Commissioners enact burn ban

In a regular meeting of the commissioners’ court Jan. 18, Mitchell County Commissioners and County Judge Ray Mayo spent most of their time behind closed doors in an executive session to discuss matters of economic development. Upon reentering an open discussion, the commissioners took no action on the matters.

However, after court, Judge Mayo said the court had authorized him to release the following to the media: The county would seek to continue pursuit of the desalination plant in Mitchell County and would move forward with plans to meet with the Board of Economic Development to discuss it further. This comes on the heels of Colorado City’s city council decision to stop negotiations with the county on the joint venture they had been considering.

In other business, the commissioners narrowed down the list of applicants who were bidding on the construction manager at risk position for the new detainment center. The court agreed to interview Dallas Collins Construction, Sedalco Construction Services and Turner Construction, when the court reconvened this Monday and when Monday came, all three were there, eager to get things started.

But before the commissioners would get to the interviews, there was other business on the agenda for Jan. 23.
Payroll had to be approved. The court took no time, quickly agreeing to pay the $65,808 for county salaries. Second on the agenda were the county’s bills for payment. The $208,053 caused a moment of hesitation, but were paid with no problems.

With no budget amendments to discuss, the court moved on the proposal of a burn ban. Recent moisture had gone a long way to easing the commissioners’ minds, but the winds which blew hot across the region Sunday reminded them all the danger still exists. With that in mind, the court agreed to a 30-day burn ban in Mitchell County.

Then it was time for the interviews. The commissioners’ court spent three hours narrowing the three companies down to a final applicant, before naming Sedalco Construction Services as the winner.
Sedalco has recently completed several similar projects and showed the court a brochure with pictures and descriptions of these facilities. One of them was the new Scurry County Law Enforcement Center in Snyder.
Sedalco came in with a mid-range bid of $522,000 for the completed jail for Mitchell County.

Before the court voted, Sheriff Patrick Toombs asked the commissioners to consider either Sedalco or Turner Construction for the project. Sheriff Toombs stated he felt he would be very comfortable with either one, but if he had a vote it would go toward Sedalco.

The commissioners answered with a unanimous vote for the company.