1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Monday, April 4, 2011 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 GUY R. OVERBY, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X April 4, 2011 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to set a public hearing concerning road name of 4 "Ed's Way West", Precinct 4 3 5 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve amendment to the Agreement for Inmate 6 Health Services at Kerr County, Texas, between Correctional Healthcare Management, Inc., and 7 Kerr County, Texas 4 8 1.3 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve Kerr County Sheriff's Office Policies 9 and Procedures for the Fitness Center 7 10 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on Emergency Services Interlocal Agreements, 11 including Fire and EMS 9 12 4.1 Pay bills 18 4.2 Budget Amendments -- 13 4.3 Late Bills -- 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 19 14 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee 15 Assignments 19 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 28 16 --- Adjourned 32 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Monday, April 4, 2011, 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 special meeting of the Kerr County 9 Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this date and 10 time, Monday, April 4th, 2011, at 9 a.m. It is a bit past 11 that time right now. We've got just a few items on the 12 agenda before we do our workshop that we've got scheduled 13 also for this same time. The first item is to consider, 14 discuss, take appropriate action to set a public hearing 15 concerning the road name of Ed's Way West located in 16 Precinct 4. 17 (Commissioner Letz left the courtroom.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Hofer, I understand there was a 19 -- when we set this matter previously, the date or time was 20 incorrect, so this is back before us, and you're asking for 21 that public hearing to be set for when? 22 MS. HOFFER: May 9th. I believe it's -- I thought 23 Leonard was going to be here. 24 MR. ODOM: I'm here. 25 MS. HOFFER: Okay. I just want to check the time. 4-4-11 4 1 MR. ODOM: I'm sorry, I didn't know we were that 2 quick. 3 MS. HOFFER: May 9th, 2011, at 9:10 a.m. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: 9:10? 5 MS. HOFFER: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Move approval. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: I hear a motion and second to set a 10 public hearing on the matter for May 9, 2011, at 9:10 a.m. 11 Question or discussion on that motion? All in favor of the 12 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 13 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 15 (No response.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 17 (Commissioner Letz returned to the courtroom.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll go to Item 2; to consider, 19 discuss, and take appropriate action to approve the amendment 20 to the agreement for inmate health services at Kerr County, 21 Texas, between Correctional Health Care Management, Inc., and 22 Kerr County. This is the amendment to the health care at the 23 jail; is that correct? 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes, and the psychiatric part. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 4-4-11 5 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And it's been looked at -- 2 it's an amendment, but they re -- just put it in with the 3 entire policy and then prorated it out for the rest of the 4 year. And it has been looked at by the County Attorney. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I believe you previously indicated 6 that you had a source of funding outside of the budget in 7 order to take care of this? 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes. I will get with the 9 Auditor as these come in to where we can break out that 10 portion out of the monthly bills, 'cause that's the way they 11 added it in. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: It was approved as an 14 amendment by the Court a few weeks ago. I just -- since they 15 combined it all into one, I felt I ought to bring it back to 16 the Court. But y'all did approve the amount and adding the 17 psychiatric care. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. So, since they combined it 19 all into one contract, you're just wanting us to affirm the 20 entire contract, and that's what you're seeking the Court's 21 action on today? 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's correct. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It doesn't require -- does 25 it require a court order? 4-4-11 6 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't know -- unless Rob 2 thinks it should require an additional court order, I don't 3 know that it requires any action, other than I just wanted 4 y'all to be aware of it and how they did it, and that it has 5 been looked at. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think he's right. 7 MR. HENNEKE: I can't specifically recall, 8 gentlemen. I think the -- the action item from a couple 9 weeks ago was that it was approved subject to review of the 10 contract by my office. If that was the case, then, Your 11 Honor, you would just need to execute it. But I can't recall 12 specifically. And I have reviewed it as to the legal form, 13 and it looks fine to me. It's in conformance with the 14 existing contract; it just amends it. So, if there's any 15 question, the Court could go ahead and reapprove. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: That would probably be the best 17 course of action, to go ahead and -- the consolidated 18 contract, go ahead and approve it. 19 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Move for approval. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 23 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor of the 24 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4-4-11 7 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We'll go to 4 Item 3; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action to 5 approve Kerr County Sheriff's Office policies and procedures 6 for the fitness center. Sheriff? 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Well, we finally got all the 8 equipment in. Everything's in place. I did run a release of 9 liability form through the County Attorney's office, and then 10 also a second form, being an unsupervised facility, and he 11 has approved both of those. I wrote a policy that is 12 specific to the Sheriff's Office because of the type of 13 policy manual we have, but I think it's a policy that Eva 14 could adopt very easily over into the overall county policy, 15 so that we can open that up 24 hours a day, seven days a week 16 for all employees. In my internal policy, it does have in 17 there, Commissioner Letz, that the any workout will be done 18 off duty. There is no on-duty time given. And this 19 equipment and everything, other than the County just 20 finishing out the room, the equipment -- none of the 21 equipment or anything in there has been paid for out of 22 taxpayer dollars. Every bit of it's been paid for by our 23 drug users and seized money in this county. 24 And then on the regular maintenance of the 25 equipment, we are developing a logbook where some people 4-4-11 8 1 inside my own department, since we purchased it, will 2 maintain it. I am looking at a maintenance contract possibly 3 with the company; they're supposed to send me one. The only 4 thing I wish the Court would consider doing later, especially 5 once it's opened up to all county employees, is the cable, 6 Time-Warner inside the facility, which has to be there for 7 some of the equipment in there, and the water inside the 8 facility. If you'll remember, there's no restrooms or 9 anything else, so just the water -- Arctic water-type jug in 10 there, I would request that maybe the County somehow help 11 assist in paying those monthly costs. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: You're not asking for that today? 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I'm asking for the County to 14 consider it, but until it's open for all, you know, county 15 employees once Eva gets her policy adopted in there, I'm not 16 asking for it. But once it is opened to all county 17 employees, then I would ask for it. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I do notice that this says 19 that the fitness center will be open 24 hours a day, seven 20 days a week to authorized employees, and is -- is for 21 off-duty use only. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's right. It is in the 23 policy. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not during working hours. 25 Otherwise, I don't think would it fly. 4-4-11 9 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mm-hmm. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: One thing about -- in the -- 3 well, not in the policy, it isn't. In the liability, you 4 will see in there that the person that's signing this has 5 been informed, acknowledged the need of a physician's 6 approval for their use of that, that they should have a 7 recent approval from the physician to be able to use that. 8 That's required in there. But I would invite any of y'all to 9 come out and look at it. I think you'll be very impressed 10 with the type of facility it is out there. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further? 12 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No, that's it. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Anybody on the Court have anything 14 to offer in connection with this matter? Okay. Let's move 15 on -- sorry? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You need a motion for approval? 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't know that there needs 18 to be -- I'm not sure there needs to be any action. I just 19 told you I'd bring it back once we did it, but I don't think 20 there needs to be any court orders. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's move to Item 4; 22 consider, discuss, take appropriate action on emergency 23 services interlocal agreements, including fire and EMS. 24 Commissioner Letz? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't recall asking that the 4-4-11 10 1 EMS portion be on here, but it's on here. So we don't have 2 -- but we don't have to do much with that, in my mind, today. 3 On the fire side of it, I guess my -- looking at the 4 contract, the primary service area I'd like to go over a 5 little bit. It seems confusing to me. It's the entirety of 6 the boundary of Precinct 2, which I don't know that that's 7 reasonable, just from the standpoint of where the -- Precinct 8 2 goes, I mean, way, way out in rural areas down towards 9 Medina, out that way, and I don't know that I want to 10 spend -- or really am in favor of spending the money to send 11 fire trucks out there, 'cause there's other fire departments 12 in those areas. And way out Elm Pass, I don't think that was 13 the intent. To me, it would be a lot closer. If we could do 14 a mile area -- 15 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Radius. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- radius around the ETJ or 17 city limits, either way. And I know your -- at the last 18 meeting, the primary concern you had was Comanche Trace, that 19 area -- well, that's in the city limits, but out that way, 20 like The Woods. 21 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Right, the -- the 27 area, 22 that creek ranches, right in that area. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And I'm -- I'd like to 24 probably, you know, look at what -- if you went 2 miles 25 beyond the city limits, where that gets us exactly. I mean, 4-4-11 11 1 we probably -- we don't have that map right here, but we 2 could go ask the Appraisal District to run a map and see what 3 that -- or if it's 3 miles beyond the city limits. I mean, I 4 think it would be better to have an area you can pretty 5 easily define. Certainly, the ETJ would be included in it. 6 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that gets, you know, 8 everything all around the airport, all that area. 9 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Actually, all of The Woods and 11 -- the ETJ gets probably 90 percent of the areas we're 12 talking about. I'm not sure how far north -- I know there's 13 a lot of concern about The Wilderness. I'm not sure if a 14 mile gets you there. I don't think it would. And I'm not 15 sure if you go a mile on the south side, how far in Kerrville 16 South that gets you. But those are the -- I mean, to me, 17 it's the ETJ, and maybe -- 18 JUDGE TINLEY: 2 miles. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two miles gets all those areas, 20 do you think? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Beyond the ETJ? Probably so. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Be real close. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Need to get the -- need to have all 24 the folks that have all the mapping capabilities, those CAD 25 programs, to run that out for us, but I think we'd get there. 4-4-11 12 1 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Just show a radius. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I believe it would encompass 3 Ingram if you do that, if you go 3 miles beyond the ETJ. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And the other thing 5 that I didn't see in this, and I'm -- it's probably best to 6 be silent on it, but I think we do need to remember, and this 7 came up when I was talking to the fire chief in Comfort over 8 the weekend, is mutual aid agreements. I mean, I told him 9 about what we were doing; he basically thought it was 10 somewhat worthless, because he says everyone has mutual aid 11 agreements with everybody else, and if they need you, you're 12 obligated to respond. So, that's kind of -- but I think 13 that's an interesting point to look at. Now, I don't know 14 how far -- you know, part of this, we may want to -- not as 15 part of this agreement, because I don't want to interfere 16 with the mutual aid agreements, but the County Attorney may 17 want to look at those agreements and see, you know, what the 18 -- what they say. Because, I mean, from what Danny Morales 19 told me, he said they are -- mutual aid agreements probably 20 are pretty much with every entity around, and if they're 21 needed -- if they're needed, they go. And he -- he doesn't 22 have a whole lot of use for agreements like this, because he 23 says that people need to -- I mean, they're professional 24 firefighters, whether they're volunteers or not, on both 25 sides, and that they're going to help each other out. 4-4-11 13 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, and that's -- that 2 holds true with this end of the county as well. I mean, just 3 with the Sheppard Rees fire that happened some years ago, 4 volunteers with Texas Forest Service did more to put that out 5 than anybody. That's in the ETJ. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think that's part of 7 the -- you know, we should remember that everyone's obligated 8 to help everybody on a fire, but I think we do need a first 9 responder contract for those areas, and I don't know if it's 10 3 miles beyond the city limits or -- 11 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Is that something we could 12 ask for, what the 2-mile cost would be, a 3-mile cost would 13 be, like, that we could -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 15 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: -- work out? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Because the further you go out, 17 the less -- their response time becomes less and less -- I 18 won't say "helpful"; that's probably not the right word, but 19 -- but I think that the -- I would like the agreement that 20 we're down to fires only. The volunteer fire departments are 21 responsible for all of the -- the wreck stuff and a lot of 22 this other stuff that -- investigations and all of that. 23 MR. HENNEKE: Outside of the primary service area? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I guess -- okay, 'cause 25 you have other emergencies, that language. Okay. But, 4-4-11 14 1 anyway, I think it's a good -- I'd like to look at, you know, 2 one, two -- ETJ plus 1 mile, ETJ plus 2 miles, and see how 3 that -- where that gets us. But I don't have a problem with 4 sending this over to the City as a draft, with -- you know, 5 to start the dialogue. 6 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Yeah. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Get that moving down the road. 8 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Even ETJ plus 3 miles as 9 well; 1, 2, and 3, to look at it, see what that would be. 10 MR. ODOM: Leonard Odom. House Bill 91 is going to 11 come into effect September the 1st of this year, which puts 12 the population of 25,000 to 49,999 to 3 miles. That's going 13 to be by law. So -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We're not there yet. 15 MR. ODOM: We're not there yet, but Kerrville may 16 be looking at that. They're pretty close to that number. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not another census for 10 18 years. 19 MR. ODOM: Pardon me? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not another census for 10 21 years. 22 MR. ODOM: Well, I'm going to assume -- well, okay. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I mean -- and it's -- 24 you know, I'm not sure how that is interpreted, but, you 25 know, it's -- I think there should be some language in 4-4-11 15 1 there -- in the contract based on the current ETJ of 1 mile, 2 so we don't -- so it doesn't, all of a sudden, go out to 5 3 miles or further. But -- 4 JUDGE TINLEY: State law is going to define that 5 under, you know, whatever the contract is executed. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: So, essentially, you want to submit 8 a draft which has, under Paragraph B, primary service area, 9 which reads, "The parties define the primary service area as 10 the area within 1, 2, or 3 miles of the extraterritorial 11 jurisdiction of the city of Kerrville." 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 13 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Right. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 15 MR. HENNEKE: Is that the same west of the county 16 as well as east of the county? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, you got -- you got -- 18 MR. HENNEKE: Or west of the city. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: -- Ingram out there that -- 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I would say, you know, if it 21 goes to Ingram, it would be at the -- where the ETJ lines 22 cross. I mean, that would be the limit, where they wouldn't 23 cross the ETJ and get into Ingram. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, you could add City of 25 Kerrville and City of Ingram. 4-4-11 16 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That would take care of that. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the County Attorney's 5 looking at me like I'm crazy. Which isn't unusual. 6 MR. HENNEKE: I didn't understand what that meant. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That I'm crazy? Or -- no. 8 What we refer to as the service area does not include the 9 City of Kerrville, so the service area would not include City 10 of Ingram also. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Or ETJ, city of Ingram. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Because -- 15 JUDGE TINLEY: But otherwise would be extended out 16 1, 2, or -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Three miles. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: -- or 3 miles. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Because that basically puts 20 them right there at Goat Creek Cutoff; that's where they kind 21 of overlap, where they run together. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And on the dollar part of it, I 23 would leave that blank, because I think when I last met with 24 the City Manager, they said if we ask -- we give them what we 25 want, they'll give us what they think the price is. So, I 4-4-11 17 1 have no idea. 2 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think on the increase per 4 year, you know, I'd rather tie it to some -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: C.P.I. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- C.P.I. Tie it to some index 7 so that when there's an inflationary period coming up, it's 8 covered. If there's not, it doesn't. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That doesn't make too much 10 sense. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: You're going to get that submitted 12 in? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. If I can -- we can get a 14 new draft, we'll send it over there as a draft and see where 15 it goes. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, I'll -- I guess I'll move 18 that we incorporate those modifications, and then I will 19 transmit it to the City Manager. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 22 indicated. Question or discussion? 23 MR. LEE: What are you going to do -- Chris Lee, 24 909 Golf Avenue. What are you going to do about rescue calls 25 outside of that ETJ? Swift water, high angle? 4-4-11 18 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It goes under the -- as 2 requested by the volunteer fire departments. 3 MR. LEE: As requested. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 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: Motion carries. Okay. Those cover 10 the agenda items. Let's go to Section 4 of the agenda. 11 Payment of the bills. 12 MS. HARGIS: There's just a few bills that we need 13 to pay that were inadvertently left out of the last court 14 session. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I move we pay them rascals. 16 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second that. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded that we pay 18 them rascals. Okay. Question or discussion? All in favor 19 of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion carried. Any budget 24 amendments? Late bills? 25 MS. HARGIS: No. 4-4-11 19 1 JUDGE TINLEY: I've been presented with -- 2 THE CLERK: Sorry, wrong thing. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: -- monthly reports from Constable, 4 Precinct 4, and Constable, Precinct 1. Do I hear a motion 5 that the indicated reports be approved as presented? 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Move approval. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded that the 9 indicated reports be approved as presented. Question or 10 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 11 your right hand. 12 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 14 (No response.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Reports from 16 Commissioners. Commissioner Baldwin? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Sir? 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Do you have anything you'd like to 19 bring to the Court's or the audience's attention in 20 connection with your primary assignments concerning court 21 functions? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, I sure don't, but I 23 appreciate the offer to let me do that. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Just like to accommodate you on 25 every occasion. 4-4-11 20 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you so much. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Overby? 3 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I've got two -- two items 4 just to bring to the Court's decision, just for information, 5 just to be aware of. As you know, last Monday we had on the 6 agenda the item about the public hearing set for the C.D.B.G. 7 application for Phase 5 of the Kerrville South, Phase 5 8 application process with Grantworks. That public hearing 9 meeting is set for next Monday here at 5 o'clock, and so I 10 just want you to be aware of that as we're starting that 11 process. Of course, they're taking care of all of the 12 notification in the papers and everything. But, again, that 13 will be the fifth phase application process for the public 14 hearing that's set for next Monday at 5 o'clock here at the 15 courthouse. 16 I also wanted to just bring to the attention of the 17 -- of the Court that, as you know, on February 28th, we did 18 make a presentation here to the Commissioners Court on behalf 19 of the Hill Country Exhibit Center out on Highway 27. Again, 20 that was to look at the concept, the scope of that project, 21 and bringing it back. I did want you to know that, of 22 course, we had the information discussed on the 28th, just as 23 looking at that scope of that project again. The month of 24 March was just kind of a month to let folks just kind of hear 25 it out there a little bit, kind of see what interest is out 4-4-11 21 1 there, see where it goes. But, again, I will be making a 2 presentation as we start looking at the scope of this 3 project, see where we have what interest in public and 4 private support that we have. I will be making a 5 presentation to our K.D.C. group this week on behalf to see 6 what interest that we have there from them on behalf of the 7 Hill Country Exhibit Center. And then also, to start talking 8 about what potentially down the line, what interest we have 9 maybe from other public sources as far as being partners on 10 this project. So I just wanted to let you know that that 11 process will start running this month. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 13 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: That's it, Judge. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two quick things. Last 16 Thursday, Commissioner Overby and myself, the Auditor, a 17 representative from U.G.R.A. all met in Austin, talked with 18 the Texas Water Development Board staff on east Kerr County 19 projects. Good meeting. Found out kind of where both 20 entities, County and U.G.R.A., need to go to finalize the 21 current phase that we're under. There's been some bog down. 22 A lot of the problems and delays have been related to 23 environmental assessments. Anyway, I don't want to bore the 24 whole audience with that, but we're making progress with that 25 and all. We have new timetables to finalize the grants, and 4-4-11 22 1 good -- one of the good things about it was that the County 2 and U.G.R.A. are working closer than ever on this project 3 together. The Water Development Board told us that they are 4 looking at this as a single project, and they want to treat 5 it that way, and so that was good news. Good meeting, 6 overall. From U.G.R.A., Scott Parker and Ray Buck were 7 present, and then consultants from both groups. So, that was 8 a good meeting. And then over the weekend, the Comfort 9 Volunteer Fire Department had their annual fundraiser. Big 10 turnout in the park, raffle and food, washer tournament, all 11 kinds of stuff going on. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Did you win? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not -- the entry fee was kind 14 of steep, $50 a team for washers. That's a little bit steep 15 for me. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: They get serious about that, don't 17 they? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Just going to donate to the 20 winner or what? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't know. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Oh, several things. We 24 authorized to put a bid in for the West Texas conference to 25 come here in 2013. I had got Sudie Burditt involved, and 4-4-11 23 1 also Faye at the Y.O. They are putting together a proposal 2 for that. I will present it when I go to the conference in 3 Lubbock at the end of the month, and lobby for it and see if 4 we can get it. We may have a pretty good chance. Worked on 5 that a little bit. And then, of course, now with all the -- 6 all of our deliberations and all of our conflicts over 7 EMS/fire services, I've been bombarded with e-mails, and have 8 answered most every one of them. And it's kind -- it's kind 9 of heartbreaking to think that people believe that we might 10 put their lives in jeopardy by not having an EMS service for 11 them. And that's kind of ludicrous, and I really don't 12 appreciate some of the publicity that's gone out that 13 indicates that might be the way that we're headed. And we'd 14 like to see that put to bed, and -- and we'll talk about that 15 some in the budget as we go along. And we just made the 16 first proposal back on fire, and I'm sure EMS will be coming 17 shortly. But it really, really frustrates me to think that 18 people would believe that we would be that negligent. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, it's -- 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All they had to do was read 21 the former fire chief's -- 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- whatever that was, letter 24 or whatever. That's where they got that. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That -- I'm hoping we'll get 4-4-11 24 1 that put to bed before too long, and -- and get back to where 2 we ought to be, and move on. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's enough of that for 5 today. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, I would agree, 7 Commissioner, that a lot of that impression was gained 8 probably from the former fire chief's letter. That, of 9 course, is not the only source. But the -- the thing that I 10 found very little public awareness of is -- the ones that 11 I've talked to, of course, are not aware that coming into 12 this budget year from the previous budget year, our EMS 13 contract went up 75 percent. And then on top of that, they 14 want to combine both of them to go into this coming year, and 15 increase the cost by 108 percent. When I tell people, the 16 response I get is, how can they justify it? You can't do 17 business like that. And I respond that, you know, it is what 18 it is. That's what they've asked for. That we just got 19 through absorbing a 75 percent increase on the EMS contract, 20 but there seems to be very little public awareness of that, 21 and that's very disheartening. 22 If you're going to put out the facts, put them all 23 out there. The -- including, if you've got some personal 24 bias or interest, you ought to disclose that up front. I 25 think that's only fair to the public, that -- that you ought 4-4-11 25 1 to lay the cards on the table, lay them out face up and fair. 2 But I -- we need to get this resolved, and I want to sit down 3 across the table and get it resolved, but I want it to be on 4 a fair and equitable basis. You cannot stay in business 5 trying to absorb 75 percent and 100 percent increases, and -- 6 and in even one year, much less successive years. That's 7 just absolutely inexcusable. Either there's a serious 8 problem with the -- with the financing and the accounting for 9 it, or there's something else wrong. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: But you just don't do business that 12 way. You can't do business that way. You talk to any 13 business person out there on the street and say, you know, if 14 your supplier were to tell you he's increasing the cost of 15 your goods that you're going to sell next year by 75 percent, 16 what -- how's that affect you? They effectively -- they say, 17 "I'm out of business." You know, "I can't expect my 18 customers to absorb that." Just can't happen. So -- 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I think one more thing 20 about this same issue, a question that has not been asked, 21 but there has been information put out by the fire chief that 22 everybody's supposed to get 8 or 9 percent decrease in their 23 -- their homeowners and fire insurance because the new fire 24 station went in. I haven't found one city resident that has 25 gotten any decrease in their -- their premium because of that 4-4-11 26 1 fourth fire station. And I've still got my feelers out. 2 Haven't found one yet. And I also have not seen any kind of 3 increase in mine. I live in an area of a 9 or 10 ISO rating. 4 So, I don't think that information is really very good, nor 5 does it have any validity, in my opinion. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, the issue, I think, 7 that -- just real quick on that. And the ISO thing is one of 8 the things I've talked about a lot, is that probably every 9 insurance company looks at the ISO rating, but it's not a 10 major part of their rate structure. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Mm-hmm. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, you know, the State 13 Farms and the Allstates and the Farm Bureaus that are big 14 companies, they have a much more sophisticated approach than 15 just looking at the ISO and determining everyone's rates. I 16 mean, they look at structures and incomes and credit ratings 17 and ISO and, you know, who knows what all. And that's what 18 they're in the business of doing. That's why they've been 19 successful companies. But -- 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I think you gentlemen also got this. 21 I found it very interesting. A local citizen, from 22 information gleaned from the Kerrville city budgets, did a 23 tabulation of the Kerrville Fire Department personnel costs. 24 Of course, it includes EMS. And the conclusion of that study 25 indicated that the per-employee cost of the Kerrville Fire 4-4-11 27 1 Department, which includes EMS, since 2005 has increased by 2 76 percent. Per-employee increase since 2005, 76 percent. 3 Must be sweet over there, Mr. Lee. 4 MR. LEE: I don't know where they got their 5 information, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: City budget. Kerrville city budgets 7 is indicated as the source. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What's the per-employee cost 9 annually for salary? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Currently, it is $73,775. 11 MR. LEE: That's for a fireman? 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Fire and EMS. 13 MR. LEE: That is incorrect, sir. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Average? Adding all your 15 administrative? 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: All your benefits. 17 MR. LEE: If you add the benefits, maybe. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That includes all benefits. 19 MR. LEE: Medical and insurance. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Retirement. 21 MR. LEE: But our base salary is about $3,300. 22 3,350 is what I saw. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: This information came from a 24 citizen, gleaned from the source, Kerrville city budgets. 25 MR. LEE: Yes, sir. I will be glad to show you my 4-4-11 28 1 paycheck and show you it doesn't reflect $73,000 a year. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But, you know, Judge, the -- 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Your paycheck's increased over the 4 past few years, hasn't it? 5 MR. LEE: No, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Talking about the numbers is 8 one thing, which is astonishing. But the idea of -- 9 especially the former fire chief misleading the citizens and 10 trying to scare the citizens, I mean, he needs to have his 11 butt spanked for that kind of stuff. That is unacceptable. 12 I cannot believe Raymond Holloway did that. And I'll be 13 talking to him about it. But that's -- to me, is equally as 14 important as these numbers going up like they do, of 15 misleading our -- our public. That's bad. That's bad stuff. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Any elected officials have any 17 reports? Sheriff? 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Two things. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Rusty's got something to 20 say? 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Jail population as of this 22 morning is 145. Still climbing a little bit. Population of 23 those that have not been sentenced or gone to court or 24 anything like that is 107. So, one thing is, I want to thank 25 Len Odom and his crew. They came out and used their zipper 4-4-11 29 1 on the area that we had marked off for a garden to get the 2 inmates out and use it. We have the one security fence; I'm 3 still waiting for one -- the cut-through fence to go through. 4 But the garden area I hope to have is going to be about 200 5 feet by 220 feet, a little over an acre of land. I think 6 Tim's guys are out there probably finishing up the tiller 7 part of it, but the ground actually looks pretty good. Once 8 we get that off in the next Commissioners Court, probably 9 I'll bring a policy to y'all requesting that y'all approve 10 what is called a jail industries program. It gets 11 approved -- by law, it gets approved by the Court, and then 12 it's run by the Sheriff. And then we can actually put in a 13 garden area, and it gives me the ability to give a lot more 14 good time to inmates that are working in that area, and I 15 think it'll solve a lot of problems in our -- inside the jail 16 with inmate behavior. Plus it may postpone our having to 17 build an addition to that jail for a number of years, so 18 there could be very good benefits all the way around, for the 19 community and for the county. 20 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: That's good. 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Just something Buster's been 22 pushing for a long time. We're finally at the point maybe we 23 can get it done. But it's looking good. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why does he get all the credit? 25 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: 'Cause he's been a pain for 4-4-11 30 1 all these years. (Laughter.) He didn't get -- he didn't 2 quite get his tents and pink underwear he wanted, but -- 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We're not giving up on that, 4 are we, Judge? We want the pink underwear -- 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Sorry. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- out there tilling that 7 garden. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: There is a bill pending which would 9 allow incarceration in tents, I noticed. 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Unfortunately, Jail Commission 11 still gets the final say so, and as y'all know, right now 12 they have in there we can put them in tents, but the tent's 13 got to have a solid floor, air conditioning/heating, running 14 water, and climate controlled, you know, walls. So, I don't 15 know what -- what kind of tents they call that. And it can 16 only be done temporarily, so we're not -- by the way the law 17 reads now. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: That bill isn't through yet, either. 19 We may get something meaningful out of it. 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Wouldn't hurt my feelings. 21 We've got a security fence around it. We got the place we 22 can do it, so we're doing good. Thank you. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? Other elected 24 officials? 25 MS. BOLIN: Just one thing, Judge. 4-4-11 31 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes, ma'am? 2 MS. BOLIN: We began collecting for Center Point 3 ISD on Friday, so K.I.S.D. is the only school district we do 4 not currently collect for. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What is your tax collection 7 up to now, percentage-wise? Property tax. 8 MS. BOLIN: Well, the last time -- the last time I 9 checked -- I wasn't here last week; I was at a conference. 10 And I just came in from a doctor's appointment, so I haven't 11 been to the office, but the last time I checked, we were at 12 92. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Other elected officials? 14 MS. WHITT: We've had our first positive rabies 15 case of the year on Highway 27 across from the Lion's Camp, 16 Swap Shop area. But the property butts up to the county 17 park, so we'll be advertising that. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What was it, a coon? 19 MS. WHITT: No, it was a skunk. 20 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Skunk. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: No -- no humans involved? 22 MS. WHITT: No, no exposure. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Good. Other elected officials? 24 Department heads? Okay. Anything else to come before the 25 Court this particular meeting? We'll be adjourned. 4-4-11 32 1 (Commissioners Court meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.) 2 - - - - - - - - - - 3 4 5 6 STATE OF TEXAS | 7 COUNTY OF KERR | 8 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 9 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 10 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 11 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 12 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 4th day of April, 2011. 13 14 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 15 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 16 Certified Shorthand Reporter 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4-4-11