The Lamb County Commissioners held their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, in the Lamb County Courthouse, where a 13– item agenda was discussed.
The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. by Lamb County Judge James DeLoach, and their was nobody present for the public comment portion of the meeting.
Consent Agenda: a) Consider and take appropriate action on minutes from previous meeting(s); Judge DeLoach stated there were two sets of minutes and they appeared to be in order. b) Consider and take appropriate action on budget and salary amendments and/or line-item transfers; none. c) Consider and take appropriate action on bills presented by the County Auditor; Gina Jones requested that the Commissioners approve bills totaling $805,552. d) Consider and take appropriate action on payroll; Jerry Yarbrough requested that the Commissioners approve payroll for Lamb County ending on Feb. 21st in the amount of $164,897.96, and for LHC ending on Feb. 22nd in the amount of $212,496.78. e) Consider and take appropriate action on departmental reports; packets. f) Consider and take appropriate action on Tax Deeds; Judge DeLoach stated that there was one property located at 1307 W. 2nd Street in Littlefield.
“There was one bid for $2,122, from Daniel Rosales in Littlefield,” Judge DeLoach said.
The motion to approve the consent agenda items was made by Commissioner Lee Logan and seconded by Commissioner Danny Short. The motion carried.
Item four on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on approving the County and District Attorney’s Office Application to receive VLCG funds from the OAG; Lori Zinn spoke about this item, saying, “Every two years we have to apply for a grant through the OAG, which helps pay a part of my salary and it comes back to help the county and service our victims. We were about 170 victims serviced two years ago when we applied for this grant, and this time we are well into the 200’s for victims services in our county and the surrounding areas.”
DA Rickie Redman echoed what Zinn said, saying, “By approving her resolution which will allow her to apply for the grant, what you’re doing is keeping money in the county. A very overwhelming amount of her regular base salary comes from this grant, so that the county doesn’t have to pay for it. Effectively what it is, is it creates a lot more work for Lori. It is part of her job and things she already does in hearing for and looking after victims, engaging in the community and certainly keeping me minded and where I’m supposed to be.”
The motion to approve the County and District Attorney’s Office Application to receive VLCG funds from the OAG was made by Commissioner Kent Lewis and seconded by Commissioner DeBerry. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and take appropriate action to accept a grant form JoAnn’s Fabric for the Lamb County Extension.
The motion to approve a grant from JoAnn’s Fabric for the Lamb County Extension was made by Commissioner Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Logan. The motion carried.
Kathy Lostroh stated, “This is a grant that we received, I know JoAnn’s is going out of business, but we already have the funds. It’s through our Texas 4-H Foundation and is for our Quilts of Valor Program. It is a reimbursement grant, we spend the money, so we just need to turn that in and get approval to accept that grant back for our spent money.”
The next item on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action to Extension Agents Traveling Out of State to Life Smart National Championship April 23-28.
“We have five kids who have been named a wildcard team in Life Smart’s National Competition in Chicago, Illinois. The areas they address are personal finance, environment, technology and workforce preparation, health and safety and consumer rights and responsibilities.”
She added, “The five who are on that team have been participants in our FCH Quizbowl competition and so they’re familiar with some of these topics and are gaining more knowledge. They’ve been practicing for the competition already and will do some additional requirements as well. We’re seeking funding from donors to help get these kids there; we currently have $1,350 in our office that has been donated. We also have another $450 that I was informed of this morning and then another business called right before we started this morning, asking me to call them. There is also another $450 that has been committed. As part of this with their education, they will receive $1,250 from Life Smart.”
The motion to approve Out of state travel for Extension agents was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short. The motion carried.
Item seven on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on Out of State Travel for 4-H Livestock Judging teams and Agents March 25-27.
“We’re taking kids to Chicoche, Okla., to build their participation and skills and the only way to do that is to practice,” Lostroh said. “ We tried to get them in at Tarelton, but they’re not accepting 4-H kids this year, because they just don’t have the facilities, so it is FFA only. Both of us will be going, because it is about 10 kids who are going.”
The motion to approve out of state travel for 4-H Livestock Judging Teams and agents was made by Commissioner Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Logan. The motion carried.
The next item on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action to release an easement on a residential property in Precinct #2.
Judge DeLoach explained. “This is not going to cost us anything. The gentlemen, who is trying to sell this property is going to pay for what it is going to cost to do this. This is a property where Calvin and Peggy Baker used to live in Sudan. There is a 60’ easement and 40’ of it is under their house, the other part is a fence, and the last 20’ft of it is what looks like an ally way, where the City of Sudan’s clean outs are.”
He added, “ I talked to the Mayor of Sudan, this is an addition that was added in the late 30’s early 40’s in Sudan, and we didn’t have the rules that we do today. I don’t see any benefit to the County having that property and I don’t see any downside to us letting it go.”
The motion to approve releasing the easement on a residential property in Precinct 2 was made by Commissioner Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Short. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and take appropriate action on Request to Bury waterline in Precinct #2.
The motion to approve burying a waterline in precinct 2 was made by Commissioner Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Logan. The motion carried.
Item 10 on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on Approving our Pledge of Collateral with First Bank and Trust, our current depository.
The motion to approve the pledge of collateral with First Bank and Trust was made by Commissioner Short and seconded by Commssioner Logan. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and take appropriate action to discuss Lease Teams for Precinct #1.
The motion to approve lease terms for Precinct 1 was made by Commissioner DeBerry and seconded by Commissioner Lewis. The motion carried.
Future agenda items were discussed.
Mike McNutt gave an update on LHC, saying, “February started off fast, then slowed down the last couple of weeks, but should still be a good month. We had 22 ER admissions, which isn’t a bad number at all. We’re now the proud owners of a new phone system and it was installed on Friday and covers the hospital and the clinic.”
He added, “We also purchased a baby warmer, which will enhance our mommy and baby experience, and will help out our physicians and staff. We had a trauma survey last week, which seemed to have gone well. We should have the final results later this month.”
With no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 11:01 a.m.