The Commissioners Court appointed a seven-member committee Tuesday to review bids for two different purchase requests. County Judge Dean Crooks suggested the county employees that should compose the committee, and the Commissioners approved his recommendations.
Crooks will be joined on the committee by Commissioner John Gothia who handles budget items for the Court. Other committee members will be County Auditor Pennee Schmitt, County Treasurer Christy Khoury, counselor for the Commissioners Court Denise Gremillion, Sheriff Keith Merritt, and District Judge Courtney Arkeen.
The committee will review bids received for auditing services for Orange County. The committee would be available to review bids on restoring the marble façade above the entrance to the Orange County Courthouse. At the request of Purchasing Agent Connie Cassidy, no action was taken by the Court to have the committee assigned to review bids for the repairs to the courthouse. Cassidy will review the scope of work and services that are to be provided and address that before seeking bid proposals.
The license agreement between Orange County and St. Vincent DePaul was approved by the Commissioners Court. The agreement will allow St. Vincent DePaul to use space in the county’s Veterans Building on FM 1442. They will be assisting the unmet needs of citizens in the county. St. Vincent DePaul will pay a monthly $300 fee for its seven to ten employees to use the office.
Constable Lane Mooney of Precinct Four had his request for a new radio and batteries approved by the Commissioners. The cost of the radio and four replacement batteries is $5,310. The extra batteries will be for use by Mooney’s deputies with radios they use.
Five trust properties all in Vidor were approved for sale. Tax Assessor-Collector Karen Fisher recommended approval of the five bids received. The bids ranged from $1,000 to $12,500 for the properties and totaled over $30,000. The properties can now be put back on the tax rolls providing more revenue for the county.
Emergency Management Coordinator Joel Ardoin was approved to apply for a Food and Drug Administration grant. The grant will be in three categories for food safety course materials, training projects, and hosting a food safety conference. There are no matching funds for the county with this grant.
Jessica Hill with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) supplied the names of the new board of directors with the EDC. Hill and the Commissioners Court discussed the Uniform Tax Abatement Policy used by Orange County. No action was taken, but Crooks said he would like a public forum or town hall meeting to allow business leaders to discuss the policy. He asked for the Commissioners and Hill to check their calendars for a convenient day for them to hold the forum.
Earlier on Tuesday morning the Commissioners Court held a workshop to discuss the county’s reclassification policy. The Court heard from several department heads and employees concerning different aspects of the policy. Crooks said the purpose of the workshop was to see what could be done to change the reclassification policy to make it more palatable for everyone. Being a workshop, no action was taken.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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