Orange County citizens will have a vote on the creation of a hospital district in the county. A petition was submitted Tuesday to the Commissioners Court calling for the election to determine whether a hospital district will be created. Businessman Ross Smith from Bridge City submitted the petition, sayings he was prompted to start the petition because of the need for a hospital facility in a county the size of Orange just like it needs schools and law enforcement. Smith indicated he is glad to have the petition complete to call for the election of the voters.
The petition set the maximum tax rate for the Orange County Hospital District if approved at 18 cents per $100 valuation. Smith said the petition also stipulates any future increase in the hospital district tax rate would have to be approved by a vote of the citizens in the county.
The next step is the verification of the 226 signatures gathered on the petition. County Judge Brint Carlton stated that the law tells how soon the hospital district election could take place, not earlier than 45 days or later than 60 days from the determination of it to be a valid petition.
The strong citizen support for calling the election was evident according to Smith. The necessary 100 signatures for the petition were gathered in a period of 24 to 48 hours.
Two closed executive sessions took up most of the Commissioners Court session Tuesday. No action was taken on the first session which was with Assistant County Attorney Doug Manning covering attorney-client privilege.
The second closed session dealt with the federal lawsuit Carthel v. Orange County. Jerry Carthel is suing the county and former Orange County Jailer Brian Lee. Carthel alleges Lee assaulted him in the jail in January 2015. County Judge Brint Carlton said the Commissioners Court voted in open court after the closed meeting to deny paying for Lee’s defense who is a co-defendant in the lawsuit. Lee was an employee of Orange County at the time of the alleged assault. He was later found guilty of a misdemeanor assault for the incident in the jail with Carthel.
In other business the Commissioners awarded a contract to Osburn Associates for road signs. The Court approved a contract with Bosco Industries for servicing the aerobic sewer system at the John Tarver Training Center.
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