Senior meal program to stay

ANAHUAC— Commissioners met last week to discuss funding for the Home Delivered Meals program, which is under the Chambers Cares program.

Chambers County Commissioners Court met on Tuesday, Dec. 23, to discuss the meals program, the tax abatement policy, and Flock cameras.

Chambers County Public Hospital District No. 1 Chair Andy Legg explained why funding was cut for the Home Delivered Meals program for county seniors.

Legg said the hospital district inherited the program while it was run on COVID-19 funding, and recently, the Houston-Galveston Area Agency on Aging cut back on the funding given.

“This program is in danger of not being able to sustain itself,” Commissioner Precinct 1 Jimmy Gore said.

Chambers Community Health Centers, Inc., Executive Director Elissa Lofgren, who oversees the program, shared a few details about the program, saying that the district inherited the program with 39 seniors and has grown the program to include 142 seniors.

Lofgren explained the program provides five meals a week and checks in with the seniors, either through calls or in-person visits, three times a week.

“This is the population that we need to be fighting for,” Lofgren said.

The board plans to reach out to the Winnie-Stowell Hospital District and the city of Mont Belvieu for additional funding, as there are seniors enrolled under their jurisdictions.

Commissioner Precinct 4 Ryan Dagley asked the board to come back to court if they are unable to get funding elsewhere so that they could further assist.

The court collectively expressed support for the program, with Gore explaining it is “near and dear” to his heart.

Commissioners approved funding the program, capping the limit at $150,000, which is $50,000 more than asked.

When commissioners discussed approving a 10-year tax abatement for Abundia Global Impact Group LLC for Project Firefly, a recycling facility in Cedar Port Industrial Park, the conversation shifted to reevaluating their abatement policy.

Dagley began the discussion by noting businesses have been protesting their assessed values with the appraisal district in attempts to lower what they pay.

“They’re protesting value that they sold us on abatements for,” Dagley said. “If you’re going to sell us on an abatement for creating value for us, hold true to that value.”

BJ Simon, president/CEO of Baytown-West Chambers County Economic Development Foundation, said the policy has to be updated in April, so the court could work on it then.

Simon added that he is currently working to address some of the protests.

Sheriff Brian Hawthorne discussed the Flock Safety cameras with the commissioners, saying the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office has been making arrests with aid of the cameras.

Hawthorne said the cameras are doing what they are supposed to do, by “keeping Harris County crime and Jefferson County and Liberty County crime out of Chambers County.

Hawthorne added that there is almost a complete “lockdown” where vehicles can’t enter or exit the county without passing a Flock camera.

The camera system is connected to law enforcement agencies around the state, which helps CCSO develop a network for mutual aid.

Hawthorne assured commissioners that CCSO has an audit system to ensure accountability that deputies are using the system solely for proper investigations.

Commissioners approved a 3-year subscription for $138,000 using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Construction of the batting cages at the Jim Silva Sports Complex and the Yale Devillier Sports Complex were both approved, with Tippett Construction LLC doing the work for a total cost of about $400,000.