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Bullard City Council discusses incoming nursing home options

Jacksonville Daily Progress - 5/10/2018

May 10--The Bullard City Council met Tuesday evening to discuss a proposed nursing facility coming to town. Gary Traylor, with Traylor & Associates, came before the council to discuss the plan.

Bluebonnet Point Wellness is seeking to build a 118-bed facility near the intersection of FM 344 and Highway 69, in the Heritage Springs subdivision. This "skilled nursing facility," as Traylor described it, will have a very high worker-to-patient ratio and will create close to 100 jobs. It would also serve not only as a nursing home, but as a rehabilitation center. Traylor also said there are talks to add a wing for dementia and alzheimer's patients, but this has not been confirmed yet. The wellness center would service Bullard, but also the many people living in unincorporated areas between the city and Tyler.

The main issue, according to Traylor, is that the property the nursing facility would be built on needs water, sewage and street access. The construction of the facility itself would also be an expensive endeavor. As such, Traylor proposed the city apply for a $1,000,000 grant with the Texas Capital Fund Program.

"Within the state of Texas, and particularly in rural Texas, healthcare projects are greatly emphasized under this program because they not only provide essential healthcare for rural communities but they're also a major economic development driver," Traylor said.

He also explained that all the applications received by the Texas Capital Fund Program are graded on a "point scale" to determine which applications will receive money. To even be considered for a grant, Traylor said an application needs 45 points. This proposal for Bluebonnet Point Wellness is at 65 points, he said.

After some discussion, the council agreed the application should be turned in, and work on improving the proposed site for the center should begin as soon as the application is approved. The council also approved Traylor & Associates for "grant administrator services" for the application. KSI Engineers, Inc., was also approved for surveying the proposed job site.

Other items covered in the agenda included:

An ordinance denying a request by Oncor Electric for authority to change rates;

Approval of of CenterPoint Energy's proposed rate increase (annual GRIP adjustment) effective May 28;

Various changes to the Code of Ordinances;

Ratification of an outdoor light agreement with Cherokee County Electric Cooperative Association;

The purchase of a DMV interface module from Incode for processing warrants for the Scofflaw Program;

Authorization to publish a list of outstanding warrants on Bullard's website, unless otherwise found to be illegal to do so;

Reappointment of Jeanie Dark, Mistie Sadler and Jeff Smith to two year terms in BEDCO, and the appointment of Shane Neely to BEDCO; and

The scheduling of a council meeting on Monday, May 14 for the purpose of swearing in members of the city council to a new term.

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(c)2018 the Jacksonville Daily Progress (Jacksonville, Texas)

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