Karnes City officials heard from a county resident who wants to open a mental retardation facility in the city during their January 23 meeting.

Jim Harrell approached city leaders, requesting their support, but was met with questions from local school officials and the community. The city meeting room was packed with about 25 concerned residents.

All of them attended to have a say in Harrell’s idea of turning the old hospital building into a place that cares for children with mental disabilities.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions in our minds," Karnes City ISD Superintendent Eli Casey told council members. "It’s not clear to me what exactly will be the responsibility of the school district."

Casey’s main concern was whether the facility would provide its own education, or would send their kids to Karnes City schools to be educated. The influx of students with special needs would potentially create a large financial burden on the district, Casey said.

Karnes City ISD currently provides special-needs children with their education through a co-op program. They all share in the responsibility with several other schools because special education teachers are expensive and hard to find, Casey told Harrell, adding that the state doesn’t provide any extra funding for educating the mentally disabled.

Harrell also faced questions about security, seeing as his planned facility is located near a heavy residential district. Some parents attending were concerned his patients may pose a danger if they run away from the grounds.

"I think what you’re trying to do is great, but as someone who lives next door with little bitty kids, I am concerned," local resident Diane Dziuk said.

Harrell assured her the site would take security into account.

"We would privacy fence (the property) — not to isolate, but to provide a barrier, if you will," Harrell said.

He also added the building would have alarms on the doors that would alert care staff when anyone entered or exited the building. The kids, he said, aren’t going to want to leave, though.

"It’s going to be the first stable environment they’ve had in a long time," he told the crowd.

Karnes City Mayor Don Tymrak got straight to the point after Harrell answered several questions. He asked him straight out what he would like from the council and community.

"We want some people on our side," he responded.

Harrell said he’s not going to bring the facility into a town where it’s not wanted. His main objective at the moment, he told everyone, is to answer questions and garner support for the facility, which could bring around 25 new jobs to the area.

Those jobs will pay more than minimum wage and will be available to anyone in the county with a basic high school education, Harrell said.

Tymrak told Harrell to first get the support of the school, then return back to the city for their endorsement.

Council members also heard from local resident Alger Kendall, Jr. later in the meeting. He came requesting a variance to allow him to disconnect from city sewer services and install a septic tank on his property.

The request came after years of negotiation and a lawsuit with the city over sewer that periodically backflows onto his property.

"This has caused immense worry and concern," Kendall told council.

He said the he appreciates the city trying to correct the problem, but, to relieve his household’s own personal worry and stress in the matter, he would like the city to grant him the option to install the septic tank.

Pippen said he believes the improvements to the area are solid and that installing a one-way backflow prevention system will add even more protection. He added, though, that he could not give anyone in the city a 100 percent guarantee their sewer would not back up.

Tymrak said he understood Kendall’s worry and stress over the problem, but told him the mental health of residents isn’t a concern when it comes to making good business decisions.

Jimmy Loya, Sr. made the motion to reject the request and, after about 10 seconds of silence, Leroy Skloss spoke up and gave the motion a second. All five council members voted unanimously to deny the request.