The Commissioners Court discussed the recent appeal of the Montano v Orange County lawsuit for over an hour Tuesday afternoon with Assistant County Attorney Doug Manning in a closed session. Joining the discussion was special co-counsel David Gaultney who was hired by Orange County to assist Manning in the appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
County Judge Brint Carlton commented on the prospects facing Orange County following the appeal. Carlton indicated he had read the appellate ruling and said it did not look good for the county. He pointed out Orange County has already spent $360,000 in litigation fees and now will probably be obligated to pay plaintiff’s attorney fees of over $400,000. No action was taken Tuesday after the 75-minute discussion between the Commissioners and the attorneys. Carlton concluded, “We’ll be making a more formal statement in all those regards in the next couple of weeks.”
The Fifth Circuit last week upheld the lower courts finding. A jury awarded the Montano family approximately $2 million in damages for the wrongful death of Robert Montano when he died while in the Orange County Jail in 2011.
The Commissioners appointed Janell Leger-Dischler to be the new Transportation Director for the county at Tuesday’s meeting. She has worked three and a half years in the Transportation Department which handles the county buses for transporting citizens. Leger-Dischler will replace Valle Lott who is retiring in January.
The Court approved a $4,000 line item transfer to pay for improvements to the information signage inside the Orange County Convention and Expo Center. The new signage is needed to help direct people during use of the facility by emergency personnel as part of a disaster. This was recognized as a problem during the flooding in March when the center was used as the Emergency Operations Center.
The Orange County Office of Emergency Management was given authority to enter into a maintenance service agreement with Eaton UPS to cover a power supply to the Orange County Convention and Expo Center. The center serves as the Emergency Operations Center and houses the offices of Emergency Management. Charlie Cox who is the coordinator for Emergency Management said representatives with the local 911 System have promised to help cover part of the cost for the maintenance agreement since some of their equipment is also located at the center.
A line item transfer of $8,000 was approved for the Maintenance Department. The transfer was necessary to pay for the newly purchased nativity scene at the Courthouse. Kurt Guidry and his department erected the figures and built a manger for the nativity scene which replaces a more than 20 year-old set of figures.
The county tax offices in Orange and Vidor will be closed the afternoon of Friday, December 30 from noon to 5:00 PM. The closure is necessary to allow the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to do a mandatory inventory audit of all state equipment and license plates in the offices. The audit is required with the retirement of Lynda Gunstream as the County Tax Assessor-Collector. Her last day in the office will be December 30. Karen Fisher was elected to replace Gunstream and will take her new office on January 3, 2017.
A five-person committee was selected to review and score proposals and requests for the FY 2017-2018 Community Development Block Grant Fund. The five county employees chosen are Joel Ardoin, Barry Burton, Connie Cassidy, Charlie Cox, and Clark Slacum. They will review the applicants that are seeking sewer improvements to the lower income residences.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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