Commissioners Nix Maintainer, Sewer
After lengthy discussion, Commissioner Mark Halfmann prevailed and the county court decided against buying a new maintainer, opting instead to keep the current, five-year-old machine in Halfmann’s precinct. The lone bid for a new machine was from West Texas CAT for $159,900, less a guaranteed repurchase of $117,500, for a total of $42,400.
Although Commissioners Michael Hoch and Jimmy Strube tried hard to convince Halfmann that it would be better, and save money in the long run, to take the $88,500 buyback on the Deere maintainer and buy a new Caterpillar, Halfmann disagreed. He said his preference would be to take the buyback and begin now operating only three maintainers, adding that the county only has three maintainer drivers now.
Commissioner Michael Hoch said he thought there might be problems with four bosses [commissioners] and only three maintainers, but Halfmann said it could be managed, if everyone would cooperate. He argued that there isn’t as much need for maintainers now, with so many roads paved, and that the county needs to save money where it can. He pointed out that there were also other pieces of road equipment needing repair, which will add to the county’s expense.
Halfmann said if the commissioners couldn’t agree to use only three maintainers, he would like to keep the Deere machine for at least two more years, and said surely by then, the county would not need four maintainers. He said the Deere is a good machine, and he’s had no problems with it. He said the Deere people would completely overhaul the maintainer and extend the warranty for two more years. By keeping the current maintainer, the county forfeits the $88,500 guaranteed buyback and at some point will sell the machine on the open market. The other commissioners ultimately agreed to go along with Halfmann, since the maintainer in question is in his precinct. Halfmann made a motion to reject the bid for a new maintainer and it passed unanimously.
No to Sewer, Yes to Water Storage
County commissioners voted not to apply for a Colonia grant to fund a sewer system for Garden City. A survey regarding a sewer treatment facility was recently sent out with water bills, and of 98 surveys sent, 44 were returned. Of those, 57 percent said they favored a sewer facility, while 43 percent said they did not.
The county commissioners did agree, however, to seek a Texas Community Development Program grant to build an elevated water storage tank. The tank, which will probably be located on land the county already owns northwest of Garden City on County Road 415, will enable users to have water even when there is no electricity to run the system’s pumps.
The court awarded Municipal Consulting Agency, operated by Valerie Cox, the management contract to apply for the water storage tank grant. The contract for engineering services for the project went to Steve Dennis and the firm of GSW. These two firms also handled the management and engineering of the community water system.
The grant application will ask for $350,000, with the county committed to $17,500 (five percent) of in-kind services.