July 13, 2015 - The Shelby County Commissioners approved the repair of the elevator in the 1885 Historic Courthouse at their meeting on Monday, July 13, 2015 and approved right of way deeds for land involving several roadways in the county.
During the wedding of Jessica Bridges and Cody Dawson on April 5, 2014 the elevator in the courthouse became stuck between floors with several people on board. The Center Fire Department was called in and the occupants eventually were safely extracted from the elevator. The elevator has remained shutdown since that time.
A proposal from ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation at a cost of $5,418 was presented to the commissioners and Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison explained some of the options available regarding the elevator, "That elevator over there is not a commercial elevator, it is what they call a private elevator. I talked to the company and to get anything more heavy-duty there would have to be some destruction of the historic courthouse because there's not room in that space."
Judge Harbison had representatives from the company look at the elevator and see what could be done instead of causing damage to the courthouse. A work order listing troubleshooting the elevator, bringing the phone into working order, replace batteries, hull testing, and hydraulic oil in attempts to bring the elevator back into normal service. Repairing the elevator will help to return more tours to the second floor courtroom.
Judge Harbison explained $2,709 will need to be paid to get working on the elevator and after completion the second installment would have to be paid. Ann Blackwell, Shelby County Treasurer, stated there is $1,696 left in the historic courthouse budget for repairs.
A motion was carried to move forward with the elevator repairs and to pay the remainder of the cost out of the contingency fund.
A motion was carried approving right of way deeds for the following parcels of land: A. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek Relief No. 1 CJS:0911-39-044; B. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek Relief No. 2 CJS:0911-39-042; C. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek, CJS:0911-39-045; and D. CR 1006 at Mill Creek, CJS: 0911-39-043. Judge Harbison stated a title attorney has reviewed the deeds and stated he would approve them and Harbison stated once they received approval from the commissioners checks could be sent to the current owners for purchase.
The commissioners then carried motions individually to approve construction and maintenance agreements between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for the following bridge replacements: A. CR 3564 at Hilliard Creek, CSF# 0911-39-051; B. CR 3455 at Spinney Creek, CFS# 0911-39-052l; C. CR 3455 at Shoat Creek, CSF# 0911-39-053; D. CR 4256 at Flat Fork Creek, CSF# 0911-39-054; and E. CR 4916 at Flat Fork Creek, CSF# 0911-39-055.
During the meeting a presentation by Charles Poland regarding County Health Insurance was heard regarding a self-funded insurance plan. The commissioners and Judge Harbison agreed they are happy with the current insurance the county uses.
"Personally I'm very happy with our health insurance, we're in a pool and we don't pay any HR department to implement our plan, we simply sign them up and TAC (Texas Association of Counties) handles all of the rest. Our health plan, I think as of right now most health plans are going up by 7.6% and this year ours is only going up 5.16%," said Judge Harbison. "I'm just reluctant to change insurance especially to one that's partially self-[funded] because before we had this health insurance with Blue Cross/Blue Shield we had nothing, and before that we had something like you're talking about that was a self-[funded] sort of thing and it went broke."
Ann Blackwell gave the Treasurer's report during the meeting. The fee reports for June are as follows: Debra Riley, Tax Assessor/Collector - Property Division $113,073.86; Motor Vehicle Division - $39,909 for a total of $152,982.86. Jennifer Fountain, Shelby County Clerk, quarterly collection was $45,423.67. Lori Oliver, District Clerk - $17,789.22; Maxie Eaves, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 - $7,729; Marla Denby, Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 - $1,404.30; Margie Anderson, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 - $2,811; Jenny Hicks, Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 - $4,420; Mike Crouch, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5 - $3,811; Zach Warr, Constable Precinct 1 - $180; and Jamie Hagler, Constable Precinct 2 - $180.
A new depository contract has been entered with Farmers State Bank and according to Blackwell the contract with the bank has been established for the past seven years and the interest rates have gone down. The current value of the county's CDs are INS $34,651.34 which earned $10.51 in June. Health and insurance CD earned $7.70 for a balance of $25,334.89. Currently the money market is $1,718,178.99, but some interest is still owed for June, which should be corrected by next meeting. A motion was carried to approve the treasurer's report.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:16am.
Agenda items receiving approval include: 1. Minutes of the June 8th, 2015 Regular Meeting and June 22, 2015 Special Meeting. 2. Pay monthly expenses. 3. Officers' report. 4. Right of Way Deeds for A. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek Relief No. 1 CJS:0911-39-044; B. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek Relief No. 2 CJS:0911-39-042; C. CR 4323 at Flat Fork Creek, CJS:0911-39-045; and D. CR 1006 at Mill Creek, CJS: 0911-39-043. 5. Construction and maintenance agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for A. CR 3564 at Hilliard Creek, CSF# 0911-39-051. 6. Construction and maintenance agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for B. CR 3455 at Spinney Creek, CFS# 0911-39-052l. 7. Construction and maintenance agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for C. CR 3455 at Shoat Creek, CSF# 0911-39-053. 8. Construction and maintenance agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for D. CR 4256 at Flat Fork Creek, CSF# 0911-39-054. 9. Construction and maintenance agreement between the Texas Department of Transportation and Shelby County for E. CR 4916 at Flat Fork Creek, CSF# 0911-39-055. 10. Move forward with elevator repairs in the historic courthouse at a cost of $5,418 with partial payment coming from historic courthouse budget and the remainder of the cost to be paid from the contingency fund. 11. Shelby County health insurance renewal with Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Texas Association of Counties. 12. Adjournment at 10:16am.
