On Monday, June 1, Judge Porter and the Gray County commissioners held their bi-monthly meeting, breezing through the first items on the agenda, including paying the bills as presented by the County Auditor, considering any line-item transfers, and considering any budget amendments.
There were seven new budget amendments that included: one wildfire donation, two that were funds given to the court by the state for law enforcement training, two were for vehicle maintenance and insurance claims for sheriff’s office vehicle wrecks, one for the property taxes paid in another county, and one for overspec received on insurance.
Once those items were approved, the Court went into an Executive Session, and once they returned, the commissioners took no action on the item discussed during the session.
Next on the agenda was to discuss and consider the Gray County Elevator Contracts with Advanced Elevator and opening negotiations for an elevator service company for Gray County.
“Advanced Elevator has just been horrible to us,” Judge Porter said. “They billed us when they didn’t show up. They’ve only shown up nine times in the last 17 months. We have three elevators owned by Gray County and they didn’t meet state certification because none of them have an operating phone, which to me is asinine because everyone has a cell phone these days and we’re not talking about 50-story buildings, we’re talking about 4-story buildings. We contacted Advanced Elevator and they have done nothing to address it and we are potentially going to lose our certification if these aren’t corrected.”
“So Southwest Elevator is an elevator company that originally started Advanced, he sold it to Advanced, and they had a two-year agreement. This is the guy we originally went into contract with. The contract is odd, it’s written to say they have a 30-day opt out and we don’t. It says the only time we can get out is within 30 days of the January 19 date, and we’re not going to do that. So we need another elevator service company for our three elevators. Also, Southwest Elevator is telling us they can get parts to fix our elevator here instead of replacing it. We have $150,000 budget to do that and we’ve been waiting 18 months to do this. I’m ready to get away from Advanced.”
The court agreed to cancel the existing contract and open negotiations for other contracts from other companies.
Next was to discuss and consider the budget schedule for the fiscal year 2026 budget. Judge Porter and the commissioners agreed to schedule budget talks for July 1, July 15, July 27, and July 29 at 9 AM on each day.
The court then went into another Executive Session to deliberate about real property. Upon returning, the court agreed to sell the Lovett Building as soon as possible, and to purchase another building for additional space and to allow the County Attorney to represent the County in that negotiation.
Next was to discuss and consider a Resolution Supporting Immediate Federal Action to Combat the Threat to Livestock, Wildlife, and the Rural Economy from the New World Screwworm Fly; the resolution was approved and signed by the judge and commissioners.
On the miscellaneous items, Commissioner Logan Hudson addressed the issue of the vehicle driven by Constable Joe Montgomery needing an estimated $6,200 worth of front end work.
Constable Montgomery is currently in a spare sheriff’s office vehicle until decisions can be made on whether or not to fix his current vehicle or to purchase one.
“He is currently driving a sheriff’s office spare, it has no radio in it, but he thinks he can baby it until budget time,” Hudson said. “The most important thing is if we buy another one, it needs to be off a lot instead of from a police package. He said to just buy one off a lot somewhere and put a radio in it and put a badge on and it would be good. That way it doesn’t take a year to get one.”
The court agreed for Commissioner Hudson to request that Constable Montgomery get another estimate and in the meantime, continue driving the sheriff’s office vehicle, and once budget time rolls around in October, they would discuss the matter further.
Commissioner Jeff Haley mentioned to the court about an issue with the lights at an airport that is not frequently used, with the court suggesting issuing a day order, meaning that the airport only be in use during the day instead of using money to fix something that is hardly ever used anyway.
Commissioner Haley also brought up County Road X, with Judge Porter suggesting to bring the issue up with JC Skinner at the sheriff’s office.
With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned.
