Friday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2008.
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County Judge Manuel Molinar and Auditor Maxine Chance told commissioners that “with 4 months remaining in the fiscal year, the general fund has slightly over $750,000 in it. Just to meet payroll, it will take about $660,00 of that.”
Auditor Chance went on to state, “We must tighten our belts if we hope to make it until the end of the fiscal year. Our expenses, over and above payroll, amount to nearly $80,000 a month.”
Auditor Chance noted, “My office has stopped issuing purchase orders unless it is an emergency! We don’t want to go to the state and ask to borrow money like we did several years back.”
Commissioners, as well as all county departments and offices, will watch all spending for the rest of the fiscal year.
Following the stern warning, commissioners learned that the county was eligible to receive an additional grant of $65,000 from the Department of Homeland Security to replace funds that were taken back in 2006.
As a result, the county can use these funds to acquire an Automated Weather Observation System (A.W.O.S.) and get some needed items for the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
Judge Molinar reported that the A.W.O.S. would provide much needed weather information for pilots flying into our airport. This is especially crucial with the increased flight activity related to the Blue Origin space launch facility.
Molinar reported that the $50,000 + system would be paid for with this grant and the balance by the Texas Department of Transportation.
Commissioners accepted the grant following the discussion.
Commissioners next looked at the feasibility of creating a Rural Far West Texas Transit District. This vehicle has been recommended by TxDOT for Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties as they are the only counties, in the state, not in such a district.
The district is aimed at improving the public transportation in these rural areas and there is some $132,000 available in grant money for Culberson County.
After looking at the options, commissioners opted to join with the Permian Basin Rural Transit District and utilize their contractor, West Texas Opportunities, to provide the services here in the county.
While all the details have yet to be worked out, this arrangement is expected to improve on public transportation in the county.
And, commissioners received a letter of resignation from County Auditor Maxine Chance. Chance announced her resignation would be effective June 30th of this year.
Commissioners voted to accept the resignation as of June 30, 2007.
With regard to other matters which the court considered at the Monday meeting, the following actions were taken:
* Authorized the purchase and monthly service charges for the installation of a courthouse security system which would install panic buttons throughout.
* Approved going out for bids on liability insurance in an effort to get the best coverages for the best price.
* Approved the preparation of a list of surplus and obsolete parts and equipment that the county might dispose of.
* Approved budget amendments as detailed by Auditor Maxine Chance.
* Held an executive session with Sheriff Oscar Carrillo following which they approved the employment of a temporary part-time employee for the dispatch office as a replacement for one that had quit.
* Learned that the recent extended power outage had cost the county a lot of money because of burned out air conditioning compressors and other electrical equipment.
And, they learned that Applied Chemical Magnesias (ACM) has never exercised the option to purchase their processing facility here and thus they owe the county some over due rental payments. Attorney Steve Mitchell was asked to follow up on this and report back at a later date.
* Approved the submitted monthly reports and payment of bills and payroll amounting to $187,625.63. Of that sum, $116,395.28 was for payroll, while $72,230.35 was for monthly bills.
City/County to hold tire collection event next week
Culberson County and the Town of Van Horn have announced that the two governing bodies will be hosting a joint tire collection event on the morning of June 23.
County Commissioner John Jones informed the Advocate that the two entities have combined their efforts with funding from the Solid Waste funding provided through the Rio Grande Council of Governments and the Chihuahuan Desert RC&D.
The county and the city have determined a significant need to address the old tire problem based on the increasing health risks from mosquitoes. Jones stated that old tires provide a perfect breeding environment for mosquitoes and that West Nile Virus is an ever-increasing medical problem as a result of mosquitoes in the region.
“The most important reason to get rid of these old tires laying all over town is to eliminate the breeding grounds for mosquitoes and to reduce, as much as possible, the risk of someone in our community getting sick with a potentially deadly illness,” said Jones. He added that cleaning up the community is simply an added benefit of a good tire program.
The collection event will accept tires from all private citizens within the boundaries of Culberson County. Tires accepted from individuals will be accepted for free. Tires will also be accepted from tire businesses within the county, but those businesses will have to pay a disposal fee for the tires they bring in based upon the size of the tire.
Following the collection event, both the city council and the county commissioner’s court will be passing identical tire ordinances and resolutions to bring some level of control to the ever-increasing waste tires that have been piling up within the county and city boundaries. “We simply can’t afford to keep allowing tires to stack up as they have been. The health of our community is at risk from these tires and we, the elected leaders of the community, must address this increasing risk through control measures and follow-up enforcement.”
Though Jones could not discuss the details of the impending local policies, he stated that the governing bodies will be asking local tire dealers to provide, on a voluntary basis at first, a listing of tires sold with a corresponding list of those that were disposed of properly, or retained by the owner of the tire. “It will be very similar to the process that the dealers already go through to meet state requirements,” said Jones. Jones added that the initial goal of the program will be to get a grasp on the actual number of tires that are exchanged in our area each year so that a local program of disposal can be created. “A local collection option would really simplify the process of disposal for everyone concerned,” said Jones. “Our desire is to find a win-win solution making it easier and cheaper for the local dealers to get rid of their tires and making it much safer for the community by getting rid of these mosquito-breeding farms rather than having them sitting around in the community and county.”
Area Oil & Gas Report
By Paul Blankenburg, Blue Quail Oil & Gas Consulting & Leasing
If you’re interested in oil and gas activity in West Texas, we hope you’ll look here for your information. In a recent issue of the Houston Chronicle, there was an article about new oil and gas discoveries being made around the country.
Of particular interest in the article was the discovery of proven reserves in Colorado and Utah in what is known as oil shale formations. We have known about the shale formation for many years, but the technology to produce it has been elusive and expensive.
This formation contains more oil reserves than all the Persian Gulf states combined and there are now several oil companies investing huge sums of money to develop the technology that will produce this oil for around $30 a barrel.
This, along with other energy advancements, could eventually free the United States from dependance on foreign energy sources. With the price right and the technology costs right, this will happen.
And here in Culberson County we are seeing this same thing come about. The price is right, the producers have the technology, and now the exploration has begun.
Here’s a quick look at what has happened since our last report:
Culberson County:
Quicksilver Resources, Inc. has filed for a permit to drill a new 9,000 foot vertical well on the Hughs Kent Ranch lease.
Atlantic Operating, Inc. has filed for a permit to drill a new 2,700 foot vertical well on the Hill Ramsey 32 lease.
Chesapeake Operating, Inc. has filed for a permit to drill a new 15,000 foot vertical well on the University Lands 4627 lease.
And, C.O.G. Operating has filed to drill a new 13,000 foot vertical well on the Sawyer 14 lease.
Hudspeth County:
Trail Mountain, Inc. has filed to re-enter a 6,000 foot vertical well on the University Big Iron C45 lease.
And, they have also filed to drill a new 1,750 foot well in the University Rosas Catina D28 lease.
Jeff Davis County:
There is no new activity in Jeff Davis this week.
Presidio County:
Giant Petroleum, Inc. has filed to drill a new 11,000 foot well in the Giant-Lykes DPW lease. This well is called the 1C.
As you can see, there is a lot of oil and gas activity in the area. The next time you’re in town on oil and gas business, drop by the Blue Qual Coffee Shop and we’ll help you get located here.