County Closer to Water Tower

Glasscock County has obtained regional approval for a $367,500 grant to construct an elevated water storage tower in Garden City. The grant must now be approved at the state level.  The tower will provide more water storage capacity, and will provide gravity flow of water to residents even if there is an electrical outage that prevents pumps from working.

County Judge Wilburn Bednar reported that the north landfill has been shut in for “quite a while” due to water in the pit. He said people are unhappy about it being closed so often. The court agreed to buy a pump that can be used to get water out of the pit, and can also be used elsewhere as needed. The two-inch trash pump is to have a 25-ft. suction hose and a 100-ft. discharge hose.

The court was in a lengthy executive session (closed to the public) with Brenda Rue, the District Extension Director, discussing extension service personnel.  According to Bednar, no decisions were made, and no action was taken.

Senior Citizens’ Center Maintenance

 Bednar reported that the county senior citizens’ group wants a county employee to check the cleanliness of the seniors’ building once weekly. Bednar said someone who had rented the building reported to a representative of the seniors’ group that  “...it (the building) was filthy.”

County Treasurer Alan Dierschke reported the county has been written up again because the courthouse elevator didn’t pass a recent inspection. This time, the problem is a flexible hydraulic hose which the inspector said should be rigid. The inspector’s estimate of the cost to replace the hose was $2,500.

Commissioner Mark Halfmann said he is suspicious when the elevator inspector and the repairman ride in the same car.

            Bednar said, “This whole elevator deal has been a fiasco!”  He said the elevator has been inspected many times before, and the hose has never been mentioned. The court asked Bednar to determine what should be done about it. Bednar said he might take the elevator situation to the state legislature in order to get relief from the state regulatory bureaucracy.

Emergency Management Coordinator Discussed

Hiring an Emergency Management Coordinator was again discussed, but no action was taken. The job will apparently have no benefits such as insurance or retirement, and a $6,000 annual salary has been mentioned, but not finalized. Bednar said he had asked Kenny Batla if he would like to have the job, but Batla had not given him an answer. Commissioner Hugh Schafer said he thought the job needed to be advertised. The court asked Bednar to check with an attorney regarding how to best describe the job.

The court approved a mutual aid agreement with 17 other counties in the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission’s service area. The agreement provides for personnel and equipment to aid each other in case of a disaster. The county has similar agreements with Sterling County and the City of Midland, neither of which is in the PBRPC’s area.

Medicare Supplement Adopted for Retirees

The court also adopted a Medicare supplement policy as offered through the Texas Association of Counties. The insurance will be provided for any county employees or retirees who qualify. Currently, employees or retirees 65 or over are still covered by the same insurance as any other employee.

Under the new plan, those who qualify for Medicare will be switched from a standard policy to the Medicare Supplement.  Insurance representative Shelbi Hall said the supplemental insurance is cheaper for the county and better for the individual. She also said adopting the supplemental policy gives Blue Cross the option of raising the other premiums by four percent. If they do, Dierschke said the county would still have a savings of $1,145 per month in premiums, and if there is no increase, the new plan will save the county $3,020 monthly.

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