1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Session (Continued) 10 Wednesday, October 15, 2003 11 11:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge 23 H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 24 DAVE NICHOLSON, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 2 1 I N D E X October 15, 2003 2 PAGE 3 1.15 Authorize and approve new positions and job descriptions for the O.S.S.F. program 3 4 Motion to approve positions, set salaries 37 5 Motion to transfer Code Enforcement officer 6 to Environmental Health Department, have him report to new Manager/Field Representative 41 7 Motion to authorize three new positions 43 8 Adjourned 45 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 11:00 a.m., the regular 2 October 14, 2003, meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners 3 Court was continued in the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr 4 County Courthouse, Kerrville, Texas, and the following 5 proceedings were had in open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE TINLEY: I will reconvene the 8 Commissioners Court meeting. It's Wednesday, October the 9 15th, at a few minutes after 11:00. I apologize for being 10 somewhat late; the reporter and I were holding mental health 11 hearings away from the courthouse. We recessed at 12 approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the 14th of October, to 13 be reconvened today at 11 o'clock, so I will call -- call 14 the meeting back to order. There were two items, or at 15 least two items that were not fully considered, on the 16 agenda. One was Item 15, consider and discuss authorizing 17 and approving new positions and job descriptions for the 18 O.S.S.F. program, I believe is the first one. 19 We have been furnished a memorandum from the 20 County Treasurer, who's also the personnel officer, with 21 some proposed drafts of the job descriptions for 22 Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Environmental 23 Health and Safety Field Representative, and Environmental 24 Health and Safety Administrative Assistant. I apologize, I 25 just now received my copies. I understand you gentlemen 10-15-03 4 1 have been working on y'all's for a while. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And "a while" is a 3 relative term? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Rather than the last 30 6 seconds, it's a good while longer, I would suspect. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I might also note that a 8 job description for the Code Enforcement Officer that 9 currently is with the Maintenance and Facilities is also 10 included because of our discussion, I believe, of combining 11 that position in with the Environmental Health Department. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: You are correct. I omitted 13 that one. It's here and it was before me; I just didn't see 14 it. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Want to start at the 16 bottom and go up? Top down? Middle and sideways? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Go any direction you desire. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Manager? I see 19 Commissioner 4 making lots of notes over here, so I'm 20 probably going to defer to him. I think he's been looking 21 at them the longest. 22 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Couple -- 23 JUDGE TINLEY: How long might that be, by the 24 way? 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Thirty minutes, sir. 10-15-03 5 1 JUDGE TINLEY: That's longer than a smidgeon. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh. 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: A couple of general 4 observations that might put us on track. I think we can 5 work with these job descriptions. I see some changes that 6 I'd like to see made. And the task, I think, in addition to 7 the -- to agreeing on the job descriptions, is to decide how 8 we're going to go about advertising these jobs, and so, 9 basically, I've got a question of the Court. If we -- if we 10 agree on the content of the job descriptions, then can we 11 just condense those job descriptions into a -- a posting or 12 advertisement similar to the one you see here? The one -- 13 the one I've shown the Court is a classified ad that was 14 used by the U.G.R.A. when they filled the Field 15 Representative 1 job, and it's quite similar to the 16 Manager/Field Representative job we have. So, my question 17 is, if we get agreement on the job descriptions, specific 18 content of them, then can we just proceed to -- to make them 19 more concise and prepare advertisements? Or does that take 20 a -- the specific language of the advertisement take a 21 second action of Commissioners Court? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would think that once 23 we authorize the positions, it's automatic that we can 24 advertise for them. Is that correct, Barbara? 25 MS. NEMEC: Yeah, you can -- you can 10-15-03 6 1 advertise for it and put whatever language you want in 2 there. 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That will make our 4 work a lot easier. Do you want to just start on the -- the 5 top job, and -- 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Manager? Sure. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: First -- first point 8 I would make, and I think this is what direction we've been 9 going, is that we -- we want to see some -- a culture where 10 there's cross-training and ability of these functions to do 11 each other's job. And I'm suggesting the title of this job 12 should be Manager/Field Representative, and that we add some 13 words into the duties and responsibilities that acknowledge 14 this, and they would be something like, "Performs the duties 15 of the field inspector" -- field representative or 16 inspector, whatever we want to say, "or the Code Enforcement 17 Officer when needed in order to handle the mission of the 18 department in an efficient and effective way." So, one more 19 sentence in the duties and responsibilities that 20 acknowledges that he's -- he or she is going to also perform 21 the duties of the field representative. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. Just a 23 question on getting these finalized, because of the time 24 crunch. Thea, do you have these on your computer? Barbara, 25 can you e-mail them so they are up here? So -- so maybe, as 10-15-03 7 1 we can get it to Thea, she can make the changes. Or is it 2 easier for you to take it back to your office to get the 3 adjustments made? 4 MS. NEMEC: It's probably easier -- I have 5 one on the computer; I can do them real quick now that 6 they're in there. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 8 MS. NEMEC: It's a Descriptions Now program, 9 and that's why I wasn't able to e-mail them to you 10 yesterday, is what I was told. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Why don't we just 12 go through them all, give them to Barbara? 13 MS. NEMEC: Just give them to me. I'll have 14 them to you in 30 minutes. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 16 MS. NEMEC: Or less than that. 17 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 18 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And the second 19 addition I'd like to, I think, include under the Duties and 20 Responsibilities -- and it would be a statement that would 21 be the same on all four of the jobs, I think, and it would 22 be a statement that establishes the kind of culture that 23 we're trying to create there, in terms of relationship with 24 vendors and customers and applicants and all that. And, 25 again, I haven't had much time to look at this, but, for 10-15-03 8 1 example, on each one of them, we might include something 2 like, "Performs the job requirements in an efficient and 3 effective way so that the needs of all constituents are 4 met." 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Might add the word 6 "courtesy" in there. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think that kind of 9 goes without saying, but I think it's not a bad idea to 10 include language to that effect. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: What -- what we're 12 trying to deal here with is the concerns that we've heard 13 over a long period of time expressed by some of the 14 installers and customers and -- and property owners that 15 that hasn't always been the case. Now, I don't expect that 16 we're going to have a 95 percent satisfaction experience in 17 the future, but it needs to be better than it has been in 18 the past. I think it's a good idea to start off by 19 explaining to applicants that that's a job requirement. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm, yeah. Let 21 them -- I guess you're saying this in a different way, but 22 the -- these folks will now become representatives of the 23 Commissioners Court, and we expect them to treat people in a 24 kind and courteous manner, something like that. They are 25 actual agents of this Court. 10-15-03 9 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Mm-hmm. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Essentially, what we're 5 talking about is attitude. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Courteous, friendly, 9 accommodating attitude. 10 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And, of course, it 11 goes without saying that you don't cave in on somebody 12 that's -- that doesn't treat you well or wants unreasonable 13 service. On that one, I've got -- have you got a copy of 14 these with you, Barbara? 15 MS. NEMEC: Yes, sir. 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Under Knowledge, 17 there's something missing in that first sentence. Maybe 18 that should be a comma after "facilities" instead of a 19 period? Or maybe not. Before "motor vehicle," should it 20 say "operates motor vehicles, equipment"? That's one 21 question. And then the second question, that same sentence, 22 the parenthetical statement is not enclosed. It starts with 23 a parenthesis, but doesn't -- doesn't end with one. That's 24 just cleaning up language a little bit. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, "motor vehicles" 10-15-03 10 1 is a continuation of the sentence before it, isn't it? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "Operates motor vehicles and 3 equipment." 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah, I think 5 that's -- I think that's what it should say. 6 MS. NEMEC: On the original job description 7 that I got from them, it starts -- that "motor vehicle" 8 starts off a sentence. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we'll change -- I 10 mean, that doesn't read right. We need to add "ability" -- 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Ability to operate a motor 12 vehicle or motor vehicles and equipment to determine 13 elevation. 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Something's missing. 15 MS. NEMEC: Ability to operate a motor 16 vehicle? 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Comma, equipment to 18 determine elevation, paren, GPS survey equipment or H.H.E., 19 hand-held elevation device. 20 MS. NEMEC: "Device" should be enclosed. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. I think that 22 will do it. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, device. 24 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And then, down here 10-15-03 11 1 at Educational Experience, I don't have any recommendations 2 here. I'm just raising the question that it appears that -- 3 that we're saying we need a Master's degree in science and 4 some experience, or a Bachelor's degree in science and five 5 years experience. I think -- I'm guessing that's okay. It 6 seems like maybe the standards are a little high, but I'm 7 not -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It does to me as well. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd say Bachelor's and 11 three years experience. I think, for a manager, you want 12 three years, but I think three years is sufficient, really. 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. We'll just 14 scratch that first sentence. Bachelor's degree. And, does 15 it need to be in science? They're going to have the 16 certificates and licenses, so if someone had a degree in 17 business and sociology or something like that and had these 18 professional sanitation certificate, designated 19 representative status, these things, would they be a 20 qualified candidate? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Are you going to strictly 22 limit yourself to those with a Bachelor's degree? Or are 23 you going to add something like "or equivalent experience in 24 health, environmental, and related fields"? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I really think, for 10-15-03 12 1 manager -- 2 MS. NEMEC: It does say "or other 3 environmental field, and three years of experience." 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I mean, I think, 5 for a manager, I don't know if you have to have a Bachelor's 6 or not. I mean, this is somewhat of a -- it's not -- 7 MS. SOVIL: What does the State say they 8 want -- they require? 9 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: They just deal with 10 certificates and licenses. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You mean on the 12 sanitarian? 13 MS. SOVIL: Mm-hmm. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't have my copy of 15 the sanitarian. 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: You don't have to 17 have a college degree to be a designated representative or 18 get a certificate. 19 MS. NEMEC: It just says, "Graduation from an 20 accredited four-year college or university with major course 21 work in natural science or a related field is generally 22 preferred." 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I like that language. I 24 think "generally preferred," but it doesn't say you have to 25 have it. 10-15-03 13 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why don't we just take 4 that sentence as-is? 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah, just 6 substitute what we have here for -- 7 MS. NEMEC: Okay, the first sentence I didn't 8 read. Do you want to include experience in environmental 9 sanitation work? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 11 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Now, will they be 13 required to hold the certificates before they come in? 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's a good 15 question. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or do we allow them 17 time to obtain their certificates? 18 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: My thinking would be 19 the latter. If we -- if we had a really -- a candidate that 20 was -- that looked to be very capable and didn't have one of 21 these certificates, that we could give him -- 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What tells us, then, 23 that he's really qualified in this specific field? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You could -- just as an 25 example, he could be -- I hate to use the state of Oklahoma. 10-15-03 14 1 Say he came out of the state of New Mexico and has all their 2 qualifications -- certifications; just moved here from New 3 Mexico and doesn't have the Texas certification. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or, you know -- you know, 6 worked in private industry in some capacity and didn't need 7 that certification, 'cause he was working under someone 8 else's license. 9 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Maybe he was 10 environmental director of a chemical plant or something. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: In that case, you may want to 13 include some language that those that don't possess the 14 necessary licenses or certifications required by the State 15 be hired probationally, conditioned upon their obtaining 16 those within some reasonable period of time. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The only question I have 18 is, I'm not sure what T.C.E.Q.'s requirements are, because I 19 don't know if -- if they allow for a -- 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Probationary. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- probationary period. 22 I mean, you may have to be -- you know, until we can do 23 anything, we may have to have it -- you know, someone that 24 has the qualifications. I just don't know the answer to 25 that. 10-15-03 15 1 JUDGE TINLEY: But specification -- they must 2 comply with licensing or certification requirements from 3 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, period. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We need to know what 6 that is. We need to know what that is, don't we? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, in the meantime, we can 8 figure out -- we can find out what it is. They're going to 9 have to have it anyway. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If you had a guy come 11 in that is -- does not have those certificates, and we give 12 him a six-month or a year period to obtain those 13 certificates, do we pay for the school? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would say no -- well, I 15 don't know. What do we do in other departments? Probably 16 yes. What we do with the Sheriff, we pay for their 17 schooling. 18 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Probably what we 19 want to do is to give ourselves flexibility so that we -- 20 maybe the current people, maybe somebody else. If we see a 21 candidate that is very -- very desirable, that we've got 22 some flexibility. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's all I -- and, 25 again, I didn't spend very much time looking at these. 10-15-03 16 1 That's all I've got on them. 2 MS. NEMEC: There is one thing I noticed 3 after I did them that -- that weren't on the ones from 4 U.G.R.A. They didn't have any mathematical skills, and I 5 noticed on the Code Enforcement officer, there is some 6 required. I don't know if y'all want me to add that 7 language to it, or -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mathematical skills? 9 MS. NEMEC: It just says "ability to add, 10 subtract, multiply, divide all units of measure using whole 11 numbers, common fractions, and decimals." I would think 12 they would know that if -- 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You would have to. But 14 maybe you -- 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well -- 16 MR. HOLEKAMP: I think you're going to have 17 to write it down. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Write it down? 19 MR. HOLEKAMP: I think you do. 20 MS. NEMEC: I'll just include it in all of 21 them. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think, you know, 23 over here in the manager's deal, when it talked about the 24 degrees in sciences, that's probably -- that mathematics 25 stuff is probably covered in that. I mean, if you came in 10-15-03 17 1 here with a -- with a Bachelor's in biology, there is -- 2 there is equations in part of that. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would hope so. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, there is. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Depends on the 6 university, maybe. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah, that's right. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: You're not going to mention a 10 particular one, are you? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: University? So, what 13 did we do there? Are we going to add that math language in 14 it, or are we just going to assume that -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes, I think let's add 16 it. I think we add it in. I mean -- 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do too. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- it doesn't hurt. 19 Rather have more than not enough. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Morning, Mr. Syfan. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning. 23 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Do you want to go on 24 to the field representative? In the summary, just one 25 recommended change for political correctness. Change "and 10-15-03 18 1 risk to the health of man," change that to "humans." 2 MS. NEMEC: Good thinking. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm sorry, I'm just 4 now getting to it. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Summary, top first 6 sentence talks about nuisance condition, risk to the health 7 of man. Change "man" to "humans." Now, it goes on, talks 8 about it's provided by rules and regulations of federal, 9 state, local authorities. I guess that's okay. I was 10 thinking maybe the rules and regulations were Kerr County, 11 which folds in federal and state regulations, but it may be 12 broader than that. I guess there's certain EPA things that 13 they have to -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think you're -- I think 15 the point is, I think we ought to -- instead of saying 16 "local authorities," we ought to say "Kerr County." 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 'Cause they're only 19 enforcing our rules; they're not enforcing the City's rules 20 or somebody else's. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Change that to 22 "federal, state, and Kerr County." 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that probably ought 24 to -- 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If you were going to 10-15-03 19 1 drop anything, you could drop state, I think, if you wanted 2 to, but I wouldn't take federal out. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The problem -- I wouldn't 4 take state out also, because we have to adopt the state -- 5 Section 285 is the basis of our rules, so -- 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- I mean -- 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Then we would add in 9 that -- that one statement about how they do their work. Do 10 it in a way that -- 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Friendly, accommodating. 12 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah, add that on 13 all of them. And then, on this one, I would also add, 14 "Performs the duties of the department manager or 15 administrative assistant as needed." And, again, this is 16 that cross-functional, cross-training work team sort of 17 approach. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Do we also say in 19 these, "Code Enforcement"? 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Mm-hmm. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So that we can have -- if 22 we move in that direction, we have the option of adding 23 Solid Waste to these people? 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Mm-hmm. That's a 25 good idea. Good point. 10-15-03 20 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Do you want to do that also 2 with the manager? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think so. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. I'm dropping 5 down to Educational Experience. Here we're saying -- well, 6 I think we're saying just about anybody that has got some 7 level of education can qualify. Two-year or -- or -- or 8 G.E.D., so I'm okay with that. As we go through these, 9 we're not talking about compensation levels. I assume we'll 10 go back and handle that all in one -- one discussion in a 11 few minutes. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. The next one 14 is the administrative assistant. Frankly, I didn't spend 15 any time looking at this, whether we want to add, again, 16 just a general statement about how to perform the work in a 17 way that keeps the constituents happy. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This one -- I mean, I 19 spent probably the most time on this one. It looked pretty 20 good to me, I mean, on the first page of it. I didn't go -- 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Do you want a cross-training 22 statement in this one? 23 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. Well, I want 24 to talk about it. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 10-15-03 21 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: The F.L.S.A. status 2 says exempt. I think this is nonexempt, isn't it, Barbara? 3 It's up at the top. 4 MS. NEMEC: I would say it's nonexempt also. 5 U.G.R.A. had it as exempt, but I don't see how they were 6 doing that. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not exempt? 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: If we were looking 9 at these three or three and a half jobs, and we -- all we 10 had was vacant chairs; we didn't have anybody in particular 11 in mind or any experience with them, one of the things that 12 I would give serious consideration, you know, is to have 13 this -- a requirement that this administrative assistant is 14 capable of filling in for the field representative. May not 15 be practical, because I'm not sure that the -- the licensing 16 or certification could be made. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The problem I see with 18 that is, the higher you raise the requirements, the higher 19 the level goes. 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The higher the starting 22 pay goes. I think you could -- I think if we decided -- I 23 would, I think, leave it the way it is right now, and if we 24 figure out we want to go that direction, we change 25 classification. 10-15-03 22 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I think that's good 2 advice. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Either that, or a statement in 4 the description that "ability to perform the duties of field 5 representative preferred but not required." 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I wouldn't mind 7 that. 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I like that. As 9 a -- again, that's got something to do with informing people 10 of the kind of culture we're trying to create, one where the 11 workers assume -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think one of the things 14 we also need to remember, we need to get them, you know, 15 pretty close right now, but we can always modify these. If 16 we get there and decide, well, we really would rather have 17 three field reps and a receptionist, we can, you know, move 18 around -- you know, change around in the next budget year, 19 or during the budget year if we need to. So, I think -- you 20 know, I think we try to set up the best we think right now, 21 and knowing that we may have to change it. 22 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So, go to 23 compensation? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, on the -- while 25 we're on that, what's the other one? The Code Enforcement 10-15-03 23 1 officer? I think who that person -- or the department there 2 will change to Environmental Health, and I'm wondering if we 3 -- because we have someone in that spot right now, if we 4 should just say Code Enforcement officer, which we clarify 5 as a Solid Waste Code Enforcement officer, so it's clear 6 that this part-time person right now that -- who's in there 7 is Solid Waste only. 'Cause I don't think there's any -- at 8 this point, you know, I don't want to change -- 9 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't think we can change 10 horses in the middle of the stream on him. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right, that's what I'm 12 saying. I don't want to -- and that would just clarify he's 13 Solid Waste, so we don't -- 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. Should -- at 15 some time in the future, when Sergeant North retires, we 16 might want to rearrange duties a little bit. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But, for right 18 now, it's -- he's a Solid Waste Code Enforcement officer. 19 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And, Barbara, 20 that -- on the Code Enforcement officer, or Solid Waste -- 21 what did you say? Solid Waste -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Solid Waste, Code 23 Enforcement officer-dash-Solid Waste or something. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: That's good. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Again, that reports 10-15-03 24 1 to the Manager/Field Representative. 2 MS. NEMEC: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That okay? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I mean, that's 5 what he's currently doing, so no change on that, other than 6 who they report to. Okay. If -- 7 MS. NEMEC: Do y'all want me to go and make 8 these changes while y'all discuss salary, or would you like 9 me in here for that? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Briefly, I mean, on the 11 salary, do you think it is -- I mean, these fit within our 12 system, if the administrative assistant's a 17? 13 MS. NEMEC: I think so. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the field 15 representative's a 19? 16 MS. NEMEC: Yeah. I compared the field rep 17 kind of like to Road and Bridge and law enforcement 18 officers. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So -- 20 MS. NEMEC: So I think it would be right in 21 that area. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Other than that, I 23 think that's fine. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Jon, seems like we 25 had some kind of a conversation about this, but in my old 10-15-03 25 1 age, I can't remember what it was. It was yesterday. 2 Assuming -- well, we will hire some people with some 3 experience directly related to -- either some people from 4 U.G.R.A. or others. Does it fit in our scheme to give 5 them -- put them in a step/grade position that reflects 6 their prior experience? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Grade level. We've done 8 it before. I mean, I think we've set up -- if we wanted to 9 bring somebody in, for whatever reason, at a 17-3, we have 10 the authority as a Court to do that, and we have done that 11 in the past. 12 MS. NEMEC: 'Cause 1 is entry level, and if 13 they have experience in that job already, then it's really 14 not entry level. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. So, I mean, we 16 can give, you know, an adjustment, and it's one of the 17 reasons I kind of thought the 17 and the 19 work, even 18 though those may be a little bit low on the entry level. If 19 you're getting a true entry-level person, it would work, but 20 if you have someone with a lot of experience, you may need 21 to increase it some. 22 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. When you 23 prepare the advertisement, would you say that the 24 compensation is entry level to something higher than that? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 10-15-03 26 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So that the 2 experienced person that might not be attracted to the entry 3 level, but would be attracted to something higher than that, 4 would apply for the job. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Grade 17, entry level or 6 higher, depending upon experience or qualifications. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And -- 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Let me be clear 9 about that. I'm looking at the field representative, and 10 Barbara says starting salary is $25,932 on the low end and 11 $36,828 on the high end. When you -- you do the -- the 12 advertisement, what are you going to say in there about 13 salary? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Starting salary at $24,756 or 15 higher, depending upon experience or qualifications -- or 16 greater, depending upon experience and qualifications. 17 MS. SOVIL: Why don't you simplify it and say 18 that salary is compensatory to experience? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think you need to say a 20 starting -- a base -- a minimum kind of salary. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Let's say we've got 22 someone over here in another county that's been doing this 23 job that wants to apply. Would they be -- but they're 24 making $27,000, $28,000 a year. Would they be disinclined 25 to apply if we -- if the only number we quote is $24,756? 10-15-03 27 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think so. But I think 2 if you say "or higher, based on experience" -- and, I mean, 3 'cause I think you want to try to encourage as many people 4 to apply as possible. If the salary is so high we can't 5 afford it, that's a determination made -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Base it on, "or greater," 7 depending -- commensurate with qualifications and/or 8 experience, both. And -- but your point's well-made. If 9 that's the only number you put in there, it may chill some 10 of them that feel like they wouldn't have a shot at 11 something more. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On the field rep -- 13 MS. NEMEC: I used an 18/1, just to kind of 14 keep in line with what they were already getting paid. But 15 if we want to up that to a 19/1 -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think, to me, it's a 17 19. It fits better, seeing, you know, we -- 18 JUDGE TINLEY: That means you're going to 19 have to put in the manager at a 20. Was that the intent? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The manager is -- is 21 exempt. They don't get -- 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A salary. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, you're probably going to 25 be looking at -- 10-15-03 28 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. Well, I think -- 2 JUDGE TINLEY: -- 20 as a benchmark. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm sure it will be. I 4 think, from what we used to pay versus what they're being 5 paid versus what other -- I think you're going to be, you 6 know, mid to low 30's, which is going to be -- I don't know 7 what that is; 21, 20, somewhere in there. 8 MS. NEMEC: A 19-1 is $26,009. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Where are we? We're 11 at 17 on the administrative assistant, 19 on the -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Field rep. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Field rep. 14 MS. NEMEC: Right. 15 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Manager, what are we 16 going to say? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd say maybe 32? 18 MS. NEMEC: The State's is $32,988, and 19 that's on the low end. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm sorry? 21 MS. NEMEC: The State's is $32,988, and 22 that's on the low end, so I think 32 would be a good 23 starting point. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 32 or -- 25 MS. NEMEC: Or higher, depending -- 10-15-03 29 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- or higher, based on 2 experience. The same language. So, if we need to go up a 3 little bit -- but I don't think we're going to pay less than 4 32 for that position. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Well, it would be 6 right at 33. $32,988. 33 or higher with experience. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Hand them your checkbook. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: As I recall, the last 10 time we had a manager, I believe the manager was making, 11 like, 34, as I recall, and that was eight years ago -- six 12 years ago, whatever. It was a long time ago. So, I just 13 think, you know, 33 is fine. I mean, I think you want to 14 get them -- you don't want to start too high, but you want 15 to get them to apply, you know, and that's a -- 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: You don't want to be 17 unrealistically low, but you don't want to give away the 18 farm, either. So, 33 is fine. This says it was $34,619.95. 19 That's eight years ago. It may take -- depending on where 20 they're coming from and whether it's a local person or 21 somebody else, it may take more than we think on it. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think if you say 33 23 or higher as -- you know. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. Barbara, next 25 subject is, assuming we employ some of the current U.G.R.A. 10-15-03 30 1 personnel, assuming they apply and that we employ them, and 2 assuming that, as a matter of policy, we wanted to grant 3 them seniority rights on things like vacation, I suppose, 4 and what -- what kind of issues are there that we can 5 consider giving people some seniority rights? Vacation 6 would be one. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess -- well, 8 actually, is there any precedent for the County doing that? 9 MS. NEMEC: No, it's never come up before. 10 And, really, unless they've been here 10 years or more, as 11 far as vacation, they just earn what everybody else earns, 12 so that's not really -- 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I don't even know 14 what the vacation schedule is. When am I first eligible for 15 a week's vacation? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: You already took it. 17 MS. NEMEC: It's a week after six months, and 18 then a year after -- two weeks after a year, and you just 19 accumulate monthly. You don't go to three weeks per year 20 until after 10 years. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So, if we -- 22 MS. NEMEC: And I don't think they have been 23 here that long, looking at their employment date, so that 24 wouldn't be a problem. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Say they had three 10-15-03 31 1 years employment with the U.G.R.A., or could be with 2 somebody else. And, as an employment incentive, we wanted 3 to grant them a -- what's it called? Something employment 4 date. We wanted to give them credit for that three years. 5 Would that be appropriate? Would it cause any -- any 6 difficulties in our -- among our -- 7 MS. NEMEC: I'm sure among some employees it 8 would, but it can be done. 9 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Are there any other 10 benefits or compensation that's based on the time with the 11 County? 12 MS. NEMEC: Longevity, when they're eligible 13 for longevity. They're -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We give credit for other 15 service? 16 MS. NEMEC: Mm-hmm. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Even if it's not 18 governmental? Well, I guess they are governmental over 19 there. It's a different type of government. 20 MS. NEMEC: If you were to elect to say we're 21 going to say they've been -- they have three years 22 longevity, well, then that means the that next year they're 23 going to be eligible for another step increase, because -- 24 and then -- well, as far as retirement -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: They'd be eligible for one 10-15-03 32 1 after one year anyway, as a new hire, wouldn't they? 2 MS. NEMEC: Right. As far as retirement, we 3 would have to use their date that they start with the 4 County. They can't go back and -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, our -- I mean, I 6 don't see any advantage to giving them that, then, because 7 we can do that by changing the grade, and they get a -- an 8 automatic increase after a year anyway. 9 MS. NEMEC: Yeah. 10 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Sounds like at least 11 it's an issue we could deal with on a one-on-one basis. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we had to, or -- okay. 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Are there any other 14 benefits that are -- sick leave or anything that's based on 15 seniority? 16 MS. NEMEC: No. Sick leave you just earn 17 monthly also, and you -- you know, you earn it per month, 18 and then you can take it off if you have it starting the 19 first month. 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: There's no waiting 21 period on health insurance or anything like that? 22 MS. NEMEC: It's a 30-day waiting period from 23 -- after the first day of the 30 days that you're here. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'm probably getting 25 in too much detail, but on health insurance, is insurance 10-15-03 33 1 coverage denied for preexisting conditions? If somebody 2 comes in here and they're pregnant, are they going to be 3 excluded from the -- our health insurance? 4 MS. NEMEC: Preexisting condition. We can 5 get that kind of detail later. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I would be -- I 7 mean, what we talked about, I'm in agreement with, the 8 salary levels and the changes made. I would be comfortable 9 in passing a motion now and giving Commissioner 4 authority 10 to work out those -- the details that -- he wrote most of 11 them up with Barbara to get on the final draft of these. Or 12 we can come back after lunch. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Are you talking about 14 the overall picture, or are we talking about offering 15 U.G.R.A. employees a different package than we would someone 16 else? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm not talking about any 18 of that. I'm talking about rewriting these with the changes 19 we made. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the salary level 22 being 17 and 19 and $33,000? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I would too. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Just wordsmithing. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wordsmithing. But 17, 10-15-03 34 1 19, 33. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have one additional 3 question. This is just -- believe me, this is a total 4 ignorant question. I mean, I don't want to be thrown out of 5 here and end up in a treatment center like Rush did. Are we 6 allowed to add verbiage, like "must be a United States 7 citizen"? 8 MS. NEMEC: Well, I don't know that we're 9 allowed to add that verbiage in the job description, but 10 when -- when they're hired, there's an I-9 form that they 11 have to fill out, and so when they fill that form out, then 12 they have to be a United States citizen. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Or otherwise be eligible to 15 work in this country. 16 MS. NEMEC: Right. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. Well, you know, 18 just -- if you watch TV at all, you see things going on 19 around the nation that is contrary to that, and I just 20 wondered. 21 MS. NEMEC: I'm sure that -- you know, the 22 law says that they need to fill out this I-9, and they need 23 to provide proof -- two different kinds of proof that is 24 called for, so I'm sure if that's legal, that it's legal to 25 put it on the job description also. But I don't -- 10-15-03 35 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What kind of proof? 2 Like, driver's license? 3 MS. NEMEC: Driver's license, Social Security 4 card. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Social Security card's 6 a pretty big one. I mean, I think it's come to the point 7 where anybody can have a driver's license these days. 8 MS. NEMEC: Yeah. It has to be two forms of 9 I.D. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But, I mean, what that 11 says, though, a -- a Guatemalan person who has a green card 12 is eligible to be hired for this job. That's not a U.S. 13 citizen. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Evidence of employability in 15 this country. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I don't -- and so the 17 -- I mean, I think, by reading between the lines, your 18 question is, do we have to hire a U.S. citizen, or can we 19 put that as a requirement? And I don't know the answer to 20 that. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, the I-9 doesn't 23 mean you're a U.S. citizen. That means you're eligible to 24 be employed in the United States, but you could be from 25 China. 10-15-03 36 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I'm going to 2 stop right there, because my next statement will get me in 3 trouble. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, your -- your question 6 is -- and I'm going to let you get out of trouble and I'm 7 going to get into trouble. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Great. I like this 9 program. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Can you provide, as a 11 qualification for this job, that applicants must be United 12 States citizens? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's exactly the 14 question. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: And you're writing the 16 qualifications. I think you probably can. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think you can, 'cause a 18 qualification for the president of the United States is to 19 be a U.S. citizen and born in the United States -- not even 20 a citizen; has to be born. So, how -- you know. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm still going to 22 stop. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think if we do it 24 on this one, we need to do it on all job descriptions in the 25 county. I think there's a little bit of a problem with 10-15-03 37 1 picking on -- 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If you did something 3 like that, it would probably need to be a policy somewhere. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 MS. NEMEC: I think our applications that we 6 have state on the bottom somewhere that we're an equal 7 opportunity employer. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know what that 9 means exactly. 10 MS. NEMEC: I don't know if that has anything 11 to do with it or not. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's a good 13 question, but I think it's not -- I think it's a policy 14 question. Okay. Well, then, I'll make a motion that we 15 approve the job descriptions for Manager/Field 16 Representative, Environmental Health and Safety Department; 17 Field Representative, Environmental Health and Safety 18 Department; and Administrative Assistant, Environmental 19 Health and Safety Department; and the revised -- or 20 revisions to the Environment -- can't speak -- to the Code 21 Enforcement Officer job description as well, and authorize 22 Commissioner, Precinct 4 to finalize the verbiage with the 23 County Treasurer. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just one quick 25 question. 10-15-03 38 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wait. And, at the same 2 time -- and set the salary levels at the same time. The 3 Manager position will be $33,000 base salary. The Field 4 Representative would be a 19-1 base salary, and the 5 Administrative Assistant will be a 17-1 base salary. That's 6 my motion. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Did we, by court order 8 yesterday, transfer the Code Enforcement Officer from one 9 department to another? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, we did not. I don't 11 believe it was an agenda item. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that a necessary 13 item? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Actually, I think -- 15 JUDGE TINLEY: We do have an agenda item for 16 reorganization of the existing department. 17 MS. SOVIL: Well, you did do -- did do it in 18 the 1.13, staffing of the O.S.S.F. program. You said you 19 needed a manager-slash-inspector, Solid Waste inspector. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that we -- I 21 think we probably did it, but it wouldn't hurt to have it -- 22 a separate motion for that one item, in my opinion, 'cause 23 we never -- we kind of talked about it and added it, but 24 haven't specifically done it. 25 MS. NEMEC: On the Administrative Assistant, 10-15-03 39 1 I had them down as a 19-1. The person that's in that 2 position right now is making $27,285, and a 19-1 is $26,009. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 19 -- which one? 4 MS. NEMEC: The Administrative Assistant. So 5 I don't know if you want that one and the field rep to be 6 both a 19. Making it a 17 would bring it down to $23,564, 7 starting. 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Should that 9 person -- can we resolve that by making them a 17-3 or 17-4? 10 MS. NEMEC: Mm-hmm. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Needs to be a 17-1 12 position. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Base. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Base salary, or base -- 15 MS. SOVIL: Entry level. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion. Do I hear a 18 second? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded. Any 21 further questions or discussion in connection with the 22 motion? 23 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Does this also grant 24 us the authority to prepare and advertise the posting? Or 25 do you want to see that again? 10-15-03 40 1 JUDGE TINLEY: The advertisement for 2 applicants for the positions? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the personnel 4 officer has authority to do that whenever there's an open 5 position. 6 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Good. 7 MS. NEMEC: May we call the administrative 8 assistant an administrative clerk? 'Cause the 9 administrative assistants are 19's. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, administrative 11 clerk. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, what we're doing 13 -- what we're doing is giving Number 4 the authority -- when 14 the document is completed, we're giving him the authority to 15 check off on it, sign off on it, and it goes to press? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. I'm happy with 18 that. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or 20 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 21 your right hand. 22 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 24 (No response.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Do we want 10-15-03 41 1 to go ahead and handle the formal transfer? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that 3 we transfer or move the Code Enforcement officer and Solid 4 Waste into -- he's already in the Environmental Health 5 Department, but he will report to the new manager of the 6 Environmental Health Department, and not to the Maintenance 7 and Facilities Department. 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded. Any 10 question or discussion? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: Immediately? Because I don't 13 know who that is. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It will be effective 15 November 1st. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What do you mean, you 17 don't know who that is? 18 MR. HOLEKAMP: No, I don't know who -- who he 19 will report to. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, yeah. 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: Until -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Effective November 1st. 23 MR. HOLEKAMP: Buster. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: November 1. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 10-15-03 42 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Now, that says to me 2 November 1 is the date that this whole thing's going to be 3 up and running, and the people are going to be hired and in 4 place. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's what it says, but 6 it also has a Commissioners Court meeting between those two 7 things, and we can modify that date if we have to. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, we don't -- we 9 don't want our Code Enforcement guy to be -- be a wandering 10 general. We want him to be a meaningful specific. Pretty 11 good stuff, isn't it? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's why I said if 13 we're not going to make that November 1 date, which we may 14 not, we can modify that at our next Commissioners Court 15 meeting. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, whatever. Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just don't know a 18 better date to say right now. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or 20 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 21 your right hand. 22 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 24 (No response.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. 10-15-03 43 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now, I guess the last 2 thing, do we need to -- we've approved the job descriptions. 3 Do we have to authorize the positions, or was that done 4 under that motion? 5 MS. SOVIL: I think you did that under your 6 budget approval. 7 MS. NEMEC: I think that's -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We haven't approved the 9 budget formally, 'cause we don't know the budget until we 10 get the job descriptions and get the people picked for it. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: We've approved the overall 12 budget. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, we approved -- we 14 transferred the funds into that department, the $64,000. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Probably need to specifically 16 authorize those positions. Probably would not hurt. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's what I would 18 do. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I will make a motion to 20 authorize three new positions: The Manager/Field 21 Representative for Environmental Health Department, the 22 Field Representative for Environmental Health Department, 23 and the Administrative Clerk for the Environmental Health 24 Department, and the job descriptions were addressed in a 25 prior motion. 10-15-03 44 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 3 approval of the three new positions for the Environmental 4 Health Department. Any further questions or discussion? 5 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 6 hand. 7 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 9 (No response.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Notion does carry. Any 11 further matters that are hanging from yesterday's meeting? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I want to ask a 13 question about this, just a -- to make sure. Is there 14 anywhere in any of this that we did yesterday and today that 15 would require a public hearing of any sort? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't think so. I 17 mean, I wouldn't know where it would be. We're getting 18 ready to have to do some on rules, but -- 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. When we get 20 down to the rules, I understand the public hearing there, 21 but this -- you think all this is clean and clear and -- 22 okay. I'm just asking. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: We actually might be able to 24 avoid a public hearing on the rules if we were to just 25 delete one or more of our existing rules. 10-15-03 45 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. I understand. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I think one mainly, but I 3 think the more conservative approach would be to actually 4 adopt -- 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: -- the rules and hold a public 7 hearing. That's my thinking. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That would be the 9 route I choose. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's the route I 11 choose. I think it gives the public an opportunity to voice 12 their opinion, whether they like or don't like the rules 13 we're talking about. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: All right, gentlemen. 15 Anything further? We'll stand adjourned. 16 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 11:56 a.m.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 10-15-03 46 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 21st day of October, 8 2003. 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 10-15-03