Last week the news was Orange County had paid off its $8 million tax anticipation loan after using the minimum $2 million from it. This week there was more good news concerning $2 million for the county.
County Judge Dean Crooks shared Wednesday at the beginning of the meeting of the Commissioners Court that Orange County received the much anticipated reimbursement check from FEMA on Monday. County Treasurer Christy Khoury confirmed the check for $2,265,775.98 was deposited in the bank on January 14.
The county judge thanked the department heads at the Courthouse for restraining from making purchases that were already approved until the loan was paid off and the FEMA check was received. “Now it looks like we can start moving forward and getting some more things done,” Crooks happily expressed.
The most recent check from FEMA is the second reimbursement payment. It brings the total to about $11.4 million the county has received for cleanup after Tropical Storm Harvey.
The Commissioners Court played shorthanded Wednesday with the two newest commissioners not able to attend the meeting. Theresa Beauchamp and Robert Viator were attending classes of training for new commissioners. The Court moved its meeting from Tuesday to Wednesday so it would have a quorum with three members attending.
Allegiance Mobile Health gave a presentation and handouts to the Commissioners Court regarding the possibility of their ambulance service coming to Orange County. Chief Operating Officer Dan Gillespie with Allegiance said his company operates in 30 communities including Newton, Jasper, and Tyler counties.
The biggest selling point given by Gillespie was no tax funding would be necessary for Allegiance to operate its ambulance service in Orange County. The Court heard the presentation, but took no action at Wednesday’s meeting. In attendance at the meeting to hear the presentation and possibly in anticipation of action by the Commissioners Court were representatives from the cities of Orange, Pinehurst, Vidor, and West Orange.
Justice of the Peace Chad Jenkins was not able to attend the meeting, but has requested furniture for the Precinct Two Justice of the Peace courtroom and a filing cabinet for the court’s office. The Commissioners Court approved the purchase of the two-drawer filing cabinet since it was covered by insurance. The Commissioners were not sure if tables, a chair for the judge, and chairs for the courtroom were covered by insurance so took no action on those items until they could hear directly from Judge Jenkins.
A piece of trust property in Orange at 4415 Brown was approved for sale by the Court. Tax Assessor-Collector Karen Fisher recommended the $2,100 bid submitted by a neighbor of the trust property be accepted.
The Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce was given permission to use the parking lot of the Administration Building at the Courthouse for its Mardi Gras Parade on February 23 and February 24. The parking lot will be used for setup and takedown of the floats in the parade. The chamber will be responsible for all the cleanup of the parking lot after the parade.
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