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PECOS, February 13, 1997 - Community Council of Reeves County directors
on Thursday chose Frank Perea as interim executive director. He will
begin Monday at a salary of $1,200 per month.
Yvonne Martin submitted a letter of resignation to the board, which was
unanimously accepted without discussion.
Martin said she will work through Friday, but with annual leave and comp
time, her resignation is effective Feb. 27.
"I am resigning due to lack of support from the board of directors and
their meddling in day-to-day operations of the agency," Martin said in
the letter.
Board president Linda Clark submitted three names for consideration as
interim director: Perea, Len Smallwood and Nancy Young.
Young is a Head Start teacher, Smallwood is former manager of the
Smithers Scientific Test Track and BCTI, and Perea owns Bianca's Wash &
Dry Gulch. He is retired from Mobil and also serves on the
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD board and heads the Pecos Housing Authority
Board.
Julian Florez, who made the motion to hire Perea, said he has knowledge
of management and also has been involved in obtaining federal grants.
"He is on the school board and involved in quite a few community
activities and is interested just as interim," Florez said. "He wants to
see that the program goes on, and he could work eight hours a day."
"Frank was a board member at the housing authority and brought in a big
grant. I think he will do good as interim," said Andy Gomez.
Clark said the state office wants the council to hire an executive
director as soon as possible - within a month.
"I am going to try to call employment agencies tomorrow and advertise in
area newspapers," she said.
Martin suggested contacting area colleges as well. Board policy requires
the successful applicant live in Pecos, she said.
Head Start parents from Saragosa attended the meeting hoping to present
a petition with 500 signatures in support of Martin and Head Start
Director Norma Rubio, who resigned last week.
However, Clark said the agenda could only address the specific emergency
situation for which the meeting was called, and no audiences were
allowed under the law.
Hiring an interim director was an emergency because the council must
correct six deficiencies in the Head Start program by April 26 or risk
losing funding for next year, Clark said.
Because a training plan has not been developed or implemented, the
agency has experienced continual staff turnover as well as board and
policy council, said Catherine Criner, Head Start monitor, in her
deficiency status summary.
"This creates a financial burden in the area of training without the
retention of trained personnel," Criner said.
Martin said the agency does have a training plan for staff and parents,
but most refuse to take the initiative, depending on the director to
enroll them in classes and provide transportation.
Volunteers must also be provided training, Criner said.
Written accounting procedures have not been completed, Criner said.
Should the person who handles finances resign, lack of written
procedures could cause disallowed costs, weakened internal controls and
render the agency incapable of safeguarding Head Start funds.
Clark said CCRC bought a computer for accounting functions, but
controller Olga Contreras has not been able to make it work.
The board has continually complained that monthly financial reports are
not timely made, and they have no way of knowing the status of programs.
Lack of an administrative plan results in lack of timeliness for
compliance with regulations, clear lines of responsibility and timely
dissemination of information to the board, policy council and staff,
Criner said.
Written personnel policies do not address areas of prior criminal
arrests, child abuse or neglect, child sexual abuse, violent felonies,
adherence to state law reference criminal record checks, current salary
scale and wage comparability study, training opportunities and child
development.
These must be approved by the policy council. And the council must be
trained in their duties.
Rubio said she had tried to arrange training for the policy council, but
either council members or the training officer canceled.
Stringent enforcement of unapproved community action agency personnel
policies and procedures has resulted in a high degree of instability in
the staffing pattern, causing a high staff turnover, low morale and a
need for continual staff training, Criner said.
Recent terminations were conducted contrary to Head Start policies,
Criner said.
Criner said a Community Needs Assessment is an essential planning
instrument for Head Start programs.
"Without a thoroughly developed CNA, a Head Start program cannot
strategically determine the types of services needed, the program
options appropriate to meet the needs of the families it services,
effectively develop service delivery plans and establish short or long
term objectives," she said.
Clark said the deficiencies were noted in a Head Start monitoring visit
last spring. None had been corrected when monitors returned in December,
and the administrative staff has not made monthly progress reports as
instructed.
Perea's top priority will be to get the deficiencies corrected, she said.
PECOS, February 13, 1997 - Pecos City Council this morning amended an
ordinance regulating propane use within the city limits, authorized
Carlos Colina-Vargas to begin the application process for 1997-98
grants, agreed to lease a city service station and re-appointed Mayor
Dot Stafford to the Community Justice Council.
Continuing an executive session begun Wednesday night, the council
discussed the 26 applicants for city manager.
Stafford said each member of the council will choose five names from
among the applicants and submit them to a committee composed of council
members Ricky Herrera, Dr. Elvia Reynolds and Harry Nagel, the former
city manager currently serving there in an interim role.
The committee will make some contacts and recommend three or four names
to the council for further consideration, Stafford said.
The propane ordinance change modified the ban on storage tanks within
the city limits. Under the proposed ordinance, restrictions on LPG tank
installation include placing them outside of buildings above ground.
Tanks up to 500 gallons capacity must be at least 25 feet from the
nearest building or group of buildings or the nearest railroad or public
right-of-way.
For tanks from 501 through 3,000 gallons, the distance is 75 feet.
Maximum size containers is 3,000 gallons.
Residential use of LPG for utilities is prohibited where natural gas is
available. Maximum tank size is 1,200 gallons, and it must be placed at
least 50 feet from the nearest building. Tanks less than 500 gallons
must be 25 feet from the nearest building or right-of-way.
No bottle filling plants or service station installations shall be
permitted within residential areas.
Mobile homes which use LPG shall comply with the standards established
for use within residential districts, unless the container which
services the mobile home can be classified as portable.
No person shall install or maintain any LPG container or operate any
tank vehicle to transport LPG without a permit.
The penalty for violation will be a Class C misdemeanor, with a fine of
up to $500 each day the violation continues.
In discussing closure of the landfill trench, the council considered
whether to advertise for engineering proposals.
Ricky Herrera suggested hiring Frank Spencer for the engineering work,
since he has worked with the landfill. But Randy Graham said he wanted
to advertise for proposals to obtain the best price.
Spencer said that proposals do not include price, but are merely to
provide the council with the firm's credentials. Once a firm is chosen,
price negotiations begin.
After considerable discussion, Graham and City Attorney Scott Johnson
were appointed to negotiate with Spencer for the design and
specifications to be used in soliciting construction bids.
Johnson recommended that construction bid solicitations include an
alternate for engineering of the construction and post-construction
phase.
Gerald Tellez asked about progress on the council's directive to Armando
Gil to "proceed with modification to the Type I permit to a Type IV
permit."
Graham said he told Gil to stop that process, which Spencer has been
helping with. He said construction debris that would be placed in a Type
IV landfill can be deposited at the WesTex Waste transfer station for
disposal in the Charter Waste Landfill at Penwell.
Gil said that in order to get a Type IV permit that does not require a
trench lining, the city has to submit evidence to the Texas Natural
Resources Conservation Commission that a lining is not needed.
By allowing only construction debris in the trench and limiting daily
dumping to under five tons, an unlined trench may be approved, Gil said.
"If we couldn't do it without a liner, we shouldn't do it," Spencer
said. "But we have to go through the procedure to find out. We have to
get information; perform water monitoring..."
Graham said he got a bid from WesTex Waste to dump 1,000 tons of
demolition material for $30 to $35 per ton.
"Is a Type IV going to cost us more, counting construction, engineering,
maintenance and equipment?" Graham asked.
Herrera said the council also has to consider people in the community
who are going to be dumping debris and have to pay WesTex's transfer
cost.
At that point, Johnson stopped the discussion because it had gone beyond
the agenda listing, suggesting it be placed on the next agenda.
"Right now, Gerald is right. The instructions are to proceed. But
questions have come up that the council needs answers to," he said.
Since the instructions were to Gil to proceed, the decision on how much
to do should be left up to him, Johnson said.
PECOS, February 13, 1997 - A total of 125 pounds of marijuana was seized
and a Southern California man was arrested following a Permian Basin
Drug Task Force stop in Reeves County.
PBDTF Interdiction Officer Ernie Vanderleest pulled over a vehicle
driven by Gregory Charles Butler, 41, of Compton, Calif. for a traffic
violation about 11:45 a.m. Monday.
No other information was released regarding the location of the traffic
stop.
The driver gave his consent to search the vehicle before the officer's
canine unit alerted the official to the driver's door, passenger's door,
back door and sidewalls.
Concealed were several bundles of a leafy substance suspected to be
marijuana.
A release by PBDTF Commander Tom Findley indicated the total weight of
the confiscated material was 125 pounds and has a street value of
$83,000.
A Reeves County Jail spokesperson said this morning Butler remains at
the downtown facility and a bond of $125,000 was placed against his
release by Reeves County Justice of the Peace J.T. Marsh.
Fernando Herrera-Valdemar was arrested Feb. 6 after agents found 40.14
pounds of marijuana in the gas tank of his vehicle after stopping him at
the checkpoint for questioning.
He is charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
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