The Hockley County Commissioner’s Court a regular meeting Monday morning in the Hockley County Courthouse.
The Hockley County Sheriff’s Office was in attendance to discuss the replacement of a vehicle their department had lost to a traffic incident.
Struck from behind, the department was forced to total one patrol cruiser and attempt to finds a replacement. One has been located in the Florida area, with a three month estimated timeline for delivery.
Fortunately, as it was a rearend collision, much of the electronics and various other systems were able to be salvaged from the totaled unit, saving the department some cost on installation.
Additionally the insurance has already provided approximately $27,000 for the vehicle, with another $23,000 expected soon. The total cost of this new vehicle would be around $49,000.
County Judge Sharla Baldridge did state that under normal circumstances the county would bid out the purchase of such a vehicle, but because it was totaled in a wreck it falls under Texas Local Government Code Section 262.024, allowing them to skip that step and purchase the vehicle from Duval Chevrolet directly.
The county has recently obtained multiple buildings in the downtown area of Levelland and the court is moving towards demolishing those structures to make way for a parking lot for for the downtown area.
One bid was received for the job, that being from Teinert Construction. Teinert was awarded the bid to be in charge of the job, meaning they will find contractors for demolition, as well as the production of plans for the upcoming parking lot, all the way through construction. Judge Baldrige added that the Asbestos abatement for the buildings to be demolished has been completed.