Commissioners made fast work on a lengthy agenda during the Monday, April 28 Commissioners Court meeting.
Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace David Martin addressed the court with the need to purchase a new alarm system and components for an emergency alert system for the Dublin annex.
Martin explained the old system stopped working last summer and the clerks at the annex need a push button to call emergency services in case of a threat or emergency.
He said that a previous bid estimated the cost at around $16,000, however he was unsure if the cost had risen.
Martin was instructed to bring back several quotes for the alarm to the court, and the court gave him approval to move forward after the quotes were secured.
In the land development portion of the meeting, Subdivision Coordinator Jason Gardner asked the court for another extension for 100X Cabins II Phase II due to waiting on one last document being provided by engineers.
“It’s done, there is just one missing document,” he said.
“It’s coming from an engineering firm so it’s out of our hands,” Commissioner Jim Buck said. A 60-day extension was granted on the project.
A policy for Emergency Call Pay mainly in regards to road and bridge employees was established allowing them to be paid for an emergency call out and get paid time and a half, even if they have taken a sick day, PTO or had a holiday that week. The previous policy stated an employee had to work (not accumulate) 40 hours before they were eligible for emergency pay.
“I think you guys have done a great job on this,” Buck said about the new policy.
County Attorney Bethany Espinosa complimented HR on their work on the policy.
Community Response Paramedic Colby Swearingen provided an update on a possible partnership between the county and Cruising Care. Cruising Care, owned by David and Nicole Baskett is being looked as a possible solution for CRP program clients who need transportation to urgent care or a doctor and do not have a way to get there.
In the proposed agreement fee schedule, a round trip in the city limits or for five miles outside the city limits would be $100, outside that area would be $150.
“We can’t use a 911 ambulance to transport a patient to anywhere but the ER,” Swearingen said.
The paramedic also presented protocols set forth for the medical portion signed off by Dr. Moore who is the doctor over protocols for Erath County EMS.
If patients call 911 they are not eligible for the program and if they have any other mode of transportation, including family members, Cruising Care through the county partnership would not be available.
Swearingen said he would use the program on a limited basis since some months he did not have any clients with transportation needs, while other months he had several.
“I can see people taking advantage of this. I feel like there needs to be more guidelines,” Commissioner Albert Ray said.
Swearingen explained the program was only available to the CRP program, not to other EMS making it easier to evaluate criteria.
The paramedic said he had consulted with Auditor Kent Reeves on how to potentially fund the program, and a transportation line item for the county does exist.
Erath County Judge Brandon Huckabee said he would need to look at the line item and then the item could come back for a certain amount of money to be used for a period of time to see how the partnership would work out.
Sealed proposals were opened for tax and collection proposals with four companies submitting bids: Catalyst, Southwest Data Solutions, Tyler Technology and Spindle Media.
The proposals are being reviewed by Tax Assessor-Collector Valerie Stephens and the commissioners before action is taken.
In other business the court:
■ approved a proclamation for National Therapy Animal Day
■ approved departmental reports for March 2025
■ approved allowing Precinct 2 on private property off CR 371 with owner permission to clean out a ditch to improve water flow
■ approved a service agreement with Statewide Automated Victim Notification Service (SAVNS)
■ approved budget adjustments
■ approved paying the monthly bills