Limestone County commissioners approve transfer to cover airport invoice, staff to seek 90% federal ramp reimbursement

Limestone County commissioners agreed during a public meeting to transfer county funds to the airport account to cover an outstanding invoice and directed staff to seek reimbursement through a federal ramp program.

A county staff member told commissioners that procurement rules require a purchase order when the county is asked to issue payment. "If it's your money you're spending you go spend all you want," the staff member said, adding that when the county is asked to write the check, staff must handle the purchase process. The staff member also explained that a tower at the airport was built with federal funds around 2002 and said the county paid roughly 10% while federal grants covered about 90%, creating an obligation to maintain the facility "in accordance" with the federal terms.

The staff member advised commissioners that the county can apply to the federal ramp program for reimbursement and that the county would likely recover about 90% of the invoice. "We'll apply for that," the staff member said, "we can get reimbursed from that on the ramp program so we'll get 90% of it."

Committee discussion turned to funding the immediate payment. Commissioners acknowledged the airport fund did not have sufficient balance and agreed to transfer money from another county fund into the airport account so the invoice could be paid. A motion to approve the transfer was made and seconded; staff said they would process the check transfer and place the item on the next agenda for the public record. The transcript records a voice agreement but does not show an individual roll-call or tally.

For the public record, a commissioner also noted that airport facilities "look" improved and that staff continued work on additional improvements.

The meeting moved next to a notice that agenda item nine would discuss a personnel matter under the Texas Open Meetings Act, with the chair citing the statute as the legal basis for that portion of the discussion. The transcript does not provide a meeting date, names of individual commissioners who moved or seconded the motion, or a numeric vote tally; those details were not specified in the recorded segments.

What happens next: staff will process the intra-county transfer to the airport account and submit an application to the federal ramp reimbursement program; the county indicated it expects to recover about 90% of the covered expense. The personnel matter was announced for consideration under the Texas Open Meetings Act and will be handled according to that process.