Culberson County commissioners met in a special meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 to comply with one of the requirements of an ongoing County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zone (CERTZ) grant application process.
When funded, the CERTZ grant will provide the county with funding to repair identified county roads that have sustained damage as a result of increased oil and gas traffic primarily in the northern part of the county.
Commissioners voted to accept County Judge Carlos Urias’ report on county roads which were prioritized in order of need as Carlsbad Road, Rustler Springs Road, Neville Road and KC Road, all located in Precinct 3, and Della Hunt Road, Toyah-Elcor Road and Jones-Kent Road, all located in Precinct 2. Mr. Urias reported that the average cost of maintaining and repairing each road for the averaged $35,200, with the CERTZ grant covering the cost for each road.
In other action, commissioners tabled action until Monday on a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance until Commissioner Gilda Morales, who was just appointed Floodplain Administrator, could research the ordinance and report to the court at their next regular meeting.
Judge Urias and County attorney Steve Mitchell then reported on a proposal by John Martin, president of Lone Star Title Company from El Paso, to scan the county’s real property records for the purpose of opening a title company in Van Horn.
According to the report, Mr. Martin would also provide the county with a backup of the records prior to 2009 in case of emergency or casualty loss, such as fire or other catastrophe.
The title company, besides providing a much-needed service locally, would in addition, provide several jobs besides the backup of the records. Mr. Urias said that Mr. Martin would scan the records at his company’s expense and would take only five days to complete the formidable job.
County Clerk Linda McDonald said that she preferred that Mr. Martin contact her to discuss the details and logistics of the proposal prior to embarking on the project. Mr. Mitchell advised the court that the project needed to begin within a reasonable time frame for the project to be viable and reminded Ms. McDonald that county records were all public records, and as such, county records are accessible to everyone.
Mr. Urias and Mr. Mitchell assured Ms. McDonald that Mr. Martin would be asked to coordinate his project with the county clerk’s office.
