Commissioners hear complaint about EMS, update on grants

A complaint against Calhoun County EMS (CCEMS) was made and an update on General Lando Office (GLO) grant funded projects was given during a regular Calhoun County Commissioners Court meeting held June 25. In addition, commissioners also named the playground at Little Chocolate Bayou, approved the laying of a cornerstone for the new Magnoliba Beach Volunteer Fire Department (MBVFD) station and allowed CCSO to send a new cadet to a training academy.

During the public comment section, Calhoun County resident Kay McPhearson spoke out in regards to CCEMS declining a request for a patient transport June 16.

“On June 16, Memorial Medical Center requested transfer from CCEMS to take a transfer to Saint Luke’s Hospital in Sugar Land. The person that answered at EMS said that they didn’t do transfers after 7 p.m. So, we, in turn, had to call a city ambulance out of Corpus Christi to make this transfer. It was an hour and a half for them to get here, two hours to Houston and an hour and a half to get back home, when we have three or four units available,” McPhearson said. “My concern is, why do we have a new transfer van? How many calls for transfer have been denied? What are the medics doing between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.? Don’t they get paid for doing service 24/7?”

In addition, McPhearson also went over the budget, stating that considering the budget of CCEMS, such transfers should be possible. As evidence, she stated that, when established, CCEMS had a budget of approximately $1 million at a population near 20,000 for Calhoun County. Since then, the budget has grown by more than $2 million to accommodate for a population which has shrunk.

“CCEMS is a tax-funded service to the citizens of Calhoun County. I checked the population census of Calhoun County, and in 2015, they had 21,611 people in our county and what was our budget when Henry Barber was our director? It was $1,793,875. They had 21 employees that ran with the county,” McPhearson said. “To my knowledge, CCEMS at that time had never denied a request or make an excuse as to why they couldn’t take a call. The most recent census for 2024 is 19,942 people, which is a difference in decline of 1,669 people. What is the current budget of our EMS system? It is $4,449,336 and they have 27 employees. CCEMS has a brand-new station, state-of-the-art equipment, they have four units and a new training facility.”

However, McPhearson stated that the issue was not in money, but in the operation of the station.

“Money is not a factor for our EMS system. It’s leadership,” McPhearson said. “As a taxpayer here in Calhoun County, I am concerned that our tax dollars are not being spent properly, wisely and are going to waste. Every time we get a turn down, do we get our tax dollars back for not getting the service? EMS is a 24/7 service, no excuses. That was the reason it was even brought into Calhoun County in 1973 by Henry Barber.”  

In response to McPhearson, Calhoun County Judge Vern Lyssy noted that the county would soon be looking at its budget for next year and the CCEMS’ funding would be discussed during meetings focused on spending.

“Some of those issues were addressed Tuesday, but not all of them. We have our budget coming up in two weeks, and we sat down and talked Tuesday. We’re going to address some of that as well,” Lyssy said.

An update on GLO grants was also given to commissioners by KSBR LLC representative Katy Sellers, detailing the progress of several projects in their various states. Overall, according to the presentation, the county had successfully utilized more than 20 million dollars’ worth of grant money provided by the GLO.

“Our firm represents the grant administration for the county’s Community Development Block Grant from the GLO, so I just want to come and, while I have all of you in the same room, give an update on where we stand with our grants. Right now we’re wrapping up our disaster recovery grants which has Commissioner Gary Reese’s Lane Road project as the last active project, as well as the one little piece at the Little Chocolate Bayou playground, which we hope to have wrapped up by the end of the year. That grant, in total, was for $6.1 million worth of improvement across the county,” Sellers said. “We have finally received the start of a contract for our CDBG contract from the GLO. They may be awarded, but they’re still requesting additional documents in order to get the projects actually started. Just to recap, we have drainage improvements in Crestview, Hackberry, Port Alto, Seakist, Schicke Point and West side. We’re also going to be reconstructing the fire station at Magnolia Beach.”  

The Calhoun County Commissioners Court also renamed the playground at Little Chocolate Bayou Park in honor of McKinley Faye. Following the renaming, Calhoun County Commissioner David Hall spoke about how the high accessibility park will allow wheelchair users like Faye to enjoy the area as much as any other children.

“When we got some of the money that was at risk of being de-obligated as part of a grant, we moved it over to the Little Chocolate Bayou Park playground. You always wonder what the inspiration is sometimes for when a project is being done. Well, I want you to meet one of the inspirations for this project,” Hall said. “McKinley will have a park she can play on. She was there for the grand opening, and she is a fighter. She has a long road and she is really a inspiration for all our special needs community. It’s hard to speak on something like this, but it comes from the heart.”

Calhoun County Court of Law Judge and representative of Lavaca Lodge #36 Jim Beeler was also approved by commissioners to lay a masonic cornerstone at the new MBVFD Fire Station. Beeler spoke about the history of such stones and stated the importance of its inclusion.

“Masonic lodges have been doing this for a long, long time. Now, why is that? Because history is important and maintain records of historical events and data has been a long-founded nature of masons. It began all the way back to George Washington laying the cornerstone for the White House,” Beeler said. “History doesn’t write all the details. It’s important that we have some records and laying a cornerstone is the foundation of the building your raising and it is important that that foundation is square and set up right so that it doesn’t fall down later on. This is a matter of history and symbolism that masonic lodges have throughout the ages done on any government buildings.”

Finally, commissioners allowed the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office to send current Calhoun County Jailer Keith Williams to the police academy at Victoria College. Upon graduation, Williams will serve on contract for three years as a patrolman for the office.

“We keep them on for three years, that way we don’t just become a training ground for other areas,” Calhoun County Sheriff Bobbie Vickery said.

The Calhoun County Commissioners Court meets at 10 a.m. every Wednesday at Calhoun County Courthouse. For more information and to see agendas, visit Calhouncotx.org.