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Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Friday, September 5, 2008
County faces search for new health insurance carrier
Bids will be put out for a new insurance carrier for Reeves County employees, after Reeves County Commissioners were informed that their contract with Assured Benefits would expire on Oct. 1, not in three years as they thought.
Commissioners awarded a one-year contract to Assured Benefits last October after changing the county’s health benefits provider, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which had served the county since 1990.
During Tuesday’s special commissioner’s court meeting, Reeves County Attorney Alva Alvarez informed the court that although County Judge Sam Contreras had signed a three-year contract with Assured Benefits, that contract was not binding since it was not approved by the commissioners.
Alvarez said the request for proposal put out by Reeves County last year stated that the bid being sought was for one year, not three as had been done in the past.
“When they bid it out, it was for a year-long contract, but the judge signed a contract with them for three years, which is not binding because the bid awarded was for a year only,” she said. “Also, the contract the judge signed was not approved by the commissioners, which voids the contract.”
Alvarez told the commissioners that they would have to request proposals for the employee’s health benefits again this year.
“The proposal you put out sought bids for a one year contract and it’s up for renewal,” she said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners listened to an update from Assured Benefits representatives Debbie Faulkner and Sue Austin, who also were told of problems with the current insurance program for Reeves County.
County Treasurer Linda Clark told the agents that they have been having some problems with the insurance and that they have claims that have not been paid.
“I do know that some of the employees are having problems, because the doctors won’t see them anymore because they haven’t been paid,” said Clark.
Clark said that there have been some employees that have already been sent to a collection agency, because of the problems with the health benefits insurance.
Faulkner said that the claims had to go through a process and reviewed before the claim was paid.
“This reflects everything that has been processed to date,” said Faulkner.
“The provider has a certain amount of time to file that claim and if they don’t, it won’t get paid,” said county auditor Lynn Owens.
“They have up to a year,” said Faulkner.
Austin told the group that the claims go through a certain procedure before they are approved.
“I know of a person who initially received a rejection letter from the insurance on a claim for knee surgery because the insurance refused to pay for the anesthesiologist,” said Alvarez. “The person had knee surgery. I think anyone in this room would agree that an anesthesiologist would be required. That shouldn’t have been reviewed.”
Austin told the group that the claims go through a certain procedure before they are approved.
“Anesthesiologists are in your plan, even though there are a lot of them not in the network,” said Faulkner.
Contreras told agents that Dr. Orville Cerna has reported having problems getting his claims paid.
“Their staff is using some old codes and that is what is generating this and they said they would get their stuff together, but she hasn’t gotten back to us yet,” said Faulkner.
“I have tried to educate them. I think Assured Benefits is doing a lot,” said Faulkner.
Personnel records show that Contreras recommended Assured Benefits, and has health insurance through the county. Currently, the judge is the only member of his family on the county’s insurance program.
In agreeing last year to change the county’s health insurance provider from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Assured Benefits Administrators, Contreras said, “We’re going to go with the self-funded plan and it will provide the same coverage and everything else will remain the same for the employees.”
“It will be up to the employees if they want dental or not.”
Reeves County Commissioner Precinct 3 Saul Herrera was the only commissioner that voted against the insurance change last year, stating that he had spoken to some of the employees and that they liked the current provider.
The deal was made through an agreement commissioners approved with Rogers and Belding Insurance Agency. The company then recommended that Reeves County purchase insurance through Lloyd’s of London, a stop-loss carrier. Assured Benefits would be the carrier, with Health Smart Network paying the claims.
The commissioners are also proposing a tax rate hike, something that was done last year as well.
The Reeves County will hold two public hearings on a proposal to increase total tax revenues from properties on the tax roll in the preceding tax year by .0991 percent (percentage by which proposed tax rate exceeds lower of rollback tax rate or effective tax rate calculated under Chapter 26, Tax Code.
Individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property and the tax rate that is adopted.
Commissioners had planned to raise taxes last year, to .40158 per 100 in valuations.
However, due to some problems with the public notices, those plans had be scrapped, to avoid putting Reeves County in violation of state law. The law requires public hearings to be held if a taxing entity plans to enact a tax rate above the effective tax rate.
But commissioners failed to hold their public hearings in time to beat the deadline. State law requires tat if the rules are not followed, Reeves County must set its tax rate for the 2008 fiscal year no higher than the effective tax rate, which left the county at the .35325 cent rate.
Instead, the current rate was a 2 1/2 drop from the county’s tax rate in 2006 of .405456 cents per $100 valuations.
The Reeves County proposed budget shows that all Reeves County employees received a five percent raise, including all elected officials and the commissioners.
Steroids testing disclosure nets UIL reprimand
A breach of confidentiality has led to the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD being put on probation and publicly reprimanded by the University Interscholastic League. However, school and UIL officials said Wednesday’s action in Austin won’t affect the students or their performance.
“We were placed on probation for a year and publicly reprimanded,” said P-B-T ISD Superintendent Manny Espino.
The one-year probation was announced following a meeting of the University Interscholastic League’s executive committee in Austin. The probation period will be from Sept. 3, 2008 through Sept. 2, 2009, according to Espino.
He said that school officials knew the state executive meeting would be meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
“Based on the information we had, we decided not to go,” said Espino.
“The probation will not affect the kids, they will still get to advance if they make it to the playoffs,” said Espino.
He said that the district will be a little bit “more under the microscope,” but that they plan to do everything the same.
For instance, if a coach gets ejected during a game, they will discipline him or look at the case on its own merits before taking any action.
“They will take each case individually,” said Espino. “But it won’t affect the students at all or keep them from advancing to the playoffs.”
The probation stemmed from an incident that occurred in April when the district was chosen to be one of the school’s that would be tested for steroids.
“What happened is that this district was chosen to be tested for steroids and some of our students knew we had been selected for the steroid testing,” said Espino.
“We addressed that issue and dealt with it internally,” said Espino.
University Interscholastic League spokeswoman Kim Rogers said someone at the school violated confidentiality rules, but said she had no other information on the incident.
The rules are meant to prevent athletes from knowing they're about to be tested.
Rogers added that testing was done at the school without a problem.
Espino said that they looked in to the problem and found out where the information came from and the problem was taken care of within the district.
He added that the violation and the testing all occurred within a 2-3 day period. “Steroids don’t typically flush out of your system within a 2-3 day period,” he said.
Espino said that the testing company wanted to check 30 students and all tests came back negative. “They found no irregularities whatsoever,” he said.
Rogers said as long as there are no other violations by P-B-T ISD within the next year, the district would receive no punishment. But she added, “If there’s another rules violation, the penalty could be more severe. But there’s nothing right now preventing them from doing what they normally do.”
Rogers said P-B-T ISD is the first school district to be cited for a violation of the confidentiality rule since steroid testing was begun last year. The random tests are part of a measure approved in 2007 by the Texas Legislature.
“We’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing and hope for a great year,” said Espino.
UIL rules allow only a handful of administrators to know -- about 48 hours in advance -- that testers from the National Center for Drug Free Sport will arrive.
Rogers said P-B-T ISD could be tested again this year for steroids, but that the selection system was done at random.
“The school could be tested any time in the school year,” she said.
The UIL plans to test between 30,000 and 40,000 students across Texas for steroids this year.
City to use construction funds for animal shelter repairs
Town of Pecos City will spent part of the $50,000 allocated in the current budget for a new animal shelter towards repairs and improvements to the current facility, members of the city’s Animal Control Advisory Committee were told on Tuesday at City Hall.
The changes are meant to bring the shelter into compliance with state regulations, and city officials are hoping that most of the estimated $10,000-$15,000 in improvements can later be transferred over to the city’s new shelter, to be located behind the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
“For a small investment, we can bring this back into compliance,” mayor Dick Alligood said.
The meeting originally was to be a special meeting of the Pecos City Council, but the posted public notice was misidentified, preventing the meeting and forcing all but Alligood and councilman Gerald Tellez to leave in order to avoid a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Alligood and Tellez both are members of the control board, and along with animal control officer Billy Jack Brookshire, ended up meeting with Teeny Crider and Lori Hughes, two of the women who met with the council on Aug. 28 to discuss conditions at the current shelter on Walthall Street.
Crider and Hughes had told the council they were resigning from the board because they were part of the new Humane Society chapter in Pecos, and could not serve on both at the same time. However, Alligood said Crider as of Tuesday was still a member of the board, and she made the motion at the end of the meeting to support the move to modernize the current shelter.
“A lot of the items to be used in the clean-up can be moved over to the new place,” Alligood said. “The council’s biggest concern is how much can’t be moved.
“We’re trying to recapture every penny we possibly can, knowing we can’t get every cent,” he said.
Alligood went over the list of violations compiled by state zoologist Cathy Parker during her inspection of the shelter last year. The main problem was the lack of separation between the pens and from the pens to the waste trofts and drains. He said construction of cinder block walls between the pens and the use of expandable metal over the troft could solve those problems, but would be items that couldn’t be moved to the new shelter.
Items that can be moved include resealable barrels for the pet food, a refrigerator for medicines, new ventilation fans and high-powered washing equipment. Alligood said new lighting for the shelter, with a night timer, can also be installed and then removed for use in the new building.
The washer can be used also to spray pesticides at the shelter, along with cleaning the floors, walls and ceiling. Alligood said veterinarian Dr. Ronald Box would have to advise the city on a pesticide that would be safe around the shelter’s animals, and the washing would also require all the cinderblock walls and the floor be painted to avoid seepage of waste into the materials.
Other improvements include new fencing for an exterior area to limit access around the shelter, and installation of a new entrance at the north end of the building, so two of the pens can be sealed off from the rest to serve as a quarantine area. Alligood said due to an incident in which a worker at Dr. Box’s office was bitten by a rabid animal, he is no longer quarantining any animals suspected of rabies, but instead is euthanizing them and sending their heads off to state labs in Austin for testing.
“Cathy mentioned if you have cages that are separated and a separate entrance, you could have a quarantine area,” Alligood said. “If we take the last two pens and put a solid wall up, you don’t have to euthanize those animals.”
Police Chief Clay McKinney said as of now, only stray dogs involved in bite incidents are being quarantined.
The new exterior fence would allow the animal control officer to have an outer area to transfer animals without the risk of escape, and for flea and tick dipping. Alligood said the city would have to hire an outside contractor to install the fence.
Brookshire said one of two smaller buildings next to the shelter could be used for both medical treatments and euthanasia, while a second would be for equipment storage.
Alligood said one other problem cited by Parker, of too many animals in the shelter, would be hard to solve. “We’re locked on space. Either we put them down or we put extra animals in there.”
He said the city currently holds strays for five days before euthanizing, and that installing bi-level pens at the shelter would also require new trofts and separations be installed.
“There isn’t an easy answer to that,” Alligood said.
“That’s where the Humane Society wants to come in and help the city,” Hughes said. “We can come in and say ‘this one’s adoptable, this one’s adoptable’ and take some of them off your hands.”
Hughes also talked about getting a mobile spaying and neutering unit to visit Pecos. She said one unit coming out of Houston would cost $2,400, and Alligood said the cost to bring in workers through Texas A&M to conduct the same clinic would also be in that price range.
Alligood said on Thursday that because the funds already had been allocated by the council for shelter construction work, additional approval for the improvements to the existing building was not needed. The council allocated $50,000 in 2007 and plans to set aside $75,000 this year for construction of the new animal shelter, and the city will take out a bank loan to pay for the remainder of the construction cost, estimated at $260,000.
One injured in late night hit-and-run
A Tornillo woman was transported to Reeves County Hospital early Thursday morning, after the SUV she was a passenger in was struck by a truck-tractor in a hit-and-run incident on Interstate 20 in Pecos.
The woman, who was not identified, was one of three family members traveling westbound on I-20 inside a fully-loaded Chevrolet Tahoe SUV when the accident occurred, at about 1:05 a.m. next to the on ramp at the 42 mile marker. According to Pecos Police Officer Robert Overcash, both vehicles were in the main lanes of the Interstate when the Tahoe was struck in the right rear side by the truck tractor, causing it to go into a skid before rolling over.
The vehicle came to rest on its roof facing south, the driver, who was the husband of the injured woman, and their son were slightly injured in the accident, but did not require medical attention. Overcash said the woman , who suffered abrasions and complained of neck and shoulder pain, was transported by Pecos EMS workers to Reeves County Hospital.
“Witnesses said the truck stopped down the road, but then kept going,” Overcash said. An alert was put out for a vehicle with damage to the front area, but as of this morning there was no report of the truck being located.
Police handled the first part of the investigation, before turning it over to DPS trooper Greg Reyero.
City to use construction funds for animal shelter repairs
Town of Pecos City will spent part of the $50,000 allocated in the current budget for a new animal shelter towards repairs and improvements to the current facility, members of the city’s Animal Control Advisory Committee were told on Tuesday at City Hall.
The changes are meant to bring the shelter into compliance with state regulations, and city officials are hoping that most of the estimated $10,000-$15,000 in improvements can later be transferred over to the city’s new shelter, to be located behind the Pecos Criminal Justice Center.
“For a small investment, we can bring this back into compliance,” mayor Dick Alligood said.
The meeting originally was to be a special meeting of the Pecos City Council, but the posted public notice was misidentified, preventing the meeting and forcing all but Alligood and councilman Gerald Tellez to leave in order to avoid a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Alligood and Tellez both are members of the control board, and along with animal control officer Billy Jack Brookshire, ended up meeting with Teeny Crider and Lori Hughes, two of the women who met with the council on Aug. 28 to discuss conditions at the current shelter on Walthall Street.
Crider and Hughes had told the council they were resigning from the board because they were part of the new Humane Society chapter in Pecos, and could not serve on both at the same time. However, Alligood said Crider as of Tuesday was still a member of the board, and she made the motion at the end of the meeting to support the move to modernize the current shelter.
“A lot of the items to be used in the clean-up can be moved over to the new place,” Alligood said. “The council’s biggest concern is how much can’t be moved.
“We’re trying to recapture every penny we possibly can, knowing we can’t get every cent,” he said.
Alligood went over the list of violations compiled by state zoologist Cathy Parker during her inspection of the shelter last year. The main problem was the lack of separation between the pens and from the pens to the waste trofts and drains. He said construction of cinder block walls between the pens and the use of expandable metal over the troft could solve those problems, but would be items that couldn’t be moved to the new shelter.
Items that can be moved include resealable barrels for the pet food, a refrigerator for medicines, new ventilation fans and high-powered washing equipment. Alligood said new lighting for the shelter, with a night timer, can also be installed and then removed for use in the new building.
The washer can be used also to spray pesticides at the shelter, along with cleaning the floors, walls and ceiling. Alligood said veterinarian Dr. Ronald Box would have to advise the city on a pesticide that would be safe around the shelter’s animals, and the washing would also require all the cinderblock walls and the floor be painted to avoid seepage of waste into the materials.
Other improvements include new fencing for an exterior area to limit access around the shelter, and installation of a new entrance at the north end of the building, so two of the pens can be sealed off from the rest to serve as a quarantine area. Alligood said due to an incident in which a worker at Dr. Box’s office was bitten by a rabid animal, he is no longer quarantining any animals suspected of rabies, but instead is euthanizing them and sending their heads off to state labs in Austin for testing.
“Cathy mentioned if you have cages that are separated and a separate entrance, you could have a quarantine area,” Alligood said. “If we take the last two pens and put a solid wall up, you don’t have to euthanize those animals.”
Police Chief Clay McKinney said as of now, only stray dogs involved in bite incidents are being quarantined.
The new exterior fence would allow the animal control officer to have an outer area to transfer animals without the risk of escape, and for flea and tick dipping. Alligood said the city would have to hire an outside contractor to install the fence.
Brookshire said one of two smaller buildings next to the shelter could be used for both medical treatments and euthanasia, while a second would be for equipment storage.
Alligood said one other problem cited by Parker, of too many animals in the shelter, would be hard to solve. “We’re locked on space. Either we put them down or we put extra animals in there.”
He said the city currently holds strays for five days before euthanizing, and that installing bi-level pens at the shelter would also require new trofts and separations be installed.
“There isn’t an easy answer to that,” Alligood said.
“That’s where the Humane Society wants to come in and help the city,” Hughes said. “We can come in and say ‘this one’s adoptable, this one’s adoptable’ and take some of them off your hands.”
Hughes also talked about getting a mobile spaying and neutering unit to visit Pecos. She said one unit coming out of Houston would cost $2,400, and Alligood said the cost to bring in workers through Texas A&M to conduct the same clinic would also be in that price range.
Alligood said on Thursday that because the funds already had been allocated by the council for shelter construction work, additional approval for the improvements to the existing building was not needed. The council allocated $50,000 in 2007 and plans to set aside $75,000 this year for construction of the new animal shelter, and the city will take out a bank loan to pay for the remainder of the construction cost, estimated at $260,000.
Museum hosting ceremony Saturday to honor Rangers
A Memorial Cross Ceremony to honor an elite group of Texas Rangers is set for Saturday morning in Pecos.
The West of the Pecos Museum will be hosting the ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday to honor four Texas Rangers: R.S. Johnson – Frontier Battalion 1870s (original owner of the Johnson-Heard Saloon and Orient Hotel, present day West of the Pecos Museum); Joe P. Seay – Frontier Battalion 1870s; Edd Hollobeke – Ranger Force – WWI; and Sullivan “Sully” Ikard – Ranger Force – WWI. Also being honored for his great dedication to the history, legend and men of the Texas Rangers – John Wilson.
A vital part of the Former Texas Rangers Foundation (FTRF) and the Former Texas Rangers Association (FTRA) is to preserve the true history of the Texas Rangers and to provide landmarks relating to the Texas Rangers. The marking of the Rangers’ graves with the Texas Rangers’ Memorial Cross is just one activity that fulfills this mission.
A proclamation will be read at the West of the Pecos Museum proclaiming Sept. 6, Texas Ranger Day in Pecos.
Mayor Richard Alligood will be on hand to welcome visiting Texas Rangers and family members of former Texas Rangers as we honor four of this elite group called Texas Rangers.
Immediately following the ceremony, Mike Cox, and Joaquin Jackson will be on hand to autograph their own Texas Ranger books.
For more information about the book signing contact: West of the Pecos Museum, 445-5076.
With the help of local historical societies and Ranger descendants, the Texas Rangers Memorial Cross Program researchers, identifies and documents the burial sites of Texas Rangers statewide and places the Memorial Cross at the Resting place of the honored Rangers. The cross with the mounted Ranger circle star badge, is a fitting landmark relating to the preservation of our Texas heritage.
The West of the Pecos Museum has partnered with the FTRA to honor four such members of the Texas Rangers buried in our local cemeteries. The museum will continue this endeavor as more Texas Ranger information becomes available. The museum is dedicated to promoting the Pecos area, serving the community and preserving the western heritage, making this event a perfect match for these two groups.
The Texas Ranger Memorial Cross Program is funded in part by a grant from the Texas Historical Foundation, Ranger families and local historical groups.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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