1 2 3 4 5 6 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 7 Workshop Session 8 Friday, December 12, 2008 9 1:30 p.m. 10 Commissioners' Courtroom 11 Kerr County Courthouse 12 Kerrville, Texas 13 14 15 16 17 Identify and discuss operations, projects, installations and/or infrastructure needs that might 18 benefit from federal funding within Kerr County 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge 23 H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 24 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 2 1 On Friday, December 12, 2008, at approximately 2 1:45 p.m., a workshop of the Kerr County Commissioners 3 Court was held in the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County 4 Courthouse, Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings 5 were had in open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't we go ahead and come to 8 order for this Commissioners Court workshop posted for today, 9 Friday, December the 12th, 2008, at 1:30 p.m. It is past 10 that time now. The agenda item today for the workshop is to 11 participate in workshop to identify and discuss operations, 12 projects, installations, and/or infrastructure needs that 13 might benefit from federal funding within Kerr County. 14 Commissioner Baldwin, do you have a wish list? 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do, actually. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: I thought you would. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Number one, I want to -- was 18 that a sincere question? I mean, you want me to make 19 comments? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Sure. Why not? 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. I want to endorse 22 Commissioner Williams' list, which includes most of my 23 thinking, and I have a couple of items that I want to add -- 24 add onto that. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 12-12-08wk 3 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, I don't have -- 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't we go ahead and get into 3 the record, then, for the purposes of the audience, what's on 4 his list. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Do you want me to do that? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sure. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams provided a 9 list to members of the Court. He's running a little bit late 10 and will be here shortly. His list is as follows: Center 11 Point/East Kerr wastewater project, Center Point/East Kerr 12 domestic water treatment and supply project, Hill Country 13 Exhibit Center Master Plan project, repairs to county dams -- 14 and he did include a cost estimate for those to his listing 15 here. We've got Ingram, Flat Rock Lake, and the Center Point 16 Dams. Dredging and cleanup of all three county lakes, parks 17 improvements, connector road from State Highway 173 at or 18 near the intersection of State Highway 2771 to Airport Loop 19 at State Highway 27, including a new bridge at or near Brinks 20 Crossing, and a joint project with the City of Kerrville to 21 improve water distribution system at the Kerrville/Kerr 22 County Airport. Those are the items that were included on 23 Commissioner Williams' list. Any of you that want to throw 24 on top of that now? Commissioner Baldwin? 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do. 12-12-08wk 4 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. I want to add 3 Turtle Creek Volunteer Fire Department, that new station that 4 they're dealing with, and -- just new station, and a pumper 5 truck to go in that station. And rebuild and bring to county 6 standards Primrose Lane, and another road, and I can't think 7 of the name of it. It's the one that Jody lives on. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Cub Lane. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Cub Lane. Cub Lane. That's 10 all I have. That's all. That's only 10 or 15 million right 11 there. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: That was a pumper truck for Turtle 13 Creek? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: New station, pumper truck, 15 Primrose Lane, and Cub Lane brought to county standards. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Commissioner Letz, have you 17 got something you want to throw in the mix? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess two things. One would 19 be really to expand Commissioner Williams' Number 8 about the 20 water distribution at the airport. I'd like to expand that 21 -- to expand the ramp area, some other infrastructure 22 projects at the airport. One is at the area -- in the 23 airport master plan, it shows kind of out by where the Brinks 24 hangar is, a -- a taxiway going down -- up towards about 25 where the fuel barn is, and then T's, so that -- to increase 12-12-08wk 5 1 the development possibility in some of that acreage, and also 2 some of the runway expansion type projects that are kind of 3 in the -- basically include everything on the airport master 4 plan list that's been identified so far. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Then the other item is -- and I 7 guess it's kind of on here already, but kind of not, is the 8 Bush-Knipling lab. May be a way for us -- you know, I don't 9 know if it's really asking for money, or really kind of 10 lobbying to make sure that happens, if we're going to hire a 11 lobby. That's it. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Commissioner Oehler? 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, we're just wishing, I 14 think, here, but might as well wish for all we can wish for. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: That's why we're here. As long as 16 it involves federal money, which virtually everything does. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Long as it's pie in the sky. 18 Acquire right-of-way in connecting Highway 27 to Highway 19 1340, tie Bear Creek to Spur 98, and connect Freedom Trail to 20 Upper Turtle Creek. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's actually priority 22 items, in my opinion. You know, we're getting old, Bruce. 23 We'd better get one of those done. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: If we don't do it now, you 25 know -- never happen. 12-12-08wk 6 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does one of those include 2 extending, I guess, on the south side of the river all the 3 way to Ingram? Is that kind of included in the -- some of 4 those? 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not -- not really. That's -- 6 that could be another -- I don't see that. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Actually, that's already 8 there. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, it's kind of been 10 talked about. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I mean, but it's -- the 12 plan's there, but the money isn't there to do it, I guess. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No. I mean, you can 14 actually drive -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- to Ingram. Freedom 17 Trail -- over Freedom Trail to Indian Creek. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: He's talking about up the 19 south side of the river all the way from Ingram to Hunt. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's not what he said. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I'm talking more from -- 22 what's the crossing out there -- what's that out there by the 23 Arcadia Loop? Is that -- that's Bear Creek crossing up to 24 Ingram. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's there. 12-12-08wk 7 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's there? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, Freedom Trail. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That has to go back up and 4 over. I'm thinking more along the river. The City has it, I 5 know, in one of their master plans. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And one that we worked on. It 8 comes pretty much -- it's extending Spur 100 -- 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- kind of along the river up 11 towards Ingram. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's going to be hard to do 13 because of the terrain, for one thing. You've got some steep 14 -- you got some steep hillside when you get back over toward 15 Beaver Road and back in there where it's just a sheer clay 16 rock dropoff. And that's going to be hard to do. I think -- 17 you know, that was a good idea at one time, but I really 18 think that these are more -- 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Plausible. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. They're -- those 21 things, you know, one would take -- relieve the -- some of 22 the -- some of the traffic in Hunt, coming out of Hunt going 23 to Ingram, and you've got people coming in that could come in 24 off of I-10, go down the road I live on, or go to Mountain 25 Home and come around and then go straight over to Hunt, you 12-12-08wk 8 1 know, back to 10 as quick as you can. That's the quickest 2 way. That's very short. It's not but -- it can't be over 3 three -- three, three and a half miles. It's just not far at 4 all. Depends on where you come across, but I think it can be 5 done. And I've had the offer to fly me around up there so we 6 can maybe identify it better from the air than you can just 7 guessing on the ground, and I haven't done it yet, but I 8 intend to. Also, up there on -- where you connect Freedom 9 Trail to Upper Turtle Creek, that is very short, the 10 distance. Buster, a mile, mile and a half? Mile and a half, 11 tops. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mile and a half tops. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I doubt if it's a mile. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Are you going to talk to Jim 16 Ernst there and see if we can, you know, kind of run right 17 through his property there? That's the best route. He'll 18 just have to build a house on top of the hill. I've talked 19 to him about it before. He wasn't real excited about it. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not a surprise. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But, you know, the other way 22 is to go on up and acquire more right-of-way up Indian Creek, 23 and tie it into Turtle Creek Estates, which is very -- it's 24 only half a mile from the end of Indian Creek Road up to 25 Turtle Creek Estates. You talk about cutting off miles and 12-12-08wk 9 1 miles, and that area would develop out there unbelievably if 2 they had access to it. Property values would go up. It 3 would be amazing what that would do. You can actually 4 connect -- now, another way to connect 27 to -- to 1340 is to 5 go and basically go through the Boy Scout camp. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Take the end of what used to 8 be Beach Road, and now it's Byas Springs Road; from the end 9 of it to -- over to 1340 is not but about two and a half 10 miles at the most. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I wonder if I should add on the 12 list to connect Lane Valley to Ranger Creek. (Laughter.) 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That would be real easy, 14 wouldn't it? Just a foot. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, just a foot, pretty much. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Just need a foot. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And lawyer fees to do it. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: That might run the tab up a little. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else that comes to mind? 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't believe so. 22 Commissioner Williams had the Hill Country Youth Exhibit 23 Center on here, so... 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That, of course, is a -- is a 12-12-08wk 10 1 big-ticket item. That needs to be done. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, let me -- let me see if I can 3 connect up some things that may interplay with that. 4 Comprehensive county youth services program, and that would 5 be a facility to do all that. It potentially would have 6 educational components, juvenile justice components, social 7 services components, you know, pretty much across the board. 8 That might also have some interplay with the -- with the 9 Youth Exhibit Center, because we're now utilizing the 4-H 10 programs for juvenile justice, or some -- some components of 11 that, or near components of it. And that could also include 12 4-H and ag as youth diversion programs, which would bring in 13 educational components, criminal justice components, 14 agriculture, a lot of different potential pots of money. 15 We've always got the law enforcement. I'm surprised our 16 Sheriff is not standing tall with a Christmas list that's 17 longer than he is tall. But -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Did you say him standing 19 tall? Is that what you said? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I could have said that. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's pretty humorous. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: As that goes. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's pretty humorous, 24 isn't it? He's telling a joke. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: But -- 12-12-08wk 11 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Poor little guy. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, poor little guy. Mental 3 illness programs, jail diversion, juvenile justice, that's 4 going to be a major topic upcoming through the state. I know 5 a lot of these -- currently, a lot of the juvenile moneys and 6 mental health moneys come through the state, but they're 7 federal moneys. Now, insofar as what could come direct to us 8 without coming through the state, I'm not certain of what 9 might be involved in that. But there's no question but what 10 we've got some mental health issues and -- in both of those 11 components. Of course, in the city, we've got the proposed 12 library expansion that they're talking about doing. Got 13 downtown revitalization, which I think the City's vitally 14 interested in. That would be something that would be high on 15 their list, I'm sure. Information technology, both from 16 security -- from a security standpoint -- I suspect Homeland 17 Security moneys, still some of that out there. And also 18 weaving into that video teleconferencing. Does that surprise 19 you, Buster? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm shocked that that came 21 up. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: I bet you are. And that could be 23 also not just the security issues, but also the 24 administration of justice. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: How are you talking about -- 12-12-08wk 12 1 I mean, if you're going after federal money, why don't you go 2 after and link all those counties up? 3 JUDGE TINLEY: That -- that would be -- of course, 4 we're looking at it from -- from the Kerr County aspect, but 5 -- and we're -- we're making some inroads on it. We're 6 getting another hookup that is going to be used in 7 conjunction with the one that Judge Brown is using, and it'll 8 also be a backup unit for the other courts to use if they 9 choose. They can do that, say, just between here and the 10 jail, for example, which does have some security components. 11 We're not transporting those prisoners back and forth, the 12 personnel issues that get involved, and the contraband issues 13 with -- with the courthouse and so forth. Let me see what 14 else I've got here. I think virtually everything else has 15 been rolled into one list or another at this point. 16 MS. LAVENDER: Your windows? Courthouse windows? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't know that we can get that 18 one in there. We've already got the money set aside for 19 that. 20 MS. LAVENDER: Oh, have you? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Creation of a Camp Verde 22 historic area. I mean, that's going to take some money, not 23 a huge amount, but that's the kind of thing -- I think 24 there's probably federal funds available to do that, to make 25 it more of a visitor-friendly type environment. I think 12-12-08wk 13 1 that's pretty workable there. And something else, brush 2 control, clearing cedar. I know Buster would like that. And 3 also spreader dams, cachement dams, things of that nature. 4 Both of those come under the NRCS, but, you know, they come 5 under -- you know, that's federal money, and I don't know how 6 it's allocated, but if more can be allocated to Kerr County, 7 it would help. That's pretty short dollars right now trying 8 to get hold of that. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: I know under the -- the cedar 10 eradication program, why, the Guadalupe Basin was not in your 11 -- you recall we had a presentation from a gentleman down in 12 Comfort that there wasn't a lot of money that went to 13 Gillespie County or some of the these other counties, but 14 there was some money, and it got gobbled up pretty quick. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. That was mostly state, 16 but it could have been pass-through. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have no idea. You know, a 19 lot of that, you think it's state, but it really isn't. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, yes, so much of it is a -- a 21 block grant. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess the other thing -- I'm 23 not sure what's available, but on that whole economic 24 improvement development horizon, I mean, if there's funds 25 available for -- to try to attract businesses or things, 12-12-08wk 14 1 maybe -- and the airport's probably a pretty good point. I'm 2 not sure, because it was -- some of the problems that went 3 along with the major -- I guess our major tenant out there 4 has, there may be some opportunities to do something with 5 that huge facility. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: I think if they don't want to prop 7 up the automobile industry, maybe they want to do it with the 8 general aviation industry, aircraft. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: May be some funds available to 10 -- if they don't make it, to do something different. 11 MS. HYDE: U.S.A. Motors. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Lavender, did you have anything 13 that comes to your mind that hasn't been mentioned 14 previously? 15 MS. LAVENDER: The only thing I've gotten phone 16 calls about several times is people inquiring whether we had 17 any kind of County-funded housing money for low-cost housing. 18 Because there's -- there's several programs that could 19 benefit from that. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I really wish there was some 21 way for the feds to funnel some money through the -- into 22 Habitat for Humanity. You know, that's kind of a 23 self-sustaining program, from what I understand. Imagine 24 what they could do if they were funded. 25 MS. LAVENDER: Actually, we're getting into what's 12-12-08wk 15 1 called the Bootstrap program, and it is some money that's 2 going to help us quite a bit. We're in the process of 3 getting qualified to do that, and then families have to be 4 qualified for the program. But it could mean a significant 5 difference in funding for us if we can get qualified and into 6 that program. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Lyle? Ms. Bolin? 8 MS. BOLIN: I just have a question. I'm not sure 9 what stuff the federal funding will cover, but one of the 10 things that is -- I spoke to Judge Ragsdale about it last 11 night, was the possibility of coming to the Court to get a 12 larger building for Ingram annex. And I'm wondering if it 13 wouldn't be feasible for the County to purchase a small lot 14 and build their own, so that it's self-maintained. And I'm 15 to the point I could use two people out there at least 10 16 days a week -- I mean 10 days a month. (Laughter.) Feels 17 like 10 days a week this week. Is that something that -- 18 MS. LAVENDER: It's a population growth issue. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let's add it on. Let's add 20 it on the list. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What do we call that thing? 23 Annex? 24 MS. BOLIN: Mm-hmm, the West Kerr County Annex. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: West Kerr County -- 12-12-08wk 16 1 MS. LAVENDER: Upgrade. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And you want to include 3 J.P. 4 in it? I thought we'd get him a tent. Let him -- 4 MS. BOLIN: He said he would like to have a bigger 5 courtroom. I just would like to have space for two people to 6 function properly. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Hyde? What's on your wish list 8 for Santa -- Federal Santa? 9 MS. LAVENDER: A shooting range. (Laughter.) 10 MS. HYDE: I'm not sure that this works either, but 11 is there any way that we could get some sort of indigent 12 health care place, like an emergency place that they could 13 go, rather than go to a hospital or a regional medical center 14 or something like that? Like a county -- 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Health care business? 16 MS. HYDE: Like a county -- county-run -- 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Clinic. 18 MS. HYDE: Where it became part of a county, 19 versus -- maybe not. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Like the one that just 21 closed, only county -- county-operated? 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: With the kind of money we're 23 spending -- she and I talked about it a little bit the other 24 day. The kind of money we're putting out on indigent health 25 care, you know, what would be the possibility of having a 12-12-08wk 17 1 county-sponsored clinic, where you had staff that was 2 actually -- 3 MS. HYDE: Is that more like a district -- you'd 4 have to district that in order for the county to get more 5 federal funding towards -- towards programs, and state 6 funding? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Honest answer is, I don't know. I 8 can see -- I can see a lot of open-ended monetary issues 9 there, though. And -- 10 MS. LAVENDER: A public clinic is what you're 11 trying to talk about. Is that what you're talking about? 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Certification issues, quite a number 13 of things. The money we're spending on indigent health care 14 is coming down. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That would be wonderful if it 16 can. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: It is happening. 18 MS. LAVENDER: It is happening as we speak. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: And we're getting recoupments. 20 MS. LAVENDER: For what we paid out. I think, in 21 that line, you need to -- besides the public health clinic, 22 you also need to put family planning in that umbrella, 23 because right now there are no family planning clinics in 24 Kerr County. 25 MS. HYDE: Right. 12-12-08wk 18 1 MS. LAVENDER: And anybody that needs it has to go 2 to Gillespie County to get that service. 3 MS. HYDE: Right. 4 MS. LAVENDER: It's not available any longer. And, 5 so, if we're going to go for federal money for a health 6 clinic, we need to include a component in it that provides 7 family planning. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Does that include abortion? 9 MS. LAVENDER: No, I wouldn't think that would be a 10 part of it. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I mean, we laugh about that, 12 but that's exactly what family planning means. 13 MS. LAVENDER: Well, not necessarily. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: On the federal level, are 15 you kidding me? 16 MS. LAVENDER: Yeah. More -- well, you make your 17 own rules to a degree, but there's probably some guidelines 18 with the federal government tied to the money, so I don't 19 know. You just have to look and see. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If you go to a federal 21 family planning -- like in San Antonio, if you pulled into 22 one of those, what is the first thing they're going to talk 23 about? That's what they have on their mind. That's what 24 that little building's for. 25 MS. LAVENDER: But it does more than that. Just -- 12-12-08wk 19 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I understand. 2 MS. LAVENDER: There's quite a bit more to family 3 planning than just abortion. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm listening. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You've come up with about 20, 7 30 million dollars worth of stuff real quick, maybe 8 40 million. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Forty, maybe pushing 50. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We just went over 50. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Do I hear 60? 12 JUDGE TINLEY: There was something indicated in 13 jest about a shooting range. You know, with our Olympic 14 training site out here and the economic development potential 15 of that facility, I see that as -- as something that might be 16 worth pursuing. You know, whether it be by virtue of the 17 Olympics aspect, or -- or law enforcement training, or from 18 other angles, to try and enhance that facility out there. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Increased gun sales. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Might even put a shop in out 22 there. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You mean like -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One of the things that would 25 help that facility a lot, in my mind, is some landscaping. I 12-12-08wk 20 1 think it would help a lot of the sound problems that they 2 have if they had some trees in some of those areas, and it's 3 more a sound buffer. We can do it with landscaping. And 4 it's a low priority, I'm sure, for Jack and his folks out 5 there, because it's something that's not a -- 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Pile up some cedar. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Caliche. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Both. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You mean build something 10 like that -- like a Thunder Ranch deal? Training -- law 11 enforcement training? 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I think the -- I think it's 13 already being utilized for that. I think not -- not with all 14 of the various closed courses, the combat -- the built-up 15 buildings like the courses at the G.I. installations, but -- 16 but I can see where that might have some law enforcement 17 components for training. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, I do too. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: But I think the -- the biggest 20 potential it has for Kerr County is -- is an economic engine. 21 That thing generates a lot of money to the local economy when 22 those folks come in from out of town and do those big shoots. 23 They spend a lot of money here locally. A lot of money's put 24 in circulation, and it's quantifiable. But how you -- how 25 you -- how you funnel the money in, and the justification for 12-12-08wk 21 1 it, and how you structure it so that it's doable is another 2 thing. 3 MS. HYDE: The only other one, Judge, was about the 4 V.A. Is there any way that we could piggy-back in the county 5 with our V.A. here? Because it seems like our V.A. continues 6 to get smaller, and we have a large building and large 7 property that could be really utilized, because the next 8 V.A., as you're well aware of, and most of y'all are, is, 9 like, out in New Mexico or something. You have to go all the 10 way to New Mexico. So, those guys in west Texas can't even 11 come here. If it reopened here, some of them could come back 12 here and bring money back into the economy. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, there was one concept that I 14 talked to Senator Hutchison about. You know, she got that -- 15 one of those -- I think it was one of four or five Level 1 16 trauma centers for San Antonio, headquartered out of South 17 Texas V.A. there for those returning Iraqi and Afghanistan 18 veterans, and they're focusing on those closed-head injuries 19 now that they can do the real exotic medical treatment down 20 there, and use this for more of a rehabilitative-type 21 situation. It's a less stressful environment. We've got the 22 -- we got the capacity here -- 23 MS. HYDE: Yes, sir. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: -- we're not using. 25 MS. HYDE: Yes, sir. 12-12-08wk 22 1 JUDGE TINLEY: But it would take some staffing. 2 Now, we've lost out to -- to Audie Murphy because of the 3 politics. 4 MS. HYDE: Right. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: But now that Gil Coronado's gone, -- 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank God. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: -- we have a shot at something. 8 But -- 9 MS. HYDE: I didn't know if that could be 10 piggy-backed in somehow. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I think it could be. I 12 believe the appropriations for that -- and it was in place 13 when they announced it a year ago. September, I believe it 14 was, 66, 67 million bucks for that -- for that trauma center. 15 But the -- the more repetitive aspects that didn't take the 16 highly technical equipment and so forth, I think, could come 17 up here with the therapists and that sort of thing. And I 18 think that could be a pretty good -- pretty good draw with 19 the community in terms of employment and -- because those are 20 better paying jobs. They're not low-end service jobs. But, 21 basically, what we're talking about is just utilization of 22 our existing V.A. Hospital facility that is underutilized. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Beautiful spot, beautiful 24 building. I'm sure it needs some renovation, but -- it's 25 probably dated inside. 12-12-08wk 23 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Nothing has been spent on it 2 in the last 20 years. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: If they need more, they can always 4 come downtown, right? 5 (Whispered discussion off the record.) 6 MS. LAVENDER: Public clinic in there, too. 7 MS. HARGIS: I don't know if you mentioned the 8 jail, but, you know, when you have to expand it, I don't know 9 if there's any federal money for expansion of that facility 10 or not, but it would be one way for us to not pay that. And 11 I assume you talked about all the roads and bridges and -- 12 'cause the infrastructure -- 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We talked about some 14 specifically. I mean, there's -- our bridges are in pretty 15 good shape, or will be after the current TexDOT plan. Now, 16 there may be -- I guess a lot of those are probably federal 17 pass-through funds, too, and trying to get them while we're 18 on the TexDOT plan, getting them unjammed from Washington, 19 would help in getting the projects completed. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: There's some now -- we were 21 told we were going to get that off-system bridge money, but I 22 think that's kind of been put on the back burner. Haven't 23 heard another word out of Mike about any of those off-system 24 bridges being done. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Heard about one of them, the 12-12-08wk 24 1 first one that was brought up. He wasn't sure why. It was 2 the Lazy Valley at Cypress Creek, but then I hadn't heard. 3 That was about two months ago. He said let's meet, and we 4 haven't met yet. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, Mike's a pretty busy boy right 7 now. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Mike doesn't have time to 9 turn around and go the other way. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: I think you're keeping him going 11 pretty strong, and the Lemos thing's got him -- he's trying 12 to finish up Sidney Baker and he's trying to do this -- what 13 is it, 1341 extension, to tie it into Holdsworth. And he 14 told me yesterday he was going to be bringing his boss up 15 here from San Antonio so we could talk about some of these 16 transportation priority issues. I said bring him on. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Send him down. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Okay, folks. What else we 19 got? Nobody else got a Christmas list, huh? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the -- I guess here is 21 one that I'm surprised Commissioner Williams didn't put it on 22 here. We obviously have a lot of rock quarries between here 23 and Center Point, and actually all the way down to Comfort. 24 He had come up with the idea of putting some off-channel 25 reservoirs, and surface water during high-flow periods, to 12-12-08wk 25 1 store water in those, line them and make reservoirs out of 2 them. And the hole's there; you don't have to move the dirt. 3 And it's a -- you know, once the -- once they're done mining, 4 not a whole lot to do with it. Just big holes. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: All you got to do is cut a 6 diversion channel, come up. When the flood reaches a certain 7 height, it funnels part of that water in there. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mm-hmm. And it can also -- you 9 can use it for flood control, you know, the flooding 10 downstream. It could be a way to -- 11 MS. BOLIN: You could stock it with catfish so we 12 could go fishing. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, stock it with catfish so 14 we can go fishing. We can spend another -- we can -- that's 15 a quick 20 million right there. 16 MS. BOLIN: I have one question. Nadene and I have 17 been talking about the election equipment, and with this last 18 election, we could have used two eSlates in several of our 19 precincts, but we didn't have them. And we had two backups. 20 One of them wound up not working, and we had to use the other 21 one in a precinct. If we did not -- if one of the other 22 precincts would have gone down, we'd have been S.O.L. on 23 that. Is there any way that we can put into this for -- 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Election equipment? 25 MS. BOLIN: Yeah. 12-12-08wk 26 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is -- 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: How much is that stuff? What 3 does it cost? 4 MS. BOLIN: You know, I honestly don't know. 5 Nadene's going to check on it, because I was going to bring 6 it to the Court after the first of the year. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, we got -- 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: A whole bunch of it. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: $300,000, we got 24 of those units, 10 plus a whole bunch more related equipment, so we're not 11 talking about a lot of money there. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: She just needs a couple of 13 extra ones. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Talking about probably 14 15 grand a piece or something like that. Okay. Well, let's 16 everybody go write their letter to Santa Claus, and we'll 17 bring it before Christmas. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Who's going to be here for the 19 -- from the Normandy Group? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I think the former Congressman is 21 planning on being here. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good. 23 MS. BOLIN: Is there something that we need to do? 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Pardon? 25 MS. BOLIN: Is there something we need to do, other 12-12-08wk 27 1 than let y'all know our wish list? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: No, that's probably pretty much it. 3 MS. BOLIN: Okay. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Unless -- unless you know how to 5 trace these trails of money up in Washington. You think it 6 belongs over here, but the money's actually over here 7 sometimes. And -- 8 MS. BOLIN: Well, just don't fly your private jet 9 up there to ask for money. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Didn't intend to. Last time I went, 11 I didn't do that. But I -- I didn't drive and share driving 12 duties with the other folks that went. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Can't figure out how to get 14 the thing started anyway. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, let's fold it up, then. 16 Thank you. 17 (Workshop was adjourned at 2:18 p.m.) 18 - - - - - - - - - - 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 12-12-08wk 28 1 STATE OF TEXAS | 2 COUNTY OF KERR | 3 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 4 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 5 County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 6 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 7 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 17th day of December, 8 2008. 9 10 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 11 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 12 Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 12-12-08wk