The Orange County Landfill will be open only three days a week starting this Thursday. The Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to have the landfill open for public use on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
The hours of operation will be 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturdays. Commissioner Johnny Trahan chairs the committee that oversees the Citizen Collection Station more commonly known as the landfill. Trahan said the committee will meet to discuss other policies that may be changed in the coming weeks or months concerning the landfill.
Commissioner John Gothia reminded that the hours the landfill is open are subject to the amount of garbage brought to it. Gothia stated that when the dumpsters are full the landfill is forced to close its gate to keep the garbage from accumulating on the ground.
Fees will be charged again to use the landfill starting Thursday. In the year following Harvey the fees were waived for citizens to dispose of storm debris and the landfill was open six days a week.
A problem with the contract between the county and Way Services was discussed by the Commissioners Court. Maintenance Director Kurt Guidry gave an update of the punch list for completion of projects at the various county buildings. Confusion was caused by there being two punch lists, one created by Guidry’s department and another one by Way.
Even more concern was created when no one could find a copy of the executed bond between Way and the county. Following a 20-minute closed executive session Assistant County Attorney Denise Gremillion stated she would work hard this week to track down if there is a bond and where it is. The Court decided in the interim to hold off paying $61,204 to Way until the executed bond is found. If no bond is discovered, it could put the whole contract in jeopardy.
The Vacation Policy 311 was changed in a narrow vote. Earlier this month there was a vote to keep the same vacation policy, but it was defeated in a 3 to 2 vote with only Commissioners Barry Burton and Jody Crump voting to retain the current policy.
Tuesday’s vote was the same result except the other members County Judge Dean Crooks and Commissioners Johnny Trahan and John Gothia approved changing the policy to eliminate the clause adopted in October 2016 that effected newly hired employees and their earning of vacation time. Now all county employees will earn vacation time at the same rate according to their longevity with the county. The new policy will actually go into effect January 1, 2019.
Civil Process fees charged by various county officers will not change in the new year. The Court felt that with the recent hardships caused by Harvey this was not the time to increase the fees. Every year the fees are set before October 1 by the Court.
The county will auction surplus items the second week of September. Citizens can only view the items in the auction beginning September 12. Bidding on the items begins on Friday, September 14 and concludes at 10:00 AM on Friday, September 28. Rene Bates Auctioneers will conduct the auction again for Orange County.
Emergency Management Coordinator Joel Ardoin has submitted $2.6 million for reimbursement to cover debris removal. He has also submitted $1.6 million for reimbursement to cover labor during the cleanup after Harvey.
A memorandum of understanding was approved to be submitted later by Ardoin to the Commissioners concerning use of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to store vaccines during a disaster. The University of Texas Medical Branch medical clinic made the request to Ardoin for storing the vaccines in a refrigerated unit at the EOC. The one concern expressed by the Commissioners was the security of the room where the vaccines would be stored.
A bid of $2,200 was approved by the Commissioners Court at the recommendation of Tax Assessor-Collector Karen Fisher for property on West Harding in Orange. Fisher said the land is vacant and the new owner wants to build on it. She added this will help put the property back on the tax rolls.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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