1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Meeting 10 Monday, January 10, 2000 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: FREDERICK L. HENNEKE, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 LARRY GRIFFIN, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X 2 January 10, 2000 3 PAGE 4 -- Commissioners' Comments 4 5 1.1 Pay Bills 6 1.2 Budget Amendments 9 6 1.3 Late Bills -- 1.4 Read and Approve Minutes 17 7 1.5 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 17 8 2.1 Final Plat, Deer Park Estates, Precinct 2 18 9 2.2 Final Plat, Cedarstone Subdivision, Precinct 4 19 10 2.3 Approve expenditures-bailiff services, J.P. 2 21 11 2.4 Using Grand Jury list for Grievance Committee 23 12 2.5 Bids for Personnel Policies 25 13 2.6 Out-of-city sewer service connections and waive capital recovery fee - Flat Rock Lake Park & 14 Kerrville Youth Baseball & Softball Association 27 15 2.8 Memorandum of Understanding with Hill Country Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse - grant 16 application for Project Follow Me funds 32 17 2.9 Resolution to participate in 216th Judicial Dt. Narcotics Task Force grant application 33 18 2.7 Court order restricting outdoor burning, and 19 procedure for permitting controlled ag. burns 41 20 2.10 Accept/dedicate Great Seal of Texas woodcarving 67 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Monday, January 10, 2000, at 9:00 a.m., a regular 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in 3 the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, and the 4 following proceedings were had in open court: 5 P R O C E E D I N G S 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's 9 o'clock on Monday, 7 January the 10th, the year 2000 -- I got that right -- and 8 we'll call to order this first meeting of the Kerr County 9 Commissioners Court in the Year 2000. Commissioner Baldwin, 10 I think you're up this morning. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: To do -- 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: Prayer and -- 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Dad-gum right. Let's 14 pray. 15 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. 18 (Discussion off the record.) 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: The first order of business 20 today is to inquire as to whether any citizen wishes to 21 address the Court on an item not on the agenda. At this 22 time, if there's anyone who wishes to address the Court on 23 an item that's not on the agenda, please come forward. 24 Seeing none, we will move to the Commissioners' comments. 25 Commissioner Baldwin? 4 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have none today, 2 sir. Thank you. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Williams? 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Just a congratulatory 5 note to some of Kerr County's finest: Ryan Brown, Philip 6 Hawkins, Christopher Leonard, Travis Schrader, and Alan Van 7 Reet, upon the notification of their appointment to United 8 States Service Academies by Representative Smith. This is 9 just a pretty darn good representation of the quality of 10 youth we have in this county. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Did you notice that 12 two of those were Eagle Scouts, recent Eagle Scouts? 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I did. I just wanted 14 to let you make that point. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Two of those were 16 recent Eagle Scouts. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Neat young people. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Letz? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No comments this morning. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Griffin? 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I just wanted to pass 22 my congratulations on to all the employees in the county who 23 had a part in making sure we got through the Y2K non-event 24 as well as we did. Obviously, if you don't do anything and 25 you don't know what -- if you hadn't done anything, you 5 1 don't know what the consequences may have been, but there 2 was a lot of good effort put in on it. We've still got a 3 few things to work out on getting the new system all up and 4 working the way we want it and getting the last of the 5 computers delivered, et cetera, but it was a good effort all 6 the way around, and I think -- please pass on to your 7 employees, if you will, those of you department heads and 8 elected officials who are here, my thanks for all the help 9 we got. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: I'd also like to thank 11 Commissioner Griffin for spearheading the Y2K effort, 12 particularly regarding the computers. It seems to have been 13 a non-event, but in places it was -- I read an article over 14 the weekend that Comal County had fairly significant 15 problems at the beginning of the year with some computer 16 glitches that they had not addressed. So, thank you, Larry, 17 and thank all the people who worked on the Y2K for bringing 18 us through that safely and soundly. Also, I want to thank 19 Franklin and Leonard and the Road and Bridge crew for the 20 work they did on the exit in the middle of Earl Garrett out 21 here. They did it in a fine manner; it's working well, and 22 a minimum of disruption to the activities of the courthouse, 23 and we want to thank them, as always, for their good and 24 faithful service. 25 With that taken care of, we'll move on to the approval 6 1 agenda. Does anyone have any questions about the bills as 2 presented by the Auditor? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move we pay the bills. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 6 seconded by Commissioner Baldwin, that we pay the bills as 7 presented. Does anyone have any further questions or 8 discussion? I have a couple. On Page 4, Tommy, under 9 County Attorney, we have some funds for Kerr County 10 Collections, first item under the last item. Are those in 11 the proper location? 12 MR. TOMLINSON: That's payable to Kerr County 13 Collections; it's reimbursement for some postage that he 14 paid for out of his Hot Check money, and we -- we reimbursed 15 him for it. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: What about the reimbursed 17 conference expense? Is that the same thing? 18 MR. TOMLINSON: Yeah, should be. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: So, that's money they paid 20 out of the Hot Check fund? 21 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: What was the reimbursed 23 expense -- conference expense for? Do we budget for that? 24 I'm not sure that's -- 25 MR. TOMLINSON: Well, that's what that -- 7 1 that's what we're saying. It's -- this is to reimburse the 2 Hot Check fund. He wrote -- he paid for the bill originally 3 out of the Hot Check fund, and we're reimbursing him. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Budget money -- 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Is it a permissible expense 6 out of the Hot Check fund for -- 7 MR. TOMLINSON: I think he can -- yes, it is. 8 He can use that for almost anything except his own salary. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: On Page 6, under the 10 Sheriff's Department, about halfway down, there's -- one, 11 two, three, four, five entries for card services, including 12 two for late fees and -- two for late fees and two for 13 finance charges. I don't understand. What card services 14 are we paying for? 15 MR. TOMLINSON: It was the original Visa card 16 that the Sheriff's Office had. If you'll notice, these 17 invoices were dated 12/10. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Right. 19 MR. TOMLINSON: And that card was not 20 canceled until 12/28. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. So we should see a few 22 more of those, but probably another couple months and we'll 23 be -- 24 MR. TOMLINSON: Probably one more cycle of 25 those. 8 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. All right. 2 That's all I had. Anyone else have any questions or 3 comments? Well, I did have another one. Page 13, under the 4 Administration Unit System. I thought we'd already 5 addressed the Kiplinger Washington letter. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yes, Judge, I forgot 7 to get to you on that. You had -- the first time this came 8 up, you asked me to -- or I said that I would go out and 9 take a look and see how they used it. I did do that. I 10 think it's a very legitimate use of it. They do use it for 11 timing buys of road products and other things based on 12 predicted dips in prices. So, I think they probably save 13 more than $76 for the subscription on using -- sometimes 14 you're going to guess wrong; the price is going to go up if 15 you delay it by -- but I think it's a proper process, and I 16 don't have any problem with it at all. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I think the name -- 19 you know, when you see Kiplinger Newsletter, it -- it sort 20 of conjures up in my brain a different use of that 21 publication, but I think the way it's being used here is 22 very proper. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. If there are no 24 further questions, all in favor of paying the bills as 25 approved and recommended by the Auditor, raise your right 9 1 hand. 2 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 4 (No response.) 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Budget 6 amendments. 7 MR. TOMLINSON: Okay. Number 1 is for the 8 County Clerk in Nondepartmental. I have a bill from Furman 9 Insurance for $780 for insurance policy for the County 10 Clerk. This request is to move $766.65 from Nondepartmental 11 Liability Insurance into that line item. I'm anticipating, 12 with the bids that we got for liability insurance, that 13 there will be enough to transfer -- we'll save enough to 14 make this transfer. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: Does this -- is this an 16 oversight in budgeting that we didn't put enough in the -- 17 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes, I believe it is. 18 MS. PIEPER: It is. Whenever I was working 19 my budget, I called Furman to ask him how much money I was 20 going to need in that budget line item, and he failed to 21 quote this one bond price to me. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 10 1 seconded by Commissioner Baldwin, that we approve Budget 2 Amendment Request No. 1 for the County Clerk. Any further 3 discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 4 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 6 (No response.) 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. 8 MR. TOMLINSON: Okay. The second one is also 9 for the County Clerk, and this is a -- an unexpected 10 expenditure for repair of a ballot machine counter. This 11 request is to move $3,000 from Ballot Expense into Machine 12 Repair. 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: Would that leave us enough in 14 the Ballot Expense item to cover the cost of the ballots? 15 MS. PIEPER: Yes. In March the primary 16 parties will pay for the ballots at that point, and then the 17 next election, which would be in November, would come out of 18 the new budget. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 22 seconded by Commissioner Williams, that we approve Budget 23 Amendment No. 2 for County Clerk. Any further discussion? 24 If not, all in favor -- 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Question. I have a 11 1 question here. Is this the same machine that we repaired 2 last year? 3 MS. PIEPER: Yes, it is. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: For a similar amount? 5 MS. PIEPER: Well, we just had service on it 6 last year. There was no parts that needed repaired. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is this thing fixing 8 to crater? 9 MS. PIEPER: I hope not, but I'm -- 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So do I. 11 MS. PIEPER: I can't guarantee it won't. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This is the optical 13 scanner? 14 MS. PIEPER: It's the optical scanner. This 15 is the same machine that, if one of them gives us trouble, 16 it's always going to be this one particular machine. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Any further questions? 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So moved. Or -- 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's been moved. If not, all 20 in favor, raise your right hand. 21 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Budget 25 Amendment Request No. 3 for the Sheriff's Department. 12 1 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. I have a bill from 2 Office Depot for plain paper fax for $249.99. There's a 3 request from the Sheriff to transfer that amount from 4 Operating Expenses to Capital Outlay. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Did we have a fax machine 6 that went out out there? 7 MR. TOMLINSON: Apparently. I'm not -- I 8 don't know for sure, but I -- that's my surmise. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Second. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What we do have here 12 is a purchase without authority, though. 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: This is correct. If we have 14 a bill without money in the budget, we've had a purchase 15 without authority to do so. 16 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: What is the limit -- 17 there's a dollar amount that has to come to the Court; is 18 that correct? 19 MR. TOMLINSON: No. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: No, this is an unbudgeted 21 expense in the budget -- unbudgeted purchase. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Capital Outlays are line 23 items -- I mean individual items. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Because it's coming 25 out of Capital Outlay. 13 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's been moved by 2 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Griffin, that we 3 approve Budget Amendment Request No. 3 for the Sheriff's 4 Department. Any further discussion? 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It might be 6 appropriate, Judge, if we if clue the Sheriff in on the 7 procedure. He may have been unaware or it slipped his mind, 8 being new on the job. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: I'll be happy to do so. Any 10 further discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right 11 hand. 12 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 14 (No response.) 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Next is 16 Budget Amendment No. 4, Nondepartmental. 17 MR. TOMLINSON: This is our request. This is 18 the result of placing the Sheriff's Department and the jail 19 back on the Courthouse computer system. By adding that many 20 more users to the system -- I explained a little bit to you 21 what -- six years ago, when we originally purchased the 22 system, the current system, we bought 64 licenses of a 23 software called Universe. And, basically, Universe is an 24 internal operating system that translates our software from 25 one language to another. 14 1 With 64 licenses, if -- as long as we have less than 64 2 users using the system at one given time, everything's fine. 3 Once the 65th person tries to log on, they -- they can't get 4 on. That has never -- that has not happened in six years, 5 until last week, when we -- when we finally got everybody at 6 the Sheriff's office online. So, what's happened -- I guess 7 it happened twice. Once the County Attorney's office 8 couldn't get on, and then one time a person in the Tax 9 Office could not get on. So, we can buy -- we can buy these 10 licenses one at a time. My -- my suggestion is to buy five. 11 They're $445 per license, so, I'm requesting that we 12 transfer the total of that, $2,225, from Contingency out of 13 Nondepartmental into Computer Supplies. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So moved. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 16 Griffin. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Second by Commissioner 19 Williams, that we approve Budget Amendment Request No. 4, 20 Nondepartmental. Any questions? 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I have a comment. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is there a reason you 23 can't go with, like, three, and then if we need two more, 24 buy two more? 25 MR. TOMLINSON: We can. I just -- I just 15 1 want to make sure we have enough. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The -- the issue here, 3 too, is that I think we're going to have some -- I think 4 we're going to have some more growth. I think we're going 5 to have at least one or two more. We might as well go ahead 6 and get this set up. And, we need -- if you think about 7 this, this is one of those things where it's a demand 8 system. If you never got over 64 -- even if you had 100 on 9 the system, if you never got over 64, everybody gets on, 10 things work fine. But, the 65th one can't get on, and then 11 66th and 67th, those people are trying to get on at one 12 time. So, I think we're probably going to end up with at 13 least one more hookup here in the courthouse, probably more 14 by the time we get -- when we get the new computers into the 15 District Clerk's Office. I think we -- we probably ought to 16 go ahead and do this so we don't end up with that situation 17 where, you know, we've got to go through this process and 18 have somebody not be able to get online. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I just have a 21 question, Tommy. This is really not computer supplies; it's 22 software licenses, right? 23 MR. TOMLINSON: That's what it is, yes. 24 There's not a line item in Nondepartmental for -- 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The software 16 1 licenses? 2 MR. TOMLINSON: Right. And, I did this this 3 morning. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: And think of this, 5 too. It really is almost a supply; it's like a commodity. 6 MR. TOMLINSON: It is a commodity. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah, it's something 8 you can -- you can choose not to buy, and then you can buy 9 it back and -- 10 MR. TOMLINSON: The -- originally, when we -- 11 when we purchased this, we could only buy licenses in groups 12 of 32 licenses per purchase. They have since changed that 13 and allowed us to buy one at a time. Before now, we would 14 have had to buy about 32. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, any economy of 16 scale for buying more at the same time? 17 MR. TOMLINSON: No. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It is what it is? 19 MR. TOMLINSON: It is what it is, that's 20 correct. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Any further questions? If 22 not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 23 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 17 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Do we have 2 any late bills, Tommy? 3 MR. TOMLINSON: No. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. At this time, I would 5 entertain a motion to waive reading and approve minutes. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I move that. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 9 Williams, seconded by Commissioner Letz, that we waive the 10 reading and approve the minutes of the December 13th, 1999 11 meeting and the December 22nd, 1999 meeting. Any further 12 discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 13 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 15 (No response.) 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: Do I have a motion to approve 17 the monthly reports? 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So moved. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 20 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 21 Griffin, seconded by Commissioner Letz, that we approve and 22 accept the monthly reports. Any further discussion? If 23 not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 24 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 18 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. We'll now 3 move into the consideration agenda. First item is to 4 consider and discuss the final plat of Deer Park Estates, 5 Precinct 2. Commissioner Williams. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This has been before 7 us before for preliminary plat approval. I'll let Franklin 8 explain. It's just a very simple making two lots outs of 9 one. Franklin? 10 MR. JOHNSTON: That's basically it. Very 11 simple plat dividing property, one 2 1/2 acres and one 6 1/3 12 acres, and doesn't involve any roads or infrastructure. I 13 recommend approval. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I move that we 15 approve the final plat of -- final plat approval for Deer 16 Park Estates, which is located in Precinct 2. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 19 Williams, seconded by Commissioner Letz, that we give final 20 plat approval to Deer Park Estates in Precinct 2. Any 21 further discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right 22 hand. 23 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 19 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Next item is 2 to consider and discuss the final plat of the Cedarstone 3 Subdivision, Precinct 4. Commissioner Griffin. 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: This is one that was 5 also seen before in the preliminary stage. I think there 6 may have been -- there are a few changes that Franklin will 7 probably point out for us, but it's ready for final approval 8 also. 9 MR. JOHNSTON: There were several changes 10 from preliminary. You want to talk about the changes? Or I 11 can go over some of them. 12 MR. VALICEK: Well, if you have any other 13 questions or if you -- 14 MR. JOHNSTON: Originally, it had some lots 15 that were not buildable lots that were access-only to the 16 river. Those have been eliminated in favor of an easement 17 to provide that access there, not a lot, so in the future 18 they won't be confused and try to use it for building lots. 19 That was, I think, U.G.R.A.'s concern. 20 MR. VALICEK: U.G.R.A. raised that question 21 and asked us to modify the preliminary plat to confirm -- or 22 to conform to his recommendations, which we did. 23 MR. JOHNSTON: I think there was a concern 24 about setbacks on septic, and there's a report, I think, in 25 your information there that addresses that, written by Lane 20 1 Wolters. 2 MR. VALICEK: Yes, sir. 3 MR. JOHNSTON: About adequate room for 4 setbacks and drainfields. And then there was a concern 5 about number of driveways that TexDOT brought up. I think 6 you've worked that out? 7 MR. VALICEK: Worked it out. 8 MR. JOHNSTON: Multiple driveway system on 9 two lots, and then there was some existing driveways that 10 they -- 11 MR. VALICEK: Yes, sir, two existing 12 driveways. There's one on Number 1, there's -- actually, 13 there's three; one on Number 1, there's one on Number 3, and 14 one on Number 5. And, those will be incorporated into the 15 five permitted or permissible driveways, which TexDOT asked 16 that we include in the subdivision, and we did that -- made 17 those changes. 18 MR. JOHNSTON: Bill Tucker signed off on it. 19 MR. VALICEK: He approved it and everything's 20 okay. 21 MR. JOHNSTON: You have permits on those, 22 right? 23 MR. VALICEK: We will be -- 24 MR. JOHNSTON: Permitted? 25 MR. VALICEK: As they come up. 21 1 MR. JOHNSTON: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I move we approve the 3 final plat. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 6 Griffin, seconded by Commissioner Williams, that we approve 7 the final plat of Cedarstone -- Cedarstone Subdivision in 8 Precinct No. 4. Any further discussion? 9 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I would just like to 10 say thanks to Mr. Valicek and to Franklin. Very cooperative 11 on your part, Mr. Valicek, and it's -- they don't all work 12 this well when there are problems to work out. Some 13 landowners just aren't that flexible, and you did a great 14 job. 15 MR. VALICEK: Thank you. 16 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Thank you. 17 MR. VALICEK: Appreciate it. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Any further comments? If 19 not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 20 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Next item on 24 the agenda is No. 3, consider and discuss approving 25 expenditures for bailiff services for Precinct No. 2 Justice 22 1 of the Peace. Commissioner Williams. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I'm pulling 3 this off the agenda. The issue's been resolved. There is 4 money in the Courthouse Security Fund on the line item for 5 bailiff, and the J.P. is satisfied with that. That 6 satisfactorily resolves the issue. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Could we talk about 9 that just for a second? 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sure. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Would you say that 12 again? That you found money in -- 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The original attempt 14 was to take some money and transfer it from the Courthouse 15 Security Fund that -- the J.P.'s generate that money, and 16 move it over to J.P.'s for the potential of hiring bailiffs. 17 We have since researched it and determined that that's not 18 necessary. There is money in Courthouse Security under a 19 line item for bailiff, and no longer requires the transfer. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. Now, 21 did -- I just want to clear it up; I've been thinking about 22 this all weekend. Did -- did the constable down there serve 23 as the bailiff all the time? 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sometimes. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sometimes. Sometimes 23 1 she hired someone else? 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, sometimes she 3 went without. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Without a bailiff. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Without, more than 6 hiring. I don't know if there are any circumstances where 7 the J.P. hired anybody. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Does -- do we pay -- 9 when a constable serves as a bailiff in the J.P. court, do 10 we pay him above -- 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, that's part of 12 his responsibility. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's part of his 14 responsibilities, okay. Thank you. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: His or her 16 responsibilities. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: His or her. Thank 18 you. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Any further discussion? If 20 not, we'll go on to Item No. 4, consider and discuss using 21 the Grand Jury list for the grievance Committee, per Section 22 152.014(a) and 152.015(a), Local Government Code. Jannett 23 Pieper. 24 MS. PIEPER: Gentlemen, what we need is to 25 get approval to use the Grand Jury list for our Grievance 24 1 Committee. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Second. 4 MS. PIEPER: And then, Judge -- excuse me, 5 I'm sorry. Go ahead. 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 7 seconded by Commissioner Griffin, that we use the Grand Jury 8 list for the Grievance Committee. Any further discussion? 9 If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 10 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 11 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 12 (No response.) 13 MS. PIEPER: Okay, Judge. I have the box up 14 for to you pull the names. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. 16 MS. PIEPER: We normally pull 15. 17 (Discussion off the record.) 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Williams, I'm 19 going to give you the names to read. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We read all these 21 into the record? Is that what we do? 22 MS. PIEPER: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Cecil Plant. Do you 24 want more than the name; you want the address, too? 25 MS. PIEPER: Just the name is fine. 25 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Cecil Plant. Larry 2 Wayne Spillman. Linda Mendoza. Elaine Terrell. Beth 3 LeMeilleur. Randall Stacy Blackledge. Stephen Neal Ackman. 4 Jerry Adams. Roy Douglas Thompson. Tommy Lackey. Sylvia 5 Lewis. Marie Ramona Mousavian. Alejandrina Shackelford. 6 Larry Freeman, and Louis Williams. Fitting that we end on 7 that one. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Is that 15, Jannett? 9 MS. PIEPER: Yes, I believe it is. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Tell us now what will happen 11 with those names. 12 MS. PIEPER: I will send them a letter and 13 they will accept or reject, and then I will submit a formal 14 list to you. 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. 16 MS. PIEPER: Thank you. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. Next item is Item 18 No. 5, consider and discuss bids for personnel policies. 19 Barbara Nemec. 20 MS. NEMEC: Well, I was asked to get a bid 21 for the updated personnel policies, and I think Commissioner 22 Griffin had suggested that we use a binder with the 23 three-hole punch so that we could update it. Well, I 24 obtained four different bids, and I recommend that we go 25 with the lowest one, which is Herring Printing. This is for 26 1 400 personnel policies, and the lowest bid was $1,093.25. 2 And then the binders, the cheapest ones that I could find 3 was through Reliable, and the first 24 were 79 cents, and 4 then thereafter was 89 cents. First they were $1.19 and 5 then I got them for .99, and then Reliable had them for this 6 price, so I -- I did look around. So, the total would be 7 $1,446.85. And, this was something that we did not budget 8 for, and so I asked the Auditor to look and see where, 9 maybe, we could get the funds for it. Did you -- do you 10 have -- 11 MR. TOMLINSON: Contingency line item is, I 12 think, the only place that I can find. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Whose Contingency? 14 MR. TOMLINSON: It's the Nondepartmental. 15 It's a nondepartmental thing, so -- 16 MS. NEMEC: I think it's an expense -- a big 17 expense initially, but I think the idea is great. That way 18 that we can update them and -- 19 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: A page at a time. You 20 don't have to redo the whole thing when we -- 21 MS. NEMEC: Yeah, and we'll probably issue 22 out 300 at the most, and we'll have 100 left over for new 23 hires, so we won't have this kind of expense any more. 24 We'll order, like, 50 at a time from here on out. And, 25 really, from here on out, just depending -- we may be able 27 1 to run them in our office, since we won't have that big of a 2 bulk to do. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I move we approve the 4 expense. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll second. I think 6 it's a good idea, something we need to do. 7 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's been moved by 8 Commissioner Williams that we accept the bid from Herring 9 Printing for the reproduction of the personnel policies and 10 authorize expenditure of $1,446.85 from Nondepartmental 11 Contingency for purpose of purchase of the binders and 12 reproduction of the personnel policy. Any further 13 discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 14 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. 18 MS. NEMEC: Thank you. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you, Barbara. Next 20 item is Item No. 6, consider and discuss requesting from the 21 City of Kerrville out-of-city sewer service connections and 22 waiver of capital recovery fee for the Flat Rock Lake Park 23 and the Kerrville Youth Baseball and Softball Association. 24 Commissioner Letz. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I visited with the City 28 1 on this, and they're aware that this is coming -- I believe 2 it's on their agenda for tomorrow night. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes, it is. I got the agenda 4 this morning. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Basically, the Little 6 League, I guess, probably prompted this to happen right now. 7 They built a new concession stand on the County property, 8 and the -- you know, basically, the County -- the City is 9 requesting the County request an out-of-city limits 10 connection. And, also, they suggested that we request the 11 waiver of the capital recovery fee so there's no expense to 12 Little League to do the tap. At the same time we're doing 13 it, it makes sense to me to do the same thing at Flat Rock 14 Park. We anticipate building restrooms along Riverside 15 Drive, and at the moment there are two, probably, known taps 16 into that new sewer line. I would recommend that we add -- 17 ask for specifically four; an additional one along Flat 18 Rock, which will be another -- I don't know if we'd ever use 19 it or not, but to give us -- so we don't have to go back for 20 another waiver. And, the current -- as I understand, the 21 Little League fields are on a septic system. At some point, 22 I think they would prefer -- I think the City would prefer, 23 probably everyone would prefer to get that off of septic and 24 onto city sewer, as well. The City did request that we 25 request the specific number that we wanted so there was not 29 1 an open-ended number of connections that would come out of, 2 you know -- 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Little League will be 4 a different line than the one on the Flat Rock -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. The Flat Rock 6 would be on the line that currently runs along Riverside 7 Drive, and the Little League's going into the new portion 8 that goes out to the airport. So, I make a motion that we 9 request the City of Kerrville to grant out-of-city sewer 10 service for -- two connections to the Kerrville Little 11 League fields, Kerrville Youth Baseball/Softball 12 Association -- 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Two or three? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two there, and then two 15 along Flat Rock Park. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 17 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 18 seconded by Commissioner Baldwin, that the Commissioners 19 Court request from the City of Kerrville four out-of-city 20 sewer service connections, two for Flat Rock Lake Park and 21 two for Kerrville Youth Baseball and Softball Association, 22 and a waiver of the capital recovery fee for those 23 connections. Any further discussion? If not, all in favor, 24 raise your right hand. 25 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 30 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I might make a note on 5 that, there will be a cost to do the actual connection work. 6 Little League's paying for theirs, and the City -- County 7 would have to pay for that connection to that sewer line. 8 There's just -- the recovery fee is waived. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Right. The next item is Item 10 No. 7, consider and discuss Court Order restricting outdoor 11 burning and -- and the procedure for permitting controlled 12 agricultural burns. This is something I placed on the 13 agenda. We have this morning the Keech-Byrum Drought Index 14 from the Texas Forest Service. As of 1/9/00, the index was 15 at 637, which is in the burn ban range. I'm also conscious 16 of the fact brought up by Commissioner Letz, that there is a 17 necessity for some controlled agricultural burning. What 18 we've talked about doing today is to extend the burn ban for 19 14 days and, at the next Commissioners Court meeting, to 20 bring back a procedure or policy for allowing controlled 21 agricultural burning. Jonathan, do you want to speak to 22 that? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. I -- shortly, I 24 don't know, Joe Franklin may be showing up. And Keith 25 Blair -- I don't know, I believe he may be showing up as 31 1 well. I'd recommend that we -- Keith Blair is with Parks 2 and Wildlife; Joe Franklin's with U. S. Department of 3 Agriculture. And, I recommend that we get those two 4 individuals, who have agreed to work with the County on 5 figuring out a plan -- they both agree that we really need 6 to do some burning this year, but it needs to be done in a 7 very controlled manner and by people that know what they're 8 doing. And, also, we probably should get, in addition to 9 those two, someone from the Forest Service. I'd be glad to 10 work with them to develop an actual plan that is, hopefully, 11 easy enough to work with, but will allow for burning on -- 12 whether it be a coastal field situation or controlled range 13 burning. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: Do you want to defer this 15 right now until -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why don't we defer until 17 10 o'clock, the last item on the agenda, and see if they do 18 show up, 'cause they -- you know, they both are very 19 concerned about us not being able to burn. In fact, I 20 think -- I don't know, one of them said that they're more 21 concerned about us not burning than burning, because we can 22 get rid of a lot of debris that, if we do have a dry spring, 23 it's going to get worse. We're better off getting rid of 24 some of this debris. But they're also very aware that, I 25 mean, people need to have a plan and they need to know what 32 1 they're doing. They are not at all recommending that we do 2 any kind of this -- let people go out and burn brush piles. 3 They need to have a plan on file and know what they're 4 doing, have experienced people there and follow some 5 procedures. 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Let's defer this till we 7 conclude the remaining items. We might even take -- since 8 we have an item scheduled for 11 o'clock, we might even 9 just -- if they're not here, we could reconvene when they 10 get here. Let's go on to No. 8, consider and discuss 11 Memorandum of Understanding between Kerr County and Hill 12 Country Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse as part of a grant 13 application for funds continue the Project Follow Me program 14 for juvenile offenders. This is pretty straightforward. 15 The Project Follow Me, which is a drug and alcohol 16 counseling program offered through the Juvenile Probation 17 Department, is funded by a grant. In order for them to 18 reapply for the grant, they need a Resolution from the 19 County. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I move for 21 approval. 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Second. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 24 Baldwin, seconded by Commissioner Griffin, that we approve 25 the Memorandum of Understanding between Kerr County and Hill 33 1 Country Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse as part of the 2 grant application for funds to continue the Project Follow 3 Me program for juvenile offenders. Any further discussion? 4 If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 5 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Next item is 9 Item 2.9, which is to consider and discuss a Resolution to 10 participate in 216th Judicial District Narcotics Task Force. 11 And, again, as part of their grant application. Any 12 questions about this particular item? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, do I have 14 questions. Oh, good morning. 15 MR. HILL: How are y'all this morning? 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: Good morning. 17 MR. HILL: How are you, Judge? This is 18 our -- our yearly trek to invite participation from all the 19 participating entities. We have to apply for this grant on 20 an annual basis, and this year it's -- I'm not sure which 21 copy of this application cover sheet y'all might have. 22 There was a change made because we thought -- and there's 23 still a possibility that our commander, Tommy Ryno, may 24 retire this year. He hasn't made a decision yet, but since 25 he's been here since 1992, since he's acted as commander of 34 1 the Task Force, the State of Texas, through D.P.S., has paid 2 his salary. If he should retire and a commander is hired 3 who is not a D.P.S. employee, then we were going to have to 4 come up with about $40,000 for a salary for the commander. 5 That's been changed. I'm not sure which copy -- I can't 6 remember if that change was made after -- after y'all got 7 your copies of this application. The total should be 8 $682,748.14. Y'all may have the one that has 700 and 9 some-odd thousand. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 736. 11 MR. HILL: Right. They -- Chief of Police of 12 Kerrville and Tommy Ryno and the City of Kerrville, being 13 the grantee for this project, got together and decided not 14 to ask for a commander's salary. I'm not sure what they -- 15 what they plan on doing. Maybe they already have decided to 16 try to get another D.P.S. commander so that the State can 17 continue to pay that salary. But, anyway, that's a change 18 that's about -- should be about $40,000 less for the total. 19 Based on that figure, the cash match -- of course, we 20 operate -- those of you who may not know, federal government 21 basically puts up 75 percent of our budget, and we have to 22 come up with 25 percent of it here locally. That's broken 23 down between each entity, based on population. So, that 24 means that Kerr County's cash match requirement would be 25 $39,802.82. That's a little bit of an increase over last 35 1 year of about $4,000, I think -- yeah, last year it was 2 $35,232. Of course, that's covered by money that the 3 project has that we call "program income" through seizures, 4 and there's also restitution that's paid by people that 5 we've arrested and convicted that goes into project income. 6 There's money in that, plus Kerr County has two 7 deputies assigned to the Task Force, and their benefits, 8 which are paid by the County, counts against this -- this 9 cash match total that the County's responsible for. So, in 10 essence, the County doesn't have to write out a check for 11 $39,000 to participate in this project. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Bill, are those two 13 slots filled? 14 MR. HILL: They're filled currently, yes, 15 sir. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm uncertain as to 17 what number we're looking at. Are we looking at $736,065, 18 or are we looking at a lesser number? 19 MR. HILL: We're looking at 600 -- excuse 20 me -- $682,784.14 is the total amount that we're applying 21 for. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That would change the 23 cash match, then, also. 24 MR. HILL: The cash match then goes to 25 $39,802.82. 36 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. That's the 2 County's, but the total cash match, which says it's 3 $184,016.28, would be also be reduced if you're taking the 4 grant total down to 682. 5 MR. HILL: Right. The -- 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is that correct? 7 MR. HILL: Total cash match on this figure 8 would be $170,687.04. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, thank you. 10 MR. HILL: There's also a form that should 11 have been in the packet that the County Attorney has been -- 12 I mean, the City Attorney has been working on. I would hope 13 that he would have had it ready long before now, but I think 14 it's supposed to go before City Council tomorrow night for 15 approval, the inter-agency agreement. As y'all know, we 16 were faced with a lawsuit in the past year. I'm not sure 17 how the City Attorney managed to run up a bill, but he did, 18 just to file an Answer to this lawsuit. So, of course, 19 we're trying to figure out a way to make it equitable to all 20 the participating entities, should this happen again. Of 21 course, the lawsuit was dismissed in federal court back in 22 November. But, still, there were some fees that were 23 generated by the City Attorney -- by the City of Kerrville. 24 So, this -- that particular form is not going to be in 25 y'all's packet. So, of course, we've got a deadline of next 37 1 Monday to have this application completed and turned in. 2 It's not going to be complete, so -- because I know y'all -- 3 y'all need to look at that inter-agency agreement once it's 4 approved by the City Council. 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I've got a question 6 here. Maybe -- and I think you just said it, but I somehow 7 missed it. The total grant number went down, the total 8 matching number went down, but the County's matching number 9 stays the same? Is that what I just heard? 10 MR. HILL: That's -- that surprised me, too, 11 that it would be up $4,000 over last year. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: No, what I mean is 13 that between the two pieces of paper, we went from 739 -- or 14 736 down to 682, right? 15 MR. HILL: Right. 16 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The matching funds 17 dropped to 170-something. 18 MR. HILL: To $170,687. 19 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: But why didn't our 20 matching number go down from the $39,802.82? Why didn't 21 that drop some? I would assume that all of them dropped. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They should all drop, 23 so that they total $170,687. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right, because the 25 $39,802.82 is based on the old 736 total grant application, 38 1 and if that's gone down and the total matching cash match 2 has gone down, then all of those numbers on this Project 3 Budget Summary -- all the numbers for the amounts of each of 4 those entities should have gone down a little bit. 5 MR. HILL: You're right, and I'm looking at 6 the old -- the original one, the copy that y'all have, and 7 the only one that dropped was the City of Kerrville. 8 (Laughter.) 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Wonder how that happened. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I rest my case. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Why does that not 12 surprise me? 13 MR. HILL: I'll take that back -- no, I'm 14 sorry, that's the only one that dropped. 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's what I was 16 getting at. 17 MR. HILL: I can't answer that. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Your deadline is Monday, 19 Bill? 20 MR. HILL: Yes, sir. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Is that correct? Why 22 don't -- I think we could approve participation and 23 authorize the County Judge to sign the Resolution with the 24 correct numbers. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: With the numbers 39 1 corrected. 2 JUDGE HENNEKE: Something that I am extremely 3 reluctant to do -- 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So moved. 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- is to sign a Resolution 6 that binds us to an agreement that we haven't seen, 7 particularly when it's being produced by the City Attorney. 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What are you saying, 10 Judge? 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: He wants to look at 12 it. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: The City Attorney's still 15 sitting on the Drane contract for a ground lease out at the 16 municipal airport. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it also goes 18 in -- the City needs to be aware that I think we -- these 19 things are going through the County Attorney for approval, 20 and we need to start getting them. They've got to give us 21 several weeks to let our legal department go through these 22 things and approve them, as well. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right. 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: So, what I'm hearing is that 25 the Court is, perhaps, willing to pass an order -- a 40 1 Resolution approving the submission of grant application for 2 funding, with the right numbers, and you'll get back -- if 3 you get it to me with the right numbers, but we're not 4 willing to go forward on executing an inter-agency agreement 5 at this point. That will have to come back. Is that what 6 I'm hearing? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's correct. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: Do I have a motion to that 9 effect? 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I made one. 11 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Second. 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 13 Baldwin, seconded by Commissioner Griffin, that the Court 14 pass a Resolution approving submission of grant application 15 to the Criminal Justice Division of the office of the 16 Governor of the State of Texas for funding of the 216th 17 Judicial District Narcotics Task Force, and authorize the 18 County Judge to sign the Resolution upon submittal of the 19 Resolution with the correct numbers. Any further 20 discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your right hand. 21 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response) 24 JUDGE HENNEKE: Bill, does that cover you for 25 Monday? 41 1 MR. HILL: That will take care of us, yes, 2 sir. Thank y'all very much. 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Tell Ryno he's the one 5 holding this thing up. 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: At this time, I will go back 7 to Item No. 7, I believe. Jonathan? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. Joe? 9 MR. BLAIR: Keith. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Keith, I'm Jonathan Letz. 11 We already discussed it a little bit. I think the plan that 12 we talked about doing is the -- to go ahead and put a burn 13 ban back in effect for two weeks, and during that two-week 14 period, if we could get, probably, a group, being yourself, 15 Joe Franklin, and a representative from the Forest Service, 16 to get together and come up with a plan, and one of the 17 Commissioners -- probably myself, since I brought it up; 18 that's usually the way it goes up here -- 19 (Laughter.) 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: You got it. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- to develop a plan to 22 come back that would allow agricultural burning where 23 needed, under certain parameters. 24 MR. BLAIR: Right. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This would take place, 42 1 and we would do that at our second meeting in January. 2 MR. BLAIR: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do you have any comments 4 about the need for controlled burns, or -- 5 MR. BLAIR: Oh, sure. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- conditions? 7 MR. BLAIR: Not only from a wildlife 8 standpoint or livestock, but from the hazardous fuel buildup 9 since we haven't been burning. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Keith, could you come up to 11 the podium, please? 12 MR. BLAIR: Sure. I'm sorry. 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: And identify yourself. 14 MR. BLAIR: I'm Keith Blair. I'm with the 15 Texas Parks and Wildlife. I do all the prescribed fire 16 training for Parks and Wildlife, which includes private 17 landowners and Forest Service and all that. Yeah, and we 18 are in a drought, but also there's a difference between 19 prescribed burning and just burning. And I think the 20 Legislature, in fact, in this new Burn Board that they 21 established, finally gave a definition of prescribed burns, 22 and, basically, it has a written plan and it -- you could do 23 it under specific parameters. But, some counties, what 24 they're doing is, as long as the person has a burn plan on 25 file with, like, the N.R.C.S., the Natural Resource 43 1 Conservation Service, then they allow them to go ahead and 2 burn. So, you know -- 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do you think that we 4 could develop a -- a plan that's written that the Court 5 could adopt that would then, you know -- 6 MR. BLAIR: There's certain recognized 7 prescriptions, weather conditions that are in the literature 8 and -- and things of that nature, that could possibly -- it 9 would be hard to say, you know, "This is the prescription 10 you're going to use," but there are a lot of different 11 guidelines. But, I think the main point is -- is having 12 that written plan, you know, on file and -- you know, and 13 maybe within each plan it would identify the prescription 14 for a particular burn. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Would the -- I think Joe 16 probably just came in, Joe Franklin in the back. He's with 17 the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Joe, why don't you come up? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Come on up, too. Do 20 both. I guess what we're looking at, from the Commissioners 21 Court standpoint, is someone that we can look at as an 22 authority or expert, something that we can say, "Tell us 23 when people can burn or not burn." And, they basically will 24 be -- I guess we'll ask y'all's agencies to sign off on 25 these plans, then, so that we can accept them. 44 1 MR. FRANKLIN: Mm-hmm. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is that something that 3 you -- that either the Soil Conservation Group can do or -- 4 MR. FRANKLIN: Yeah, that's something we 5 would work with. And, I'm Joe Franklin; I'm with the 6 Natural Resources Conservation Service. We -- we have a 7 9-page Prescribed Burning Management Plan that we developed 8 with our operators, and it's -- it's ranch- or site-specific 9 for that area that we're going to be trying to burn. And, 10 we look at the -- all the parameters that are involved and 11 help that landowner develop a plan that's going to work for 12 him to achieve his objectives. And, if they're burning 13 under the conditions of that plan, like Keith alluded to, 14 knock on wood, other than an act of God, the -- the fire's 15 probably going to stay where -- where they're planning to 16 burn. 17 Now, there's always some things that may happen, shift 18 in wind direction that wasn't forecasted, other things. 19 But, most of the time, if they're burning under a 20 prescription -- known prescriptions that are safe and -- and 21 followable, then we don't usually have any trouble with 22 people that are burning under a prescription. Where we run 23 into most of the trouble is people that are not following 24 any kind of prescribed burning management plan and are out 25 there burning brush piles or -- or burning in an area that 45 1 they think they can do on their own, and -- and haven't 2 worked with somebody that knows what they're doing. They 3 may light it and go off and leave it, and -- and nobody's 4 there to watch it and see what happens. 5 So, Keith and I both burn during the summertime under a 6 lot worse drought-type conditions than we're under right 7 now, and we're able to -- to control those fires under the 8 management plan that we -- that we have written. So, 9 it's -- it's a doable -- and right now, Keith and I have 10 talked a little bit; we're probably going to be able to kill 11 more cedar right now with these conditions than we would if 12 it were wetter than what it is right now. And that's what 13 most landowners we're working with are trying to do, anyway, 14 is their -- their objective is to kill ash juniper or cedar. 15 And, if you think about it, that's why we have the problem 16 that we have today, is because of the cessation of burning 17 50, 60, 70 years ago. When we quit -- we stopped the 18 burning process, that allowed the cedar to encroach into the 19 areas that we have today. So, that's part of the problem, 20 and our solution is a prescription burning, and that's the 21 most economical tool that landowners have in order to keep 22 the cedar under control. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it sounds, then -- 24 I mean, what we'll do is what we had talked about; is on the 25 next court meeting, bring, I guess, a copy of that plan so 46 1 we have some language as to if people -- if ranchers have a 2 plan to file with the N.R.C.S., that they can burn under 3 those such conditions. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How long does it take 5 to develop a plan, and do they go to you for that plan? Is 6 that what happens? 7 MR. FRANKLIN: Usually, I can develop a plan 8 by -- counting the time to go out and look at the place, 9 within that day, I can usually have that plan developed. If 10 I already know the place and I've already worked with them, 11 it doesn't take that long if I'm -- if I'm already familiar 12 with the place. So, you know, it's something that could be 13 done relatively fast, but it's -- it's a thought process 14 that you need to go through, and that's why we have such a 15 lengthy plan, is so people -- landowners think about what 16 they're doing and -- and make sure that they're going to 17 cover all the bases. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think what we have in mind 19 is a situation where a landowner would come to you, y'all 20 would work up a plan, you'd sign off on it, they'd bring it 21 to the Court, and that act of you signing off on it, 22 bringing it and filing it, would authorize them to burn in 23 accordance with the plan. 24 MR. FRANKLIN: Mm-hmm. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: My understanding is there's a 47 1 real need to burn by the end of February. Is that generally 2 correct? 3 MR. FRANKLIN: Yes. Depending on the spring 4 that we have, we may be able to burn into March, first 5 couple weeks in March. If we have an early spring, which we 6 hope we do, with the -- we hope we get the moisture and to 7 green things up, because people are in such bad shape right 8 now. But, usually about the 15th of March is our cutoff 9 date, depending on the weather. If it starts greening up, 10 we get a lot of winter grasses, then that's going to slow 11 down our burning. If we don't get any winter moisture, then 12 we may be able to go until that second week in March. 13 JUDGE HENNEKE: Larry, you had a question? 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah -- well, it's not 15 a question, it's just -- just a point, particularly for 16 the -- for the public's information. What we're talking 17 about here are controlled agricultural burns associated with 18 ag, livestock, et cetera, and we are not talking about 19 somebody's brush pile or pile of trash that they just want 20 to burn, the folks that we get the phone calls from on the 21 weekends when it rains. That's -- it's not for that. 22 MR. FRANKLIN: We don't have prescriptions 23 for those. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's right. 25 MR. FRANKLIN: Most of the time somebody 48 1 quizzes me about burning, I tell them to find the coolest, 2 grizzliest day you can and light that thing, but we don't 3 have a prescription for burning brush piles, and most of the 4 time that's where the problem lies. 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. And I just 6 wanted to make sure that, as this filters out of the 7 courtroom today, that -- 8 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 9 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: -- that we're not 10 talking about those kind of burns. We're talking about -- 11 MR. FRANKLIN: Exactly. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: -- controlled 13 agricultural burns for being able to plant or to be able to 14 do whatever needs to be done. 15 MR. FRANKLIN: It's for range management 16 practice. It's -- or rangeland improvement, is why we're 17 trying to achieve these burns. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Does the plan that 19 you put together for a farmer/rancher, is that a plan that 20 survives time, or do they have to come back and get a new 21 plan every year or six months? 22 MR. FRANKLIN: Conditions are going to change 23 from one year to the next. We like to start the planning 24 process during the summer if we can, ahead of time. But, 25 everybody's usually busy at that time and they don't think 49 1 about burning until after it freezes and they see that 2 they're going to have enough grass to feed the livestock as 3 well as -- as to burn. So -- let's see, where am I going 4 with this? 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think I understand. 6 You're saying a one-occasion burn. 7 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. It's -- 8 MR. BLAIR: There are different types. 9 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: One season, primarily? 11 MR. FRANKLIN: It's for one season. We'll 12 take a look at the old plan -- if we don't get to burn this 13 year, let's say, we'll look at the old plan, and if things 14 are most -- mostly the same, then we can adjust that plan to 15 meet the current conditions for the next year. But, they 16 are ranch-specific. They're prescription-specific for that 17 particular place. Now, not to say that -- that you wouldn't 18 be burning under the same conditions that Jon would be 19 burning. 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Plans may look alike. 21 MR. FRANKLIN: Plans may look alike. Except 22 for the plan that we have that -- that talks about the 23 general -- general pastures that we're going to be burning. 24 So -- 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is there a cost 50 1 attached to this, or is this a service you provide? 2 MR. FRANKLIN: This is a service we provide. 3 There's no cost at all, except my time. And -- 4 MR. BLAIR: Which is very precious. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Another thing. These 6 plans -- Joe does them for people that are working with 7 the -- the Soil Conservation -- N.R.C.S. Joe's right. 8 These are basically the people that are ranching in the 9 county. If you own 5 acres, I don't think Joe's going to go 10 out there and probably work with them. 11 MR. FRANKLIN: Won't have the time to do 12 that. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm just trying to 14 get a better understanding. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A question that I do 16 have, I don't know if either one of you can answer or not. 17 Under the new legislation that we've been putting the burn 18 ban in, does that give the flexibility for this, or do we 19 have to go back under the old system with the County just 20 imposing a burn ban under an emergency situation? 21 MR. FRANKLIN: I can't answer that question. 22 I don't know. 23 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Let me take a swing at 24 a little bit of that, cause I read through the legislation 25 again this weekend in preparation for this agenda item. And 51 1 we have, I think, a lot more flexibility than we have 2 heretofore -- you know, since that legislation came in, than 3 we have exercised so far. The way I read that, that 4 legislation, you can flip back and forth between one week 5 and we can flip back and forth. The Court has that -- we 6 can say, hey, we don't like what the Forest Service is 7 putting out. We don't think the index is properly 8 calculated or we just don't agree with it, 'cause we think 9 it's wetter or dryer or whatever. And we can say we're 10 going to put a burn ban in even if it's in the green, or we 11 can say, hey, it's wet enough to take the burn ban off. We 12 can do that. And we -- I think -- and I'd like to have 13 everybody review that, and maybe we need to look at it a 14 little closer, but I think we have more flexibility than we 15 have given ourselves thus far. 16 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think we do as far as 17 imposing the burn ban, but the issue Jonathan raises is that 18 if we impose the burn ban using the Keech-Byrum Forest 19 Service Index, we do not have the flexibility of permitting 20 the prescribed burns, where, if we institute the burn ban 21 under the old system, we have the ability to attach 22 conditions to that. What we're talking about is in two 23 weeks, not using the Forest Service -- 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: -- procedure, but going back 52 1 to the previous procedure where we can put conditions for a 2 limited period of time into that limited period of time; 3 then we'll come back and decide whether we need to go back 4 absolute, or continue -- 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I think -- I would 6 agree with that, and I think my reading of it is -- is that 7 we can -- we can use the Keech-Byrum Index as an absolute 8 that we sign up on, both going onto a burn ban and coming 9 off of it, or we can use it as an advisory piece of 10 information, another -- another piece of information that we 11 want to consider when we're considering taking the burn ban 12 off or putting it on. Say, hey, Keech-Byrum looks pretty 13 good. It's a little bit high still, but, hey, we think it's 14 a little bit wetter, county-wide, and therefore -- 15 MR. BLAIR: You've got to use it for what it 16 is. I don't particularly like it, period. I monitor for 17 leaf moisture in cedar, which is what we have mostly, and 18 that tells me how dry it is. And there's certain 19 percentages -- 20 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Will you share that 21 with us? Can you -- you know, the -- 22 MR. BLAIR: Call me any time; I know what it 23 is. It can vary greatly across the county, just because of 24 the different rainfall patterns. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I understand. 53 1 MR. BLAIR: Right now in northern Bandera 2 County, where I live, it's 72 percent, which is perfect for 3 doing a good job with a prescribed burn. Once it gets up in 4 the 80's, gets a little higher, which we've got some 5 counties and some areas that are higher than that, even 6 though the Keech-Byrum says they're at 500 or 600, their -- 7 their cedar moisture is so high, even if we did a burn, it 8 would do no good. 9 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Wouldn't burn 10 anything. 11 MR. BLAIR: So, I think if you use it just 12 for what it is -- I think the more we use it and go through 13 a few years, we're going to see that -- that Keech-Byrum -- 14 Texas is a burning state; it's always burned, and that 15 Keech-Byrum index is always going to be high. 16 MR. FRANKLIN: I think that's right. 17 MR. BLAIR: It's always going to be high. 18 MR. FRANKLIN: And I look at this as a -- as 19 a tool to help you make a decision. I don't -- I don't see 20 that as an absolute. And this is brand-new, like Keith 21 said, and I think we need to kind of tweak it and see how it 22 works for the state -- 23 MR. BLAIR: Right. 24 MR. FRANKLIN: -- before we say this is 25 absolute, this is the way we're going to handle it in Texas. 54 1 MR. BLAIR: It wasn't developed in Texas. 2 It's an old index. 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 4 MR. BLAIR: But, it was not -- 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Idaho or somewhere? 6 MR. BLAIR: Southern United States, and then 7 they moved it, using it in the western United States, which 8 those are all forested areas. And, it works pretty well for 9 them. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I think it works 11 pretty good in east Texas. 12 MR. BLAIR: Yes, it does. 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I notice the index 14 moves around a lot more in east Texas; when they get a 15 little rain, it goes down. 16 MR. FRANKLIN: But most of the time the cedar 17 we're trying to control is about my height or smaller, 18 anyway, and if the ranch owner or landowner has done a good 19 job in managing his grass, we're -- regardless of what the 20 juniper moisture is, if we have enough grass and we can 21 achieve some pretty good flame heights, we're going to kill 22 that cedar, regardless of whether it's wet or dry. 23 MR. BLAIR: The more grass you have, the 24 higher that leaf moisture can be in the cedar and still do a 25 good job. 55 1 MR. FRANKLIN: But the taller the flame 2 length to consume that cedar, which is what we're trying to 3 achieve with the prescribed burn. So, I -- I really do see 4 that as a tool to help you make a better decision. And, in 5 my opinion, that's the way it should be used. 6 MR. BLAIR: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I have a question, 8 going back to your comment about getting it filed with the 9 County. Is the thought process for that just so we're aware 10 of them, or for notification or -- you know, or they're 11 just -- 12 JUDGE HENNEKE: Just so that we're aware of 13 it. I think we discussed that the approval lies with these 14 professionals, not with us. But I think that they not only 15 need to have a copy of the plan, but since we're the ones 16 who are allowing the prescribed burn, we need to have a copy 17 of the plan in-hand as well, just to show that we've 18 followed up with our own process. It's not an approval. 19 It's not -- these guys sign off on it, you know. As soon as 20 the ranch owner gets it to us -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's not an acceptance by 22 the Court of the plan. 23 JUDGE HENNEKE: No. No, it requires no -- 24 that's the way I'm thinking. That's what hopefully we'll 25 bring back in two weeks. 56 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This discussion is 2 very enlightening to me, but how do we address the other 3 burning by these residents of the county? How do we address 4 that? 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: You're talking about 6 burning trash piles and brush piles? 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. This is very 8 likely -- I'm sorry. I really am pleased to hear what I 9 heard. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I think if we 11 want to go out, the only way that I would recommend doing 12 it -- I like to hear what they have to say, as well. 13 Anxious to hear. You know, if you have a wet, cold morning 14 like we -- or a day like we did on Friday, I wish people 15 would burn on those days and get that stuff out of the way. 16 But, as soon as Saturday morning or Saturday noon came, 17 you're getting a pretty high risk burning brush piles, 18 'cause those embers go so far in the atmosphere. 19 MR. BLAIR: Well, see, I burned Saturday, my 20 brush piles around my house. Everything was still wet 21 enough -- the wood's wet -- that nothing was a problem. 22 Now, Sunday, when I got home from church, a lot of people 23 said, "We're going to go home and burn." I said, "Well, 24 you might want to check the weather, because things are 25 changing and they change real fast." You know, it takes 57 1 grass one hour to dry out. That's it, that's all it takes. 2 So, you know, I kind of told them not to do it Sunday. So, 3 yeah, there are good days to do it. 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's difficult to craft an 5 order along those lines. To me, Commissioner Williams, 6 it's -- the prescribed burning we're talking about is an 7 economic necessity. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand that, 9 Judge. I understand that. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: Brush piles and trash piles 11 are a convenience. And, until we're confident that people 12 who don't have the experience in burning -- my benchmark is 13 always the individual who owns 5 acres and lives in Houston 14 and comes up here four times a year. That's my benchmark, 15 unfortunately, on trash and brush piles. You know, are the 16 conditions such that that individual can burn safely? And 17 that may discriminate against a lot of people who live up 18 here and have more experience, but it's almost impossible to 19 craft a policy that -- that effectively discriminates 20 between that experience level. 21 MR. FRANKLIN: It would almost take a daily 22 monitor of -- somebody that's watching the conditions and 23 advising, but how do you get that word out quickly enough 24 before the conditions change? 25 MR. BLAIR: Right. 58 1 MR. FRANKLIN: In order to let them do that? 2 That would be a difficult task. 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: It always rains Friday 4 night when -- 5 MR. BLAIR: Exactly. 6 MR. FRANKLIN: And how long is this drizzle 7 going to last that day? Somebody's got to be experienced 8 in -- in knowing what to look for in order to make those -- 9 those recommendations. 10 JUDGE HENNEKE: The long-range meteorological 11 forecast for the current weather pattern is to continue at 12 least through April. 13 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: I think people need to know 15 that, and they need to know that there's a pretty good 16 chance that there won't be any open burning, unlimited 17 burning for several months. 18 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: Take that into consideration 20 when they're -- you know, taking care of their property, 21 doing their brush, things like that. It's dry; it's not 22 going to get any better for a while. 23 MR. FRANKLIN: Most brush piles will still be 24 there later on when things get better. 25 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: If there's an economic 59 1 necessity not to have the brush pile there -- for example, a 2 subdivision is trying to clear land so they can get the lots 3 laid out and streets put in and all that. They may have to 4 consider hauling. 5 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Or some other means of 7 disposing of the brush on a temporary basis until it can be 8 burned. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commanche Trace buried 10 all theirs. 11 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah, or burying it, 12 which Commanche Trace did. And, that's just a fact of life. 13 MR. FRANKLIN: Right. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We, unfortunately, 15 have to impose that, but the public and businesses that are 16 affected by it are going to have to live with it. That's 17 just the way it is. 18 MR. BLAIR: And, I will say -- the last 19 thing. There are some counties that are -- whether they 20 have the authority or not, I don't know, but they are doing 21 the burn ban by precinct. There can be certain precincts 22 that there is a burn ban, and others that are -- are not. 23 So, I don't know. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How is that 25 determination made? 60 1 MR. BLAIR: I don't know how they're doing 2 it, cause I know they don't have -- 3 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: This says you can do 4 it, but I don't know how they do it. 5 MR. FRANKLIN: Well, let's say in Precinct 4 6 they did get some rain, significant rains, and maybe that 7 Commissioner feels like, you know, things are all right in 8 my precinct and I'd like to -- if y'all would agree, I'd 9 like to lift it in mine. But, you know -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That would be 11 weighted in favor of Precinct 3, 'cause it always rains in 12 Jonathan's -- 13 MR. FRANKLIN: Sometimes too much. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I can -- I know what 15 happens, though, is in that case, you know, if Buster takes 16 the burn ban off in Precinct 1, then I'll get a phone call 17 saying, "Well, Buster took his off." 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Of course. I would do 19 it on purpose. 20 MR. FRANKLIN: I do understand that Gillespie 21 County lifted theirs. 22 MR. FRANKLIN: San Saba. I'm burning 23 tomorrow in San Saba County. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Interesting. 25 MR. FRANKLIN: There may have been enough 61 1 brush here in the Doss community that does a lot of burning, 2 and they've got a fire burning association, so I know 3 they've lifted their burn ban over there. I don't know if 4 temporarily or what, but -- but it's off. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that is what 6 we're talking about, a workable thing that will be safe for 7 the County and accomplish what we need to from an 8 agricultural standpoint. 9 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I think from an 10 agricultural standpoint, this is the right way to go for 11 sure, and I think we -- we need to keep trying to look for 12 the perfect crafting of an order that we would allow the -- 13 I don't know. Maybe the Judge can -- we could authorize the 14 Judge, in an order, to put a 24-hour moratorium on the ban; 15 don't take it off, 24-hour moratorium -- and I'm just 16 brainstorming here, but maybe it's -- he can declare a 17 24-hour moratorium that gets publicized through the local 18 media, or 48, up to 72 hours. I don't know how you craft 19 that, but I think we ought to keep looking for it, see if we 20 can come up with something. 21 MR. FRANKLIN: One service we do provide, as 22 well as the prescribed burning management plan, if a 23 landowner is not comfortable with burning that land on his 24 own under the time constraints that we have, if we have the 25 time, we will go out and help him do that. You know, we've 62 1 got a lot of people in the county that are experienced, 2 and -- and I know who they are most of the time, and I can 3 give them a plan and they're going to follow it, and 4 they'll -- they won't have any trouble. But, if we have 5 somebody that's not real comfortable, if I have the time, 6 I'll go out with them and help them do that and -- and train 7 them on how to get that done safely. 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: While we're 9 brainstorming and while we're in session, so we can discuss 10 it, see, I'm thinking along the lines of something like if 11 we had an order that said that you -- that the Judge could 12 declare 24 or up to 72 hours, let's say, moratorium; not 13 lift, but moratorium, and that he would base his -- you 14 would base your decision on inputs from the Commissioners 15 who were available who could judge things in their precinct, 16 take a look, "Yeah, I think it's enough; we can go 24 hours, 17 anyway." Maybe that's a workable kind of thing that we 18 ought to think about, and I think the law allows that. 19 JUDGE HENNEKE: That's possible. I'd like to 20 look into whether, as these gentleman have suggested, we 21 might do that on a precinct level because of the disparity 22 in rainfall. It rains -- might rain more in Mountain Home 23 than it does in Center Point. 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: And do a moratorium on 25 certain numbers of hours and whatever. 63 1 JUDGE HENNEKE: Per precinct. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We have to also craft 3 in that the ability to get that information out, so you'd 4 have to set it -- if you're going to make that decision, you 5 have to give it about 48 hours before we do it so word can 6 filter. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I'm not sure of that. 8 But the law allows -- I think the law allows that you can 9 take the burn ban off, and I think that what you have to do 10 is sort of like military operations; you have a checklist, 11 and when you notify the Sheriff's Department that Precinct 12 2's burn ban is -- has a 24-hour moratorium, they 13 immediately call -- they have a checklist and they run that. 14 They call the local news media, including the radio 15 stations, volunteer fire departments -- after the media gets 16 taken care of, volunteer fire departments are notified, and 17 that can be done in minutes, and I think you could do it 18 very quickly, and say that the moratorium -- the moratorium 19 expires at a certain date and time, which can be tomorrow at 20 9 p.m. or whenever. So, those are the kind of things. I 21 think we've got the flexibility to do that if we can come up 22 with the crafting of the language to do it. 23 MR. FRANKLIN: You'd almost need to watch the 24 weather, though. If a front were coming in, you sure 25 wouldn't want to lift that ban with a 25 mile-an-hour north 64 1 wind expected within that time period. 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Absolutely. 3 MR. FRANKLIN: Somebody's going to have to 4 watch the weather and know that we're not expecting 5 something. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: If we did it at the 7 precinct level, I guarantee you, Precinct 4, I'd look at it 8 very carefully before we put a moratorium on the burn ban 9 with conditions like we have now. If you've got a front 10 coming in, then -- forecast, you probably hang off; you just 11 wouldn't do it. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Also, I mean, I don't 13 know if you know from flying, but you can call the Forest 14 Service and they can pinpoint very -- almost hour-by-hour. 15 I mean, it's still a forecast, but for a short period of 16 time, almost 24 hours, and -- I mean, I wouldn't recommend 17 going off the Weather Channel. 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: No. 19 MR. BLAIR: Well, they're getting -- more and 20 more of the information is on the Internet. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 22 MR. BLAIR: And even if you look at -- you 23 know, there's about 30 different sites you can get weather 24 for Kerrville, but if you go back to the National Weather 25 Service site -- 65 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 2 MR. BLAIR: -- that's where every single 3 forecast -- no matter what company is doing it, that's where 4 they get their forecast, so that's generally where we go 5 straight to the source. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Right. 7 MR. BLAIR: And, we can also call them, too. 8 And they now have fire weather forecasters at most of their 9 big sites. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, it's something that I 11 think all of the Commissioners could have a relative comfort 12 level from calling the -- you know, the National Weather 13 Service and get an idea if they -- if it comes down to the 14 Commissioner making decisions for their precinct, it's not 15 just a look -- you look up at the sky and turn on the TV. 16 There's a lot more information available. 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: There is. There's a 18 lot more. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It will help you, and 20 they'll tell you that, hey -- you know, say you have to 21 call; you're doing controlled burns. They'll say, you know, 22 they think it's going to do this, but it may do this. 23 They're -- be careful, something's coming that's kind of 24 strange. They're humans; they understand that -- the 25 problems. 66 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: This has been very 2 enlightening -- I would second what Commissioner Williams 3 said, very enlightening, and thanks to both of you guys for 4 coming in. This is -- this is the kind of discussion we 5 need to have with pros that know what they're doing, to 6 maybe better approach how we do burn banning and burn 7 controlling all over the County. 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: What we need now is a motion 9 to continue the Texas Forest Service absolute burn ban for 10 two weeks, at which time it's our understanding that we'll 11 be back to talk about a policy allowing prescribed burns for 12 agricultural purposes, and we're going to look into the 13 issue of how we can be more flexible. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Second. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And, Commissioner 17 Letz, you're going to automatically be our representative? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll be glad to. I'll be 19 glad to on this one, 'cause I don't -- I have a vested 20 interest. 21 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner Letz, 22 seconded by Commissioner Griffin, that the Court extend the 23 Texas Forest Service absolute ban based on the Keech-Byrum 24 Drought Index until -- 14 days -- until January 24th, 2000. 25 Any further discussion? If not, all in favor, raise your 67 1 right hand. 2 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 4 (No response.) 5 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carried. Keith, Joe, 6 thank you very much for your time. 7 (Discussion off the record.) 8 JUDGE HENNEKE: At this time, unless we have 9 anything else to come before us, we're going to recess until 10 11 o'clock, at which time we have a scheduled agenda item. 11 So, we'll be in recess until 11 o'clock. 12 (Recess taken from 10:20 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.) 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: It's 11 o'clock on Monday, 15 January the 10th, Year 2000, and we will reconvene this 16 regular session of Kerr County Commissioners Court. The 17 item that's posted for attention at this time is to consider 18 and discuss accepting and dedicating to the people of Kerr 19 County original woodcarving of the Great Seal of Texas and 20 Kerr County by the Reverend Wayne Jarvis of Kerrville. 21 Commissioner Williams? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you, Judge. 23 It's a real pleasure to be able to introduce this agenda 24 item and the action we're taking today. The idea for a 25 large replica of the Great Seal of the State of Texas and 68 1 Kerr County originated, believe it or not, under Judge Stacy 2 and his court. And, for whatever reason -- he would know 3 better than I -- the idea -- the idea didn't take wing and 4 go anywhere. So, we resurrected the idea when I heard about 5 it, took another look at it, and the Commissioners talked 6 about it at one time, and we decided that maybe the better 7 way to go was to get sponsoring organizations and 8 individuals to participate with us in this -- in this 9 project. 10 We talked it out. Wayne Jarvis, our artist, was of a 11 mind to want to do this and to carve -- and to do this 12 woodcarving. It had been an idea of his, as well, to be 13 able to do something like this to showcase his talent and 14 his work and something that would be for years to the 15 benefit of the people of Kerr County, and a worthy 16 wallhanging to adorn this particular courtroom. So, Judge, 17 I'd like for you to invite our artist up, Reverend Wayne 18 Jarvis, who's a retired Lutheran minister, and let me say a 19 little bit about it, and then we can get Wayne up here and 20 we can unveil it and go from there. 21 Wayne is a retired Lutheran clergyman. He began 22 carving in 1978. He's a mostly self-taught artist, and he 23 has studied with master carver George Keilhofer in 24 Frankenmuth, Michigan, and other famous woodcarvers. Most 25 recently, Wayne went to Austria to study with a master 69 1 carver at the Geissler-Moroder Woodcarving School. He has 2 done several types of carving, mostly realistic human busts 3 and figures and animals, but has done relief and chip 4 carvings, as well. 5 Wayne has won numerous awards for his works at 6 woodcarving shows across Texas and New Mexico, including two 7 Merit Awards out of the six given at the recent Texas 8 Woodcarvers Guild competition in Waco. In 1992, he carried 9 home a blue ribbon from the International Congress of 10 Woodcarvers in Davenport, Iowa. He has served three years 11 as president and two as vice president of the Texas 12 Woodcarvers Guild, and is a member of the National 13 Woodcarvers Association, the International Congress of 14 Woodcarvers, and the Texas Woodcarvers Camping Club. He was 15 instrumental in starting the Kerr County Carvers Club in 16 1992, and has been named president -- vice president of that 17 organization. For the past 20 years, he has taught carving 18 to youth and adults at the Lutheran summer camps and at the 19 Texas Woodcarvers Guild seminars at Ladybird Johnson Park in 20 Fredericksburg each April for many, many years. He has been 21 asked to teach at the Southwest School of Art and Craft in 22 San Antonio next month. 23 I think it's important to note who contributed to 24 making this possible. The organizations and elected 25 officials and individuals whose contributions made this gift 70 1 of the seal to the people of Kerr County include Kerrville 2 Host Lion's Club, Hill Country Airborne, Disabled American 3 Veterans, Chapter 8, American Legion, Post 208, Gene 4 Ritchie, County Judge Fred Henneke, County Treasurer Barbara 5 and Ed Nemec, County Commissioner Bill and Lew Williams, 6 County Commissioner Larry and Sandy Griffin, County 7 Commissioner Jonathan Letz, County Commissioner H. A. 8 "Buster" Baldwin, County Clerk Jannett Pieper, County Tax 9 Assessor/Collector Paula Rector, County Attorney David 10 Motley, and District Court Clerk Linda Uecker. 11 Judge, that's all I want to say. If you bring Wayne up 12 here, we can do this, unless we require some action or 13 something. 14 JUDGE HENNEKE: We don't have to take action 15 on this. Mr. Jarvis, why don't you come forward while we do 16 what we need to do. At this time, I'd entertain a motion to 17 accept the Great Seal carved by Mr. Jarvis and dedicated to 18 the people of Kerr County. 19 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So moved. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'll second that 21 motion. 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: Moved by Commissioner 23 Griffin, seconded by Commissioner Baldwin, that the Court 24 accept the woodcarving of the seal of the great -- the Great 25 Seal of Kerr County, Texas, and dedicate it to the people of 71 1 Kerr County. Any further discussion? If not, all in favor, 2 raise your right hand. 3 (The motion was carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, same sign. 5 (No response.) 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Motion carries. Mr. Jarvis, 7 thank you. 8 MR. JARVIS: My pleasure. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: Do you want to tell a little 10 bit about how you came on the design, how this came about? 11 MR. JARVIS: Well, it -- it's been kind of 12 fun doing it. And, I looked at a lot of the designs that 13 are in the courthouse here, and finally we got -- got the 14 State Seal from -- from the State of Texas and then added 15 the "County of Kerr" underneath it. And -- and it -- it's 16 been a pleasure and -- and a wonderful experience for me to 17 be able to do this, and I appreciate the opportunity. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: We thank you for your talents 19 and your gift. It's a wonderful thing you've done for all 20 of us here in Kerr County. Commissioner Williams, who are 21 we going to have unveil this? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I would suggest the 23 County Judge and the artist do that, and the others of us 24 will watch. 25 JUDGE HENNEKE: Move that chair back, Wayne. 72 1 (Woodcarving was unveiled.) 2 (Applause.) 3 JUDGE HENNEKE: Very, very nice. 4 MR. JARVIS: By the way, all of this is 23 5 karat gold leaf on the -- on the seal. 6 JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, thanks again to you for 7 your -- your artistry and your talent. 8 MR. JARVIS: Thank you. My pleasure. 9 JUDGE HENNEKE: We greatly appreciate the 10 gift. Thanks, Commissioner Williams, for coordinating, to 11 the Host Lions, to the Airborne, and all those people who -- 12 the D.A.V. and the American Legion, all those people who 13 participated in bringing this project to fruition. Judge 14 Stacy, we thank you for the original idea, and -- and we 15 finally got around to doing something right, didn't we? 16 (Laughter.) 17 MR. STACY: Every once in awhile. 18 JUDGE HENNEKE: Compliments of the Hill 19 Country Airborne, there are refreshments outside. Please 20 feel free to come and look at the seal, and stay and have 21 some sandwiches and cookies and other goodies. If there's 22 no other business to come before this august body, we stand 23 adjourned. Thank you all for coming. 24 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 11:10 a.m.) 25 - - - - - - - - - - 73 1 STATE OF TEXAS | 2 COUNTY OF KERR | 3 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 4 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 5 County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, Texas, 6 at the time and place heretofore set forth. 7 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 12th day of January, 2000. 8 9 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 10 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 11 Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25