The Hockley County Commissioner’s Court held their regular meeting Monday which was followed by a budget workshop focused on the upcoming fiscal year.
The City of Levelland has a fire suppression agreement with Hockley County, stating that the Levelland Fire Department will assist with any fire response needs within the county, in return for compensation per fire run. The agreement lasts for two years and is up for renewal this year, though the county feels comfortable with where they sit currently. The current cost has been close to $68,000 for the year, with the county reporting a total of 83 runs. Heading into to storm season with rainfall coming frequently, it has played a role in minimizing the number of out of city fires and calls. Each fire run costs the county $945. City Council for Levelland also had this item to come up on their recent agenda, with an agreement for continuation coming soon.
An additional big topic were game rooms for the court with the goal to decrease those types of establishments in the future. Game rooms have long been thought to house various criminal elements under the disguise of a legitimate business, and the ones in Hockley County were no exception.
Back in the joint operation which targeted game rooms in and around the area by law enforcement including both local and federal, Hockley County had three businesses that were not already covered by the Levelland Police Department. This led the commissioners and county staff to begin to draft a set of rules to discourage any sort of behavior from these establishments in the future. This would include requirements on window size and tinting, among others, and would cover the entireety of the county.
Garza County has raised their fees for housing out of county inmates from $55 to $62 a day, per inmate. This increase has caused issues for Hockley County, as Hockley County utilizes Garza County frequently to house overflow for the jail. Lubbock County also has been picking up spots throughout the surrounding region. If Hockley were to terminate a contract with Garza, its likely those spots would no longer be available. For fear of spots being taken out from under them, the county had no choice but to approve of the rate increase.
For the Public Assistance Report, the court was informed on the activities of the office. There were 12 approvals for public assistance: seven for rent and five for utilities. The report stated the public assistance funds have run dry, as they’ve seen an increase in need after similar funding hold ups with South Plains Community Action. After further discussion, there was an idea of moving approximately $3,000 from the pauper’s burial fund to help fill the gaps, though that funding is not estimated to last more than a handful of months given the current needs. The court moved to move this amount to best help the needs of their constituents, but Judge Sharla Baldridge was concerned for the rest of the year.