1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Friday, January 12, 2001 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 23 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 24 LARRY GRIFFIN, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: FREDERICK L. HENNEKE, Kerr County Judge 2 1 I N D E X 2 January 12, 2001 PAGE 3 1.1 Pay Bills 3 4 1.3 Late Bills 6 1.4 Read and Accept Monthly Reports 7 5 6 2.1 Purchase of 8 additional Universe licences for computer system 8 7 2.2 Request that T.D. Hall be approved for position 8 of part-time deputy constable, Precinct 4, effective January 1, 2001 12 9 --- Adjourned 14 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Friday, January 12, 2001, at 9:00 a.m., a special 2 session of Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in the 3 Commissioners Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, Kerrville, 4 Texas, and the following proceedings were had in open court: 5 P R O C E E D I N G S 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. It's 9 o'clock 7 on January the 12th, 2001, and this is a special 8 Commissioners Court meeting. We've got a pretty short 9 agenda here, but there are some things that we couldn't take 10 up -- we are in session -- we couldn't take up at the last 11 meeting, so we'll take care of those now, and the first of 12 those is to pay the bills. And, Tommy is there any input 13 you have? 14 MR. TOMLINSON: No. No, no input. Just -- 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Do I hear a motion to 16 pay the bills? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move we pay the bills. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 20 (Discussion off the record.) 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Motion by Commissioner 22 Letz, second by Commissioner Baldwin, to pay the bills. All 23 in favor -- 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I've got a 25 question. 4 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Are there any comments 2 or questions? 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Great, honorable 4 judge, I have a question here about one of the bills. 5 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: On Commissioners 7 Court, the very last one, a -- the law offices of 8 Charles-something -- Frigerio out of San Antonio for $1,698. 9 I just -- you know, I even pulled the bill, Tommy, and I 10 still don't completely understand this. Is this guy -- it's 11 a lawsuit against our former Sheriff, Mrs. Kaiser, and is 12 it -- is it a federal lawsuit? Is that why this lawyer's 13 from San Antonio, when we can't get up and down the hallways 14 for lawyers here? Why is this guy from San Antonio? 15 MR. TOMLINSON: I'm sure that's -- I don't 16 know for sure, but -- 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Maybe I can answer it. 18 MR. TOMLINSON: If it's a federal case -- 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Isn't that the 20 case -- a violation of his civil rights? 21 MR. TOMLINSON: It's a federal case. That's 22 why it's -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, it's a federal 24 case, so this guy is a federal lawyer? 25 MR. TOMLINSON: He's licensed to practice in 5 1 federal court. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Which we don't have 3 any in Kerrville, so this guy's -- 4 MR. TOMLINSON: Probably so. I think 5 probably we didn't hire him. Probably the insurance company 6 hired him. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 8 MR. TOMLINSON: Just like when we have -- if 9 we have a claim that's covered by public officials' 10 liability, then -- then whoever they want to hire is who the 11 -- is who they hire. We don't have a choice in that. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And I understand 13 federal -- federal courtrooms -- that we don't have many 14 folks around here that operate in federal courtrooms. 15 MR. TOMLINSON: Probably not. Probably not. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And -- but I -- I 17 can't tell that by looking at this thing, so -- 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is there a reason -- is 19 this not covered by our insurance, or is this a deductible 20 portion of our insurance? 21 MR. TOMLINSON: I think we have a $10,000 22 deductible on public officials. 23 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Any further comments 24 or questions? Motion's been made and seconded. All in 25 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 6 1 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: All opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The ayes have it. Do 5 we have any budget amendments at this point? 6 MR. TOMLINSON: No. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Any late bills? 8 MR. TOMLINSON: I have one, and it's -- it's 9 to JI Special Risks Insurance. I have -- we have to send a 10 premium in, and this is the liability coverage on the -- on 11 the fuel tanks for Road and Bridge. And, they won't bind us 12 until we send them a check, so that -- I have -- I do have a 13 bill, so I'd like to go ahead and authorize that check so I 14 can get this paid. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What's the total? 16 MR. TOMLINSON: $2,436. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's a budgeted item? 18 MR. TOMLINSON: Yes. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Two thousand what? 20 MR. TOMLINSON: $2,436. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 23 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Motion's been made by 24 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Williams, that 25 we pay the late bill as submitted. Any comments or 7 1 questions? If not, all in favor, signify by raising your 2 right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: All opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 MS. SOVIL: Larry, authorize a hand check. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: By the way, the motion 8 did that? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes, it authorizes -- 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Authorize a hand 11 check. Okay, motion passes. We do have some monthly 12 reports. Do I hear a motion to accept those? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A motion to accept them 14 and whatever else we do with them. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'll second that 16 motion. 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Motion's been made by 18 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Baldwin, that we 19 accept the monthly reports. Any comments or questions? All 20 in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE HENNEKE: All opposed, nay. 23 (No response.) 24 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The ayes have it. 25 Motion passes. Okay, on to the consideration agenda. Item 8 1 Number 1 is consider purchase of a Universal license for the 2 computer system. Auditor. Tommy? 3 MR. TOMLINSON: Universe is -- is a software 4 that -- that converts the computer language that our 5 software is written in into Universe. It's a 6 conversion-type software. Those are sold individually, and 7 what happens is when we reach the limit of our license -- we 8 have 69 licenses for 69 users. When your number 70 tries to 9 get on the system, they can't get on the system because that 10 70th user exceeds the license that we own. So, what's 11 happening now is that people know that -- that we're at our 12 max, and when they get to work in the morning, they're 13 logging on and staying on all day long. And, there's 14 been -- I mean, it's every day. When -- when I have to get 15 out of the system to help someone to try to fix whatever 16 problem they have, I get out to log into the system, I can't 17 get back on. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How many more do we need, 19 licenses? 20 MR. TOMLINSON: And I know that Paula tells 21 me that -- you know, that she has problems also. The County 22 Attorney's office have called me, the District Clerk calls 23 me. I mean, it's -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Every department. 25 MR. TOMLINSON: -- it's every day. 9 1 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Well, that's an 2 endemic problem with computer usage. 3 MR. TOMLINSON: And, so, we're adding -- with 4 a network, you know, that has brought more users onto the 5 system. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Mm-hmm. 7 MR. TOMLINSON: And, so -- 8 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: How many do we need? 9 MR. TOMLINSON: I would like to try to go 10 eight more. That would be -- they're $445 a piece, and I 11 guess I would recommend that we take that out of 12 Contingency. It is a contingent item. We don't -- we 13 didn't budget for it, so that's -- I think that's the 14 logical place to take that. 15 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We need to make a 16 mental note to budget for that next year, too, because we're 17 going to have more growth, I hope, as time goes on. 18 MR. TOMLINSON: Well, with the use of the 19 network, it's -- people can have more -- more screens active 20 at one time than only one, so that's happened -- that 21 happens, too, is that if -- if they're working with -- with 22 one system, then they can -- they can minimize out of that 23 screen and log on again. So, they can -- one person can be 24 logged on as many times as they want to. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that we 10 1 approve the purchase of eight additional Universe licenses 2 at a price of $445 each, funds to come out of Contingency. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'll second that 4 motion, with a question. Tommy, we have 69 now, and you're 5 requesting eight more. Does that eight cover everybody? 6 Will all eight of those be used, or is there a future here? 7 Or -- 8 MR. TOMLINSON: I look for all of them to be 9 used. I mean, they're -- I try -- I think everybody tries 10 to -- to minimize their use. I think that -- that this may 11 get us through this year, for sure. 12 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: I would also suggest 13 -- well, sorry. Motion's been made by Commissioner Letz and 14 seconded by Commissioner Baldwin that we approve the 15 purchase of eight additional license -- Universe licenses 16 for the computer system. Are there any questions or 17 comments? I have a comment, and that is that we probably 18 just need to make sure we emphasize to all the department 19 heads and elected officials that -- to encourage their 20 employees to log off the system when they're not using it, 21 and don't just stay logged onto the system. Yes? 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Only other comment I'd 23 say is, hopefully, for the future, is budgeting for more, 24 'cause that -- it really affects us bad out at the Sheriff's 25 Office, in a serious way. And, I've even gone around 11 1 personally and logged people off, where we've had just about 2 everybody in the department logged off, and we still can't 3 log back on because, you know, the other departments are 4 using it and full up. And, when we have a dispatcher that 5 can't get on to do the calls and do -- or a deputy can't get 6 on and do reports, it's causing us some severe problems out 7 there on -- on trying to get enough on. So, eight may -- my 8 comment is eight may get us through this budget year, if 9 everybody's real close, but -- 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's what I'm 11 getting at here. We're trying to really go a whole lot more 12 with computer stuff than what the departments -- Tommy, 13 there's another technical question there, too. Is there a 14 way that we can imbed in the mainframe a sign-off -- put a 15 sign-off, an automatic log-out in the event that a -- an 16 account is not used; it's logged on, but there's no entry 17 made for a, you know, specific amount of time? That's 18 usually true in most servers, you can do that. I don't know 19 whether -- 20 MR. TOMLINSON: I'm not sure about that. 21 I -- during the day, I monitor who's on the system. 22 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Mm-hmm. 23 MR. TOMLINSON: And it tells me when that 24 log-on was made, and it gives the day and the time. There's 25 been -- there's been times that I have called to make 12 1 sure -- 2 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: There actually is -- 3 MR. TOMLINSON: -- that they're really using 4 it, because I know that I've -- that there's times I've seen 5 people's names logged on, and then see them somewhere else; 6 I know that they're not using the system. 7 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. 8 MR. TOMLINSON: So, I have the ability to log 9 them off myself. 10 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We need to really work 11 this one out, see what the possibilities are. 12 MR. TOMLINSON: So, I know -- I know there's 13 some abuse. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Motion's been made and 15 seconded. All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 16 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 17 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: All opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Ayes have it. Motion 20 passes. Item Number 2 is consider and discuss request that 21 T.D. Hall be approved for the position of Deputy Constable, 22 Precinct 4, and be entitled to all full-time benefits, 23 effective January 1st, 2001. I understand there may be some 24 change to that? 25 MR. TERRILL: We have a -- Commissioners, we 13 1 have discussed alternatives and came up with what is a 2 workable solution to the other end, is to let Deputy Hall be 3 appointed as the -- a part-time deputy effective 1 January, 4 and that will solve all of our problems, I think. Barbara 5 may have some input on it. 6 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah, and that -- 7 MS. NEMEC: I talked to Mr. Hall, and the 8 part-time status would work out fine with him. 9 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I so move. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 13 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Motion made by 14 Commissioner Baldwin, second by Commissioner Letz, that we 15 approve the appointment of T.D. Hall as a part-time deputy 16 constable in Precinct 4. Any further comments or questions? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Welcome back. 18 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: There you go, hardly 19 gone. All in favor, raise your right hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: All opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Ayes have it. The 24 motion passes. Is there anything else to come before the 25 Court? 14 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I just want to make a 2 comment. When we were talking about the computers, the word 3 "trouble" came up, and Travis walked in the door. 4 (Laughter.) 5 MR. HALL: Thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have another question. 7 Travis, were you interviewed on the radio the other day 8 about the escapees? 9 MR. HALL: That's the other Travis Hall. 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's the one down 11 south. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I wondered. We have a 13 lot of Travises involved in that, somehow. 14 COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: If there's no further 15 business, we are adjourned. 16 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 9:15 a.m.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 15 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, 6 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 7 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 12th day of January, 8 2001. 9 10 11 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 12 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 13 Certified Shorthand Reporter 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25