The Commissioners Court of Lamb County met in regular session on Monday at the Lamb County Courthouse in Littlefield to discuss a 12-item agenda.
Lamb County Judge James DeLoach called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. He gave the invocation and led the United States and Texas Pledge of Allegiance.
The Court also took a moment of silence to remember the events that happened for the 22nd anniversary of 9/11.
No one requested to comment during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Consent agenda items; (a) Consider and take appropriate action on minutes from previous meeting(s); there was one set of minutes from the regular meeting that took place on August 28, 2023.
(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; Jones asked the Commissioners approve bills in the amount of $496,219.97 (d) Consider and take appropriate action on payroll; Jerry Yarbrough asked that the Commissioners approve Payroll for Lamb County ending on August 25th in the amount of $147,947.26 and that they also approve payroll for LHC ending on August 26th in the amount of $197,046.65.
(e) Consider and take appropriate action on departmental reports; None (f) Consider and take appropriate action on approving Treasurer’s Quarter Reports; Jerry Yarbrough gave two reports: first Quarter, 2023 and second Quarter, 2023.
The motion was made by Commissioner Danny Short and seconded by Commissioner Lee Logan to approve the consent agenda items. The motion passed unanimously.
Item four on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on out of state travel for Gloria Roble to go to DARE School.
“I was the one responsible for looking for the training, unfortunately there is no training available to us in Texas,” Deputy Michael Armstrong said. “I chose a training in Missouri that is inexpensive on the training side and not all the way across the country.”
The motion was made by Commissioner Kent Lewis and seconded by Commissioner Logan to approve the out of state travel for Gloria Roble to go to DARE School. The motion passed unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action to appoint Library Advisory Board Members.
“We just had one of our members resign and we have two new members we would like to have approved, which are Rene Trevino and Crystal Curran,” LCPL Librarian Selena Sanchez said.
The motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short to approve the appointment of two new Library Advisory Board Members. The motion passed unanimously.
Item six on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action to accept a grant of property from Sudan Economic Development Corporation.
“We have talked before about the situation in Sudan with the JP4 office. We don’t own that building, we’ve been renting it,” Judge DeLoach said. “There are some considerable repairs that need to be done to that building. We had originally looked into purchasing that building, but due to a probate issues from a while back, it is going to be expensive to clean that up and I don’t think that the current owner is going to be able to do that.”
He added, “Our next step was to try and acquire some land and build a metal building on that for an office. I’ve visited with Clay Carr, who represents the Sudan Economic Development Corporation. They’ve come up with a grant that is for either three of four lots; it is enough property to build this office. It has highway frontage in Sudan. They’re basically giving us that property with the stipulation that we have to build on it within 24 months. It has already been approved by SEDC and it will go in front of the Sudan City Concil Tuesday night. There will be a 60day transition period and they’re paying to have it transferred into the County’s name. Anything that we do is contingent on District Attorney Rickie Redman’s approval.”
The motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short to accept a grant of property from Sudan Economic Development Corporation, contingent on approval from Lamb County District Attorney and building within 24 months. The motion passed unanimously.
The next order of business was to consider and take appropriate action to advertise for sealed bids for the construction of a metal building for Office Space for JP4.
“I have an initial quote from a builder, but the reason I’m wanting to go out for sealed bids is because that quote is $48,000 and some change and it does not include flooring among some other things we may opt to do, which would put us well over $50,000 for the project,” Judge DeLoach said. “There are services to this property and from the conversation I had with Clay, was that if there was some service that wasn’t going to the property, then they would get it to the property.”
The motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short to approve to advertise for sealed bids for the construction of a metal building for Office Space for JP4. The motion passed unanimously.
Item eight on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on County’s 2023- 2024 Wellness Strategy/County Specific Incentive Presentation by Stacey Bruington.
The motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Cory DeBerry to approve County’s 2023- 2024 Wellness Strategy/County Specific Incentive. The motion passed unanimously.
Item nine on the agenda was to consider and take appropriate action on Polling Places, Judge & Poll Workers, Early Voting Ballot Board & Central Counting station workers for Texas Constitutional Amendments Election.
The motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short to approve the Polling Places, Judge & Poll Workers, Early Voting Ballot Board & Central Counting station workers for Texas Constitutional Amendments Election. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 10 on the agenda was to discuss Lamb Healthcare Center operations.
Dylan Brown gave Lamb Healthcare Center financials report and how they are keeping the budget tight during the end of year. Judge DeLoach has requested Lamb Healthcare Center Plans from Cindy Klein-Pope.
Future agenda items were discussed, including, $3,000.00 request from Roy Thompson and Soil Water Conservation; Request grant from SPAG for generators at Ag Barn and Olton County Building; Cooling station requests; Clearing off and cost of the lot across the street; November 17 – Thanksgiving Luncheon at the MAC; November 17 or 20 – Canvass Votes from TX Constitutional Amendments Election.
With there being no further business to come before this Commissioners Court, the motion was made by Commissioner Logan and seconded by Commissioner Short to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously.