Written by Amanda Coers – The Brown County Commissioners met at 9 a.m. in the Brown County Courthouse at 9 a.m. to discuss items posted on the agenda. For the third time the lease for the Juvenile Detention building was listed on the agenda.
Matters concerning the lease for the Juvenile Detention building were posted on the July 30th agenda, and again on August 6th. The items were passed to the next Commissioners Court meeting as Brown County Judge Ray West was not able to attend on July 30th. At the August 6th meeting, discussion of the lease was again tabled as Precinct 1 Commissioner Gary Worley was not present and had asked Judge West to hold discussions for the next meeting when hopefully all four commissioners could be in attendance.
Currently the lease for the Juvenile Detention building is with TrueCore, formerly known as G4S Youth Services. TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, based in Tampa, operates residential facilities for children who have been ordered by the court into juvenile justice facilities. The company boasts a 20-year history of providing services to at-risk youth. Nearly 2,000 TrueCore employees work in facilities across four states.
During the Commissioners Court held on August 20th, Brown County Judge Ray West made a motion to approve the renewal of the lease with TrueCore, but at an increased rental of $8,000 per month, effective as of the end date of the previous lease. A clause in the lease would also specify that renewal be made at the mutual consent of both the county and TrueCore. Insurance policy issues would also need to be handled by TrueCore.
“I’ll also tell you that the insurance… that TrueCore is looking at that. They have not found all the records on their insurance,” Judge West said. “Whether they have paid or not paid. If they have not paid for their own policy they will reimburse us. I’ve gotten those assurances from them.”
County Attorney Shane Britton was asked by the commissioners to offer his insight on the matter.
“It seems like there’s a lot of heartache, consternation amongst the commissioners court,” Britton said. “This is the type of topic that you’d want to have an executive session.”
Commissioner Worley had concerns about the legality of accepting the lease renewal without a public notice. Britton stated the waiver of the notice should be approved by the commissioners court as a whole. Written notice, as required by the previous lease agreement, to renew the lease was not provided by TrueCore in the allotted timeframe. The five year lease then expired, and TrueCore essentially entered into a month-by-month contract for the use of the Juvenile Detention building.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Joel Kelton expressed interest in seeking other options and open the lease for bids.
West again offered his motion to approve the lease with an increased rental of $8,000 per month, with a waiver of the required renewal notice. Commissioner Worley seconded the motion, however when a vote was called for, the three other commissioners voted not to renew the lease. The motion failed.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Larry Traweek said, “I feel like there’s been a lot of misinformation on both sides. They did not give written notice.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Wayne Shaw also said, “It’s just been too many little things that haven’t added up to me.”
Commissioner Kelton next moved to open the lease for the Juvenile Detention building for bids. Public notice will be posted. There was no objection to allowing TrueCore to maintain their occupation of the building. Commissioners Shaw and Traweek approved. Commissioner Worley abstained from voting.
“Under the circumstances we need to do it so we won’t be opened up any kind of investigation,” Shaw said.
A recording of the August 20, 2018 Commissioners Court can be heard here:
Also discussed:
- Burn Ban – The burn ban remains in effect.
- Bart Johnson – was invited by the commissioners to discuss a possible retiree insurance program. Parameters: 55 to 65 years of age, with appropriate years of service being 25 years or more, and applicants are not eligible for insurance with any other programs. Cost would be a $200 monthly payment for the approved employees. Commissioners will meet again later regarding the matter after parameters have been expressed in writing from Bart Johnson.
- Matt Krischke, IT Manager – requested approval to upgrade internet service. The commissioners approved the request.
- Cheryl Jones, District Clerk – requested approval for Bill Stewart, an engineer, to provide an assessment to allow for storage of records. The commissioners approved the request.
EDITED: A correction has been made to say Bart Johnson was invited by the commissioners to discuss a possible employee retirement insurance program. A previous publication of this article had incorrectly listed Bart Johnson as requesting approval for the insurance program.