County to Hire Maintenance Person
The Glasscock County Commissioner’s Court decided on April 14 to advertise for a maintenance/janitorial person for the county courthouse and community center. This person also would oversee grounds maintenance for those buildings and oversee mowing at the Garden City cemetery and along Highway 158. The salary is to be $19,000 plus full county benefits. Job applications, which are available at the county judge’s and county clerk’s offices, will be taken until May 1.
Commissioner Michael Hoch said the plan is to bring county road crew personnel in one day a week as necessary to do grounds maintenance and mowing.
The court agreed to advertise for paving and seal coating bids. Paving is planned for two miles of County Road 195 and four miles of CR 110, and possible seal coating on five miles of CR 130. The work will be done in the summer.
Charlene Belew reported on Extension office activities. She said the agricultural agent’s job has now been opened to applicants outside the Extension system. She said she knows of one applicant inside the system.
Improvements to Little League Field Discussed
Belew, as a director on the local Little League board, asked that the court clarify who is responsible for maintenance of the two baseball fields. The fields are owned by the county, (though the county doesn’t technically own all of the Garden City field). Hoch said the county provides the fields, and parents have traditionally kept the grounds.
Commissioner Mark Halfmann said parents would like to have sprinklers on the Garden City field, so that it can be put into better shape. He said the field in St. Lawrence is in great shape, and all games will be played there this season. The court agreed to run a water line and to purchase materials for a ball field sprinkler system if parents would provide the labor for installation.
County Judge Wilburn Bednar said he had declined a $1,000 estimate from an electrical company to run a line from one fire department barn to the older one on the courthouse square. He said county road crew workers could do the work instead.
The court agreed that Bednar would ask the county’s senior citizens group to select a person to represent Glasscock County on the Permian Basin Aging Advisory Council.
Commissioners passed a resolution opposing the sale of groundwater from state lands and another resolution opposing Governor Rick Perry’s tax plan.
Central Air in Courthouse a Possibility
Bednar said he had gotten estimates for installing central air conditioning and heating on the ground floor of the courthouse. He said ceilings would have to be lowered to eight feet to accommodate ductwork. The estimates ranged from$18,500 to $22,500 for two outside units, which would replace existing window units. There was little discussion and no action was taken.
County Treasurer Alan Dierschke reported that recent repairs to the community center’s air conditioning system had cost $2,300. He said the repairman said the problems were due to shoddy workmanship when the system was installed. While commissioners doubt that any reimbursement is possible since the warranty period has expired, they agreed that Dierschke could write a letter to the N.C. Sturgeon Company, the building’s general contractor, outlining the county’s displeasure.
The court tabled discussion of whether to join other area counties in an effort called the Texas Heritage Trails Program. The program would attempt to provide rural economic development, mostly from increased tourism, by promoting matters of historical interest or significance. Each participating county would pay $500 in matching funds if a proposed grant is secured from the Texas Historical Commission.