Court accepts County Treasurer retirement

The Lavaca County Commissioners’ Court met in a regular meeting Monday morning and accepted a retirement  letter from County Treasurer Karen Bludau.
Bludau served the county for a total of 25 years and replaced former county treasurer Lois Henry in 2011.
In her letter, Bludau said she appreciated and was grateful for all the opportunities she has had in working for the County.
“I genuinely enjoyed working for the constituents of Lavaca County and will miss you and my coworkers,” Bludau wrote in the letter. “Lavaca County has a special place in my heart.”  
Bludau said she wants to spend more time with her family and have a chance to travel. Her retirement becomes effective on April 1.
County Judge Keith Mudd  said when he came into office in 2020, the first thing he did was talk to Bludau and County Auditor Shana Opela about the financial status of the county.
“I found out we have a strong financial team and that was important to me to know that when I came in,” Mudd said. “Our outside officers had nothing to report the last time they were here and that is something to be said.
Between the treasurer’s and auditor’s offices, who work hand in hand in managing a lot of funds, a lot of different people and the different things that come their way on a daily basis, it was handled very well. We’re very appreciative of you.”
After the court accepted Bludau’s retirement letter, it set a deadline for resumes and applications to be submitted for her replacement.
The applications with a resume will need to be submitted to the County Judge’s office by Friday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.
The court will address possibly appointing a new county treasurer at its Feb. 12 meeting.

EMS Yearly Report
Lavaca County EMS director, Michael Furrh presented the yearly report for his department.
Furrh said for 2023, they had 2,112 total transports with 430 transfers to area hospitals and had 21 air-medic flights throughout the year.
Furrh reported they spent 127,987.5 minutes on calls and traveled 46,877.8 miles with patients on board.
Furrh said their chute time, which is the time from being notified to enroute to their destination averaged 28 seconds and they had a response time of 11 minutes and 24 seconds.
He listed the top five destinations that included 500 to Lavaca Medical Center, 276 to DeTar in Victoria, 181 to Citizens in Victoria, 177 to Yoakum Community Hospital and 82 to Gonzales Memorial Hospital.
Regarding accomplishments, Furrh said they changed their billing to Emergicon and expanded their training site to be a National Association of EMT’s official training site.
Furrh said they purchased new cardiac monitors, updated their clinical care guidelines, purchased three used Frazer ambulances and taught CPR classes to school districts with over 100 senior students being taught.
In addition, Furrh said Lavaca County assistant chief Tim Decker received the “Rising Star” award for the region at the Mid Coast Hurricane Conference and they also sent two employees to the Texas EMS Conference in Austin, two employees to Education by the Sea in Port Aransas and five employees to the Texas EMS Alliance Leadership Conference in Marble Falls. Also, through SB 8 funding they were able to send five employees to Paramedic School.
Lastly in regards to himself, Furrh said he was elected as President-elect of the Texas EMS Alliance and will be appointed president in 2025. Furrh was also appointed by the Governors Trauma Advisory Council and will represent Lavaca County and rural EMS through the governor’s office.

Racial Profiling Report
The court approved the Lavaca County Sheriff’s Racial Profiling report that has been filed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
The report showed the department conducted 403 traffic stops with the race/ethnicity having 254 White, 100 Hispanic/Latino, 46 Black and three Asian/Pacific Islander involved in the stops.
Out of the 293 stops involving males, there were 169 White, 89 Hispanic/Latino, 34 Black, and one Asian/Pacific Islander.
Regarding the 110 females stopped there were 85 White, 11 Hispanic/Latino, 12 Black and two Asian/Pacific Islander.
The report also included types of violations leading to the stops as well as whether or not searches were conducted and if contraband was discovered.
The report said there were 191 citations issued and 197 written warnings.
In other action taken by the court:
• Approved a contract between Kofile and the County Clerk’s office for the imaging of three probate minute books.
• Approved a division order between Rocky Creek Resources, LLC and the county.
• Approved a bond for James Foster as Justice of the Peace Pct. 1.
• Acknowledged a $12 thousand grant from the Dickson-Allen Foundation to the Lavaca County Historical Commission to help in preservation of Lavaca County History.
• Approved a 2022 resolution between TxDOT  and the county to include CR 130 over Rickaway Branch and also a resolution to include CR 376 at Mustang Creek.
• Discussed the road plan and paving agreement between county commissioners.
• Approved all consent agenda items.
County Judge Keith Mudd presided over the meeting with commissioners Edward Pustka, Wayne Faircloth, Kenny Siegel and Dennis W. Kocian present for the meeting.