Here ya go Coldsprings!! Number #23 on todays agenda at the courthouse during todays commissioners court meeting! Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2014 1:33 pm Illegal immigration brought to light at commissioners court By JACOB MCADAMS The San Jacinto County Commissioners Court listened to comments on Aug. 26 regarding illegal immigration and its potential effects on the county in the future. During public comments, Pastor Terry Holcomb spoke on behalf of the San Jacinto County Republican Party regarding a resolution that dealt with the harboring of illegal aliens within the county. Holcomb submitted the resolution to the judge and to his commissioner to speak on this particular issue. “This is a very serious issue that is happening, not just across the state, but across the country where illegals are being housed against the people’s wishes of the communities and putting the communities at risk in many different forms,” said Holcomb. He explained that addressing this issue with the court was a result of a conversation with Texas Association of Counties, or TAC County Relations Officer Lonnie Hunt, who said his agency took no position on the matter and that it was a local issue. “The reason each county is going to have to address it individually is because the resources are different in each county,” he said. “The circumstances are different in each county.” Holcomb further emphasized the negative effects of such a situation, including the possible allowance of known gang members who have allegedly crossed the border into Texas. He concluded by asking the court to place this discussion on the agenda for further discussion. “San Jacinto County cannot bear the brunt of housing illegal immigrants,” said Holcomb. A motion was passed to approve the renewal subscription for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Date Distribution System, or TCLEDDS for the SJC Sheriff’s Department. “[It’s] how we do all of our documentation with the state,” said Sheriff David Clark. The court also approved replacing the ID maker for the sheriff’s department, as well as purchasing three file cabinets for their records division. One of the final items of discussion involved the vote to approve medical services between the county and Lehealth LLC, DBA Coldspring Family Care, which was approved 2nd article… Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2014 1:31 pm Commissioners debate over contract changes for community shelter By JACOB MCADAMS The San Jacinto County Commissioners Court meeting held on Aug. 26 held a heavy discussion on the new Coldspring Community Shelter currently in development. The shelter is a project meant to prepare Coldspring for future disasters in the wake of Hurricane Ike back in 2008. Construction began on the shelter in October 2013 and continues nearly one year later. During the midst of the project, issues have risen regarding the building’s safety, which played heavily during the meeting when an agenda item involved the discussion and possible vote to change the construction contract for the shelter. There were three changes to the contract in question: a decrease of $2,040 regarding taking out a dumpster pad and an increase of $548 to add concrete, a decrease of $25,811.85 due to a proposal regarding landscaping and a third change regarding furnishing electricity to the building. “Not having electricity has got the whole thing at a standstill,” said County Judge Fritz Faulkner. A discussion was held due to the requested changes coinciding with numerous issues taking place at the shelter. Some of these issues include construction workers walking off the job site and what some of the members of the court believed to be questionable building practices. Pct. 2 Commissioner Donny Marrs spoke against the approval, believing those responsible for the construction needed to be held as such. “I think there are more issues that’s going on with this thing than us spending $25,000 more … I think that when they designed the power, someone didn’t do their job correctly and now they’re wanting us to spend $25,000 on it,” he said. “Maybe we need to start holding other people accountable for some things that are going on over there.” Faulkner said the construction needed to move forward and that power was a necessity, but Marrs pointed out there were allegedly other issues regarding the shelter’s construction. “They don’t have [the bolts] tight and they’re steadily covering them up with sheetrock,” said Marrs. Marrs also claims a leak found in the ceiling a few months back had not been addressed yet. Faulkner believed this leak was fixed. Pct. 4 Commissioner Mark Nettuno made a motion to approve the change orders. There was no second to that motion. As the discussion continued, Nettuno questioned the status of the bolts with Pct. 1 Commissioner Ray McCoppin pointing out that a different set of bolts were addressed after complications arose from them. McCoppin further explained the severity of the complications, saying things have been done “out of sequence,” causing the builders to “go back and redo them,” in part because of alleged risks such as the rain. Marrs suggested sending a demand letter to the responsible parties requesting that all issues be fixed before they move forward with the approvals. Because the issues at hand involve the limitations of the contract, Pct. 3 Commissioner Thomas Bonds made a point of saying the court needed to be more wary in the future. “We, as a commissioner’s court, should make sure that they’re more specific in what is put in that contract that we can hold their feet to the fire,” he said. McCoppin suggested approving the first change regarding the dumpster pad but did not believe the other two should be approved for the time being as he was not aware of them until that day, despite being the liaison between the court and the contractors: Mega Prime. All three changes were tabled for later during the session. When the court returned to the agenda item, suggestions were made to bid out to complete some of the work, including the electrical wiring. “I think we have electrical contractors in the county that could do it,” said McCoppin. Faulkner agreed this would be a good idea and Marrs made a motion to send out bids to complete the wiring. Nettuno second the motion. The motion passed unanimously with no action taken on the other changes.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:16:14 +0000
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