Shelby County Today

October 12, 2022 - The Shelby County Commissioners continued to discuss what avenues are available to them in the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds during their October 5, 2022, meeting.

It was the desire of Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1, to purchase a new Caterpillar Model: 150 JOY Motor Grader from Holt Cat with those ARPA funds in the amount of $399,429. McSwain commented they all know Caterpillar is on the buy board and he asked if everyone was comfortable with moving ahead.

Judge Allison Harbison stated, as long as McSwain proceeded with getting a quote for the purchase through the buy board, and John Price, County Attorney, stated he believed they could proceed. McSwain said he had contacted the representative from Holt Cat who provided the quote and confirmed they would honor the original quote.

Judge Harbison asked McSwain, "I know Jimmy [Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2], had given me a couple things that had the buy board quote on there, do you have one that has the buy board quote on there? That has the buy board number?"

She further commented the date and the quote they were presented should be good to move forward with the ARPA funds, and Price agreed it would be appropriate as long as it's been done through the buy board.

"It's definitely with the buy board, we have the state price. It would be another $50,000 if it wasn't through that board," said McSwain.

Judge Harbison wanted to confirm the funds to pay for the equipment was to be out of the $1 million the commissioners agreed to set aside at a previously held meeting.

"That was approved to that figure of course, and anything else would be other funds, naturally," said Price.

Lout inquired of McSwain if Holt has the Caterpillar in stock and McSwain shook his head to the contrary. Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4, agreed it was good the price is locked in even though the equipment isn't currently in stock.

McSwain said he doesn't see any problem with GrantWorks giving the purchase their "stamp of approval." Bellmyer agreed the court set aside $250,000 per precinct for equipment, and a notification to GrantWorks would be all they need to do.

Judge Harbison said the remaining question is where would the rest of the money for the equipment purchase be coming from. 

"It's all going to come from that grant (ARPA), whether we take it all out of the $1 million dollars, or we go ahead and renegotiate the amount of money we're going to charge to it," said McSwain. "We come to the understanding last week we don't all get the same exact amount of money, just depends on the needs of the precinct."

McSwain posed the question as to whether the commissioners want to stay within the scope of the original $1 million until it runs out and move for more funds again at that time, or go ahead and "open the door."

"My understanding is from discussions with GrantWorks and what's transpired in Commissioners' Court, is that $1 million fund was set up to be divided the four commissioners and their precincts, so that figure is set," said Price. "So, if we're talking about transferring the total amount of this purchase from that total $1 million that's going to require of course approval of all the commissioners. Now, the question it might raise that probably should be addressed with GrantWorks is whether or not that is a purchase that has been made prior to approval of the sharing of those funds precinct to precinct."

Price continued, if it was going to be handled in that fashion, it probably should be submitted to GrantWorks.

Following Price's opinion on the issue, McSwain made a motion to pass the item instead of moving forward.

"We're going to just send it back to the federal government before it's over with I guess. I'll get on the agenda next week to re-appropriate the amount of money we need to buy the equipment, do away with the damn $250,[000] mark. We'll readdress that," said McSwain.

Price reiterated the issue does need to be addressed if they are going to handle in the way he was proposing.

McSwain stated regarding the ARPA funds, "next week, we'll just open the doors!"

Price wanted to clarify for McSwain's understanding that what he was proposing varied from what was approved previously by the commissioners court. McSwain said he understood, and he then moved to table items four and five on the agenda, as they related to the ARPA funding issue. The motion carried.

Josh Tipton, Constable Precinct 5, spoke with the commissioners about his desire to use the Copsync computer software as a tool in his patrol unit. He confirmed Taylor Fanguy, Constable 4, is using the software currently and Tipton was waiting to see how well it worked for Constable Fanguy. Constable Tipton found the software to be helpful and sees that it would be beneficial for his precinct.

Constable Tipton commented the software has the ability to track and locate officers using the software, and how that would be useful if either himself or Constable Fanguy were somewhere without a signal, that could help them locate each other.

The startup cost for the software, according to Constable Fanguy, is between $1,500 and $2,000. Constable Tipton stated he didn't need the funds, just approval to make the purchase and he would get the funds from the city of Timpson.

Judge Harbison further stated she would need a quote on paper from the company for the software and something from the city of Timpson stating they would pay.

"What I was planning on doing was using the money that's set aside for me up there being as we've already done the budget and everything, that way we don't have to pull from nothing else, just use some of that money that's set aside for me up there," said Tipton.

Bellmyer asked Sheriff's Chief Ruth Gonzales to speak with the court about similar software which the Sheriff's Department currently utilizes.

"There was a lot of discussion from the District Attorney that the Sheriff's Department had a method, some software, a tool that they were using and the District Attorney was fairly adament that this was a duplication," said Bellmyer.

Through further investigation and discussion, Bellmyer believes software which is available and is utilized by the District Attorney's office is geared toward reporting information to that office rather than one that allows for law enforcement to determine background information on an individual, like Copsync.

Bellmyer stated he is supportive of the use of Copsync; however, he wanted to confirm there isn't a duplication with what the Sheriff's Department uses.

Chief Gonzales stated she has been in contact with the Nacogdoches County Auditor because the constables in Nacogdoches County are utilizing Spillman software, which is what the Shelby County Sheriff's Department has access to using. In Nacogdoches the Sheriff's Department and the constables are bundled together in the use of the Spillman software.

"Our system does the same that Copsync does, we're fixing to buy the mobile side of Spillman to have it in our vehicles, which is basically what they have," said Chief Gonzales.

Chief Gonzales said she knows Spillman is more expensive than Copsync, but it does benefit the county in sharing information between departments when they're on the same software because they can cross reference.

"It would be great if we could all get on Spillman, that would be the perfect world if we could all get on Spillman," said Constable Tipton.

Tipton explained he had run into issues in the past that had something to do with auditing of the system, and it came to light that if a separate department such as the constable's office were added to the Sheriff's Department Spillman system, it could cause issues in auditing data of the two departments within the same system.

Chief Gonzales reiterated the Spillman software is pricey, and Constable Tipton suggested most everyone in the area is very familiar with the Spillman software and would like to have use of the software. He commented if the commissioners were considering getting Spillman, he would be willing to wait to get the Spillman software.

Bellmyer wanted to know if the solution to providing Spillman to the constables is just adding on additional users to the current system and Constable Fanguy explained it isn't as simple as that currently.

"The issue with this is that Josh [Tipton], me and the other constables, we are all an individual department and we all have our different what they call ORI number which is a number that designates our department, just like the Sheriff's Office has one," said Constable Fanguy. "If we get Spillman, we cannot attach to the Sheriff's Office, because of auditing issues, reports to the state, anything that goes through our office has to go with our number, anything that goes through their office has to go with their number signifying their department."

Constable Fanguy stated each constable office would have to get their own Spillman system, and for all constables to have the system within their office and in their vehicles would be around $80,000+.

Currently Constable Tipton doesn't have any sort of software to help him keep track, and he has to rely on information compiled on Microsoft Word documents he compiles.

The yearly cost of Copsync is estimated to be $1,200 and the yearly maintenance fee for Spillman at the Sheriff's Department is estimated to be around $15,000, according to Clint Porterfield, County Auditor.

Constable Fanguy commented all of the constables need access to a reporting system so they aren't having to resort to using Word. Chief Gonzales stated it would be beneficial to all of the law enforcement in the county to have the same system.

A motion carried to table the Copsync program until Constable Tipton presents a quote on paper to the commissioners for their next meeting.

The commissioners discussed the Sheriff's Department need of another vehicle and the consideration was between a Ford pickup truck and a 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe. A motion carried to approve the purchase of the Tahoe at a price of $55,784.47 to be paid out of the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF).

The commissioners discussed the possibility of each precinct working together and Bellmyer wanted the commissioners to possibly share the use of equipment among one another when not in use by that precinct. This proposal was made because the county spent around $447,000 in contract trucking last year, and he felt the commissioners could all potentially work together and save a lot of that money in the future.

Commissioner McSwain agreed that he looks forward to working together in the next year and trying to see how well it works.

The meeting adjourned at 10:47am.

Agenda items approved during the meeting include:
1. Pay weekly expenses.
2. Sealed bids for road maintenance materials.
3. Sheriff's office to purchase a new patrol vehicle 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe in the amount of $55,784.47. 
4. Resolution required to apply for the FY2023 Formula Grant Program offered through the Texas Indigent Defense Commission for indigent defense in criminal cases. 
5. Adjourn. 

Agenda items tabled during the meeting include:
1. Commissioner Pct. 1 to purchase a new Caterpillar Model: 150 JOY Motor Grader from Holt Cat with ARPA funds.
2. Commissioner Pct.1 to purchase a new Tractor from Jarvis with ARPA funds.
3. Constable Pct. 5 to discuss purchasing the Copsync program.