaries.
Members of the CID conducted more interviews and obtained probable cause for a search warrant on April 2, at another location within the city of Center.
The second search warrant was served, and stolen property, narcotics, and drug paraphernalia were recovered.
With the information obtained during this investigation the Center Police Department was able to recover stolen property from seven of the reported burglaries and have made four arrests.
According to the press release, the Center Police Department thanks the Shelby County District Attorney, Shelby County Sheriff's Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety for all their assistance in this investigation.
This is still an ongoing investigation, and further details will be released when available.
An option available to the public to help protect their property is the ReportIt system, which is promoted to be a secure service and only accessible by the person who sets up the account. Law enforcement agencies do not have access to your account, only you do. If you have items stolen, you can log into your account select the items which were stolen and then generate a report to give to law enforcement. The system is also valuable in the event of any kind of loss which has to be filed with an insurance company such as fire.
ReportIt can be accessed by cliking here
April 2, 2024 - The Tenaha Police Department is seeking information/help Identifying the individual in this photo!
The suspect is believed to be operating a white or tan Chevrolet or GMC truck, according to surveillance from Monday April 1, 2024 at around 2:30am.
If you have any information that may help identify this suspect please contact the Tenaha Police Department at 936-248-3841.
April 1, 2024 - The Center Police Department confirms a barbershop on the Center square in the 100 block of Shelbyville Street was the scene of a burglary on March 16, 2024, at 9:05am.
The suspects are believed to have gained entry through a back window of the barbershop, owned by Jose Lara, and an undisclosed amount of cash was reported to have been taken.
Center Police Department detectives are still pursuing leads and the investigation remains active.
There has been an influx of burglaries on the square and in a northerly direction from there. The Center Police Department is encouraging business owners, and homeowners, to make certain their facilities are secured and to keep as much valuables, money and things of that nature put up as best as they can.
The use of security cameras is also urged.
April 1, 2024 - The Jury summoned for Monday, April 15, 2024 for the 273rd District Court, Honorable James A. Payne, Jr., Judge presiding, has been cancelled. All Cases have been passed or settled. Anyone receiving a summons for that day is released from jury service until they receive a future summons.
Lori Oliver, District Clerk
April 1, 2024 - The chance for strong to severe storms remains across portions of the Four State Region tonight.
A Hazardous Weather Outlook has been issued by the National Weather Service, Shreveport, Louisiana for south central Arkansas, southwest Arkansas, north central Louisiana, northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, east Texas and northeast Texas.
Today and Tonight: Severe weather chances return to the region by this evening, lingering into the overnight hours. Large hail and damaging winds will be the main threat, with most of this activity occurring past 11pm. An isolated tornado also cannot be ruled out.
Tuesday through Sunday: No hazardous weather is expected at this time.
Spotter activation may be needed.
March 28, 2024 - Commissioner Bellmyer has announced CR 4059 is open again for general traffic. The road closure came to an end today, March 28, 2024.
February 22, 2024 - Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, announces the road closure of CR 4059 from FM 1645 to CR 4020 for the purpose of removing a culvert and building a bridge at West Creek.
The closure of CR 4059 is projected to be a minimum of three weeks beginning Monday, February 26, 2024.
Commissioner Bellmyer is reaching out to school officials and the United States Postal Service to inform them of the need to alter their traffic during the time of the road work.
March 28, 2024 - On March 22, 2024, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality required the City of Tenaha public water system, PWS #2100002, to issue a Boil Water Notice 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 March 28, 2024.
If you have questions concerning this matter, you may contact The City of Tenaha 238 North George Bowers Drive Tenaha, Texas 75974 or call 936-248-3841.
March 22, 2024 - Due to Main Line Break on Tennessee Road/FM947, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Tenaha PWS #2100002 public water system to notify all customers 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 like 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 The City of Tenaha at 238 North Goerge Bowers Drive Tenaha, Texas 75974 or call 936-248-3841.
March 28, 2024 - The Shelby County Courthouse and county offices will be closed Friday, March 29, 2024, for Good Friday.
Unless otherwise indicated, County offices will return to normal operating hours on Monday.
March 26, 2024 - The Shelby County Commissioners approved a new deputy constable for Precinct 5 during their March 20, 2024 meeting, and held an executive session which involved work at the County Annex building on the Center square.
Following the opening of the meeting, at 9:30am, the meeting was adjourned into executive session at 9:35am.
The commissioners’ court meeting reopened at 10:28am and Allison Harbison, County Judge, referenced Local Government Code 262.024, A contract for the purchase of any of the following items is exempt from the requirement established by Section 262.023 if the commissioners court by order grants the exemption: (3) an item necessary because of unforeseen damage to public property.
However, with no specific description to the public to what this action was in reference, Judge Harbison stated the commissioners would approve an invoice during the meeting from Hagler (Painting and Construction). Clint Porterfield, County Auditor, stated the invoice could be approved as an addition to the next item on the meeting agenda.
Judge Harbison moved, “This is to allow the work to be finished over at the Annex building.”
The motion was seconded by Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2, and the motion carried.
When the commissioners considered the weekly expenses, Porterfield described two invoices having to do with work performed by Hagler Painting and Construction.
“For addition to the bills to be approved for payment today, we have two invoices, two tickets, I'll just give you the number and amount, ticket number 56972, Mr. Hagler for $37,608.49, dated March 13 and current 56977 for $13,075.09, March the 15th,” said Porterfield.
Both invoices for March 13 and March 15 combined come to a total of $50,683.58.
Ann Blackwell, County Treasurer, stated the second installment on the Master Plan payment for the Historic Courthouse was being issued to HRTC Services in the amount of $22,500, and Commissioner Lout is purchasing a used pickup truck from Ray Jones Chevrolet in the amount of $35,921.33, which he has budgeted through fixed assets.
Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, confirmed with Blackwell there is one more payment planned to HRTC Services in the future for the same amount mentioned and it would come out of the LATCF (Local Assistance Tribal Consistency Fund).
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to approve paying the weekly expenses and the motion was seconded by Stevie Smith, Commissioner Precinct 3, and the motion carried.
The commissioners were to discuss possibly increasing rental cost for election equipment; however Nancy Adams, Elections Administrator, asked to table discussion until a future date.
”When we decided, I think it was October 23, we went up to $35 per machine for rental. I said that I'd like to go next year to $50, those machines, just the machine that the ballot goes into it scans the ballot, just that little machine is $6,600,” said Adams. “As you know, I told y’all back in October we could go up to 10% of the cost of the machine. I can’t see us ever charging an entity $600 for that machine.”
Adams said the reason she wanted to table the item is she is charging the entities that rent the machines for the media sticks that retain the records.
“When he sends me the bills for the ballots and all of the other things that I bill the entities for, I’m going to this year bill them for the sticks,” said Adams.
She said she would like to possibly go up to $100 for the next time, and asked that the item be tabled at least until the summer.
A motion by Commissioner Smith to table the agenda item was seconded by Commissioner Lout, and the motion carried.
Constable Josh Tipton presented the commissioners with a new deputy for his office in that of John Pope.
“John Pope, 20 years of experience law enforcement, lives in Timpson, perfect fit. Pretty excited about this one,” said Constable Tipton.
Pope’s start date was set for March 25, 2024.
Commissioner Bellmyer moved to approve deputy constable for Precinct 5 and Commissioner Lout seconded the motion, the motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 10:33am.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Executive Session decision: Allow the work to be finished over at the Annex building 2. Pay weekly expenses. 3. John Pope as new deputy for Constable Pct. 5. 4. Adjourn at 10:33am. Agenda items tabled during the meeting include: 1. Discuss and possibly consider an increase on rental for the Election Equipment.
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