By Ginger Broomes

The Orange Leader

 

While making speaking with Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s team, the county realized the Orange County Convention and Expo Center did not have a wheelchair ramp for the portable staging area.

“We have not run into a situation where we needed one before speaking with the governor’s team,” Orange County Judge Brint Carlton said. “We need one of our own so that is why we are purchasing one instead of a rental.”

Per Commissioner Barry Burton, this item was put on the agenda due to the upcoming governor’s visit in March. The Governor’s team had visited recently and the lack of a wheelchair ramp was one of their concerns.   The court discussed and approved unanimously that a temporary wheelchair ramp be installed at the Expo Center, at a cost of $6,499.99, with delivery expected next week.

“In the research of why we did not already have one is with a portable stage it is not required,” Commissioner Barry Burton said. “We need one rather the governor is coming or not.”

In other county business, the court focused on county payroll and invoice payment, along with authorizations to move funds in the amount of $8,561.19 from the county’s Contingency Emergency Disaster account to Insurance Claims Repairs to pay for the replacement of furniture in the District Attorney’s office that was damaged or destroyed from Hurricane Harvey.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office was given the go-ahead to apply for a grant project through the 2017 Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Activities (LETPA). This program would allow the sheriff’s office to purchase much-needed radios for secure communications in the case of a terrorist attack or other unforeseen event.

Tax Assessor-Collector Karen Fisher presented the January 2018 Collection Report to the court, reflecting that tax collections were up 25-percent higher than the previous year.