Parmer County Commissioners Court met in regular session on Monday December 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. in the County Courtroom of the Parmer County Courthouse in Farwell, Texas. The meeting began with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and Texas Flag.
There were no comments from the public during the open forum. Minutes from the November 28th meeting were read and approved. Commissioners approved the payment of the accounts payables as presented by County Treasurer Sharon May. The Treasurer's Payroll Report was also approved.
Daniel Kaltwasser of the Farwell Fire Department and Weldon Kube of Farwell EMS presented requests for ARPA funds to purchase needed equipment. For the Farwell Fire Department, Commissioners unanimously approved $20,033.00 for the purchase of bunker gear (personal protective equipment used by firefighters) and a special washing machine to clean the gear. For the Farwell EMS, Commissioners unanimously approved $19,323,12 for the purchase of a CPR machine.
Commissioners received an annual report from the fire departments operating in Parmer County. Bovina Fire Department responded to 37 calls; Farwell Fire Department responded to 69 calls; Friona Fire Department responded to 81 calls; Lazbuddie Fire Department responed to 27 calls; and the Rhea Fire Department responded to 12 calls. All of the fire departments, except Rhea, will be reimbursed by the County at a rate $186.92 per call.
Parmer County Sheriff Eric Geske informed the Court that the Parmer County Law Enforcement Center is currently housing 37 inmates of which 8 are paying customers from Deaf Smith County and 8 are paying customers from Dawson County. A new vehicle for the SO arrived last week and is being outfitted for service.
In other business, requests from county employees for payment on unused vacation hours was approved. Also, Judge Trey Ellis said that the Lazbuddie 1 Wind Project appears to be picking up steam. He noted that requests for road use policies is a strong indication that the project is moving forward.
The next scheduled meeting is Monday, December 19th.
All meetings are open to the public. Information in this article is only a summary.
Now Showing - The local stock show will start at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning at the Friona Community Center. The concession stand will be open Friday afternoon during the animal move-in and will reopen Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and will remain open throughout the show. Some of the food items include: hamburgers, sausage wraps, chips, candy, sodas, tea, water, coffee, pre-packaged baked goods. Breakfast items will be sold Saturday morning. Good luck to all of the participants!
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Time 2 Laugh - (1) Why do bees have sticky hair? Because they use honeycombs. (2) I got my daughter a fridge for her birthday. I can't wait to see her face light up when she opens it. Source: https://www.rd.com/list/short-jokes.
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See the Light - Around 1899 the invention of the dry cell and miniature incandescent electric light bulbs made the first battery-powered flashlights possible. Today the flashlights that we use are mostly incandescent lamps or light-emitting diodes and run on disposable or rechargeable batteries. In addition to the well-known, general-purpose hand-held flashlight, other forms have been adapted for particular uses. Head or helmet-mounted flashlights designed for miners and campers leave the hands free. Special flashlights provide light underwater and in flammable atmospheres.
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Next Week - the Friona Star Christmas edition will be published next week. It will include Season's Greetings from your local businesses, Santa letters, lots of photos, and the annual football season wrap-up.
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Sid Felan was honored at a Retirement Party last Friday at the Bailey County Coliseum Meeting Room. The event was in recognition of his 32 years of dedicated service to Bailey County and Parmer County as Chief Juvenile Probation Officer. Helping to celebrate his legacy of achievements were: (l-r) Probation Officer Jose Martinez, Bailey County Judge Basil Nash, Parmer County Judge Trey Ellis, Sid Felan, Izzy Carrasco, Judge Gordon H. Green (retired).
Mayor Greg Lewellen and Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Moreno dropped by Friona Junior High School Wednesday morning to present three Junior High students with Certificates of Appreciation. The awards were in recognition of their volunteer work for the City of Friona and Chamber of Commerce at the Christmas in the Park event last week. In the photo: (l-r) Chamber President Cindy Moreno, Stevie Herring, Leonardo Hernandez, Carlos Rios, and Mayor Lewellen.
