1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Monday, June 22, 2009 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 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X June 22, 2009 2 PAGE 3 --- Visitors' Input 5 --- Commissioners' Comments 8 4 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 5 request from Robert Palmer for use of Flat Rock Park on a Saturday in August for "Dog 6 Day of Summer" 12 7 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action regarding South Texas Blood & Tissue conducting 8 a blood drive using courthouse parking lot on July 16 or August 6, 2009 21 9 1.3 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 10 requesting a joint meeting with City Council concerning EIC funding 22 11 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 12 resolution supporting legislation to change or repeal Texas Tax Code Section 23.175 to bring 13 all Texas taxpayers into an equitable position 28 14 1.10 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize construction of building and facilities 15 on Kerr County property at the law enforcement facility for office space for Adult Probation 16 and storage 31 17 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for a public hearing for Tracts 8, 9 and 10 of Kerrville 18 Ranchettes, Precinct 4 51 19 1.5 Public Hearing regarding proposed changes to the "Order Requiring the Registration of Dangerous 20 Wild Animals" 52 21 1.6 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on request from Hill Country Home Builders to be 22 added to nonprofit list to receive a reduced rate on Exhibit Hall and Indoor Arena at HCYEC 64 23 1.8 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 24 apply for membership in "The Cooperative Purchasing Network" and authorize County Judge 25 to sign related documents 75 3 1 I N D E X (Continued) June 22, 2009 2 PAGE 1.9 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for 3 approval of a video teleconference system proposal and authorize County Judge to sign same 77 4 1.11 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 5 amendment to lease for the Thad M. Ziegler Building which is currently being used for 6 Adult Probation Department 89 7 4.1 Pay Bills 96 8 4.2 Budget Amendments --- 4.3 Late Bills --- 9 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 102 10 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments 104 11 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 111 12 --- Adjourned 112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 On Monday, June 22, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., a special 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in 3 the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, 4 Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in 5 open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 8 Let me call to order this regularly scheduled meeting of the 9 Kerr County Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this 10 time and date, Monday, June 22nd, 2009, at 9 a.m. It is that 11 time now. Commissioner Williams? 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Will you please rise and 13 join me in a moment of prayer, followed by the pledge of 14 allegiance to our flag. 15 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Please be seated. At 17 this time, if there's any member of the public or the 18 audience that wishes to be heard on any matter that is -- 19 excuse me -- not a listed agenda item, feel free to come 20 forward at this time and tell us what's on your mind. If you 21 wish to be heard on a listed agenda item, we'd ask that you 22 fill out a participation form. There should be some located 23 at the back of the room. If, in fact, there are not any 24 there, or if you fail to fill one out and -- and desire to be 25 heard on an agenda item, why, when that item comes up, just 6-22-09 5 1 get my attention in some manner, and I'll see that you have 2 the opportunity to be heard. But right now, anybody that 3 wishes to be heard on any matter that is not a listed agenda 4 item, come forward and tell us what's on your mind. 5 Ms. Pieper? 6 MS. PIEPER: Gentlemen, Cheryl and I just got back 7 from our 114th annual County and District Clerk's conference 8 in South Padre Island. One of the afternoon -- evening 9 events after our classes was over were several different 10 contests. One of them was the hula hoop contest. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Was the what? 12 MS. PIEPER: The hula hoop contest. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Oh. 14 MS. PIEPER: And I'm proud to announce that Cheryl, 15 our chief deputy, won grand champion. 16 (Applause.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Should we call for a demonstration 18 of that? (Laughter.) 19 MS. PIEPER: She didn't bring the hula hoop home 20 with her. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: I see. Just happen to have one in 22 the next room. 23 MS. THOMPSON: Okay. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Anybody else wishing to be heard? 25 Come forward; give us your name and address, please, and tell 6-22-09 6 1 us what's on your mind. 2 MR. HENNEKE: Good morning, gentlemen. My name is 3 Fred Henneke; I live at 2595 Bandera Highway. I'm here to 4 talk about a dangerous situation on Flat Rock Lake. My home 5 is on the lake. I've lived there now -- this is my fifth 6 summer, and this is the first occasion that I've had to be 7 concerned and to bring to your attention a situation with 8 boaters. I find it very uncomfortable to be swimming off of 9 the bank off the little dock I have on my property, and have 10 skiers be closer to me than the length of this courtroom, and 11 boats closer to me than from that wall to the far wall where 12 the restroom is. I'm told that the boaters have come to Flat 13 Rock Lake because, for whatever reason, Ingram Lake is no 14 longer suitable for them, and it is a dangerous situation. 15 You cannot have power boats and -- and people in floats, 16 people in kayaks, and people who are swimming in that close 17 proximity. 18 The other issue I'd bring to your attention is the 19 effect of the wakes of these boats. It is tearing up the 20 bank along there. My neighbor, Allen Stern, has authorized 21 me to say that he -- he anticipates losing one large cypress 22 tree if something's not done because of the erosion under the 23 roots. The boats have never been there before in the five 24 years I've been there. I'm not sure what brings them there. 25 Again, I'm told it is a situation out in Ingram, but it is 6-22-09 7 1 dangerous. My preference would be for that lake to be a 2 no-wake zone lake, but if that's not -- not possible, then I 3 would ask that the part of the lake towards Highway 173, 4 where the houses are, be a no-wake zone, and allow the boats 5 to enjoy the other part of the lake that is towards the back 6 of the Ag Barn and the county park. Somebody's going to get 7 hurt. And when you have a confrontation between a boat or a 8 skier and somebody that's down in the water, the person in 9 the water loses. 10 But the people that are really going to lose are 11 the people who are responsible for that lake. The boats come 12 close enough that you can have a conversation with them. The 13 boats come close enough you can tell what kind of beer 14 they're drinking. The guy who drives the boat prefers 15 regular Budweiser. Most of his buddies prefer Coors Light. 16 (Laughter.) It sounds comical, but it's not. It's a 17 dangerous situation, and one that I need to bring to your 18 attention, because somebody is going to get hurt. I've had a 19 guy do a flip and -- and wipe out of it closer than from here 20 to the back wall. All it takes is somebody to lose control 21 or somebody not to see somebody who's out in the water 22 swimming, maybe sitting on a noodle or with some sort of a 23 flotation device, and you've got a serious accident. So, I'm 24 here to ask you for your help and your consideration in 25 resolving this matter before somebody does get hurt very 6-22-09 8 1 badly. Anyone have any questions? 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll be in touch with you. 3 MR. HENNEKE: Okay. Thank you all. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, Fred. Good to 5 see you. 6 MR. HENNEKE: Thanks. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there anyone else that wishes to 8 be heard on any matter that is not a listed agenda item? 9 Seeing no one else seeking to be recognized, we'll go 10 forward. Commissioner Williams? 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Nothing, Judge. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just an e-mail we got; I 14 presume y'all got it too, about the flows in the river being 15 85 percent of normal, or down 85 percent. Serious -- pretty 16 serious situation on the drought side. It's very early in 17 the year for the river to be that -- flowing that low, and 18 many of the water rights are being curtailed in the city, or 19 cut back, including the city of Kerrville, so everyone just 20 needs to be mindful of water use. I think we're a little bit 21 fortunate that some good rains fell to the north of us and 22 the aquifers are still pretty strong, but that will probably 23 drop, and start dropping pretty quick, I suspect, with our 24 increased consumption. And then the city of Kerrville 25 switched to their ASR wells. 6-22-09 9 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They're going to Stage 2. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, but as they start -- even 3 though we've been told that they were -- the aquifer, 4 especially the Lower Trinity, moves inches a year, it's -- 5 from the people in Comfort, anyway, they know when the city 6 pumps -- turns on their ASR wells and starts pumping, the 7 flow in the city of Comfort's wells all drop substantially. 8 So, that's it. There's a big impact when the City makes this 9 change. That's it. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I echo what you're saying. 12 I've been hearing more and more from the water well people. 13 The levels in a lot of the Middle Trinity wells are -- are 14 really dropping, and I know of one that called me the other 15 day that -- out here on Cypress Creek that, all of a sudden, 16 their water -- their well started pumping air. Called the 17 water well person out and they pulled the pump, checked the 18 level, and it was down 47 feet in less than a month, and they 19 only have 23 feet of water left in that hole. So, you know, 20 that's -- that's the beginning of some pretty serious stuff, 21 sounds to me like, and we need to be careful how we consume 22 our water. We -- only other thing is that there's been a 23 little controversy, I think, on who -- on the Ingram -- 24 Ingram Hills that has been brewing for a while over some guy 25 draining -- draining a lake so he could do some dam repair. 6-22-09 10 1 And Mr. Voelkel went out and made the determination who 2 actually owns that valve, and we were thinking maybe the 3 County did, but that's not the case; it belongs to the lot 4 that's below all those property lines going to the center of 5 the -- of the road there. They are not deeded, and so it 6 puts the ownership of that on Property Number 47, and the 7 County doesn't have any control over it, even though the dam 8 is part of our roadway. But all we have is an easement; we 9 do not own that right-of-way, although the county road 10 encumbers it. Other than that, nothing. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Baldwin? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sir, I went to -- Saturday, 13 I went to a fundraiser party out at the Divide Volunteer Fire 14 Department, and I want Commissioner Oehler -- if he could 15 talk about that just a little bit. I was just an invited 16 guest and went out there, and it was one of the best -- 17 well-prepared and good pieces of meat, too. Bruce, thank 18 you. (Laughter.) Well-prepared functions that I've been to 19 in a long time. I was -- I was shocked and surprised by the 20 crowd. Do you have any idea how many -- 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: It was a good event. They -- 22 there was, in my estimation, somewhere around 450 people that 23 showed up for the very first, hopefully annual, event. I 24 have no idea how much money they raised, but it was a lot of 25 effort went into that. And I was asked to cook for people 6-22-09 11 1 who did not want to cook their own steak, and that started 2 about -- well, the steak cooking started about 5:00, and I 3 think we got home about 11:00, and I don't think that I ever 4 walked away from a pit long enough to do anything. But, 5 anyway, it was a good event, and we hope that they'll have it 6 again next year, and I hope they made some money. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They're building a fire 8 department? 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. They had a guy that 10 donated a -- the land. They have it fenced, and they have a 11 pad built. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Looks good. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: It looks real good. It's 14 right next to the highway. Good access. I think they're 15 planning to move forward. I believe they have gotten a 16 little grant money, and they're looking for more, but it'll 17 really be a big addition to the emergency services in that 18 end of the county, because it's so cut off from everywhere 19 else. You know, Mountain Home is the closest thing, and 20 then, of course, Hunt helps. But if you're already there, 21 you can respond quicker. I think they have about 17 22 firefighters that have signed up on it within the department. 23 So -- and they have some good equipment. They really do. 24 So, we're looking forward to them getting that done, and 25 Mountain Home, I believe, is going to -- got some funding for 6-22-09 12 1 a fire station, so things are looking up in the west end for 2 fire protection. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's the only thing -- 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's the only thing I had. 6 Thanks. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Glad you reminded me, Buster. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: When you said that was good meat, I 9 assume Bruce cooked yours, didn't he? 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Bruce cooked mine; he sure 11 did. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: And with him cooking, do you expect 13 anything less than the best? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I did not. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: At all. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the way it turns out. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's the way it works. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's get on with our agenda. 20 The first item on the agenda is to consider, discuss, and 21 take appropriate action on a request from Robert Palmer for 22 use of Flat Rock Park on a Saturday in August for "Dog Day of 23 Summer." Mr. Palmer? 24 MR. PALMER: Thank you. Gentlemen, I think we can 25 all agree these are the dog days of summer. But what my 6-22-09 13 1 request is to have a true Dog Day of Summer to recognize and 2 sort of honor our four-legged friends for their loyalty and 3 friendship, and have a day just for dogs and their owners at 4 Flat Rock Park. Now, what this would entail is, so far I've 5 -- I've picked the date August the 8th, and that's not in 6 stone, but it would last from 8:00 to 12:00 in the morning, 7 before it gets too hot, and there would be several 8 organizations and businesses concerning the dogs. So far, 9 Purina has agreed to come. Also, Kerr County Animal Control. 10 I talked with Janie Roman, and she said they would set up a 11 tent and explain their policies and work with adoption. 12 Also, Freeman-Fritts would come and be there. And that's an 13 example of the businesses that will be there. I intend to 14 also ask some others, such as the Humane Society, a 15 veterinarian, and it would just be a nice break in the summer 16 to have a -- a morning there to have people come with their 17 dogs, and Animal Control would be there to handle any 18 possible problems. So, I thought I would put this request 19 before you, answer any other questions you might have about 20 it. They -- people would come and just walk with their dogs 21 around the oval there, and also take advantages of coupons 22 and samples that Purina or any other company would have, talk 23 to vets, have a possibility of adopting some dogs if they so 24 wish. So, what do y'all think? 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Roman? You're in the loop on 6-22-09 14 1 this? 2 MS. WHITT: Yes, I am. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Excuse me, Ms. Whitt. 4 MS. WHITT: One of the -- like he said, one of the 5 things that we're wanting to do is set up a tent to educate 6 the -- put educational material out, such as the registration 7 program, things of that nature, also adoptions. But I only 8 have one concern about this day. Normally, people bring 9 their animals out there and they allow them to run without a 10 leash. My concern on that particular day is that with so 11 many animals out there, I'd really prefer that they all be on 12 -- on leashes that day. I'm just afraid that we might have 13 some dog bites or something. That would be my only -- my 14 only concern. So, I would ask that we require that they be 15 on leashes and they be wearing their collars and tags, that 16 they be currently vaccinated. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's a reasonable 18 request. It seems to me, Mr. Palmer, that just about every 19 day at Flat Rock Lake Park is a dog day of summer, based 20 on -- 21 MR. PALMER: That's true. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- based on what reports I 23 get from Parks Maintenance and reports I get from the 24 supervisor of the Jail Release program. The request that you 25 have been operating under is really not working, and so I'm 6-22-09 15 1 not so sure about this one. I think Janie's suggestion, if 2 the Court agrees with this, is a very valid suggestion, that 3 all animals be on leash. And we're heading closer and closer 4 to my bringing it back for that to happen, period, because 5 things are just not working out out there like they ought to 6 work out. So, you and I probably need to talk before I come 7 back to court. 8 MR. PALMER: Well, there are several of us -- most 9 of us with dogs that are off-leash there work very hard to 10 keep the park clean. The dogs are -- all the dogs that are 11 off-leash that I know of are socialized. There are no dog 12 fights. Janie has not had complaints, so I'm just wondering 13 -- I'm -- you know, this is the first I'm hearing about this 14 not working out. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, it's the cleaning up 16 that's not working out, because while you probably do, and 17 some of your closer friends probably do, many people do not, 18 and if we're going to make some improvements to that park, 19 which I'd like for the Court to agree with me to do, and in 20 the next budget year, modest though they may be, dogs running 21 loose and people not cleaning up behind them is not the 22 answer for the general public use, and that's what I'm 23 concerned about. So, you and I need to talk about an 24 alternate solution. But -- 25 MR. PALMER: You are aware -- 6-22-09 16 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- I'll let the Court weigh 2 in on your request today. 3 MR. PALMER: Okay. But you are aware that dogs, 4 even when they're on-leash, people don't clean up after them? 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. Maybe the next step 6 is not having them at all. 7 MR. PALMER: Well, the people that are -- have them 8 off-leash are taking more -- 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This is a debate. 10 MR. PALMER: -- responsibility about that. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This is a discussion you 12 and I need to have privately. That's not the agenda item. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What was the date? 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: August 8th. 15 MR. PALMER: August 8th. That's the second 16 Saturday in August, I think. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: There's no boat shows, 18 waterskiing competitions, chili cook-off or any of that 19 stuff? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Power boat races? 21 MR. PALMER: I checked with the secretary and she 22 didn't have anything -- have anything on the calendar. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: When is the river float 24 deal? 25 MS. GRINSTEAD: The 22nd. 6-22-09 17 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, look at you. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 22nd of July? 3 MS. GRINSTEAD: Of August. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's offshore, yeah. Dogs 5 can swim out there, though. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't have any problem with 7 it. I think Janie's suggestion needs to be followed. They 8 need to be on leashes if we're going to have some kind of 9 event, instead of -- it's a way to publicize the park. I 10 think animals are good in the park, but I do think that they 11 do need -- people need to clean up. You might also visit -- 12 assuming we go with this, talk to Tara -- Brishone? 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Bushnoe. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Bushnoe at U.G.R.A. They may 15 want to put up a -- some sort of a booth from the standpoint 16 of keeping the river clean, which they're very concerned 17 about people not cleaning up after their dogs, and all along 18 the Guadalupe River. It's causing a lot of the eco problem 19 in the river, that and the ducks. But -- 20 MR. PALMER: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- they might be willing to do 22 an educational booth. And also -- 23 MS. WHITT: Which I just have one comment about the 24 duck thing. We are working with the City and U.G.R.A. in -- 25 in capturing these ducks and relocating them. 6-22-09 18 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is one of the -- I think I 2 must have dozed off for a minute. You appointed me to some 3 committee to work on this stuff. 4 MS. WHITT: We've already relocated 32 -- I believe 5 32 ducks that we've -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I think it also presents a 7 good opportunity for our Animal Control people to have 8 contact with the public, to educate the public, spay/neuter 9 program, vaccination/registration program, adoption to 10 continue that downward trend in our euthanasia rate. I think 11 that's a big plus to us by getting people that are 12 animal-friendly to be there. I think that's a major, major 13 component. And if we can get some of the -- some of the 14 vendors there that offer incentives to provide better health 15 for animals, better nutrition, so much the better. So much 16 the better. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion to, I guess -- 18 are you going to coordinate it? 19 MR. PALMER: I'm the coordinator. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That Mr. Palmer coordinate the 21 Dog Day of Summer from 8:00 to 12:00, August 8th, and to work 22 with Animal Control in establishing that event. 23 MS. WHITT: I did offer to help if he needed any 24 help coordinating it, making phone calls and getting anything 25 he needs. 6-22-09 19 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Whatever Janie feels is 2 appropriate. If that's what she feels is appropriate, what 3 she said, I agree Janie should have control over all this 4 issue, to me. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That should be part of the 6 motion. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, it's part of the motion. 8 MR. PALMER: What is it that she'll have control 9 over? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just the safety aspects of it. 11 MR. PALMER: Okay. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Dealing with the -- with the dogs 13 being on leash, being tagged and so forth, I think is what is 14 concerned. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that the intent is for dogs 16 to be leashed only that day. 17 MR. PALMER: When I advertise in the newspaper, 18 I'll put that all dogs on leash. 19 MS. WHITT: Yeah, because the dog law does require 20 that they be wearing collars and tags. And I know the last 21 thing that they had out at the Ag Barn for the -- the cancer 22 -- what was it, Buster? What was it called? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Bark for Life. 24 MS. WHITT: Bark for Life. One of the first things 25 that I did notice was so many of the animals out there were 6-22-09 20 1 not wearing collars or tags. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I was. 3 MS. WHITT: Yes, you were. (Laughter.) Yes, you 4 were. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Did you have a dog collar 6 on? 7 MS. WHITT: I think that's very important, that 8 other people know that their dogs are vaccinated, and that's 9 the law. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. Okay. 11 MR. PALMER: One thing I'd ask, that if people do 12 show up without them, that you give them a warning, and not 13 take their dog away. 14 MS. WHITT: Oh, well, we -- I couldn't take their 15 dog away -- 16 MR. PALMER: Okay. 17 MS. WHITT: -- anyhow. But we would -- we would 18 educate them and talk to them. 19 MR. PALMER: Okay. 20 MS. WHITT: Just let them know what the laws are. 21 We're not going to... 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second as 24 indicated. Further question or discussion on the motion? 25 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 6-22-09 21 1 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 -- 6 MR. PALMER: Thank you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: -- go to Item 2, if we might. 8 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate action regarding 9 South Texas Blood and Tissue conducting a blood drive using 10 the courthouse parking lot on July 16 or August 6th, '09. 11 Ms. Hyde? 12 MS. HYDE: They're asking if they can do it again. 13 They did it last year; we had it out here. The two dates 14 that they gave me in the letter are July 16 or August 6. 15 Both are Thursdays, which are typically not as busy in the 16 courthouse, unless we have a big court case. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Which date do you want? 18 MS. HYDE: August. I'd prefer August. But I 19 wanted to make sure Tim could weigh in on it, 'cause I don't 20 know if he's got something special going on either. 21 MR. BOLLIER: August 6th is fine with me. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move the motion to set 23 August -- or let South Texas Blood and Tissue conduct a blood 24 drive on August 6th, 2009. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 6-22-09 22 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 2 indicated. Question or discussion on the motion? All in 3 favor of the motion, signify by raising 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. 8 MS. HYDE: Thank you, gentlemen. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's move to Item 3; consider, 10 discuss, take appropriate action on requesting a joint 11 meeting with City Council concerning E.I.C. funding. 12 Commissioner Letz? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I put this on the agenda today 14 based on conversations I think we've had previously here, 15 conversations we've had at the Airport Board, and 16 conversations I've had with City Council in some of my recent 17 meetings -- or attending their meetings recently, that I 18 think that it would serve everybody well if -- the public, if 19 the County and City could sit down and let everyone know what 20 E.I.C. -- what the City Council is going to allow E.I.C. to 21 fund. And I say it that way because most recently, there was 22 an issue that we requested to go to them through the Airport 23 Board, and City Council refused to agree to do that. They 24 had a veto over that situation. They certainly have a lot of 25 control over it, and all funding issues come back through the 6-22-09 23 1 City Council before they're done, so I don't think it 2 necessarily needs to be pawned off on E.I.C. to make the 3 call. I think it's the City Council's call. And I do think, 4 though, that probably it's appropriate for -- possibly for 5 City Council to include E.I.C. at that workshop, because they 6 are somewhat independent. And I think also, possibly, that 7 we can request the Airport Board at that workshop. I think 8 that it's -- from a budget standpoint going forward at the 9 airport, it is very important that the County understands 10 exactly what the City-slash-E.I.C. is going to fund out there 11 from an economic development standpoint. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I agree with your premise. 13 We do need to know that going forward, because if that 14 capital improvement plan out there continues to grow and 15 we're expected to fund 50 percent of that, as is the City 16 expected to fund 50 percent of that, I would like to see any 17 joint meeting we have be with all the players; E.I.C. 18 Board -- and there are some new members on that E.I.C. Board, 19 which is a real good opportunity for us to discuss the value 20 and the merits of the Airport Capital Improvement Plan -- 21 City Council, Airport Board, and Commissioners Court. That's 22 a sizable room full, but I think that's probably where it 23 ought to go. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. I think all those 25 parties should be present. I just -- and this is -- the 6-22-09 24 1 intent of this agenda item is to get it moving forward. It 2 certainly should be as conclusive a meeting as possible, and 3 a workshop-type setting. I don't know that we need to have 4 action items there, but I think it would be very healthy to 5 have this discussion in the public's view. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Before budget comes up. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Before budget, which means it 8 needs to be done soon. City Council's aware that I was going 9 to put this on our agenda, so they're aware of the issue. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Commissioner, I recall at the 11 Council meeting where that issue was rather strongly debated 12 that you indicated that because of the Council's intended 13 action not to permit the Airport Board to even make 14 application, that you wanted to have a thorough sit-down with 15 them and find out exactly where all this is going because of 16 capital -- capital project issues, and I think we have to do 17 that. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And one other person I 19 didn't -- we haven't mentioned yet is probably we ought to 20 have Guy Overby present, because he's certainly very involved 21 with the economic development issue. But I just think it's a 22 good idea to get this kind of out in the front. Certainly, 23 City Council has the trump card in this issue. They -- they 24 control it. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How do you propose to get 6-22-09 25 1 this moving? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Request the County Judge to 3 write a letter to the mayor and request such a meeting, based 4 on this agenda item. Move approval of the agenda item. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 7 indicated. Question or discussion? 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just -- I just have a 9 request. I can't get my brain wrapped around the true 10 function of E.I.C., by law, what the law says that their 11 function is. And I know that that's been asked before, and I 12 know there's been some legal opinions. I'd appreciate it if 13 y'all would at least remind me of what those legal opinions 14 are before we go into that meeting, because if it's -- you 15 know, if their function is to help with economic development, 16 then I think it needs to be defined, what's "economic 17 development" and what's not, you know. I mean, I -- I see 18 this airport issue that we went through a month or so ago, I 19 see that as economic development. We were developing the 20 airport so people can come in and build their businesses or 21 create businesses or whatever. That's -- otherwise, why have 22 an airport? So Jon and his rich little friends can fly in 23 and out in their airplanes. That's ridiculous. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wait a minute. How'd I get 25 thrown in this? 6-22-09 26 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I just thought I'd -- 2 I thought I'd elevate you a little bit. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Can't land on Lane Valley 4 Road any more. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You can't land out there 6 yet. Yeah. Just define what -- what is the purpose and the 7 function of the E.I.C. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. And I think maybe the 9 appropriate thing is to ask the City Attorney to brief the 10 whole group at the beginning of the meeting. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That would be great. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Because he's the one, in 13 reality -- we can ask Rex, but Mike Hayes is the one that 14 tells City Council what their authority is. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. I think -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that's a -- I think 17 it's a good idea. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Refresh my memory, where 19 E.I.C. funding comes from? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: 4B sales tax. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sales tax. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: One-half -- one-half percent sales 23 tax. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's what I thought, but I 25 wanted to get that on the record. 6-22-09 27 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All taxable purchases inside the 2 city of Kerrville. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Of which about 45 to 4 50 percent comes from people who live outside the city 5 limits. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Exactly. And other places as 7 well. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner, I'd say that the 9 percentage of -- of those residing outside of the corporate 10 limits of the city of Kerrville that contribute is much, much 11 higher than 45 to 50 percent. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think you're right, 13 Judge. I was just being conservative. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Very conservative. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I always kind of use the rule 16 of thumb, probably 40 percent city, 40 percent county, and 17 20 percent others. That's probably pretty reasonable. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This is a cachement for 19 purchases for all around the area. We're the closest 20 Walmart. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Out of state tourists, sure. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Further question or 25 discussion on the motion? All in favor of the motion, 6-22-09 28 1 signify by raising your right hand. 2 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 4 (No response.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Let's go to Item 6 7, if we might; consider, discuss, take appropriate action on 7 resolution supporting legislation to change or repeal Texas 8 Tax Code Section 23.175 to bring all Texas taxpayers into an 9 equitable position. I put this on the agenda at the request 10 of Texas Association of Counties' general counsel, and also 11 some of my friends in counties that have a fair amount of oil 12 and gas properties as part of their tax base. Essentially, 13 this is not going to affect us much at all, but the -- as I'm 14 sure you know, the methodology for taxing oil and gas 15 properties was changed recently, causing a significant 16 reduction in tax revenue from -- from oil and gas properties, 17 and this particularly hurt a number of our brethren in other 18 county governments that have any portion of their tax base 19 that's -- that includes oil and gas properties. Some of 20 those -- some of those, as much as 70 percent of their tax 21 base is oil and gas. Some of them, possibly a little higher. 22 We're not -- we're not that affected here in Kerr County, but 23 we've got some -- we got some neighbors not too far away; 24 Junction, Edwards County, some in Real County, going out 25 west, Sonora. But they're asking our assistance in review of 6-22-09 29 1 this valuation process back to where it was prior to the 2 change that was made. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, what -- can you 4 summarize quickly the change? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: It would go back to the old method 6 of valuation, which is market value of the -- determine 7 market value of oil and gas properties. The change that was 8 made a few years ago had to come off of a formula where they 9 projected forward the severance tax, and there was a 10 significant drop in the revenue that -- that was received. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, is the depletion 12 allowance that used to be and may still be on the books a 13 factor in this? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: No. No, has nothing to do with it. 15 The oil and gas counties merely wanted the value to go by the 16 market value, just like they value your house, my house, the 17 ranch. Of course, you've got the ag exemptions and so forth 18 that are provided for under the Tax Code. But it would go 19 back to the old -- 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: This got caught up in the 21 tail end of the session and did not get enacted. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: It did. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move approval of the 24 resolution as proposed. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 6-22-09 30 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 2 approval. Question or discussion? 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, my question is, when 4 -- when is this legislation going to come up for them to deal 5 with it? Next -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Texas Association of Counties and 7 oil and gas counties are hopeful it can get included in the 8 call for the special session. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is there going to be a 10 special session? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, that's what I hear from 12 everybody. I have not talked to Governor Perry, however, 13 which is probably the only one that can tell us the true 14 answer. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, who -- 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It seems to me that -- that 17 it needs to be included in here that if a special session is 18 called to deal with this thing -- if a special session's not 19 called, then you're talking two years. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well, the Resolved talks 21 about supporting the legislation in the special session, so 22 the resolution assumes that the governor will -- or hopes the 23 governor will call a special session. It's in the Resolved. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: So, the resolution would have two 25 effects; one, to urge that it be included in the call, and 6-22-09 31 1 secondly to pass it. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- I went blank on what I 3 was going to ask you. Must not have been very important. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other question or comment? 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's what happens when you 6 get old. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: All in favor of the motion, signify 8 by raising your right hand. 9 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 11 (No response.) 12 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move 13 down to Item 10; consider, discuss, take appropriate action 14 to authorize construction of building and facilities on Kerr 15 County property at the law enforcement facility for office 16 space for Adult Probation and storage. I put this on the 17 agenda. It has some relationship to the -- to the next item 18 on the agenda. Currently, the Adult Probation people are 19 over at the Thad Ziegler Building, and on the next agenda 20 item, the issue of renewing that lease will -- will be 21 considered. Bottom line is, it's costing us about $40,000 a 22 year plus utilities and related expenses for that. It occurs 23 to me that if we were to construct a facility, probably 24 located at the law enforcement facility area back in the 25 north -- out towards the northwest corner, I guess it would 6-22-09 32 1 probably be the best place to locate it; located from the 2 storage barn there, it would be off at about 1:00 to 3 2 o'clock. We could locate the Adult Probation people out 4 there, overbuild a facility in the metal building, utilize, 5 at least temporarily during the interim, the excess space 6 unfinished for storage facilities. We got some area 7 downstairs in the courthouse that's good build-out space that 8 we're going to be needing probably fairly soon as -- as we 9 grow, and our storage there, I think, could very easily be 10 moved out to the excess space at that facility. I'm looking 11 down the road, obviously. I think we did some preliminary 12 estimates. I talked with Commissioner Oehler, who has had 13 some experience with metal buildings. A base building with 14 foundation and 10-foot walls is -- we got an estimate of -- I 15 believe its $14 a square foot. Meaning a 6,000 square foot 16 building, unfinished, but slab foundation, metal sides, roof, 17 and insulated -- 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And insulated. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: -- would run you about $84,000. 20 That's about two year's worth of lease on what we're paying 21 over here for -- I suspect it's probably less than half of 22 that amount of space. There would be some finish out to it. 23 A lot of that finish out could be accomplished by in-house 24 maintenance, community service, jail personnel, much as we've 25 done here at the courthouse, out at the Exhibit Center in the 6-22-09 33 1 horse barn that we've been upgrading out there. There would 2 be some costs associated for materials. We would have some 3 HVAC costs to add. We'd have the electrical and plumbing. 4 The -- the consideration of the new lease on -- on the 5 Ziegler Building for Adult Probation has been structured 6 to -- to possibly provide for a short-term basis there. 7 Also, there's been some suggestion that if we -- if we got 8 this thing planned up and kicked off quick enough, we might 9 be able to get it done, or close to done, before this lease 10 even comes up for renewal, possibly having to exercise a 11 month or two of holdover in the existing lease, which is 12 provided for in that lease. So -- 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: When's the new lease come 14 up? 15 JUDGE TINLEY: October 1. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Of this year? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, you're -- what you're 19 saying is that we need to have this -- you're not saying 20 that, but your just recent statement said that it would be 21 nice if we had -- had this thing up and running, or the deal 22 cut and be a done deal before October 1? 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Well -- 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Actually build -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Yeah. 6-22-09 34 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- before October 1? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Or after, yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So that means we're dealing 4 with money that's in today's budget. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We have -- the Auditor tells me that 6 we do have some capital funds that remain available that 7 might well be used for that purpose. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or could be used for other 9 purposes as well. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: But it -- it is capital money -- 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I understand. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: -- that we'd be dealing with. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And you're talking about 16 216th Adult Probation Department only? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the only folks that are 18 located in the -- in the Ziegler Building at the present time 19 that the County is responsible for paying the cost. 20 Certainly, it probably would be appropriate to -- to 21 structure any new space so that all Adult Probation could be 22 -- could be placed there in the future. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But we're not having that 24 conversation at this time? Just -- we're just -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: I understand that's not under -- 6-22-09 35 1 under immediate consideration. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How many square feet do 4 they occupy in the Ziegler Building now? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't -- I couldn't give you that 6 figure. I'm going to guesstimate it's probably something 7 under 2,500 square feet. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I thought it was 2,500, 9 3,000, something like that. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Current? 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Current. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So we would be, in effect, 13 doubling -- we would be providing double the amount of space 14 that they're occupying now, and we'd be using the remainder 15 for dry storage? Is that what you had indicated, Judge? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm, exactly. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Anything else? Anything 18 else? 19 MR. BARTON: May I be heard on the issue? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Hold on, Clay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, we'll give you an opportunity. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is -- I'm not in favor of 23 rushing, trying to get it done by -- anything done by October 24 1. We got -- it has to be bid. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 6-22-09 36 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have to give notice. We 2 have two months before we could ever even start doing 3 anything, you know, and that's being optimistic. We couldn't 4 even get somebody -- I mean, trying to get it done that 5 quick, I think you make mistakes when you rush. I think we 6 need to look at the total cost. I mean, I understand the 7 construction cost of a building is 84,000. I would guess 8 it's going to be another 100,000 to equip it and finish it 9 out properly if you're going to have it used for office 10 space, put air conditioning in it and water, you know, all 11 these other things. That's -- we can do a lot of it 12 in-house, but still, it's going to -- we're going to have to 13 hire, I mean, licensed electricians, licensed plumbers. I 14 don't think -- I don't think we can do that in-house. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: No. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Using master electricians, 17 people like that. Last time I had any construction work 18 done, I about fell over from the master electricians in this 19 town. So I think, you know, all that is -- you know, we need 20 to come up with a total number, not just a number of this 21 type. And Bruce probably has a good idea. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I called; I got today's 23 price, basically, from the guy that does it. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But -- so, I mean, that issue 25 is there. Other issue is, in the backup I see that we have 6-22-09 37 1 plats of the law enforcement property and plats of the Recor 2 property. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or the Juvenile Detention 5 Facility. So, I think we need to look at what property we 6 own and make sure we put it at the right spot. Obviously, 7 we -- it depends on the jail population. We go on again, off 8 again whether we're going to have to expand the jail. At 9 some point, we need to make sure that anything done with that 10 property or the other property, we're thinking long-term, 11 not, you know, just throwing up another building. We did -- 12 we threw up a building pretty quick at the Ag Barn one time, 13 where the Extension Office is, and it's really not in a good 14 spot now. But -- you know, so I think we -- we really need 15 to be careful on the site planning part of it. I don't think 16 we -- do we own any other property anywhere? I think we're 17 pretty much -- 18 JUDGE TINLEY: If you're talking about here locally 19 in the Kerrville area, no. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Ag Barn's the only other 21 spot. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Ag Barn -- it's not appropriate 23 for the Ag Barn. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Ag Barn, Road and Bridge. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think what the Judge was 6-22-09 38 1 proposing there, that would be placed in an area that more 2 than likely would never be built on for expanding the jail, 3 because everything behind the jail is left alone. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This is behind the -- with 6 the storage building that's there now. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- I'm thinking, 8 wouldn't it make -- does that property join Main Street? 9 JUDGE TINLEY: No. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or adjacent? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: No. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Remember, we looked at the 13 adjoining piece. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We got a small area that's in 15 the part of the property -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Anyway, I think it's certainly 17 worth looking into. I think you need to have the -- if 18 that's a strong consideration, the Sheriff needs to be part 19 of that discussion. I have no problem at all going to the 20 next step, but I think trying to get it done by October 1 is 21 a little bit ambitious. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I realize that October 1 would 23 be very optimistic. That's the reason I mentioned probably 24 ending up in a holdover provision of the existing lease 25 for -- 6-22-09 39 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: -- a few months. Another 3 consideration that's -- as Commissioner Oehler mentioned, all 4 of the area directly behind the jail where it was built for 5 potential expansion would -- would be left undisturbed, with 6 that in mind. The other -- the other thing from a time 7 standpoint that -- that was being considered was, your steel 8 prices are down considerably right now. When they're going 9 to turn the other direction, along with availability of 10 various trades that are pretty hungry right now, don't know 11 when that's going to be, but that was another -- another 12 thought -- 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. Good time to do it. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: -- that caused this to jump up as 15 quickly as it did. I realize it comes on pretty short 16 notice, and -- and kind of like a bucket of cold water in the 17 face. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think it's a good idea to 19 start looking at that, and if nothing else, to get a basic 20 design and plan drawn that would be buildable. There would 21 be some estimates -- cost estimates on the finish-out. And I 22 think we ought to move forward and see where we would stand 23 and the cost and all of that at this time, as opposed to 24 maybe sometime later. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mm-hmm, I agree. 6-22-09 40 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You could take that money 2 that we're paying in rent right now and probably, 3 realistically, in about four years, you could completely pay 4 for the whole thing. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, that's the way I see 6 it, about a four-year payback. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And that's why I think we 8 ought to -- you know, we should proceed, but cautiously and 9 not in a big hurry. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: $14, Judge, is just the 11 raw -- 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Just raw. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- raw building cost, 14 right? 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's slab, building, and 16 insulating. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: And insulating. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No windows, no doors, no 19 HVAC. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No finish-out inside. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, no plumbing, none of 22 that. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's just basic building. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, it'd be realistic to 6-22-09 41 1 double that. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Oh, easily. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Probably triple. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'd say triple. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Realistically. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Looking at this photo here 7 reminds me of something. There's this little leg that goes 8 down that easement. At one point, Whelan Plumbing was 9 interested in buying that from the County -- or getting it; I 10 won't say buying. Change of ownership there. But I'm not 11 sure -- it's pretty much a useless piece of property from the 12 County's standpoint, and it does have some value to that 13 business, so they may help pay for it, even if just... 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: May be worth an inquiry into 16 new owners of it. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think it's a good idea to 18 look into it and see what the costs really are, but I think 19 we need to get away from paying -- paying rent. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's good. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And pay for it. We're still 22 going to have -- operational costs are going to be the same. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm all in favor of looking 24 into it, but I got to tell you, there is another option, and 25 that option is that the great State of Texas take care of 6-22-09 42 1 their own Adult Probation office. There's nothing in stone 2 anywhere that the County needs to pay rent for anybody, and 3 that's just another option. But I'm certainly in favor of 4 looking into this thing, seeing what the costs would be. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What are the chances the 6 great State of Texas is going to take care of Adult 7 Probation? 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, we cut them off and 9 we'll find out. I mean, I -- 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's one way to find out. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know -- well, y'all 12 are acting like that we are -- that we are -- there's some 13 reason that we're supposed to do this. That's not true. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: I think there's a statutory 15 provision, Commissioner, that says that -- that we have an 16 obligation to provide the space for a -- an Adult Probation 17 Department. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But not 198th, huh? Just 19 216th. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, it's singular. It's singular 21 under the statute. That may be the reason that the other one 22 is -- is not dipping into our pocket also. They got a 23 certification that we're unable to -- we don't have the space 24 or the funding to provide them with a home. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm certainly in favor of 6-22-09 43 1 looking into it and seeing -- see what's available out there, 2 but I don't go along with what the statute says, if it says 3 that we're required to do that. Not by the hair of my 4 chinny chin chin. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Mr. Barton? Did you have some 6 comments you want to make? 7 MR. BARTON: It may not be necessary at this time, 8 Judge, if you're just talking about -- I was just going to 9 speak to the feasibility of using that property, but if y'all 10 are just going to take it under advisement and discuss that 11 later with the Sheriff, then you probably don't need to hear 12 from me today. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, if there's some concerns about 14 that particular property, probably be better if we knew them 15 sooner rather than later, wouldn't you think? 16 MR. BARTON: Well, I've spoken with the Sheriff 17 about this -- this issue, and on behalf of him, he does want 18 to enlarge the -- the little vehicle storage facility that we 19 have up there around the barn right now. We need to enlarge 20 that, and I think that would take up towards the -- if 21 you're -- if the northwest corner up here above the barn is 22 where you're talking about, that's kind of where he was 23 thinking about taking. And that property's -- there's a 24 drainage ditch that runs along the back beside there that we 25 got to take into consideration. And one thing on this -- the 6-22-09 44 1 expansion of the jail, very positive at this point, that we 2 have been able to keep our population down. I do think we 3 need to make sure we keep some property for future -- down 4 the road, if we have to enlarge. 5 I will tell you right now that our administrative 6 areas within that building are maxed, and have been for a 7 number of years, and we've built offices within little places 8 and made little nooks and crannies as best we can, but there 9 was very little planning as far as future growth 10 administratively when that particular building was -- was 11 built. You know, we lose a lot of property off on the 12 very -- the area up from East Main due to the water cachement 13 pond that I believe the City probably required us to have 14 when it was -- the facility was built, so that property is 15 pretty well wiped out. I'm just concerned about, you know, 16 future growth for the jail would go out the back side one 17 way. The elevation as that jail is cut down will cut 18 significantly into that back property in order to come out to 19 a level area. They'll have to really cut a lot of -- of dirt 20 out of there in order to maintain a constant slab, because 21 already there's probably a -- probably the back side of the 22 jail is 10 feet below grade. So, as that jail is extended 23 out, you've got to cut way back into the land to keep from 24 having to just -- a sheer dropoff, in order to taper it back. 25 So, that's going to take a lot of property, as shown in this 6-22-09 45 1 -- in this photograph. I'm not sure how they would access 2 the area. 3 But that's our main concern, is that we need to 4 enlarge our -- our vehicle storage area behind the -- or 5 around the barn up there, and leave us plenty of room for 6 future expansion. Because we've -- we've even talked, just 7 amongst ourselves, about if we have to, because of the 8 cramped administrative space, we have to put a separate 9 building for a training room outside and take over the 10 training area inside the building to use for office space. I 11 mean, it's just going to be a -- a certain point to where the 12 way that building was constructed, I don't know how we're 13 going to add on more administrative space without having to 14 add possibly a separate building back there. That's just our 15 concerns. I just want to forward those to y'all at this 16 point, because at some point in the near future, those issues 17 are going to have to be addressed also. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Clay, could your training 19 needs be addressed in a facility like that -- incorporated 20 into a new facility like this, the training area? Thereby 21 freeing up that space inside the Law Enforcement Center? 22 MR. BARTON: I'm not going to -- 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's just -- you know. 24 MR. BARTON: Commissioner, it possibly could. 25 That's true, it possibly could. That would give us one room 6-22-09 46 1 in which we could probably make some more administrative 2 space on the inside of our building. And we've seen -- I'm 3 not -- certainly not complaining about it, because it's been 4 a great program having the court held out there at J.P. 2's 5 office, our jail inmates run through. But we're going to 6 have to have some additional parking, because the attorneys 7 and whatnot coming out for court, the public, they're parking 8 all along this lot, all the way up and down Clearwater Paseo 9 to try to find a place to park a car. It's not a complaint, 10 'cause it's keeping our jail population down. We have to 11 look at the front grass area and make a parking lot out of 12 it, because, you know, at some point we're going to have -- 13 they're going to open this apartment complex across the 14 street from us, and we're going to start having more public 15 up and down those roads, and we'll need to try to make sure 16 we keep our parking traffic off of Clearwater Paseo, just to 17 keep a child from running out from behind a parked vehicle. 18 There's lots of areas of concern for the -- the building 19 that -- we just need to take everything into consideration. 20 I've kind of digressed off y'all's point. I apologize for 21 that. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I'm just looking at 23 the -- in your backup, you had the Juvenile Detention 24 Facility property. We just need to look at that. To me, 25 that's -- that wedge piece down there looks pretty wooded. I 6-22-09 47 1 don't know -- I have no idea what the terrain is out there 2 and all that, but that looks like a pretty good-sized piece 3 of property, plus or minus 5, 6 acres. That may be a good 4 location to look at too, make sure that this thing -- this 5 land that's the least likely to be developed for somebody to 6 use. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: The -- the issue that arises with 8 the Juvenile Detention Facility property -- and I considered 9 that one, and we -- we've got a floodplain issue there. We 10 got a creek that runs here, and then we got a floodplain 11 issue that -- that just covers up a good -- good portion of 12 that property. You know, maybe it's possible up in that -- 13 that little neck, we could do something. Or the -- the only 14 thing that would be required is sight and sound separation 15 between the adult and -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: True. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: -- and juvenile. That's not a big 18 issue. I think that could be resolved fairly easily. But, 19 certainly, it bears looking at, and that's the reason I got 20 that particular layout of that property and the area, so that 21 we could see how that might work. But the big problem with 22 that property is going to be the -- be the floodway -- 23 floodplain issue. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The other -- I'm thinking 25 long-term, that we have thought or talked quite a bit about 6-22-09 48 1 opening up, somewhere in east Kerr County, a Road and Bridge 2 yard. If that was done, that property back by the school 3 property across from the Little League, that corner where 4 Road and Bridge currently stores stuff right now, that could 5 be freed up, which is a -- you know, a good piece of 6 property. I see Len back there; he's probably turning over 7 right now, getting ready to throw something at me. But 8 there's a piece of property there that could be used for 9 something if he had another option to build that's really 10 more accessible for him. And that's a -- I don't know. What 11 is that, about 5, 6 acres over there, Len? 12 MR. ODOM: Where the horses are kept, you mean? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, that property where you 14 have -- next to that corner, next to Little League. 15 MR. ODOM: Oh, I'm going to guess 2 acres at least. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Anyway, there's a piece of 17 property there that the County owns that's used for storage, 18 but if we did open up another larger facility that was better 19 for using that, that may be a good option too as a place to 20 put the construction. 21 MR. ODOM: Where do we go? Where do we go for 22 storage? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You go to your -- your new yard 24 in east Kerr County, wherever you buy it. 25 MR. ODOM: It can be done. 6-22-09 49 1 JUDGE TINLEY: With the right planning and the 2 right amount of money, it can happen, right? 3 MR. ODOM: Anything. That's what -- 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Anything's possible. 5 MR. ODOM: -- the old colonel told me a long time 6 ago. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's it. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Any action we're going to take? Or 10 just -- 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What's -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: -- keep pondering and planning? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What's the status of the 14 lease issue? 15 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll get to that as a separate 16 agenda item. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see. I thought you called 18 it. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: No, I did not call that particular 20 issue. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I apologize. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll get to it pretty shortly, I 23 think. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the -- I don't know 25 that we need a motion, but I think we just need further 6-22-09 50 1 information. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Study committee. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's a good idea. Why don't 4 you make a study of the different options. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Make a study committee, 6 find out what all the options are and come back. That's a 7 motion. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Who's on the committee? 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: And who else? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sheriff. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sheriff, that's good. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Probably ought to have -- 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And Commissioner Oehler. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I knew you were going to get 16 around to me eventually. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: That's your motion? You made the 19 motion? You made the second? You got that, Cheryl? 20 MS. THOMPSON: Yes, sir. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, we're in business. Question 22 or discussion on the motion? You're not going to try and 23 rescue me, Commissioner Baldwin? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, sir, absolutely not. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we need to put someone -- a 6-22-09 51 1 representative from the 216th, since it's for them? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Absolutely not. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I was going to say -- 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, leave it the way it is. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They know the raw square 7 footage; that's all they know. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Further question or discussion? All 9 in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 10 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 12 (No response.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's get to 14 our timed item now. The first 10 o'clock item is Item 4; 15 consider, discuss, take appropriate action for a public 16 hearing on Tracts 8, 9, and 10 of Kerrville Ranchettes 17 located in Precinct 4. I guess this is seeking a public 18 hearing? Is that where I am, gentlemen? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To set a public hearing? 20 Is that what we're talking about? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: It would appear -- no, this is the 22 public hearing. 23 MR. ODOM: This is for a public hearing. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: At this time, I will recess the 25 Commissioners Court meeting and I will convene a public 6-22-09 52 1 hearing for Tracts 8, 9, and 10 of Kerrville Ranchettes 2 located in Precinct 4. 3 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 10:03 a.m., and a public hearing was held in 4 open court, as follows:) 5 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public or 7 the audience that wishes to be heard concerning Tracts 8, 9, 8 and 10 of Kerrville Ranchettes located in Commissioner 9 Precinct 4? Seeing no one coming forward, I will close the 10 public hearing and go to the second 10 a.m. timed item, Item 11 5. 12 (The public hearing was concluded at 10:03 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 13 reopened.) 14 - - - - - - - - - - 15 JUDGE TINLEY: At this time, I will convene a 16 public hearing -- or open a public hearing regarding proposed 17 changes to the Order Requiring the Registration of Dangerous 18 Wild Animals. 19 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 10:04 a.m., and a public hearing was held in 20 open court, as follows:) 21 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public 23 that wishes to be heard considering the proposed changes to 24 the Order Requiring the Registration of Dangerous Wild 25 Animals? I have a participation form here from Amy Tuma. 6-22-09 53 1 Ms. Tuma, if you'll tell us what's on your mind about this 2 particular item. 3 MS. TUMA: Hello, gentlemen. We spoke earlier at 4 the last meeting, and that's why we came here. And I feel 5 that everything I said is still true. I understand that we 6 can't -- county can't make it a city issue, but we have to 7 realize that Kerr County is 1,100 acres, and Kerrville is 8 only 16 square miles. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Square miles. 10 MS. TUMA: Yeah, sorry. 1,100 -- 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Square miles. 12 MS. TUMA: Thank you. I'm a little nervous 13 standing in front of you guys. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's okay. 15 MS. TUMA: And I do understand your concerns for 16 the city, but we are a very big county. Like I said, we are 17 one of the capitals of the exotic animals, and I just hate to 18 see us lose that reputation of being one of the best counties 19 for exotic animals, and our Y.O. and our hunting. And, like 20 I said, the dangerous animals is -- the list is going to grow 21 if we set this into motion, so I don't think it's a good 22 idea. I understand -- like I said, I understand the city's 23 concern, but we are a very big county with a lot of big 24 ranches that this would affect tremendously. And the 25 dangerous animals aren't just for pets and recreation. Like, 6-22-09 54 1 my mountain lion, personally, we use her urine and feces to 2 capture the cats that are a problem. And when Faulkner Ranch 3 called us up -- they had a mountain lion that was a wild 4 mountain lion that was eating all the sheeps and goats, so we 5 used the product from my cat to catch this problem cat. So, 6 it kind of goes both ways. You know, it's not just for an 7 entertainment or recreation purpose. It is actually for work 8 as well, so I just think the County should consider that. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Is there anyone else 10 that wishes to be heard with regard to the proposed changes 11 to the Order Requiring Registration of Dangerous Wild 12 Animals? Yes, sir? Come forward and give us your name and 13 address and tell us your thoughts on this. 14 MR. SEALE: I'm Charlie Seale. I'm the Executive 15 Director of the Exotic Wildlife Association based here in 16 Kerrville. We're an international association that does 17 represent the breeders and game ranchers, not only in this 18 area, but we're an international association. The one thing 19 that I would ask that the Commissioners Court do -- we have 20 no problem with some of these animals, but I would -- here's 21 what I would caution. We're a $1.3 billion industry, and I 22 believe that this proposed ordinance is a -- it leaves it 23 wide-open for interpretation on some of these animals to be 24 considered as dangerous. We make our livelihoods with such 25 animals as sable antelope and elands and some of these that 6-22-09 55 1 could be considered as dangerous. Bottle-raised bucks, as we 2 all know, if you've ever raised one, are as dangerous as they 3 can be in the fall. I would hate to see the interpretation 4 of this proposed ordinance to not -- to limit what we're -- 5 what we're really after here, so I would just ask that you 6 use caution on that. Thank you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: I thank you. Is there anyone else 8 that wishes to be heard in connection with the proposed 9 changes to the Order Requiring Registration of Dangerous Wild 10 Animals? Give us your name and address and give us your 11 thoughts. 12 MR. CONNER: My name is Danny Conner. I live up on 13 132 Keith. I actually don't have a dog in this particular 14 fight, but I can see things changing over the years. I have 15 big snakes, which a lot of people also think are dangerous. 16 My deal is -- and I worked at the San Antonio Zoo for three 17 years, snake farm for five years. I've been around a lot of 18 dangerous animals, and I don't really have a problem with 19 registration. I don't have a problem with permit systems. I 20 have a problem with outright prohibiting people from having 21 the animals they want. In my mind, all you have to do is put 22 it in their hands. You can have this, but we're going to 23 have a protocol. We're going to have guidelines. You're not 24 keeping a tiger behind chicken wire. You're not going to 25 have a bear with a goat wire fence. You don't have to have a 6-22-09 56 1 zoo enclosure; it doesn't have to be that over the top, but 2 you're going to have to have adequate caging for security of 3 the animal, for security of the public. 4 That's what I said years ago when Texas was trying 5 to dictate where, county by county, they wouldn't have -- and 6 I always like to make it simple. Put it in their hands. You 7 can have it, but you're going to have to keep it like this. 8 You can't -- you can't have Bubba, you know, tear down his 9 barn and throw up a tiger pen. You got to have something 10 legitimate, 'cause it is a dangerous animal. I mean, I like 11 them. Some people may not like what I'm saying, but if it 12 comes back to affect me, I'm sorry. I keep my animals the 13 way they're supposed to be kept, and if everybody does that, 14 there wouldn't be problems. I mean, and that's my feeling on 15 it. Just put it back in their hands. This is Texas. We 16 like our independence. Have a protocol, have guidelines, and 17 let them do it the right way or don't do it at all. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir. Anyone else wishing 19 to be heard on the proposed changes to the Order Requiring 20 Registration of a Dangerous Wild Animal? Yes, ma'am, come 21 forward. Give use your name and address and tell us what's 22 on your mind. 23 MS. LEITNER: Well, I'm Anke Leitner; I live on 24 Beaver Road. I'm, of course, the owner of the tiger that did 25 escape. As everybody knows, I have the cat for 15 years. 6-22-09 57 1 She got out on a freak accident. Everything was corrected 2 according to regulations. My personal opinion is on banning 3 animals like that, you are going to create a bigger problem 4 than actually registering them, have the control over them. 5 And, actually, it's like with anything that is being 6 outlawed; there is going to be an underground going on, and I 7 think that would be more dangerous having underground animals 8 without any kind of regulations, restrictions, requirements, 9 than actually allow people to have these kind of animals and 10 be able to go there, check out the cages, see if all the 11 requirements are met. I think that will be more beneficial 12 than actually outlawing those animals at all. Because, like 13 I said, with any outlaw, you're going to create so much 14 underground that it is uncontrollable. That's basically my 15 input to it. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. 17 MS. LEITNER: Okay, thank you. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Anyone else that wishes to be heard 19 with regard to public -- proposed changes to the Order 20 Requiring Registration of Dangerous Wild Animals? Come 21 forward; give us your name and address and tell us your 22 thoughts on this matter. 23 MR. MATONE: My name is Anthony Matone. I'm from 24 Way to Go Exotics. I've lived out in this area for 19 years. 25 I've raised all kind of animals. I've never had a problem 6-22-09 58 1 with it. I don't have a problem with people having 2 guidelines for what to do with the animals or where to keep 3 them, but I don't think they should judge on whether you 4 could keep them or not. And I don't know where they came up 5 with which animals are dangerous and which animals are not 6 dangerous. There's all kind of things in this world that are 7 dangerous. There's people that are dangerous. How do we 8 distinguish what people are dangerous and which people aren't 9 dangerous? We -- we have no clue, but we have guidelines to 10 go by on all that. And I -- you know, like I said, I have no 11 problem with guidelines on animals, but I don't think we 12 should say, "Well, all these animals are dangerous." All my 13 animals are tame. 14 I mean, you got baboons on the list, bobcats, 15 different animals. I can go in the pens of mine and I can 16 pet them and play with them, and there's no problem with 17 them. I mean, some animals that are mistreated, they have a 18 temperament to their own. And, you know, you can't never 19 predict one type of animal and say, "This animal's 20 dangerous." You know, people always call me and they say, 21 "Well, I heard this -- these type of deer are unruly, and 22 these, they are hard on fences." Well, that might just be 23 one animal. You know, that's just like people. You have one 24 person that you can -- they cause problems wherever they go, 25 and sometimes they might just act up one time. So, I don't 6-22-09 59 1 know how we came up with the dangerous -- what's dangerous 2 and what's not dangerous. But I can understand guidelines. 3 Keeping -- you know, you got to stay protected from anything, 4 anybody. You got to stay protected from people, stay 5 protected from animals. 6 I can see having guidelines, what size cages and 7 how to keep them and that kind of thing. But I don't see 8 where we should just totally say, "Okay, you can't have 9 them." And you've been -- I've been raising animals for 19 10 years out here in Kerrville, and I've never had a problem. 11 And I live -- well, I'm in Mountain Home; it's on the very 12 edge of -- as a matter of fact, I'm right on the boundary 13 line, you know. I'm 39 miles out of Kerrville here. And, 14 you know, I bought a piece of land out there; I got 250 acres 15 and I bought a nice piece of land where I can raise what I 16 want. And I don't think somebody should sit there and say, 17 "Well, you can do this and you can't." But I appreciate it. 18 Thank you. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir. Anyone else that 20 wishes to be heard with respect to the proposed changes to 21 the Order Requiring Registration of Dangerous Wild Animals? 22 MR. EMERSON: Just one brief comment, Judge. 23 There's been several references to the list of dangerous 24 animals, and for purposes of clarification, that list comes 25 from Health and Safety Code Chapter 822.101. It's not a 6-22-09 60 1 random list generated by the Court. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's -- and those are all of 3 the -- I mean, the animals listed here are what are in that 4 statute, correct? 5 MR. EMERSON: Correct. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Anyone else that wishes to be heard? 7 MS. TUMA: I just also want to point out that 8 besides that list, it also says "hybrids" as well, so any 9 animal that has been bred to these -- like I mentioned 10 before, the house cats that are bred to servals would then 11 become illegal, so you all of a sudden make house cats 12 dangerous wild animals as well. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Ms. Roman? Whitt, 14 excuse me. 15 MS. WHITT: I would just like to make a comment, 16 that everyone here that has spoke has met all of the 17 requirements. They've gone above and beyond to meet all of 18 the requirements. They are all currently registered. We 19 have everything that we need. And I believe since the 20 incident with the tiger, I believe everyone is very well 21 aware of what the requirements are, and people are actually 22 calling in, asking questions. They may not have any 23 dangerous wild animals, but they are making it a point to 24 contact Animal Control and ask questions. So -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Opened up a lot of communication, 6-22-09 61 1 did it? 2 MS. WHITT: Absolutely. I think we all learned 3 from this, and I think it's -- I just believe that everyone 4 is aware, and they are making an effort to make sure that 5 everything is up to standards, up to code. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any other person that 7 wishes to be heard regarding the proposed changes to the 8 Order Requiring the Registration of Dangerous Wild Animals? 9 MS. TUMA: I just wanted to add -- 10 JUDGE TINLEY: For the third time. 11 MS. TUMA: Sorry. One more comment. Since all 12 this happened, Janie has been out to my house at least four 13 or five times, so the County is on top of it. She'll call 14 me, or sometimes she'll just show up to make sure that 15 everything is still the way it's supposed to be, and I feel 16 that her office has gone above and beyond since the tiger 17 incident to make sure this doesn't happen again. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Anyone else wishing to be heard? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge -- 20 MS. LEITNER: Actually, I would make one more 21 comment, and that refers to what this gentleman said about 22 raising animals and creating problems. Even though that she 23 got out, I think she showed clearly that she was a very calm 24 animal. There was never any danger to anybody because she 25 was calm; she was not aggressive against anything. I mean, 6-22-09 62 1 that's just something that I wanted to add. So -- 2 JUDGE TINLEY: We're dealing with proposed changes 3 to the Order Requiring the Registration of Dangerous Wild 4 Animals, and that's before the public now. There's been 5 advertisement for this public hearing. Is there anyone else 6 that wishes to be heard with regard to the proposed changes 7 as indicated to the Order Requiring the Registration of 8 Dangerous Wild Animals? 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I would like to -- 10 I'd like to take off my Commissioner hat and read a letter of 11 one of my constituents that, for health reasons, could not 12 attend today, please. "Honorable sirs" -- that's you all. 13 (Laughter.) "In response to your request for public input 14 concerning undomesticated dangerous animals imported into 15 Kerr County, I would like to submit the following 16 recommendations. Immediate cessation of the import of any 17 non-domesticated predatory animals, including reptiles, whose 18 natural instinct for survival makes them dangerous to humans 19 or domestic animals. Number two, grandfather such animals 20 presently in the county, provided they are immediately 21 registered with County Animal Control. A suitable 22 registration fee should be assessed at the time of 23 registration. All registered animals' habitats, cages, et 24 cetera, should be inspected at a minimum of once a year by 25 County Animal Control to insure such habitats are adequate 6-22-09 63 1 and maintained to insure public safety. The registration fee 2 and annual fees for inspections should be assessed to offset 3 any additional costs to County Animal Control for additional 4 personnel and equipment. It should be clearly spelled out in 5 detail that it's the responsibility of the owner to notify 6 County Animal Control of any change in status of the animal 7 or its habitat. Substantial fines should be established for 8 failure to comply. In addition, the second violation should 9 require the immediate removal of the animal from the county 10 in addition to the fine. Number three, if the Court decides 11 to allow the future import of these animals, a permit should 12 be required. Before the permit is issued, registration and 13 inspection of habitat should be performed by County Animal 14 Control. Finally, it should be made clear to the owners that 15 these type of animals, if they should escape, substantial 16 fines and the total cost of recapture or disposal of the 17 animal will be the owner's. Thank you for your 18 consideration. Bennie M. Hyde, Kerrville." Thank you. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Anyone else wishing to be heard in 20 connection with the proposed changes to the order requiring 21 registration of dangerous wild animals? Seeing no one else 22 wishing to be heard, I will close the public hearing. 23 (The public hearing was concluded at 10:19 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 24 reopened.) 25 - - - - - - - - - - 6-22-09 64 1 JUDGE TINLEY: And I will resume the Commissioners 2 Court meeting. We have a timed item for 10:15. Item 6; 3 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action on a request 4 from the Hill Country Home Builders to be added to the 5 nonprofit list to receive a reduced rate on the Exhibit Hall 6 and indoor arena at the Hill Country Youth Exhibit Center. 7 Jessica Robinson. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, before you go -- you 9 might want to just announce that that was a public hearing 10 and no action is being taken today on that animal issue. I 11 don't know if they're all aware of that. That's just a -- 12 JUDGE TINLEY: We held a public hearing; that's 13 what we're required to do as the agenda. No further action 14 was listed on the agenda. That's why I immediately went to 15 the next item. Ms. Robinson? 16 MS. ROBINSON: Hi. Thank you, Judge Tinley and 17 Commissioners. My name's Jessica Robinson, and I'm here on 18 behalf of the Hill Country Home Builders Association. And 19 Jody had asked me to bring some paperwork. I don't know if 20 -- okay. She'd asked me to bring some proof of our 501(c)(6) 21 nonprofit standing. Can I pass that out to you now? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sure. 23 MS. ROBINSON: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just hand it all to him. 25 MS. ROBINSON: Okay, thank you. 6-22-09 65 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Got to give Cheryl one. 2 MS. ROBINSON: The first letter is from the 3 Comptroller of Public Accounts, and you'll see in the first 4 paragraph that we do qualify for the 501(c)(6). And then the 5 next document after that is from the I.R.S., and you'll see 6 -- it's at the top right-hand section, that it does show that 7 they are recording us as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I have a comment on this 9 one, and I'm a member of that association, which they 10 probably have the fees -- dues. The purpose of their 11 meeting -- correct me if I'm wrong -- is for local vendors, 12 people like myself that are in the construction business, to 13 go there and make money. So, while the organization itself 14 is nonprofit, the purpose of the -- of using the county 15 facility is clearly profit. And, you know, I just -- I have 16 a hard time making this organization a nonprofit 17 organization. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Let me ask you a question. 19 When they have their meeting, that's open for -- I need a 20 plumber at my house, so I go to this meeting and visit with 21 all the plumbers that are there? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's kind of a home show. You 23 look at different home ideas, and, I mean, you -- that's 24 possible. I mean, I presume plumbers are there, but 25 landscapers are there, builders are there. 6-22-09 66 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I want to -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Kitchen -- 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- build a new carport. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. There's different -- 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So I find them and visit 6 with them, and they -- and I hire one of them, and they make 7 money. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So that's what you're -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. It's -- the purpose of 11 the show is the promotion of construction, home building in 12 Kerr County and Gillespie County, essentially. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Model home? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Model, renovation, new ideas, 15 different kinds of -- you know, all kinds of things. 16 MS. ROBINSON: And just so you know, like you said, 17 Commissioner, the main purpose is to promote the building 18 industry and the people that are made up of that, to bring 19 the buyers and the sellers together. As far as the profit 20 generation of this -- of this event, it is created to be a 21 non-dues fundraiser also for the Home Builders Association. 22 Number one, though, is the promotion of the members. If it's 23 not doing that, we wouldn't be putting this on. But the 24 second goal of this association putting this on is to create 25 some sort -- sort of forum of nonprofit revenues for the 6-22-09 67 1 association so they can continue operating in other 2 capacities too. So, it -- last year, I think it might have 3 generated maybe $7,000 in non-dues revenue. It's not a 4 significant amount. It's primarily for the members. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is the home show the only 6 purpose for which you would exert your 501(c)(6) status? 7 MS. ROBINSON: At this point. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: For a reduced rate? 9 MS. ROBINSON: At this point, for the Kerr County 10 -- the Youth Exhibit Center, that is true, yes. We do have 11 another show, but that doesn't encompass that -- that 12 building. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Any show that you put on, 14 that benefits those who pay your organization a booth fee; is 15 that correct? 16 MS. ROBINSON: Correct. And that pays for putting 17 on the show, and then also for a revenue generator. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And so the standard booth 19 fee that you would collect is going to be the same whether 20 you're granted the 501(c)(6) status or not; is that correct? 21 MS. ROBINSON: It depends. The -- the group that's 22 putting on the show, the committee made up of the members, 23 once we find out how much it will cost -- that's what Jody 24 said. "Well, if you're not on the nonprofit list, let's just 25 see what they say." Once we figure that out in our cost, 6-22-09 68 1 then we can determine if can we charge a free charge, you 2 know, let people come in free as far as visitors, and then 3 also we can change the booth fees. But it's a matter of 4 being able to pay for it, first of all. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's a -- a very active 6 organization, and probably one of the more active of the 7 smaller ones around the state that I'm aware of. It's just 8 that I just don't think this is the intent of us granting 9 nonprofit or reduced fees at the Ag Barn. Just my feelings 10 on it. 11 MS. ROBINSON: And I can understand that, and we 12 have paid for past facilities like at the Inn of the Hills. 13 So -- in fact, the reason for me coming here wasn't 14 necessarily to get it all free. The reason for coming is 15 Jody said, "Well, let's just go ahead and go through this 16 process of making sure." One thing I will bring up at this 17 time is, because we do hire another company to set up the 18 booths, we won't need the fee for the chairs and tables, so 19 Jody said, "Well, we can't give it to you for free," and I 20 agreed with that; that would not work. But if you wanted to 21 do a lesser fee for this, you're welcome to do that. We 22 aren't necessarily saying as a 501(c)(6), we want it 23 absolutely free. It's just matter of us establishing this 24 new relationship, figure out how much it's going to cost for 25 our association. 6-22-09 69 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, Ms. Robinson, kind of 2 following up on what Commissioner Letz mentioned, when we -- 3 when we talk about nonprofit, we -- we're looking at money 4 that flows from the events from nonprofits directly back into 5 community betterment. A lot of these have scholarships. 6 They -- they fund organizations that are nonprofit groups, 7 kids advocacy, shelters, and you can trace that money right 8 back to -- to the betterment directly of -- of community and 9 nonprofit pursuits. If I understand your organization 10 correctly, the, quote, nonprofit aspect is to go back into 11 the Home Builders' coffers so that your nonprofit 12 organization, Home Builders has funding to sponsor their 13 events for promotion of the industry, promotion of vendors 14 within the industry, and the overall betterment of your 15 membership. Is that what I'm hearing? 16 MS. ROBINSON: Judge, just like other nonprofits, 17 that's exactly what we do. And just like others, we also -- 18 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't see that as, quote, "just 19 like other nonprofits." 20 MS. ROBINSON: Well, we -- 21 JUDGE TINLEY: That's my problem, I guess. 22 MS. ROBINSON: Oh, I see. Well, and we also do 23 support Habitat for Humanity. We also have created a 24 scholarship program. We gave out, I guess, three $500 25 scholarships this last graduating class. So, you know, we do 6-22-09 70 1 also give to the community also. But I will agree that our 2 nonprofit status is generally for the home building industry, 3 because we are the Home Builders Association. So, in answer 4 to that, yes. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I would imagine that -- disregarding 6 the nonprofit status, you mentioned that y'all had had 7 functions at the Inn of the Hills in the past, and now you're 8 looking at the facility of the County's. I would imagine 9 that there's a significant difference in the -- the outlay 10 for those two facilities. 11 MS. ROBINSON: Yes, sir. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: And as you indicated, what you do 13 is, depending upon what your cost is, you pass that along to 14 the various vendors that want to have booths at your facility 15 who are promoting their own personal betterment by virtue of 16 the products and services that they're offering; is that 17 correct? 18 MS. ROBINSON: That is -- and forgive me. When you 19 said "outlay," I was thinking "layout." Sorry, I got a 20 little confusion in the word. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm talking about -- 22 MS. ROBINSON: The cost of the -- 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 24 MS. ROBINSON: -- Inn of the Hills and the Youth 25 Exhibit Center. When we really looked at the cost, they're 6-22-09 71 1 actually going to cost about the same as what we paid last 2 year at Inn of the Hills, even though the facilities are 3 quite different. So -- 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is this the show that you, 5 in previous years, moved to Gillespie County? 6 MS. ROBINSON: We did, for -- I think Heinz brought 7 it there for two years, and we decided to bring it back to 8 Kerrville. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Did Gillespie County offer 10 you the same consideration? 11 MS. ROBINSON: I'm not sure. I wasn't here at that 12 time. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think part of the reason for 15 going to Gillespie County is that their membership is 16 Gillespie County and Kerr County, and they rotate back and 17 forth when they have their meeting. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't mind us waiving the 19 setups and stuff like that, because they're going to do their 20 own setup. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So I don't mind us giving 23 that part of it. You know, if they're not going to use it, 24 then we shouldn't charge them for it. But I don't -- I don't 25 agree with -- with doing the whole blown -- 6-22-09 72 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are you saying it's okay to 2 waive the setup because they don't do setup? 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, 'cause we don't do 4 them. If they don't use the service, well, they don't pay 5 for it. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, okay. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That would be the only thing 8 I'd be willing to back off on, I believe. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: The normal -- okay. Then what I'm 10 hearing from you, Commissioner, is because the normal 11 recognition of a nonprofit status would be to waive the base 12 rental of the facility, be it the indoor arena or the exhibit 13 hall, you would not be in favor of doing that in this case? 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think that's what I -- 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's what I heard. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Would you want to impose the normal 18 charge -- 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: The normal charge, except for 20 the service that they do not use. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 22 MS. ROBINSON: And that's fine. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: It was easier for me to say 24 than understand. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. 6-22-09 73 1 MS. ROBINSON: And based on what she's shown me, 2 the setup/take-down fee is normally $300, so what I'm hearing 3 is it would be reduced by $300? 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If you do the work. 5 MS. ROBINSON: If I do the work? I'll hire some 6 people to do the work. I'll carry as much as I can. 7 MR. BOLLIER: Do they understand they need to be in 8 and out of there -- because in years past with home -- it's 9 been Home Builders, is we've always had -- instead of getting 10 their stuff out of there when they're supposed to, it's 11 always been two or three days later before they get all their 12 stuff out of there, so I would like for y'all to ask them to 13 please have their stuff out of there Sunday -- by Sunday 14 afternoon. 'Cause I have people there Saturday and Sunday, 15 and that's all I ask, is to get the stuff out. 16 MS. ROBINSON: What time do you usually need it out 17 by on Sunday? 18 MR. BOLLIER: 5 o'clock. 19 MS. ROBINSON: 5 o'clock. I think our show 20 actually runs until 5 o'clock on Sunday. 21 MR. BOLLIER: That's fine. 22 MS. ROBINSON: So we'll set up a time that works 23 with you. 24 MR. BOLLIER: Or even as early as Monday morning is 25 fine. 6-22-09 74 1 MS. ROBINSON: And that would probably help also, 2 with the companies having to not be too late on Sunday, to 3 spend time with families. That would be great. 4 MR. BOLLIER: Yes, ma'am, I understand. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No later than Monday noon? 6 MR. BOLLIER: Monday noon. 7 MS. ROBINSON: And that's usually, I think, what 8 we've done with Inn of the Hills also. 9 MR. BOLLIER: The people that always do the little 10 water thing over there, whatever -- I can't remember exactly 11 what it was. That little water thing, they -- that would 12 never get out of there till Wednesday or Thursday. We had to 13 keep calling them and calling them and calling them, and they 14 finally come back and get it. One year we even just took it 15 out ourself and stacked it outside for them. 16 MS. ROBINSON: Well -- 17 MR. BOLLIER: So that's all I'm asking, is to 18 please get that stuff out of there. 19 MS. ROBINSON: And we put that into our contracts 20 going forward, so I don't think they'll have a problem with 21 that this year. 22 MR. BOLLIER: Thank you very much. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, do we need a motion to 24 waive that -- I make a motion we waive the setup and 25 take-down fee, which is $300, and that all -- whatever you 6-22-09 75 1 call it, facilities, booths, all be removed by noon on 2 Monday. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 5 indicated. Question or discussion? All in favor of the 6 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 7 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 9 (No response.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Thank you. 11 MS. ROBINSON: Thank you, gentlemen. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't -- why don't we go ahead 13 and take about a 15-minute recess, and we'll come back and 14 pick up our two timed 10:30 items. 15 (Recess taken from 10:33 a.m. to 10:53 a.m.) 16 - - - - - - - - - - - 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's come back to order, if 18 we might. We'll go to Item 8, a 10:30 item; consider, 19 discuss, take appropriate action to apply for membership in 20 the Cooperative Purchasing Network, authorize County Judge to 21 sign related documents. Mr. Trolinger? 22 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, sir. It's very 23 self-explanatory. The agreement allows us to purchase goods 24 and services from a list of vendors, and in return, we simply 25 abide by the rules, which means we pay vendors in a timely -- 6-22-09 76 1 timely manner. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: This is just another purchasing 3 option that we have available to us? 4 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We're not bound to purchase anything 6 from them at any time, but -- 7 MR. TROLINGER: Correct. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 MR. TROLINGER: Both the Auditor and the Treasurer 10 have looked at this and are both interested in the -- in this 11 agreement. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No annual fees or anything? 14 MR. TROLINGER: None that I see. This is from 15 Region 4, and Region 4 has no fees. I understand that 16 there's another -- another place in Texas we could sign this 17 agreement that does have an annual fee. This agreement 18 simply states that we renew the agreement. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Who is Region 4? 20 MR. TROLINGER: Region 4, it's a -- it's a district 21 out of -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: T.E.A. It's under T.E.A., 23 Texas Education Agency. Those regions are under T.E.A. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. That's what -- I was 25 wondering who that is. 6-22-09 77 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll second. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and second for 3 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor of the 4 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: You were in the middle there. Was 9 that a "for"? 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. I was looking at 11 T.E.A. here. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. That motion does carry. 13 We'll move to our other 10:30 item; consider, discuss, take 14 appropriate action for approval of a video teleconference 15 system proposal and authorize County Judge to sign same. 16 Mr. Trolinger. 17 MR. TROLINGER: This is an expansion of a very 18 successful program, video teleconference. Judge Spencer 19 Brown and the County Attorney's office worked together to 20 bring about this contractor. We've got two additional units, 21 and what makes this unique is the proposed services that will 22 come along with it to allow outside vendors -- attorneys -- 23 to connect to the system and seek interviews with our clients 24 at the jail. Say it the best I can. In this case, this 25 provides two additional video teleconference units, and the 6-22-09 78 1 receivers are required to connect with those. Those are 2 outside the courthouse. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Would it be from and to 4 County Court of Law? 5 MR. TROLINGER: Potentially from -- well, 6 definitely from County Court at Law to the jail. It provides 7 an additional pair of video teleconference units for that, 8 but it would also -- 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The client -- residents. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I heard that. 11 MR. TROLINGER: It would also provide attorneys -- 12 private attorneys to connect to the jail for a video 13 teleconference without having to visit a person at the jail. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Connect from where? 15 JUDGE TINLEY: From their own office, I believe. 16 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, from their office. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That, of course, would be on their 18 nickel. 19 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: How do -- let me ask you 21 something about that. When -- when attorneys charge us -- 22 Court-appointed attorneys charge us for visiting with their 23 clients, how do we know that they visited with their clients? 24 I mean, hell, we don't know that. This is going to make it 25 even -- 6-22-09 79 1 MR. EMERSON: I'm not sure exactly what you're 2 asking, but -- 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sure you do. 4 MR. EMERSON: -- having been in private practice 5 and now on the public side, the way the procedure works now, 6 if you want to go out and visit at the jail, you call the 7 jail, you arrange to go visit your client. You go out there, 8 you go through all the procedures -- security procedures, and 9 then go into the attorney/client visitation room, and then it 10 all works in reverse when you leave. Under the new proposed 11 system, the capability they'll have, the jail won't have to 12 be worried about security, per se. The defense attorney will 13 call the jail, arrange for a teleconference, schedule time. 14 The jail will simply take the prisoner, put them in whatever 15 room they set aside to do this so that they can visit with 16 their attorney, an attorney/client privilege situation, and 17 then immediately be able to place them back in the cell. And 18 you'll completely eliminate the whole process of having the 19 attorney having to go through all the security, and the extra 20 personnel time that goes along with that. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You're right. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, because they're not 23 having to go through all the security. 24 MR. EMERSON: Theoretically, it should be less 25 charge to the County, because they're not going to be 6-22-09 80 1 traveling, not going to be spending time going through the 2 security situation. Now, there are some issues associated 3 with teleconferencing and the attorney and the inmate, but 4 we're going to work on those to make sure that it stays 5 attorney/client privilege and it's not actually sneaking in 6 the back door. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, the attorneys work on an 8 honor system? 9 JUDGE TINLEY: The judges in which those -- that 10 appoint those lawyers approve the payment of their fees. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Based upon whatever documentation 13 they require for time spent in representation of those 14 defendants. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now -- 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Wait, just let me ask one 18 more question. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Go ahead. I got one too. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Clay? 21 MR. BARTON: Yes, sir? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Speaking of space that y'all 23 are out of today, you use a particular room with a camera in 24 it for a video teleconference? Client -- the client to go in 25 to communicate over here with Spencer -- or with Judge 6-22-09 81 1 Brown's court? 2 MR. BARTON: Yes. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You use that exact same room 4 and same facility for the new thing, for lawyers to talk? 5 And how is that -- 6 MR. BARTON: They'll set up where the got the law 7 library. 8 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 9 MR. BARTON: We've got one little room set aside 10 that's got -- they have access to look up the law library, 11 the computerized law library. That's also where we have the 12 equipment for the M.H.M.R. teleconferencing. I guess if we 13 used it for this purpose also, so that would give us three 14 different purposes to one small little one-man room that's 15 going to be used for -- they'll have to share time to do 16 that, where we do have, you know, the three lawyer visitation 17 booths. It's actually -- I'm not going to argue with Rex, 18 but it's not going to be any shorter or less work on us as 19 far as going to get an inmate and bringing him to that, just 20 like we put him in the lawyer booth now. We still have that 21 movement regardless. The only issue we'd have otherwise is 22 the attorney coming in, and they check in and they go find 23 the booth they go into. It's not really going to cut our 24 manpower down very much. We may have to find a -- depends 25 how much it's utilized -- another location, or see how we can 6-22-09 82 1 work our times, 'cause I'm not sure often that law library 2 gets used, or we do have the M.H.M.R. teleconferencing. I 3 did mention to John, we do need to find a better way of 4 securing the teleconferencing equipment. We had an old piece 5 of equipment that was in there that belonged to M.H.M.R. that 6 got damaged recently by an inmate who was locked in there, 7 and they ripped some wires out of it, so we do need to come 8 up with some sort of way our equipment does not get damaged. 9 Because in the room that they're in, at this point, it just 10 has a wire mesh screen. We really can't see in, what's going 11 on, from -- from a distance. It's not a glass -- glass 12 window in that room. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are you done? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, that's it. Thank you. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What comes to my mind is 16 something that Rex said about making it secure. We need to 17 be real sure that this is a secure -- no one else can listen 18 to this. If you're talking about, you know, attorney/client 19 privilege, that this thing has to be that we can document to 20 the Court how this has been a secure line. Because if it's 21 not, the whole case could be thrown out, correct? 22 MR. EMERSON: If the -- well, not necessarily. But 23 if the attorney's -- the equipment -- the equipment and the 24 capability that's available -- and John can correct me if I 25 get this wrong -- essentially, the attorneys would buy air 6-22-09 83 1 time, for lack of a better word, to come in through Hill 2 Country Telephone Company or some other provider -- secure 3 provider. And the way they do that is, they assign a 4 specific channel that's closed off, and that's the only thing 5 that's open to them. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 7 MR. EMERSON: It's not like it's open airway 8 transmission or anything like that. 9 MR. BARTON: We may have to put a new -- John, we 10 may have to put a new door on that booth, because all the 11 attorney booths now have a glass door so you can't hear any 12 of the conversations coming between the attorney and their 13 client from the jail side. But this room we're using right 14 now for the jail law library and the M.H.M.R. 15 teleconferencing just has some wire mesh on the door, and so 16 it's not going to be secure for the sound of the 17 attorney/client conversations to other people who may be in 18 the adjoining -- it's an adjoining room, a big dayroom or a 19 multipurpose room that other inmates can be in. They also 20 have visitation along that same -- in that same room. So, we 21 may have to find another way of keeping their conversations 22 private. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The other question -- I mean, 24 but there's no requirement that attorneys have to use this, 25 correct? So -- 6-22-09 84 1 MR. TROLINGER: Correct. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, attorneys can use it if 3 they choose. 4 MR. EMERSON: I'm sorry? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Attorneys can use this if they 6 choose. They don't have to use this. 7 MR. EMERSON: Correct. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we think attorneys are going 9 to use it? 10 MR. EMERSON: I've interviewed half a dozen, and 11 all of them said that they would jump on board in a 12 heartbeat. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Heck, yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I would think so. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sit in their office and talk 16 to their clients? I would think so. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Is there some way -- 18 MR. EMERSON: Having been the guy that stood out 19 there in the pouring rain, in the cold and, you know, 20 105 degrees in August, if I were still on that side, I'd be 21 more than happy to jump in under this program. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Talk to them for 30 minutes 24 and charge us for an hour. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, yeah. 6-22-09 85 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, there is -- that's my 2 question. Is there a way that -- that, when these attorneys 3 log onto that -- tie into that to have the visitation with 4 their client, that there can be a report from when they 5 accessed it and when they closed it out? 6 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, there's a billing report that 7 comes from Vyopta that'll detail the time -- the connection 8 time. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: There you go, Buster. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Bingo, I'm in. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How much time they use and 12 so forth? 13 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. Now, if it's used from the 14 courthouse for the -- from the attorney to the client, that 15 -- that is not -- that is not. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That'll just say 17 courthouse. 18 MR. TROLINGER: But from outside the courthouse, it 19 is reported. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: My question to you is -- 21 MR. BARTON: Depends on what inmate you talk to. 22 Except we can document some on our end. 23 MR. TROLINGER: Of course, we have -- through 24 Odyssey, we can -- we can add the visitation, and that will 25 track it also. 6-22-09 86 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are there funds available 2 for this in your budget? 3 MR. TROLINGER: No, the funds for this are 4 available in the -- in the capital outlay under the I.T. 5 portion. This is -- this is the remainder of the capital 6 outlay from last year, that loan. 7 MS. HARGIS: It's interest income as well as -- 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Can't hear you. 9 MS. HARGIS: It's interest income as well as -- as 10 other areas we didn't spend money on that are available for 11 us to spend. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Out of the capital outlay portion. 13 MS. HARGIS: Out of the capital outlay portion. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Of the I.T. portion. 15 MS. HARGIS: And it's still in the I.T. portion. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, good. Thank you. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are there any other dedicated 18 funds that can be used for this purpose? 19 MS. HARGIS: In the current budget, no. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, are there fund balances 21 in the -- you know, in all -- we seem to have an awful lot of 22 dedicated funds for the type of stuff that comes through all 23 the -- you know, the records and -- anyway, if there's a fund 24 balance in some of those, that may be an option. 25 MS. HARGIS: I would have to defer to Rex on that. 6-22-09 87 1 We got the J.P. Technology fund, but I think that has to be 2 used for the J.P.'s. We have the records management, but I 3 think that's for actually archiving records, not purchasing 4 I.T. equipment. So, those are the only ones that I know of. 5 MR. TROLINGER: That's the dilemma, locating the 6 money to get this initially started. Now, I will say Vyopta 7 has agreed to work with the County Attorney's office to seek 8 grant funding to expand the system. We want to expand this, 9 and that's been in the works for a little while. That's 10 going to -- we're going to move forward with that. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, that's fine. I just 12 wondered if there was another source. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: They're going to try and help us 14 find money to get the whole elephant, aren't they? 15 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. And what happens is, once we 16 go beyond the point where we have five or six of these video 17 teleconference units, we need to have something called a 18 bridge, something where they can all dial into and we can 19 manage it from, and that's when it becomes very expensive. 20 So, that's why we want to seek grant funding for -- 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So, the expenditure is 22 $19,743? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: How much? 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's what I'm looking at. 25 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, sir. 6-22-09 88 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 19,743. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Move approval of the agenda 3 item. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Plus 200 shipping. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What? 7 MR. TROLINGER: Included. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That includes the shipping. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And then how much is in 10 the -- in that fund? 11 MS. HARGIS: We still have close to a million 12 dollars in that fund. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How much is in the I.T. portion 14 of it? 15 MS. HARGIS: The I.T. portion? Right now -- I 16 wouldn't want to quote. I know we have at least 80,000 still 17 left in there. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: How much? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Eighty. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: How much is this? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Twenty. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Twenty. We have a motion and a 23 second for approval. Further question or discussion? All in 24 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6-22-09 89 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Thank you, 4 Mr. Trolinger. 5 MR. TROLINGER: You're welcome, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: We will go to Item 11, which is to 7 consider, discuss, take appropriate action on amendment to 8 lease for the Thad Ziegler Building currently being used for 9 Adult Probation. Our current lease term on that building 10 expires September 30th. The owner of the property originally 11 contacted us about an amendment which would be a three-year 12 renewal. Working with the County Attorney's office, we -- we 13 came up with an alternate proposal. I think it was also 14 discussed in court where we'd renew for one year with an 15 increase, which is in line with the increase that we had in 16 the previous, approximately 6 percent, but with two one-year 17 renewal options at our option, requiring us to give 90 days 18 prior written notice of the -- of the exercise of each 19 option. The -- the holdover provision would remain the same. 20 The late charge would remain the same. The renewal option 21 would be on -- based upon a negotiated rate, but with a floor 22 of the then existing rate, and not to exceed 5 percent 23 increase, which I think is very much in line. 24 This will give us the ability to -- if we go 25 forward with a building, to just be with a one-year 6-22-09 90 1 obligation for this particular property, and that's one of 2 the reasons that it was structured this way. The information 3 which you have is the current amendment that we're operating 4 under. The second document is the e-mail from the 5 representative of the owner of the property. The third is 6 his proposed amendment, which incorporates the terms that -- 7 that the County Attorney and I have discussed with the 8 owner's agent. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, how does that -- 10 under this agreement, Paragraph -- Subparagraph 1B -- 2B, 11 there's a figure of $98,910 in that. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How does that comport with 14 the rate of 2992.50 per month? 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, the new rental is going to be 16 38, and you divide that by 12, which is a monthly rental of 17 3167, so there's about a hundred and -- about $250 a month, 18 plus or minus. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What's the 98,000? What is 20 that? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, that is the aggregate rental 22 paid during the three-year period. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: During the three-year 24 period. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Under the existing lease we're 6-22-09 91 1 under. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Got you. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: The aggregate rental under the new 4 proposal would just be for the one year, and that's 38,000. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay, thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I take it they wouldn't take 7 a -- do we need to act on this now? My question -- 8 JUDGE TINLEY: We don't need to, no. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, would it be -- if we're 10 serious about trying to get it going quickly on another 11 building, would it make sense to -- I mean, obviously, we 12 have to do it before the end of the term. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: September. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But to hold off until towards 15 the end of July in executing this lease, and if we're going 16 to go forward quickly on another project, to see if we can 17 pay a premium for a six-month lease, rather than pay -- 18 commit for another year? 19 JUDGE TINLEY: We could certainly investigate that 20 as another option during the interim period of time, if 21 that's what the Court thinks they want us to do. 22 MR. EMERSON: You can ask. I can tell from you my 23 conversations with the owner's agent that, technically, they 24 wanted a decision as of two or three weeks ago, because as 25 far as they're concerned, if we're not going to immediately 6-22-09 92 1 renew the lease and/or give them a commitment to such, they 2 want to put the building up for lease and find a new lessor 3 -- or lessee, excuse me. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are we under -- do we have an 5 obligation to do it right now? 6 JUDGE TINLEY: No. 7 MR. EMERSON: No. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: By September. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. We have -- 10 MR. EMERSON: But the danger you run, obviously -- 11 and I don't know the real estate market here, but the danger 12 you run is that if we don't commit, they put the building up 13 for lease and they sign somebody new to move in October 1st, 14 we don't build the building, and now we've lost our lease 15 space. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that's not a good 17 situation. (Laughter.) 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Not too good. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Stated it very well. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: It's a poker game. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, that's what it is. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would think that there's not 23 that many people renting space in Kerrville, 'cause there's 24 certainly an awful lot of open space between here and the 25 interstate when you drive down the road, and I would not 6-22-09 93 1 think that is a prime building. But that -- it is a poker 2 game. I just hate to commit to a year if we're going to, you 3 know, look at moving on another building. And I think it is 4 realistic to have it done by next spring, early next spring. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll certainly -- we'll certainly 6 make that inquiry, if that's what the Court wants to do. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What's the inquiry? 8 JUDGE TINLEY: See if there's a possibility that, 9 as opposed to a one-year fixed obligation, a six-month. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, let me -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or six-month, and then maybe an 12 18-month. I mean, an 18 -- I mean, just to give us a little 13 bit of breathing room out there. Just a thought. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What is the cancellation time 15 that we could get out of this if we want? Is it 90 days? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: There's no cancellation -- to 17 exercise our option, it's 90 days prior to the end of the -- 18 end of the term. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: When's the -- October? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: October 1. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, that's July 1. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, July 1. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, this is -- I mean, pretty 25 much, now is the meeting. 6-22-09 94 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know about the 2 gambling thing. I would -- you know, if we're going to build 3 a new building, we need to make that decision before we get 4 off -- start cutting deals with less than a year, in my 5 opinion. Just my opinion. I mean, we -- six months is fine, 6 but I don't know if they'd go for that or not. But seems 7 like -- 8 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't either. We haven't asked. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- we're getting off on the 10 gambling side, to me. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, if our deadline to 12 exercise the amendment is July 1, we probably ought to do it. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: No, that's not our deadline to 14 exercise this amendment. The 90 days would be if we enter 15 into a new amendment with the one-year -- with the two 16 one-year options, next year, if we wanted to renew for an 17 additional year, it would require us to exercise that option 18 by July 1. But currently, we're not under -- this one 19 expires, by its terms, October -- October 1. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, okay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: So, we -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, it's -- I think we're 23 not -- we're not really at any risk, or any -- I wouldn't say 24 any risk. I mean, it'll be on the market, but if someone -- 25 maybe we should go a different way. How long is it going to 6-22-09 95 1 take to evaluate the other process? 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not very, I don't think. I 3 don't believe it will take more than a couple weeks to 4 evaluate. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: If the Court -- if it's the Court's 6 desire to have us look at this other option with this owner, 7 with a report back on the decision to be made at our next 8 meeting, why, we'll be happy to pursue that. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's worthwhile to 10 do -- to at least do that. That could save us $16,000, you 11 know, close to it. And if they say no, then this -- you 12 know, I think you can say, well, we'll put it on the agenda, 13 the recommendation to the County, whoever is doing the 14 talking, that we approve the lease. And that's -- nothing's 15 going to happen, in my mind, between now and our first 16 meeting in July. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: The most recent communications have 18 been had with the County Attorney's office, and he has made 19 it clear to the owner's agent that the final approval of this 20 thing requires Commissioners Court action. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. It's the first -- to 22 me, I just -- it's the pose to take. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that what I'm hearing? Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's fine. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Any further action to be -- 6-22-09 96 1 MR. EMERSON: What exactly is it you want me to 2 communicate? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: See if they'll entertain a 4 six-month lease. 5 MR. EMERSON: Okay. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Which the answer's probably 7 going to be no, but that'll buy us two weeks. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, with some premium on the 9 monthly rental. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: For being short-term also, yeah. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: With an option for 18? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, then go to 18 and then 14 12, whatever they want, or something like that. Or six -- 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: With an option for 18. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Renewal. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Let them worry a little bit. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: The other option would be to just 20 stay in possession and be a holdover under the existing 21 lease. Okay, anything further on that particular item, 22 gentlemen? Okay. Why don't we go to Section 4, payment of 23 the bills. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I move we pay the bills. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 6-22-09 97 1 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and second to pay 2 the bills. Question or discussion on the motion? I have a 3 question for Ms. Pieper on the Edoc Technologies, that 4 software maintenance item. Is that the software by which 5 people can purchase copies of your records remotely and all 6 that good stuff? 7 MS. PIEPER: I believe that's the annual 8 maintenance fee for the software itself. 9 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, and that includes the online 10 -- online site that allows -- 11 MS. PIEPER: Okay. 12 MR. TROLINGER: -- allows record purchases. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. That's part of the system 14 whereby I can sit in my office and I can, via credit card, 15 purchase 25 copies of your various records, and they handle 16 the billing and get you the money and the whole nine yards? 17 MS. PIEPER: Yes, it's all combined into one fee. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. As well as your -- your 19 scanning system and so forth, okay. And that's annual? 20 MS. PIEPER: Yes. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. Second question I've 22 got, top of Page 2, the payment to the new part-time 23 prosecutor. Are we making some headway on the jail 24 population with that speed docket, rocket docket twice a 25 week, whatever they're doing out there? 6-22-09 98 1 MR. BARTON: Very much so, sir. Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. So -- 3 MR. BARTON: I didn't check the jail census this 4 morning, Judge, but where we were averaging 150 to 160 5 inmates, last week we got -- I believe it was like 120, so 6 we've knocked our average down tremendously by having that 7 prosecutor come in. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: So, about 20 percent, sounds to me 9 like. 10 MR. BARTON: It's been a very worthwhile project. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: The population is coming down. 12 Okay, that's all the questions I got. Anybody else? All in 13 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let me make 18 one more observation, if I might. Anybody happen to look at 19 what the Indigent Health Care amount was this period? 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I did. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Ah. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: $2,800. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Unbelievable. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Very unbelievable. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And still coming down. 6-22-09 99 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Super. Super. Do we have any 2 budget amendments? 3 MS. HARGIS: No, but we want to go back to 4 Windstream. I wanted to -- we have a little report we want 5 to make on the Windstream bill that we have today. And I 6 want to -- 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Does this relate to the bills? 8 MS. HARGIS: Mm-hmm. Not a particular bill, but 9 the Windstream bills in general. So -- 10 JUDGE TINLEY: So, it relates to a lot of these 11 bills. 12 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's talk about it, then. 14 MS. HARGIS: Okay. First, I want to introduce 15 Tracy Soldan. You know, Tracy is a new person in my office, 16 and I want Tracy to go over what we've done and what we've 17 changed, and then we have -- we want to present some refunds 18 to you from Windstream. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Ah. 20 MS. SOLDAN: Morning. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: She's not that new; she's been there 22 several months. 23 MS. SOLDAN: I have. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 25 MS. SOLDAN: We have the long distance bill issue. 6-22-09 100 1 When I took over the phone bill, we had about 100 -- a little 2 over $100 worth of unidentified long distance calls. 3 Windstream was not able to tell us who had entered the codes 4 to make those long distance calls, so at the time, we were 5 putting that money into nondepartmental; we were charging 6 that budget. I've been working with them, and they have 7 gotten it down now to just over a dollar of unidentified long 8 distance calls, so they've been producing reports for us 9 showing us exactly who's been making those calls so we can 10 charge the appropriate departments now. And then the second 11 item is, there were a couple of modem lines in the Tax 12 Assessor's office that have not been being used for at least 13 the past six months, and I requested that they be 14 disconnected. They've been disconnected, and we received a 15 refund of $143 per line back to that department. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Does that also give us the 17 additional line space that we can allocate to another 18 department here in the courthouse? 19 MS. SOLDAN: I don't believe so, because they were 20 modem lines; they weren't voice lines. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's good news. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. 24 MS. SOLDAN: You're welcome. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Thank you. 6-22-09 101 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is the Tax Assessor -- can I 2 get on her a little bit? Does the -- I'm not. Is the Tax 3 Assessor/Collector cool with all this? 4 MS. SOLDAN: We did ask her about those lines to 5 make sure. I wasn't here at the time. Apparently, 6 Windstream came out and tested the lines to see if there was 7 any activity, and there wasn't, but it was not requested that 8 those lines be disconnected, so I requested that they be 9 disconnected and that we get a refund for the past six 10 months. And they gave us just over four and a half months 11 worth of refund. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. So, you don't think 13 that the Tax Assessor/Collector's going to be in here next 14 month wanting to know what happened to her two lines, huh? 15 MS. SOLDAN: I certainly hope not. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, me too. We'll have to 17 remember this conversation. Thank you. That's fantastic 18 news. 19 MS. SOLDAN: You're welcome. 20 MS. HARGIS: We did also discover one additional 21 line that was in Judge Billeiter's office, and we were able 22 to give that line to another office that needed it. So, in 23 addition, Tracy's also hand-counted every single phone in 24 this building, so we now know every instrument that we have, 25 and she has changed the billing system so it's fair to 6-22-09 102 1 everyone. She's done a great job. She's done this on her 2 own, and I want to commend her for all of this. I really 3 appreciate it. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: So she's now the new telephone 5 police, right? 6 MS. SOLDAN: That's right. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Do we have any budget 8 amendments? 9 MS. HARGIS: We do not. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Any late bills? 11 MS. HARGIS: We do not. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Monthly reports. I have been 13 presented monthly reports for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 14 3; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, as amended for May 2009; 15 County Clerk, amended for May 2009; Justice of the Peace, 16 Precinct 1; Constable, Precinct 4; District Clerk; Constable, 17 Precinct 3; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2; Justice of the 18 Peace, Precinct 2, revised; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4; 19 and Kerr County Treasurer for May 2009. Do I hear a report 20 that these reports be approved as presented? Do I hear a 21 motion that these reports be approved as presented? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Third. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, I make the motion. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 6-22-09 103 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and second to 3 approve the indicated reports to be approved as presented. 4 Question or discussion on the motion? All in favor of the 5 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 6 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8 (No response.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Any more 10 financial matters from the Auditor? Treasurer? Okay. 11 We'll -- 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, let me ask you a 13 question. Mr. Obama's appointing all these people as -- I 14 can't remember the term he uses. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Czars. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Czars. So, we have a 17 telephone czar now. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That went out with 19 high-button shoes in Russia a long time ago. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's what I thought. Of 21 course, there's probably a salary increase coming, too -- 22 with all this stuff, too. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Show you where it's all 24 going in a minute. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Reports from Commissioners in 6-22-09 104 1 connection with their liaison or appointments? Commissioner 2 Williams? 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We've been wondering where 4 all the stimulus money is going, Judge, and you recall the 5 Court went through a lot of fuss and feathers to get ready to 6 do our thing and send resolutions off to Washington or 7 wherever else they ended up in somebody's round file. AACOG 8 took a look at this for the AACOG region, and you'll see some 9 items at the top talking about where the base source of 10 information came from, which is the State Controller's ARRA 11 summary as of early June. The unknowns -- there are some 12 unknowns indicating a possibility of funds availability, but 13 don't know who, what, where, when, and why, and if that's -- 14 some areas that are not included. If you jump to the bottom 15 line, you'll see that in the AACOG region as we know it 16 today, $434 million worth of stimulus funds are tracked to 17 come into the AACOG region, not totally through AACOG. A lot 18 of it through AACOG, but coming in through various state 19 agencies and so forth, but indicated to be spent within the 20 AACOG region. 21 So, what does that mean to Kerr County? Thus far, 22 there's only three items, and there could be more -- there 23 will be more, that are identified for some aspect of Kerr 24 County. On Page 9, you'll note that the City of Ingram is 25 listed as a recipient under Housing and Urban Development for 6-22-09 105 1 the potential of a quarter of a million dollar grant. I'm 2 not sure what that's all about, but nonetheless, they're 3 listed, which suggests that they had some items that they 4 wanted to have consideration in the Housing and Urban 5 Development, and submitted some sort of an application for 6 that purpose. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think that's to tie on that 8 extra -- the sewer onto Cypress Falls. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Well, -- 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: If I was guessing. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- I didn't know what it 12 was, but if that's it, then it's listed as a potential. The 13 Sheriff's $12,689 is listed under law enforcement/criminal 14 justice on Page 11, and then if you jump back to the back, 15 you'll see where TexDOT has identified Kerr County for about 16 $4.2 million worth of transportation and enhancement type 17 projects, mobility projects, and Kerr County is listed in 18 that. Bottom line is, 434 million as we know it today. 19 We'll keep doing this and keep going up until somebody breaks 20 the bank. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Interesting. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's it. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sometime during the meeting, 6-22-09 106 1 just as kind of an announcement, the City of Kerrville went 2 to Stage 2, severe water restrictions. And it was reported 3 that the river flow is down to 15 cubic feet per second at 4 the dam, and at 10 cubic feet per second where it goes into 5 Canyon Lake. So, that kind of comes on top of what I said 6 earlier about how bad the conditions are getting 7 drought-wise. 8 The Hill Country County Coalition idea, we -- kind 9 of the more organizers of that group met in Blanco last 10 Friday and figured out if we're going to continue, not 11 continue, what we're doing. And pretty much the feeling was 12 that we learned a lot what needs to be done to get something 13 a little bit more effectively through the Legislature. The 14 idea is to hit the ground running right now, and target -- 15 trying to set up right now a meeting between all of the 16 representatives from our region. The biggest problem we felt 17 that we really had was not getting Harvey on board, bottom 18 line. Some other representatives weren't as -- as gung-ho as 19 they could have been, but Harvey was absolutely critical, and 20 the fact that he and Representative Rose just couldn't get 21 together I think was both their problems. Needs to be worked 22 on. Trying to get a commitment from all the Representatives 23 that they will sign onto a bill. 24 The other problem was the bill itself. There was 25 -- it got rushed through the legislative process, and there 6-22-09 107 1 was language in there that really wasn't intended to be 2 there. I think it hurt it, from the standpoint of it talked 3 about infrastructure, and wasn't as specific as we really 4 wanted it as to talk about roadways and impact fees, things 5 of that nature. So, anyway, that's part of it. It's going 6 forward. I'm going to meet with Granger McDonald; he's 7 offered to meet over some of the problems Home Builders had 8 with the bill, trying to come to an agreement with them. 9 And, likewise, a meeting will take place with Farm Bureau, 10 Austin Home Builders Association, which covers a lot of these 11 counties, and try to really have everything -- a new bill 12 written and ready to go, signed on by Legislature by early -- 13 you know, mid-next spring. And it was just, you know, also 14 felt, I think, that during this period, to visit with the 15 Lieutenant Governor's office and find out, you know, will he 16 support it? And certainly visit with the Speaker a little 17 bit and try to -- we felt the only way to get it out of -- 18 calendars is where it got really log-jammed this time. 19 There's no one locally that has -- or none of our local 20 Representatives have enough stroke, I don't think, to get it 21 out of calendars, but certainly the Speaker does. And try to 22 get it offered and say, "Hey, this is something that's 23 important," and try to get more things lined up and not be, 24 you know, as limited in vision as what happened with this 25 thing. So, anyway, that's kind of where all that is going. 6-22-09 108 1 And I think that's it. Oh, no, it's not it. (Laughter.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I knew you had something else. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: City of Kerrville ETJ. I'm 4 meeting with the City Manager and Councilman Motheral and 5 Kevin Coleman tomorrow at 12:30, with the idea of coming up 6 with a -- a map that we would geographically divide as to who 7 has jurisdiction over it. And I've got -- I'm working on 8 that map; it's in my office if anyone wants to take a look at 9 it. Be careful on communication on that until it gets back 10 before the whole Court. So, basically, my idea, what I'm 11 going to try to outline is within the ETJ, all existing 12 subdivisions, all CCN's immediately come under County 13 authority. That'll -- that solves the -- with the existing 14 subdivisions, it solves the revision of plat, which has been 15 a big concern of mine, of people going in, doing minor 16 changes, and having to upgrade to city standards when that's 17 done. CCN, City has no authority to provide services there, 18 just as if it's going to be a private system, if it's a 19 system where it will be an individual well. 20 And then after those are outlined and kind of 21 pulled in, then look at other areas geographically that just 22 don't make sense for high-density development by the City. 23 And that -- the biggest area of that, to me, is kind of 24 that -- oh, I guess the northeast quarter of the ETJ, which 25 is that area between I-10 and Highway 27 and east-northeast 6-22-09 109 1 of the airport, which is basically ranch land. Pull those 2 areas out, and then and Kerrville South would come out of the 3 CCN, and the other areas would -- then we'll start working on 4 that map and dividing which areas will be the City's 5 responsibility and which areas will be the County's. And it 6 appears that this framework has the support of City Council. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: City Council or City Manager? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Both. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we're not there yet. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, it seems to make a lot of 12 sense, that existing areas that we've already seen the 13 platting, that were cleared for O.S.S.F., where there's a 14 water system in place, for example, or just where we've 15 platted and there's private wells, depending on the size, and 16 that -- that's a good starting point right there. It's a 17 matter of identifying where's it going to go and how it's 18 going to grow. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: If they're not going to 20 provide services any time soon, they still have to abide by 21 state law. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You can't -- you can't 24 circumvent state law. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mm-hmm. So, anyway, hopefully 6-22-09 110 1 we get there. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Now, is that it? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's it. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Commissioner Oehler? 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Two things. One, seems like 6 there's been quite a bit of progress at the Ag Barn lately on 7 the facility for the animals, the 4-H. They've now enclosed 8 that. They have rollup doors. It's going to be a secure 9 area. It's looking good. Other thing is, we authorized, 10 last meeting, for Animal Control to put some covered area 11 over some -- some holding pens that -- where they can keep 12 estrays, and that is being done. I was out the other day, 13 and Tim was attempting to dig some holes, but ran into a few 14 boulders out there, I think. But Bobby Johnson's boys are 15 out there and they're helping with it, so it's coming along. 16 It'll just take a little while longer, but it's going to get 17 done for a really small cost. That's it. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I don't have anything 19 to report -- anything major. There's all kinds of little 20 bitty things going on, but we'll talk about it when it turns 21 into something big. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: One footnote. I forgot to 24 mention that the weatherization program, which is under 25 AACOG, was given $14 million for the program to be spent over 6-22-09 111 1 the next two years, and that is for the rehabilitation of 2 homes and weatherization issues, so forth and so on. I've 3 invited Rose Jackson, who's the head of that program, to come 4 down here and make a presentation to the Court for the first 5 meeting in July, and we can begin to identify properties in 6 Kerr County that we'd like to see on this list. They have 7 lots of money to spend, and they're looking for homes to do 8 it. Got some -- 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We need to find some money to 10 repair the two dams we have somewhere in that. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: If we can make that fit 12 under house weatherization, Commissioner, I'm with you. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: It could be house protection. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Stuff the voids with insulation? 15 Okay. Do we -- I ran across something the other day dealing 16 with alternative energy programs for government buildings, 17 and that's coming your way, Rex, for you to take a look at in 18 connection with the inquiries that you've got outstanding 19 on -- on solar panels and so forth. Have any reports from 20 elected officials? Department heads? 21 MS. HYDE: It's real short. This afternoon -- I 22 think I've tried to talk to everybody, but this afternoon, we 23 didn't print up new draft versions again, 'cause it's -- 24 we're having to print up about 25 to 30 of them each time, at 25 100 pages each. Is there any member of the Court that needs 6-22-09 112 1 a copy? And I'll make sure that you have a copy. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I think we've all got a draft. The 3 draft from last fall? Last -- late last fall? 4 MS. HYDE: The last one. The last one. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 6 MS. HYDE: Okay, thank you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Yes? 8 MS. WHITT: I just wanted to let y'all know that we 9 are starting to work on the planning of our -- of our second 10 adopt-a-thon, like what we had last year. Bruce, we're 11 probably going to ask you to cook, but we have -- H.E.B. and 12 Super S are donating all of the stuff for the hot dogs. The 13 Dr Pepper company is going to donate their Dr Pepper trailer 14 like they did last year. So, we're -- we're planning that 15 now, so we just wanted to let y'all know. We'll probably be 16 doing it -- we've haven't actually set a date yet. We wanted 17 to do it either the third weekend in September or the first 18 weekend in October. That seems to be -- to work better for 19 all of the other organizations that are wanting to 20 participate. So, I just wanted to let y'all know. I'll let 21 y'all know more as we -- we get closer. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, thank you. Any other 23 department heads? Anything else? We'll be adjourned. We 24 have a workshop at 1:30 on the policy book. 25 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 11:41 a.m.) - - - - - - - - - - 6-22-09 113 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 25th day of June, 2009. 8 9 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 10 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 11 Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 6-22-09