The Commissioners Court tabled Tuesday taking any action on two significant items on the agenda. Both will be reviewed for possible consideration at next week’s meeting.
The professional agreement with HDR Incorporated to prepare the Master Plan for repairs and renovations to the Orange County Courthouse was postponed until next week. Assistant County Attorney Doug Manning requested a little more time to review the document, and the Commissioners all appreciated more time to look it over as well. HDR did submit a reduced price of $43,500 to do the Master Plan which was lower than the original estimate of $64,000. The timeline to prepare the Master Plan was scheduled to start May 30 anyway.
Also tabled was any changes to the Orange County culvert policy. Commissioner Johnny Trahan wanted to amend the policy to allow properties to have two culverts of 25 feet in width. The current policy was adopted in June of 2015 following a public hearing. Upon further review Attorney Manning informed the Court that any change to policies dealing with drainage would require advertising in advance, so another public hearing will have to be called. A workshop may also be scheduled for next week to discuss all the options.
The Commissioners did approve a new contract Tuesday with Five Star Correctional Services to provide meals for inmates at the Orange County Jail. The item was tabled a week ago because of some of the wording in the agreement that has since been corrected. The new contract reflects a Consumer Price Index increase of roughly 3 cents a meal and will go into effect on July 1.
Nine former Sheriff’s Office vehicles that were going to be put up for auction to the public were approved by the Court to be transferred for use by the four constable offices in the county. The issue of constables being required to use their private vehicles to perform their duties was raised last week, and Sheriff Keith Merritt was requested to determine which of his vehicles that were due to be auctioned could still be used by the constables.
Acting on the recommendation of Commissioner Jody Crump, the Commissioners Court approved Gary Biehslich to serve as an insurance professional on the Orange County Health Insurance Committee. Biehslich operates his own insurance business in Vidor. With the exception of Biehslich the committee is composed of county employees and has been assigned to review various insurance offers to determine if there are any better insurance packages available than the current coverage for county employees provided by the Texas Association of Counties (TAC).
The Commissioners Court held a workshop Tuesday to review procedures and policies concerning Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds. Justin Bragiel, an attorney with the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association, explained the guidelines for distributing the funds derived from hotel and motel sales taxes. Afterwards Jessica Hill with the Orange County Economic Development Corporation which oversees the HOT funds in the county reviewed the timeline for awarding the money. Hill reminded that following the policy established last year applications for HOT funds need to be submitted near the end of the summer in August. The HOT Funds Committee which is comprised of persons throughout the county will review those applications. The Commissioners Court then distributes the HOT funds based on the recommendations of the committee.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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