1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Session 10 Monday, January 9, 2006 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: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 DAVE NICHOLSON, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X January 9, 2006 2 PAGE --- Commissioners' Comments 5 3 1.1 Consider/discuss proclaiming January 13, 2006 4 as Agricultural Day in Kerr County 9 5 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action approving rental fees for electronic voting 6 equipment as per Texas Election Code 123.032 14 7 1.3 Execution of written agreement authorizing Crime Victims Rights Coordinator to utilize 8 office space in courthouse during grant period, establish value of leased space 30 9 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for 10 Final Plat of Heartland Acres, Pct. 2 35 11 1.5 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to award bids on lease of two all-wheel backhoes 36 12 1.11 Consider/discuss, appoint Kathy Banik to the 13 Kerr County Child Service Board 39 14 1.12 Consider/discuss, approve application by Kerr County for grant funds from the Texas Department 15 of Agriculture to be used for advertising Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair under the Hometown 16 Stars Program; appoint Bob Miller as agent for applicant 40 17 1.10 Consider/discuss, authorize County Judge to 18 make application to join Texas Yes Program to enable Kerrville Convention & Visitors Bureau 19 to obtain matching funds for event to benefit Kerrville Boardwalk Project 45 20 1.6 Public Hearing concerning regulatory signs in 21 various locations in Kerr County 57 22 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to set regulatory signs in various locations 58 23 1.8 Public Hearing concerning Revision of Plat for 24 Tract 152-A of Spicer Ranch # 3, Pct. 3 62 25 1.9 Public Hearing concerning Revision of Plat for Lots 5-9, Block 8, Greenwood Forest, Pct. 4 65 3 1 I N D E X Continued) January 9, 2006 2 PAGE 3 4.1 Pay Bills 67 4.2 Budget Amendments 71 4 4.3 Late Bills -- 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 75 5 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee 6 Assignments 76 7 1.13 Reports from the following Departments: Information Technology 83 8 Road and Bridge 86 Facilities and Maintenance 105 9 Collections 118 10 --- Adjourned 129 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 On Monday, January 9, 2006, at 9:00 a.m., a regular 2 meeting of the 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 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 7 Let me call to order this regularly scheduled meeting of the 8 Kerr County Commissioners Court posted for this time and date, 9 January the 9th, 2006, at 9 a.m. It's that time now. We have 10 with us today Pastor W. N. Perkins with the First Assembly of 11 God Church here in Kerrville, who is here to offer our opening 12 prayer. Would you come forward, please, pastor? 13 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. At this time, if there's 15 any member of the audience or the public that wishes to be 16 heard on an agenda item -- or an item that is not listed on 17 the agenda, excuse me, feel free to come forward at this time. 18 If you wish to be heard on an agenda item, we would ask that 19 you fill out a participation form. The forms are or should be 20 at the back of the room. If they're not, why, if somebody 21 will give us a high sign, we'll get some there. But when we 22 get to that agenda item, it helps me if you fill out one of 23 these, to not miss you if you want to be heard on that agenda 24 item. But if there's any member of the public or the audience 25 that wishes to be heard on a matter which is not a listed 1-9-06 5 1 agenda item, please feel free to come forward at this time. I 2 see no one coming forward. Commissioner Baldwin, what do you 3 have for us this morning? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have a couple items, Judge, 5 thank you. I understand that the Cowboy Breakfast is this 6 coming Friday. 6:00 to 8:00? Is that correct? 7 DR. LEIFESTE: 6:30 to 8:00. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 6:30 to 8:00. Same place? 9 DR. LEIFESTE: Same place. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Downtown, and it's always a 11 fun, fun deal. They have a great breakfast, catered 12 breakfast, and a lot of activity going around and a lot of 13 neighbors and good friends and good visit. And -- and it's 14 kind of a pre-run to announce the stock show and things coming 15 up, and it's just a fun thing. I love to see our streets 16 blocked off and have a party. I think that's one of the 17 neatest things that we do. And I'll remind everyone that on 18 the 26th of this month is the 150th birthday for Kerr County. 19 We will have cookies and coffee in the -- in the courthouse 20 here from 4:00 to 6:00, and we hope that -- I hope that you 21 guys would bring a couple of dozen cookies. I am. And I'm 22 sure there's an old coffee pot sitting around here somewhere; 23 we'll whip up something. And I've invited the Tivy choir to 24 entertain. They have not returned my call, but it will -- it 25 will happen. Something will happen. We'll have some kind of 1-9-06 6 1 entertainment. So, that's January the 26th, and we want to 2 invite everybody in the county to come and celebrate the 3 birthday of your county. So, that's all. Thank you. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Just a note, Judge. The 6 T.C.E.Q. has set January 24th at 7 p.m. in Center Point as the 7 date and time at the C.P.I.S.D. cafeteria to have the first 8 public meeting, which the community is obviously hopeful will 9 lead to a contested hearing on the air quality permit filed by 10 Wheatcraft. There was a preparatory meeting in Center Point 11 this past weekend which I attended, and there is a lot of 12 community interest, a lot of people showing up, trying to 13 determine which questions should be answered and try to stay 14 focused on the issues. So, that's forthcoming this month. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: That it? 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two comments. One, I had 19 mentioned previously at one of our December meetings that we 20 would probably have Subdivision Rules on our agenda today. I 21 chose not to do it, mainly because I was -- at that meeting, 22 there was quite a bit of interest, and I was expecting quite a 23 bit of feedback, of which I've received none to-date. So, I 24 would encourage those that do want to have some input before 25 we go into a final version to get their comments to me. There 1-9-06 7 1 are copies available at Road and Bridge, and I think we 2 probably have some here available for the public to look at. 3 So, we kind of delayed it to get that input. Hope we do get 4 some. If not, the next agenda, it will be on the agenda for 5 final approval -- or not final approval; final acceptance of 6 the draft. Then we'll put it out for public hearing at that 7 point. My other comment is, just be wary of fire. It's very, 8 very dry. It's at a point that -- I've not talked to Soil 9 Conservation, NRCS about it, but I'm not willing to even give 10 an exemption for prescribed burning at this point. I think we 11 need to have no fires at this point; I think it's too 12 dangerous. If we do get some rain, there may be some sort of 13 exemption for prescribed burns, as we have in the past, but at 14 the moment, I don't think that's a wise move. That's it. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Nicholson? 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Judge, aside from politics, 17 I think most of the discussion in west Kerr County these days 18 is about the drought and about the fear of -- of a disastrous 19 fire. I talked to the firefighters, and they're even taking 20 such precautions as to stay home and stay close to the fire 21 department, 'cause they're expecting at any time to be -- be 22 needed. I find myself driving along looking at the horizon to 23 see if -- see if that's a cloud or smoke up there. So, just 24 following on what Commissioner Letz said, I hope everybody is 25 very, very careful. 1-9-06 8 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think, fortunately, we 2 came out of the Christmas/New Year's holidays pretty well, 3 considering the fireworks that were sold and popped off and so 4 forth: At least the fire departments in the eastern part of 5 the county reported that they weren't overwhelmed. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else, Commissioner 7 Nicholson? 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's all. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Along with the rest of us here on the 10 Court, I would like to invite all of you, as well as all the 11 other citizens here in Kerr County, to our little 12 commemoration of Kerr County's 150th birthday on the 26th of 13 this month, as mentioned by Commissioner Baldwin. That will 14 not be the big sesquicentennial event. That'll be held in 15 April, when hopefully we've got gorgeous weather, and -- it's 16 going to be a little hard to beat what we've had the last few 17 days, however, but that'll be a multi-day event with a lot of 18 different things to occur, and it's in the formulation stage 19 right now. A little bit closer in terms of time, it sounds 20 like Commissioner Baldwin is getting excited about this 21 downtown Cowboy Breakfast. Maybe -- maybe he's got a team 22 that he's going to enter in the -- in the great goat-milking 23 championship. Sounds to me like he's getting it put together, 24 and maybe that we can have more than one team in this. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: He's got a funny way to hear 1-9-06 9 1 things, doesn't he? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: But, really, all of y'all come 3 downtown. It's a little early in the morning, but we have a 4 lot of fun, and there -- there'll be some hoopla and some fun 5 to be had, and so come on down. It's Friday the 13th; it's a 6 good way to start it off, and we'll have a lot of fun. Thank 7 you. Let's get on with the business at hand, if we might. 8 First item on the agenda is to consider, discuss, and take 9 appropriate action to proclaim January 13th, 2006, as 10 Agricultural Day in Kerr County. I put this on the agenda at 11 the -- at the behest of the agricultural interests here in 12 Kerr County, and to coincide with this downtown activity that 13 we're going to have that morning, and as kind of a kickoff for 14 the stock show. Dr. Leifeste, do you or possibly -- or 15 Mr. Holekamp have something that you'd like to present to us 16 this morning in support of this -- 17 DR. LEIFESTE: I'd sure like to. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: -- resolution? 19 DR. LEIFESTE: I sure do want to thank the Judge and 20 the Commissioners Court for your all's consideration on this. 21 I think our agriculture is kind of very important. I think 22 we've been kind of forgetting about it lately. You know, 23 history is -- if we go back and look at history, we've had a 24 lot of civilizations that lived without gasoline, diesel, 25 electricity, and survived okay. Maybe not quite as 1-9-06 10 1 comfortably as we do today. But I don't think we can find a 2 civilization that survived without eating. And I think we 3 need to keep that at our forefront, is that, you know, if -- 4 if you don't think agriculture is very important, try to go a 5 few days without eating and see how you like it in about a 6 week. You know, food does not -- does not originate at our 7 grocery stores; it originates with our farmers and the 8 ranchers. And, you know, we have the most wholesome, safest, 9 most nutritious, best tasting food in the world, and we spend 10 less of our income on food than any place in the world, and 11 it's due to a lot of hard times that our agricultural people 12 put in, and I appreciate y'all recognizing them. 13 And I could bother you with a lot of statistics, but 14 the next couple of weeks -- or this week and next week is 15 going to be a fun time in Kerrville for agriculture. You 16 know, Mr. Baldwin started off with we're going to have the 17 Cowboy Breakfast Friday morning at 6:30. We have our annual 18 goat milking; our team goat milkers are all lined up. We're 19 going to have a couple of other events. It's all free to the 20 general public. We want you to come down, have a fun time. 21 We're going to have breakfast tacos, coffee, orange juice, and 22 just a fun time. Y'all guys just work so hard; I want 23 everybody to come down there and forget your hard work and 24 have fun. And then next week is the culmination of 900 to 25 1,000 kids bringing their agricultural projects to the Hill 1-9-06 11 1 Country Exhibit Center out on 27 East, and starting on 2 Wednesday and going through Saturday, and we'd like everyone 3 to come out. And if you're not familiar with the stock show, 4 just ask for a director. Ask anybody, "Point me to a 5 director; I want to know about this thing," and we'll help you 6 out. 7 Another thing, being this is our 150th anniversary 8 of the existence of Kerr County, I have brought with me a few 9 folks today that are in the agricultural business. George and 10 Mary Virginia Holekamp, they're direct descendants of the 11 originators of Kerr County, been in agriculture all their 12 life, made their living off of agriculture, been here through 13 tough times and good times, and they're here supporting me 14 today. We have Richard Wahrmund. Would y'all want to stand 15 up, so -- everybody knows George and Mrs. Holekamp. If you 16 don't know them, well, you should; they're fine folks. 17 (Laughter.) We have Richard Wahrmund. He's a grandson of 18 Russell Dickey and Ada Mae Dickey that used to have a dairy 19 here. They were originators of -- originally settled in 20 Bandera, Hondo, Kerr County, many, many years ago. He's the 21 future of our agricultural business. You know, he's the 22 up-and-coming. He's showed at stock shows. As a matter of 23 fact, George said he was one of the first showers at the stock 24 show 62 years ago or so, and -- and Richard's shown. 25 Then we have Chad Leifeste, if he'd like to stand. 1-9-06 12 1 He represents a new facet of agriculture in Kerr County. He's 2 a guy that has moved to Kerrville. He wasn't born here, has 3 no ties to the origination of Kerr County, but he moved here 4 and is doing agriculture. We have so many people that moved 5 here that are not originally from Kerrville or Kerr County 6 that do support our agriculture and are in agriculture now. 7 Then we have Steve Bauer, L.L. Feed in Ingram, and he 8 represents all the allied industries that it takes to keep our 9 agriculture going, and so I brought a cross-section of people 10 in the agricultural business, and we want y'all to all come 11 down and start off Friday morning and then come out to our 12 stock show next week. I thank y'all once again for all your 13 hard work and effort y'all put in to run this county, and we 14 appreciate all your efforts, and take off your coat and come 15 on out and have a little fun with us. Thank you very much. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Dr. Leifeste. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, sir. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I think we ought to 19 read the resolution into the record. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: The resolution -- the text of the 21 resolution is as follows "Whereas, Americans enjoy abundant 22 and affordable food because of the strong agricultural 23 community across America like those found here in Kerr County; 24 and whereas, the rural communities are the backbone of 25 American agriculture; and whereas, from these communities come 1-9-06 13 1 our leaders of the future and the next generation of American 2 farmers and ranchers; and whereas, because agriculture is 3 important to our county, state, and nation, and the youth 4 involved in agriculture are vital to the continued success of 5 agriculture; now, therefore, be it resolved that the 6 Commissioners Court of Kerr County, Texas, does hereby 7 proclaim and designate January 13th, 2006, as Agriculture 8 Appreciation Day in Kerr County, and urge our citizens to give 9 due recognition to such date. In recognition thereof, we have 10 affixed our signatures this 9th day of January, 2006," and to 11 be signed by all members of the Court. Thank you, Dr. 12 Leifeste. We appreciate your being here today, and -- and the 13 entourage that you have with us to stress the importance of 14 agriculture. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move the resolution, Judge. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for adoption 18 of the resolution. Any question or discussion? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have one additional comment 20 I'd like to make, and just to echo what Dr. Leifeste says, 21 that I think we tend to overlook agriculture as to how 22 important it is to Kerr County today. It is still the 23 backbone of this community. A lot of people don't realize 24 that. A lot of the -- it may have changed a little bit. I 25 think you have to look at wildlife management and all that 1-9-06 14 1 whole sector as part of agriculture; it certainly is part of 2 agriculture, and I think it is a critical element, everything 3 from hunting to the amount of feed that's sold for the deer, 4 the cattle. We still have a major sheep and goat industry in 5 this area, swine. I just think that we just forget how 6 important agriculture is to Kerr County. I'm really happy 7 that Dr. Leifeste came and his group today, and very proud to 8 be able to pass this resolution. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I wanted to echo Commissioner 10 Letz' thoughts and comments and say that it is a -- it's an 11 honor to vote in favor of this resolution. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other comments or expressions? 13 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 14 hand. 15 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 17 (No response.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Thank you for 19 being here. The next item on the agenda is to consider, 20 discuss, and take appropriate action approving the rental fees 21 for the electronic voting equipment as per the Texas Election 22 Code Section 123.032. Ms. Pieper? 23 MS. PIEPER: Commissioners, we're here again. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't see any numbers. 25 MS. PIEPER: No, sir, I've been too busy to put 1-9-06 15 1 anything together. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I've looked at it a little bit 3 based on what we had previously, and I visited with Brenda 4 from the City a few minutes ago as well. I think there's one 5 way it can be done on a percentage per machine. I think 6 1 percent to 2 percent is appropriate. I think that would 7 recoup most of the money. I mean, we're not necessarily going 8 to recoup 100 percent of the cost of these machines. I don't 9 have a problem with the County absorbing more than our 10 proportion of the share; it's somewhat our responsibility to 11 do that, but I look at it kind of as we have -- assuming about 12 a 10-year life for these machines, there are elections -- most 13 have them every two years. And there's roughly -- you know, 14 trying to come up with something, about 100 -- well, there's 15 50 elections, basically, during the life of the machines that 16 we have to kind of look at, and you kind of look at a few 17 things like that. 18 I think 1 percent's a little bit on the low side; 19 2 percent's a little bit maybe on the high side. I think the 20 other -- so I think we need to set it on a -- whether it's 1, 21 1 and a half percent, I think either of those numbers is 22 appropriate. I think then there's some sort of an 23 administrative fee that we need to charge, 'cause there is a 24 certain amount of Jannett's personnel and our County budget 25 that goes into that, and time. Again, I look at -- $50 per 1-9-06 16 1 election seems reasonable. I mean, it's probably not going to 2 be enough to recoup what it's costing, but again, I don't mind 3 us subsidizing a little bit. One thing we haven't included in 4 this is maintenance of the machines. I'm not sure what the 5 maintenance cost is. We may -- maybe we want to go to the 6 1 and a half percent. I just kind of look at it as it's 7 simplest to go with -- you know, look at each machine that's 8 being used by each entity, charge 1 and a half percent of that 9 cost of that machine to that entity for that election, and 10 then a $50 administrative fee per election. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: How much would that be, 12 Commissioner, one and a half plus $50? Just ballpark. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, you have -- based on using 14 $9,500 worth of equipment, and they're not going to use all of 15 that all the time, so that's going to be 130 bucks plus 50; 16 $180 an election for someone who has one group of machines. 17 The City would probably be, you know, somewhere -- $500, $600 18 to $700 from the City. Ingram would probably be, maybe -- I'm 19 guessing. You know, I don't know exactly what they use, but 20 probably, you know, no more than $300, but probably more like 21 $200, $225, somewhere in that range. And I'm not sure exactly 22 what all machines are used by everybody, but -- and I don't 23 think we'll recoup the replacement cost of this equipment, but 24 I think it's a -- it's a start going in the right direction of 25 getting something back. I think the County needs to be 1-9-06 17 1 obligated -- we need to talk with the Auditor about setting up 2 a fund where the 1 and a half percent portion goes into that, 3 a fund that's not -- it's going purely for the -- to replace 4 or -- 5 MS. PIEPER: By law, that is already in place. 6 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's good. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's good. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That would get us close to 9 $200 per machine per election. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You're looking at $140, $150 12 or whatever for the 1 and a half percent; then you look at the 13 $50. My question is, is that $50 per machine or $50 per 14 setup? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Per setup. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No matter how many machines, 17 1 or 10 or 20, whatever. And then there's a maintenance 18 factor which we haven't quite determined yet. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think you're going to 20 build that into the 1 and a half percent. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Then you're looking 22 at about $192.50, something like that, per machine per -- per 23 election. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But you really can't look at it 25 per machine, because they use a different number of machines. 1-9-06 18 1 There's -- you know, there's counting machines and there's 2 this machine and that machine, whatever they're using. It's 3 like a menu. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: A unit of equipment. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, right. But they -- 6 it's -- whatever they're using, it's 1 and a half percent of 7 the cost of that equipment. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: This is one of those issues 9 that -- it's kind of a no-man's land; that we haven't been 10 there before, so you have to kind of just pull numbers out of 11 the air. And -- and I started looking around for -- surely 12 there's somebody else that's going through this same thing, 13 and I found -- I found one county in our County Progress 14 magazine, Callahan County. They're charging municipalities 15 and schools 2 percent of the machine cost per rental. So -- 16 and the only reason I'm saying that is that I think you're 17 right on target, obviously. But I think 1 and a half will be 18 fine. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think the understanding 20 goes that if these machines last longer, once we get a fund 21 built up, we just charge the administrative and maintenance 22 cost, reduce it in future years. I think it's done on an 23 annual basis. We're not setting it really for the life; we're 24 doing it for a year or so and see how it goes. It's -- you 25 know, it's hard for me to really get into -- get my brain 1-9-06 19 1 wrapped around it, to use one of Commissioner Baldwin's 2 statements, as to how much it's actually going to mean per -- 3 for each of these entities. I don't -- I haven't really got 4 it all figured out exactly what machines -- like, you know, 5 what Ingram's going to use versus what the City of Kerrville's 6 going to use. You know, so -- but I think 1 and a half 7 percent is a fair number. It will help. It gets the -- 8 spreads the cost of this down the road for the replacement of 9 the machines, and it's not a -- I don't think it's going to be 10 a burdensome amount to any entity. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'd like to hear from, if 12 you will, Mr. Edwards about his thinking. He's -- Mr. Edwards 13 is the Ingram City Attorney. 14 MR. EDWARDS: I don't have a lot to add. The last 15 time Commissioner Letz said he thought they had a maintenance 16 contract for 13,000 some-odd dollars, you said. Now you're 17 saying you do not know how much the maintenance is going to 18 be. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it's hard to do per 20 machine, is what I mean. I don't -- it's -- you know. 21 MR. EDWARDS: But you're not -- that's taken into 22 consideration in the 1 and a half percent? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's in the 1 and a half 24 percent. Just charge 1 and a half percent plus $50 25 administrative. 1-9-06 20 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Should we not also have the 2 Auditor set up these receipts for a special fund used 3 exclusively for replacement, repair, and maintenance of this 4 equipment? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sounds like we have to do that 6 by law anyway, so we can make sure that is done. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Just for the sake of people 8 understanding what we're talking about, Jannett, a unit of 9 equipment consists of what? One voting station in one 10 location consists of what? 11 MS. PIEPER: If you're calling it one unit, I have 12 no idea what -- 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How would you describe it? 14 MS. PIEPER: Each entity will have at least one JBC, 15 which is a judge's booth controller, one eSlate machine, and 16 one eScan. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Then you have the -- 19 MS. PIEPER: The City may -- Kerrville city may go 20 with two eSlate machines and one JBC and one eScan. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So, that first case 22 described was three pieces of equipment. That would be -- 23 would be charging 1 and a half percent of the cost of each of 24 those three, plus $50 for each of those three? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You know, and that would be a 1-9-06 21 1 little bit less than $200. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: My understanding was that $50 was a 3 one-time administrative fee per election to that entity. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: And not per -- 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So it's $50, not $150. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: If they have three setups, it would 9 still be $50, the same as if they had one setup or ten setups. 10 MS. PIEPER: In addition to the rental fee, other 11 counties around the state are also doing some kind of a 12 contract, or -- or it could be included in the contract, that 13 should the equipment come back broken or something, then that 14 entity that rented it replaces it. But I -- and in time, I 15 will get a copy of other contracts and talk with the County 16 Attorney and then present it to y'all as well. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And I think that goes -- 18 I mean, I didn't say that, but I think that goes kind of 19 somewhat without saying, if machines are -- normal wear and 20 tear is not -- 21 MS. PIEPER: Right. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- covered, but just if they're 23 broken, dropped, stolen, fire, whatever, the entity that is 24 using them is responsible for at least the depreciated value 25 of the machine. I don't think you can ask someone for -- a 1-9-06 22 1 five-year-old machine, they're responsible for the full cost 2 of a new machine, but I think you take a -- 3 MS. PIEPER: If it's dropped or something. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 MR. EDWARDS: Question. You have a voting machine, 6 then you have ancillary equipment to support the voting 7 machine. Is this -- is each machine -- a supporting election 8 machine a separate machine for purposes of the charge, or -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 10 MR. EDWARDS: -- is it a voting machine charge 11 including whatever you use with it to support it? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's whatever machines the 13 entity are using. 14 MR. EDWARDS: How many machines are we going to have 15 to have to support two voting machines? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If you have two machines, then 17 two of the -- one each. 18 MS. PIEPER: A total of four. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Four total machines, at a total 20 cost -- it would be 11,000, so it would be 1 and a half 21 percent of 11,000, $160 plus $50, so $210 per election. 22 MS. PIEPER: Plus the cost of your ballots and your 23 programming, but that you do through Hart InterCivic. 24 MR. EDWARDS: What's the programming? 25 MS. PIEPER: $2,100. 1-9-06 23 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Didn't you say that last time, 2 that that was free the first cycle? 3 MS. PIEPER: No, sir. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, that's what your staff 5 does to set up the election, does it not? 6 MS. PIEPER: No, we just do the -- we just what you 7 call zero-out the equipment. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 9 MS. PIEPER: But as far -- I do not have the 10 software, because that was what was cut out of the budget. I 11 don't have the software to program nor print the ballots. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: I think the -- the thought is that 13 after we get this first year under our belt, we will be able 14 to build our own software so that that is not a recurring cost 15 in later years. 16 MS. PIEPER: Correct. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: But it will be in this first year. 18 MS. PIEPER: I don't know how much that's going to 19 cost yet, so I don't know how many years we can put this 20 rental money up and then be able to acquire that. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I -- 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: When you talk about 23 software, are you talking about the operating system of the 24 equipment, or are you talking about setting up each piece of 25 gear for a specific election? 1-9-06 24 1 MS. PIEPER: I have to set up each piece of gear for 2 the election, and what was the other part of your question? 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I was trying to get just a 4 distinction between -- when you talk about software, are you 5 talking about the operating system built into this equipment 6 to make it function? 7 MS. PIEPER: No, that's there. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Or are you talking about the 9 specific setup for a unique election? 10 MS. PIEPER: Each election, the systems -- the 11 ballot, the JBC and the eScan -- have to be set up for each 12 entity so that it'll know what ballot -- what candidates are 13 on the ballot. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Then you're talking 15 about specific, unique for the election. 16 MS. PIEPER: Right. And right now, I do not have 17 the software to do that. 18 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: This issue about the 19 programming costs, it's troublesome to me, particularly for 20 the entities that are very small. 'Cause I want to go back to 21 the Divide voting precinct again. My understanding is Divide 22 would pay something like $210 plus $2,100. 23 MS. PIEPER: That is correct. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: For a dozen voters? 25 MS. PIEPER: They haven't had an election in 10 1-9-06 25 1 years, so they're hoping to go another 10 without one. 2 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: But it does mean that 3 Ingram would pay $210 plus $2,100. Brenda? 4 MS. CRAIG: That's our federal government at work. 5 MS. PIEPER: Plus the cost of the ballots. That 6 does not include the cost of the ballots; that's just 7 programming to program their candidates and their city. 8 MR. EDWARDS: What does the software cost to do the 9 programming? 10 MS. PIEPER: I don't know. I don't remember what 11 the total amount was. 12 MR. EDWARDS: Are we talking 50,000? 13 MS. PIEPER: No, I don't think so. No, I'm thinking 14 it was somewhere between five to eight, but I'm not for sure. 15 MR. EDWARDS: 25,000? 16 MS. PIEPER: No, 5,000 to 8,000 is what I think it 17 was. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If that's the right amount. 19 MR. EDWARDS: It's going to be 2,100 for all of us. 20 You don't think you can do it all for everybody for 5,000? 21 MS. PIEPER: Well, I can't right now. 22 MR. EDWARDS: If you had it, you could? 23 MS. PIEPER: Yes, it's possible. 24 MR. EDWARDS: 5,000 is a whole lot cheaper than 25 charging everybody 2,100. 1-9-06 26 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Makes a lot more sense to go 2 into -- I mean, to get the software now and recoup it at 3 $1,000 per entity until we get it paid for, or 500 per entity 4 until it's paid for. 5 MS. PIEPER: But in addition to that software, then 6 I have to have a high-speed printer that will print -- I think 7 they call it multiplex or duplex or something. So, I'm not 8 even talking to the vendor about that right now. I'm just 9 trying -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It sounds like the Help 11 America Vote Act is going to make it more difficult to allow 12 America to vote. 13 MS. PIEPER: What I've been through the last couple 14 of weeks, it's been very difficult. I mean, Kerr County's 15 getting to where we desperately need an elections 16 administrator, and I'm even having to pull another deputy from 17 my office to work elections. So -- and the only thing that 18 this election equipment is going to help with is the -- the 19 central counting station tally. The rest of it, it's putting 20 more work on us. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Would you be kind enough to get the 22 information together for us that tells us exactly what it's 23 going to cost to be able to solve this software problem 24 in-house so that we don't have this recurring over and over 25 $2,000-plus cost to each election entity every time they hold 1-9-06 27 1 an election? 2 MS. PIEPER: I could do that. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 4 MS. PIEPER: But let me also state that if y'all 5 chose today to buy that software, there is no way that I could 6 do all the entities this year, that I -- that I'd have time to 7 program and print their ballots. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Who's going to do it? 9 MS. PIEPER: I don't know. I just know that -- you 10 know, I've got enough on my plate. And, I mean, it's not that 11 I don't -- I wouldn't mind, but, you know, if -- if he wants 12 to come learn how to do the program and program the city and 13 their elections -- I mean, you know, I'm not an elections 14 administrator and I cannot do everybody's elections. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But let -- how about this, to 16 move forward on this. One, why don't we adopt the 1 and a 17 half percent. That will get that fee out of the way, and then 18 at our next meeting, why don't you have Hart Graphics here 19 before us -- 20 MS. PIEPER: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- so we can have them tell us 22 how we're going to do this. 'Cause they're the ones that sold 23 us the equipment; they need to answer the questions. 24 MS. PIEPER: I will do that. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we 1-9-06 28 1 charge a fee to entities using the new voting equipment of 2 1 and a half percent of the cost of the equipment used by that 3 entity for that election, plus a $50 administrative fee per 4 election. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I second it. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 7 indicated. Any question or discussion? Mr. Edwards, did you 8 have anything further that -- 9 MR. EDWARDS: No, thanks. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: -- you wish to offer on this? You 11 had filed a participation form. 12 MR. EDWARDS: No, thank you, Your Honor. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, sir? 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I -- Commissioner Letz' 16 comments about having Hart Graphics come in here is excellent. 17 Actually, I want -- I want the numbers in here before they 18 appear. 19 MS. PIEPER: I will try to get those -- 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I want the numbers in here as 21 quickly as possible. 22 MS. PIEPER: Okay. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Good comment, Commissioner. Any 24 further question or discussion on the motion? 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Just one comment. Also, it 1-9-06 29 1 might be helpful, before their appearance, if we know who and 2 how this election to be held is going to be set up. And if -- 3 MS. PIEPER: What do you mean, who and how? 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Everything associated with 5 that, how much that's going to be. You said you couldn't 6 program everything in time for the upcoming election. Who's 7 going to do that? We need to know how -- 8 MS. PIEPER: Hart is going to do it for the 9 primaries. Hart InterCivic will do it for the primaries. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The problem -- I think what I 11 heard from Jannett's comment was that she has city, I guess 12 Headwaters, a lot other elections. There's a lot of other 13 elections this year, and they're coming in groups because of 14 the -- now we have more centralized dates for elections 15 statewide. 16 MS. PIEPER: Correct. Gentlemen, February 21st, I 17 start my early voting for the primary. Then in March we have 18 our primary. April, we're having run-offs. May, we have 19 cities and schools. So, there -- 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 21 MS. PIEPER: There's just no way, if we had the 22 software, that I would have the time to program all the cities 23 and the schools. I mean, it's not that I'm being ugly and I 24 don't want to. I just don't have the time, and right now I 25 don't have the knowledge. I don't know that. 1-9-06 30 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. That's something we can 2 ask Hart Graphics; maybe they can figure out a way to at 3 least -- I mean, I agree with what Mr. Edwards is saying, that 4 it makes no sense to charge each entity $2,100 when the 5 software doesn't cost that much. If we commit to figuring out 6 how to pay for the software, maybe we can get Hart Graphics to 7 do the programming. I mean, certainly, they're knowledgeable; 8 they should be able to do it relatively quickly. You know, 9 maybe I'm way off base on that, but anyway, that's what -- 10 when we get Hart Graphics here, we'll find out. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further questions or comments on 12 the pending motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by 13 raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. The next 18 item on the agenda is execution of written agreement 19 authorizing the Crime Victims Rights Coordinator to utilize 20 office space in the courthouse during the grant period, and 21 establishing the value of leased space for purposes of an 22 in-kind match for Victims of Crime Act Grant Number 23 VA-17504-01. Ms. Lavender. 24 MS. LAVENDER: Good morning. This is just an item 25 to clean up something that we didn't catch the first time 1-9-06 31 1 around with our grant application, and as you all know, this 2 is the first year of the grant, and so we go through several 3 evaluations, and this is as a result of an AACOG evaluation of 4 the 13th of December. They said we needed something that 5 actually documented the square footage of the office area and 6 the per-square-foot cost of it. And in the resolution, I made 7 it match the grant application that we're currently under. 8 When we do the new grant application for next year, then we 9 can adjust that office space cost if we need to. It's also, 10 we found out last time, a part of the cash match -- rather, 11 the in-kind match of the grant. As we go along with this 12 thing, we learn new things about every three or four months 13 when AACOG e-mails us something, so all this is is just a -- 14 an item to clean up something that we actually left out. We 15 didn't get in trouble for it; they're not upset with us over 16 it. It's just a little detail that we missed in the original 17 approval. 18 On the 26th of January, that morning before the 19 party that afternoon, I'm going to go to AACOG and we will 20 begin our second round of applying for a new VOCA Grant, and 21 I'll be back with you to get a resolution from the Court for 22 permission to apply for that grant. And things are going well 23 in the program. I counted last week, so we got our six -- 24 six-month information to Texas A & M, and I have come in 25 contact with, since the 1st of July, including the carryover 1-9-06 32 1 from what we were doing the first part of the year, with 203 2 victims, and so that's far above the goal that we set in the 3 grant application originally. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Ms. Lavender, is this 54 5 cents per square foot consistent with a similar resolution we 6 did for the County Attorney? 7 MS. LAVENDER: No, it is not. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is this -- this squares in 9 with the grant that you're currently under? 10 MS. LAVENDER: Correct. It's under the grant we're 11 currently under, and then we'll adjust it when the new grant 12 application goes in. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What is the difference between 14 those two? Do you recall? 15 MR. EMERSON: A dollar and quarter. 16 MS. LAVENDER: Dollar and a quarter. 17 MR. EMERSON: That was the comparable amount that we 18 put on the other grant. 19 MS. LAVENDER: Right. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do you see any potential problem 21 by having a discrepancy of basically the same space having 22 different per-square-foot value? 23 MS. LAVENDER: When we apply for the new grant 24 cycle, then we'll adjust it to make them match. I don't know 25 that the -- I don't really know if the value of the office 1-9-06 33 1 space in the basement of this building is the same as the 2 value of the office space in the annex, either. I don't 3 have -- anyway, that would be a Glenn question, and I can't 4 answer. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Should be much higher than the 6 annex. 7 MS. LAVENDER: It's more -- this is the executive 8 suite here? 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's historical value. 10 MS. LAVENDER: Exactly. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval of the resolution. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 14 of the resolution. Ms. Lavender, generally, the -- the 15 function of your office in connection with crime victims, I 16 know heretofore a lot of the -- a lot of the expense involved 17 in crime victims is medical expense. 18 MS. LAVENDER: Correct. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Some of which I am led to understand 20 would have fallen under our indigent health care program, and 21 which we would have been responsible for paying. Do you have 22 any estimate in round figures of the dollar amount of medical 23 expenses that would otherwise be -- fall under our indigent 24 health program that you've managed to funnel over into this 25 Crime Victims? 1-9-06 34 1 MS. LAVENDER: Well, I totaled up at the end of 2 October the amount of money that Crime Victims had paid in 3 medical claims, the residents of Kerr County or people who 4 were considered crime victims in Kerr County, and it was a 5 little over $80,000 at that time, actual dollars that have 6 come into the local medical community. We've got several huge 7 outstanding claims right now. Some of them are -- most of 8 them are Kerr County residents who were airlifted to either 9 University or Brooke Army Medical Center or Wilford Hall, and 10 some of those claims eventually would have come back to us as 11 indigent health care claims, because the hospitals in San 12 Antonio also have access to filing indigent health care claims 13 through our county's funding. Last week alone, I saw 14 potential claims in the neighborhood of about $350,000, 15 $360,000, so what we're doing is of benefit. We're -- you 16 know, we're stopping some of the -- of the costs of health 17 care going out into the indigent health care plan. The Texas 18 Crime Victims Compensation Fund pays only up to $125,000 in 19 really major things. We haven't had anything that has paid 20 that much, but we've got some large outstanding ones right now 21 that I'm working on to -- to hopefully get at least part of 22 them paid through Crime Victims. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, thank you. Any question or 24 discussion on the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify 25 by raising your right hand. 1-9-06 35 1 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 3 (No response.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. 5 MS. LAVENDER: Thank you. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Ms. Lavender. Let's move 7 to Item 4, consider, discuss, and take appropriate action for 8 final plat of Heartland Acres located in Precinct 2. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Leonard? 10 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. This is in Precinct 2. We've 11 gone over this with the Commissioner and Mr. Voelkel. It's an 12 alternate plat process. It's three lots; four or less lots. 13 Everything on here, TexDOT has been -- this fronts on Lower 14 Turtle Creek and backs up against The Woods there. The 15 floodplain is shown. Flood elevation minimum floor is shown. 16 TexDOT approval has been -- gone through TexDOT, so what I 17 have before you is acceptable. I recommend to the Court we 18 have a final approval for this plat. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move approval of the 20 subdivision plat review -- 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- of Heartland Acres in 23 Precinct 2. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for the 25 approval of the final plat of Heartland Acres located in 1-9-06 36 1 Precinct 2. Is there any question or discussion on the 2 motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your 3 right hand. 4 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 6 (No response.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move to 8 Item 5, if we might. Consider, discuss, and take appropriate 9 action to award bids on the lease of two all-wheel backhoes 10 with power tilt attachments. We had opened the bids on these 11 items at a previous meeting and referred them to the Road and 12 Bridge Administrator for review, evaluation, and 13 recommendation. 14 MR. ODOM: What I have -- I gave you the list of 15 bidders and their bids. Holt Equipment is the low bid for 16 $113,788.80. I want to point for the record that I show 17 116,036. That was the bid that Equipment Depot had written 18 out, but when I calculate it out, that number's a little bit 19 different. But it's irrelevant; the low bid is still Holt 20 Equipment. My recommendation is that -- that the Court award 21 the bid to Holt of San Antonio there. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval of awarding the 23 bid to Holt Cat. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'll second that motion. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to award the 1-9-06 37 1 bid for the lease of two all-wheel backhoes with power tilt 2 attachments to Holt Caterpillar Equipment. Any question or 3 discussion? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got a question. Is this 5 our way of supporting the San Antonio Spurs? 6 MR. ODOM: Indirectly. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: The equipment as proposed by Holt 8 does meet the specifications? 9 MR. ODOM: It does meet the specifications, yes, 10 sir. And the correction I was telling you about, that bid was 11 138 instead of 116,000, so there was -- I don't know how they 12 did it, but we would have -- had they been the low bid, we 13 would have clarified that, what was written out and what the 14 bottom line was versus what their monthly payments were. But 15 Holt beat everybody substantially, and met our specifications. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or discussion on 17 the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 18 your right hand. 19 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 21 (No response.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I was going to ask a quick 24 question. 25 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir? 1-9-06 38 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How does Holt, in your mind, 2 beat everyone consistently? 3 MR. ODOM: Consistently? It gets down to residual 4 value. What we're paying for is what we use, and that the 5 others are basically -- you can look at 140,000. I had Texana 6 in -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 8 MR. ODOM: -- and was talking about it, but bottom 9 line is, I was buying it. I was paying for it, and they were 10 getting it back. And the bottom line is -- is what people 11 think of the equipment and -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, resale value is the bottom 13 line. 14 MR. ODOM: That's right. And they're going to be 15 able to go back and resell a Caterpillar. They're not going 16 to take a Ford or something outside their line and not make a 17 whole lot of money, but they take their equipment and they got 18 what their residual value is. And we don't use it -- we don't 19 tear it up. It's something that, in talking to Texana and 20 John Deere, that people are starting to -- they're starting to 21 go to that, but the question is what the residual value is. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, what it is is that, even 23 though the equipment costs more if you were to buy it, because 24 of the -- Holt is valued better on a lease-purchase or leases, 25 they're able to come in here and -- 1-9-06 39 1 MR. ODOM: That's right. And all I'm paying for is 2 that spread in between, which is a win-win for us. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. Okay, good. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay? Thank you, sir. Let's move to 5 Item 11, consider, discuss, and appoint Kathy Banik to the 6 Kerr County Child Service Board. Commissioner Baldwin. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, sir. As you can 8 see and as you know, the Kerr County Child Service Board is 9 continually moving along and doing their work. As we -- as 10 they do that, we move along and add new members -- active 11 members to the board. And it's my pleasure and an honor to 12 appoint Kathy Banik. We all know her, and she's a wonderful 13 person. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Hardworking. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Hardworking. Pretty. And -- 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second the motion. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That was my motion. And 18 thank you. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 20 of the agenda item to appoint Kathy Banik to the Kerr County 21 Child Services Board. Any -- any further question or 22 discussion on the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify 23 by raising your right hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 1-9-06 40 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Did you take all that down? 4 Good girl. Thank you. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's move to Item 12, if we might. 6 Consider, discuss, and approval of an application by Kerr 7 County for grant funds from the Texas Department of 8 Agriculture to be used for advertising Texas State Arts and 9 Crafts Fair under the Hometown Stars Program, and the 10 appointment of Bob Miller, Executive Director of the Texas 11 State Arts and Crafts Education Foundation as agent for that 12 application. 13 MR. MILLER: Thank you, Judge Tinley and 14 Commissioners. This is an application through the Department 15 of Agriculture, Texas Yes Program. It actually requires the 16 County to -- to be the -- submit the application. It 17 allows -- the application allows you to assign me the admin -- 18 essentially be the administrator on the program, which means I 19 get to supply them with the supporting paperwork and whatnot. 20 It is a matching grant from the Department of Agriculture to 21 match funds we expend for advertising. Does not require any 22 County funds of any kind. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This is for the promotion of 24 Texas State Arts and Crafts? 25 MR. MILLER: To promote the Texas State Arts and 1-9-06 41 1 Crafts Fair, which every year -- it's for advertising dollars 2 strictly, and every year it's a tougher and tougher battle for 3 us to get people from out of town to come -- you know, drive 4 to Kerrville, so we need every advertising dollar we can 5 garner for that project. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move approval of the grant 7 application as proposed by Mr. Miller -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- for grant funds from 10 Texas Department of Agriculture to be used for advertising of 11 Texas State Arts and Crafts Fair. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: That was a second, Commissioner 13 Baldwin? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Motion made and seconded for 16 approval of the agenda item. It's my understanding that the 17 only application we -- the only action that would be required 18 on behalf of Kerr County would be the actual submission of an 19 application to the Texas Yes Program of the Texas Department 20 of Agriculture; is that correct? 21 MR. MILLER: Actually, if you'll just sign the 22 document, I'll even do the submission. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And authorize County Judge 25 to sign same. 1-9-06 42 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 2 MR. MILLER: Thank you very much. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Any -- any further question or 4 discussion on the motion? 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got -- 6 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Judge, I've got an 7 editorial comment about this item and Item 10. I don't know 8 if it's a comment or question. It surprises me that the Texas 9 Department of Agriculture has funds for arts and crafts fairs 10 and for boardwalks. 11 MR. MILLER: May I approach the bench? There's the 12 program. They've got roughly, I think, this year $300,000, 13 and it is to promote tourism in rural communities, is 14 specifically what the program is for. Kerrville -- if we were 15 in the city limits of Kerrville, we couldn't apply for it, 16 'cause their population is over 20,000. 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'm happy to get the funds. 18 You know, it's like a lot of other things that come from 19 Austin or Washington; you have to take it or somebody else 20 will. But I wonder what the Department of Agriculture is -- 21 what is their business being involved in projects like these 22 two? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've always wondered the same 24 thing about -- TexDOT has money for parks that we have 25 attempted to tap into before, and -- strange animal. 1-9-06 43 1 MR. MILLER: The trick is finding them, you know. I 2 mean, we just -- we found out about this program by going to 3 the Texas Festival Events Association convention. If I hadn't 4 gone to a session on that, I'd have no idea that the Texas 5 Department of Agriculture had funds that we could apply for. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There's been a lot of 7 realignment, and if I'm not mistaken, Texas Capital Fund is 8 now under the Department of Agriculture, and the U.S.D.A. is 9 doing sewers and water projects, and just a whole lot of 10 realignment that's going on. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Anyway, we can promote 12 agriculture in our county anyway. What I wonder is, is this 13 item and Item Number 10 -- are they -- do y'all -- is this the 14 same funds you're -- are y'all competing against -- 15 MR. MILLER: We're -- yeah. I'm not sure we're 16 competing. They will select -- 17 MS. BURDITT: There's two different sections. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Two different pots of money? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They just went to the same 20 conference. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To learn where those pots 22 were. 23 MS. BURDITT: The actual of how these dollars went 24 there, the Department of Commerce, when -- when the Texas 25 Department of Economic Development, with tourism underneath 1-9-06 44 1 it, was dissolved in the sunset -- what's it now been, three 2 years ago? Almost four. They moved part of those -- they 3 moved part of it to the governor's office, but all the real 4 nuts and bolts were moved to the Agriculture Department. 5 That's where it came; that's why it's all new programs, is 6 because they came out of that merger. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But this -- going back to the 8 agreement -- 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This will allow for a little 10 less than a third -- almost 30 percent of your advertising 11 cost to be reimbursed? 12 MR. MILLER: Up to a maximum of 10,000, is all that 13 we can do. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Hope you get it. 15 MR. MILLER: I do, too. Thank you, gentlemen. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or discussion on 17 the motion? I'm sorry. Did you have anything further, Sudie? 18 My phone's buzzing up here. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that you? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. My pacemaker working. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I thought it was a weedeater. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Sounded almost like a weedeater. 23 Any -- any further question or discussion on the motion? All 24 in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 1-9-06 45 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll move to Item 10, a similar 4 item. Consider, discuss, and authorize the County Judge to 5 make application on behalf of Kerr County to join the Texas 6 Yes Program administered by Texas Department of Agriculture to 7 enable Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau to obtain 8 matching funds from the department for event to benefit 9 Kerrville Boardwalk project. It sounds as though I'm already 10 making application to the Texas Yes Program. This is just a 11 different shade of the same animal, it appears. Ms. Burditt? 12 Mr. Farrar? If you'd like to tell us what this is all about, 13 why, we'd be happy to listen to you. 14 MR. FARRAR: Good morning. My wife and I own a bed 15 and breakfast here in Kerr County, not too far from -- 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Please identify yourself. 17 MR. FARRAR: I'm sorry. My name is David Farrar. 18 My wife Desiree and I are here and representing Trail's End 19 Guest House. We're working with -- in conjunction with the 20 Convention and Visitors Bureau to put on this event to benefit 21 the Kerrville Boardwalk Association, or whatever the title is; 22 I'm just not too clear on that title. My wife and I own a bed 23 and breakfast here in Kerrville -- or actually in Kerr County. 24 We decided that we liked the concept of as many bed and 25 breakfasts in Kerrville as we can get, as opposed to Gillespie 1-9-06 46 1 County and us getting the overflow. One way to push this is 2 to have more tourist attractions in Kerrville, Kerr County. 3 When the Boardwalk came up, we were very interested in it. We 4 saw where a lot of donations were being made, large ones. Not 5 enough, of course. But then we got to thinking. Out of all 6 our guests -- 'cause we work pretty extensively with our 7 guests and visiting with them and all -- no one had ever heard 8 of the Boardwalk. No one had any idea of it. 9 When you go to any county in the hill country that 10 has access to the Guadalupe whatsoever, they -- they promote 11 that quite extensively. I mean, Comal County's living proof 12 of that. We thought that this would be the very best use of 13 the river that's come up so far. It had so much other funding 14 and so much cooperation of other individuals. We thought, 15 let's get involved with something that will help promote this 16 over the years, since it is a long-term growth project. We 17 visited with -- we have been members of Texas Yes for some 18 time. We visited with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and 19 got what their input is, and wanted to know if they would 20 co-op the event with us. The event is basically -- it's -- 21 it's food and wine tasting. It's other hill country products, 22 and it's a little more -- I don't want to say it's 23 high-dollar; I don't want so say it's low-dollar. I don't 24 want to saying anything like that, but the target audience 25 we're trying to reach is, so many people come to the hill 1-9-06 47 1 country -- and this is our experience from tourism. So many 2 people come to the hill country and they look for several 3 things. One day they're eating barbecue and the next day 4 they're asking us where they can go to get the best steak 5 dinner they can. 6 We decided we would present the hill country as what 7 it actually is. On one hand, you've got some of the best 8 restaurants you'll ever have in the world. On the other hand, 9 you have the best places to pull over and eat burgers, sit 10 outside and drink a bottle of beer. So, this is what we're 11 looking to do. We want to present a wide spectrum of 12 different tastes, different feelings, just the whole ambience 13 of the hill country. We're doing it on our property, which is 14 23 acres. We're making extensive renovations to our property 15 so when people come in, they actually go out; they can wander 16 among the trees. They're walking up and down the hills. 17 Around every corner will be a new place to taste, touch, see, 18 or feel some of these parts of the hill country. We're asking 19 all the vendors to donate all their facilities, all their 20 sampling procedures, things like that. They will have other 21 items for sale. They will donate a small portion of the 22 profits, or they will donate things to the silent auction that 23 we're going to have. 24 We look at this as an annual event, because the 25 Boardwalk is going to be an ongoing growing project, and it's 1-9-06 48 1 continuing to just get better and better for the area. 2 The actual reason for why we're going to Texas Yes is the 3 money. We want the $10,000 in matching funds. Again, as my 4 contemporary spoke, it's all about advertising, getting them 5 here. If they don't know about it, they won't come, and if 6 they don't come, they don't spend the dollars and tax revenues 7 aren't up, et cetera, et cetera. We all know the drill of 8 that one. It's also -- to address your question there, 9 Mr. Nicholson, about the -- the Department of Agriculture, 10 I've spent a lot of time on the phone with these folks, and 11 they explained one thing to me, is that because this was a 12 ranching economy out here, and in so many of the rural 13 counties, that's what it was, they feel like they have a duty 14 through the Department of Agriculture. This is why the 15 mechanics were passed to the Department of Agriculture, to 16 basically save the tax revenues of these counties and to 17 increase them to where the counties could still offer the 18 goods and services that they do, even though the agricultural 19 base has been eroded away. That's what was explained to me 20 why it was -- the mechanics were transferred to the 21 Agriculture Department. 22 So that's really, in a nutshell, what it is. Again, 23 we, in conjunction with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, 24 will be filling out the paperwork and then submitting them to 25 you. There's a sample copy that I gave to you, Judge Tinley. 1-9-06 49 1 And that's pretty much it in a nutshell, unless anyone has any 2 questions. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do, Mr. Farrar. 4 MR. FARRAR: Yes, sir? 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let's see, how can I do this 6 without being abrasive? 7 MR. FARRAR: Go ahead, be abrasive. I was married 8 to a French woman for 10 years; nothing can -- 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, I'm okay. And it's just 10 total ignorance, believe me. I'm not being abrasive here. I 11 just don't see what -- how does this -- how does this enhance 12 the Boardwalk? 13 MR. FARRAR: All -- I'm sorry. You're right. All 14 the proceeds are given to the Boardwalk. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm right? 16 MR. FARRAR: I apologize for that. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see. So -- 18 MR. FARRAR: All the proceeds are given to the 19 Boardwalk. They're the beneficiary of it. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, super. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How much, potentially -- or how 22 much do you hope the Boardwalk would receive? 23 MR. FARRAR: We'd like -- I'd like $20,00 or 24 $25,000. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That much? 1-9-06 50 1 MR. FARRAR: That's pretty aggressive, and we may be 2 way off that mark. But since this is a first-year event, you 3 just never know. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Where is Trail's End? 5 MR. FARRAR: Trail's End is -- you go out Loop 534 6 to Cypress Creed Road, three and a half miles, and I'm sure we 7 all know where the shooting range is. And if you take a right 8 at that neighborhood there and you go to the back of the 9 neighborhood, we're at the far end of the neighborhood. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Precinct 3, just to make sure 11 you know where it is. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: My question has to do 13 with -- with the application itself. You're making 14 application to Texas Department of Agriculture. I'm reading 15 from the styling on the agenda item. 16 MR. FARRAR: Sure. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To enable Kerrville 18 Convention and Visitors Bureau to obtain matching funds from 19 the Department for event to benefit Kerrville Boardwalk 20 project. Are we talking -- what exactly are we talking about? 21 Promotional money? You're asking for promotional money which 22 will come through C.V.B. for the purpose of promoting this 23 event? Is that -- is that what we're asking? 24 MS. BURDITT: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes? 1-9-06 51 1 MS. BURDITT: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And then, assuming and 3 hoping that this is a success, the net proceeds go to the 4 Boardwalk project for its use in terms of whatever it's doing? 5 MR. FARRAR: Yes, sir. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I guess I understand. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think I understand. I guess 8 my -- I have two concerns. One, your location is somewhat 9 remote. 10 MR. FARRAR: It's very remote. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I guess -- is that 12 a reasonable location for an event? And that's kind of 13 just -- 14 MR. FARRAR: That's the first question every -- 15 that's the first question everyone asks. Unfortunately, when 16 you go to a lot of events in the hill country, they're out in 17 the open. They're right against the highway, and you really 18 don't experience or feel what a day's walk in the hill country 19 is. If you could all imagine that you lived in Houston or 20 Dallas or San Antonio, and you go somewhere, park your car and 21 walk down a trail, be out in the woods and be out in the 22 hills, but still receive the same type of attention and 23 service that you would at an event that was held at a -- maybe 24 a convention center or things like that -- think of it as a 25 trade show located in the hills. 1-9-06 52 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. And my other question, 2 it's probably more probably to Rex, more a legal question. 3 This is getting very close, in my mind, to the County 4 supporting spending -- it's state funds, not county funds, but 5 the County helping sponsor something that's benefiting a 6 private entity, being your B and B. Do we have any concerns 7 there, Rex? Should I be concerned about that? And I'm not -- 8 I mean -- 9 MR. EMERSON: I don't know the legitimate answer to 10 that. You'd have to go back and look at the program itself to 11 see what the restrictions are. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just -- I want to make very 13 certain that this is an appropriate use, because it is -- even 14 though it's -- it's not directly benefiting your business, it 15 -- there's certainly clearly an indirect benefit to your 16 business. 17 MR. FARRAR: Sure, it's an indirect benefit. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just want to make sure that 19 we're not getting the County into a legal predicament. 20 MR. FARRAR: It's no different from the days when 21 the County would have to go to some landowner and say, "Would 22 you let us use your property for this and this and this so the 23 County can obtain funds?" And that's what -- in essence, 24 that's what we're doing. The County needs the tax dollars; we 25 all agree upon that. One way to bring tax dollars in the 1-9-06 53 1 county is for the Boardwalk to be a success and draw a lot of 2 tourists. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I understand all that. I'm just 4 -- it's just a -- it's a little bit closer relationship than 5 I'm used to seeing before the Court. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Commissioner, maybe the 7 answer lies in who's going to administer the funds. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Speak to that. 9 MR. FARRAR: We don't have anything to do with the 10 dollars. All the dollars will be administered through -- you 11 know, they'll be actually administered through the Boardwalk 12 Association. We had thought about going through Visitor and 13 Convention Bureau, but they're just not logistically set up to 14 do that. The only dollars that will actually go through our 15 own self is, we have -- we're applying for a liquor license -- 16 or a beer and wine license. We will have a beer and wine 17 license. Since we'll be the licensee, the dollars will have 18 to be put through our beer and wine license. However, all 19 those moneys will be audited by a representative of the 20 Boardwalk Association. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Convention and Visitors Bureau, 22 they don't -- they're comfortable with the relationship? 23 MS. BURDITT: I think we're fine. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I think it's a neat 25 idea. It's just something we have never -- I've never seen 1-9-06 54 1 before with a private entity. We've done it with 2 organizations that are nonprofits before. This is just -- 3 Mr. Miller's. But it's just a matter -- this is a little bit 4 different, in my mind. 5 MS. BURDITT: It's actually up to the Department of 6 Agriculture to determine that. If they question it, they 7 won't award the grant. All we're doing is applying for the 8 grant. If they don't -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's true, too. 10 MS. BURDITT: If they don't like the trail, then 11 they won't award it. 12 MR. FARRAR: That's just more money we have to raise 13 for advertising. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How much are you applying 15 for? 16 MR. FARRAR: The full amount, 10,000. They match up 17 to $10,000. They match up to $10,000, and I'm assuming our 18 advertising budget will be somewhere in the -- because we're 19 also doing a web site, be somewhere between $25,000 to 20 $35,000. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Bob, you had -- 22 MR. MILLER: Only comment is, if you take a look at 23 the pink sheet, you all are limited to two grant awards per 24 body from the Texas Yes Program, so if you approve both of 25 these, that's it for a while. So, you know -- and I don't 1-9-06 55 1 know that anybody else has got anything in the wings. And 2 they've only approved 20 of it as of yesterday; they had 10 -- 3 I mean as of Friday. So, pretty good shot that they'll all be 4 approved. 5 MR. FARRAR: Yeah, it will be. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If the grant is awarded and 7 it's administered by the Boardwalk people, are they obligated 8 to use it solely and exclusively to promote your event, which 9 ultimately benefits them if you -- if you make any money? Or 10 can they use it for any and all events? 11 MR. FARRAR: They cannot use it except for this 12 particular event. There'll be a separate banking account set 13 up for this, and all the moneys will go towards the 14 advertising. We have to give the Texas Yes Program a strong, 15 fixed budget; we have to stay within those guidelines. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't -- 18 MR. MILLER: It's not even -- none of us will get 19 the money first. We spend the money, submit the invoices; 20 they approve the ones they want to approve, and then they 21 write a check. So, it's a -- 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: You had a question, Commissioner? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I just wanted to make a 25 comment. I see this thing as, you know, the Court is not 1-9-06 56 1 necessarily endorsing this man's business. We're not 2 endorsing drinking wine. We're not endorsing a Boardwalk or 3 anything -- you know, anything else, so I move for approval. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 6 of the agenda item. Any further question or discussion? 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Judge, I'm -- I'm impressed 8 that the C.V.B. is a part of this, and I want to say to 9 Ms. Burditt that I have a lot of value for the work your 10 organization does. 11 MS. BURDITT: Thank you. 12 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Sometimes I'm critical of 13 local organizations, so when I see one that's doing a really 14 good job for our community, I like -- like to acknowledge 15 that. So, thank you for your work. 16 MS. BURDITT: Thank you. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Just another way to try and get some 18 outside dollars into this area and benefit local projects, and 19 hopefully it will continue the flow of other dollars. Any 20 further question or comments? All in favor of the motion, 21 signify by raising your right hand. 22 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 24 (No response.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. At this 1-9-06 57 1 time, I will recess the Commissioners Court meeting, and I 2 will open a public hearing, that public hearing having been 3 scheduled for 10 o'clock. 4 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 10:07 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 5 court, as follows:) 6 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 7 JUDGE TINLEY: It's approximately 7 or 8 minutes 8 after that time now. That public hearing being concerning 9 regulatory signs in various locations in Kerr County; 10 specifically, setting speed limits on Peterson Farm Road at 35 11 miles an hour, Hermann Sons Road at 45 miles an hour, Lane 12 Valley Road at 45 miles an hour, and regulatory signs as 13 follows: At George Muck, a stop into Loyal Valley, and 14 Marilyn, a stop into Greenwood. Is there any member of the 15 public that wishes to be heard with regard to these regulatory 16 actions proposed to be taken by -- by Kerr County? Any member 17 of the public that wishes to be heard? 18 (No response.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Seeing no one stepping forward, I 20 will close the public hearing concerning regulatory signs in 21 Kerr County, and I will reconvene the Commissioners Court 22 hearing. 23 (The public hearing was concluded at 10:08 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 24 reopened.) 25 - - - - - - - - - - 1-9-06 58 1 JUDGE TINLEY: And I will call the next item on the 2 agenda, Agenda Item 1.7, consider, discuss, and take 3 appropriate action to set regulatory signs in various 4 locations in Kerr County. Mr. Odom. 5 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. As you -- the Judge has 6 already pointed out the various locations I submitted to the 7 Court for acceptance, and understand that we have some other 8 -- we'll be doing some more streets, roads for traffic, and 9 also one in Commissioner Nicholson's area out there for Klein 10 Branch that we've already taken a look at, and we'll do it 11 again for an increase in speed there from what is posted right 12 now. But we'll be doing this in the future, but right now, 13 this is something that we would like to go ahead and -- and 14 ask the Court to accept. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move approval. 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: What's the -- go ahead. 17 Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 19 of the regulatory signs in Kerr County as indicated in the 20 agenda item and as discussed in the public hearing. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: What's the current speed 22 limit on these three roads? 23 MR. ODOM: Peterson Farm is 45 on our end. Hermann 24 Sons is not posted, nor is Lane Valley, so we were trying to 25 -- different complaints we've heard, we've tried to set 1-9-06 59 1 something that was 85 percentile, something that was 2 reasonable. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, on Peterson, we need 4 to be consistent. There's a sign posted by the city of 5 Kerrville going east to west that says 35, and we put one up 6 going west to east that says 45, so what we're trying to do is 7 get consistent here. 8 MR. ODOM: Yeah. For all general -- we run the 9 traffic and the 85 percentile is there. If you drive the 10 road, it's at 35, but you've got different things. You've got 11 a church, you've got a school. Now, the school's a little bit 12 different, because they only have buses and things like that. 13 The school's not overly upset with that. We have a blinking 14 light. However, consistency is better, because there's been 15 some -- depends which way the law enforcement wishes to look 16 at the speed limit, from 35 or 45 miles an hour. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, if you're a city of 18 Kerrville cop and you're getting Mooney traffic at the close 19 of shift, you're going to look at 35. If you're a county 20 deputy sheriff looking at Mooney traffic going to work, you're 21 going to look at 45. So, we'd better get it consistent. 22 MR. ODOM: And I had consistency throughout the 23 whole thing as it develops out there, which eventually 24 we'll -- we'll do. 35 is probably there. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Leonard, where -- or how many 1-9-06 60 1 locations do you plan on putting speed limit signs on Hermann 2 Sons and Lane Valley? 3 MR. ODOM: Probably front, middle, somewhere along 4 in there. Probably front, middle, and end, back there 5 somewhere. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think middle is probably 7 sufficient. 8 MR. ODOM: Yeah. They're not as bad up front 9 because they can see a little bit more, it seems like. And 10 where we've looked at Hermann Sons on the other one, it's so 11 winding and all, it -- you know, it would probably -- probably 12 turn out all right. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: On a related issue -- 15 semi-related, we've talked recently about the sidewalks to 16 nowhere. I saw a new sign down here on one of these sidewalks 17 to nowhere that says, "Warning, sidewalk ends 100 feet." 18 (Laughter.) 19 MR. ODOM: My understanding, why that was brought up 20 -- may I mention? I heard that they were trying to make us go 21 all the way to the landfill with the sidewalk. Is that 22 correct? 23 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: No, they backed off of 24 that. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 1-9-06 61 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Would that be our responsibility? 2 If -- if we build sidewalks, we put warning signs of the 3 termination of the sidewalk, do you think, Mr. Odom? 4 MR. ODOM: My opinion? My opinion is that that's a 5 function of the City, and that the tort liabilities would be 6 to the City to sign that. Because if you went from one point 7 to another, we're doing as they implied. I see nothing in the 8 regulations that says it needs a speed limit sign or anything 9 like that on it. So, I think that that would be their 10 responsibility to sign it. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Sorry I brought it up. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I will say that as much 13 grief as I've given the City, they've got lots of those going 14 on. There's one over on Goat Creek going from nowhere to 15 nowhere, so they're being consistent. 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: They're consistent. 17 MR. ODOM: Theoretically, it may be a great idea, 18 but in practice, I don't see it working functionally properly, 19 for whatever reason. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We have a motion and a second. 21 Any further question or discussion on the motion? All in 22 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 23 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 1-9-06 62 1 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. The next 2 item that we have is a timed item for 10:15, and it is that 3 time now, so I will recess the Commissioners Court meeting 4 and I will convene a public hearing concerning the revision 5 of plat for Tract 152-A of Spicer Ranch Number 3 as set forth 6 in Volume 3, Page 84 of the Plat Records, and located in 7 Precinct 3. 8 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 10:15 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 9 court, as follows:) 10 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public 12 that wishes to be heard concerning the revision of the plat 13 for Tract 152-A of Spicer Ranch Number 3 as set forth in 14 Volume 3, Page 84 of the Plat Records, and located in Precinct 15 3? 16 MR. ODOM: For the record, Judge, Leonard Odom. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, sir? 18 MR. ODOM: I would like to correct that. That is 19 Precinct 1. Now, I don't know -- I'll take responsibility for 20 that, but I believe that we turned it in as 1, but it may be a 21 typo. Could have been on our part or either as this was typed 22 up, but this is in Precinct 1. And there's no action that 23 needs to be taken on this at this time. Mr. Domingues did not 24 have a final, so that's the reason we're not setting anything 25 up for final on this. This is a revision -- this is like an 1-9-06 63 1 alternate platting. This is relatives, and it's one of those 2 exemptions that are allowed to be platted as such, and we 3 think it's a good move. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does the -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I would note in the Notice of Public 6 Hearing that was published that the reference to the revision 7 of plat for Tract 152-A of Spicer Ranch Number 3 does not 8 indicate what particular Commissioner's precinct that is 9 located, so it would -- it would occur to me that we've got no 10 defect in our public notice here and we can proceed with this 11 public hearing. Is that correct, Mr. Emerson? 12 MR. EMERSON: Yes, sir. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree with that as well. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there anyone else that wishes to 16 be heard with regard to the revision of plat for Tract 152-A 17 of Spicer Ranch Number 3? Seeing no one else coming forward, 18 I will close the public hearing and I will reconvene the 19 Commissioners Court meeting. 20 (The public hearing was concluded at 10:16 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 21 reopened.) 22 - - - - - - - - - - 23 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a timed item for 10:20 24 concerning another public hearing. Because it's not yet that 25 time, I don't feel it appropriate to open that public hearing 1-9-06 64 1 yet, but rather wait until the appropriate time comes. So, I 2 guess we're -- 3 MR. ODOM: May I -- 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. 5 MR. ODOM: May I address that one before -- before 6 we get to that? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Before the public hearing? 8 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 10 MR. ODOM: Also, this is -- again, Mr. Domingues did 11 not have anything finalized. What we have is five lots going 12 to four, and that he has this before -- and Mr. Jackson might 13 clarify this, but I believe that he has this agenda item 14 before the City of Ingram, and they have not yet taken action 15 on that. So, therefore, waiting to hear what Ingram will come 16 up with; then there will be a final. But we gave this 30 days 17 ago, so we need to go forward with the public hearing as we've 18 got it published, which is in Precinct 4. So, there will be 19 no action needed other than just a public hearing, and then 20 we'll wait to see the final on it. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: While we're on the subject, 22 I'm going to try to get a little free legal advice. Is this 23 in the Ingram ETJ or the Ingram city limits? 24 MR. JACKSON: It is. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Both? Or -- 1-9-06 65 1 MR. JACKSON: ETJ. 2 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay, thank you. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We've got a few minutes before 4 we get to that item. We can stand in place or we can -- 5 MR. ODOM: How about the monthly report? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we can just wait for a 7 few minutes. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. We've got a couple of minutes 9 here, so we'll -- we'll stand briefly in place in recess, and 10 we'll reconvene shortly. 11 (Recess taken from 10:17 a.m. to 10:22 a.m.) 12 - - - - - - - - - - 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's come back to order, if 14 we might, and go to Item 9. I will recess the Commissioners 15 Court meeting and I will open a public hearing concerning the 16 revision of plat for Lots 5 through 9 in Block 8 of Greenwood 17 Forest. 18 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 10:22 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 19 court, as follows:) 20 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public 22 that wishes to be heard concerning a revision of the plat for 23 Lots 5 through 9 in Block 8 of Greenwood Forest, as set forth 24 in Volume 5, Page 92 of the Plat Records, and located in 25 Precinct 4? Do you have anything you wish to offer, 1-9-06 66 1 Mr. Jackson? 2 MR. JACKSON: No, Your Honor. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Seeing no one else coming forward, I 4 will close the public hearing concerning the revision of plat 5 for Lots 5 through 9 in Block 8 of Greenwood Forest, as set 6 forth in Volume 5, Page 92 of the Kerr County Plat Records. 7 (The public hearing was concluded at 10:23 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 8 reopened.) 9 - - - - - - - - - - 10 JUDGE TINLEY: I will reconvene the Commissioners 11 Court meeting. It appears that we can now move to the 12 approval agenda and take care of our financial matters. 13 Mr. Holekamp? Would you be kind enough to see if we can get 14 the Auditor in here? 15 MS. MITCHELL: I'll just call. I'll call. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Kathy's going to call. I appreciate 17 it. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Who set this report thing at 19 11 o'clock? My gosh, didn't you know that we were going to be 20 out of here early? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, that's better than 2:00, isn't 22 it? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: We're probably going to start a 25 little early on that. 1-9-06 67 1 MS. MITCHELL: She's on her way. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, good. We'll move to the 3 approval agenda, Item 4.1, payment of the bills. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Morning. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Any questions concerning any of the 6 bills? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: On Page -- I've been here 10 almost 20 years, and I think this is the first time I've ever 11 asked this question, and it's just informational more than 12 anything. On Page 2, the District Courts, both of the 13 District Courts, when these attorneys do this work and send a 14 bill in to the County, does anyone from the district level 15 sign off on it and say, "Yes, this attorney served four hours 16 in this courtroom"? 17 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, the District Judge signs off on 18 it. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: On each one of them? 20 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you very much. 22 MS. WILLIAMS: You're welcome. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Follow-up question on this. Is 24 there a chance of us getting any reimbursement? Is there any 25 way that we can get to recoup some of this money from -- 1-9-06 68 1 MS. WILLIAMS: It's usually assessed with the court 2 costs, attorney reimbursement. The defendant has to pay it 3 back if at all possible. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we have a good mechanism to 5 track this and see -- and try to get our money back? 6 MS. WILLIAMS: Usually, if a defendant comes up to 7 the District Clerk's office and makes a payment, part of that 8 money is allocated as reimbursement for court-appointed 9 attorney services. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, it's monitored through Linda 11 Uecker's office? 12 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Becomes part of the court 14 order? 15 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, I believe so. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Does that not also go through the 18 Collections office in a lot of cases, the Court Collections? 19 MS. WILLIAMS: That, I don't really know. 20 MR. EMERSON: It also goes through Adult Probation. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we get -- we get some -- at 23 least some of this money back. 24 MR. EMERSON: In theory. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I knew that -- I knew in 1-9-06 69 1 theory we did, but I'm wondering if we're actually getting it, 2 or if it's better to turn it over to Collections, 'cause they 3 seem to be -- to be a little more nasty in pursuing county 4 funds. That's kinds of where I was going with this. 5 MR. EMERSON: Theoretically, if they're on probation 6 and they do not pay the fees that are ordered in the order, 7 their probation can be revoked, and that's a -- that's a lot 8 bigger hammer than what Collections can hold over their head. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does anyone keep a report of 10 this? Does anyone know? 11 MS. WILLIAMS: There are revenue line items for the 12 District Clerk's office, the County Clerk's office, and the 13 moneys from their monthly reports go into those revenue line 14 items. So -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 16 MS. WILLIAMS: -- you can look back -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On the monthly report for the 18 revenue? 19 MS. WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 MR. EMERSON: If I could add one more comment, just 22 to add onto Commissioner Baldwin's question, I do know that 23 the District Judges adjust those fees to attorneys. They 24 review each of those invoices, and they have been known to 25 adjust fees. 1-9-06 70 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I certainly wasn't 2 complaining; I was just simply asking an informational 3 question. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move approval of the bills. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 7 of the bills. Any questions or comments? 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I've got another -- I want 9 to discuss Page 13. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Which page? 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: 13, Public Library. 12 $25,000 payment, and -- boy, I'm really having trouble with 13 cedar fever today -- that's one-twelfth of this $300,000, I 14 think. And we did make a contract with the City that -- if my 15 recollection is correct, that says we would pay a minimum of 16 $300,000 in this year, but then subsequently, we went back and 17 found some money, and I think we added an additional 55,000 to 18 it. 19 MS. WILLIAMS: We did. But the City keeps sending 20 us a bill for $25,000 monthly, so -- 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Maybe they're trying to pay 22 us back our $94,000. I don't have any more questions. 23 MS. WILLIAMS: Well, that was a good question. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And I'll talk some more 25 about that in the reports section. 1-9-06 71 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Let me ask, if I might, on Page 17, 2 this reference to Fund 81. 3 MS. WILLIAMS: District Administration. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: What is Fund 81? 5 MS. WILLIAMS: It's District Administration fund. 6 This line item in particular is the LEOSE money that the 7 Sheriff's Department, the constables, and the District 8 Attorney get from the State every -- every year, and it can be 9 used at their discretion for training or whatever. And these 10 are evidently tables that the Sheriff's Department purchased, 11 and they wanted them paid out of these funds from the State. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. So, those are special purpose 13 funds? 14 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 16 MS. WILLIAMS: Right. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further questions or comments? 18 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 19 hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We'll go to 24 budget amendments. Budget Amendment Request Number 1. 25 MS. WILLIAMS: This budget amendment, I decided I 1-9-06 72 1 probably needed to present to the Court. When I took over as 2 the Interim County Auditor, my salary was moved from the 3 Assistant's line item up to the Official line item, but we did 4 not move moneys in the budget at that time, so that is what 5 this budget amendment is addressing. And this is only through 6 September 30th of this year. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't understand. I'm 8 sorry, I just don't understand. 9 MS. WILLIAMS: Well, my salary as First Assistant 10 Auditor was budgeted under Assistant's Salary. When I was 11 appointed as Interim County Auditor, the Treasurer's office 12 made the change in the payroll system and reallocated where my 13 money is coming out of; instead of 103, it's coming out of 14 102. If we continue paying it out that way, our Official 15 Salary line item is going to be in the hole, because we are 16 also continuing to pay the consultant out of that same 17 Official Salary line item. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, we are consolidating 102 19 and 103? That, in effect, is what you're asking? 20 MS. WILLIAMS: No, sir, I'm just moving the amount 21 that's budgeted for my salary out of 103 into 102. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Why isn't -- you're replacing 23 the County Auditor. 24 MS. WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Why isn't that money already 1-9-06 73 1 there? 2 MS. WILLIAMS: Because we're continuing to pay the 3 former County Auditor on a consultant basis. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, we are? 5 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. It was an order signed by 6 the District Judges. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that -- is that anything 8 like an unfunded mandate, kind of, that we all scream about? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess I understand. 10 MS. WILLIAMS: I don't know. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm serious. I'm serious 12 about it; I'm not trying to be cute. 13 MS. WILLIAMS: No, he -- Mr. Tomlinson agreed to 14 stay on in a consultant position. The agreement was that he 15 would be paid so much per hour for the hours, and he turns it 16 in as an accounts payable billing, and we -- 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think that's great. 18 MS. WILLIAMS: Yeah. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think that's great. I just 20 wish that we -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Know these things. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- were prepared for it. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- I have no problem 24 with this, but in addition to doing that -- I mean, the way 25 it's being set up, I think that whatever his budget is should 1-9-06 74 1 go to a separate line item for contract services, so we keep 2 the official's salary -- the Official Salary should be your 3 salary. Contract Services should be what he's budgeted to 4 get, and then the Assistant's Salary is assistants. I think 5 we ought to keep it clean; otherwise, it's going to really be 6 mixed up. 7 MS. WILLIAMS: Okay. I can go back and figure out 8 what out of the Official Salary item needs to be moved down to 9 Contract -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Services. 11 MS. WILLIAMS: -- Services. Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That makes a lot more sense, in 13 my mind. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, I agree a hundred 15 percent. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Then what's necessary for 17 yours? 18 MS. WILLIAMS: Would you rather -- 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Could you bring it back next 20 time? 21 MS. WILLIAMS: Bring it back next time? Okay, 22 that's fine. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Very good. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Do we have any more budget 25 amendments? 1-9-06 75 1 MS. WILLIAMS: No, sir. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 3 MS. WILLIAMS: And no late bills that I know of. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: No late bills. All right. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you very much. 6 MS. WILLIAMS: Thank you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's -- I have been handed monthly 8 reports for the Sheriff's Department and Justice of the Peace, 9 Precinct 3. Do I hear a motion that these monthly reports be 10 approved as submitted? 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So moved. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded that the 14 monthly reports for the Sheriff's Department and Justice of 15 the Peace, Precinct 3 be approved as submitted. Any question 16 or discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 17 your right hand. 18 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 20 (No response.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Okay. We'll 22 now move to -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, Judge, what about the 24 other reports? Wasn't there other reports? 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Those are the only two that -- 1-9-06 76 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I have two here. I've got 2 the Juvenile Facility, which Ms. Harris provided us, and Road 3 and Bridge. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: There were other reports that I have 6 seen. Now, whether or not they were turned in to the clerk, 7 who compiles those things for presentation to the Court -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh. Oh, okay. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That's my source. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: At least Road and Bridge 11 turned -- 12 MS. THOMPSON: That's for Item 1.13. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm just going to shut up; 14 I'm not getting anywhere this morning. But I did want to 15 address the juvenile facility and talk about the amount of 16 money that's being spent out there. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We'll move to reports from 18 Commissioners in connection with their liaison/committee or 19 other interests they may have, and Commissioner Baldwin? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you. The January 5th 21 Kerr County Juvenile Facility Report shows revenue of 22 $116,580.23, and expenditures of $152,776.61. That's a loss 23 of $36,196.38. I just wanted to make sure everybody 24 understands that, that we're creeping up on the 288,000 or 25 whatever that number is. 280? 1-9-06 77 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 280? 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think so. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: 288. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 288? 6 JUDGE TINLEY: 288 and change, yes. 288,8, I think. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're creeping up on that, 8 and just need to start thinking about it. That's all. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams, do you have 10 anything for us? 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, sir. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have a question, something 14 that was in our packet. We received -- I received a calendar. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, isn't that cute? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It has Groundhog Day, all kind 17 of things. Is this -- is there a reason I got a calendar? 18 MS. MITCHELL: Yes. Kathy made those for y'all. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, okay. I was wondering where 20 it came from, and I didn't know we had a motto. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We do have a motto. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: "Git 'er done." 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Git 'er done. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Quickly. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's why she serves on 1-9-06 78 1 these boards for us. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, it's nice. I mean, I 3 appreciate this. And you had -- you know, we can hopefully 4 keep them in our things, 'cause we're always looking for 5 calendars. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Absolutely. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: That was probably her intention, 8 Commissioner. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, Kathy. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, not from me. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Nicholson, the library 14 man. 15 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: We've been talking about 16 the library, and I did not put it on the agenda this time 17 because I'm not -- not proposing a course of action. I will 18 put it on the agenda for the next meeting and propose court 19 action. I told you last time I had met with the City Manager 20 and the staff, and that meeting was inconclusive. I did not 21 learn any more about how or why we didn't receive our $94,001 22 check. We concluded that meeting by the City Manager saying 23 that he would speak to the mayor and see if the -- this was 24 back in December -- see if the mayor wanted to put it on the 25 City Council agenda. Now I've now heard from the City 1-9-06 79 1 Manager; he's called me, and he's spoken with the mayor, and 2 the mayor chooses not to put it on the City Council agenda in 3 the January meeting, so I'll put this back on our agenda for 4 the 23rd. 5 What I've concluded is that some person or persons 6 in City Hall engaged in some clever bit of chicanery to force 7 the County to pay what the City deemed was the County's fair 8 share of the -- of the library budget. And you'll recall that 9 this occurred after the City declined to meet with the County 10 that year on the various joint operating programs, so we 11 really didn't have any information about the library. You 12 also recall that in the subsequent budgeting period, this past 13 year, the City refused to follow the contract and meet with -- 14 with the County representative and the Library Director to -- 15 to develop a budget for the library, so we've gone two years 16 without any information to speak of about the library costs, 17 and then this mysterious 94 -- $94,000 payment that wasn't 18 made comes up. 19 Just so you can be thinking about it -- I know we 20 can't take any action -- I see -- and I'll talk about this 21 again at the next meeting. I see four possible options to -- 22 to put this issue to rest. One -- one thing is we can do 23 nothing; we can let it go. A second option would be to demand 24 payment, to officially notify the City that they promised to 25 pay us and we're expecting them to meet that promise. The 1-9-06 80 1 third option would be to reduce payments to the library that 2 we're making this year, the '05-'06 budget, by $94,000. I 3 noticed earlier it looks like they've already got us started 4 down that path, so that may be the path of least resistance. 5 And then the fourth option that I see that would be to, in 6 budgeting for '06-'07, determine what we think our fair share 7 of the budget would be, and then reduce that by $94,000. So, 8 those are the four I see. I wanted to have this discussion 9 with you so you can be thinking about it over the next two 10 weeks. Maybe there's an option or course of action that -- 11 that's not obvious to me that you can think about. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let me ask you a question. 13 Doesn't it -- didn't they say in their -- I think the first 14 document that they sent out on this issue, didn't they say 15 something like that the County chose to do it that way or 16 something? I don't remember the language, but something like 17 that. Is it possible that they could have called over here 18 and talked to some financial person in the county system, and 19 that person said, "Sure, that's a good way to do it"? 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: It's possible, but I can't 21 find that person. I've talked to -- nobody at this table did 22 it. The Auditor's Department didn't do it. I don't know who 23 else they would think would have the authority to do it. 24 Nobody would, really. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Dave, didn't the original 1-9-06 81 1 letter from Mr. Patterson indicate a check would be 2 forthcoming? 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yes, sir. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: It did, by October 15th. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: By a specific date. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: With regard to the inquiry of who may 7 have authorized it, in my letter to Interim City Manager Don 8 Davis, I specifically asked for any information they had 9 relative to who, purporting to act on behalf of Kerr County, 10 may have authorized that, and -- and there was no response 11 indicating that anyone on behalf of Kerr County did so. 12 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: In rereading our minutes, 13 our discussions in budget, besides our recollections, it's 14 very clear that we thought we were going to get the $94,000 15 and we were only budgeting 323. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the -- you know, I think 17 there's another option. I'm just going to toss this out, 18 'cause I don't want to get into deliberations, certainly, now, 19 but a lot has happened since that took place. Unless there is 20 some evidence that that money was used for something other 21 than the library, I think that it's the -- yes, the City 22 didn't do what they -- what they told us they were going to do 23 or we told them to do, but this -- the County, whether it be 24 this Court or the accounting functions in the county, didn't 25 track this either, so I think the County has a lot of 1-9-06 82 1 responsibility in that as well. I think that if it was a -- 2 if there was the same Council over there, the same Manager 3 over there and the same -- there hadn't been other changes, I 4 think there's one course of action. I see a different course 5 of action probably needs to be pursued, considering there's 6 been a change in the management and a change in the Council. 7 And I think, you know, I would like to probably get some sort 8 of recognition that -- and put this to bed; that they made a 9 mistake and they're sorry, basically. But the money wasn't 10 misused. And, you know, it was used for the library, where it 11 should have been used. And I think -- I think the County 12 needs to bear some of the responsibility for not following up 13 on it better than we did. I don't -- it doesn't make sense to 14 me to request the money back. That's just my personal 15 feeling. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I agree with that. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But -- 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Maybe a credit against 19 future commitments or something of that nature, but -- 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But, anyway, we can discuss it 21 next time. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Do we have any -- any reports 23 other than those already scheduled on the agenda for elected 24 officials or department heads? 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. We've got Road 1-9-06 83 1 and Bridge. He just came in. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I think they're -- they come under 3 the reports section already. They're separately scheduled 4 already. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All right. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. If we might, we'll get ahead 7 of the curve here and we'll go to the 11 o'clock item and 8 start that early. We've got reports from various departments. 9 The first one is Information Technology. Mr. Trolinger. 10 MR. TROLINGER: Good morning. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Morning. 12 MR. TROLINGER: I gave out a written report, one 13 page that details the past two months' activity. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Saw it. 15 MR. TROLINGER: It summarizes it. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It was in our boxes; saw it. 17 MR. TROLINGER: Quickly, the highlight is The 18 Software Group project is underway. I've got a web page link 19 from the County home page that can keep track of the dates and 20 the schedules. The electronic voting equipment's interesting. 21 We've completed training on that, and I've become part of that 22 process, since there are two computers involved and some 23 technical work. Not sure how involved I'll be in it, but 24 definitely on -- on planning/preparation, and then probably on 25 election day, I'll be required to be present to insure that 1-9-06 84 1 the -- the computer's set up and ready, and that the data 2 backup is complete once the -- once the tally is complete. I 3 think that's going to be my major role, is backup. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You touched on an issue that 5 I was going to ask you about. Are you involved in any way 6 with the County Clerk in this process? That involves a lot of 7 electronic equipment that she, at this point, is not familiar 8 with. 9 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 11 MR. TROLINGER: And I feel that the training's been 12 very good, and the County Clerk's got a handle on the majority 13 of it. It's just a few steps that require the database backup 14 were not completely documented, or the documentation was not 15 complete when we had training, so I offered to be available to 16 do the backups. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: To follow up on that, this 18 morning we asked, at our next meeting, for Jannett to have 19 Hart Graphics here and really go into this $2,100 fee that -- 20 the assessment thing, and really go into that. And what if we 21 were to buy that software? Whatever that cost is, that we 22 need to know what the costs are, and really how detailed and 23 how difficult is that program? And it's not something Jannett 24 can do or that you could do. And it's on our next agenda, but 25 you might want to visit with Jannett specifically about that 1-9-06 85 1 area. 2 MR. TROLINGER: I have. And -- I have this morning, 3 and will continue discussing it once we get the quote back. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that something that you 6 do? 7 MR. TROLINGER: Probably not, because of the 8 election law and the knowledge of the election laws that go 9 into creating that ballot. It's -- it's really just a 10 procedure, following step-by-step instructions that Hart's 11 already written -- Hart InterCivic has already written. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On that agenda item, if you 13 would please be present for that next time? 14 MR. TROLINGER: I will. Let's see. The -- the 15 Junction District Attorney's office is now online to the 16 County network, and that completes the -- the outer ring, so 17 to speak, to bring Odyssey online and to integrate the 18 previously isolated offices into the Courts package. Quite a 19 bit of work's been done on the web site over the holidays. 20 I've had some time to sit down and concentrate on the various 21 web pages. Of note, Environmental Health has a new web page, 22 and it's -- it's probably one of the nicer looking web pages. 23 They gave me some nice graphics to go along with their -- with 24 their write-up and their documents. Quite a few documents are 25 online; I think they'll find that helpful. And I encourage 1-9-06 86 1 other departments to do the same; to pass on that information 2 to me so I can put it available on their web pages. And the 3 rest of this -- and I would like to thank the Daily Times. 4 The newspaper article was outstanding, and I received two 5 additional volunteers from the Adult Probation Department -- 6 or community service workers. And one of them has a Master's 7 degree in computer science and is very knowledgeable on 8 networks, so very timely. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Really? 10 MR. TROLINGER: So, thanks to Adult Probation and 11 the Daily Times. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Super. 13 MR. TROLINGER: That's all I have. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Any questions for Mr. Trolinger? 15 Thank you, sir. 16 MR. TROLINGER: You're welcome. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: The next report is from Road and 18 Bridge. 19 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. You -- I believe Commissioner 20 Williams had a question, but I'll go through this, and then it 21 will be open for any questions. The holidays, of course, like 22 everybody, we had vacation time; we have reduced crews. And 23 what we've done is work on complaints, try to work them down. 24 Some of them are ongoing and working, will take a while, like 25 Bear Creek and cutting brush on that and other places. A lot 1-9-06 87 1 of brush complaints. But the winter months also involve this 2 brush cutting, and -- and we can't burn, so we've got a lot 3 stockpiled. And we're hoping that it will rain soon, enough 4 to lift the burn ban so we can burn this. We've also -- 5 already have the aggregate for our sealcoat program delivered. 6 By doing this, we've saved $20,000 for the price increase; it 7 would be going up. So, we got everything in place and saved 8 that 20. The others are subdivision plats, as you see what 9 are completed and what needs a final, and then violations of 10 Subdivision Rules, what we have, whether it's complete or in 11 the process of being completed. And then floodplain, either 12 construction permits, pending or complete, or determinations 13 made or notices, letters of compliance. So -- 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Len, tell me about 15 construction permits. Why does somebody building out on the 16 South Fork or on 1340 need a construction permit? Why does 17 Truett Airhart adding onto a house on the South Fork on 18 Highway 39? 19 MR. ODOM: Which one? Airhart? 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah. 21 MR. ODOM: I'm -- I'd have to look at it. I don't 22 know offhand which one that is. You say on the South Fork 23 right there? 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Is it because he's in the 25 floodplain? 1-9-06 88 1 MR. ODOM: I would assume that it was determined he 2 was in the floodplain. 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. That would be -- 4 MR. ODOM: If a piece of property, a large tract, 5 and just part of it -- as we had on the Lower Turtle Creek; 6 you had two pieces of property that touched the floodplain and 7 one that didn't. And in that, you have to have a finished 8 floor elevation, so someone has to meet -- even if it's in X, 9 the 500-year, you still have to show -- 10 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I see. 11 MR. ODOM: -- that, and in all probability, that's 12 the case. We've had several on 39 that have come in, and then 13 letters of notifications have been sent out in the past. So, 14 there's different things going on. But if you're in the 15 floodplain -- 16 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's the explanation. 17 MR. ODOM: If you're in that floodplain, you still 18 need to have a determination made, or particularly a permit 19 that gives me an elevation certificate, where that finished 20 floor is. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And this has to be in the 22 floodplain, 'cause we don't go off out in the pasture and 23 require people to get construction permits. 24 MR. ODOM: If they're in Zone X, no. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's right. 1-9-06 89 1 MR. ODOM: No, they don't get charged anything. But 2 if there is a permit, that means that they're probably in the 3 A or AE somewhere. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I know that property; 5 that's the explanation. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, what you're saying, 7 leading into the question I had for Leonard, in the case of 8 Martin Marietta, "River RD permit for additional property, C, 9 construction permit complete," that would be for this road 10 that was probably a quarter -- 11 MR. ODOM: It's for mining. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Pardon? 13 MR. ODOM: It's for mining. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: My question is, -- 15 MR. ODOM: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- the construction permit 17 would be for the construction of a road in the floodplain -- 18 MR. ODOM: Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- from CP River Road to the 20 pit -- 21 MR. ODOM: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- adjacent to CP River Road 23 in the floodplain. Is that correct? 24 MR. ODOM: The permit is for the whole thing, 25 Commissioner. You and I have discussed that before. That 1-9-06 90 1 road was already there. They -- all they've done -- that's 2 not a community -- that's not a public road. That's a 3 traveled road from -- 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I know it's not a public 5 road. 6 MR. ODOM: -- back over there. But that is -- we 7 gave them a permit -- a development permit, $200 -- $400 for 8 them. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't care about the 10 dollars. 11 MR. ODOM: Okay. But I'm saying that that's the fee 12 for commercial. Residential's a little bit different because 13 of the money, but we had that permit done because we wanted to 14 be able to insure where they were working and what they were 15 doing, because there's no mining regulations, and they're in 16 the floodplain. So, what we did was to take a look at their 17 proposed project to give us the detail of where they were at, 18 what they were going to do, and how they were getting back to 19 the pit. So, that's -- 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The reason I asked the 21 question, two -- two reasons I asked the question. First of 22 all, when I inquired about it, Road and Bridge said, "Oh, 23 there was always a road there." That was the answer I got. 24 MR. ODOM: Mm-hmm. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The folks who live on the 1-9-06 91 1 other side of the river say there was never a road there. 2 MR. ODOM: There was a road there. There was a road 3 that went back between the properties. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm relating to you the 5 sequence of events. 6 MR. ODOM: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Now there is a road there. 8 MR. ODOM: Sure. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I mean, it's major in terms 10 of -- of depth and width and the type of equipment that rolls 11 over it -- 12 MR. ODOM: Mm-hmm. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- continually. So, what 14 you're saying is, one, they can do it, they did do it, and 15 they have done it. 16 MR. ODOM: That's right. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second question -- 18 MR. ODOM: Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- has to do with a private 20 business putting out a flag man on a public road and stopping 21 public traffic to allow its traffic to cross the road. Legal? 22 Illegal? 23 MR. ODOM: Legal. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Really? 25 MR. ODOM: If their property is adjacent to that, 1-9-06 92 1 Commissioner, then they are to flag and put the signs out, as 2 they properly do, other than for us to be there. Their 3 property is contiguous to the while thing. They own across 4 River Road. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand, and I'm not 6 suggesting that that's something we want to do in terms of 7 putting a flag man out there to assist them. 8 MR. ODOM: Surely. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What I am suggesting is, if 10 anybody's stopping traffic, that flag man should be stopping 11 their traffic and letting the general public flow. 12 MR. ODOM: Well, it's a decision, I guess, that they 13 need to make. I don't see a problem if it's properly signed, 14 which it is. And they have a flag man out there coordinating 15 with the driver going across that one stretch of road, which 16 is -- essentially belongs to them, because it's prescriptive 17 easement down through that. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Whoa, whoa, whoa. That 19 section of CP River Road belongs to them? 20 MR. ODOM: Well, they pay taxes on it, okay? It's 21 prescriptive easement. It belongs to the -- to the taxpayers, 22 because it's a public road, but that land mass is going from 23 their pit all the way across and all the way back. That's -- 24 that is a lease that they have on that property. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand that. 1-9-06 93 1 MR. ODOM: And so I don't have any jurisdiction to 2 stop them from mining. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, not going there. 4 MR. ODOM: Neither does TCEQ. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm not going there. 6 MR. ODOM: And, so, what we have done is permit them 7 to be able -- someone to look at them to find out what they're 8 doing. And that's -- that's a direction from TCEQ. They 9 suggested doing that. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, needless to say, when 11 there is major mining activity and road-type construction 12 activity in the floodplain on the Guadalupe anywhere in the 13 county, but particularly right now, because it's 14 hypersensitive in the eastern part of the county, there are 15 going to be lots of questions, so what I'm doing is asking the 16 questions. But I want to go back to whether or not they can 17 stop the general flow of public traffic with a flag man to 18 accommodate their own use and their own operation. 19 MR. ODOM: We have it right out in front. We have a 20 contractor being responsible for their own jobs. That's no 21 different. I don't construe that any different. And I 22 certainly don't want tort liability on us at this point, as 23 long as it's properly flagged. If I have a utility contractor 24 wanting to make a cut across a road, we make him put the signs 25 out; they have to do their flagging. 1-9-06 94 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think they're -- I mean, I 2 would look at it as real similar to people that move big 3 pieces of equipment down the highway. They're required by law 4 to have -- they're private entities. I mean, this is kind of 5 a city project over here -- or state project, but, you know, 6 there are rules of how you do something like that. If it 7 becomes a -- I guess an obstruction, if they're doing it so 8 much that it becomes an obstruction of county traffic, I see 9 that being a problem. But if they're just doing it in the 10 course of their business, you know, and then maybe -- you 11 know, I think, you know, you have to kind of look at it the 12 same way. If it's really causing a problem to county people 13 moving along, then maybe it's something the Court needs to 14 look at or you need to look at. But if it's just 15 sporadically -- when they're needing to move a big truck 16 across the road, they do it -- I'd rather have them have flag 17 men doing that than have these trucks going along there. Just 18 because people drive -- I don't know where they're even doing 19 this, Bill, but when I'm on that road -- I don't use River 20 Road because the traffic's so fast on there, it's dangerous. 21 And the way those people whip around that corner above 22 Peterson Crossing, which I suspect is where this is going on, 23 kind of right in that area where those little corners are, I 24 would rather have a flag man there than not have a flag man. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, it's in the vicinity 1-9-06 95 1 of where Sutherland Road intersects with CP River Road, before 2 you get -- or after you get to Brinks Crossing, whichever 3 direction. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's what I meant, Brinks 5 Crossing. I'm sorry. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand your analogy, 7 and, yeah, certainly we want a warning if it's a massive piece 8 of equipment going down in traffic. I'm just hearing about 9 it, Leonard, and I want to get it clear. 10 MR. ODOM: Yeah. Well, that's the first time I've 11 heard it in relation to that. But other than the road -- I 12 mean, that was a trail that was down through there, and what 13 was suggested to them was -- came from our office, is that you 14 build it up some; that you make sure that you don't have a 15 pumping action; that you bring up groundwater if you even have 16 a question to support that equipment going across there. The 17 worst thing I could do, as the Commissioner says, is to put 18 two signs out there that says "Truck Crossing." That's what 19 happens, and then you wouldn't have a flag man out there with 20 a sign, other than this. And I assure you, people on River 21 Road, as they come down -- because we've changed the speed 22 limit to 45. Before, it wasn't even signed. And I think 23 speed is a problem still with 45 there. I would certainly 24 want them to have a flag man with the signs out there that 25 says "Flag Man Ahead" or "Truck Crossing" there. 1-9-06 96 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Len, I'm not going to the 2 public safety awareness issue. I clearly understand that. I 3 think that's quite appropriate, and if you require that to 4 happen, I commend you for that. I'm just talking about the 5 convenience. At whose convenience are we operating this? At 6 their convenience? Are they stopping their traffic, or 7 stopping the general public? That's where I'm going. 8 MR. ODOM: I -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't know how often they're 10 doing it. I mean -- 11 MR. ODOM: I don't know how much is there. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got a question about all 13 this before you get off -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have a question too, but go 15 ahead. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- get off this. I know that 17 we regulate structures in the floodplain. This is the first 18 time I've ever heard of us regulating a road in the floodplain 19 and actually charging fees and all that. I just -- I'm just 20 blank to that. 21 MR. ODOM: Well, the fee has to do with mining down 22 in the floodplain. That was a -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're charging people to mine 24 on their property? 25 MR. ODOM: This is a lease on somebody -- they have 1-9-06 97 1 leased this property, okay? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 3 MR. ODOM: And they're in the floodplain. So, the 4 only way for me to record and to give them a -- a final file 5 number is to, you know, charge a fee. What is the best way to 6 handle this? Because it is a sensitive situation. Not only 7 there, but Mr. Wheatcraft; they are in the floodplain. If 8 they're down there in the floodplain working, then I think 9 that we should be able to find out what they're proposing to 10 do, how they're going to go about it, and the concerns we have 11 in floodplain, whether it's runoff or anything like that, and 12 to give us some type of idea of what they're doing. 13 Mr. Wheatcraft had a design engineer or a firm to do that. 14 Martin Marietta had internally, and their -- their department 15 gave us a plan. So, it's just a control. It's $400, and it's 16 renewable next -- you know, next year. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, I hear your 18 explanation. I'm sorry, my mind can't go there, but whatever. 19 I guess I just never heard of it. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I've got a follow-up on what 21 the Commissioner said. You got a plan from Martin Marietta? 22 MR. ODOM: We have a -- essentially a plan for 23 Martin -- yes, sir. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That, in fact, sets forth 25 what? 1-9-06 98 1 MR. ODOM: It sets forth that they only stay on that 2 side of the river. That there may be a time in the future 3 which they would go across the road, at which time they will 4 have to come to us for a new permit and a design for that 5 land, and particularly that drainage down there. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We're not giving them a 7 permit to mine in the floodplain; we're giving them a permit 8 to construct a road. Is that what you're saying? 9 MR. ODOM: Well, construction of a road and -- and 10 to -- and to just be down in the floodplain redesigning it 11 some. So there's -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Doesn't this all relate to the 13 drainage issue? 14 MR. ODOM: That's right. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: About not diverting or -- isn't that 16 why it comes into the flood -- 17 MR. ODOM: Exactly. Not to get into the river. To 18 keep the embank -- the integrity of the embankment of the 19 river there, and they can still mine. Because we don't have 20 anything to go by, because TCEQ -- Texas is one of the few 21 states that has no mining rules. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I appreciate that. That's a 23 deficiency on Texas' part. 24 MR. ODOM: That's right. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The Judge's point is valid, 1-9-06 99 1 in that if we get a major rain -- and I hope we do get a major 2 rain -- once they get their equipment out of that hole, that's 3 going to be a new lake and we're going to meet here to name 4 it, because they have dug a pit down there halfway to China 5 right on the banks of the river, as you know. And I -- 6 there's no regulation going to take place; there's nothing 7 going to take place, and it's going to be a major, major 8 disaster once it's finished. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the issue -- I mean, I 10 hear what you're saying, and -- but I've had one in my 11 precinct, and I've heard the same thing for about 20 years, 12 way before I was a Commissioner, about Drymala. There's a 13 hole from here to China. Hasn't caused any problems, really. 14 Fills up with gravel a little bit, gets a little water in it, 15 and no change, you know. So, I think -- but I think the 16 bottom line is, we don't have any authority. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I know we don't -- 18 MR. ODOM: And that's before me. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- when it comes to people 20 pulling gravel or mining, as it's now being called, along the 21 river. But what I'm hearing you say, Len, and I would support 22 this, we do have authority to -- we can't tell them -- 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have authority to review 24 construction and have things -- certain things done in the 25 floodplain. 1-9-06 100 1 MR. ODOM: That's right. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we can't tell them no, you 3 can't mine. We can say, "Well, if you're going to mine, you 4 have to do some things -- 5 MR. ODOM: Some things. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- to make it better." 7 MR. ODOM: That's right. Protect the floodplain, 8 protect the river. And -- and once the hole fills up with 9 water, it will drain out that gravel strata right back to 10 where it's always gone, down below the river or to the river, 11 as long as the integrity is there. I -- you know, we -- I 12 think it's better for us to charge them to review and have 13 them give us an idea of what they're doing down there, other 14 than not to do anything other than say TCEQ doesn't do 15 anything. I don't have any authority to regulate; even the 16 State doesn't give me that. But I can say in the floodplain, 17 to have a general idea, to be responsible to look at the 18 floodplain and how the drainage goes down to the river, and to 19 make sure that's not blocked, which would affect my road, 20 which would back up the water on my road, which I don't need. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Would you provide me a copy 22 of Martin Marietta's plan, please? 23 MR. ODOM: Sure. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Rex? Are we assuming any, I 25 guess, liability by having -- by Leonard getting permits for 1-9-06 101 1 major construction activity in the floodplain? 2 MR. EMERSON: I don't think Leonard has a choice, 3 because I think he's the appointed floodplain manager -- 4 MR. ODOM: Manager. 5 MR. EMERSON: -- for the county. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, but that's something 7 that's a -- what he's doing is a reasonable thing for a 8 floodplain manager to do, is to -- if someone's going to do 9 work in the floodplain from a commercial standpoint, to get a 10 -- a plan of what they're planning to do. 11 MR. EMERSON: Yeah. From what I've read, yes, I 12 think he has an obligation to protect the drainage that's 13 there. 14 MR. ODOM: What's there. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: My question is that, I mean, if 16 we get a plan like we have with Martin Marietta, and, you 17 know, there's a big hole or a big -- becoming a bigger and 18 bigger hole there, if a flood comes along and it does 19 something, and then someone downstream then claims that that 20 big hole caused the problem, and the County has said yes, 21 you're okay to do what you've done, even though we couldn't 22 stop them, do we have any liability there? 23 MR. EMERSON: I don't think so, because our only 24 regulatory authority is to make sure that it does not 25 adversely affect the flow of water from the floodplain. 1-9-06 102 1 MR. ODOM: And TCEQ has been down there. I've 2 demanded that TCEQ meet with them, and they have met with them 3 and gone over that. And that design -- you know, I'm not 4 into -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just think that we need to -- 6 MR. EMERSON: The only problem I can see from the 7 County standpoint, hypothetically speaking, okay, in the 8 situation you're talking about, is that -- say Martin Marietta 9 goes in there and builds up their big road that all of a 10 sudden dams water on the back side of it, flooding the 11 neighboring property. I still don't think it's a County 12 liability, but it's a problem for Martin Marietta. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's probably not the 15 case. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 17 MR. ODOM: It's not probable. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I said it's probably not the 19 case. 20 MR. ODOM: That's what I say; it's not probable with 21 what they've done. We've tried to stay within 6 inches; they 22 put the big rock. It will sink, but it's a better -- it's 23 better than having ruts and all like that and pumping. So, I 24 -- you know, I went along with that. I mean, there was an 25 existing -- it wasn't the road, as you say, Commissioner, but 1-9-06 103 1 there was a path down through there that vehicles had traveled 2 in the past. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Len, I think it's important; 4 these issues are of significance to the community sufficiently 5 that when this happens, you should give the -- whatever 6 Commissioner a copy of these plans. I'd like to see a copy of 7 that plan, and I'm sure anybody else would want to see it as 8 well, because I have to answer the questions. 9 MR. ODOM: I understand, but we have been in 10 communication with you, so I -- I will take that in as such. 11 But this is not a new -- you and I have discussed this several 12 times. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We've discussed Wheatcraft. 14 MR. ODOM: Well, we have also discussed that down 15 there. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, please give me a copy 17 of the plan. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Mr. Odom, I note that you have one 19 employee indicated to be out on worker's comp. Do you have 20 any idea about how much lost time we're going to have as a 21 result of that? 22 MR. ODOM: I'm going to guess January -- what did he 23 say? February the 3rd, I think, that he goes back to the 24 doctor to see if he can come back to work. We have taken a 25 look at that. He came to us and said, "Is there anything I 1-9-06 104 1 can do?" But the doctor gave him standing six hours and 2 sitting eight hours, and nothing else on the other -- zero 3 picking up or bending or standing. And we just -- I just felt 4 like I'd be better off just to let him stay there instead of 5 getting hurt and extending it any longer. And that's an 6 incident that was preventable by our committee; that he had 7 tripped and left something, stepped on the stuff that he had 8 left there the night before, and it was preventable. And I'm 9 with that right now. So, I just felt like to bring him back, 10 I just didn't know what I could do. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: But the -- the safety investigation 12 and remediation aspect of the committee -- 13 MR. ODOM: Was done. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, good. Thank you. 15 MR. ODOM: But it's -- it was a preventable 16 accident. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions for Mr. Odom? 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. I'm looking at your 19 sealcoat thing here. 20 MR. ODOM: All right, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Out of the 498 county miles, 22 how far along are we of having every inch of it paved? 23 MR. ODOM: Everything is probably at 98 percent, 24 maybe. We're probably in the single digits, -- 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 1-9-06 105 1 MR. ODOM: -- miles. Artlett's one. Artlett is 2 one. That's in Precinct 4; that's 4 miles for four people. 3 I'm putting that off. I've got six-tenths of a mile on 4 Cutback -- Cuthbert, and then I have yours with Evans and -- 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I've got a couple on 6 this. 7 MR. ODOM: Well, I have Echo; that one is still left 8 out there for you, for that maybe three or four people on that 9 ranch right there. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, not much. 11 MR. ODOM: Not much. 98 percent of our roads are 12 sealcoated, if not more. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. Thank you, sir. 14 MR. ODOM: Couple more years is the way I planned on 15 getting it, if budget stays good. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: You're making some headway. 17 MR. ODOM: I'm making headway. But when you start 18 paying $1.20 versus 94 cents for oil, things do slow down a 19 little bit. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Any more questions for Mr. Odom? 21 Thank you, sir. We appreciate you being here. 22 MR. ODOM: Thank you. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Maintenance and Facilities? 24 MR. HOLEKAMP: I gave y'all a sheet in your box last 25 week as to November and December, bookings and uses of the 1-9-06 106 1 facility at the Exhibit Center, indoor arena and Union Church. 2 Since I was here -- I think it was November -- we've gotten 3 the floor done in the basement area. I imagine everybody's 4 had an opportunity to see that. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Looks very nice, Glenn. 6 MR. HOLEKAMP: We -- thank you. We are in the 7 process of trying to get some bid prices on a drop ceiling. 8 Drop ceiling is one of those issues that you don't find many 9 people that do that that are in jail. I was -- been dragging 10 my feet hoping I would find somebody in there that -- because 11 it's very labor-intensive. The light fixtures, I got a call 12 last week -- or week before last, I should say, from Bandera 13 Electric Co-Op, and they are relocating their building to a 14 place out of the floodplain, Bandera Electric in Bandera, and 15 they had offered fixtures, furniture out of the old building 16 to any taxing entity that would be interested. Well, of 17 course, I called back, and he said, "You're the first one 18 that's called, so I'll let you have first shot at it." There 19 are lights, fixtures and that sort of thing in the building. 20 So, I'm waiting for him. As soon as they -- the demo people 21 get started over there, or get lined up to do it, he's going 22 to call me; I'm going to make a trip over there and see if 23 there are enough drop light fixtures to utilize down there. 24 Because they shouldn't -- I mean, drop light 4-footers are 25 just that, so hopefully that's going to work out. And there 1-9-06 107 1 probably is some desks and stuff, too, that we'll be able to 2 use. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Those who are ratepayers to 4 Bandera Co-Op will be very happy to see the new Taj Mahal 5 they've built down there in Bandera as well. It's nice. It's 6 big. 7 MR. HOLEKAMP: I think they had to move out of -- 8 what, the floodplain? Is that correct? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, they just moved it 11 back on their property. Real nice looking building. 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: So, that's kind of in the mill, and 13 that's kind of the reason why we're kind of at a standstill 14 down here on this after we got the floor done. We've had 15 several large repair issues at Juvenile Detention. Most of it 16 has been related to alarms, fire -- sprinkler systems. The 17 requirements there are pretty strict on -- because you're 18 housing juveniles, everything has to be in compliance, and 19 we've had some issues with that right now. It's requiring 20 quite a bit of time coordinating getting them corrected and -- 21 and trying to get the City to cooperate in a reasonable manner 22 with their inspection process. It's been rather taxing at 23 times. We had a break-in in the middle of November out at the 24 Ag Barn in the office area; somebody came through and they 25 kicked the doors in. And what they did is, they kicked -- 1-9-06 108 1 some of the doors broke, and then some of them, just the jams 2 were knocked out, so we had to replace three or four doors and 3 some jams and that sort of thing. 4 Of course, they didn't catch anybody, because around 5 there, if you -- fingerprints, I mean, every criminal in 6 town's touched things, because they work out there. So, you 7 have a pretty good idea it's probably one of the -- one of 8 them that knew what was there. So, as far as monetary loss, I 9 think there was $35 or something that was in a box there. The 10 rest of it, they did not -- they didn't take tools or anything 11 this time. They -- evidently, they weren't that ambitious to 12 carry them off. But I've been doing some issues -- some 13 planning based on requests at the last meeting on possible 14 utilization of the Juvenile Detention annex. I've walked it, 15 done some measuring. And, of course, you know, as I made my 16 comments, is it can be used for just about anything if it's 17 deemed that that's what y'all want. 18 Currently, they're still using part of it for a 19 classroom, and I think there are two offices that are 20 currently still occupied. And so, you know, until the 21 decision is -- is definite, I think it would be -- I'm not 22 going to shut off any water or anything like that. Oh, and 23 that reminds me; in that last meeting, the discussion was made 24 of the -- the lighting displays and that sort of thing. I 25 went to the meeting last Thursday, and I encouraged the 1-9-06 109 1 lighting committee to -- to house their lighting elsewhere if 2 they could possibly do it, and they did. They found some 3 storage buildings. And I'm -- I'm sure they weren't real 4 happy, because they're having to pay for it, but they chose to 5 move there. And currently, our space down here is completely 6 empty. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Didn't they already have other space 8 contracted for -- 9 MR. HOLEKAMP: They had one small -- small one. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: They just increased the amount? 11 MR. HOLEKAMP: And they had to go elsewhere, where 12 there was bigger units. They got two 20-by-40's, as I was 13 told Saturday when we were picking up all of the displays and 14 that. So, there is no storage out there, and I -- I will take 15 responsibility. I discouraged it from the standpoint it would 16 have really been very difficult, because they have a -- the 17 nature of those -- of the people that are involved in the 18 Christmas lighting is they want to come and go to check their 19 lights. That wouldn't work out there -- if you were having 20 juveniles in that building, it wouldn't work. So, I 21 encouraged them -- and they understand. I don't think 22 there's -- I think this was a catalyst to crank them up, put 23 all their stuff in one place. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think you're right. 25 MR. HOLEKAMP: I -- so -- so we're probably getting 1-9-06 110 1 pretty close to being able to move Jannett's stuff over there. 2 The only thing is that the heaviest stuff that she received, 3 you put them in a rack, and there are no wheels on those 4 racks, and they lock them. I mean, they're locked up, those 5 computers, I guess, aren't they? 6 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, sir, they are. 7 MR. HOLEKAMP: But I'm going to have to try to find 8 some wheels or -- to put on those things. 9 MR. TROLINGER: We discussed using felt on the 10 bottom to be able to slide them out. The requirement is that 11 before and after each election, that we need access to the 12 rear of those racks, and that's what -- that's why they need 13 to be moved when they're in the storage area. 14 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yeah, but they're going to have to go 15 down there, I imagine. 16 MR. TROLINGER: That's a one-time move. 17 MR. HOLEKAMP: Oh, that's one time? The racks won't 18 be moved after that? 19 MR. TROLINGER: Correct. 20 MR. HOLEKAMP: Oh. Well, then, don't need wheels. 21 All we need to do is prop them up in there. But we got that 22 ready to go. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Somebody's got -- has to 24 address, though, getting those units out into the voting 25 places at some time, and that's not going to be an easy task 1-9-06 111 1 either. 2 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yeah. That'll be addressed by the 3 County Clerk or the election personnel, I would imagine. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. Well, I -- 5 MR. HOLEKAMP: I haven't heard anything. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All of us probably will get 7 somewhat involved in that, you know. I suggested that they 8 talk -- somebody has a trailer that we haul around a bunch of 9 lawnmowers and stuff, and we have trucks and vans and things. 10 Somebody just needs to coordinate all that. I didn't know if 11 you'd been asked to do that or not. 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: No. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commissioner, you're thinking 14 more of our elections? 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The other elections, they pick 17 them up here. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I understand. But in March, 19 the primary, those things got to go to -- a whole bunch of 20 them go to a whole bunch of places. 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yeah. The other question, then, is 22 rain. We'll have to have a contingency on those black boxes. 23 They -- I don't know what's in them. 24 MR. TROLINGER: Computers. 25 MR. HOLEKAMP: In the black -- the big black boxes 1-9-06 112 1 too? 2 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 3 MR. HOLEKAMP: So, something's going to have to be 4 done to -- you know, in case it does rain, so that we have a 5 place to put them. We can -- if something happened or 6 whatever. U-Haul? Or -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Maybe rent a U-Haul truck. May 8 be the smart thing to do. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Maybe. 10 MR. HOLEKAMP: They can do the delivery the day 11 before or whatever. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Day before, and pick them up at 13 home; I don't know. Whatever they decide. But that does 14 enter into another whole issue, though, because previously, 15 with the ballot boxes they throw in the back of the pickup and 16 they come down here, they get picked up and dropped off by the 17 precinct officer. 18 MR. HOLEKAMP: Mm-hmm. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't know if that's the -- 20 how we want this stuff handled or not. I would suspect it's 21 fairly sensitive equipment. John, is this stuff -- 22 MR. TROLINGER: It is sensitive, and it needs to be 23 handled and kept in a -- it's a modest environment, but it 24 can't be exposed to the back of a trailer running down the 25 road. 1-9-06 113 1 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yeah. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The big item -- the big stand-up 3 garbage container-looking item, you could pull the -- you can 4 pull the electronic components out of that, can't you? 5 MR. TROLINGER: That's true, but we've discussed 6 that. We prefer that it remain mounted when it's transported, 7 so it doesn't require assembly at the polling place. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think this brings up a 9 pretty big issue, because a lot of these locations where we do 10 the voting are not real secure for the next day, and I don't 11 see -- we're going to probably have to go around at -- 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: 5:00 in the morning. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, 5:00 in the morning and 14 put it out, and 7:00 at night and pick this stuff up. And 15 we're going to have to arrange for -- we're going to have to 16 pay for the election judges to stay till the stuff gets picked 17 up. Unless we have three or four different vehicles going 18 around, it's going to be four or five hours to get to all 19 these locations. 20 MR. HOLEKAMP: There's several issues that will 21 probably need to be addressed. I'm glad Buster brought that 22 up, because -- 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Buster's -- that's two of us. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're going to have to get a 25 -- an administrator to do this thing, and then probably going 1-9-06 114 1 to have to get a secretary or two. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Assistant. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Assistants, and then 4 vehicles. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Vehicles. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Whole new department. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, yeah. Well, that's 8 another question, whole new department. 9 MR. HOLEKAMP: Seeing those -- 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Bumper stickers. 11 MR. HOLEKAMP: -- those boxes, we could -- we have 12 some real large trash bags, heavy-duty. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We only put one of these 14 units in each polling place, right? We still have the ballot 15 boxes and all that other stuff has to go out. 16 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yes, sir. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Only one electronic unit per 18 polling location, so far. 19 MR. HOLEKAMP: But we can -- we can wrap them up 20 enough to where they -- the water wouldn't get into them. 21 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'm beginning to get more 22 and more concerned about pulling off the next primary 23 election. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, you said one machine. 25 Isn't there -- doesn't the judge have to have a little 1-9-06 115 1 machine, the election judge? And doesn't -- and then you -- 2 don't you vote on a little machine? 3 MR. TROLINGER: The primary problem is with the tub, 4 the large piece that has the electronic -- the paper scanner 5 that scans the paper ballots. It just won't fit in the back 6 of a vehicle. But there are two other pieces of electronic 7 equipment; one's a suitcase-sized disabled access unit, voting 8 equipment, eSlate, and the third piece is a -- is also a 9 suitcase-sized box, the judge's ballot control, the JBC. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What are the -- so the public, 11 we just fill in the little -- like the -- like we have been 12 doing. The public's still using the same paper-type ballot; 13 you just feed them into a machine on site? 14 MR. TROLINGER: There are two options. Jannett made 15 a really good decision with the equipment purchase. There's 16 the existing -- you know, mark the paper ballots just like you 17 did last year, and there's the new electronic -- you know, no 18 paper, eSlate. There's a choice of both. We expect that the 19 paper will be the majority of the voting. 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'd like to see a plan 21 sometime before -- sometime in the next few weeks, "Here's how 22 we're going to pull off the next election." 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sounds like it's going to 24 involve some baling wire and duct tape, to me. I hope. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll bet we've got plenty of 1-9-06 116 1 baling wire and duct tape in Maintenance. 2 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yes. Yeah, we do; we can get it 3 done. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, if you can get them just 5 thrown in the back of a stock trailer somewhere and put some 6 garbage bags on it, and then put the IT guy back there to hold 7 onto everything so it doesn't -- 8 MR. HOLEKAMP: So they don't shake too much. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 10 MR. TROLINGER: Yeah. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 12 MR. HOLEKAMP: I will -- one just quick comment. 13 When you mentioned IT guy, let me tell you, Mr. Trolinger's 14 really been helpful in our department. Not necessarily on my 15 computer, but on assisting when we have electrical issues in 16 the courthouse, which affect him also, he's been very 17 responsive, and I really appreciate his efforts. He's really 18 helped me a bunch. 19 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: One more question. Is the 20 audio equipment in the hog barn in good working order? 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: Yes, sir. 22 MR. ALFORD: I was going to bring that up. 23 MR. HOLEKAMP: We are going to -- if Mr. Langley 24 brings back the equipment from -- when is that goat-milking 25 thing? Is that next week? 1-9-06 117 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Friday. This coming Friday. 2 MR. HOLEKAMP: This Friday? 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 4 MR. HOLEKAMP: We are going to do a -- what we call 5 a dress rehearsal on the equipment next week, probably 6 Wednesday or Thursday of next week. And -- 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: It doesn't matter much to 8 me, but Commissioner Williams promised at least 500 people 9 that he was going to solve that problem. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I heard him say that. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Two years ago. 12 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Yeah, two years ago. 13 MR. HOLEKAMP: But we are going to -- in fact, 14 Mr. Langley has that equipment, checking it out. 15 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. It's been very 16 disruptive, the judge not being able to talk. The judge -- 17 livestock judge. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Would that mean cleaning the 19 mud dauber nests out of the inside of it, or is that something 20 extra? 21 MR. HOLEKAMP: Way above that, I'm sure. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: I think the mud dauber nests serve as 23 a baffling -- 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It might. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: A tweeter. 1-9-06 118 1 (Discussion off the record.) 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Before we get to this next 3 one, who's doing the goat milking? 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Not me. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: The excitement is in your voice. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Must be you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Has you right at the top of the list, 8 yeah. Debbie told me of your abilities to goat-milk. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, she did? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: She did. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You the boy. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: You're a country boy from out west. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I couldn't get a drop out of 14 that goat last year. Not a drop. 15 MR. HOLEKAMP: Don't look at me. I didn't have 16 anything to do with it. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Maybe I need to find out what 18 a goat is. 19 MR. ALFORD: Was it a manny? 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You got another year to 21 prove yourself out. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Who's doing it this year? 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, Collections. Pardon? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is anybody from this Court 25 milking? 1-9-06 119 1 JUDGE TINLEY: You're -- 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, I'm not. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: You're on the ready. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Must be you. 5 MR. ALFORD: We're at $112,000 so far this budget 6 year. One of the new programs that we're trying to start that 7 we hope will have a quick currency impact is something they're 8 doing statewide, where if you come in and pay your -- you 9 receive community service, you come in and pay in full in 30 10 days, we will get Probation to waive 50 percent of your 11 community service. Which gives them incentive to come in and 12 pay us $500 or $600 real quick, instead of dragging it out 13 over six or seven months. So, hopefully we'll be able to 14 build up the bottom line quicker. We went through the County 15 Attorney's office, Probation, and Judge Brown to get that 16 done. I don't know -- you know, we're not expecting a large 17 amount, but we are expecting it to be a quicker turnaround. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Did he adopt it? I mean, is 19 he going to do that, or is he doing that? 20 MR. ALFORD: Well, no, he -- Judge Brown and 21 actually the County Attorney's office don't have anything to 22 do with it. We just wanted them to be in the loop. It's 23 strictly between us and Probation. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see. 25 MR. ALFORD: Probation handles and maintains the 1-9-06 120 1 community service. Once they get it on the judgment, it's 2 their baby. Then what we'll do is send them a letter saying, 3 "Johnny has paid off all fines and court costs. Would you 4 please give him credit for 50 percent?" And then, on the 5 other hand, what this is going to do is, if they don't do the 6 community service, well, then it stays just like it is. Does 7 that kind of make sense? 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sort of. 9 MR. ALFORD: We're on the web page now. John has 10 showed me how to give me access to the web site so I can get 11 in -- we built a web page that shows credit card information, 12 so hopefully whenever somebody calls and says, "Can we pay by 13 credit card?" "Yes, please go to this web site; there's all 14 the instructions." And they can go in and pay it by credit 15 card. That's really about the two or three things I had. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Question, Brad. 17 MR. ALFORD: Yes, sir? 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 1, 2, 3, 4 -- Column 4, it 19 says '05 Total. 20 MR. ALFORD: Yes, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 806 on one line and 648 on 22 the second line, and the next column shows '03 to '05. 23 MR. ALFORD: Right. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are those totals inclusive 25 of the previous column, or are they in addition to? 1-9-06 121 1 MR. ALFORD: It's total of all columns. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Total of all columns? 3 MR. ALFORD: Yes, sir. What I did, I just ran a 4 report that shows how much money we made from '03 to '05 -- 5 '03, '04, '05. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Got you. 7 MR. ALFORD: Then I just ran that last -- 2005. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let me see. How much have 9 you collected so far in this -- in this year? 10 MR. ALFORD: One thousand, one hundred and -- or 11 $12,000. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: $112,000? 13 MR. ALFORD: $112,000. I'm having a Monday. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And $430? 15 MR. ALFORD: Yes, sir. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. How much did you 17 collect during this exact same period -- 18 MR. ALFORD: 94. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- last year? 20 MR. ALFORD: 94,000. And -- 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. And $59, the very 22 first column. So, you're -- you're ahead of -- keep it up. 23 MR. ALFORD: Yes. Well, we're ahead because the 24 County Attorney's doing more. We're getting a bigger piece of 25 the pie now. 1-9-06 122 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You don't have to blow smoke 2 at these guys. 3 MR. ALFORD: Well, hey, it never hurts. I might 4 need him sometime. I guess I'll see y'all next week. I hope 5 y'all's sound system gets fixed up. Don't we go next week? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Next week. 7 MR. ALFORD: 'Cause Gillespie County's this 8 Saturday, so I think we're next week, aren't we? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, we're next week. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Anything you can do to make 11 sure the sound systems works. 12 MR. ALFORD: I told them by Wednesday or Thursday, 13 y'all will be talking, and I sure don't want y'all grouchy 14 this year. Thank you, gentlemen. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: One other item. We need to have a 16 Board of Trustees meeting for the Detention Facility to 17 approve the policies as required under the Human Resources 18 Code adopted by the Court. Thursday, the 19th -- we need to 19 have it on 18, 19, or 20; preferably 18 or 19. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Both of those are stock show 21 days. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I was thinking about early in 23 the morning. That -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the hogs start at 7:00. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: They don't end till about 1-9-06 123 1 7:00. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The 18th for me is an AACOG 3 day. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd say on the 18th, it's better 5 to do it late. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That would help me. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just because, I mean, the stock 9 show is -- on Thursday, the -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's the county show, right. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The county show is usually over 12 by -- for the swine, 2 o'clock or so. I think 2:00 or 3:00, 13 so I'd say a 3 o'clock meeting will work. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: On the 19th? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Whatever. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 18th. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 18th, Thursday. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: I've got a commitment at -- 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wednesday. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: -- at 3:00 on Wednesday. We could do 21 it earlier on Wednesday, or what time does everything end up 22 on Thursday on the county -- that's the county show. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: About 3:00, we could do it. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: On Thursday? 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You and I have a speech to 1-9-06 124 1 give that night at 5:30. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is that the -- 3 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let's see. So, what you're 5 wanting us to do is come back to the courthouse and sit down 6 in here and do something? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, at 3:00. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: The -- the Human Resources Code 9 requires that the County approve the policies and procedures 10 of the Detention Facility under the current Board of Trustees 11 setup, and so that needs to get done, and that needs to be -- 12 be forwarded to T.J.P.C. not later than Friday. So, that's 13 why we're looking at Wednesday or Thursday. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Ms. Harris is putting those 15 changes together? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, they're in the process of being 17 put together. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: When will we receive the 19 actual document? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Probably the 17th. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think Thursday afternoon, if 22 it were -- I mean, works for me. I mean, I don't see that 23 taking more than 30 minutes, that meeting. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't see it taking more than 10 25 minutes. 1-9-06 125 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Shouldn't be. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What time? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 3:00. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: 3 o'clock? Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Policy and procedure? Is 6 that the words you just used? 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We did that last year. 8 Remember that big, thick book? 9 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Is that January 18th? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 19th, I think. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: 19th. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If I had my -- there's my 13 calendar. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, 19th. 19th. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The next Thursday is our 16 birthday. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Anything else? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have something, going back to 19 the reports section under that Commissioners' general heading. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it's a little -- probably 22 more to Rex. We received a copy from you of the emergency 23 declaration for fireworks and all that stuff. This appears to 24 me to be a very new direction for this Attorney General when 25 it comes to fireworks. I mean, in prior years, my 1-9-06 126 1 recollection is that we've been in a bad drought situation, as 2 bad as this year, and it was just flat no, you aren't doing 3 it. You have fireworks. You're doing -- we get -- every 4 year, we get this December 15th date for aerial -- blah, blah, 5 blah, and end of discussion. All of a sudden this year, as I 6 read this, the County Judge can -- or the Court can declare a 7 disaster darn near anytime we want and say no fireworks. Are 8 they pretty much -- am I reading this right, that the State 9 has -- or the Attorney General, anyway, has totally changed 10 the Attorney General's opinion on how we can ban fireworks? 11 MR. EMERSON: Well, the Attorney General has said 12 this is one of the tools you can use. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But previously he said we 14 couldn't do anything. 15 MR. EMERSON: Yeah. Probably it's a little bit of a 16 stretch, but it's in response to the drought, I'm sure. And a 17 lot of counties didn't get it done on time. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But it's just -- it 19 seems this is a -- a huge different thing, and I can see the 20 -- a very strong lobby having an absolute fit over this new 21 opinion, because we -- we're -- last year we were in a drought 22 almost as bad as we are right now at this time of the year, 23 and we were -- you know, all of a sudden, someone has looked 24 at things differently and decided we can do something. 25 Anyway, so your answer is kind of that, yeah, they're kind of 1-9-06 127 1 saying we have a lot more authority in this area. My next 2 question kind of goes to -- I'm looking at your memo that says 3 the -- the Judge declares that whenever he wants, or he can 4 come to the Court; the Court can declare it. But if he 5 declares it on his own, the Court has to affirm it in seven 6 days? Is that kind of what I read? 7 MR. EMERSON: Well, what the statute says is that 8 the presiding officer of the governing body, which in this 9 case is the Judge or the Commissioners Court, is the one that 10 has the authority to declare it, and then Commissioners Court 11 has to ratify it within seven days or it dies. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Commissioner, my -- I went 13 back and checked on that Comal County thing, 'cause that 14 really, you know, kind of set off an alarm bell, not only in 15 my head, but a lot of people's heads who called -- I'm sure 16 called all of us. My understanding was that Comal County, in 17 doing what it did, by banning the sale -- not only the use, 18 but the sale -- did so acting under an authority they believed 19 they had stemming from the governor declaring the state in a 20 state of emergency because of fire threat. So, they acted 21 under the governor's banner or the governor's declaration, and 22 that's how they did what they did. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But when I read the backup -- 24 and this opinion that we got from Rex is primarily a bunch of 25 stuff that came from somebody else; I mean, through Chief 1-9-06 128 1 Holloway on down. I don't see that it talks about the 2 governor. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, I know it doesn't. What 4 I'm saying is, they did what they did based on the governor's 5 declaration of an emergency situation in the state of Texas. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, but they -- 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They just did that recently. 8 MR. EMERSON: I think what he's saying, Jonathan, is 9 that they utilized the disaster statute on the premises that 10 the governor had declared a disaster area on the fires. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, what I -- what I'm saying 12 is, does the governor have to do something before they can 13 act, or this is -- you know. So, the -- the County Judge -- 14 it's now the County Judge can ban fireworks whenever he wants. 15 I mean, it's got to be a little bit of a drought, but -- 16 MR. EMERSON: Sure. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Which that's a very new law, or 18 interpretation of the law. I just want to make sure that I 19 read it right. When I read it, I was going, "This is 20 different." I wanted to bring that up. My other question is 21 to the Judge. We received a letter -- or you received a 22 letter; you gave us a copy, about disaster of our agricultural 23 stuff. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Did you do that, or are you 1-9-06 129 1 going to -- is it coming to the Court? Or -- 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I finally got ahold of the F.S.A. 3 rep; he and I have been missing one another back and forth -- 4 as to what action was required. And he said the only action 5 that was required was that I, on behalf of the County, make a 6 request to the governor's office to declare Kerr County a 7 disaster area, attaching that sit-rep to it, and forward it 8 on. I've done a draft of that letter. The final should go 9 out today. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. So, that's something that 11 -- this isn't one that needs to be reaffirmed by us? This is 12 just -- you do this -- you do this disaster stuff? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: According to the F.S.A. 14 representative, who takes the lead on this thing, he said 15 that's all that needs to be done. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right, good. Thank you. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further? Hearing nothing, 18 we'll stand adjourned. 19 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 11:41 a.m.) 20 - - - - - - - - - - 21 22 23 24 25 1-9-06 130 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 5 capacity as County Clerk of the Commissioners Court 6 of Kerr County, Texas, at the time and place 7 heretofore set forth. 8 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 13th day of 9 January, 2006. 10 11 12 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk BY: 13 _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 14 Certified Shorthand Reporter. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1-9-06