1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Monday, February 27, 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 February 27, 2006 2 PAGE -- Commissioners' Comments 4 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 4 funding request from Kerr County Sesquicentennial Celebration 5 5 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize Commissioners' Court to participate as 6 a body in Sesquicentennial Parade, April 8, 2006 16 1.3 Consideration/approval of Resolution supporting 7 application for renewal of Grant from Governor's office for funding for Special Prosecutor for 8 Violent Crimes Against Women 25 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 9 allow Road & Bridge to advertise for bid on Town Creek Crossing improvements 26 10 1.5 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on Kerr County Organization Development Survey 29 11 1.6 Consider/approve appointment of Mr. Ben Alves to unexpired 2-year term as Commissioner on Kerr 12 County ESD #2 Board of Commissioners 37 1.7 Set Public Hearing on Kerr County Subdivision 13 Rules and Regulations and Water Availability Requirements 37 14 1.8 Consider/discuss appointment of David Billeiter to the Kerr County Child Service Board 40 15 1.9 Order authorizing County to enter into financing lease with Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC, 16 for purpose of financing the acquisition of computer hardware & software from The Software Group 41 17 4.1 Pay Bills 46 18 4.2 Budget Amendments 53 4.3 Late Bills -- 19 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 63 20 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments 64 21 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 70 22 --- Adjourned 73 23 24 25 3 1 On Monday, February 27, 2006, at 9:00 a.m., a special 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: Let me call to order this regularly 7 scheduled meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court 8 scheduled for this date and time, Monday, February the 27th, 9 2006, at 9 a.m. It is that time now. Commissioner Letz? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Would everyone please stand and 11 join me in a moment of prayer followed by the pledge? 12 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. At this time, if there's 14 any member of the audience or the public that wishes to be 15 heard on any matter that is not a listed agenda item, why, 16 you're free to come forward at this time. If you wish to be 17 heard on an agenda item, we would prefer that you fill out 18 participation form. They're located at the back of the room. 19 It's not essential, but it helps me to make sure that I don't 20 miss you when we get to that item, or hopefully it helps me 21 make sure that I don't. But if anybody has any comments or 22 anything they'd like to offer on anything that is not a listed 23 agenda item, you're free to come forward at this time and tell 24 us what's on your mind. 25 (No response.) 2-27-06 4 1 JUDGE TINLEY: I see no one moving this direction, 2 so we'll move on. Commissioner 3, what do you have for us 3 this morning? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not much. We received 5 four-tenths of an inch in most of the eastern part of the 6 county, which is a little bit of a help. That was followed by 7 80-degree weather and sunshine, so all that evaporated up 8 within hours. We had one fire over the weekend I'm aware of 9 in my precinct due to the burn ban being lifted; therefore, 10 the burn ban's back on and will be on all week. I think 11 that's all I have. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner 4? 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: There was a lot of burning 14 Saturday and Sunday, smoke all up and down the North Fork and 15 South Fork, and a lot of interesting burning. It just always 16 surprises me what an important issue it is to a lot of people. 17 I'd lifted the burn ban until 5 o'clock tomorrow. That's a 18 little bit risky. We got something over a half an inch 19 generally out there, and it's still muddy, but with a little 20 bit of wind and sunshine, grass tends to dry out pretty fast, 21 so I'm hoping people will be safe. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Y'all have mud? 23 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: First time I've seen it 24 since last summer. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We can all load up, go out 2-27-06 5 1 there and look at it. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further? Thank you. 3 Commissioner 1? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. I just want to 5 remind everyone that on March 17th at 10 o'clock out on the 6 courthouse, we'll have that blood drive that we had planned 7 on, and encourage everyone to attend that and give if you can. 8 Also, a hallelujah to the Lady Antlers of Tivy High School. 9 Basketball team is going to be in the state tournament next 10 week, and that means that they are one of four teams left in 11 the entire state of Texas, and that is an incredible feet in 12 itself. So, Superdome's a nice place to be this time of year. 13 That's all. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Commissioner 2? 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Commissioner of Precinct 2 16 is just like Precinct 3 and others; no burning right now, 17 although we had a couple changes this past week. And there 18 were some fires in the area, but I didn't hear anything got 19 out of control. But it's business as usual right now, no 20 burning. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, sir. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, thank you. Let's move on with 24 the agenda. We've got a fairly short agenda today, and first 25 item on the agenda is to consider, discuss, and take 2-27-06 6 1 appropriate action on a funding request from the Kerr County 2 Sesquicentennial Celebration to assist in sesquicentennial 3 activities. This was a matter that Mr. Joe Herring, Jr., 4 who's with us today, brought to my attention, asking for some 5 -- I deem it to be rather minimal financial assistance in some 6 pretty extensive activities that he's got planned. 7 Mr. Herring? 8 MR. HERRING: My names Joe Herring. I reside here 9 in Kerrville, 431 Meadow Ridge. I'm assisted by Brian Bondy, 10 the president of the Chamber of Commerce. Gentlemen, we have 11 -- we've got some events planned for early April. I want to 12 pass out a little card that'll be in the Kerrville Telephone 13 Company bills this -- this next month. And then I have some 14 posters I'm going to pass out; ask that if y'all could find a 15 home for these posters, I'd appreciate that. When you have an 16 event like this, with entertainment like this and venues like 17 this, and you want it to be free for all the citizens, it 18 costs some money. We have been very successful in our 19 fundraising all across the county, and I -- I want to give 20 y'all an opportunity to be a sponsor as well. I've already 21 graciously put your logo here on our poster as a sponsor, 22 hoping that you'll be positive and generous with me today. 23 Let met briefly run over what we're planning. 24 Friday, April 7th, Governor Rick Perry will be here at the 25 courthouse to proclaim Kerr County Days in Texas and start off 2-27-06 7 1 our event. We're also going to recognize all of the senior 2 citizens, 90 -- 90 years old and older, here that day from all 3 the communities across the county. In 1956, they recognized 4 the eldest native citizen of each community. Because the 5 world has changed a little bit, I think we're just going to 6 recognize anybody who's over 90 from any community within Kerr 7 County. They don't have to be native; just have to be a 8 resident or citizen of Kerr County. That evening, Friday 9 evening, we're going to have an event which celebrates not 10 only the -- celebrates not only musically, but in other ways, 11 our -- the different cultures that have made up our history. 12 We have some Indian dancers. The Mt. Olive Baptist Church 13 choir will be here, a mariachi band, an oom-pah band, and 14 special guest, country and western singer Darrell McCall. 15 Then, Saturday, we have a big parade. I hope y'all 16 will be in the parade. I haven't seen an application yet from 17 you guys, but I hope y'all get in there and are at least 18 represented in that parade. Sue Steele is the chair of that 19 event -- I'm sorry, the Friday night event is chaired by Linda 20 Somerville. Then Saturday evening, we have a big birthday 21 bash in the park. You'll note at 4 p.m., we have opening 22 ceremonies. I hope that some of you will be available to make 23 remarks at the opening ceremonies. And then several other 24 bands, ending up with Gary P. Nunn, and then at dark-30, 25 fireworks provided by H.E.B. Grocery Company. Sunday will be 2-27-06 8 1 a heritage memorial service at 3 p.m. at the Schreiner Dietert 2 Chapel Auditorium, and the Schreiner University choir will be 3 singing, and the featured speaker will be Dr. Sam Junkin. Can 4 I answer any questions about the event or the request that 5 we've made? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Joe, do you know -- I had 7 seen in the paper, and I may have misread it, but I reported 8 to the Court that the applications for the parade, I thought I 9 read February 15th was the due date. 10 MR. HERRING: No, the due date will be right before 11 the parade, about April 5. You still have time. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I talked with Sue Steele, 13 who's the chairman for Saturday night, and indicated to her 14 that we had an item on our agenda to talk about it. And if 15 the Court agrees to the sense of the item, I'll be in touch 16 with her after court today. 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And there's some ancillary 18 things going on at the same time. Friday -- I'm sorry, 19 Thursday, there will be a style show, the annual Springtime 20 Splendor of the Chamber. And then the Museum of Western Art, 21 what used to be the Cowboy Artist's Museum, has a special 22 exhibit for children which will offer a reduced ticket all 23 weekend for adults, and children are free, to see what life 24 was like in the mid-1800's. The Riverside Nature Center will 25 have a special Saturday. The Kerr County Historical 2-27-06 9 1 Commission will have living history displays at the Union 2 Church also Saturday, and Friday. And then Saturday night is 3 also the 20th annual Hill Country Charity Ball. So, a lot's 4 going on. What we try to do, and what they did in 1956, is a 5 lot of things were going all at one time under the umbrella of 6 the sesquicentennial celebration. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Joe, is your funding 8 request, say, a general request, or for a specific part of the 9 activities? 10 MR. HERRING: We have found that there are things, 11 when I go to donors and ask them to support this, that they 12 are readily willing to support, but there are other things 13 that also cost money that people probably don't want to have 14 their name associated with, that are still very necessary. 15 One that comes to mind are port-a-pottys. No one really wants 16 to sponsor the port-a-pottys. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You want the Court to 18 associate with port-a-pottys? 19 MR. HERRING: No, I don't necessarily want to put 20 your name on the port-a-pottys, and yet I still want to 21 provide those for our citizens for that event. So, yes, there 22 are some event -- there are some costs that are associated 23 with the event which it's hard to get a major underwriter to 24 say, "Oh, yeah, put my name on that." So -- and the City of 25 Kerrville has done the same thing. The City is waiving all 2-27-06 10 1 fees, all permits. They're paying for all salary costs of all 2 their street crews, the fire crew. The police department will 3 be used in the parade and security of all events. So, I mean, 4 there are some things that governments can do that really will 5 help. And what we were hoping is that -- yeah, y'all have 6 given your blessing to this, but we'd like you to also be a 7 sponsor as well. And, honestly, a lot of people, when I 8 approach them to be a sponsor, they say, "Well, what's the 9 County doing?" And I've said you've been very supportive, but 10 a financial commitment would be nice, too. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I move we approve the 12 request for $2,500. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I second it, but I certainly 14 have some questions. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to approve 16 the agenda item to provide financial assistance in the amount 17 of $2,500 to assist with costs of the sesquicentennial 18 activities. Any questions or discussion? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. $2,500. Are we 20 talking about $2,500 cash, or are we talking about $2,500 21 worth of in-kind services, or what -- what were you thinking? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: My -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Your name's on the agenda. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, sir. The request that came to 25 me was that because most of these are -- are being -- all of 2-27-06 11 1 these events are being held inside the city of Kerrville, City 2 of Kerrville is providing in-kind assistance. They've run 3 some numbers on it, and I think that number runs upwards of 4 $7,500, doesn't it? 5 MR. HERRING: That's a fairly conservative estimate 6 of their contribution. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. And, so, the request to us is 8 -- is a cash request at this point. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Now, I want to follow that up 10 with a question. Can we use public money for such things? 11 MR. EMERSON: Public money for a public celebration? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 13 MR. EMERSON: I don't think there's a problem with 14 that, as far as I know. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I double-second it. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is there a particular line 18 item that somebody wishes that it be taken from? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's a good question. 20 MR. HERRING: I think it comes completely out of 21 Precinct 2, from what I've... (Laughter.) 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Road and Bridge fund. 23 MR. HERRING: We appreciate -- and also, any 24 feedback you have on it, we just -- you know, we're not at the 25 end of the road here yet. 2-27-06 12 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I'm really impressed with 2 the organization of this. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Me, too. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: It's a large and complex 5 project, and I don't know what I expected, but it's being done 6 very, very well. 7 MR. HERRING: That's Brian Bondy's responsibility. 8 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: All of you involved in it, 9 my hat's off to you. 10 MR. HERRING: Thank you. I think it's going to be a 11 fun event. I notice the Ingram Chamber -- I'm sorry, the West 12 Kerr County Chamber recently had their annual Chamber banquet, 13 and they celebrated 150 years, so it's all over the county. 14 It's a nice thing. In May, I'm hearing rumors that the phone 15 book will feature a sesquicentennial theme, so -- in 16 Kerrville. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's figure out where the money's 18 going to come from, gentlemen. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is there anything in the 20 Commissioners Court -- 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Contingency? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- Contingency fund? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm afraid that we've just about 24 -- my recollection is we've about depleted most of our 25 contingency-type funds. 2-27-06 13 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: What about Parks? 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There is some Parks money, 3 but I think it's committed to the bridge connecting the two 4 park pieces together. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Rusty isn't here this morning. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Where's Rusty? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Get some of his. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We need Rusty. Where's 9 Rusty? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: His officers are going to be relieved 11 of some -- possibly some of the security function, the 12 overflow security function, and that may have been the point 13 of your question, I suspect. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It was. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I suspect that it was. But he's 16 probably the principal beneficiary of -- of it being cash 17 rather than in-kind, I would suspect. I don't know what 18 remains in the -- 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why don't we -- 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Check with the Auditor, see 21 if we can -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: During the Auditor's section, we 23 can find out where that money can come from. See if Rusty has 24 some available from one of his salary line items. At this 25 point in the year, we're... 2-27-06 14 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Subject to a determination of -- 2 merely a determination, but only that, are there any other 3 questions or comments on the motion? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Not on the motion. I wanted 5 to say that you have -- you really have some great 6 entertainment, Mr. Bondy. Some really good entertainment. 7 This Darrell McCall guy, I don't know; he's -- he's kind of 8 faded into the background the last few years, but what a 9 great, great entertainer. He has a voice like Ray Price, and 10 he does "Frisky Liver." 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That bombed out, didn't it? 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think -- like "Whiskey 14 River"? 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: "Whiskey River," only his is 16 "Frisky Liver." 17 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll give you another shot at that. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, I'll bring that back 19 after lunch. 20 MR. HERRING: He may take requests. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It's hard to be funny in here 22 any more. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Especially at 9:00 in the 24 morning. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Subject only to a determination of 2-27-06 15 1 what line item the funds are going to be taken from, all in 2 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 5 (No response.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 7 MR. HERRING: I do hope to see y'all at some of the 8 events, all of the public events. Bring a lawn chair. It's 9 probably going to be a little crowded. And I think it's going 10 to be a good thing. Also, because all our events are outside, 11 we almost virtually guarantee rain for that weekend. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Be careful. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Mr. Herring, we appreciate all your 14 efforts. 15 MR. HERRING: You're welcome. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: And the efforts of the Chamber. And 17 I keep seeing lots of things several times a week of the work 18 that you're doing on this thing, and as Commissioner Nicholson 19 said, y'all are really grabbing hold of this thing and really 20 getting it up and running, and we appreciate it. 21 MR. HERRING: Be a lot of fun. Thank you. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Joe, one last thing. Are these 23 intended to go out to our precincts, or to put in the 24 courthouse, or where do you -- 25 MR. HERRING: Anywhere you'd like. We can get you 2-27-06 16 1 some more. Brian has those. 2 MR. BONDY: A whole bunch of them. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'd like to have a couple 4 more. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would put two in Comfort. 6 Even though it's not -- it's adjoining the county; a lot of 7 the residents live there. Then we can put some in the 8 courthouse as well. 9 MR. HERRING: Yeah, that'd be fine. And you can get 10 as many as you need. We want to get the word out. Obviously, 11 putting them in the phone bill thing will help, but only if 12 you have a Kerrville telephone, so -- we asked the other 13 telephone people. They can't do inserts. We've tried to get 14 it everywhere. It's -- it's a little logistically hard to get 15 the word out to everyone, so the posters will really help, if 16 you can distribute it. Thank you, guys. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Appreciate your efforts. 18 Let's go to the next item on the agenda; consider, discuss, 19 and take appropriate action to authorize Commissioners Court 20 to participate as a body in the Sesquicentennial Parade on 21 Saturday, April the 8th, 2006. Commissioner Williams? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I had a chance meeting with 23 Mr. Bondy at the -- at Mindy Wendele's office -- Main Street 24 office, and he advised me that City Council was, in fact, 25 doing a float and will all be present on the float, and asked 2-27-06 17 1 Mindy if any Commissioners, individual, or the Judge or 2 anybody representing Kerr County had applied for -- filed an 3 application for the parade, and she said no, nobody yet. And, 4 so, it dawned on me that we should be there. After all, it 5 is our celebration. And if the City Council's going to be 6 en masse on a float, why can't Commissioners be en masse 7 somewhere in that parade? So -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Before the City Council, is what 9 you're saying? 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Absolutely. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh, absolutely. Since it's 12 our parade, our celebration, right. So the question, then, is 13 what do we need? Do we walk? Do we ride? Do we take a snow 14 sleigh, or what do we do? I did know at one time of a 15 refurbished 1939 dairy truck that I knew who did it and I knew 16 where it was, so I went to see that gentleman, and it no 17 longer exists; he has sold it. But -- but he did have a 1922 18 T Model Ford police patrol wagon in vintage condition. 19 Commissioner Baldwin has seen these; I'll show these to you. 20 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Commissioner Baldwin's been 21 in the back of it before. (Laughter.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: A paddy wagon, I believe. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's called a paddy wagon, 24 exactly. And he also has a 1927 Chevrolet touring car, and 25 he'd be willing to make -- we talked about that being 2-27-06 18 1 available, but we need to talk about how that would happen, if 2 the Court's going to be a part of that. That has a driver, 3 which will be the gentleman who owns this, and his name is Lee 4 Wildman. He lives in your precinct, Commissioner. And he 5 restores cars -- a cabinetmaker by trade, and he restores 6 these things beautifully. If we were of a mind to use that 7 vehicle, there's space on the side that says -- where a sign 8 needs to be placed that says, "Kerr County Commissioners 9 Court." Mr. Wildman would drive the vehicle, and there would 10 be a member of this Court sitting next to the driver. There 11 are big handles on the side and big running boards, and two 12 members of the Court could either run alongside or grab on 13 those handles and ride the running board. And the back the 14 doors swing open, and there's a stair there -- metal stair, 15 and two Commissioners could sit in the back with the door 16 open. Commissioner, now, that's one way you could do that 17 using that vehicle. If that was not an appropriate approach, 18 perhaps he could find someone else to drive both of his 19 vehicles in the -- in the parade. And the other is a touring 20 car, and the touring car only holds four. So, you know, the 21 idea is to be in the parade, and there's a couple suggestions. 22 If anybody else has a better suggestion, bring it out. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the key at the moment is 24 to probably vote to be able to allow us to be, as a body, in 25 the parade, and I think then we can figure out the best way to 2-27-06 19 1 accomplish that. There are quite a few different size 2 trailers, tractors, things like that in the Comfort area that 3 are used extensively in parades, and some of them have 4 trailers. I'm thinking that an old, vintage tractor with a 5 vintage trailer behind it may be another alternative, but I 6 think really the best thing to do is to -- let's vote, and I 7 make a motion to -- 8 MS. UECKER: I think you ought to ride bicycles. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, does it have to be posted? 10 Is that the -- how do we allow ourselves to be in the parade? 11 Do we post a meeting? Do you just authorize us to be -- I 12 mean, I think -- 13 MR. EMERSON: You've just got to post it to be 14 there. You're not going to be conducting any official county 15 business, but -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I don't know that we need 17 a motion. 18 MR. EMERSON: -- just to cover your tail. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We'll just post a meeting on 20 the -- of course, it won't be in the courthouse. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The posted notice will be 22 the Commissioners Court participating in the Sesquicentennial 23 Parade. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. Just -- we'll post that, 25 and let's get -- and I'll make a few phone calls and see what 2-27-06 20 1 -- and we'll look at various other avenues to get into the 2 parade. 3 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I like that approach. 4 We're probably also all going to be present when the 5 governor's here on April the 7th. Do we need to take care of 6 that also? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we should probably post 9 each of these events. Each of these events, just post it and 10 just have them all listed at one time. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right, because we're going 12 to be on the courthouse grounds. 13 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I just think celebration of 14 events, April 7th through 9th, any and all. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: We can list them all separately. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We just list them all on one 17 agenda, one listing. 18 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: So, your motion is that we -- 20 Commissioners Court participate in a Sesquicentennial Parade 21 on April the 8th, 2006, details to be worked out later? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. And we'll post all 23 events for the Court to be able to attend all of them if we so 24 choose. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 2-27-06 21 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That needs a second? I 2 second. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Commissioner Baldwin 4 seconded. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Did you? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Whatever. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I thought you did. I'm 8 sorry. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I did. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Sorry I didn't catch it. 11 Motion made and seconded for the Commissioners Court to 12 participate in the Sesquicentennial Parade on April 8th, 2006, 13 the details to be confirmed later, and that all the 14 sesquicentennial events be posted for participation by members 15 of Commissioners Court. Any question or discussion? 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I just -- 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: One question. How are we 18 going to bring this -- make the decision about the parade 19 equipment? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I think each Commissioner -- every 21 member of the Court ought to have an opportunity to put 22 something in the mix, and then we'll collectively decide which 23 way to go. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: At our next meeting, we can 25 decide. 2-27-06 22 1 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I just wanted to make the 3 comment that, you know, I had previously talked about going 4 off on my own, in my own vehicle to ride in, and that's 5 because I want to haul my wife with me, and still want to do 6 that. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That'll work. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: And -- 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And, so, if we go that route 10 or, you know, if we all bring our wives, I think maybe these 11 vehicles could be a little bit small. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There are a couple other 13 options. Couple other options to go along with this line. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But the flatbed trailer is 15 the way to go. I can -- I can see putting a rocking chair on 16 that thing and rocking, with Gary P. Nunn. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And we can just, you know, come 18 up with different ideas, think about it. I'll try to find out 19 what's available in my precinct; others can do likewise. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If we approve the motion, 21 I'll notify Sue Steele we will be in the parade. That's what 22 she needs to know. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: I think that's the important thing, 24 you know, that we'll participate in it and work it out later. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: And one more -- 2-27-06 23 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Before the City. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll tell her -- 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But she -- 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll tell her that 5 privately. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Actually, see, the governor's 7 not going be in the parade, so I can see a fire truck and 8 maybe the Sheriff. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But right in there somewhere 11 is us. No fire chiefs, no commode cleaners, none of that 12 stuff. Us. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I get the message. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. Well, I've said this a 15 whole bunch of times already, so -- now, are we bringing back 16 the mechanics of floats next meeting? 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll bring back some more 18 options in addition to these, and anybody else who has 19 options, bring them back. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, next meeting. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: I think we've got at least two 22 meetings to -- 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: -- to hash around on that. If the 25 entries are not going to close until early April, immediately 2-27-06 24 1 before the event, we'll have plenty of time to work out the 2 details. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right, but I think we do need to 4 commit to the -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Absolutely. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- person doing it, whoever's 7 going to be supplying the equipment, whatever it is. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's right. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If they want to go elsewhere. 10 MS. UECKER: You know, the Neunhoffers do have those 11 vintage vehicles. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand Julius is going 13 to be in the parade with a vehicle, but I don't know what. 14 I've got a call in to him, too. 15 MS. UECKER: Okay, good. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To find out what it is he's 17 planning to do. But the Judge maybe could ride alongside with 18 Julius; I don't know. A lot of options. 19 MS. UECKER: Yeah, there you go. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And the Historical 22 Commission needs to be represented. Maybe that's what Julius 23 is doing there; I don't know. I'll find out. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or discussion on 25 the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 2-27-06 25 1 your right hand. 2 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 4 (No response.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move to 6 the next item, consider and approval of resolution supporting 7 an application for the renewal of grant from the governor's 8 office for funding for special prosecutor for Violent Crimes 9 Against Women, sometimes commonly referred to as V.A.W.A. 10 MR. EMERSON: Correct. And I'm filling in for 11 Ms. Bailey today; she's currently upstairs in district court. 12 There is not any imposed cost increase to the County above 13 what the current grant was. And although I do not have her 14 report in front of me, I know the last statistics page I saw, 15 her numbers were about 15 to 20 percent above what was 16 proposed in the initial grant, and growing. So, I know from 17 my perspective, and my understanding is from both District 18 Attorneys' perspective, the position's been very fruitful. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval of the agenda 20 item. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. The last report was 22 very good. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 24 of the agenda item. Any question or discussion? All in favor 25 of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 2-27-06 26 1 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 3 (No response.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move to 5 Item 4; consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to 6 allow Road and Bridge to advertise for bids on Town Creek 7 Crossing improvements. 8 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. When TexDOT funded the Hermann 9 Sons Bridge, they waived $110,485 to be paid by Kerr County if 10 Kerr County agreed to commit those funds elsewhere for 11 drainage and bridge purposes. At that time, we committed to 12 use these funds to upgrade two locations on Town Creek. Hearn 13 Engineering has done the engineering bid package. At this 14 time, we are asking the Court to allow us to go out for bids 15 on construction for the first Town Creek Crossing. I'm open 16 for any questions. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I just wanted to make a 18 comment about it. Here's another time that Leonard and -- and 19 his crew is out in front of the game. The -- the Holdsworth 20 Loop issue is coming in that area, and there is going to be, 21 in my mind, quite a bit more traffic thrown on Town Creek 22 Road. He's preparing for that, and we're going to be out in 23 front of that thing. And when would -- when would the -- the 24 job be finished? 25 MR. ODOM: Well, if we -- if we start, it's about 90 2-27-06 27 1 days. We think that we'd cast in place, is the way we're 2 probably going to go with it; that it could be at 60 days to 3 70 days in there that -- from the time we start. What we need 4 now, the only thing we're waiting on is to get the commitment 5 for construction easement on both sides of it. And once I get 6 that, then the packet will be out for bid and we'll set the 7 date explicitly for that. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, we're way out in front of 9 the Holdsworth Road -- 10 MR. ODOM: So, sometime this summer -- to answer 11 your question, sometime this summer, we start. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, my hat's off to Road and 13 Bridge Department for being able to see down the road and -- 14 or see down the bridge. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Over the bridge. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Over the bridge and down the 17 dale. So, I move for approval -- let's see here -- approve 18 Road and Bridge Department to advertise for bid on Town Creek 19 Crossing improvements. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 22 of the agenda item. Any question or discussion on the motion? 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Two different crossings, 24 right? 25 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. At this -- what we're trying 2-27-06 28 1 to do, we'll see where we're -- once we get this bid, we'll 2 know what the money situation is, and then we'll go out for 3 the engineering on the other one and we'll address that as we 4 go along. But I need to spend that 110,000. We feel like 5 that will be used up either with this project, and the other 6 engineering may go in and we'll address it in a year or two. 7 We had three years from the time of completion to do this, and 8 that's what we're trying to stay ahead of the game. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments? All 10 in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 11 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 12 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 13 (No response.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, before -- I think maybe I 16 can ask this. Is there a match or a similar requirement on 17 the highway bridge? Or the city -- 18 MR. ODOM: No, they went 100 percent. I don't 19 know -- 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 MR. ODOM: That was 100 percent. We had to 22 contribute nothing on that one. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I know -- 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Give any right-of-way? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, a long time ago. 2-27-06 29 1 MR. ODOM: Long time ago. We did buy some 2 right-of-way; I think it was from Dr. Lewis, I believe. Or -- 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We condemned it, actually. 4 MR. ODOM: Yeah. But that's been three, four years 5 ago, maybe, in that process. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Longer, I think. But, anyway... 7 JUDGE TINLEY: I think the last condemnation portion 8 just got concluded last year or year before last. 9 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Over -- it's on the segment between 11 Junction Highway and Turtle Creek Road. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, thank you. 14 MR. ODOM: Thank you. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's go to the next item; consider, 16 discuss, and take appropriate action on Kerr County 17 Organization Development Survey. Which one of you gentlemen 18 wants to run with this? 19 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Well, I think what we have 20 here is, in our last meeting, I showed you a copy of a survey 21 form that me and Commissioner Letz developed. We weren't very 22 specific about how we would proceed, so we thought it'd be 23 good to get it back on the agenda so that we can raise any 24 concerns or issues about it and go forward. What we're trying 25 to do here, of course, is to gather some information that 2-27-06 30 1 would be useful to us in our -- the so-called off-season 2 meetings we committed to that look at the ways we organize our 3 work and how we accomplish it, to see if there's ways to do it 4 better. So, that's -- that's what this is about. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other view, I think, to 6 add one more point, was that the -- the, I think, intent of 7 the Court has been that the Court wants this done, and we felt 8 that it should come out under a court order, as opposed to two 9 Commissioners, and to let the other department heads and 10 elected officials understand this is something the Court as a 11 whole is requesting prior to this year's budget process. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: You had something? 13 MR. EMERSON: Just one quick comment. And I didn't 14 know this was coming out, but about a month ago, based on 15 comments in court, I requested from the Texas Association of 16 Counties a publication that they have that specifically 17 addresses the organizational constitutional duties of the 18 offices, and I've not received that yet. We called last week 19 and checked, and it's -- supposedly, it's on the way. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. This -- you know, and I'm 21 aware that there's -- that, to me, is a component of it. But 22 I think the -- the missing part of that is the man hours it 23 takes to do -- to do that function, as to how much -- I mean, 24 you know, I see Linda here, so I'll pick on Linda. You know, 25 how many of her employees are required to do her 2-27-06 31 1 constitutional duties versus the few other things that she 2 does, such as passports, which is a minimal thing -- or maybe 3 it's not minimal. But just trying to get an idea as to what 4 the constitutional duties require versus what other functions 5 require, and how much time we're spending county-wide on 6 things that we don't have to do by the Constitution. So, it's 7 just kind of a -- and it's not -- I wouldn't -- Dave and I 8 were looking at this. It's going to be -- it's somewhat 9 subjective, I think, when we get this back, because, I mean, 10 people aren't that regimented in their job assignments. I 11 mean, you don't have this person doing this, this, and this, 12 so it's going to be a little bit of an estimation. That's why 13 we're relying on the expertise of other elected officials and 14 department heads as to kind of give us an idea of how much 15 time is being required to do each of the functions in their 16 office. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All department heads and all 18 elected officials? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: (Nodded.) 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So moved. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 23 of the agenda item to be distributed to the -- the 24 Organizational Development Survey to be distributed to all 25 elected officials and department heads for response as 2-27-06 32 1 indicated. Any question or discussion on the motion? 2 MS. UECKER: Yeah. I -- looking at the survey, it 3 would almost make sense to -- if you want to do this, that 4 each separate employee is going to have to complete a survey 5 on their own, because I don't think one person can do it all. 6 You know, if you're looking for 100 percent of hours, you 7 know, accountable hours for, in my case, seven employees, then 8 I think what you're going to need is to have each employee do 9 a survey, just like we did for the Nash study. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't -- 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Why can't the department 12 heads provide it to each employee, and then pull it all 13 together into one report? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't disagree with that at 15 all, Linda, but I think I'm uncomfortable asking your 16 employees to do something. And I think I want to give it to 17 you, and then you can either -- and each department head or 18 elected official can do it as they want. I think that -- you 19 know, I -- 20 MS. UECKER: You know, I don't have any problem 21 doing it. Now, there is a book about that thick that's called 22 a District Clerk's Manual that lists all of that. It doesn't 23 say what that -- what the hours are. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- yeah. 25 MS. UECKER: But, you know, we're going to need some 2-27-06 33 1 time. We're looking at time. 2 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: This doesn't have to be 3 very precise. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We're talking -- yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: We just want to get a good 6 estimate, like -- first, we want to learn what we do. We 7 don't -- none of the five of us have a complete understanding 8 of all the work that's done in the county, so we want to learn 9 what we do, and then just some estimate about who does it and 10 how much man hours it takes. Precision is not important. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, we -- I mean, I don't 12 know how -- you said there's a book this thick for your -- for 13 your office. Clearly, I don't expect you to go by every 14 little item and say, "This takes .3 hours per week, and this 15 takes .1 hour." We're talking about -- you know, lump things 16 together in as large of categories as you can, but still be 17 meaningful. 18 MS. UECKER: Okay. Well -- 19 JUDGE TINLEY: You're suggesting that maybe we need 20 to extend the deadline to allow for a little bit more time? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That can be -- 22 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Sure. 23 MS. UECKER: Yeah. Because, you know, I -- I've 24 got -- I've got so much that overlaps that almost everybody 25 does almost everything. 2-27-06 34 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mm-hmm. 2 MS. UECKER: And it just depends on -- on the needs 3 and who's available and, you know, what's going on. And I'm 4 trying to think how I can assign hours to -- 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: See, when -- let me give 6 you an example. And, again, I know not very much about what's 7 done. I would think in terms of big buckets. If I were in 8 the Tax Collector/Assessor's office, one item might be collect 9 license plate fees or whatever that is. 10 MS. UECKER: So, you want it very general. 11 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Four people, 40 hours a 12 week, and that's as detailed as I need to know there. And I 13 didn't mean, you know, fill out this form, keep all that. 14 Just -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And more specific to your 16 office, like, how much time do -- working with the district 17 courts? To me, that's one item. I don't care what they're 18 doing as much. You know, it's more that these man hours are 19 assigned to the district courts. These are assigned to 20 keeping track of all the different trusts and things that you 21 have to keep track of and all that kind of stuff. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Do you care how much she 23 spends with 198th and how much with 216th? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not really. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just lump all that -- 2-27-06 35 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not really. They're district 2 courts. I mean, and whether -- and that's the -- you know, 3 that's the issue to me, as to how much time is going to that 4 one job function, which is courts. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: With that explanation, what does that 6 do for you on the -- on the response time? 7 MS. UECKER: Well, considering some -- a lot of 8 other obligations I have between now and then, I would like, 9 you know, a little more time. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: March 20th? No problem. 11 MS. UECKER: I know Jannett's doing an election; I 12 don't know what that does for her. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We can do it, you know, March -- 14 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: That's good. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: March 20th is good. Okay. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Work for you? 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 19 MS. PIEPER: May I ask what the survey's supposed to 20 show y'all? I mean, we -- every several years, we go through 21 some kind of survey. All it does is take up our time. 22 Nothing comes out of it. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It helps us -- it helps me at 24 budget time. We get requests all the time as to what's going 25 on, and last year, there's -- you know, we didn't have enough 2-27-06 36 1 information to make -- I mean, different personnel and manning 2 questions. 3 MS. PIEPER: Well, if you want this very general, 4 it's not going to give you enough information anyway. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it does. 6 MS. PIEPER: Seems like if you just take a trip to 7 our office -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm in your office. 9 MS. PIEPER: -- that would help. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Won't hurt anything. 11 MS. PIEPER: Right. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments on 13 the motion? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If you choose -- anyone who 15 chooses not to do it, that tells us something, too. So, if 16 you don't -- 17 MS. PIEPER: I'll do it, but I don't -- I mean, it's 18 going to be general, because I have elections. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments? All 21 in favor of the motion, 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: Motion does carry. Let's move to 2-27-06 37 1 Item 6, if we might; consider and approve the appointment of 2 Mr. Ben Alves of Mountain Home to an unexpired two-year term 3 as a Commissioner on the Kerr County Emergency Service 4 District Number 2 Board of Commissioners, vacancy created by 5 the resignation of Mr. F.C. Henson. Mr. Nicholson? 6 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Mr. Alves comes recommended 7 to us by a number of residents in the Mountain Home area. He 8 lives off Highway 41, retired businessman. He and his wife 9 are very active in -- in giving back to the community. And 10 from all the reports I have, he'll be a good and valuable 11 member of the -- of the ESD, and he'll probably be able to 12 help put things back on the track that they need to be on, so 13 I move that we approve Mr. Ben Alves. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 16 of the agenda item to appoint Mr. Ben Alves of Mountain Home 17 to an unexpired two-year term as a Commissioner on the Kerr 18 County Emergency Service District Number 2 Board of 19 Commissioners. Any question or discussion? All in favor of 20 the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move to 25 the next item, set a public hearing on Kerr County Subdivision 2-27-06 38 1 Rules and Regulations and Water Availability Requirements. 2 Commissioner Letz? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: As the backup showed, the -- due 4 to unexpected circumstances, the notice was never posted for 5 the public hearing, so we need to reset the public hearing and 6 get it posted properly. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Does that require 30 days? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's what -- I don't believe 9 it requires any notice. I think we've always given it 30 10 days. If -- if there's no problem, I'd like to go with our 11 next Commissioners Court meeting. I think the -- many of the 12 public that are aware were planning to be here today, 'cause 13 they knew about it, and I said, "No, we're not going to do it 14 today because of the posting." But I think we can probably 15 do -- a two-week posting on it should be adequate, as long as 16 we get it in the paper this week. 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: There is -- is quite a bit 18 of interest in it, and that's good. I hope people show up and 19 help us make the right decision. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, to me, another two weeks 21 certainly doesn't hurt anything, so I would make a motion that 22 we set the public hearing for Monday, March 13th, at -- 23 Monday, March 13th, at 1:30. 24 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that will be a public 2-27-06 39 1 hearing for both the Subdivision Rules and Regulations and 2 Water Availability. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Who's going to post it this 4 time -- advertise it? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Kathy will make sure it gets 6 posted. Correct? 7 MS. MITCHELL: Usually the Clerk's office does that. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 9 MS. MITCHELL: But I will make sure that -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Get with Jannett, make sure it 11 gets posted. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let me ask you a question. 13 You may have just -- probably did just answer it, but isn't 14 all notices done by the County Clerk's office? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Road and Bridge does theirs, the 16 street names and those, I believe. And that's where the 17 confusion came on this one, because it's a -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, water availability is a 19 long ways from a street name. I mean -- 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Subdivision Rules. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- I don't see the confusion, 22 why it was confused, but I'm kind of with Commissioner 23 Williams here. Who is going to do it? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: County Clerk. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, thank you. 2-27-06 40 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or comment on 2 the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 3 your 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 the next item; consider, discuss, and appointment of David 9 Billeiter to the Kerr County Child Services Board. 10 Commissioner Baldwin? 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. We're adding 12 another person of integrity to this board, and when we get 13 this board up and running the way we want to, everybody in 14 town is going to want to know now we did it. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They'll be on the board. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. I guess I'll have to 17 get on the board. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They'll all be on the board. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Have to wait till next 20 election time before I get on it, but -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, that's why we have -- so, 22 there's a vacancy we're filling? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes. There's a vacancy we're 24 filling, yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 2-27-06 41 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And I probably -- maybe we 2 have a couple more to go. But, anyway, David's a good guy and 3 a perfect person for this thing. Good fit. I move that we 4 approve David Billeiter as a member of the Kerr County Child 5 Service Board. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for the 8 appointment of David Billeiter to the Kerr County Child 9 Services Board. Any question or discussion on the motion? 10 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 11 hand. 12 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 14 (No response.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We'll go to 16 Item 9, order authorizing the County to enter into a financing 17 lease with Bank of America Leasing and Capital, L.L.C., for 18 purpose of financing the acquisition of certain computer 19 hardware and software from The Software Group, a division of 20 Tyler Technologies, Inc., and authorizing the County Judge to 21 approve and execute the final form of a Master Equipment 22 Lease/Purchase Agreement with Banc of America Leasing and 23 Capital, L.L.C., and all of the documents deemed necessary 24 related thereto, and approving other matters related to such 25 lease financing. I put this on the agenda so we could 2-27-06 42 1 conclude with the purchase or lease, whichever, the 2 transaction on the upgrade of the computer hardware and 3 software system that the Court had approved. As the Court 4 will recall, it's $1,030,000. It will be paid over a 5 five-year term, interest rate or factor of 4.015 percent. 6 County Attorney has -- 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Four point what, Judge? 8 JUDGE TINLEY: 4.015. Speaking from memory, but I'm 9 pretty sure that's correct. I've got a pretty good grasp of 10 those numbers. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 4.015. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. Mr. Emerson? 13 MR. EMERSON: Yes, sir. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: You've had an opportunity to review 15 the documents? 16 MR. EMERSON: Yes, sir, reviewed the documents. It 17 appears to be standard language pursuant to bank records. And 18 based on the amount of exposure on this being over a million 19 dollars, I did take the documents and forward them to a 20 private attorney who's experienced in banking matters and 21 asked them to back me up. And they took a look at the 22 documents and were comfortable with them also. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Fantastic. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: First amortization payment 25 is due when? Budget year? 2-27-06 43 1 JUDGE TINLEY: It's '07. February or March, '07, I 2 believe, somewhere in that range. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, this gets paid off in '012? 4 JUDGE TINLEY: '11. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: '11? 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm, five-year. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, okay. There was -- only 8 question I have, just -- I didn't go back and check. I know 9 it refers at one point in here to a date in -- of a January 10 10th meeting, a vote that we took, a record vote we took. Is 11 that date correct in here? 'Cause I don't recall taking a 12 record vote on this in January. Somewhere back in here. I 13 should have highlighted it, but I was feeding Gus at the time 14 and didn't have a pen. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I see. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Poor Gus. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: A legitimate excuse. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Seemed like my recollection, it 19 was towards the back. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, while y'all are doing 21 that, should we get the Auditor in here to -- 22 JUDGE TINLEY: That -- yeah. We're fixing to get -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- talk about several things? 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Attachment G, Page 1. 2-27-06 44 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Attachment G. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: About this far back. It refers 3 to a January 10th -- and I'm sure -- I presume someone checked 4 that, but I just... 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Necessarily, that date would need to 6 be changed to reflect the current date. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That should be today's date? 8 JUDGE TINLEY: I believe so, yeah. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I wasn't sure if it 10 was -- the date was -- needed to be changed, or if we did a 11 vote back then that -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: No, that's the -- that's the agenda 13 item that's posted for today where that matter was considered. 14 I'm not certain why we got the January 10th -- 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Change that to today's date? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. That'll be -- that'll be 17 modified to today's date necessarily, yeah. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 19 MS. WILLIAMS: Morning. 20 (Discussion off the record.) 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Spent the whole weekend on 22 it, huh? I'm impressed. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Got to do something at 5 o'clock 24 in the morning, sitting in front of the fireplace with Gus. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: He read all this stuff. 2-27-06 45 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, right. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Absolutely. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: You obviously didn't catch -- 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The other typo? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: -- the one which is on -- let me see 6 where it is. Maybe you did and you're just laying back. On 7 Attachment A of Schedule A, Number 1, Lessee's Acceptance 8 Certificate. Schedule A, Attachment A, Page 1. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't see it. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: On about Page 6, I guess. County 11 Clerk's just joined my family. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, yes. Jannett Pieper Tinley. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't have a motion yet, do I? 14 MS. THOMPSON: No. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval, with a couple of 16 corrections we noted. 17 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded, with the 19 proviso that any typos or date corrections be made. Any 20 question or discussion on the motion? All in favor of the 21 motion, 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: The motion does carry. Does any 2-27-06 46 1 member of the Court have any item to be considered in closed 2 or executive session? Let's move to the approval agenda. 3 First item is payment of the bills. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I have one question. 5 In the bills, on Page 3, 216th District Court. I see all 6 these attorneys, you know, and you see one bill here for 7 2,000, and a lot of them are 350, and maybe a 900, and, you 8 know, there's many here. But there's one for $25,000. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: I noted that also, Commissioner. I 10 hope that's a typo. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It's not? 12 MS. WILLIAMS: No. This is on a capital murder 13 case, and it was on an appeal. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is that the -- 15 MS. WILLIAMS: Ramiro Hernandez. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I can't remember which -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that supposed to impress 19 somebody, that -- his name or something? I mean, I don't get 20 it. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What was -- what -- 22 MS. WILLIAMS: If I remember correctly, this is the 23 one that the murder was committed -- the rancher. I cannot 24 think of the gentleman's name. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Lich. 2-27-06 47 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Lich. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The Lich murder. 3 MS. WILLIAMS: It happened back in '97. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But he was -- he was in Mexico 5 for a while; they got him extradited back. 6 MS. WILLIAMS: I believe so. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I believe it was the Lich trial. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, is the 25 grand -- 9 would that be from day one to -- all the way through the 10 completion of it? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: No, that would have been for 12 appellate work only. I think the trial counsel would have 13 been paid, and then in an indigent case, the normal procedure 14 is -- and I assume that was followed in this case, 15 Commissioner -- is that once the trial portion of it is 16 completed, there's a mandatory appeal on any death sentences, 17 anyway, to the Court of Criminal Appeals. And there's a 18 separate appointment for the attorney to handle it on appeal, 19 and apparently Richard Langhorn was designated by the Court to 20 do that. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There's not a death -- this 22 isn't a death sentence, because I don't believe the 23 extradition -- 24 MS. WILLIAMS: I think his was. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: His was? Okay. During the 2-27-06 48 1 extradition process. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: One final question. Is this 3 a local attorney? 4 JUDGE TINLEY: No, sir, he's out of San Antonio. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: San Antonio, Texas. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Or he was. As far as I know, he 7 still is. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I suggest you can expect 9 some more bills. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Is this the final amount for the 13 appeal, or do we know? Ms. Williams? 14 MS. WILLIAMS: I don't really know. I'd have to 15 look at that bill. I do believe, when I looked at it the 16 other day, it was -- his actual bill was more than the 25,000, 17 but this was, like, a cap that he had put on it, or that 18 someone had put on it, and that was all he was billing us for. 19 But I don't believe it stated in there that was the final 20 billing. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Shouldn't this come out of 22 Special Trials? Being a -- 23 MS. WILLIAMS: I asked that same question to 24 Mr. Tomlinson, and he said that if we put it under Special 25 Trials, we cannot try to recoup some of this cost. If we pay 2-27-06 49 1 it out of Court-Appointed Attorneys fees, there is a form, I 2 believe, that we can send to the State on capital murder cases 3 where we can try to recoup some of this expense. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Also, it would make a difference when 5 we report our indigent defense -- 6 MS. WILLIAMS: Exactly. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: -- numbers, and if we don't reach a 8 certain threshold level of was whatever it was six, seven 9 years ago or something, -- 10 MS. WILLIAMS: Correct. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: -- we're not eligible for additional 12 grant funds out of the -- out of the additional pool, I guess 13 is probably the right way to put it. 14 MS. WILLIAMS: Right. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, then, shouldn't -- to me, 16 I mean, it still should come out of the Special Trials fund, 17 but maybe transfer into this one. That's the purpose of 18 Special Trials, is generally capital murder trials. That's 19 why we have the fund; we know these are coming up. So, it 20 seems that the dollars should -- from a budget standpoint, 21 should come out of Special Trials, even if they get 22 transferred into the proper line item at the time. 23 MS. WILLIAMS: I'm not real sure, but I think in 24 order for us to report the funds under the indigent defense, 25 it has to be paid out of the Court-Appointed Attorney line 2-27-06 50 1 item. If we pay it out of Special Trials -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm saying we should, I think -- 3 then why do we even have Special Trials? I guess my point is, 4 if we have to pay for capital murder trials out of this line 5 item, and most of them are indigent, then why do we even have 6 the Special Trials fund? 7 MS. WILLIAMS: I think the Special Trials fund, if I 8 understand, is to cover any special trials that might occur 9 during the budget year. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: I see where you're coming from, 11 Commissioner. This is probably not something that you would 12 ordinarily consider coming out of regular Court-appointed 13 attorneys. It may be necessary that, later on in the year, we 14 keep this in the back of our mind; we may have to transfer 15 some from Special Trials. 16 MS. WILLIAMS: And then, at that point, we could do 17 that. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Over to Indigent Defense. But -- but 19 your point is well-made, that this is not something that you 20 normally anticipate as a regular Court-appointed attorney. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 'Cause we -- 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If that's the case, then we 23 have to keep track of all these trials as they work their way 24 through the appeal process. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we do that anyway. I 2-27-06 51 1 think -- I mean, I think Mr. Ramirez' defense is -- we could 2 probably go back and pick up every invoice we've paid for 3 that, and every other person. But I just think that it's just 4 a matter of how we budget it. It seems that we've always 5 budgeted Special Trials for capital murder trials. You know, 6 which I don't have any problem with doing it that way, but it 7 seems the moneys should flow back and forth as we need it to 8 pay the bills. 9 MS. WILLIAMS: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Move we pay the bills. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for -- to 13 pay the bills. The election equipment on Page 1, this is the 14 base cost of the equipment? It doesn't include any training? 15 MS. WILLIAMS: I believe it's just the equipment. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's see what else we got 17 here. On Page 5, Jail Maintenance, about $4,800 there. Is 18 that the rubber room, or is that something else? Remember the 19 rubber room that got tore up? 20 MS. WILLIAMS: Oh, no, sir. This is -- if I am 21 remembering right, they are doing some remodeling out there to 22 set up an area for the task force. They're taking up the 23 carpet and putting down tile. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is this for the task force, 25 or is this for the distance learning? 2-27-06 52 1 MS. WILLIAMS: What I understood was for the task 2 force, that they were going to be setting up a room for the 3 task force. Because this -- this particular bill to 4 Mr. Crider is the one you're talking about. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 6 MS. WILLIAMS: This is strictly just the labor 7 charge of taking up the old carpet, repairing the floor, 8 laying down the tile. There is another bill that will be 9 coming, probably -- maybe next court date, for the actual 10 materials, and it's right in and around this same amount. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: How much tile are we putting down out 12 there? 13 MS. WILLIAMS: A fairly large room, is what I 14 understood. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I would surmise that, based upon 16 almost $5,000, if we're talking about labor only, and another 17 5,000 for -- for materials. 18 MS. WILLIAMS: Right. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's a question for the Sheriff. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Anything further? All in 23 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2-27-06 53 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Budget 3 amendments. Budget Amendment Request Number 1. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Okay. What we would like to do, we 5 are constantly getting revenues in from the Road and Bridge 6 Department, either for signs that they make for individuals or 7 for culverts that they have installed for individuals, the 8 surplus property that I believe they were allowed to sell at a 9 previous court meeting. We need to set up revenue line items 10 to record these funds coming in, instead of -- at the present 11 time, they're going back against the expenditure line items, 12 and our outside auditors are telling us that's really a no-no; 13 we shouldn't do that. When you do that, you misstate what 14 you've actually spent during the budget year. So, what I'm 15 asking the Court's permission to do with this budget amendment 16 is set up revenue line items to record those revenues coming 17 in, and then once every quarter, come in and let you know this 18 is the amount of money that we've brought in. We need to 19 increase this revenue line item, and on the same side, 20 increase the expenditure line item so that they can use those 21 funds in this year's budget. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Then the -- does the revenue -- 23 is it appropriate for the revenue to go back into these same 24 line items, as opposed to going into the general fund? 25 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir, because they're using their 2-27-06 54 1 -- their stock, their culverts, their sign stock, whatever, to 2 actually do these jobs. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And they're already 5 accounted for in that line item. 6 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir, mm-hmm. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So moved. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. I agree. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 10 of Budget Amendment Request Number 1. Any further question or 11 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 12 your right hand. 13 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 15 (No response.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Budget 17 Amendment Request Number 2. 18 MS. WILLIAMS: We have received another bill for the 19 Detention Facility for food expense. And, as I explained last 20 meeting, we're basically out of money. So, what I need to get 21 the Court's approval to do is to allow us to move $279.66 out 22 of Group Insurance up to the Food line item in order to pay 23 this bill to H.E.B. for food charges, and we also need 24 approval for a late bill. We need to get this paid before a 25 certain date, and it won't -- won't be done before our next 2-27-06 55 1 court meeting. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Mindy, we've talked about 3 this and related items, you and I. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Mm-hmm. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And it seemed to me, this is 6 -- what we're doing today is nothing more than a bandaid on 7 this particular line item. 8 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What do we know about what 10 we need to get us to the point -- at least to the six months 11 review of our budget on this thing? What is necessary? 12 MS. WILLIAMS: Right off the top of my head, I'm 13 going to say anywhere between $8,000 and $10,000 a month, and 14 that is just a rough guess. I believe at the last court 15 meeting, the printout I had showed one month we'd spent over 16 11,000. The next month it was, like, close to nine, and I 17 think the third month was maybe around six or seven. It looks 18 like the food costs are going down a little bit, but we never 19 know for sure until we get the statements in as to what we're 20 actually going to be spending. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If we're showing a negative 22 for food on this budget item at this point in time, you're 23 telling the Court that there is nothing in that account, or 24 nothing for this particular month in that account? 25 MS. WILLIAMS: Correct. 2-27-06 56 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Which? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nothing in the account. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Nothing, period? 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Nothing left in that line item. We 5 have totally used the $30,000 that was budgeted. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, if we don't do 7 something, tomorrow we get hungry? 8 MS. WILLIAMS: Well, they -- they're still buying. 9 They're still charging -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I understand. 11 MS. WILLIAMS: -- without a problem. But when we 12 get the bills in, we're not going to be able to pay them if we 13 don't ... 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move approval of this agenda 15 item, but I have a comment. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, I'll second it, but 17 we've got to have more discussion. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 19 of Budget Amendment Request Number 2. Any questions or 20 comments? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess my comment is, I think 22 we need to get this one done so we can get H.E.B. paid, but I 23 think we need to have Ms. Harris come at our next meeting and 24 explain, one, why we're so far off on this budget, and get a 25 projection for what it will be. I -- it seems, you know, 2-27-06 57 1 doing the quick math in my head, she's spending an awful lot 2 of money on food. I guess a part of that question is, why are 3 we shopping at H.E.B.? That's not -- I mean, I like H.E.B., 4 but there's Sysco and other people that are a lot more -- 5 MS. WILLIAMS: I think a lot of times, the reason 6 they're going to H.E.B. is they may have not received 7 something on their order from one of the other vendors -- 8 providers, and it's something that they need. Most of it is 9 -- is just everyday stuff. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I guess that goes to my -- 11 I have a planning issue with that. Every time -- the same as 12 I have with Maintenance when they run into Gibsons. I mean, I 13 love Gibsons too, but it's taking -- with the man hours it 14 takes us to do the shopping, the cost of this -- of that item, 15 whether it's H.E.B. or Gibsons or any other, is astronomical, 16 'cause it takes man hours to go buy this stuff. You take an 17 hour -- you take an hour of an employee's time, plus a little 18 bit of money, I mean, it gets ridiculous. All departments 19 need to plan better on what they need from a supply 20 standpoint. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think -- I have no problem 22 with Ms. Harris coming in and explaining to us; I think that's 23 appropriate, but I think we're going to find out that we're -- 24 we're negative in the food line item because we had the T.Y.C. 25 kids there for so long, and that pulled down her food line 2-27-06 58 1 item. But the big issue to me is, where do we stand with 2 total bills at the six-month marker against what the Court 3 approved? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: T.Y.C. can't account for this. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We'll find out. But the 6 overriding issue to me is, where do we stand on the overall -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Your point's well made, Commissioner. 9 We need a good, solid update of -- of where we are at the 10 half-year level, as -- as we had intended to do anyway. 11 MS. WILLIAMS: I might mention, like the bills that 12 we paid in October, which is the beginning of our budget year, 13 those are actually September invoices, so we're always paying 14 the previous month the next month. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I would appreciate, 17 Ms. Williams, when we do a six-months update -- and I assume 18 we'll do that at the second meeting in March; just my 19 assumption -- that we also have a line on outstanding accounts 20 receivable. 21 MS. WILLIAMS: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So the Court has some feel 23 for what money is in the conduit coming in that hasn't arrived 24 here yet. 25 MS. WILLIAMS: All right. 2-27-06 59 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think that's a valid point 2 about the carry-over from September, but it also -- at the end 3 of the year, we don't pay for September. We pay for September 4 the following budget year, and it's -- I mean -- 5 MS. WILLIAMS: A lot -- if the bills are turned in 6 on time, we can encumber them back to the previous year. 7 There have been a number of bills, as you know, that we 8 haven't been able to do that with because they came in late, 9 after we had already finished our encumbrances. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and a second for 12 approval of Budget Amendment Request Number 2. Any further 13 question or comment? All in favor of the motion, signify by 14 raising your right 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. Budget 19 Amendment Request Number 3. 20 MS. WILLIAMS: Okay. On this one, we have an order 21 to pay an investigator on a district court case out of the 22 198th District Court, and we have basically bottomed out that 23 line item. I've already talked to Becky Henderson in Judge 24 Ables' and Judge Prohl's office and asked if it would be all 25 right for us to move the necessary funds that we need in order 2-27-06 60 1 to pay this bill out of 216th District Court Court-Appointed 2 Services line item and put it into the 198th District Court, 3 and they have approved that, so I just need the Court's 4 approval on the budget amendment. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Second. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Legal -- legal services, 9 basically? 10 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes. It was for investigative 11 services on a district court case. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 13 of Budget Amendment Request Number 3. Any question or 14 discussion? 15 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Question. I'm thinking 16 about the whole process of district court expenses; indigent, 17 attorney's fees, those kind of things. Who's accountable 18 for -- for certifying that the costs are reasonable and the 19 expenditures were made, and who signs off on these things? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: District Judges. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The judges. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Or in the case of County Court at 23 Law, the judge there, or in the case of my courts, I sign off 24 on them, approve them. 25 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Thank you. 2-27-06 61 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But as far as overall 2 picture, you're accountable to the public, believe me. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Believe me. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other question or comment? 7 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Got the responsibility, but 8 not the authority? 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Correcto. 10 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Thank you, sir. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All in favor of the motion, signify 12 by raising your right hand. 13 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 15 (No response.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Do we have 17 any further budget amendments? 18 MS. WILLIAMS: No, sir, that's it. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Late bills? 20 MS. WILLIAMS: No, sir, not today. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, you want to ask her, 22 on the sesquicentennial issue that we had earlier, if she 23 would find that two and a half million dollars for us? 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. I appreciate that. I 25 know she can do that very quickly. You've got $2,500 that we 2-27-06 62 1 have approved to assist in sesquicentennial activities, and 2 you have the magic number of where we're going to take that 3 money from. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Oh, boy. Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Auditor's salaries? 6 MS. WILLIAMS: One, two, three, four, five. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Five-way split? 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Five-way split. 9 MS. WILLIAMS: 2,500? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: 2,500 a pop. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, that ain't going to 12 happen. 13 MS. WILLIAMS: I will check and see what I can find. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you. 15 MS. WILLIAMS: You're welcome. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you ma'am. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mindy? Before you -- are you 18 going to -- 19 MS. WILLIAMS: Sure. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are you going to find that right 21 now? 22 MS. WILLIAMS: I can go back and check right now. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, and then come back. 24 Reason is, I suspect they're going to want that check pretty 25 soon. 2-27-06 63 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Like, yesterday. 2 MS. WILLIAMS: And is it 2,500 even? 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Even, yeah. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: Let me go see. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Who's it going to be made to? 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Chamber of Commerce, I 7 think. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Kerr County Sesquicentennial -- 9 they've got an actual title of that outfit. Kerr County 10 Sesquicentennial Celebration is the actual -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's it. But they'll probably 12 be coming soon for that, so we'll be around a little bit. 13 MS. WILLIAMS: I'll check right now. Thank you. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. I -- I have before 15 me monthly reports, a report from Justice of the Peace, 16 Precinct Number 1. Do I hear a motion that that report be 17 approved as submitted? 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Hear, hear. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 21 of the Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 report as submitted. 22 Any question or discussion on the motion? All in favor of the 23 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2-27-06 64 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Any further 3 reports? Do we have any reports from any of the Commissioners 4 on their committee or liaison assignments? Number 1? 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I did want to report 6 that the -- the EMS issue is coming the end of March, the last 7 meeting in March. And I have their report in print in my 8 office, and a copy for each of you, and I want to get that to 9 you as soon as you will receive it so you can start looking at 10 it. And Dr. Morgan has volunteered to meet with you 11 individually to brief you on the whole thing, because I can't. 12 It's against the law for me to meet with y'all. And, so, I 13 would recommend that you do that, because it's kind of an 14 interesting thing, and you're going to have a lot of 15 questions, I hope. I did. I still do. So, that's all. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Commissioner 2? 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Kerr County's request for 18 funding from the Resource Recovery Committee for surveillance 19 equipment for Solid Waste purposes has passed over hurdle 20 number one, is recommended that it pass out of hurdle number 21 two, and it will go to a board for final approval next 22 Wednesday. 16,000-something for surveillance equipment. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: So far, so good. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So far, so good. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That will be, I think, a big 2-27-06 65 1 help, if it doesn't get stolen. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If we can make it work. 3 Last time, for some reason, we couldn't make the stuff work, 4 but we got everything. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Cameras watching cameras? 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Any -- anything further, 7 Commissioner? Commissioner 3? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On the airport, next week, week 9 after next, the bids are due in on the terminal project, so we 10 will find out if we got -- I think we can, after next -- 11 anyway, within the next 10 days, I think the bids are due in, 12 so we'll find out where we're going with that project. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You did notice in the paper, 14 didn't you, Commissioner, that the City Manager's 15 reconstruction of his staff puts the Airport Director under 16 Ms. Wendele's supervision? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Say that again? I didn't 18 hear that, I'm sure. The airport comes under Ms. Wendele? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. He's done some 20 restructuring of his staff and so forth, and the Airport 21 Director will report not directly to him, as he had in the 22 past, but he'll report to him through Ms. Wendele as a part of 23 her assigned responsibilities. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Very interesting. That's 25 something I think we should note when we're renegotiating that 2-27-06 66 1 contract with the City this year. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I agree. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further, Commissioner 3? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner 4? 6 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: Commissioner Number 1 and I 7 met with the five employees of Animal Control for about an 8 hour and a half for the purpose of -- purposes of examining 9 our work out there, what we're doing right and how to make 10 sure we continue to do that, and also to find ways to change 11 and improve. And we did this based on a concept that if you 12 want to know how a job should be done, ask the people who do 13 it. And it was a pretty encouraging meeting. What we found 14 is that a lot of things are going well. The numbers reflect 15 that. The adoptions are up, euthanasias are down. Some other 16 metrics that we have suggest that over the last couple years, 17 we're -- and thanks to the citizens who are cooperating by 18 taking better care of their pets, we're doing a better job of 19 animal control. We also found some areas where our processes 20 and procedures weren't -- weren't quite as smooth as they 21 should be, and found some ways that we can make some changes, 22 and all five of the employees committed to being a part of the 23 change process. So, it was a -- I felt really good about it. 24 We -- we got good people out there that care about doing good 25 work, and I'm very much encouraged. 2-27-06 67 1 Another meeting with the Library Board, and, again, 2 I'm -- I'm encouraged that they're the right people working on 3 the right issues. And the next thing you'll see on that is, 4 in our next meeting, I'll bring -- the bylaws that they've 5 approved, in accordance with our contract with the City, 6 require approval by this body as well as the City's. I'll put 7 that on the next agenda for -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sounds like that's working. 9 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: So far, it's working. If 10 we can -- we can do a good job at recommending a budget, then 11 we'll know it works. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I do have one -- one other 14 note that might be of interest to Commissioner 4, Judge. Like 15 you, we appeared before the Kerr Leadership group, and it's -- 16 I guess they do that monthly. And my task this time was to 17 draw the distinction between county government and city 18 government, and that's pretty easy to do when we get down to 19 it. But when it came to Q and A time, one lady asked me about 20 the Animal Control shelter, and her question had to do with 21 whether or not we were going to continue our euthanization 22 policy. Which came, you know, totally out of the blue. 23 Doesn't have anything to do with the distinction between 24 county government and city government, but my answer to her 25 was that -- that since we had received the funding to expand 2-27-06 68 1 the facility, that would perhaps give owners and others who 2 wish to adopt a pet a longer opportunity. Maybe that will 3 just -- won't be quite as extensive as it has in the past, but 4 we had no change in policy, on how we do things. 5 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: I think all of you know 6 this as well as I do. It's pretty easy, when you get an 7 animal in there, to make a determination about whether or not 8 that animal is going to be adopted. There's some -- some are 9 marginal, but all in all, it's pretty easy. If we've got a 10 good animal, we'll keep it a long time. And one of the things 11 we found we're doing right is, we're shopping that animal 12 around, and it's -- and that's working. We're getting 13 others -- private organizations to help us get our work done. 14 So, yeah, that'll help a little bit, give us a little more 15 flexibility. But if you get a -- a bad animal in there, it's 16 not -- keeping it an extra few days is not going to help 17 anything. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I suspect the point of that 19 question was more as to how you do the euthanasia. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Exactly. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: As opposed to the euthanizing. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, it had to do with the 23 fact that San Antonio changed the method by which it 24 euthanized. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And I think your answer 2-27-06 69 1 was still correct; there's no change in our policy at this 2 time. You might ask Janie what the cost of -- I guess we've 3 tried that. 4 COMMISSIONER NICHOLSON: It's a big difference in 5 cost. I did learn -- I didn't know this -- that we do have 6 the capability to use the injection, and we do that. If we 7 get an animal in that's in really bad shape, it shouldn't have 8 to wait until the next time we do the traditional euthanasia. 9 We have the capability and the means to dispose of the animal 10 using the injection. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? The Leadership Kerr 12 County that Commissioner Williams referred to, I appeared on a 13 panel before the -- before that group later on in that same 14 day with City Manager Paul Hofmann, and they had some very, 15 very interesting questions. Some very, very timely questions. 16 And I think we were scheduled to -- to be there for maybe 40 17 minutes, 45 minutes, and I think we went something over an 18 hour, but there was -- there were some very, very interesting 19 questions, and very appropriate under the circumstances. It 20 was -- it was a challenging appearance. It certainly was -- 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Astute group of folks. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I spoke with them several months 23 ago on water issues, but I think this group has the most 24 questions and the most insight, and seems to be more engaged 25 in the whole process than probably any group that I recall. I 2-27-06 70 1 think I've probably spoken maybe once every other year or 2 something like that to that group, but it's a very, very good 3 group, and they're true -- you know, I think it's -- the true 4 purpose of that whole program, this group exemplifies. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: There's no question, they're 6 a very astute group of people. I used, as a resource to get 7 the discussion underway, a -- about a 12-minute video prepared 8 by Texas Association of Counties, which goes through the -- 9 the basic services that are provided, mandatory services that 10 are provided by counties. And that really, then, does set out 11 the distinction between county government and city government, 12 and you can expound on that. And it was -- I went over my 13 time, too, Judge. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other reports? Reports from 16 elected officials/department heads? Yes, sir? 17 MR. EMERSON: Just advising the Court that I 18 received by certified mail sometime the end of last week, when 19 I was gone to the Juvenile Law Conference, that the -- in the 20 Kerr County vs. E.B.A. lawsuit, the County has been 21 countersued by Union Labor Life. And I'll be happy to put it 22 on the agenda and talk about it in executive session next time 23 if the Court wants more details. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Rex, since you brought it up, I 25 received several questions in the past month about this 2-27-06 71 1 lawsuit and where we stand on it. How -- is it possible for 2 us to do a -- I mean, obviously, we don't want to go into 3 detail; that needs to be handled in executive session. But 4 can we do an update as to where we are on this whole thing for 5 the public? 6 MR. EMERSON: Sure, in very generic terms. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Generic. But talking about, you 8 know -- yeah, it's generic, but as specific as you feel 9 comfortable. And I'd like to err on being -- a lot of this 10 stuff is all up in the courtroom anyway, these filings back 11 and forth. Obviously, you know better what needs to be done. 12 But, you know, at our next agenda, maybe we can put this on 13 there just to give the public an update as to where we are on 14 this process. 15 MR. EMERSON: Sure. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Thank you, sir. 17 MR. EMERSON: You're welcome. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other reports from elected 19 officials? Department heads? Ms. Williams? 20 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. Okay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: And the quest for $2,500 resulted in 22 what? 23 MS. WILLIAMS: I believe that we will probably be 24 able to move $1,500 out of Line Item 10-409-204, which is -- 25 get the terminology right -- the Worker's Comp line item in 2-27-06 72 1 Nondepartmental. Move an additional $1,000 out of 10-409-207, 2 which is the TAC Unemployment Insurance line item in 3 Nondepartmental, and I'd like to move this over under 4 County-Sponsored. We'll have to create a new line item, and I 5 would like to make that Line Item 10-660-449, and we'll call 6 it Kerr County Sesquicentennial Celebration, and we'll put the 7 $2,500 there. And I just need something in writing as to who 8 we're supposed to make the check payable to. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It'll be in the court order, I 10 think. Wouldn't that be sufficient? 11 MS. WILLIAMS: That will work, mm-hmm. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for approval 15 based upon the information furnished by the Auditor. Any 16 question or discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify 17 by raising 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. Thank you, 22 Ms. Williams. 23 MS. WILLIAMS: You're welcome. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thanks, Mindy. 25 MS. WILLIAMS: You're welcome. 2-27-06 73 1 JUDGE TINLEY: The court order should reflect that 2 it be payable to the Kerr County Sesquicentennial Celebration, 3 as specified in the letter from that organization. Any other 4 business? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have some additional posters 6 here that Mr. Bondy dropped off, and I'll set them out by 7 Kathy's desk, and pick them up and take them to the precincts, 8 I guess, is where they're supposed to go. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yes. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? Hearing nothing 11 further, we will stand adjourned. 12 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 10:25 a.m.) 13 - - - - - - - - - - 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2-27-06 74 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 1st day of 9 March, 2006. 10 11 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 12 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 13 Certified Shorthand Reporter 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2-27-06