d3~oog1. l o 1~~D COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REQUEST PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND TEN (10) COPIES OF THIS REQUEST AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT MADE BY: Jonathan Letz, Pct. 3 OFFICE: County Commissioner MEETING DATE: March I0, 2008 TIME PREFERRED: SUBJECT: Consider, discuss and take appropriate action on enforcing Kerr County Subdivision Rules and Regulations on several property subdivisions along Wilson Creek Road concerning property sold by Richard Bohnert, et al to various individuals and some remaining unsold tracts; and discussion of related issues concerning the right-of-way along Wilson Creek Road. EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: (PLEASE STATE REASON) NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT: Comm. Letz ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: IF PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE: Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in accordance with Title 5, Chapter 551 and 552, Government Code, is as follows: Meeting scheduled for Mondays: 5:00 PM previous Tuesday THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY: THIS RQUEST RECEIVED ON: @ .M. All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court Meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards your request being -'' addressed at the earliest opportunity. See Agenda Request Rules Adopted by Commissioners' Court. Page 1 of 2 Jonathan Letz From: Jonathan Letz [ccr@hctc.net] Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:43 AM To: Richard bohnert; Henry Bohnert; Gary Simpkins; Bryant Williamson; John Merritt Cc: Rex Emerson Subject: Wilson Creek Road Gentlemen, I have received emails and / or phone calls from you in response to a letter you received from Kerr County Road and Bridge Department dated, January 28, 2008; and concerning road work currently underway on Wilson Creek Road. These two issues are not related and will be discussed and handled as separate issues. First, concerning the letter you all received from Kerr County Road and Bridge Department, dated January 28, 2008. This letter was sent at the direction of Kerr County Commissioner's Court based on the advise from the Kerr County Attomey and discussion with the Kerr County Subdivision Administrator conceming an easement request from Hill Country Telephone Cooperative. This decision was based on information obtained from Kerr County Real Property Records, that included deeds and surrey plats, Kerr County Subdivision Rules and Regulations and other information contained in our files. It was determined that the property subdivisions referred to in the above letter violated Kerr County Subdivision Rules and Regulations and State Law. I visited with County Attomey Rex Emerson again on February 12, 2008 and his opinion has not changed. I have no problem recommending you have some time to decide how best to correct this violation. Neither I nor any other Kerr County officials or employees have ever said or implied that this was done intentionally. It appears some miscommunication may have been a factor in this situation. However, until this issue is resolved any property transfers, applications for On-Site Septic Facilities or other county related permits may be delayed. '`` Please, contact me by the end of February and give me an update. This issue must be resolved and in the interim HCTC's fiber optic plans will likely be delayed in your area. The project to improve and reconstruct Wilson Creek Road has been underway since last year. This project was under taken to improve health and safety concems along Wilson Creek Road. With new subdivisions being developed and additional homes built the truck and car traffic has increased on this road. The area where the construction is currently taking place has greatly changed in the recent years largely due to the development of this property by Richard and Henry Bohnert. Within this area Kerr County has received additional right-of way and there are now additional traffic and drainage concerns. The majority of this property has now been fenced along Wilson Creek Road. The three cattle guards that were removed were part of this overall road improvement project. The cattle guard removal was not related to the subdivision platting matters addressed above. Based on my conversations with Kerr County Road and Bridge Department administrator, there are no plans to re-install the cattle guards that were removed. I concur with this decision. If you would like the Commissioner's Court to review this matter I will place this item on the Commissioner's Court agenda and you may present your case. While the county is not required to consult with adjoining property owners during construction projects, I do believe more could have been done to keep you informed. Hence, I would like to apologize on behalf of Kerr County for any inconvenience this may have caused. I believe there is some misinformation and misunderstanding as to "open range" law in Kerr County. The mere fact that a cattle guard is on a road, especially a county maintained road, does not mean there is necessarily "open range." Further, such a designation does not relief the livestock owner or property owner of liability or responsibility for their livestock. The designation of "open range" does not primarily relate to road issues, but rather whether a livestock owner must "fence in" or "fence out" their livestock. A review of records has not provided a conclusive determination of "open range" for this area of Kerr County. Texas stock laws and "open range" issues are very complicated and are based on local elections held in the late 1800's and early 1900's within the county and each election covered only certain types of livestock. err I will be glad to meet with you collectively or individually to further explain the subdivision platting violation, the Wilson Creek Road project or "open range" issues. If you have any questions, please contact me at your 3/4/2008 Page 2 of 2 convenience. My cell phone is (830) 739-1699, office 792-2216 and home 995-2120. Your truly, Jonathan Letz Kerr County Commissioner Pct. 3 3/4/2008 Page 1 of 1 Jody Grinstead ``r~ From: Jonathan Letz [ccr@hctc.net] Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:05 AM To: 'Jody Grinstead' Subject: FW: Cattle Guard removal Jody, this is another backup for the Wilson Creek agenda item. Thanks, Jonathan From: richard bohnert [mailto:rbohnert@hctc.net] Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:32 PM To: Johnathan Lets Cc: Bryant Williamson; Gary Simpkins; Henry Bohnert; John Merritt Subject: Cattle Guard removal Johnathan, Just a note for record to let you know that I found out the Simpkins and Williamsons were not informed about the cattle guard removal as I was told by Douglas Koennecke. It is a shame that the people who work for our county and should have the people and landowners best interest at heart don"t. There was no respect shown to anyone of the land owners, and no time to get fences built. All of the other entities who have easements on/accross our propery have always called to inform us of changes/repairs and asked permission to leave equipment on our property. The landowners are willing to help out and work with all entities when approached with respect and there is a justified reason for repair/change and will be to the benefit of all, including the ones affected by it the most. All of this could have been prvented very easy. When the cattle guards are replaced with side fencing and Henry and I have had time to sit down and go over the road ~r+uation, Henry or I will contact you and let you know our decision. It will not include platting, as according to the county rules we did not violate a rule as written in the rules book I purchased in 2004 when we started to list property for sale on Roane Rd at that time, which is now Wilson Creek Road. Trubie Hardin, Franklin Johnston, and I discussed this in detail and everything was fine at that time. Lee Voelkel also visited with Trubie and others at the Road and Bridge Department. He did the surveying and field notes in compliance with Kerr Co. rules. If something was done in error it was not purposely done on our part nor do I think Trubie or anyone else did any wrong doing in order to cause problems later, therefore I request Kerr County Road and Bridge personell, and any Kerr County Officials involved and you to have patients with us and allow us ample time to decide what will be the best decision for us and the people who have purchased land from us as they will also be affected by the decision. You may contact me at my emial address:rbohnert@hctc.net Sincerely, Richard Bohnert 03/06/2008