The Commissioners Court of Lamb County held their regular meeting on Monday, July 14th, to discuss an eight-item agenda.
The meeting was called to order at 10:04 a.m. by Lamb County Judge James DeLoach. Judge DeLoach gave the invocation and there 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 that there were two sets of minutes and they both 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 $853,849.25. d) Consider and take appropriate action on payroll; Lamb County Treasurer, Jerry Yarbrough requested that the Commissioners approve payroll ending on June 27th for Lamb County in the amount of $160,196.44 and payroll for LHC ending on June 28th in the amount of $222,635.33. e) Consider and take appropriate action on departmental reports; Packets.
The motion to approve the consent agenda items was made by Commissioner Danny Short and seconded by Commissioner Lee Logan. The motion carried.
Item four on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on Interlocal Agreement with Regional Public Defender Office.
“This is the same agreement we’ve been using for several years,” Judge DeLoach said. “In capital cases, it’s not just where we appoint an attorney like we do in some of the other cases. For Capital cases, we go through this Regional Public Defender’s Office for that purpose. We’ve been doing this at least since I’ve been here and before.”
The motion to approve the Iterlocal Agreement with Reginal Public Defender Office, contingent of District Attorney Rickie Redman reviewing it was made by Commissioner Cory DeBerry and seconded by Commissioner Logan. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and take appropriate action on Resolution Recognizing the Service and Contributions of the South Plains Community Action Association.
Bill Powell with the South Plains Community Action Association gave a brief summary of what SPCAA does within the community.
“South Plains Community Action is made up of a Board of Directors,” Powell said. “I have 21 members on my board and they meet every 10 weeks. D.A. Redman is a member of our board and has been for seven years. The board is made up of citizens from all 14 counties that we serve.”
Programs that SPCAA offers in Lamb County are: Energy/Utility/ Assistance, Head Start, Health Insurance Navigator Program, Transition Out of Poverty (TOP) Program, Child Care Services, Workforce Solutions, Weatherization Assistance, Senior Companion Program, Project CHAMPS, SPARTAN Transportation, Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Income Tax Prep Assistance, HOME House Program, Section 8 Housing and Multi-Family Housing Rental Program. ALL of the programs above are at risk of being eliminated.
According to a handout provided, 18 percent of Lamb County lives below the poverty line. That is approximately one in every six people you meet. More than one in five individuals in Lamb County have zero health coverage or insurance.
There are 35 active SPCAA employees in Lamb County.
D.A. Redman chimed in on the subject stating, “I speak to you from a position where eight or nine years ago, when I began working here, I had no idea what a community action association was. I’m very blessed as many of us are that we grew up in households where we were not in poverty and were not struggling to find food to eat, or wondering where our next meal was going to come from or where we were going to be staying.”
She added, “Since I became involved as a Head Start parent at Sudan ISD seven years ago, I have become so passionate and very involved in this organization. As your county attorney, I am very involved in it too, because our citizens are rural and lack services. You know we are always asked to do more with less. I’m very passionate about the fact that SPCAA is an organization that is non-profit that comes forward and says let me come alongside you county governments and city governments. The reason why SPCAA, the board an I, as a representative of the board are here to ask you to adopt this resolution is because we want the county to be able to say as a county government, we recognize what SPCAA is doing in our community. You guys know we are living in a time where governmental funding is being examined very closely. SPCAA is not saying don’t do that, we are just saying please don’t forget rural Texas, please don’t forget the people who are not served very well by big government and big cities. These are people who need help and SPCAA is here to provide it.”
The motion to approve the resolution recognizing the service and contributions of the South Plains Community Action Association was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short. The motion carried.
Future Agenda Items were discussed.
LHC CEO Mike McNutt gave an update on the hospital.
Cynthia Bussey stated that the county pool party has been rescheduled for July 28th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Littlefield Aquatic Center.
Jones stated that they will begin working on the new budget on Monday, July 21st at 9 a.m.
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 10:36 a.m.