Commissioners rethink consultant contract

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

After brief discussion on Monday morning, the Caldwell County Commissioners’ Court flip-flopped on their previous decision about asking for help to choose an architect for the upcoming “WalMart renovation project.”

Earlier this month, representatives from the Austin consulting firm Broaddus a

nd Associates (Broaddus) came forward to offer their services in vetting and contracting an architect to oversee renovations in the old WalMart building, which the County has purchased with the intent to make it over into a new judicial center.

At first blush, though the Commissioners agreed that it was a good idea to ask for help before making certain decisions, the initiative originally failed in a 3-2 vote. At that time, Commissioner Fred Buchholtz was dead set against the idea, believing that there was sufficient talent and knowledge within the county to handle the project, and Commissioners Joe Roland and Neto Madrigal asked for more time to consider the idea.

On Monday, Buchholtz brought an abbreviated plan back to the Court, at a lower cost and assigning fewer duties to Broaddus.

Buchholtz, who said he took some time to think about it and talk to several individuals about the idea, informed his colleagues that he’d changed his mind and now agreed that the County would benefit from the expertise that Broaddus can provide.

Among their duties, Broaddus will prepare the Request for Qualifications for an architect on the project, and help the county develop the scope of the project, focusing in part on meeting with the stakeholders who will be located in the building to assess their needs. The consultants will also help the selection committee develop and weight selection criteria, and help to negotiate the final contract with the architect.

The cost for the services, as stated in the motion to approve the agreement for services, will likely not exceed $18,000.

The Commissioners have fallen under fire in the past for their reliance on outside consultants. However, for the WalMart project, the majority of the elected department heads who will be housed in the building asked the Court to consider the possibility that they need help with the decision, and urged them to seek professional help.

Judge Tom Bonn, who has historically supported the idea of hiring Broaddus to help with the architect selection, was not present for the meeting.

In other business, the Commissioners heard a presentation from Syd Falk with the law firm of Bickerstaff and Heath, who discussed the renumbering and creation of new voting precincts, based on the newly drawn city, county and state redistricting lines.

Each of the four County Commissioner Precincts is separated into several “voting precincts,” (also referred to as voting boxes) and under election laws except with certain exceptions, each of those voting precincts must be entirely contained within city, county and state precinct lines.

Because the City of Lockhart’s district lines, the County’s Commissioner Precinct lines, and the State’s voting district lines changed considerably during recent “redistricting,” Bickerstaff was forced to reconsider the placement of voting precincts in and around Lockhart to make them compliant with election law. All told, the County may have to create as many as 18 new voting precincts – although many of them can be legally combined with existing voting precincts, and many may not have to be staffed with polling locations.

Lockhart City Council member John Castillo stepped forward to address the Court, and specifically to criticize Bickerstaff, the firm which helped draw the redistricting lines for both the City of Lockhart and Caldwell County.

Castillo suggested that the Bickerstaff firm should have found other solutions, and accused the overall redistricting plan, which was pre-cleared by the Department of Justice last autumn, of splitting up “communities of interest.”

The redistricting plans, and specifically the creation of the new voting precincts, Castillo said, is making it more difficult and more confusing for area residents to vote.

Because of a short deadline required to approve the creation and changing of the voting precincts, Falk asked the Court to vote on approval on Monday, and then work with Elections Administrator Pam Ohlendorf to combine, renumber and organize the voting precincts.

The approval passed 3-1, with Madrigal voting against approval.

In brief news:

The Court unanimously approved the purchase of a grill guard for a DPS Trooper’s vehicle as suggested by Precinct Two Justice of the Peace Homer Horne. The purchase will cost the county $520, and is seen as a goodwill measure toward Trooper Anthony W. Owens, who performs Commercial Vehicle Enforcement on I-10. Horne said Owens’ programs bring between $250,000 and $400,000 in tickets into the county coffers each year.

They read and signed a proclamation declaring April as “Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.”

The Commissioners set a public hearing on April 9, 2012, to discuss the renaming of several roads, including: changing private road Silver Star Path to WAM Way; renaming Westbrook Drive to Meadow Trail Road; renaming both the old and new portions of Long Road where it is split by SH-130; and naming the unnamed road to the HT Wright Memorial Park to HT Wright Court.

The Caldwell County Commissioners Court routinely meets on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in the Training and Conference Room at the LW Scott Annex, 1403 Blackjack St. in Lockhart. The meetings are open to the public and interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend.

said Owens’ programs bring between $250,000 and $400,000 in tickets into the county coffers each year.

They read and signed a proclamation declaring April as “Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.”

The Commissioners set a public hearing on April 9, 2012, to discuss the renaming of several roads, including: changing private road Silver Star Path to WAM Way; renaming Westbrook Drive to Meadow Trail Road; renaming both the old and new portions of Long Road where it is split by SH-130; and naming the unnamed road to the HT Wright Memorial Park to HT Wright Court.

The Caldwell County Commissioners Court routinely meets on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in the Training and Conference Room at the LW Scott Annex, 1403 Blackjack St. in Lockhart. The meetings are open to the public and interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend.