The Northeast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District (NETEX) will not have work for their executive director anytime soon, according to a decision at their meeting last Thursday, among other items of business.
After convening at 1:30 p.m., the group unanimously approved the previous meeting minutes from March.
DELTA COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE
On March 5, Delta County sent its representative, Paul Burt. Burt is the owner/ operator of Feeders Supply in Sulphur Springs, which leases a portion of the NETEX track for $1,000 per year.
NETEX bylaws state “no board member shall have a pecuniary interested [sic], be benefited directly or indirectly, in any contract or agreement to which the District is a party.”
NETEX previously rejected Hopkins County nominee Brad Johnson for this reason, but accepted Titus County nominee Nathan Priefert.
In March, the board voted 5-3 in favor of Burt’s nomination to the board. In May, board president Judge Brian Lee, Titus County representative, proposed an amendment to the NETEX bylaws such that a member of the NETEX board could be in a contract with NETEX as an entity.
Hunt County member Greg Sims wanted to add a provision that any NETEX member with a contract, such as Burt, could not enter into an executive session with the rest of the board or access the NETEX-retained lawyer. Sims also requested Burt declare his conflict of interest at the beginning of every meeting.
Sims expressed upset at the departure of the previous Delta County representative, Dr. Jason Lee Davis, whom Paul Burt replaced due to Davis “knowing every curve in that track.”
“If he [Davis] had just done what the commissioner’s court told him, he wouldn’t be gone,” Mark Baird, Delta County’s other representative, told Sims.
Collin County representative Cheryl Williams stated she was unsure if NETEX could make bylaws that infringed upon the power of a commissioner’s court nomination.
“It’s their decision and their decision alone,” Williams stated.
Ultimately, the board voted 5-2 to pass the bylaw amendment, with Sims and Franklin County representative Sam Young voting against the amendment.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NETEX also discussed any ongoing relationship with their executive director, Phil Davila, who has not been present for meetings since February. In March, the group discussed the cost of retaining Davila. From the time the group passed their budget in September to their meeting in March, the group had already paid Davila the $70,000 they budgeted for him in fiscal year 2020.
“Phil [Davila] has provided me with a lot of guidance over these last two years when things got heated,” Lee stated. “Right now things are not being handled, …and there’s a laundry list of things to do.”
However, according to Neal Barker, the decision to continue to hire Davila should be based on “fractured relationships” Davila created.
“There was some speculation that a lot of the work we were having to do was due to a fractured relationship with our operator,” Neal Barker said. “I think right now we don’t know what we’re missing. Due to the contentious relationship with Phil [Davila], I hope we can find someone cheaper and someone local.”
“I think we should think beyond our personal relationship with [Davila],” Sims stated. “It doesn’t make sense that we wouldn’t hire [Davila] back.”
According to Williams, the financial cost alone for Davila is too steep.
“Disregarding personal relationships, we simply can’t afford someone of that level,” Williams said. Williams was in favor of having their legal counsel look over leases and contracts, she stated. “I’d rather pay our attorney than [Davila].”
However, according to Sims, he believed members of the board now wanted to sever ties with Davila because “It all came down to personality conflicts.”
Overall, Lee stated he felt the board did not know enough about the state of the railroad to be able to say the group would have a need for Davila’s services — or not have a need for Davila’s services. Lee moved to send Davila a friendly email detailing the progress as of late and telling him they would contact him if he was needed, and the group unanimously agreed.
OTHER BUSINESS
The group unanimously voted to double their legal budget from $25,000 to $50,000 as they entered into a new operator’s agreement with Freedom Railcar. [See related story in the Saturday, May 30 edition of the News-Telegram.]
The group unanimously voted to enter into a contract with the City of Lavon for mowing at the Collin County right of way for $1,250 annually.
The group unanimously voted for Hopkins County representative Mickey Barker to proceed forward with a land sale of 20 acres in Hopkins County, with the knowledge that title insurance was “taking a while” for Union Pacific to transfer deeds and bounds.
The group did not enter into executive session, and the meeting was adjourned at 2:53 p.m.