Published: November 09, 2009 05:19 pm      

County ends agreement with PEDC

Noting a failure to live up to promises, the Anderson County Commissioners Court voted to end an agreement with Capgemini, the City of Palestine and the Palestine Economic Development Corp.

Anderson County Judge Linda Bostick-Ray noted Capgemini promised to provide more than 400 jobs for the area, and in turn get reduced rent at the industrial park and other incentives.

At an October meeting of the commissioners court, Palestine officials said there are now 80 people employed at the Capgemini call center.

“They just aren’t supplying the jobs they said they would,” Ray said.

Currently, the county pays $87,500 per year to Capgemini as part of the incentive package.

After consulting with Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe, who assured the court members they were able to terminate the contract, commissioners voted to end the agreement.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Joe Chaffin was more than ready for the agreement to be terminated.

“I am ready to cut ties with them,” Chaffin said. “We’re not getting what we’re supposed to get out of them.”

Precinct 4 Commissioner Randy Watkins agreed, noting that Capgemini broke the agreement by not providing the jobs they said they would.

In other business, commissioners also enacted a new ordinance governing commercial trash haulers in unincorporated areas of the county.

The ordinance passed by a narrow 3-2 vote, with Ray and Watkins voting against the measure.

Under the new ordinance, commercial trash haulers will have to submit an application to the county along with a surety bond.

Commercial trash haulers will have until Jan. 1, 2010 to comply with the ordinance.

Watkins said he didn’t believe commercial trash haulers were the problem in the county, but that county residents throwing garbage out the window was the biggest source of the problem and that the ordinance puts too much of a burden on the small private businesses doing trash pickup in the county.

In other business the court:

• APPROVED department reports.

• APPROVED budget amendments.

• APPROVED a Windstream telephone line crossing CR 1215.

• AUTHORIZED Ray to draft a letter to IT director Ken Woods instructing him to make a contact number available to the county or face termination.

• RENEWED a contract with Xerox for three years to provide a copier for Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace office.

• DECLARED the county’s law library surplus and instructed Lowe to determine which books to keep.

• ADOPTED resolution naming November Official Home Care and Hospice Month.

• AGREED to pay comp time to a county clerk employee.

• HEARD update from Anderson County Clerk Wanda Burke concerning conversion of records.

• TRANSFERRED two rollup doors from Anderson County Jail to the Anderson County Courthouse.

• ESTABLISHED a court collections department to collect delinquent fines.

• ADOPTED 2010 holiday schedule.

• APPROVED a contract with American Tower for the Neches and Tennessee Colony tower sites at a price of $953.42 per month.

• ACCEPTED a bid from Curtis McKinley Roofer to reroof Anderson County Courthouse at a bid price of $254,900.

• APPOINTED Hallie Williams to serve on the board of commissioners for the Anderson County Housing Authority.

• APPROVED resolution to accept funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from State Energy Conservation Block Grant Program. The grant of almost $100,000 will go toward installing central heat and air in the Anderson County Courthouse to replace existing window units.