Commissioners debate emergency management coordinator's pay scale
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

Lampasas County may need a full-time emergency management coordinator, county commissioners said Monday, but not if the position draws a $45,000 salary.

Expressing concerns about the proposed pay rate, commissioners tabled the hiring of an emergency management coordinator until the Lampasas County Commissioners Court's next meeting.

Sheriff Gordon Morris recommended hiring Angela Rainwater, who offered to fill the position until Oct. 1, for the emergency management role and selecting a sheriff's deputy to work code enforcement parttime. Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Vincent said the county should combine the emergency management and code enforcement roles, as newspaper advertisements indicated the county would.

"We were advertising one person to do two positions, and I think we should stick with that," he said.

Vincent added the court should consider lowering the emergency management salary, as he said the official would not always be as busy as Mrs. Rainwater has been since the flooding in the spring and early summer.

Even after disaster conditions pass, the coordinator is responsible for a heavy load of grant applications and meetings required by law, Morris said.

"A lot of her work you don't see happening," Morris said of Mrs. Rainwater. "If you think she's going to be over there doing nothing, that's totally wrong."

Precinct 3 Commissioner Lowell Ivey said although Mrs. Rainwater will serve the county well as emergency management coordinator, he could not justify a $45,000 salary. County commissioners will continue to earn $45,141 when the new fiscal year begins Monday.

Justices of the peace will earn $43,534, as will the district and county clerks, the tax assessor/collector and the county treasurer.

"I do not feel that any selected person like (an emergency management coordinator), in any position, should draw more than your elected officials in this county," Ivey said.

County Clerk Connie Hartmann urged commissioners to consider negotiating a lower salary.

"I personally do not think it would be fair to pay an unelected official more than an elected official," she said. "I just ask that you look at the salary long and hard before you pay somebody $45,000."

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack B. Cox said he did not know the 2007-08 budget, which the court approved in a brief special meeting Monday, included enough funds for the proposed salary.

"I'm not going to vote for that, and if I'd known it was on there I wouldn't have voted for the budget this morning," Cox said.

The proposed $45,000 salary is similar to the rate entities about Lampasas County's size pay, Morris said. The county could negotiate a lower emergency management salary and increase pay for the deputy who also would serve as a code enforcement officer, the sheriff added.

Morris has trained the deputy for one year in code enforcement, which requires both legal paperwork and field inspections when citizens submit a complaint about an ordinance violation.

Vincent said the number of violations has increased, creating the need for a fulltime code enforcement officer.

If the deputy worked exclusively in code enforcement, the Sheriff's Department would lose an officer needed as a bailiff and as a driver to transport inmates, Morris said.

"I just don't see how it can work," the sheriff said. "There's no way I can do that with the manpower I have."

If commissioners can negotiate an acceptable salary, though, Mrs. Rainwater could handle emergency management and also assist the code enforcement official if needed, Morris said. Mrs. Rainwater also said she would be willing to continue collecting delinquent fees for another year, the sheriff added.

In other business, the court voted unanimously to proceed with surface cleanup on John Woodruff's property in Adamsville. Woodruff has violated numerous county ordinances and has dumped materials including scrap tires, several kinds of oil and medical wastes.

Another piece of property Woodruff owns outside Adamsville contains an assortment of hazardous materials as well, Cox said.

Commissioners met in executive session for about half an hour to discuss possible tax abatements for a company considering moving to the county.

Before the session, Bobby Carroll, owner of Kempner Equipment Inc., told the court tax abatements could give the new company an unfair advantage.

Carroll said he has paid $10,300 in taxes on his business this year. He said he does not want to stop a competitor from moving to Lampasas County, but he doesn't think the new employer should get tax breaks Kempner Equipment does not receive.

"I'm not against competition," Carroll said. "I'm not against free enterprise. I just don't feel like the county should abate their taxes. If they're going to come in and compete with me, let's compete on an equal basis."

Commissioners took no action on an abatement proposal because of ongoing negotiations.

Commissioners also reminded citizens of continuing efforts to repair damaged roads. Vincent asked for patience from Precinct 1 residents, as county crews cannot begin work until federal environmental study results arrive.

Even the installation of a new culvert requires an environmental study, Vincent said. The county will lose all Federal Emergency Management Agency funding if commissioners send road crews to begin work before the environmental study results have arrived.

County Road 2007 at School Creek will remain closed until officials receive an analysis of construction work's environmental effects, Ivey said. An engineering study has been completed, the commissioner added.

Because of the county's Columbus Day holiday Oct. 8, the Commissioners Court will hold its next regular meeting Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. in the first-floor county courtroom.