[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[5:33] We
[5:38] are ready. Good morning. Welcome to the Ramle County Commissioner's Court. It's now officially
[5:43] in session. We're going to begin with the invocation with Commissioner Cooper. That will be followed
[5:47] by the pledges of allegiance if you'll join us. Thank you. Thank you, George. Pray with me, please.
[5:54] Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessing of this day. Thank you. Be with us in this meeting
[5:59] today, Father, and guide us. We want to make decisions that are pleasing to you. Father,
[6:04] thank you for the recent rain that we've had, and we know that you'll take care of us,
[6:08] And Father, we're going to pray for more rain as this dry land needs it.
[6:16] Father, we ask your special blessing too on the short family as they deal with this very, very difficult loss.
[6:24] Father, thank you for our employees and thank you for our citizens and watch out for them, watch over them.
[6:30] Father, we ask your special blessings on our first responders.
[6:33] thank you for the job that you have allowed them to do. Be with them and keep them safe
[6:39] as they keep us safe. Thank you for the many, many blessings that we enjoy. Because of you,
[6:47] we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.
[6:51] Amen.
[6:52] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for
[6:59] which stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
[7:08] On the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.
[7:21] Thank you so much. And if you'll indulge me for a minute, I want to recognize a special guest
[7:26] that we have here. It is Paulette Mahara and she is Commissioner Robinson's cousin.
[7:33] But as we've all felt the need through the fires for philanthropy, that was Paulette's specialty.
[7:43] She led the organization for the National Fundraisers.
[7:48] And we kind of understand where Bob gets a little of his fundraising abilities through her leadership,
[7:55] but we want to welcome her back.
[7:57] I'm glad to have you here for Commissioner's Court.
[8:00] Absolutely.
[8:01] Absolutely.
[8:05] You bet.
[8:06] Item number one.
[8:06] Discuss and take action on approving the minutes of the May 26, 2026 meeting of the
[8:10] Randall County Commissioner's Court.
[8:12] Has everyone had time to review the minutes?
[8:14] Yes, Judge.
[8:15] Yes.
[8:15] Is there any questions or changes?
[8:18] Carrying none.
[8:18] Is there a motion?
[8:19] I will approve.
[8:20] I'll second.
[8:21] The motion is second.
[8:21] All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.
[8:24] Aye.
[8:24] The motion carries 5-0.
[8:26] Item number two.
[8:27] Discuss and take action on approving an order prohibiting outdoor fires in Randall
[8:30] County, Texas.
[8:32] Good morning, Chief.
[8:33] Good morning.
[8:34] As much as we got blessed, it wasn't everywhere they got blessed.
[8:37] No, it wasn't everywhere.
[8:39] So, you know, we watched the KVDI for a lot of the burn bank stuff.
[8:44] And on May 26th, as the highest it was, the average was 615.
[8:50] The maximum across the county or spots of the county was 675 and the minimum of 519.
[8:56] So as of the 7th, our average is 498, our max is 612, and our minimum is 375, and in just
[9:08] one day it climbed five points.
[9:10] So we're grinding back out again, but with the green up, we've got the herbaceous green
[9:16] up.
[9:16] We still have some very susceptible fuels that can burn, but I'm going to ask the Commissioner's
[9:21] court to table this until maybe next next commissioners court keep people keep an eye on it and see how
[9:28] we're going to proceed um however if we can get rain or if it's going to keep drying out with these
[9:34] hundred hundred degree days in the wind it's going to dry out pretty quick but I think right now we're
[9:39] in a we're in a very good spot where people can get us when burning done to try to burn them so
[9:45] I think we'd I guess for those of us with PTSD from the fires I wouldn't that's the first
[9:50] someone I've ever thought about going, no, right? So I do know that there is things
[9:56] out there that they need to attend to. And so we want them to do it at the best
[10:00] possible time and not as we approach all these hundred degree days that are in
[10:04] our future for the next month and then get into our fireworks time. So any
[10:11] questions, any comments? Table of this, we're just continuing the fire ban.
[10:17] No. The fire ban has expired and somebody is going to ask the table to order to put it back into place.
[10:28] If I set that down.
[10:30] It has to hit a certain measure for us to be able to place a fire ban on.
[10:37] And we're just currently not at the Keach and Bynum drought index to ask for that.
[10:42] Everybody should know that we will have 101 and multiple 100-degree days that
[10:48] have already been forecast for the next two weeks. So choose wisely and make sure
[10:54] that it's not a windy day. That's part of our, you know, the GCQ burning
[11:02] regulations if you can't start a fire in the earlier than one hour before
[11:07] sunrise and it has to be completed and completely out one hour before
[11:11] sunset and it has to be attended at all times and at the wind speed is greater
[11:17] than 23 miles an hour if you're not you're not burning I mean that's that's
[11:21] state administrative code you know so and then on our website go to Randall
[11:29] County website on the fire page there is a guideline for outdoor burnings it
[11:34] tells you what you can burn what you can't burn different things like that
[11:41] Anybody wants to look at that?
[11:42] I have questions that can always reach out to Dieter there at the park station.
[11:46] Any other questions or comments?
[11:49] I have a question. So even after the rain you mentioned, and as little as a 24-hour period, it changed five points.
[11:55] Can you put that in context? I mean how, I mean obviously five points is a lot in a day, but...
[12:00] So they can take grass samples and they put them in the curing oven to see how much moisture is left in them and everything and so that's
[12:09] Wherever they took that grass sample from
[12:11] That it changed
[12:13] It had five whatever their point scale is on their moisture percentage
[12:18] It changed five points in that in a day. So so would it be safe to assume?
[12:24] You know in a week of 90 degree 100 degree temperatures. It could change
[12:29] 25 points in a week?
[12:31] I mean, is that 30 points on my card?
[12:33] So historically, we've seen changes of 5, 10, 15.
[12:38] And the greatest we've seen has been 25 to 30 points.
[12:41] And then, so when we got to rain, it dropped 45 points
[12:46] two days after the large rain.
[12:50] So it can dry out very fast and it'll,
[12:54] yes, it can cloud.
[12:55] And that's the one reason I'd like to table it,
[12:58] and look at it before the 4th of July to see what we're going to look like.
[13:01] Okay.
[13:02] And the Texas A&M Forest Service is the one that provides that service and they go out
[13:06] and they go to different quadrants, they take random samples and then we get a county overall
[13:11] average.
[13:12] But just because in one area it doesn't meet the metric doesn't mean that another
[13:17] portion of the county is not extraordinarily dry, that may not have received the rain
[13:22] and they need to be mindful of that.
[13:26] So what number does it have to be at? Help me understand that.
[13:30] 575 is the recommended number from the Texas A&M Forest Service.
[13:36] And that's when they start putting the alert out and increasing staffing and stuff like that.
[13:44] And our number now, do you go by the average number, which is 498?
[13:49] Go by the average number.
[13:51] So, our average is 498. We do have pockets in the county that's at 612, but so we're,
[13:59] we try to be mindful of that, but we try to be.
[14:02] So, our next meeting is the 23rd, and we could, I mean, if we were to work our way by the 23rd,
[14:07] we could put the burn button back on.
[14:09] And then, of course, you'd have that next number.
[14:13] Yes.
[14:14] So, we figure out every day at about 10 a.m.
[14:18] How can you find that?
[14:20] Go to Texas Interagency.
[14:27] It's open to the public, I guess.
[14:29] Yes. Under predictive services, you can go underneath Grout and then the KVDI.
[14:34] The counting average is a little algorithm that you can click on.
[14:40] Does it show all the count?
[14:41] It shows every county and state of Texas.
[14:43] All right. Thank you.
[14:46] Good questions. Is there a motion to table?
[14:49] A motion that we table this until June 23rd?
[14:54] A second.
[14:55] The motion is second. All in favor please raise your hand and say aye.
[15:00] Thank you. I still want to tell you no.
[15:05] Number three, discuss and take action
[15:07] approving utility joint use agreement between Randall County and
[15:10] Windstream Unity for underground communication lines starting at East
[15:14] Sundown Lane and ending at FM 1151. Good morning, Tim. Good morning. Everybody's
[15:20] still trying to get an high-speed internet, and this is another one coming
[15:22] through. I originally talked to Daniel and I thought this was going to the AI
[15:27] But that one is still ongoing.
[15:29] That was still going out there.
[15:30] They're doing a bunch of work.
[15:31] So this one's supplying some lower in the area zone.
[15:36] Any questions?
[15:38] Nope.
[15:41] All right.
[15:42] I'll take a motion.
[15:43] I move we approve.
[15:45] We have a motion on second.
[15:46] All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.
[15:48] Motion carries 5-0.
[15:50] Thank you.
[15:51] Thank you, Tim.
[15:53] Number four, discuss and take action
[15:55] for improving specifications for bid 2026, 451, 23, janitorial services.
[16:01] Hey, Ricky, your favorite contract.
[16:03] Good morning, yes.
[16:03] Good morning.
[16:05] Just like it says, this is for janitorial services.
[16:08] The specifications call for various cleaning services provided to the accounting facilities.
[16:14] And those are across several buildings.
[16:16] The Justice Center, this building here, the finance building extension, the annex,
[16:21] San Marillo Road and Bridge. And so our current contract expires at the end of July. So we're
[16:28] looking to resolicit. We're at the end of the allotted renewal terms as well. So we're just looking
[16:34] to seek proposals from interested vendors that supply these services. And with that,
[16:41] once approved, the specification will be released on BeaconBid.com.
[16:47] and some metals will be due back to the county on July 2nd and from there we can
[16:51] start with vendors. Our current vendor is willing to work with us and even if we
[16:56] need to a spin an additional monitor so depending on how long it takes to get
[17:01] through the voting process and so we do have that leniency there from there
[17:07] as well. We just have to have a force approval to approve the
[17:10] specifications to be released. This will be for an initial one-year contract
[17:15] contract, and then four optional renewals. Each of those renewals will require the board's
[17:19] approval prior to executing that new contract term.
[17:24] Right, and I have a question for you again. As you know, we're going to be doing some
[17:28] additions to Justice Center, and this would happen mid-contract. Probably when it comes
[17:32] online, have you – is that built in?
[17:35] Those specifications aren't built into the contract. That's what the vendors
[17:38] know that year in year two, possibly year three, that this additional square footage
[17:43] They're just going to be containing X amount of offices, conference room, courtroom and
[17:49] the suites that accompany that at the justice center and then with the recent DPS addition
[17:54] there at the annex that would be included as well with the specification.
[17:58] So they will be aware of those additions later on during the later years of the contract.
[18:04] Okay, perfect.
[18:05] Thank you.
[18:06] Any questions?
[18:07] No.
[18:08] I think it's been a while since we sent out an RFP for this.
[18:11] Are there any major changes?
[18:12] It all looked pretty standard from.
[18:15] It's pretty much what we currently have right now.
[18:18] There's no major changes with the exceptions out of the building additions.
[18:24] Right.
[18:24] In a couple of years.
[18:25] Okay.
[18:28] All right.
[18:29] Sir, a motion.
[18:30] We approve.
[18:31] I second.
[18:32] I have a motion.
[18:33] I second.
[18:33] All in favor.
[18:34] Please raise your hand and say aye.
[18:36] Aye.
[18:36] The motion carries 5-0.
[18:40] Item number five.
[18:42] Discuss and take action on improving the change order for the hot mix payment
[18:45] overlay project. Just just like it says this is a change order. This is with
[18:51] J. Lee Milligan on the hot mix project that's going on. This is this covers
[18:57] several roads across the county. It's not just one centralized location. What
[19:02] they did was they have changed various quantities for certain areas of the
[19:06] road for the materials and then they you know lowered other quantities. So
[19:12] So overall this change of order reflects a $102,827.02 reduction to the initial contract.
[19:24] If approved that would bring the contract total down to from the $4.2 million down to $4,195,916.93.
[19:35] You have to have the force approval before we can submit a final payment for this to
[19:41] vendor and then we'll make sure that we get the signed change order to the vendor as well as high
[19:46] flames engineers. And Tim that has to do with just so they get on site and the the width a little bit
[19:52] here and there all adds up? Yes all that adds up. The main thing that happened was in the
[19:57] contract we were supposed to do a concrete road in front of a truck stop at Casey's at 2219 and
[20:06] layer of road, 2219 layer to 927 and with the ongoing traffic over there on 927
[20:12] the way it's all you know cordoned off, we didn't want that to just be shut off
[20:19] and that's what that would have had to have done. It would have shut that whole
[20:22] road off to be able to do some of that when we cycled. We're not going to do that
[20:26] and I think that was 178,000 for that part of it so we what we did was we
[20:30] just went in there hot mixed all of it instead of concreting it and which we
[20:35] were in there now in a day instead of a month or that would have been shut down
[20:38] for a month and it was right at the end of school and so we decided to do it a
[20:44] little bit different that was the main change that we're on that was 178,000.
[20:48] Thank you. Any questions? No. No questions just appreciate everybody
[20:52] keeping this tight as it's a moving target right? Move question. All right is
[21:01] I move with approved.
[21:03] I second.
[21:04] We have a motion and a second.
[21:05] All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.
[21:07] Aye.
[21:07] Motion carries 5-0.
[21:11] Thank you, Tim.
[21:13] You're welcome.
[21:14] Number six, Discuss and Take Action Improvement Items,
[21:16] a surplus inventory, see your list.
[21:20] So this item here, we just have to have the court's
[21:22] approval to approve these items as surplus inventory
[21:26] before we can formally get rid of them.
[21:29] This is, these are just items that come across from the Sheriff's Office through their annual
[21:33] payment glory.
[21:35] We all know that that's undertaking every unit our office handles with all the departments.
[21:40] This was provided from the Sheriff's Office and we just feel like we just need to do
[21:45] some housekeeping in order to make sure we get all the approved items out of the
[21:49] county in glory.
[21:50] And if there's anything on, any insurance that if you need it, that would be great.
[21:54] so we're not paying unnecessary improvements or anything to that nature.
[21:59] If we just have to have the course approval to identify these as surplus before we can actually remove them from an employee.
[22:05] All right. Any questions?
[22:10] No, Judge.
[22:11] No.
[22:11] All right. Is there a motion?
[22:13] I move we approve.
[22:15] Second.
[22:15] We have a motion and a second. All in favor, please.
[22:19] Commissioner Botler was the one that made the motion.
[22:22] Commissioner Robinson second.
[22:23] Thank you.
[22:24] Welcome.
[22:24] All those in favor please raise your hand and say aye.
[22:28] Motion carries 5-0.
[22:31] Thank you.
[22:32] Thank you, Ricky.
[22:34] Number seven, discuss and take action approving cell phone services and allowances.
[22:38] Good morning.
[22:39] We have two employees from the fire department that are requesting a cell phone allowance,
[22:46] and then one employee from Rodin Bridge that wants to discontinue their cell phone allowance
[22:53] and receive a county cell phone instead.
[22:58] Any questions on the cell phones?
[23:00] No.
[23:00] All right.
[23:01] Is there a motion?
[23:02] I believe we approve.
[23:04] Second.
[23:05] I have a motion.
[23:05] Second.
[23:05] All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.
[23:07] The motion carries 5-0.
[23:11] Number 8, Discuss and Take Action,
[23:13] Approving the Round of County Employees Request
[23:14] to Attend the Meetings in this particular one.
[23:18] Very small.
[23:20] We have one out of the District Attorney's Office
[23:22] in Canyon and another out of the District Attorney's
[23:26] two from domestic relations to Houston, two from the fire to Waco, one from the
[23:31] MAC to San Antonio, and two from the sheriff's office to Irving, Texas. Is there
[23:36] any question on travel? No. Not hearing any, is there a motion to approve the
[23:41] travel as presented? I move we approve. Second all in favor please raise your
[23:49] hand and say aye. Motion carries 5-0.
[23:54] Item number 9, the approval of the
[23:56] vouchers. Rivenette, once again if you'd be kind enough. Yes. We have the 5,826 payroll
[24:02] at $1,183,381.07, General Fund $1,792,436.17, Jury Fund $3,788, County Assistance District
[24:19] District 1 fund, $52,915.94, COVID ARPA grant funds, $6,705.80, District Clerk Preservation
[24:31] fund, $66.70, Law Library fund, $3,208.61, Tax Assessor, Collector Motor Vehicle, Inventory
[24:42] Tax Fund, $88.36, Courthouse Security Fund, $16,918.46, Records Management Fund, $852.76,
[24:56] County Clerks Records Management Fund, $6,043.43, JP-1 Technology Fund, $154.43, JP-4 Technology
[25:07] Fund, $134.93, Elections Fund, $107.04, County Clerks Archive Fund, $4,030.11, and Pre-Trial
[25:20] Diversion Fund, $54.34. Total All Funds, $3,070,886.15.
[25:29] Thank you. Has everyone had time to review? Is there any questions? Is there a motion
[25:35] on the vouchers?
[25:35] I move we approve. Second. We have a motion and a second all in favor please raise your hand and say aye.
[25:41] Aye. Motion carries.
[25:47] The acceptance of the official report and as a short one this time it'll be a
[25:51] long one next time. Randall County Autros Monthly Report, May of 2026. The Randall
[25:55] County Clerks Monthly Report, May of 2026. And finally the Randall County Grant Writers Monthly
[26:01] Report April of 2026. Any questions on the reports? Is there a motion?
[26:09] I'm
[26:09] I second.
[26:11] You have to read.
[26:12] All right.
[26:13] That there is a motion and a second.
[26:14] All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.
[26:16] Aye.
[26:17] Motion carries 5-0.
[26:19] This one, it brings us to the public comment period.
[26:21] Anybody that's here within the room,
[26:23] we'd love for you to come forward if you'd like to.
[26:25] Make a public comment.
[26:30] Good morning.
[26:31] Good morning.
[26:32] Will I stand?
[26:34] Whatever you're comfortable with.
[26:35] And if you don't mind, would you just tell
[26:37] for the record your name?
[26:40] All right.
[26:40] I'll be happy to do that.
[26:41] That's what I start with.
[26:42] Good morning. Honorable Judge Dyer, County Commission members. My name is Katina McCloy
[26:48] Lusby. I have a copy of these remarks to give to you if that helps. I live in
[26:53] Canyon. I am a Texas native from Hansford County who finally saw the light a few
[26:59] years ago and moved back to my home state after having lived my adult
[27:03] working years in Texas, Hawaii, Colorado, Arkansas, and New Mexico. My
[27:10] My husband and I chose Canyon because it offers most of the services and amenities we need.
[27:15] Has university library and a museum, high school sports, and it's all wrapped up in
[27:21] a charming small-time atmosphere.
[27:25] My comments are in regard to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum on the campus of
[27:30] West Texas A&M University.
[27:32] I represent no one but myself in my segments and I have no authority to speak for any
[27:39] other entity. I understand that you as a commission usually deal with county roads and infrastructure
[27:45] and drainage and taxation and contracts and bids, but I would ask that you as a body consider
[27:51] passing a resolution, issuing a proclamation, or releasing some other instrument of support
[27:57] for keeping the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in the city of Canyon right where it's
[28:03] out on the WT campus.
[28:06] PPHM was the brainchild of early-day WT faculty
[28:10] when it was still a teacher's college.
[28:12] Both my grandmothers attended that school,
[28:15] one in the very first decade of its existence.
[28:18] Physical donations and financial support from this city,
[28:22] the college itself, and the citizens of the entire region
[28:25] got the museum off the ground.
[28:28] Pioneer Hall was the first building
[28:29] and was built like a fortress, apparently.
[28:32] and as a state antiquities landmark is protected from demolition.
[28:38] Museum additions in several phases added much needed exhibit, conservation, and storage space,
[28:45] but some additions perhaps were not done in the best fashion.
[28:51] Still, all must have passed approval phases for building plans and code inspections as they were built, right?
[29:00] The museum has now been closed for 15 months by order of the West Texas A&M University President.
[29:08] He said he would announce a plan by May or June.
[29:12] No solution to reopening has been announced.
[29:16] I called his office yesterday and still did not receive a time frame.
[29:22] Meanwhile, Canyon's businesses I hear are faltering already because of reduced traffic.
[29:27] Many visitors earmark a day for the museum and then take in the town square and then
[29:33] spend a day or two in our canyons.
[29:36] They stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, shop in our shops, get their vehicles repaired
[29:41] by gasoline, visit our downtown events.
[29:45] Now students bust in from all over the panhandle, tourists, local families, academic
[29:51] researchers, college students with majors and specialties that feed into the accessibility
[30:00] Being robbed of intellectual opportunities with the museum's continued closure.
[30:06] As I said, my grandmother's attendant, W. T., my husband's great-uncle, M. S. Lusby was a first-generation
[30:14] immigrant to Texas from England. By 1891, he was here in Canyon as the city began. He built
[30:22] the first photography studio here. It was on the northwest corner of the block where
[30:26] Joe Taco stands. He recorded historic milestones in everyday life in beautifully composed, instantly
[30:35] recognizable photographs. You've seen them in history books, all around town in businesses,
[30:42] in the city commission chambers, and downstairs on the first floor of this very building.
[30:48] His photos are in PPHM's archival collections, and his photos should stay in canyon. They
[30:56] be long nowhere else. The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum houses regional artifacts
[31:02] of the very first peoples of these vast lands, then of the Native Americans, then those phases
[31:08] of the Western migration that followed as ranches were established, the sod was broken
[31:13] out to farm. Little communities, schools and churches spring up, then the railroads
[31:20] and hotels in the military installations, and finally the oil and gas industries, archaeological
[31:26] and historical artifacts of all kinds, early day business records, the WPA indexes, personal
[31:34] collections, textiles, outdoor exhibits, American, European and Southwestern fine art, pioneer
[31:41] town, and that oil derrick, all of these treasures and more are preserved, housed
[31:47] and exhibited in our wonderful museum.
[31:50] By special agreement, sacred Native American objects
[31:54] and some items from the National Park Service
[31:57] are placed there for proper care and storage.
[32:01] We have the largest collection of museum objects
[32:04] in the entire state of Texas.
[32:07] Here's the crux, and you probably know it.
[32:10] The state of Texas owns the museum buildings
[32:13] on WT's campus.
[32:15] The Panhandle Plates Historical Society, with its own board of directors, owns the objects in the collection and archives.
[32:23] The original 1932 agreement between the college and the Historical Society was for the museum facility to be maintained in perpetuity by the college.
[32:35] Another entity, the Cultural Foundation of the Texas Panhandle, is recently involved.
[32:40] People with no museum experience run that entity and have been telling PPHM to purge its collections.
[32:49] Today, with changes in legislative and funding parameters, this has all evolved into a very strange marriage with multiple partners.
[32:58] Have all parties upheld their specific legal and fiduciary obligations?
[33:03] What was the report of a recent visit by members of the Texas Historical Commission? Who knows?
[33:09] No updates are issued and all parties are disturbingly quiet.
[33:14] Yet the museum remains closed and the future is still in limbo.
[33:19] Many of the fire code violations cited in the initial closure were quickly addressed.
[33:26] Some issues such as egress will need reconstruction or renovation to resolve in those buildings,
[33:32] but they were noted for years in previous reports and were never addressed by Texas A&M.
[33:37] The building is not in a state of deterioration as many are assuming.
[33:43] The staff is still at work. I myself was recently allowed into the archives. I made a research appointment.
[33:51] So how can it be safe for the staff and researchers to continue to work but not safe for the public?
[33:59] If the museum is not operating, it stands at risk of losing its accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.
[34:07] not easy to obtain, not easy to get back.
[34:11] No solid plans have been put forth, no announcement by the A&M powers that be.
[34:18] No fundraising to target this wonderful institution as an object for our charitable gifts.
[34:23] That might help, right?
[34:26] But who do we give money to?
[34:27] The State of Texas has a huge budget surplus.
[34:31] A&M has money.
[34:32] It holds the eighth largest endowment in the entire nation. A&M is a university dedicated to education and research.
[34:42] But frankly, PPHM, PPHS, and the City of Canyon are being held hostage by this highly esteemed center of learning.
[34:53] In spite of an insanely successful fundraising campaign that just wrapped up at WT,
[34:58] not one cent was targeted toward the museum.
[35:02] What a missed opportunity.
[35:05] That easily might have resolved part of the renovation and repair costs.
[35:09] Maybe the state of Texas should gift the museum complex to PPHS
[35:14] and let that group raise the necessary funds, handle the renovations.
[35:19] Remember the old Buffalo Bowl?
[35:21] This whole situation might easily have been avoided with proper communication
[35:26] in planning with all the parties involved.
[35:30] Remember in December, Dr. Wendler said the PPHS needed to vacate the building and pare
[35:35] down its collections.
[35:37] If he indeed decides to evict the PPHM and its treasures when he makes his announcements
[35:44] from these state-owned buildings, then what?
[35:48] It's hard to fight the state of Texas.
[35:51] Will we be wringing our hands because we did not step in to do something more?
[35:55] Is Randall County, is the City of Canyon, or other key stakeholders prepared to spring into action?
[36:05] To pinpoint and negotiate for a new suitable land parcel to help with infrastructure needs and tax breaks?
[36:13] To put together a top-notch plan to keep this great institution as part of Canyon where it needs to be?
[36:19] Maybe that involves state-of-the-art purposes-built new structures or renovations on campus.
[36:27] Panhandle citizens are generous people and will rally alongside any effort that leads
[36:33] to a viable outcome that doesn't smell fishy or doesn't hold onto the PPHM's historic
[36:40] pioneer hall for other university purposes, with another name branding that building's
[36:47] identity.
[36:47] This excellent museum in our city is the gateway to the Palladura Canyon.
[36:53] It should be an easy draw for recreational and historical and geological tourism.
[36:58] Being on the I-27 corridor and on the main east-west avenue into our city,
[37:04] in a prominent and highly visible position on campus,
[37:07] it should be easy to market, to target fundraising toward,
[37:12] to perhaps offer free admission through business or foundation grants.
[37:16] Where are the visionaries trying to solve these problems, trying to garner public support for whatever lies ahead?
[37:24] This museum collection represents the Panhandle's legacy that is incredibly valuable.
[37:30] PPHM is a cornerstone of WT's identity and personality, and it needs to remain so.
[37:38] WT needs the PPHM in Canyon.
[37:42] No other city needs this museum.
[37:44] But Canyon needs this museum.
[37:49] PPHM is part of Canyon's educational and economic structure, its visibility, its viability.
[37:57] The panhandle region needs the PPHM in Canyon.
[38:01] Yes, these museum issues are difficult to resolve, but they are not insurmountable.
[38:06] Surely there is a path forward to allow this museum so important in the entire world of museums
[38:13] and our own Panhandle Plains Heritage to remain here as a vital part of our city.
[38:21] I ask that you, as the Randall County Commission, please step forward with a public announcement of support
[38:27] or work on a plan for the future to keep the PPA Gym in Canyon.
[38:34] Thank you.
[38:35] Thank you, and we appreciate your comments.
[38:38] We're not allowed to respond in public comment period, but it was very well-spoken.
[38:43] Thank you.
[38:43] And in your words, we're heard.
[38:46] And we'd like to extend that same invitation to anyone who's joining us online.
[38:51] If you have a public comment, if you use the raise hand icon, our IT director will recognize
[38:56] you and we welcome your thoughts.
[39:01] All
[39:04] right, that ends the public comment period, both in person and online.
[39:10] Item number 12, we have a closed session pursuant to government code section 551.071
[39:16] to consult with counsel regarding pending or contemplative litigation on a matter made
[39:20] confidential under the Texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct.
[39:26] If you will, there is no action item.
[39:29] We have two closed sessions.
[39:32] We understand if you need to get it back about your day and you don't stay for us
[39:35] to come out, the next commissioner's court will be June the 23rd, and we welcome to
[39:41] see you then.
[39:50] No, I've read it, Daniel. I can't do it again. Okay, so as you heard from Advice
[39:58] Council, we're going to swap. We will go into item number 13 first, which is
[40:03] closed session pursuant to government code section 551.072 to
[40:07] deliberate the purchase exchange lease or value of real property. We'll
[40:12] in that closed session and then we'll be back.
[40:32] All right, we're back in session.
[40:35] We will go back and readdress item number 12 now.
[40:38] Closed session pursuant to government code section 551.071
[40:42] to consult with counsel regarding pending or contemplated litigation
[40:45] or on a matter made confidential under the Texas Disciplinary Rules
[40:49] of Professional Conduct. Thanks.
[40:51] All
[41:08] right, the Randall-Kenneth Commissioner's Court is back in session.
[41:11] That ends the Randall-Kenneth Commissioner's Court
[41:13] 4, June the 9th, our next one will be June the 23rd. Hope you have a blessed two weeks.