Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved its final audit for the fiscal year ending June 30 that flagged five findings — with four that were minor.
A.J. Bowers of the Carr, Riggs & Ingram accounting firm told the commission his report found “no material weaknesses” and a “consistent” standing with its general funds and net position in recent years.
The report found a “significant deficiency” in the county’s reporting of a $168,610 capital lease not identified in its capital assets. The auditor recommended the county review its list of leases to prevent future similar problems.
Four other findings were deemed as “other noncompliance” — a discrepancy in the per-diem allowance for employee travel; a lack of certification of the county’s capital asset listing; disposing of capital assets without approval as required by state law; and cash appropriation in excess of available cash balances.
Bowers recommended the county perform a threat assessment of its information technology system to safeguard it more from hackers. He said he knew of five school districts hit by ransomware, and one district’s computer system was down for three weeks.
The report also noted the county is at risk of not getting more than millions of dollars in deposits returned in case of a bank failure.
“The County does not have a deposit policy for custodial credit risk, other than following state statutes …” the report stated. It stated more than $7.56 million of the county’s bank balance of $8.56 million was exposed to such risk.
In other business Monday:
• The commission approved Community Development Block Grant coordinator Darla Munsell’s engineer recommendation to accept the second-lowest bid to resurface about one mile of Quay Road AR.
GM Emulsion of Santa Fe submitted the low bid of $591,855, but Munsell said the bid lacked proper documentation and was deemed noncompliant. She recommended the second-lowest bid of $614,953 by K. Barnett & Sons of Clovis because it contained the proper paperwork.
County manager Richard Primrose said the Barnett bid was only 2% above the engineer’s estimate for the project and within budget.
• The commission approved a new and state-mandated breastfeeding and lactating policy for female inmates at the Quay County Detention Center.
Christopher Birch, the center’s administrator, said the policy states within the first 48 hours a woman is booked, staff will explain the program to them if they are breastfeeding or lactating. The detention center then would provide breast pumps so they can provide milk to her child.
Birch said the state wants skin-to-skin contact with women detainees and their infant children, but the county lacks the facility for such an accommodation, and he expressed concerns about the child’s safety. He said he was inclined to fit the detainee with an electronic ankle monitor and place her under house arrest so she could care for the child.
• The commission approved Trigg Memorial Hospital associate administrator Vickie Gutierrez’s request of a third- and fourth-quarter mill levy and gross-receipts tax payment of $250,000 each to the hospital.
• Andrea Shafer, coordinator of the county’s DWI program, said she contacted several school districts about presenting a substance-abuse program.
She said a Tucumcari school official turned down the opportunity, saying it already had a prevention program beginning in prekindergarten and the county’s program would take time away from teachers preparing students for mandatory state testing. Shafer said she was unable to contact Logan Municipal Schools superintendent Dennis Roch despite several calls to his office.
San Jon Municipal Schools took up Shafer’s offer, asking for a substance-abuse program before the high school’s prom later this year.
Commissioner Sue Dowell expressed disappointment with Tucumcari turning down the program offer because of testing, saying: “I think you have to work with both.”
Shafer made the calls after Dowell asked in an earlier meeting about the DWI program’s outreach efforts, despite it lacking a preventionist after she stepped down from her position.
Commissioners suggested to Shafer she set up an informational booth during Earth Day, when all county schools are bused to Tucumcari for the day’s activities.
• The commission approved budget adjustments that reflect state loans to Jordan, Rural II, Rural III fire districts to buy new firetrucks. Dowell abstained from voting on resolutions involving Rural III because her husband is a firefighter there.
• Dowell asked Primrose to solicit donations from rural landowners for predator-control measures after the county didn’t ask for them the previous year. Dowell said the previous effort netted about $4,000. Primrose said most of the rural residents didn’t respond to the previous solicitations but said he would try to revive it.
• County Sheriff Russell Shafer said during his January report he was in the process of soon initiating deeper patrols in the county.
• The commission’s indigent claims board approved $453.33 in claims in February.
• The commission held a closed executive session with Sheriff Shafer about threatened or pending litigation. No action was taken when open session resumed.