February 14, 2019 600 AM
PRESIDIO COUNTY – At the February 6 morning Presidio County Commissioners’ Court meeting, Commissioner Brenda Bentley hoped to bolster the contract negotiations with current County Airport Director Chase Snodgrass by having commissioners sign an order that would support the bid exemption, and instead specifically negotiate with Snodgrass.
Commissioners voted at the previous meeting to circumvent the Local Government Code requirement to bid out contracts larger than $50,000, and go forward with changing Snodgrass from county employee to contractor.
Bentley has spearheaded the circumvention effort, asserting that under Local Government Code, a Commissioners’ Court can grant an exemption from competitive bids for “a personal or professional service.” She hoped to expedite the change for Snodgrass, and believed that by prolonging the hiring process and accepting bids for the contract position, Snodgrass might lose interest and move on. Snodgrass has taken Presidio County’s two airports, Marfa Municipal Airport and Presidio Lely International Airport, from county liabilities to solid revenue streams during his tenure.
Regarding the order that Bentley was asking commissioners to sign, County Judge Cinderela Guevara received counsel from the Texas Association of Counties, which stated that after hearing that Presidio is not planning to bid out the contract, they advised the judge, “Such an order, resolution, or other action is not a great idea, and may be void.” TAC continued in the email, “Why would the Commissioners’ Court issue some kind of document reflecting action which it has every right to rescind?”
Guevara interpreted the advice to say, “The court could give the appearance that we’re giving preferential treatment [to Snodgrass], so I myself don’t feel we need to sign an order.”
County Attorney Rod Ponton once again cautioned that circumventing the bid process and signing the order would be “poor governance,” adding, “Giving a sole source contract could cause problems with TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation],” and it “doesn’t look good for the county.”
Bill Macke of TxDOT Aviation advised Ponton via email that “Our staff feel there most likely should be an RFQ [Request For Quotation] put out if an airport sponsor is looking for third party management.”
Guevara pointed out that the commissioners already granted an exemption at the last meeting, and had a workshop scheduled for 2:30pm that afternoon to begin negotiating Snodgrass’ new contract in good faith.
With that, Bentley, who brought the agenda item, asked if no action could be taken, and the order was not signed.
Later in the day, Guevara, Ponton, commissioners, and Snodgrass gathered for an afternoon workshop to discuss contract negotiation points. A heated moment immediately erupted between Ponton and Snodgrass over Snodgrass’ confirmation that he would not be living in Presidio County full time going forward, and would split his time to be in Corpus Christi.
“Are you willing to work at the airports on a daily and weekly basis,” Ponton asked Snodgrass.
“No, I was not hired to work at the airports,” Snodgrass replied. “I’ll be here when needed. I own properties on both sides of the state. I divide my time between those.”
Ponton went on to pursue information on how many other appointed department heads work remotely, but Snodgrass interfered to say, “Judge, call this court to order, has he been invited to speak?” Workshops by the county do not follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
Bentley added that many people have worked remotely during sick leave or other situations, and said, “He’s been very competent, and brought these airports from nothing to what they are now.”
Snodgrass believed that the multimillion dollar grants for the airports can be managed remotely, and that no matter where he lives, he is most capable of seeing the grants through. He also added that some of the grants are actually under the control of County Auditor Patty Roach, so a request for reports on grants at every Commissioners’ meeting by Guevara would actually mean the reports fall under Roach’s purview.
Snodgrass brought forth copies of his proposed contract, and stressed that it was just a starting point for commissioners to look over.
Commissioner Buddy Knight weighed in, “I have a concern and I feel like, if he’s managing the airport he needs to be here quite a bit. I want someone that’s on the ground pretty regularly. One of my concerns is, if there’s an emergency, I want to know that he’s going to be there.”
Snodgrass assuaged the court’s concerns with a final comment. “Rudy [Estor] is the man on the ground. He’s very smart, and I’ve taught him a lot. So I have shifted that role, which was never supposed to be mine in the first place, to Rudy.”
According to FAA records, Estor is the airport manager at Marfa Municipal Airport.
“As far as customer service and aircraft handling and daily upkeep of building and grounds, Rudy takes care of that now,” Son-grass said. “I come to each airport occasionally and make sure everything is okay.”
Under Snodgrass’ oversight, the airport revenue has grown from $30,000 in 2011 to $300,000 in 2018, according to bank statements.
Guevara shifted the subject to lives saved after Snodgrass made it possible for life flights to depart from Presidio Lely International Airport. The results were remarkable. A total 30% of patients transported by vehicle to Alpine, and then the nearest available trauma center would die. With life flights, the percentage dropped to 1%.
According to Snodgrass, roughly 60 people per year are saved through the airport being open to trauma flights.
Again, Guevara moved the contract questions forward, asking, “I know the county has insurance already, I mean countywide, but, are we supposed to ask you to have insurance, too?” Snodgrass said he would procure professional liability insurance, which covers him for errors and omissions. “If I give you advice that’s faulty or errant, I’d be covered for one million dollars.”
The judge asked, “How would we know that a million dollars is sufficient? I mean, $60 million jets fly into our airport, so how is a million dollar insurance sufficient?”
Ponton continued, “To me a million dollars is certainly not enough. The county as a public entity has immunity from lawsuits. Chase as a private entity doesn’t. The concern I have is whether a private entity managing it gives us more liability. I don’t think a million is enough insurance, but I can check with TxDOT and other places that have airport manager contracts.”
Ponton, perusing the contract, added, “One thing I see in there, Chase, about the proposal would be that the county is indemnified for all planes, but for you, you’re not indemnified for all planes.” Snograss quickly fired back, “If that’s something reasonable and common that I should have that in there, then that’s fine.”
The meeting wrapped up with Guevara summarizing that the main concern was figuring out the parameters of insurance that would be needed, and adding an indemnification clause. Ponton would combine the contract that Snodgrass proffered with the information gathered in the workshop, addressing indemnity and insurance more thoroughly. Then the County Attorney planned to run the contract by TxDOT aviation.
“So we might be looking at having it on the agenda for February 20th in Presidio in two weeks,” Guevara concluded.
Commissioner Eloy Aranda asked of Snodgrass, “How often will he be here? How often would you come? Once a week? Twice a week?”
“It’s very difficult to define that,” Snodgrass said. “All I can tell you is that I’ve always been here when I’m needed. If you aren’t happy with it, you can terminate the contract.”
