1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Session 10 Monday, July 12, 2010 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 July 12, 2010 2 PAGE --- Commissioners' Comments 5 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 4 regarding Dangerous Wild Animal regulations & registration and control by Animal Control 6 5 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 6 declare various items surplus for 216th D.A. 19 7 1.3 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve renewal contract with CAD Supplies for 8 maintenance agreement on plat scanner; authorize County Judge to sign same 20 9 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 10 imposition of optional motor vehicle fees charged by Kerr County for calendar year 2011 22 11 1.5 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 12 approving funding for outside counsel for the CREZ transmission line intervention 22 13 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 14 request that the PUC delay further proceedings on the proposed McCamey D-Kendall-Gillespie CREZ 15 transmission line until appropriate study can be done to show need/necessity for having such line 29 16 1.6 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 17 adopt a resolution in opposition to the proposed pending federal law which would require public 18 safety workers to organize or unionize 35 19 1.8 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to purchase equipment for the airport pending 20 resolution by City of Kerrville to return capital funds and/or approve purchase of equipment from 21 the surplus funds of 2010 capital bonds 38 22 1.9 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize Auditor to advertise for bids for three 23 4-door SUV's for Constables 1, 2 & 3 to be paid from surplus funds remaining in 2010 bond issue 42 24 4.1 Pay Bills 47 25 4.2 Budget Amendments 48 3 1 I N D E X (Continued) July 12, 2010 2 PAGE 4.3 Late Bills 51 3 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 52 4 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments 52 5 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 58 6 --- Recessed until July 13th at 1 p.m. 68 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 On Monday, July 12, 2010, at 9:00 a.m., a regular 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: Okay. Let me call to order this 8 regularly scheduled meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners 9 Court which was posted and scheduled for this date and time, 10 Monday, July 12th, 2010, at 9 a.m. It is that time now. 11 Commissioner Williams? 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Will you please rise and 13 join me in prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance? 14 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. At this time, if there's 16 any member of the public or audience that wishes to be heard 17 on any matter which is not a listed agenda item, this is your 18 opportunity to come forward and tell us what's on your mind. 19 If you wish to be heard on one of the agenda items, we'd ask 20 that you fill out a participation form. There should be some 21 located at the rear of the room. That helps me to determine 22 that there are folks that wish to be heard on agenda items 23 when we get there. If you have not filled out a 24 participation form and wish to be heard on an agenda item, 25 when we get to that item, get my attention in some manner and 7-12-10 5 1 I'll see that you do have the opportunity to be heard, and 2 notwithstanding the fact that there's no participation forms 3 that's been completed. But right now, if there's any member 4 of the audience that wishes to be heard on any matter which 5 is not a listed agenda item, feel free to come forward at 6 this time. Seeing no one coming forward, we will move on. 7 Commissioner Williams? 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Nothing, Judge. Want to 9 get on with the business at hand. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nothing. Just a beautiful 12 early July, little bit better than last year. Lot better 13 than last year. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Little better. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And cooler. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Nothing, Judge. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Baldwin? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, thank you, sir. Thank 20 you very much for asking, though. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: We're batting zero all the way 22 across here. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I can come up with something 24 if you need me to talk. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, if you feel compelled to, you 7-12-10 6 1 can. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'm pretty calm here. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Let's go ahead and move 4 forward on our agenda today. It's a rather short one. The 5 first item on the agenda is to consider, discuss, take 6 appropriate action regarding D.W.A., which stands for 7 Dangerous Wild Animal, regulations and registration and 8 control by Animal Control. This item was placed on the 9 agenda at the request of Amy Tuma. Are you Ms. Tuma? 10 MS. TUMA: Yes, sir. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Do you wish to be heard 12 at this time on that item? 13 MS. FROST: Judge, My name is Emily Frost. I 14 represent the Tumas in the lawsuit, and I would like to be 15 heard with the Court's permission. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: On Ms. Tuma's behalf? 17 MS. FROST: Yes, sir. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Come forward. Ms. Frost, your 19 residence is? 20 MS. FROST: Austin, Texas. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All right, thank you. 22 MS. FROST: Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. 23 As I stated before, my name is Emily Frost, and I represent 24 Clint and Amy Tuma in the lawsuit filed by the County against 25 the Tumas alleging violations of the Dangerous Wild Animal 7-12-10 7 1 statute. I'm here today for three reasons. The first is to 2 explain to the County that the Tumas are in compliance with 3 the law. The second reason is to find out why the Tumas have 4 not been issued the permits that they've applied for. And 5 the third reason is to find out what we can do to get the 6 lawsuit against the Tumas dismissed. And first, before I get 7 into all that, I just want to say briefly that we understand 8 and respect the County's legitimate concern for the safety of 9 its citizens, especially given the previous incident in 10 Kerrville where a tiger escaped. And we want everybody here 11 to know that the Tumas share that concern, and that their 12 utmost concern is for the safety of the animals, as well as 13 the safety of the public. 14 Now, as you guys know, the dangerous wild animal 15 statute requires folks to register their animals that are 16 classified as dangerous with the county unless they meet 17 certain exemptions. One of those exemptions is if you are an 18 incorporated animal shelter. Now, the Tumas are an 19 incorporated animal shelter. They have an incorporated 20 animal shelter out there Ingram called Hatari Safari, and so 21 pursuant to that exemption, they believe that they are not 22 required to register their animals with the county. Now, as 23 you all know, Kerr County disagrees with that interpretation, 24 and so it filed suit against the Tumas and obtained a 25 temporary injunction against the Tumas, requiring them to 7-12-10 8 1 move all of their animals out of the county within 48 hours. 2 That temporary injunction has now been stopped by the Court 3 of Appeals in San Antonio. 4 And although the Tumas believe that they are exempt 5 from the statute, pursuant to the -- because they are an 6 incorporated animal shelter, because they welcome the 7 oversight of the County, and because they want to show to the 8 County that they want to be transparent and accountable to 9 the County, they have since applied to register each of their 10 dangerous wild animals with the County. And in front of you, 11 you have a packet that has all of the information the Tumas 12 have submitted to the County to get these permits for the 13 dangerous wild animals. And this information includes vet 14 certificates for each animal, it includes photographs of each 15 animal, it includes a drawing of all of the enclosures that 16 the animals are contained in. It includes a $100,000 17 liability insurance policy for each animal, and it also 18 included the $50 registration fee that the County requires. 19 The Tumas submitted all of this information to the County 20 about 10 days ago, and we're told, "Wow, your application 21 looks great. Everything's in order. If you were anybody 22 else, we'd issue you these permits right now, but we've been 23 told not to." 24 Accordingly, the Tumas then sent a letter to the 25 County Attorney asking what, if anything, is missing from 7-12-10 9 1 their application. About 10 days later, they got a letter 2 back saying, "We'd like some more information from you." 3 This request for information included things such as where 4 did these animals come from? Who was their previous owner? 5 How much did you pay for the insurance policy? And although 6 we don't believe this information has ever been required of 7 any other applicant, we provided this information to the 8 County the same day that it was requested. So, the County 9 now has all of this information that has been requested, and 10 we're here to ask, when can the Tumas get their permits? 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: To whom was the 12 correspondence directed and returned? 13 MS. FROST: Which correspondence, sir? 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: The one that you just sent 15 a letter, and you were sent the letter requesting information 16 so forth. Was that to the County Attorney? 17 MS. FROST: To the County Attorney. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you. 19 MS. FROST: Yes, sir. We don't understand why the 20 permits have not been issued, since we provided all of the 21 requested information, especially since Kerr County has a 22 history and practice of permitting dangerous wild animals, 23 including the tiger that escaped. We also don't understand 24 why the County is suing us for civil and criminal penalties 25 when we have done everything in our power to comply with the 7-12-10 10 1 law. Not one of our animals has ever escaped, much less hurt 2 anyone. All of our enclosures are up to code. In fact, our 3 sanctuary not only meets, but exceeds the requirements of the 4 code. For example, the code requires that each enclosure 5 have a certain level of wire gauge, a certain strength of 6 gauge. Our gauge is stronger. The code requires that you 7 have one perimeter fence around the facility. We have two. 8 In addition, we have other safety requirements that is not -- 9 that are not required by the code, including staff on duty 24 10 hours a day, video surveillance, and hounds on the property 11 that are trained to hunt wildcats. 12 The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been 13 out to our sanctuary. They loved it. Two Sheriffs from Kerr 14 County have been out to our sanctuary. They loved it. These 15 folks were so impressed with the sanctuary that they asked if 16 they could come back to visit and bring their kids to visit. 17 And we feel so confident that our sanctuary meets the safety 18 requirements of the law that we would like to invite each and 19 every one of the Commissioners to come out and personally 20 visit and inspect the facility and see for yourself. We feel 21 like this lawsuit is a drain on taxpayer money, and it's also 22 a drain on the Tumas' resources. Instead of fighting with 23 the County about this sanctuary, we would like to work with 24 the County and cooperate with the County so that we can have 25 a sanctuary that everybody is proud of. So, to summarize, 7-12-10 11 1 the Tumas are in compliance with the law. They intend to 2 stay that way. We have submitted all of the paperwork for 3 the permits. We welcome the County's oversight. We want to 4 be both transparent and accountable to the County, and we'd 5 like to hear from you all what else you need so that the 6 permits can be granted and the lawsuit can be dismissed. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Ma'am, I'm -- it's my understanding 8 that litigation is still pending with respect to this matter, 9 is it not? 10 MS. FROST: That's correct. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm sure you can understand that it 12 puts the five of us up here in a rather difficult position, 13 not being totally privy to all the details, necessarily, of 14 the litigation, but being aware that litigation is pending, 15 to -- to respond to the matters that you're speaking of. The 16 matter's before the Court. The Court has heard evidence, and 17 presumably may hear more; I don't know. And it's rather 18 difficult for us to -- to respond in a manner that -- that 19 totally addresses your concerns. We have various departments 20 within the county. We don't, per se, run those departments. 21 Some are -- some are run by independently elected officials, 22 and they in turn run their departments. They have control 23 over management and so forth. Each of these departments has 24 a different function, and they discharge those functions 25 presumably in an appropriate and lawful manner. So, it's 7-12-10 12 1 rather difficult for the Court. We can hear you and we can 2 digest what you're saying, and we can go forward later and 3 maybe make inquiry on our own about the status of things, but 4 because this matter is pending in litigation, I'm sure you 5 can understand that it's probably not appropriate that any of 6 the five of us, at this point at least, comment on the 7 matter. 8 MS. FROST: I certainly do understand that, Judge, 9 and very much appreciate your and the Commission's time. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for 11 being here. 12 MS. TUMA: I want to give each one you... I won't 13 give you this, 'cause this is a long read. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 15 MS. TUMA: I had to write all my thoughts down so I 16 make sure to get them all out, so I hope you do not mind if I 17 read from this. Gentlemen, I'm sure you all remember me from 18 last year when we were discussing the dangerous wild animal 19 regulations and laughing about who was more dangerous, my 20 daughter's cat or my two-year-old nephew. And you -- if you 21 guys remember the picture that we were all joking about. 22 Well, today is no laughing matter. I have been unfairly 23 attacked and prosecuted, and my husband and 12-year-old 24 daughter have felt the whiplash of this as well. I have long 25 been a supporter of animals, and as you well know, will fight 7-12-10 13 1 for their enduring survival. I am a hunter, and I firmly 2 believe that hunters are the leaders in this conservation 3 effort, and that Kerr County, Texas is the heart of the 4 exotic hunting world. I believe we need to take 5 responsibility to continue the education and teach the public 6 and upcoming generations the incredible value of these 7 species of animals that we, as free Americans, get to have in 8 this great state of Texas. 9 After purchasing this ideal location just this 10 January, 10 acres outside the city limits, but heavily 11 traveled on the highway for maximum exposure, I started 12 researching all my options for making my dream for the future 13 a reality. One facility just outside of Dallas caught my 14 eye, PrideRock Wildlife Refuge, an animal sanctuary that 15 houses seven lions, five tigers, wolves, and other domestic 16 animals. It too is only 10 acres, and it started off just 17 like me, taking in one animal; then it became two, and now 18 they have 20. I have created a nonprofit animal sanctuary. 19 I have registered with the state of Texas and the federal 20 government, and I am currently awaiting my 501(c)(3) status. 21 I have also applied for Animal Sanctuary Association 22 accreditation, and when our facility is complete, we will be 23 a U.S.D.A. Class C, open for public tours and educational 24 programs. I have already been approached by several of the 25 camps and youth programs in the area, and everyone who has 7-12-10 14 1 previewed our facility has asked to bring back their 2 children. 3 So, why am I here? It is because there is a cog 4 out of place, and individuals who don't want to do part of 5 their jobs and individuals who like their jobs way too much 6 are making incorrect decisions, false allegations. When 7 Janie and Marc initially showed up, Clint and I were at 8 Lowe's buying more fence and supplies to complete the 9 facilities that we have. Before the habitats were completed, 10 the animals were kept in a zoological trailer, fully enclosed 11 by 8-foot-high fence, just how Kimra was held until Anke 12 could get her pens to code. On Friday, the 11th, I went into 13 Animal Control, gave Marc a list of the animals that I had, 14 and told him again how I was an incorporated animal shelter. 15 And his comment was, "Just like that other place down in 16 Bandera," and said that when Janie got in, it would be Monday 17 afternoon before he could come out and do another inspection. 18 I then went down to the courthouse to talk to Henneke, but he 19 too was unavailable on that Friday. I left the paperwork 20 with an assistant and made a note about shelters being 21 exempt, and told the man who took the paperwork they should 22 call me if they needed more information. 23 The main reason why the dangerous wild animal 24 regulations exempt animal shelters is because they realize 25 that animals are a 24-hour, 365-day responsibility, and do 7-12-10 15 1 not know time or codes. In the months of May through 2 September, the Texas heat makes daytime traveling for these 3 animals almost impossible. Monday came and went, and I heard 4 nothing from anyone, and no one came out to do an inspection. 5 Tuesday afternoon, a friend called me from San Antonio to say 6 that a newspaper said that I had an injunction against me to 7 remove all my animals. I immediately called the newspaper 8 and couldn't believe what they were printing. I told them 9 they were wrong. Then the newspaper e-mailed me a copy of 10 the injunction against me. When I called Henneke and Animal 11 Control to ask about this, I got no answer. Clint then drove 12 down to both offices on Wednesday, and neither party would 13 meet with him. Later on that afternoon, they scheduled a 14 meeting. We tried to discuss why -- our sanctuary and what 15 we were trying to do, but Henneke would not listen; handed us 16 back the paperwork and said that he would see us in court. 17 As we left, Marc approached us, apologized several times, 18 then gave us 30 more tickets. 19 We then spent the next two weeks filing countless 20 paperwork and appeals. And Henneke continues to call and 21 contact the media and post on his Facebook how I am violating 22 state Health and Safety codes, which I am not. He continues 23 to ask the Court of Appeals over and over and over to go his 24 way, but the Court still allows us to keep these animals. To 25 end this waste of taxpayer dollars and to get rid of this 7-12-10 16 1 ridiculous shelter-versus-sanctuary dispute -- by the way, 2 which Henneke said in an interview via Skype on Channel 15, 3 "These animals need to be moved to an animal sanctuary" -- I 4 decided to register as an individual to put a stop to this 5 endless moot paperwork, and be able to spend the money where 6 it is needed, on the animals and the facilities, not to 7 lawyers and court fees. I filed all the necessary paperwork 8 again and paid for the fees in cash. Marc said all the 9 paperwork looked in order, but Henneke would not allow him to 10 give me a permit. Janie testified that Animal Control 11 captured Anke's tiger and held it on a trailer at Animal 12 Control in front of Judge Emerson. She has also said on 13 several occasions that she does not believe these animals 14 should be in cages, and Marc has said he does not want 15 anything to do with these animals. These are not the people 16 who should be -- the County should have running dangerous 17 wild animals. 18 I am here today to ask the County Commissioners to 19 recognize the service that Hatari Safari will be providing 20 for the people of Kerr County. Again, I remind you that we 21 are the foundation of the exotic world, and that all animals 22 need to be treated with respect and responsibility. We lost 23 a young man just last year to a large species of deer, and 24 other animals like elephants and Russian hogs are not even on 25 this list. I would like for Hatari Safari to be the 7-12-10 17 1 dangerous wild animal control facility for Kerr County. 2 Unlike our current Animal Control officers, I am not afraid 3 of these animals, and I understand that these animals can be 4 possessed in a safe, secure, and healthy environment. Unlike 5 our current Animal Control shelter, my facility meets all 6 Texas Health and Safety codes, 169.131, for containing, 7 holding, and transporting dangerous game. I would not have 8 to call a private citizen to dart a loose animal, nor would I 9 have to rent a trailer to hold this animal on. I would be 10 able to tranquilize, provide vet care, educate the owner of 11 responsibility, both financial and nonfinancial, but Hatari 12 Safari would also be able to place the animal in an 13 alternative home if needed. 14 I have tremendous public support. Neighboring 15 ranchers like Jack Clarke, Warren Wagner, and Cecil Plant 16 donate wild pigs for food. Woodbury's and Plaza are donating 17 all of the meat scraps that would otherwise go to our dump, 18 and a whitetail facility just down the road has now donated 19 fence and buildings to help us finish our plans. With all 20 this media coverage, everyone knows I am here, what I am 21 doing. I have not received a single negative comment, and to 22 this day, no one has voiced any concerns to me, and those who 23 have had questions have come to me and were reassured after 24 touring my facility and hearing my qualifications and my 25 plans for the future. I have had Texas Parks and Wildlife 7-12-10 18 1 officers, Sheriff's Officers, U.S.D.A. licensed animal 2 handlers, and lots of media personnel, and the overwhelming 3 response has been they cannot wait to see the facility 4 finished and bring back their children. Does this sound like 5 a facility that is violating Texas safe -- excuse me, Texas 6 Health and Safety codes? 7 I built this facility out in the open. I was not 8 trying to hide or sneak in animals. But I want to draw in 9 the public and want to show everyone what I am doing, because 10 a nonprofit organization, I need public support to operate 11 and function. Kerr County needs to stop wasting taxpayer 12 money and give the people a chance to learn why Texas has 13 more endangered species and why we have animals like Père 14 David, which are extinct in the rest of the world, but now, 15 through Texas management, you can find on ranches all over. 16 I have contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They have given 17 me several forms so that I can hold several other types of 18 endangered species that I cannot wait to adopt and share with 19 y'all. But first I need your help to correct the problems 20 that I am facing. Then I want to help -- help the county by 21 extending a new dangerous wild animal facility and fill it 22 with volunteers who want to see these animals survive in a 23 safe and healthy environment for everyone. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. I'm sure you 25 heard my comments to your counsel. 7-12-10 19 1 MS. TUMA: Yeah. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I think those same comments would 3 equally apply to what you have to say. The matter's pending 4 in litigation, and that's where the matter needs to be. 5 MS. TUMA: Right. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Once it's resolved there, then we 7 can talk about other issues. 8 MS. TUMA: And I also want the Commissioners Court 9 to strongly consider moving the dangerous wild animals out of 10 Animal Control, because, like I said, not only does their 11 facility not meet the Texas Health and Safety Code 12 requirements, but the individuals do not want to handle the 13 animals. And that's like saying a baker doesn't want to be a 14 chef. You have to want to do this, and you have to have the 15 facilities to do it correctly. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. Anything further 17 on that particular agenda item? Let's move forward, if we 18 might. Go to Item 2; consider, discuss, and take appropriate 19 action to declare various items surplus items for the 216th 20 District Attorney's office. The matters are listed on the 21 backup to the agenda item that -- that the 216th District 22 Attorney's office requested to declare surplus. I guess the 23 first question I have, have those items been made available 24 to other county offices? 25 MS. HARGIS: Yes. I gave that list, because it's 7-12-10 20 1 mostly computer equipment, to our I.T. person, and he doesn't 2 want any of the equipment. And so that's the reason why she 3 put it on the list today. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 5 MS. HARGIS: I'm sure she's not here 'cause she's 6 participating in a funeral, getting ready for a funeral this 7 morning. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, okay. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Heck, let's do it. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: You so move? 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second for 14 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion on the 15 motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your 16 right hand. 17 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 19 (No response.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We'll go to 21 Item 3; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to 22 approve the renewal contract with CAD Supplies for the 23 maintenance agreement on the plat scanner and authorize 24 County Judge to sign same. Ms. Pieper? 25 MS. PIEPER: Gentlemen, this is just a -- a 7-12-10 21 1 continuation of the plat agreement. It -- with some changes 2 after our County Attorney reviewed it. I just got the 3 changes in this morning. Let me give him a copy. And this 4 is going to be the original for the Judge's signature. The 5 changes on this, on Paragraph 13, under additional terms, add 6 the following: "Venue for any dispute arising from this 7 agreement shall be in Kerr County." And delete Paragraph 8 14.9 under additional terms. And they did it real quick in 9 handwriting and initialed it, so if it -- if it's okay with 10 our County Attorney, then I would request that it be 11 approved. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 15 approval of the agenda item. The County Attorney, I think, 16 just nodded his approval. Is that correct? 17 MR. HENNEKE: Yes. Yes, Judge. These are the 18 changes that I have requested, and they've adopted them as -- 19 as I put them. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Any question or discussion on the 21 motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your 22 right hand. 23 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 7-12-10 22 1 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's move 2 to Item 4; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action on 3 imposition of optional motor vehicle fees charged by Kerr 4 County for calendar year 2011. I put this on the agenda. 5 The Motor Vehicle Department has sent out the inquiry whether 6 we want to remain charging the $10 fee only, or whether we 7 wanted to add up to $1.50 for the child restraint fee that 8 goes into a separate fund for school crossings and things of 9 that nature. We haven't done it previously, but it's time 10 for another year election, so I'm throwing it out there. 11 Anybody have any interest in doing anything different than 12 what we're doing? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do not. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Solves that problem. Next 16 item; consider, discuss, take appropriate action on approving 17 funding for outside counsel for the CREZ transmission line 18 intervention. Commissioner Letz. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't think this -- I think 20 we can pass on this. I think this was kind of a carryover -- 21 oh. No, we're not. The County Attorney says we're not 22 passing on it. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Oops. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We had it on there last time 25 and we were going to wait. I guess we waited. Rob? 7-12-10 23 1 MR. HENNEKE: Judge Tinley, Commissioners, I think 2 approximately a month ago this Commissioners Court authorized 3 and ordered me, on behalf of Kerr County, to join with the 4 City of Kerrville in the intervention with regard to the 5 ongoing CREZ transmission line dispute with the Public 6 Utility Commission. In conferring with Mike Hayes, the City 7 Attorney -- City Attorney for the City of Kerrville, as far 8 as how Kerrville was proceeding forward with this 9 intervention so that we might join with that, I learned that 10 the City was doing so through outside counsel, Lloyd 11 Gosselink out of Austin. And Mr. Hayes and I discussed how 12 it would be the most efficient use of the taxpayers' money, 13 and also the most effective way to proceed forward with the 14 intervention if we do so together as a team, and did so in 15 partnership with this outside counsel that's already on board 16 and is well-versed with, has familiarity with this process. 17 But before moving forward with that, even though I was 18 authorized to join with the City in the intervention, I 19 wanted to come back and -- and make that recommendation to 20 the Court, and to at least receive your blessing to proceed 21 forward by retaining that firm as -- as co-clients with the 22 City of Kerrville. It's going to split costs; it's going to 23 make it less expensive, but still as effective for both of 24 us. And I think since they've already chosen that route -- 25 I've researched the firm; I know that firm very well. It's a 7-12-10 24 1 very well-known law firm in Austin. Then I think that's a 2 good way to go. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What's the dollar amount, or I 4 guess estimate? 5 MR. HENNEKE: Well, Mr. Hayes and I were discussing 6 that. We -- as the intervention is yet to be filed, you 7 know, it's not known what the costs are going to be, but what 8 we had proposed was setting an initial cap for contribution, 9 I would say no more than $5,000. And if -- if the costs 10 exceed that, then I would come back to Commissioners Court 11 with a lot more information and more projections what the 12 expenses are going to be. Mike and I were discussing -- he's 13 worked with them, and he -- the City is already on board with 14 them, and I think it's his initial impression that this 15 investment from both the City and County should be plenty to 16 facilitate the intervention. If it costs more, I'll come 17 back and let y'all know. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are you comfortable with 19 the selection of attorneys? 20 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do you have money your budget? 22 MR. HENNEKE: No. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Darn. Do we have money in 24 professional services still? 25 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 7-12-10 25 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we 2 authorize the County Attorney to expend up to $5,000 with -- 3 what's the name of the law firm? 4 MR. HENNEKE: Lloyd Gosselink. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Lloyd? 6 MR. HENNEKE: Lloyd Gosselink. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Lloyd Gosselink law firm in 8 Austin related to the intervention and P.U.C. issue with 9 L.C.R.A., and funds to come from nondepartmental professional 10 services. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that nondepartmental or 13 Commissioners Court professional services? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't know. Which one's it 15 in? 16 MS. HARGIS: I think it's in Commissioners Court. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commissioners Court 18 professional services. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and second as 20 indicated. Question or discussion on the motion? 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got a comment, Judge. 22 I'm going to vote against it. I just -- I don't -- I don't 23 think that we should be using public money -- number one, I 24 don't see what the intervention is. Are we intervening 25 because L.C.R.A. is talking about coming down Interstate 10? 7-12-10 26 1 Or -- and we don't like poles running down the middle of the 2 highway? Are we intervening because L.C.R.A.'s talking about 3 going across private property? Are we intervening on behalf 4 of private property owners, or what are we doing here? If it 5 were -- if they were talking about coming through the 6 courthouse or the Ag Barn or Road and Bridge Department, 7 something like that, I'd be in favor of doing this. But -- 8 and, actually, this is really not the issue in this whole 9 thing. Item 1.7 is the issue with this entire deal. Someone 10 needs to show all of us the need or necessity for having such 11 a line in the beginning. I'd like to see that happen before 12 we particularly start hiring lawyers to protect something. 13 I'm not real clear what this -- hiring outside counsel for 14 intervention. I mean, I know that counsel's going to stand 15 here and tell me -- explain to me what the intervention is, 16 but I still don't think that -- regardless of what it is, 17 unless it's coming through county property, I'm not going to 18 be in favor of it. So, that's that. I think we should deal 19 with Item 1.7 before we do this, anyway. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a comment, not to try 21 to convince you, Commissioner Baldwin, but -- 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, you can't do it. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I figured that; I wasn't going 24 to try that. But to me, it's a -- the reason it's an 25 appropriate use of taxpayers' funds is that we passed 7-12-10 27 1 previously a resolution that was somewhat specific with 2 guidelines that we feel L.C.R.A. should use. They are not 3 using those guidelines, or have not in the past, or stated 4 they're -- you know, made a comment that they're going to 5 abide by them, and they have certainly not followed our 6 resolution. We recommended that they try to negotiate with 7 private property owners and protect private property rights, 8 and they have not done that, so I think this is a -- and I 9 think it is a -- does serve a public purpose to do what our 10 resolution said. And that's how I see -- or the reason I see 11 the reason for the funding, is to get us to the next level 12 with that resolution which is before -- to be able to present 13 that to the P.U.C. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If they were going to come 15 across my property, I wouldn't want the government doing 16 this. I would want to represent myself and fight my own 17 fight as a private property rights issue. I wouldn't want 18 the government involved in it in any way. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree with that. We 20 shouldn't be, but we don't know where they're going yet. 21 They're not using -- the guidelines they seem to be using I 22 don't think is appropriate. 23 MR. HENNEKE: The -- Commissioners, the 24 intervention process gives us a seat at the table in 25 disputing this before the Public Utility Commission. This is 7-12-10 28 1 the logical next step. This Court has passed the resolution, 2 of course, with the guidelines that have been adopted by this 3 Court, but in order to be able to have our voice officially 4 heard with the Public Utility Commission, to have the input 5 from Kerr County on behalf of its interests, and also acting 6 on behalf of -- of the citizens that live here and that will 7 live here in the future, we have to formally intervene to be 8 able to be at that table and to be part of that process. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I understand that, and I 10 think it's very wise to be an intervenor, to be able to go to 11 Austin and speak before a government body that we pay for. 12 But I don't think we should hire outside -- we have you, and 13 I'm very happy with you, and I think that you're very capable 14 of being our intervenor representing Kerr County. 15 MR. HENNEKE: Thank you, Commissioner. And I -- 16 you know, I acknowledge that, and I think that the thinking 17 has been on this that -- and the Commissioners authorizing or 18 ordering that Kerr County join with the City of Kerrville in 19 the intervention that they were already proceeding forward 20 with, and trying to find the most efficient and effective way 21 to do so, and discussing with the City how exactly they were 22 proceeding forward. They're already on this path, and it 23 seemed to be an efficient and effective way to do so, to join 24 with them in this -- how they've already started to proceed 25 forward. 7-12-10 29 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Again, if it were -- if the 2 line -- if they were proposing the line to come through this 3 courthouse or the Ag Barn or the Road and Bridge Department 4 or other county government-owned properties, I understand 5 what you're saying. But if we're talking about Interstate 10 6 or whatever that little fight is about, or someone's private 7 property, I -- I just think that it's wrong for us to get 8 involved in that. That's just my own personal opinion. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other question or discussion on 10 the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 11 your right hand. 12 (Commissioners Williams, Letz, and Oehler voted in favor of the motion.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed? 14 (Commissioner Baldwin voted against the motion.) 15 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let's go to Item 7. 17 Consider, discuss, take appropriate action to request that 18 the P.U.C. delay further proceedings on the proposed McCamey 19 D-Kendall-Gillespie CREZ transmission line until an 20 appropriate study can be done to show the need or necessity 21 for having such a line. I put this on the agenda. Some of 22 you may recall that there was a segment called Gillespie to 23 Newton, and the matter was heard before the Public Utility 24 Commission, and the result of that hearing was that the 25 Public Utility Commission in essence told the L.C.R.A. 7-12-10 30 1 Transmission Services Corporation to go back to the drawing 2 board to determine if, in fact, there was even a need for 3 that line. That's the short-end rendition. The data that 4 was being used to justify the need was several years old. 5 The projected amount of electrical power from wind generation 6 was significantly less than what it had -- the actual was 7 significantly less than what had been projected because of 8 maintenance, wind, and other issues. As a result of 9 primarily those two factors, and possibly other factors, the 10 Public Utility Commission sent -- sent it back to the drawing 11 board to determine the need, justify the need. 12 Approximately two weeks ago, I guess, now, there 13 was a forum at which I appeared, along with the mayor of the 14 City of Kerrville and the state representative, Harvey 15 Hilderbran. And Representative Hilderbran disclosed that in 16 the vein of Gillespie-Newton, there was an effort underway to 17 go back to reexamine, reevaluate the need for McCamey to 18 Gillespie to Kendall, or McCamey to Kendall-Gillespie, 19 whichever way you go, again, based on a lot of those same 20 factors. Representative Hilderbran indicated that he was 21 hopeful that they could get that kind of action from the 22 P.U.C. before going to formal hearing, rather than go to 23 formal hearing, have all this expenditure of time and money 24 by all sorts of people, only to get the same kind of result 25 that you got in Gillespie-Newton, to do this study up front. 7-12-10 31 1 And what I'm asking for or suggesting to the Court is that -- 2 is that we adopt a resolution in which we request that the 3 P.U.C. order an additional evaluation and study of even 4 whether there's a need for such a line in view of current 5 information. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, are you talking about 7 such a line, or wind energy in general? 8 JUDGE TINLEY: No, this is CREZ, which is wind 9 energy. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. Well, I agree with 11 you. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: These lines were mandated for the 13 purpose of transmitting the wind energy from the wind farms 14 out in west Texas to the metropolitan areas. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: And it relates solely to that issue, 17 whether or not this proposed McCamey D-Kendall-Gillespie is 18 even needed. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, I agree with you 100 20 percent. And -- 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Folks over at the City who are, in 22 essence, our partners, as it were, on the intervention, 23 because we're doing so on a unified basis, they have -- they 24 have such a resolution on their agenda, as I understand it, 25 for tomorrow evening. But I think we need to show this 7-12-10 32 1 Court's formal position with regard to that, whether or not 2 such a new study or evaluation is needed. It's my belief 3 that it is. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I agree. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Is the resolution prepared, 6 or is it to be prepared? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't have it in-hand. This got 8 on the agenda late. You'll remember that in our resolution 9 which we did pass, one of the components of that resolution 10 was that such a line not be constructed until all other 11 transmission lines, both public and private, were operating 12 at capacity or near capacity. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do remember. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Or not be authorized until that 15 time. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, if I might make a 17 suggestion, since we're meeting in a workshop tomorrow, we 18 could recess this meeting, rather than adjourn it like we 19 usually do; someone can prepare that resolution and then we 20 can adopt it tomorrow before we start the workshop. That way 21 we have a -- the resolution before us, since it's not ready 22 yet, and we'll be meeting tomorrow anyway. 23 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Good idea. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Sounds good to me. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I told you this little 7-12-10 33 1 agenda could run over a day, didn't I? 2 MS. GRINSTEAD: You did. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've seen this before. But, 4 you know, I've seen a couple of writings recently of how wind 5 energy, in the long run, in Europe, has tripled in cost 6 compared to other, so I'm not real sure that we're -- that 7 not just us, but the great state of Texas is heading down the 8 right road here. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We also have another private 10 line that was never contemplated when they did the CREZ study 11 originally. It's been built now in Kerr County. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And is it up and running at 13 capacity? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No idea. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Nobody knows. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's a good question. 17 Capacity -- at capacity. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess we know it's up and 19 running, really. I see it. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'm just not real sure that, 21 you know, this deal -- kind of what you're saying. You know, 22 the costs are way in excess of what it would be to have 23 generation from other sources. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So, you know, there is a line 7-12-10 34 1 needed at some point, but it might not be from wind energy. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have lots of natural gas in 3 west Texas. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Also be less costly. That's 5 my two cents worth. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: A lot to be determined. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. I feel better about 8 y'all now. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'm sure glad. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I was wondering there for a 11 while there. 12 MS. HOFFMAN: Judge, could I make a point of 13 clarification? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, ma'am. Come forward, tell us 15 who you are. 16 MS. HOFFMAN: Barbara Hoffman with L.C.R.A. And I 17 think y'all realize this, but just for the purposes of the 18 public, L.C.R.A. does not determine the need for these CREZ 19 transmission lines. That's determined by ERCOT, the Electric 20 Reliability Council of Texas, and it's the P.U.C., based on 21 the ERCOT studies, that has initiated the need for these 22 lines. L.C.R.A.'s been instructed to build these particular 23 lines. So, that given, it would be the P.U.C. to direct 24 ERCOT to restudy, and that is what they did in Gillespie to 25 Newton. They denied our application and directed ERCOT to 7-12-10 35 1 reevaluate the need for Gillespie to Newton, so that is 2 currently under way with ERCOT. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: I appreciate that clarification. 4 MS. HOFFMAN: And then, as far as schedule -- and 5 Mr. Henneke may be aware of this -- September 1st is the date 6 scheduled for the prehearing conference on McCamey D to 7 Kendall to Gillespie in Austin. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Filing date deadline is still 9 July 28? 10 MS. HOFFMAN: July 28th. And so intervenors will 11 have 30 days to intervene and register with the P.U.C. Then 12 the prehearing conference will take place, and it will be at 13 Palmer Auditorium to allow for numerous intervenors. At that 14 prehearing conference will be established the schedule that 15 the P.U.C. moves forward on this project. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: So, we'll reconsider -- take that up 19 again another day, right? Let's take up Item 6. We may want 20 to fold that in with Item 7. Consider, discuss, take 21 appropriate action to adopt a resolution in opposition to 22 proposed pending federal law which would require public 23 safety workers to organize or unionize. This, again, was 24 also a late item to go on the agenda. Those of you that are 25 following what's going on in Washington, particularly if you 7-12-10 36 1 can believe what you hear, the House has attached a rider to 2 one of the appropriations bills that would require that there 3 be collective bargaining agreements with public safety 4 workers. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Are you a public safety 6 worker? Or is Rusty? 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Rusty is. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Rusty is. And does that 9 include, like, volunteer fire departments? 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Could. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm not sure it includes volunteers. 12 It does include fire departments, EMS, police. 13 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Sheriff. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I think the fire and 15 police, city people are unionized already. 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, they tried, but they 18 didn't pass. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Didn't go? 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: They tried twice, and it 21 didn't pass. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Didn't -- I believe Bandera 24 County has already done this. My memory tells me that there 25 may be a resolution down there that we can look at. I'm not 7-12-10 37 1 sure if they did, but I thought they did. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Somebody -- I saw that too. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think we ought to adopt a 4 resolution. I really think we should adopt a resolution 5 opposing it. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Again, it was a late item; we don't 7 have it in-hand yet. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I would move that we 9 develop such a resolution and bring it back to the Court for 10 final approval. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Tomorrow? 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Tomorrow? Can do. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, if it's something 14 with -- 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Are we doing the other one 16 tomorrow? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 18 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Well, you're going 19 to be busy, aren't you? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm -- 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You do one, I'll do one? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, no, no. You two are doing 23 them. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: We got you some help, Bill. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Jody can help. 7-12-10 38 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You're all heart, Judge. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, 'cause all the people 3 that are involved in this are -- are not in support either. 4 I'm not in support of it, anyway. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You're not? 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, I'm not. I'm in support 7 of the resolution, but not the collective bargaining being 8 mandated on all the people that are doing emergency services. 9 And they're opposing it too. 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yeah. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So we need to help them. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We need to be on board. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: You can look at City of San Antonio; 14 go back several years and see what occurred down there with 15 the -- 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, yeah. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: -- with the police department. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Right. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We'll bring that one back 21 tomorrow also. Let's go to Item 8; to consider, discuss, 22 take appropriate action to purchase equipment for the airport 23 pending resolution by the City of Kerrville to return capital 24 funds and/or approve the purchase of equipment from the 25 surplus funds of 2010 on capital funds. Ms. Hargis? 7-12-10 39 1 MS. HARGIS: Yes, sir. You're aware -- or may not 2 be aware that we have a list of about $75,000 worth of 3 equipment. We haven't -- you haven't approved all of that 4 equipment, but we need some kind of direction on it so that 5 we can start getting it bought and have the airport ready for 6 to us take over. So, as the City of Kerrville presented at 7 the last airport meeting, it was $150,000 worth of surplus 8 money left from prior capital issues. It's my understanding 9 on their agenda tomorrow night, they're going to take up this 10 issue of whether to return the city's half and our half of 11 those funds so that we can put them back into our -- our 12 capital project funds. If they do that, that would allow us 13 to purchase most of the items there that we need for that, 14 which include a truck and some heavy equipment. That's the 15 reason why the number is so high. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I met with Todd Parton and some 17 of the city staff Friday related to airport budget matters. 18 This is one of the items, and their request to Council is 19 that they return their half of the 150,000, 75,000, or 20 request that we turn it back, and I told Council that we were 21 fine with that. If that's what their direction was, we'd be 22 glad to -- that's fine with us, and if they chose to leave it 23 at the airport, that was -- you know, we didn't have a real 24 problem with that either. But my feeling is, based on that 25 conversation Friday, that they're going to request the 7-12-10 40 1 capital funds back. And they said that we would do likewise. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah. I think we should 3 accept it and redirect it for the purchase of this capital 4 equipment. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Mr. Bollier, what -- what's the 6 estimated dollar amount now? I know there's been some 7 refinement of the type of equipment and whatnot. What's the 8 estimate now for the -- 9 MR. BOLLIER: It's between 50,000 and 55,000 right 10 now. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 12 MR. BOLLIER: And that's -- you know, that's 13 including the two mowers. That's including the vehicle and 14 all the power tools and stuff like that. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 16 MR. BOLLIER: Small tools. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And a trailer and the tools 18 and all that? 19 MR. BOLLIER: Trailer, stuff like that. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: From a budget standpoint, the 21 balance of -- just to keep it clean, can the balance be 22 applied to the RAMP grant for this year for us? 23 MS. HARGIS: It's my understanding that there is a 24 law that Mr. McKenzie, the Airport Manager, has come up with 25 that says if we do take the money back, it has to be directed 7-12-10 41 1 back towards the airport. So, I would assume that we should 2 take that money and redirect it to our half of the RAMP grant 3 as well. And -- 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I was thinking if we use 5 up most of the 75,000 that we need to there, and then the 6 balance applies to the RAMP grant, then we don't have to 7 worry about keeping track of this money in the future. Then 8 the balance of the RAMP grant we can do out of our general 9 fund. 10 MS. HARGIS: We have to redirect it back to the 11 airport. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What's our participation in 13 the RAMP grant? 25 percent? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 25. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 25 percent. 16 MS. HARGIS: It's 50,000; it's 25,000 each. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 18 MS. HARGIS: It's a $100,000 grant, and they give 19 us 50 and then we put up 50. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All right. 21 MS. HARGIS: And then -- then, for your 22 information, the RAMP grant is used for projects on the 23 runway or around the system that need to be repaired. 24 That -- TexDOT gives 50,000 every year, so it has to be 25 reallocated on an annual basis. And part of this 150 is a 7-12-10 42 1 return of some of that RAMP grant money. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Which frees up some of our 4 budget commitments going forward for the RAMP grant for this 5 year. 6 MS. HARGIS: That's correct. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move -- what's the... Move 10 approval of the agenda item. (Laughter.) 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll second. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Motion made and seconded to 14 approve the agenda item. Question or discussion on the 15 motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your 16 right hand. 17 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 19 (No response.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's go to 21 Item 9; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action to 22 authorize Auditor to advertise for bids for three four-door 23 S.U.V.'s for Constables 1, 2, and 3, to be paid from surplus 24 funds remaining in 2010 capital funds. Ms. Hargis? 25 MS. HARGIS: Again, we discussed these three 7-12-10 43 1 vehicles at a workshop session that we had last Tuesday, and 2 it was agreed that we would go ahead and purchase these from 3 the surplus capital funds that we have from the radios and 4 the air-conditioners that we were able to get grant funds 5 for. So, I am putting this -- I do need to advertise, 6 because it does go over 50,000. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: My comment -- go ahead. If 9 somebody wants to second it, go ahead. Then I'll talk about 10 it. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll second it. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 13 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I have some concerns about 15 these vehicles for the constables. You know, if there were 16 some way that -- this is not aimed at all four. This is more 17 aimed at maybe -- 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Three? 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: -- some others. That if 20 there was a way that they could work a little bit more and 21 generate and help raise some revenues to justify these kind 22 of things, I would feel a lot better about it. Because the 23 revenues that I see coming through from their job that they 24 do is not very much. I'm not sure that they can justify 25 brand-new vehicles to not do, in my opinion, a whole lot of 7-12-10 44 1 law enforcement. To go with -- to try to assist our present 2 departments, like the Sheriff and the police department, they 3 can arrest somebody; they can write tickets, do all the same 4 things. And I would hope that there would be a little more 5 revenue generated from their employment than what has been in 6 the past. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I certainly don't disagree with 8 you at all. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't either. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think that they -- that 11 was one of the, I guess, selling points when we first got 12 vehicles for the constables, was they could be more 13 effective. And it seemed -- my memory is that there was a 14 little spike the first year, and it's kind of dropped off a 15 little bit after that. I agree, I think that they need to be 16 -- do more. And I think -- not that I want them driving a 17 whole lot, but, you know, some of them don't put very many 18 miles on these vehicles. I mean, and I think they need to be 19 out patrolling and writing tickets in areas. I know they do 20 sit in school zones. They do things. They -- but I think 21 they could do more. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I -- I certainly agree, 23 because our revenues are down in some other areas, and 24 anything we can do to get some assistance from people that 25 are being paid a -- a decent salary and that are also being 7-12-10 45 1 provided vehicles and gas and insurance and uniforms and all 2 that stuff, I really think that they should help generate 3 some revenue. 4 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't disagree. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't disagree either. 6 I've always had the agreement with the constable in my 7 precinct that he work the school zone, much like yours does 8 out at Ingram. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: He does. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And he writes tickets in 11 that school zone. But I think the important part of that is, 12 he frees up a deputy sheriff. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's right. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We've always had a deputy 15 working, because Ranchero Road's the highest traveled road in 16 the county. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: It is. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And Rusty's always had a 19 deputy out there working that school zone. Well, we have 20 freed that up with John's presence out there, so -- and to 21 me, I don't know if you can put a price on that or not. I 22 don't know. Of course, he's not real bright, so -- and can't 23 hear real well. So -- 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I just -- you know, 100,000 25 miles on a vehicle is not a good argument for me to replace 7-12-10 46 1 it. Mine has -- I got a couple of them -- you know, I've had 2 some that has as much as 200,000 or 300,000 miles, or used a 3 whole lot more than they're using theirs. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The reason that I pushed 5 this so hard this time is because this is the window that 6 Rusty's not getting anything out of the budget. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And we -- (Laughter.) I'm 9 serious. And I don't know when it will be -- when another 10 window will be. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, another thing is the 12 cost of the vehicles is very low. That may not happen again. 13 And I'm not totally opposed to this. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, I agree with you. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I would like to see some 16 cooperation with the Court to help generate some revenue. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: What I'm going to say is 18 just an observation. I don't disagree with you, 19 Commissioner, but an observation that may or may not apply to 20 any or all of them is the more they do in the public view, 21 the better. And the -- I hear many complaints all the time 22 about the visibility of the constable, whether it's mine or 23 whether it's somebody else's. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: "You got constables? Where 7-12-10 47 1 are they?" So, it helps the public visibility, to be visible 2 in the public. And working with public safety, there are 3 issues now in school zones we never had before; i.e., cell 4 phone talking as you go through the school zone -- the school 5 district, and I think those things need to be a little closer 6 attention paid to them. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll tell you, I'd be willing 8 to go along with this, I think, but I really -- I would sure 9 like to see some changes for the better. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Message received? 11 MR. LAVENDER: Message received. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other comments? Questions? 13 Suggestions? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 14 your right hand. 15 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 17 (No response.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion carried. Thank you, Ms. 19 Hargis. Let's go to Section 4, payment of the bills. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move we pay the bills. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to pay the 23 bills. Question or discussion on the motion? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have one question on Page 25 3, probably halfway down, 216th District Attorney on General 7-12-10 48 1 Fund. From -- it's $49,000. What is that "4th quarter 2 funding"? 3 MS. HARGIS: Mindy moves from one fund to the 4 other. It's more or less a transfer. Is that correct, 5 Mindy? 6 MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, sir. What this is, this is the 7 County's portion of the 216th District Attorney's overall 8 budget. We move it out of Fund 10 over to Fund 81. And 9 that's where all the other county moneys come in also, and 10 then we pay their expenses out of that. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you very much. 12 MS. WILLIAMS: Welcome. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions? Comments? All 14 in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 15 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 17 (No response.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's go to 19 budget amendments. 20 MS. HARGIS: We have a late bill. We do budget 21 amendments before a late bill? 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Budget amendments. 23 MS. HARGIS: Don't you want the late bill? 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Late bill's coming behind that. 25 MS. HARGIS: Okay. I thought you did that first. 7-12-10 49 1 JUDGE TINLEY: It's 4.3, which comes after 4.2. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Boy, you're kidding. 3 MS. HARGIS: Whatever. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Exactly. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I learn so much in here. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Amazing, isn't it? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It's amazing. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: The Auditor has provided us with 9 Budget Amendment Requests 1 through 7, as shown on the 10 summary. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: With regard to Number 1, 12 where's the deficiency? In all of the courts, or just a 13 particular court? 14 MS. HARGIS: No, that's the C.P.S. cases, 15 unfortunately. We've been keeping that separate, you know, 16 and so -- 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I got you. 18 MS. HARGIS: I know that's not everybody's 19 favorite, but I have to cover it. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, it's not. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is it -- 22 MS. HARGIS: The others are not. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We're taking -- we're 25,216.29 24 in the negative right now? 25 MS. HARGIS: Yes, that's correct. So we're putting 7-12-10 50 1 30,000 in there, which will leave them 4,783.71. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I mean, this seems odd 3 that we're doing -- it seems like we've already spent the 4 money. Or did we just get a big bill from them? Where are 5 we with -- 6 MS. HARGIS: We have a big bill from them now. 7 We're holding it. When we do the bills, it prints out where 8 people are over budget, and that's when we come back to you, 9 because that packet contains this bill. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 13 approval of Budget Amendments 1 through 7, as shown on the 14 summary. Question or discussion? We had those two 15 high-profile cases earlier this year, as I recall. C.P.S. 16 cases, I believe? 17 MS. HARGIS: Yes. Well, they've kind of been 18 ongoing, but I thought they were finished, but they -- we 19 paid a lot of money out in November and December on those 20 cases. They actually started, I think, in August and 21 September; we didn't get the billings until November and 22 December. And so that kind of pushed us a little bit over as 23 well. That's one of the courts that we have the least 24 control over, and it's hard to know what's going on 25 necessarily there. 7-12-10 51 1 JUDGE TINLEY: But there were, as I recall, two -- 2 MS. HARGIS: Two very high-profile cases where 3 there were six children, I think, in one, and six in another. 4 I mean, it -- and the parents were being represented as well 5 as the children, so -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: So that one was hit real hard early. 7 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 MS. HARGIS: And as you recall, I believe that 10 Judge Emerson, who was here at that time, told us it was 11 going to cost about 150,000 for that -- for those two trials. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Further question or discussion? All 13 in 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: The motion does carry. Late bills. 18 We have one here for our construction out at the Sheriff's 19 Office Annex that's been certified by the architect as being 20 progress to-date, and after retainage, the net amount is as 21 shown, the 216,259.72. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 7-12-10 52 1 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor of the 2 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 5 (No response.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. I have been 7 presented with monthly reports from Constable, Precinct 1; 8 County Clerk; J.P., Precinct 3; J.P., Precinct 4; 9 Environmental Health; Kerr County Payroll for June 2010; 10 quarterly report, April through June 2010 on the nuisance 11 abatement program. Do I hear a motion that these reports be 12 approved as presented? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So moved. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded that the 16 reports indicated be approved as presented. Question or 17 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 18 your right hand. 19 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 21 (No response.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's move 23 to Section 5 of the agenda. Reports from Commissioners in 24 connection with their liaison or committee assignments. 25 Commissioner Williams? 7-12-10 53 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We'll have the long-awaited 2 bathometric survey of Flat Rock Lake on the agenda next time, 3 the detailed report probably on-screen, as well as reports 4 they'll give us. That work is all finished, and he asked for 5 about half an hour of our time next time for presentation and 6 questions that we might have with respect to that survey that 7 was done on the lake. Secondly, the last unemployment 8 numbers I saw from Alamo WorkSource indicate the unemployment 9 rate in Kerr County at present is about 6 percent, right at 6 10 percent. Second best in the 11-county rural region, bettered 11 only by Gillespie County, that continues to have an 12 unemployment rate under 5 percent. Don't know how they do 13 it, but they do it. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: I think generally they're at 3 or 15 less? 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, 4.7 for them. Ours 17 is 6. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: For those that want to learn a 22 little bit more about water, there will be a Region J meeting 23 in Bandera 10 o'clock Friday. For those that want to learn 24 about habitat conservation plans, they can join me in Helotes 25 this evening at 6 o'clock to learn about that. And -- 7-12-10 54 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You guys want to go? 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I was thinking about going. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And those that want to be 5 involved with subdivisions statewide can join me in Austin 6 Thursday this week. 7 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How's the wife and kids? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Bad this week. That's about 9 all I have going. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, that's it. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I met with Road and Bridge 14 the other day at the Ag Barn on the new outdoor arena that 15 we're about to start construction on. We got the topo from 16 Voelkel on the drop and all, what we needed to do to -- to do 17 the -- you know, the dirt work, site work before they start 18 the arena part. Really surprised that there's not that much 19 fall in that area as it looks like there is, so it's not 20 going to be a real long, drawn-out deal. They're going to 21 get the material somewhere locally and have it trucked in. 22 It will be a lot quicker on the bigger trucks than it will be 23 to do it with our small ones. They don't have the personnel 24 and equipment right now to do all that because of all the 25 sealcoat going on and the maintenance. But that should begin 7-12-10 55 1 pretty soon. It should be done, I believe, if I'm not 2 mistaken, by the -- I believe it's by the -- before the 26th 3 of this month, this dirt work should be done. Because they 4 have some other obligations, Road and Bridge. I think Doug 5 Koennecke and his crew are going to do the work, and they got 6 to be in and out to get some other projects done they need to 7 work on. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: I highly recommend those Road and 9 Bridge guys for site work. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: They do excellent work. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll tell you what, it's 13 going to be very safe. They're only going to have to add 14 about a foot of material, in some places a little bit more. 15 They project -- the estimate is 1,000 yards of dirt and 1,000 16 yards of sand to be hauled in for the actual arena itself. 17 And the drainage and everything is not an issue at all. Just 18 -- it's going to be a good project. I was hoping -- you 19 know, it is deceiving. It looks like -- that low end down 20 there looks like it could be 3 or 4 feet low to me. It's 21 not; it's only a foot. So there won't even be a noticeable 22 change in how that site work looks when it's finished, as 23 opposed to what's there now. The arena will be elevated a 24 little bit, and that's it. That will stop all the water from 25 running through it and -- 7-12-10 56 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Fantastic. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So it's a real good 3 situation. It will start soon real soon. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's it. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Baldwin? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Some of you -- or all of you 8 probably have noticed, there is a fairly large increase in 9 the EMS request this year, and so I went over to City Hall 10 and met with the finance guy and the City Manager and some of 11 the fire department folks, and they were very nice and very 12 cordial and very professional, as usual. And what they've 13 done is they have -- I don't know about the first time, but 14 they're really taking a close look at all the little details 15 of -- of EMS and how it relates to us and how it relates to 16 the community and things like the employment over there, the 17 maintenance of the facility and all those things. And I told 18 them that I felt sure that you gentlemen over here would 19 probably like to visit with them face-to-face about these 20 issues, and Mr. Parton assured me that they would be 21 delighted to come over here and sit down and visit with us 22 about all those things. So, whenever you're ready, they're 23 ready. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: In our budget workshop, possibly? 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That'd be fine. 7-12-10 57 1 JUDGE TINLEY: When we get to those items? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That would be a perfect 3 place to do it, in my opinion. Or we can do it in the middle 4 of the night where nobody knows about it. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that your recommendation? 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Except Mark. He never 7 sleeps. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, yeah, of course. Mark. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Are they open to a rate 10 increase again so that they can cover some of these 11 additional -- 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: There's some included. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Maybe not as much as we'd 15 like to see, but there is -- we need to visit with them. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Good. I have one more, 18 Judge. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's all. Thank you. 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'm in the process of 22 setting up a meeting the last week of this month with folks 23 from Center Point with respect to the bridge and TexDOT, and 24 see if we can figure out a way to make that move forward and 25 do the things that will be of benefit to the community. Keep 7-12-10 58 1 you posted. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I received a resignation letter from 3 our Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent earlier this 4 week, Ms. Rene Walls. Her husband is relocating to the Fort 5 Worth area. I think maybe both of them have family -- at 6 least one of them has family in the area, and that's one of 7 the considerations for their relocation. And -- 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That little girl has a 9 husband? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Gosh, she's just a little 12 kid. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This age, Buster, they all 14 start looking. (Laughter.) 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's just wrong. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: We're sorry to lose her. She's -- 17 she's done us a fine job out there. I'm told that they -- 18 they have a search underway to replace her; that we'll be 19 contacted by the -- I guess it's called the district 20 supervisor in Uvalde, Ms. Mapston, and we'll get an 21 opportunity to have input on that. Do we have any reports 22 from elected officials or department heads? 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Of course. I'm back. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Welcome home, Rusty. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Let the record reflect that the 7-12-10 59 1 Sheriff made a rare appearance in the Commissioners Court 2 after one of his three-week vacations. 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Two and a half. Just real 4 quick, I ran the jail census, 'cause one of the D.A.'s and I 5 were going to meet about it Friday, and I just didn't get the 6 chance to. But -- so the census I ran is Friday, not 7 today's. But population-wise, in-house was 148. We also 8 have two that are still in state hospitals and other places. 9 216th had 43, 198th had 51. And I'll say that with a little 10 bit of hesitation; these are ones that had not been 11 adjudicated at that time. The 198th did have court Friday 12 after I ran this, and I know they did adjudicate several 13 after that, so that probably lowered theirs to at least what 14 -- what 216th is. So -- and County Court at Law had 43. So, 15 you're talking all three of them are running about the same, 16 43. One thing we have noticed, and I think it's helping -- 17 it's running the jail staff ragged, but we have to kind of be 18 careful what we ask for; this is what we get -- is that we're 19 pretty well -- the County is, in one court or another, is 20 running court five days a week now. We're moving inmates 21 either over here or into the J.P. courtroom or whatever, but 22 all of them are running a lot more court. You know, instead 23 of just a couple days a week, they're running it just about 24 every day of the week, which I think is helping. Otherwise 25 we would be a lot higher, 'cause the number of arrests have 7-12-10 60 1 really gone up, but our population is staying down. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: You're shuttling these prisoners 3 back and forth from the jail to the courthouse so that they 4 can be present in court? 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right, we're doing more of 6 that. We do have the County Court audio/video system set up. 7 They're doing some of that, but we are having to shuffle 8 quite a few inmates back and forth, either to this court, or 9 even into the J.P. courtroom. It's still taxing -- 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That should change some with 11 the video. 12 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Only if the district courts 13 really start using it and everybody gets used to the web 14 notary or, you know, the worldwide notary where they can 15 start signing and sending paperwork back and forth. But just 16 because of the -- a lot of it's the way the defense attorneys 17 want to meet with their clients first, and they would rather 18 meet them here at the courthouse during court day than come 19 out there to the jail and sit in an attorney visitation booth 20 there. You know, that's just kind of the way it is. But I 21 don't see that eliminating; I see it actually, just with 22 population going up, us having to do that more and more. But 23 other than that, you know -- 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Rusty, you see the 216th -- 25 they're all kind of equal? 7-12-10 61 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: All pretty equal. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Does that new program where 3 we're -- this prisoner goes to 198th and this prisoner goes 4 to 216th, is that beginning to catch up with us? Are we 5 really getting equalized in the districts? 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think they're getting pretty 7 well equalized. There's still a lot of shuffling that goes 8 on even after that, because if they've already got cases 9 pending in the 216th, even though it's on a day that the new 10 one ought to be filed in the 198th, then it's being 11 transferred over to the 216th, because that's where the 12 guy's -- all the rest of his cases are. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sure. 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: So you still have a lot of 15 that that will go on for years, that these people come back. 16 So, it's probably not totally equal yet. It is a lot more 17 equal -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But it is a lot more. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: -- than what it's ever been. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: You know, we changed our 21 court day out there from Friday to Wednesday. Have you seen 22 that -- is that affecting the numbers in any way that you can 23 see? 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't think it's really 25 affecting the numbers, because I think -- I mean, it helps. 7-12-10 62 1 Adding more court days, even though it's more taxing on the 2 jail staff and deputies trying to shuffle inmates around, any 3 time we're adding more court days, it's a help in the jail 4 situation, and it does move those inmates. And like I said, 5 we're still having court there some on Fridays, so it just 6 depends on what court. You know, we may have it over here. 7 Sometimes they'll have it here, sometimes they'll have it 8 there. I've just kind of quit saying my preferences, 'cause 9 the quicker we can get them to court, the better off the 10 population is. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 12 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And I think one of the D.A.'s 13 wants to sit with me and visit about the ankle monitoring and 14 things like that, possibly on nonviolent ones, instead of 15 sitting in jail. So, I think that may be an avenue we need 16 to look at before we think about adding on to the jail, if 17 it's a nonviolent and not anybody that's going to repeat. 18 But I don't have any idea what the cost of all that type of 19 program are. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, 148. That seems like 21 that's a little bit lower than the last time you were in. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Earlier in the summer, if 23 you'll remember, we were up to the 180's -- 170's, 180's. 24 Then we went -- or early in the year. Then we went -- after 25 the last meeting where we really talked a lot, it dropped 7-12-10 63 1 down to about the 150's, 160's, and so now we're a little bit 2 lower than that, which is really good, because we're in the 3 summertime. School's out; everything's out. You know, now's 4 when we, a lot of times, start going up a little more, and 5 the economic reasons and that. So 148, I can't, you know, 6 complain. It's moving all the counties around us. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, we're going to take 8 credit for it for moving the court day to Wednesday, and that 9 did it. 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Okay, sounds good. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're the -- 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: We're the good guys? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're the good guys. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other elected officials? 15 MR. HENNEKE: Judge, Commissioners, just briefly, 16 we do use the video conferencing system in County Court at 17 Law. It's only with rare exception that we have to bring an 18 inmate over from the jail. Judge Brown uses that every week. 19 It works great. In fact, one way that we use it to help the 20 defense counsel is, it's set up in his jury room. There's a 21 period of time when the defense counsel can go in there and 22 close the door and have a private attorney/client conference 23 with their client, and most of them take advantage of that. 24 So, that works real well, and we're able to handle our jail 25 docket every week over -- over the video monitoring system, 7-12-10 64 1 and there haven't been any problems. That's been in place 2 for quite a while. Secondly, just to point out, again, I 3 think the numbers with regard the County Court at Law are a 4 bit misleading. As the Court knows, many individuals with 5 felonies have misdemeanor offenses as well, and in order to 6 move them out of the jail, the felony needs to be resolved. 7 And so, as far as the misdemeanor offenses for the people 8 that are in jail that I have the ability to move, we're 9 keeping that at about a dozen or less, and those have been 10 resolving themselves within -- anybody that we can adjudicate 11 and move on to punishment or to get out of the jail, we're 12 doing so as quickly as we can. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The only issue you have a lot 14 of times with the felonies and the misdemeanors, if the guy's 15 in jail on a misdemeanor with a violation of probation on a 16 felony, okay, he doesn't want to take care of that felony 17 until after that misdemeanor's been dismissed or whatever, or 18 it ends up being vice-versa. So, any time you end up with 19 charges in multiple courts, it really gets -- the guy 20 normally ends up sitting in jail twice as long, 'cause 21 they -- you know, between defense attorneys, it's more of a 22 -- a deal of what's best for the client? Plead him on this 23 one and not this one? Or -- and they end up stalemating and 24 sitting there. 25 MR. HENNEKE: And that may happen, but we're moving 7-12-10 65 1 those cases. We're pushing those cases. But you still 2 have -- you know, say someone has a failure to appear, which 3 is a misdemeanor, but they've got a -- they're a drug dealer 4 on a first-degree felony case. They're stuck until that 5 first-degree felony gets resolved. So, we're doing 6 everything we can to keep the population low, and I think 7 it's working as far as the misdemeanor cases so far. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The video conferencing, 9 that's on Thursday? 10 MR. HENNEKE: Well, it's available any time. We 11 have court every Tuesday. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Tuesday. 13 MR. HENNEKE: Judge Brown does it. But I think 14 Judge Brown has extended the offer to defense counsel that if 15 they want to come in and set up a time to come in and use it, 16 confer with their clients, to my understanding, he's made 17 that offer and made that available to attorneys to be able to 18 do so. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: It's actually set up in the jury 20 room in there, and if the defense lawyers want to come over, 21 use the privacy of the jury room and confer with their 22 clients at the hookup out at the jail, why -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I was going to say, any of 24 these guys that have not seen that, they need to go see it. 25 It's a pretty slick little deal. 7-12-10 66 1 MR. HENNEKE: We use it twice a day every Tuesday, 2 mornings and afternoons. 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Only thing you have to also 4 understand, even though it -- and it does -- it keeps us from 5 moving inmates. It still ties up jail staff, 'cause he's got 6 to be right there at the door with that inmate. And it's not 7 only -- what's nice about it, you know, he uses it -- Rob 8 uses it a lot for the County Court at Law. M.H.M.R. uses it 9 a lot for evaluations and that with inmates too, so it is 10 constantly being used. But it is also taxing on staff, 11 'cause you have to get -- that person is stuck there with it. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Is that a pitch for more 13 staff? 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Fourth time he's said that. 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I did not ask for more jail 17 staff in this coming budget. But -- 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're moving them from this 19 room to the next room. You know, it's not like we're moving 20 across town, but we're moving them. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, like you said, Commissioner, 22 the -- the Sheriff hasn't captured all of the budgets this 23 year, so we were able to address some other issues. But fair 24 warning; he's coming after it next year. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: He may have started early. 7-12-10 67 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Any -- 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Plug in early. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What about our gym, our 4 workout place? 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: We're working on that. 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Talk to the Auditor; see if 8 we can get some money. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That new parking lot might be a good 10 place for that to occur. 11 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That'd be an excellent 12 place. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other elected officials? 14 Department heads? 15 MS. BOLIN: We're at 96 percent collections as of 16 the end of June. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's good news. 18 MS. BOLIN: And we still have an influx of the 19 quarter-pays will come in at the end of July, so we should be 20 at the 98 percent mark by the end of July. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's great news. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Very good. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Very, very good. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: In terms of dollar amount or 25 properties? 7-12-10 68 1 MS. BOLIN: In terms of dollar amount. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Better yet. 4 MS. WILLIAMS: I'm fine. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: No other elected officials or 6 department heads? Anybody else? We will be in recess until 7 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, which is Tuesday, the 13th. 8 (Commissioners Court recessed at 10:28 a.m.) 9 - - - - - - - - - - 10 11 12 STATE OF TEXAS | 13 COUNTY OF KERR | 14 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 15 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 16 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 17 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 18 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 14th day of July, 2010. 19 20 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 21 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 22 Certified Shorthand Reporter 23 24 25 7-12-10