1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Session 10 Monday, July 8, 2013 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 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X July 8, 2013 2 PAGE 3 --- Commissioners' Comments 5 4 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for final approval concerning revision of plat for 5 Lot 1A in Camp Verde General Store, and Saint Christopher Properties, LLC, Tract Two, Pct. 2 8 6 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate actions to 7 approve and/or adopt District Court Records Archive Fee of $10, temporary increase of 8 County Clerk's Records Management & Preservation fee of $10, and Records Archive Fee of $10 9 effective 1/01/2014, which expires on 9/1/2019 and reverts back to $5 each 10 10 1.3 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 11 resolutions for participants in Kerr County Wounded Warrior Family Hill Country Adventure 13 12 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on 13 application for eligibility for Federal Surplus Property program 16 14 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 15 submit the final environmental impact document for Center Point Wastewater System to Texas Water 16 Development Board for approval 17 17 1.8 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve Amendment #2 to Agreement for Engineering 18 Services with Tetra Tech, Inc., regarding East Kerr Wastewater Project 18 19 1.9 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 20 regarding Kerr County’s Arbitrage Policy 21 21 1.11 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action regarding South Texas Blood and Tissue doing 22 a blood drive August 7, 2013, in courthouse parking lot from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 23 23 1.12 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 24 execute Agreement for Release of Driver Records to Governmental Entities between Kerr County and 25 Texas Department of Public Safety 23 3 1 I N D E X (Continued) July 8, 2013 2 PAGE 1.5 Update regarding Kerrville Public School 3 Foundation's 2013 Duck Race 26 4 1.6 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to request use of Flat Rock Lake Park for Kerrville 5 Public School Foundation's 2014 Duck Race 35 6 1.13 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to rescind Court Order #33044, Vehicle Accident 7 Reporting, and replace with updated Policy 8.08, Vehicle Accident Reporting policy 37 8 1.14 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 9 approve service at the courthouse of passport photographs and purchase of equipment 38 10 4.1 Pay Bills 44 11 4.2 Budget Amendments 45 4.3 Late Bills 46 12 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 47, 74 13 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments -- 14 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 48 15 1.10 Update regarding Alamo Colleges Greater Kerrville Center 54 16 1.15 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 17 confer with County Attorney regarding Turtle Creek Schoolhouse & Cemetery (Executive Session) -- 18 3.1 Action as may be required on matters discussed 19 in Executive Session -- 20 --- Adjourned 75 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 On Monday, July 8, 2013, 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: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 8 Let me call to order this regular meeting of the Kerr County 9 Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this day, 10 Monday, July 8, 2013, at 9 a.m. It is that time now. If you 11 would, please stand and join me in a moment of prayer, 12 followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag of our 13 country. 14 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Please be seated. At 16 this time, if there's any member of the public or audience 17 that wishes to be heard on a matter which is one of our 18 listed agenda items, this is your opportunity to come forward 19 and tell us what's on your mind. If you wish to be heard on 20 an agenda item, we'd prefer that you fill out a participation 21 form. There should be some located at the rear of the room. 22 If, for some reason, you haven't filled out a participation 23 form and wish to be heard on an agenda item, get my attention 24 in some manner when we are considering that item, and I'll 25 see that you do have the opportunity to be heard. But right 7-8-13 5 1 now, if there's any member of the public or audience that 2 wishes to be heard on a matter which is not a listed agenda 3 item for today's agenda, this is your opportunity to come 4 forward and be heard. Seeing no one seeking recognition or 5 coming forward, let's move on. Commissioner Baldwin, what do 6 you have for us today? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I don't have anything 8 I want to talk about right now. When we get into our agenda, 9 I'll have some comments and questions at that time. But I 10 appreciate your offer, thank you. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Commissioner Moser? 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Big event this week is 13 the first ever -- and I think it's an agenda item here for a 14 resolution, but Wounded Warriors. Kerr County's having an 15 event. I know the Judge is involved in it; Bruce is involved 16 in it, myself. This has been in the works for a year. 17 There's six families being brought in; all expenses are paid. 18 This is the first step, and next year it's going to be bigger 19 and better. The mayor's here; mayor's involved in it. So, 20 it's a full -- full county participation, and I think it's 21 honoring those folks who -- who sacrificed a lot, bringing 22 their families in and showing them what the Hill Country 23 hospitality really is. So, it starts on Wednesday and goes 24 all the way through the weekend. That's it. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 7-8-13 6 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Regretfully, I will not be here 2 this weekend for that Wounded Warrior event on Sunday. I 3 know lots of Commissioners will be involved, and 4 unfortunately, I will be out of town this weekend. And on a 5 different note, 4th of July, I think Sam, my oldest, summed 6 it up best. He said, "This is the best 4th of July ever." I 7 don't know -- the parade in Comfort was a huge success. I 8 haven't got a tally on the fundraising barbecue and all that 9 at the volunteer fire department, which takes place after the 10 parade in the park, and that was a big success. I'm guessing 11 there was probably somewhere around 7,000, 8,000 people come 12 for this event. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Wow. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It was a really big turnout, 15 which surprised me, being a Thursday. But I guess everyone 16 decided to start Thursday and end Sunday, 'cause there were 17 things going on for a long time, and good events. I hear 18 everything in Kerrville had a big event too. I hear they had 19 a really good fireworks display and a big event down at the 20 river. So, a very successful 4th. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that it? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's it. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, the same thing 25 Commissioner Moser was talking about, the Wounded Warriors -- 7-8-13 7 1 Second Chance Wounded Warrior thing. That's going to be a 2 good -- a good thing, I believe, and I have a group put 3 together; we're going to cook a meal for them at Lazy Hills 4 Guest Ranch on -- I think it's Friday evening, and serve the 5 volunteers as well as the warriors and their families. Road 6 and Bridge is moving along. I noticed they're working on the 7 east side of the event center this morning for the paving, 8 and just guess they'll finish that up hopefully this week, 9 and it's going to be real nice when they get all that done. 10 And I understand the stock show group is going to have their 11 fundraiser in the show barn this year. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Instead of being in the -- in 14 the event hall, where it has been held in the past. They can 15 have more room, and I understand they've already sold more 16 corporate tables than they ever have in the past. I think 17 there's up to 20 now, corporate tables for that event. 18 That'll be September the 28th, and so all that's going well. 19 We had our first door branding, as y'all well know; most 20 everybody showed up for that. And -- and the door out there 21 really wound up being a backdrop. I think it's going to be 22 in the foyer in the new Phase 2 part. But, heated up 23 branding irons for quite a while that afternoon. I think 24 we'll do it different next time, if we do it. Stood there 25 for at least two hours; that got kind of old, but it was fun. 7-8-13 8 1 Laid the thing down, and the women were able to do a lot of 2 the branding too, and some of the families -- the older 3 families around the county participated, and it will be more 4 coming. So, that's going on. And I guess that's it. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: How many brands did you end up 6 putting on the door? Do you recall? 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You know, I didn't count 8 them, but I tell you, I think there was at least 30 or 40 9 that we did that day, and more coming. And the stock show is 10 going to continue to sell rights to brand that for -- you 11 know, to continue to raise money for them. And I understand 12 it's going to be $100 per brand if somebody wants to put it 13 on there. So, it's still available; there's plenty of room 14 left on it, and it will be prominently displayed with some 15 other recognition of people who gave money, donors and 16 whatever. I think that's what Peter's talking about he 17 thinks the proper place would be. And so, anyway, that's it. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, we -- I think I too got 19 an invite to the fundraising event, and I think early bird 20 deadline is July 31st, if I'm not mistaken. And they've got 21 the gun draw as usual, which I think is a -- is a pretty big 22 draw. I think they're going to draw a pretty good crowd. 23 Let's get on with our agenda. The first item is to consider, 24 discuss, take appropriate action for final approval 25 concerning the revision of plat for Lot 1A in Camp Verde 7-8-13 9 1 General Store, set forth in Volume 8, Page 102, and St. 2 Christopher Properties, L.L.C., Tract 2, as specified in 3 Volume 1292, Page 200, and being located in Precinct 2. 4 Mr. Odom? 5 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. Terra Fortuna Properties, 6 L.L.C., would like to combine Lot 1 of Camp Verde General 7 Store, Volume 8, Page 102, with 1.5 acres from St. 8 Christopher Properties, L.L.C., Tract 2, Volume 1292, Page 9 200, in order to make Lot 1A, 4.92 acres. The public hearing 10 was held on Wednesday, December the 26th, 2012, at 9 a.m., so 11 we have that public hearing out of the way. So, at this 12 time, we ask the Court for their final approval regarding the 13 revision of plat for Lot 1A in Camp Verde General Store, 14 Volume 8, Page 102, and St. Christopher Properties, L.L.C., 15 Tract 2, Volume 1292, Page 200, Precinct 2. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 19 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? All in 20 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Thank you, Mr. 25 Odom. 7-8-13 10 1 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's move to Item 2; to consider, 3 discuss, and take appropriate actions to approve and/or adopt 4 the District Court Records Archive fee of $10 under 5 Government Code Section 51.305(b), 51.317(b)(5), and Section 6 101.0611(7-a) and the temporary increase of the County 7 Clerk's Records Management and Preservation fee of $10 under 8 Local Government Code 118.011(b) and (f), and Section 9 118.0216, and the Records Archive fee of $10 under Local 10 Government Code 118.025 effective on 1-1-2014, which expires 11 on 9-1-2019 and reverts back to $5 each, as per House Bill 12 1513 attached for reference. Ms. Pieper? 13 MS. PIEPER: Is that a mouthful, Judge? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: It is. It is. 15 MS. PIEPER: I'm talking on behalf of me and the 16 District Clerk, Robbin. The District Clerk has the Records 17 Management, but not the Records Archival. So, we have the 18 bill that would -- upon y'all's approval, that she could 19 collect the records archival fee. But this basically says it 20 all. Our fees will raise from $5 to $10 up until 2019. And 21 then will revert back to $5. And the reason this bill came 22 about is because we were not collecting enough money to get 23 all of our records retention done, and so this is for all of 24 our record retention period and the preservation and stuff 25 for that. 7-8-13 11 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 5 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? This 6 is primarily in connection with recordation procedures? 7 MS. PIEPER: That is correct. On the records 8 archival, we have to do a written plan every year, and I'm 9 writing mine right now, and y'all have seen that for the last 10 several years. So, we'll be doing that and bringing that to 11 you. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: When a document is tendered for 13 recording, say in the real -- in the Real Property records, 14 that's one of the fees that attaches to do that? 15 MS. PIEPER: That is correct. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. As opposed to a court 17 filing of a civil case? 18 MS. PIEPER: The civil cases will go up $5. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Because -- 20 MS. PIEPER: Or actually $10, $5 for the records 21 management and $5 for the records archival. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. Further question or 23 discussion? All in favor, signify by raising your right 24 hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7-8-13 12 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Thank you, Ms. 4 Pieper. In connection with recordation fees, I notice a 5 federal judge in Corpus Christi has said the MERS case can go 6 forward. There was -- the MERS people asked that the case be 7 dismissed, but the federal judge is allowing it to go 8 forward. I know there are several class action cases. Are 9 we involved in the one in Corpus or the one out of Dallas? 10 MR. HENNEKE: We're not involved in either. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: We're not involved in either? 12 MS. PIEPER: We're just kind of sitting back and 13 seeing what happens. 14 MR. HENNEKE: We had discussed the El Paso one. 15 The one with the El Paso counties and the smaller counties 16 got dismissed on a 12(b) motion. And that's been appealed to 17 the 5th Circuit. We had contacted the attorney to invite 18 him -- the Court wanted to meet with the attorney that was 19 representing Cass County and El Paso and everything, and I 20 correspond with him, but before we could schedule a time for 21 him to come down here, the federal District Court granted the 22 MERS parties' 12(b) motion to dismiss, and that has been 23 appealed to the 5th Circuit. So, the case that we were 24 looking at becoming involved in right now is pending the 25 appeal on the outright dismissal, and we hadn't joined before 7-8-13 13 1 that happened. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: 12(b) was that certification of the 3 class? 4 MR. HENNEKE: No, subject matter. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Subject matter? 6 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. Now, that was filed -- the 7 federal one that we were looking at joining was filed under 8 a racketeering and RICO type theory cause of action. There 9 are other MERS cases pending out there. Dallas has one. 10 Houston has one. But our discussion had been getting one 11 with similar size counties so we could have one where the 12 outcome would be more applicable to Kerr County. So, that's 13 why that never proceeded forward, because before we could 14 join in that one case I presented to the Court, it got 15 dismissed, and it hasn't come back down yet, if it does at 16 all. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, thank you. Let's move on to 18 Item 3; consider, discuss, take appropriate action on 19 resolutions for participants in the Kerr County Wounded 20 Warrior Family Hill Country Adventure. I put this on the 21 agenda in order to provide some memento that each of these 22 families can take home with them representing the feelings 23 and the admiration of Kerr County and its residents for -- 24 for these Wounded Warriors and their families having been 25 here in the Hill Country and participated with us in this -- 7-8-13 14 1 in this not quite a week full of activities. And there's a 2 resolution for each of the Wounded Warriors and that 3 particular warrior's family. So -- 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: May I make a comment? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Absolutely. I welcome them. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think we all probably 7 received an e-mail this morning. I read mine, and this 8 Mr. Torte, he is not going to be able to attend this program 9 because of scheduled surgeries, and so Tony was in the 10 process of replacing him this morning, I think. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, not a big deal, but 13 you're going to have to do one more, and we don't have that 14 name. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: That's fine. Yeah, that's perfectly 16 appropriate. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: These are excellent, and I 18 appreciate you doing that. I move for approval. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: And with the addition of the -- 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Whoever the new substitute is, and 23 that individual's family to be added with a like resolution? 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Correct. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. I have a motion. Do I hear a 7-8-13 15 1 second? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and a second. 5 Question or discussion? 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I just wanted to point out, I 7 think Tony Arnold has been here and addressed the Court, but 8 just to recognize the work that he's done, which has been 9 unbelievable over the past year. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Really has. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And this guy -- and I think 12 Bruce and everybody will testify that the guy's just worked 13 tirelessly on this effort, so -- raised a lot of money, and 14 he needs special recognition. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: He and Cynthia. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. That's all. There's no 17 question, Judge. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or discussion? 19 Mr. Mayor? 20 MAYOR PRATT: Yes, sir. I want to add -- reiterate 21 what Commissioner Moser said there, but also Tony's wife 22 Cynthia, she's right there with him, and she deserves a lot 23 of credit as well. The reason I'm approaching the podium is 24 that we're also recognizing these Wounded Warriors, and we 25 want to encourage the Court and all the citizens to be out on 7-8-13 16 1 the street at 6 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, and we'll 2 have the flags there, and we want all the citizens in Kerr 3 County -- Kerrville to be out there waving their flags. 4 We're going to -- we'll have a police escort escorting the 5 Wounded Warriors around, coming down Main Street, going down 6 Earl Garrett, back on Water Street. And so we're going to 7 circle, and we're -- we want all the citizens out there to 8 welcome these Wounded Warriors to the Hill Country. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I didn't know about that. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions? Comments? All 12 in favor of the 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: Motion does carry. Let's move to 17 Item 4; consider, discuss, take appropriate action on 18 application for eligibility for the Federal Surplus Property 19 Program. I put this on the agenda at the request of the 20 Federal Surplus Property Program folks. We've got to -- we 21 got to go through the process if we're going to be eligible 22 to participate with them. And I'll tell you who -- I am 23 designated, the Auditor is designated, and I've got Leonard 24 Odom designated. If there's any needs of any other 25 departments, they can certainly go through the Auditor's 7-8-13 17 1 office or my office, and we can get 'er done. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I certainly would move 3 to approve the agenda item. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And authorize you to sign? 5 Or you? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All three of them. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, yeah. It is an application we 8 do have to submit. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: All three of you will sign? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: All right, I'll second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second for 13 approval, with signatures authorized by the participants as 14 specified in the application. Question or discussion? All 15 in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 16 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 18 (No response.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let's go to Item 7; 20 to consider, discuss, take appropriate action to submit the 21 final environmental impact document for the Center Point 22 wastewater system to the Texas Water Development Board for 23 approval. Commissioner Moser? 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thank you, Judge. As you 25 know, we had a public hearing, the final step in the 7-8-13 18 1 environmental assessment for the Center Point wastewater 2 treatment facilities. Keller Drozdick is here from Tetra 3 Tech. There were no issues brought up at the public hearing, 4 and I think that's because everybody's been pretty 5 well-informed of what's happening. There was something like 6 about 50 sites that were inspected environmentally. 7 Everything was okay. So, this is -- I don't believe there's 8 any Commissioners Court action required on this. It's just 9 to give anybody here an opportunity to look at the document 10 before it's submitted. And the good news is, Texas Water 11 Development Board indicates that they can move more quickly 12 on this than they thought, which will help the schedule. So, 13 that's one of the -- one of the scheduled events that we 14 can't control, but if they can make it faster, then we're 15 going to be able to move more quickly on this. So, Keller, 16 is there anything else on that subject? 17 MR. DROZDICK: No, sir. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. It's in final form and 19 ready to go, so we will move forward. That's it, no action 20 required. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's move to Item 8; 22 consider, discuss, take appropriate action to approve 23 Amendment Number 2 to Agreement for Engineering Services with 24 Tetra Tech, Inc., regarding the East Kerr Wastewater project. 25 Commissioner Moser? 7-8-13 19 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let me add something on this. 2 We -- this amendment addresses three additional areas in the 3 Center Point project; on J.J. Lane, out further east on -- 4 west, excuse me, on Skyline Drive, several miles out, and the 5 other one was Center Point Estates, I believe. Is that 6 right, Keller? 7 MR. DROZDICK: I believe so. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, those are the three. 9 Those have been submitted, approved. The budget is within 10 the budgeted amount, using contingency funds, and Jeannie 11 Hargis has been involved in that. So, this is to approve 12 that amendment, and let me see if Keller has got anything 13 else that he wants to add to that. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 15 MR. DROZDICK: I don't have a lot to add to that. 16 Mostly I'm here in case you guys have any questions. In 17 detail, this covers the necessary environmental survey, 18 engineer planning and design work associated with those new 19 areas, just like for the rest of the project. So, we're just 20 adding the -- 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Some of that has already been 22 completed to keep the schedule on track as far as 23 environmental and survey. We're just wrapping up planning 24 now and moving into the design in a few months. That's it. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I do have a question for 7-8-13 20 1 you. Good to see you, by the way. 2 MR. DROZDICK: You too, sir. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: In the e-mails that we have 4 here -- I think this is from you to somebody -- to everybody, 5 it talks about the attachment is the Amendment 2, which is 6 with reference to the areas that we're talking about here 7 today. And the second paragraph, it says that "at that 8 time" -- I'm not sure what "that time" is -- the Water 9 Development Board has not yet approved the addition of the 10 new areas. Now, are we still talking about these areas that 11 we're talking about today, or is it something previous? 12 MR. DROZDICK: That, I believe, was an e-mail from 13 March, when we had first proposed this. We identified areas 14 to be added in the -- the associated scope of services, but 15 we had not yet got the Water Board's blessing for that 16 additional -- for the addition of that work. Since then, as 17 of -- I believe it was late May, the Water Board's reviewed 18 it and approved it. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see, okay. 20 MR. DROZDICK: The finalization of that. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see what you're saying. 22 Thank you very much. Good job. Good work, guys. 23 MR. DROZDICK: Thank you. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: If anybody can do it, it's 25 this guy right here. 7-8-13 21 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: He's doing it. Not only can; 2 has been. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to approve 4 Amendment 2 to the agreement for engineering services with 5 Tetra Tech. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and a second for the 8 agenda item. Question or discussion on the motion? All in 9 favor of that motion, signify by raising your right hand. 10 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 12 (No response.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's move 14 to Item Number 9; consider, discuss, take appropriate action 15 regarding Kerr County's arbitrage policy. Mr. Robles from 16 the Auditor's office. 17 MR. ROBLES: Commissioners, Judge, as it stands 18 now, we do have an arbitrage policy in place for when bonds 19 are issued. What we have in front of the Court today is a 20 comprehensive policy that covers everything. When Jeannie 21 and I attended the first southwest conference, they informed 22 us that the I.R.S. was stepping up everybody's enforcement on 23 noncompliance, so to stay ahead of the game, we felt it was 24 wise to do this comprehensive policy now. I sent it over to 25 Tom and Rob for review and recommendations of any changes. 7-8-13 22 1 They've done so, and that's what we have in front of you to 2 approve. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: County Attorney's reviewed the 4 policy? 5 MR. ROBLES: Yes, sir. 6 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: It's my understanding that on our 8 debt filing reports that we have to do with the I.R.S. on the 9 form, whichever form it is, -- I don't know the number -- 10 they specifically ask, "Do you have an arbitrage policy?" 11 MR. ROBLES: That is one of the boxes you have to 12 check, yes. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: If you check yes, why, you're 14 probably in greater favor with them than if you check no. 15 MR. ROBLES: I would imagine so, yes. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the reason why they have that 17 question there. 18 MR. ROBLES: Yeah. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I move approval. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 23 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 24 raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7-8-13 23 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Let's go to Item 4 11, if we might; to consider, discuss, take appropriate 5 action regarding the South Texas Blood and Tissue doing a 6 blood drive August the 7th, 2013, in the county courthouse 7 parking lot from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Ms. Lantz? 8 MS. LANTZ: Morning, Judge. Good morning, 9 Commissioners. This is the second blood drive that the South 10 Texas Blood and Tissue usually does for the year, so they've 11 requested that particular date, if that works for the Court. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And we just need to approve the 13 date? 14 MS. LANTZ: Yes. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move approval of the agenda 16 item. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 19 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? All in 20 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's go to 25 Item 12; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action to 7-8-13 24 1 execute an agreement for release of driver records to 2 government entities between Kerr County and Texas Department 3 of Public Safety. Agreement will allow Kerr County to 4 receive driver record checks which are no longer provided by 5 our current insurance carrier. Ms. Lantz? 6 MS. LANTZ: Basically, this is an agreement between 7 Kerr County and Texas Department of Public Safety in order to 8 get our driving records for the insurance carrier. We run it 9 when they're employed, and also once a year when we renew our 10 policy. And this will allow us to get the records free of 11 charge through D.P.S. And I did send this agreement over to 12 the County Attorney, and he has looked at it. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 16 approval. Question or discussion? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Question. "Agreement will 18 allow Kerr County to receive driver record checks which are 19 no longer provided by the insurance carrier"? 20 MS. LANTZ: Yes, sir. That -- TAC used to provide 21 that for us. They ran them once a year, and that's how they 22 excluded employees who no longer could be on the policy, or 23 alerted us to the drivers that we had to let know that they 24 could no longer drive county vehicles. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And why do they no longer do 7-8-13 25 1 it, is really my question. 2 MS. LANTZ: I think -- I'm not certain why. It's 3 just -- there's several -- 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And the reason that we look 5 at background -- do a background check, driving background 6 check, is because of -- for insurance purposes? 7 MS. LANTZ: Yes, sir. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And so our insurance company 9 used to do that background work? 10 MS. LANTZ: Yes. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: For their own selves, and 12 they no longer -- I'm a little bit confused by all that, but 13 whatever. Now, I -- I can see a major concern about the 14 privacy issue in this whole thing. Do you -- are you real 15 comfortable that we're -- that folks' driving record and -- 16 and personal issues are -- will remain private? 17 MS. LANTZ: They'll remain in H.R. They will not 18 be released out to the public, or -- 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: They even talked about in 20 this document here in here, how important that is. 21 MS. LANTZ: No, it's basically like our other 22 background checks that we do; it remains in H.R., and we 23 don't disclose that information to anyone. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. Okay, thank you. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Might keep us from hiring 7-8-13 26 1 somebody that has a bad driving record; we couldn't get them 2 insured. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: I think as part of a new employee 4 coming on, there's a -- the employee or prospective employee 5 agrees to those types of background checks on a periodic 6 basis. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I see. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: So that we won't have people driving 9 our equipment that otherwise are not insurable. And -- 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, maybe I'm watching too 11 much TV or something. I've seen those guys in Washington, 12 you know, keeping an eye on every move that we make these 13 days, and just -- just kind of a -- it's kind of a cousin to 14 that kind of stuff. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Internet and phone calls? 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: I see. Okay. Any other questions 18 or comments? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 19 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 does carry. Let's go 24 back to our 9:30 timed item, since we've reached that time 25 now. Item Number 5, an update regarding Kerrville Public 7-8-13 27 1 School Foundation's 2013 Duck Race. 2 MS. McCULLOUGH: Yes. Thank you so much for having 3 us here today, this morning. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Have we already had it? 5 MS. McCULLOUGH: We have had the duck race. It was 6 at Flat Rock Park. And this morning, I just want -- I'm 7 Denise McCullough, and this is Cayce McCormick. We're board 8 members of the Public School Foundation. So, in front of you 9 is just some information about the Public School Foundation 10 that I want to share with you. We want to let you know how 11 the duck race went this year, and where the funds that we 12 raised are allocated. We are a 501(c)(3), which is a 13 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to serve as a 14 catalyst for involving the community in the enhancement and 15 achievement of academic excellence for the children of 16 Kerrville ISD by providing financial assistance not available 17 through state or local funding, which is why we have our big 18 duck race, to raise those funds. There's a list of our Board 19 of Directors in here for you. We have a hardworking board; 20 everybody is responsible for some aspects of what we do in 21 the Public School Foundation. We're out in the community, 22 and it is a great board to be on. 23 This year, with our funds that we raised through 24 the -- not only the duck race, but through donations from the 25 community, we were able to award over $24,000 in classroom 7-8-13 28 1 grants to teachers in Kerrville ISD. They apply for those 2 grants. We review them as a committee of the Board of 3 Directors, and then award those out in the schools. And this 4 year, we were able to award those grants to Kerrville ISD 5 where it actually impacted every single campus in our 6 district, from early childhood through Tivy High School. So, 7 we haven't done that in a while, and that was really fun to 8 do. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's fantastic. 10 MS. McCULLOUGH: It was great. Great day. And we 11 also award scholarships. We had four named scholarships that 12 we gave to four seniors this year, and then we award $10,000 13 in A.P. scholarships. The A.P. program is a program that the 14 district participates in. They're classes that the students 15 can take at the high school, and they are accelerated 16 learning classes, helping them be prepared to go to college, 17 to take college courses. When they complete those courses, 18 they can take an A.P. exam, and based on the scores that they 19 get, they can receive college credit. So, our desire is that 20 by offering these scholarships to the top 10-point earners, 21 that each one receives a $1,000 scholarship, that they will 22 be more interested in taking those A.P. classes. And 23 Dr. Troxel has told us this year, they do have a record 24 number of kids enrolled. Enrollment has gone up every year 25 in the A.P. courses, so that's -- and a record number of 7-8-13 29 1 kids. Over 200 kids -- or over 200 tests that were taken 2 this year, so also a good thing. We're also in really good 3 financial shape. We have an endowment that right now is 4 valued at over $600,000, and our goal is in the next few 5 years to bring that up to about 750,000. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What does "E.E.E." stand for? 7 MS. McCORMICK: I will get the letters in the wrong 8 order, but it's education, excellence, endowment. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Sounds perfect. 10 MS. McCORMICK: Not in that order. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thank you. 12 MS. McCULLOUGH: And one of the things that we're 13 really proud of is that our staff and faculty here in 14 Kerrville ISD really supports the Kerrville Public School 15 Foundation. We have a payroll donation program where the 16 faculty and staff can say, "I would like $5 or $10 out of 17 every paycheck to go to the Public School Foundation," and 18 through those donations we bring in over $13,000 every year, 19 so they are really supporting the Public School Foundation 20 and what we're trying to do in supporting them. We also 21 provide the stipend for an endowed chair in science. Peggy 22 Thompson -- you might know her -- has been a longtime teacher 23 in Kerrville ISD, and she's our endowed science chair, and 24 she works with all the science teachers from Pre-K through 25 high school, helping to really build the program, try new 7-8-13 30 1 things, innovation, and it's been a great success. We're 2 hoping to add a math endowed chair also. 3 This year, we were so excited to have the 4 opportunity to have the duck race at Flat Rock Park. The 5 first time we went out just to see if it might be an option, 6 we were thrilled. Just the location, the proximity to the 7 water, it just turned out to be a great place to be. We felt 8 like all the activities that were going on up on the grass, 9 on the lawn, you were still really involved with the big duck 10 drop and the canoe races, and, you know, it was just a great, 11 great day, so thank you so much for letting us be there this 12 year. And, you know, get the word out that we were in a new 13 place, and just have a lot of fun. It was great day. 14 We also this year for the first time awarded our 15 teacher of the year; we had one elementary and one secondary 16 teacher who were selected. Mr. Moser's wife Nelwyn was on 17 the board with us -- on the committee that selected those 18 teachers. It was a rigorous process for them. They had to 19 be nominated, they had to provide a portfolio, to be videoed 20 in their classroom, and then go through an interview process. 21 And we were able to recognize one elementary, who was Dee Ann 22 Foley, and one secondary teacher, who was Leslie Lidiak, as 23 teacher of the year, and award them with a check for $2,500. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Wow. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Goodness gracious. 7-8-13 31 1 MS. McCULLOUGH: Really great program. Great 2 program that we are looking forward to continuing. So, 3 that's a little bit about us. Again, the Public School 4 Foundation duck race was just great, and what we're hoping to 5 do is have it there again next year at Flat Rock Park. And 6 our date is April 26th -- 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: April 26th? 8 MS. McCULLOUGH: -- of 2014. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: We're going to get to that in just a 10 minute. 11 MS. McCULLOUGH: Oh, I'm sorry. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: This thing's more than just 13 a little old duck race, isn't it? 14 MS. McCULLOUGH: It really is. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I am big-time impressed. 16 MS. McCULLOUGH: It really is. And it really is 17 all for the kids and for K.I.S.D., for those teachers who 18 work really hard and put their efforts into teaching these 19 kids. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What -- in the surrounding 22 area, what other school districts have such a foundation? 23 MS. McCULLOUGH: There are a number of public 24 school foundations in Texas. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Are there? 7-8-13 32 1 MS. McCULLOUGH: Yes. Most large districts have a 2 public school foundation, and they function very similarly to 3 what we do, where they're supporting financially their 4 district. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Mm-hmm. 6 MS. McCULLOUGH: And enrichment activities, things 7 that -- especially with funding cuts of late, that the 8 district's not able to provide. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 10 MS. McCULLOUGH: So, for this size of a district 11 that we are, and for the size of community that we are, we're 12 a fairly large public school foundation. But if you go to 13 Dallas or Houston or Austin, you know, they're working on a 14 much grander scale. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, okay. Good. 16 Congratulations. 17 MS. McCULLOUGH: Thank you. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: With regards to Flat Rock Park and 19 the needs which you have to put on this duck race event, 20 whatever, all the totality of those needs, what -- what is 21 lacking, if anything, down in Flat Rock that we might look to 22 providing to you in the future? 23 MS. McCULLOUGH: One area that -- we were certainly 24 able to function fine. We have a band that comes out that 25 day. We have a number of inflatables that we blow up for the 7-8-13 33 1 kids to play on, and so electricity is something that we 2 need. And at the moment, there's only one spot where the 3 electrical is, and so those activities had to be in one area, 4 which was a little bit further from the water. Just because 5 we didn't want to have cords running and -- you know, we 6 didn't want people to get hurt or tripped or anything like 7 that. So, it works fine; it functions fine. If there was 8 the opportunity to have electrical in a different area, where 9 we didn't have to have all of those things right together in 10 one place, that would be even better. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, a generator. 12 MS. McCULLOUGH: Generator would probably work, 13 yes. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Now, the electrical, it's probably 15 located more on what I'd call the upside of the park. 16 MS. McCULLOUGH: Yes, it is. 17 MS. McCORMICK: Yes. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: You understand why that is? 19 MS. McCULLOUGH: Yes, we do. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: 'Cause that -- all of that lower 21 portion of the park is in the floodplain. 22 MS. McCULLOUGH: Exactly. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Doesn't work too well with 24 electricity. 25 MS. McCULLOUGH: Again, it works perfectly for us, 7-8-13 34 1 but that was just the one and only thing. Really, that was 2 not even an issue. Just -- 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The Board of Directors, I'm 5 just curious about this. 6 MS. McCULLOUGH: Mm-hmm? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know them, and I'm 8 curious. How many of these people of your board are Tivy 9 graduates? 10 MS. McCULLOUGH: Oh. Lee is. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Some are? 12 MS. McCULLOUGH: There are some. 13 MS. McCORMICK: Yes, there are some that are. 14 MS. McCULLOUGH: I think there are two or three 15 right now who are, and -- 16 MS. McCORMICK: We're bringing on a new one this 17 fall. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's amazing. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Are you angling for a spot on the 20 board? 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, absolutely not. I just 22 find it amazing that folks that, you know, don't have really 23 a connection here are serving on this board and doing all 24 these fantastics things. It's great. 25 MS. McCULLOUGH: We have quite a diverse board. 7-8-13 35 1 Diverse in age, diverse in background. There are community 2 business members who now are older who don't even have 3 children in K.I.S.D. There are people like me who have three 4 children in K.I.S.D. So, there are people who have an 5 education background. There are people who are business 6 members. So, it's a good -- 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I got to tell you, 8 Commissioner Oehler and I are old Tivy running backs. We're 9 now pulling tackles. We're way too big. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Speak for yourself. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But thank you guys so much. 12 That's fantastic. 13 MS. McCULLOUGH: Thank you. 14 MS. McCORMICK: Thank you. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Any more questions for these ladies? 16 Thank you for your help. We're glad to have you there. 17 MS. McCULLOUGH: Thank you so much. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Good report. And if you just hang 19 loose there for a minute, let me go to Item 6; to consider, 20 discuss, take appropriate action to request use of Flat Rock 21 Lake Park for the Kerrville Public School Foundation's 2014 22 Duck Race. And that date is? 23 MS. McCULLOUGH: April 26th. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: April 26th, 2014? 25 MS. McCULLOUGH: Yes, sir. 7-8-13 36 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And we'll ask Jody to 3 double-check that date so we don't double-book. And get back 4 to them? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Subject to that only. And I -- I 6 wish I could tell you that I have the ability to check that, 7 but I don't. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I understand. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I move that we enable the duck 11 race to be held on April 26th, 2014. Not '13, right? 2014. 12 Contingent on not being in conflict with some other previous 13 obligation. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: That's already nailed down. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Motion made and seconded. 19 Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by raising 20 your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: As you might imagine, Ms. Grinstead 25 is on vacation, and I think she'll be back, what, next week? 7-8-13 37 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: And at that point, we can determine 3 if that's a good date. I -- I seriously doubt if it's 4 already booked, but we don't want to mess in her business. 5 Okay? 6 MS. McCULLOUGH: Okay. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. 8 MS. McCORMICK: Thank you. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: We appreciate y'all being here. 10 Okay, let's go to Item 13; to consider, discuss, and take 11 appropriate action to rescind Court Order Number 33044, 12 Vehicle Accident Reporting, and replace with updated Policy 13 8.08, Vehicle Accident Reporting policy. Ms. Lantz? 14 MS. LANTZ: This is part of the TAC pool changes 15 that we made, where H.R. is now going to be submitting the 16 claims on accidents. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Handling all claims? 18 MS. LANTZ: Yes, sir. Basically, it was just 19 removing the County Treasurer's office out of this vehicle 20 reporting policy. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Moves it over to you? 22 MS. LANTZ: Yes, changing it to H.R. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I move approval of the agenda 24 item. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 7-8-13 38 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 2 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 3 raising your right hand. 4 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 6 (No response.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Thank you, Ms. 8 Lantz. Let's go to Item 14; to consider, discuss, take 9 appropriate action to approve service at the courthouse of a 10 passport -- passport photographs and purchase of equipment. 11 Ms. Burlew? 12 MS. BURLEW: Yes, sir. How are y'all doing this 13 morning? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Doing well. 15 MS. BURLEW: Good. I'm bringing this before the 16 Court to see about actually taking photographs for passports 17 in our office. I think that we could -- you know, I mean, it 18 won't be a whole lot of revenue, but it would be more revenue 19 to the office and to the county. And in doing that, then I 20 would have to purchase a camera to, you know, take the 21 photographs. And so we're looking at anywhere from probably, 22 I mean, 700 probably to about 1,400. But I have some money 23 in the budget. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: What -- what percentage of your 25 passport applicants show up with their application complete, 7-8-13 39 1 or complete subject to maybe clarification on a couple of 2 questions, that don't already have their photographs? 3 MS. BURLEW: Well, most of them, I mean, they call 4 first. So, you know, we advise them then that they have to 5 go elsewhere to get their photographs. But -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 7 MS. BURLEW: -- I was just thinking if we could 8 offer that service, you know, that would help us as far as, 9 like I say, revenue and so forth. But, I mean, most of them 10 do; I'm going to say probably -- oh, probably 70 percent. 11 You know, but like I say, we do get a lot of calls, and so 12 then we advise them of what they need to bring, and as far as 13 their birth certificates, and where to go to get photographs 14 taken. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Where do they get photographs 16 taken in the city? 17 MS. BURLEW: They used to have, like, about four 18 options. Now they're limited to maybe two, I think. Of 19 course, Walgreen's, sometimes, you know, we have to -- they 20 have to go back over there, 'cause the photographs are not in 21 the right format. But most of the time, that's where they 22 go, is Walgreen's. But I think Walmart used to offer it, but 23 they had a lot of issues with their photographs at Walmart, 24 so I haven't seen too many people going to Walmart and having 25 their photos taken. So -- but like I said, there was about 7-8-13 40 1 four way back when we started years ago taking the -- the 2 passports. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, we'd be competing with 4 Walgreen's? 5 MS. BURLEW: Yes, sir. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- the -- I mean, used to 7 be you had to have the special cameras that took four 8 simultaneous, but now I don't think you need that. 9 MS. BURLEW: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: With digital, you just need the 11 proper format, and you can print four copies. 12 MS. BURLEW: Right. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or I think it's four copies you 14 need. 15 MS. BURLEW: I know Walgreen's charges, like, $10 16 per photo, so -- 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That was going to be my 18 question. What would your charges be? 19 MR. HENNEKE: Do other -- other District Clerks' 20 offices do this? 21 MS. BURLEW: That I have not checked into, to see 22 if they do. I know back -- we checked into it years ago, but 23 I don't remember the statistics of, you know, who all was 24 offering it. I'm sure it's just probably a couple. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I suspect -- 7-8-13 41 1 MS. BURLEW: Bigger counties. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- the reason people aren't 3 doing it is because with the digital cameras nowadays, you 4 can almost do them yourself. You just have to have the form 5 right, I mean, as -- I mean, I'm -- 6 MS. BURLEW: I know I have not seen anyone come in, 7 you know, that's actually done the photos themselves. You 8 know, most of the time they do go out and get them taken. 9 But I just thought that might be a service we could offer. 10 But -- 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Of course, if -- if you got into 12 doing that, why, of course, when people would call you in 13 advance, you'd advise them you have the capability of doing 14 that. 15 MS. BURLEW: Right. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: But what I'd like to see you do, 17 Ms. Burlew, is put together -- number one, maybe go on 18 Listserv and see what other passport-issuing offices outside 19 of government offices are doing this, and what -- you know, 20 what kind of response they're getting. 21 MS. BURLEW: Okay. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: And secondary to that, coming back 23 with a specific proposal of specific equipment, specific 24 cost. 25 MS. BURLEW: Cost. 7-8-13 42 1 JUDGE TINLEY: And -- and let us take a look at 2 that. Because -- 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And an estimated revenue. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, yeah. The estimated revenue, 5 of course, is something that's probably just going to be a 6 SWAG. But -- but the best you can -- best you can do, but 7 come back with some more specifics on it. 8 MS. BURLEW: Okay. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: After maybe polling some other 10 issuing offices that do this kind of thing, and see what -- 11 see what kind of feedback you get. It may well be that some 12 of them have tried it, and -- and after a while they bailed 13 on it because it wasn't successful, or it may be going 14 gangbusters. Who knows? You know. 15 MS. BURLEW: Okay, I will do that. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, I appreciate that. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: How many passports are you 18 issuing a year now, or renewing or issuing new ones? 19 MS. BURLEW: Oh, I'm going to say I average 20 probably -- just off the top of my head, I'm going to say 21 probably around four -- probably 400 to 500. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Each year? 23 MS. BURLEW: Each year. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 25 MS. BURLEW: And, of course, it depends on, you 7-8-13 43 1 know, vacation time, depending on the -- you know, if we get 2 more people in. But, you know, some days we get -- that's 3 all we do all day, is passports. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I know the process in San Antonio is 5 you call and make an appointment, and it is way out there. 6 And if you're not where you're supposed to be at that 7 specific time, you're out. My daughter had that difficulty, 8 and I -- by the time I learned of it, I said, "Well, you can 9 come up here and just get 'er done like that," and she said, 10 "Well, my appointment is..." -- I don't know, later that same 11 week, so she said she was going to try it there. 12 MS. BURLEW: Yeah, we -- 13 JUDGE TINLEY: I understand we get a lot of people 14 from San Antonio. 15 MS. BURLEW: Right, San Antonio. And we don't 16 require them to make an appointment. You know, they can 17 just walk in 8:00 to 5:00. We take them all the way up to 18 5 o'clock, even stay after if it's necessary. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Great. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think the Judge is right; 21 come back with a specific proposal and cost, and an estimated 22 amount. And I think if it was offered here, people would 23 sure enough take advantage of it. That way they wouldn't 24 have to go somewhere else to have it done. But on the other 25 hand, it does compete with private enterprise. That's the 7-8-13 44 1 part I don't like. 2 MS. BURLEW: Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But other than that, I 4 think -- I mean, it is a service that we're providing. A lot 5 of those are not in-county people. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 7 MS. BURLEW: Okay, thank you for your time. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. Okay. It's not 9 quite 10 o'clock for us to go back to our 10 o'clock timed 10 item yet. Why don't -- the item -- Item 15, I assume you 11 want to go into executive on that? 12 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. It won't take long, but I 13 would like to discuss it with the Court in executive session, 14 maybe five minutes. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, so I'll skip over that one 16 right now. Let's go to Section 4 of the agenda. Item 4.1, 17 payment of the bills. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move we pay the bills. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to pay the 21 bills. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 22 raising your right hand. 23 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 7-8-13 45 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Budget amendments. 2 I've been presented with a budget amendment request summary 3 of seven different budget amendments as indicated on the 4 summary sheet. Do I hear a motion to approve the indicated 5 budget amendments as set forth on the summary request sheet? 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes, I move approval. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to approve 9 the budget amendments as designated, Items 1 through 7 on the 10 budget amendment request sheet. Question or discussion on 11 that? 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Only thing I would say, it 13 looks to me like -- knock on wood, but it looks like our 14 Court-appointed attorney line item is -- is still quite 15 healthy, which is good to see, because that's not always the 16 case. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, you're exactly right, 18 Commissioner. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Another observation I'd make, at 20 this point in the year, we don't seem to have as many budget 21 amendments as we have had. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We have not had as many. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: As last year. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not nearly as many. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: That's good. That means the budget 7-8-13 46 1 process is working better. Any other question or discussion? 2 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 3 hand. 4 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 6 (No response.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Late bills. 8 MR. ROBLES: Yes, sir, we have one late bill, and 9 two Fund 32 bills. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What is Fund 32? 12 MR. ROBLES: That's the Community Development 13 grant. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 15 MR. ROBLES: The ones for that was to the Kerrville 16 Daily Times for advertisement, and Grantworks for the sewer 17 construction contract. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: All right. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We need a motion? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to pay the 22 late bill and Fund 32 bills. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 25 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 7-8-13 47 1 raising your right hand. 2 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 4 (No response.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. I've been presented 6 with monthly reports from Justice of the Peace -- it says 7 Dawn Wright. I don't believe that's correct. It should be 8 J.R. Hoyne. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Been a while, hasn't it? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, 11 William Ragsdale; District Clerk; Constable, Precinct 1; 12 Constable, Precinct 4, for June; Constable, Precinct 4, for 13 July; and Treasurer for June. Do I hear a motion that the 14 indicated reports are approved as presented? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded that the 18 indicated reports are approved as presented. Question or 19 discussion? All in favor, signify by raising your right 20 hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let's go to 25 Section 5, if we might. Reports from Commissioners in 7-8-13 48 1 connection with their liaison or assignments. Commissioner 2 Baldwin? 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, sir. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Moser? 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Not a thing. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nothing, sir. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Nope. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, we'll go to reports from 11 elected officials and/or department heads. I'll start over 12 here on my left. 13 MS. PIEPER: None. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Pieper? Mr. Garcia? 15 MR. GARCIA: Just an update for the Commissioners 16 on your -- some of your low-water crossings, for illegal 17 dumping increase most recently at Brinks Crossing. We had 18 quite a large or huge dump site, everything from barbecue 19 grills to household trash and whatnot, in the immediate 20 proximity of the river. So, that was cleaned up immediately, 21 called in by Commissioner Letz as he was driving by there. 22 But for your constituents, you can inform them also that we, 23 and as well as the Sheriffs, we pass through there, and we're 24 informing the public to make sure that whatever you pack in, 25 you pack out. Now, specifically in Brinks Crossing for 7-8-13 49 1 Precinct 2, that's been a chronic problem. Those adjacent 2 landowners there, the dumping has moved into their properties 3 now, into their fields. We've run surveillance. Again, 4 catching these folks is pretty much a roll of the dice in 5 terms of getting them at night or whenever they may dump. 6 Other low water crossings, not so much of a problem. With 7 the constant patrolling from the guys down in Environmental 8 Health, and again, the Sheriff's deputies, it's just 9 something that we have to deal with during these summer 10 months. The receptacles -- the trash receptacles have all 11 been removed, and I don't know who had those there at -- some 12 of the ones out in west Kerr, if they were TexDOT -- 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't know. 14 MR. GARCIA: I don't know. The other receptacles 15 were put there by actual landowners that were trying to 16 mitigate illegal dumping in those areas. U.G.R.A. has a 17 contracted person to clean up the low water crossings, but 18 that is specifically for the river area and just up on the 19 banks, that's it, where the public has access. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The -- on Brinks Crossing, I 21 know for a fact that a lady went out the other day and picked 22 up 40 diapers. She picked up about 15 bags of trash, and 23 they were picked up by somebody else. I think we need to do 24 something, do some creative thinking. And I've talked to Len 25 Odom at Road and Bridge about Brinks Crossing in particular, 7-8-13 50 1 about there's no receptacles or anything out there. There's 2 an apprehension about, you know, the narrow right-of-way, of 3 putting receptacles out there, but I think we need to figure 4 out some way, between Environmental Health and Road and 5 Bridge and U.G.R.A., that we can't remedy this, because there 6 is a lot of contamination going in the river, and I know out 7 in west Kerr, it's very clean out there, but there are a lot 8 of receptacles in that area, probably, which helps a lot. 9 But there's also the problem of people putting in household 10 garbage. Anyway, you know, -- 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We don't have that. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- every problem's got a 13 solution. I think we need to look at this real problem and 14 figure out solutions. So -- 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We don't have a real bad 16 problem with household so much any more. We've just got 17 trash cans. We have them at the boat ramp, Ingram Dam; we 18 have them at -- actually have two up at Hunt Crossing. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Mm-hmm. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We don't have -- we don't 21 take care of Schumacher. But those are -- to my knowledge, I 22 believe Bobby sometimes goes out with his inmates and empties 23 those on Mondays and Fridays. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Who does it? 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Bobby Johnson with the 7-8-13 51 1 Sheriff's Department, inmates. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, who picks them up at the 3 other places? Is that TexDOT or -- 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, TexDOT has a contract 5 with somebody to do that. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. So, they -- 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We just started -- you know, 8 that's something that we just started doing. It doesn't cost 9 anything, but it eliminates that problem. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. So, anyway, I was 11 thinking about, after Commissioners Court today, getting Ray, 12 if he's got time, to go out to Road and Bridge and see if we 13 can do some creative thinking of what might be done, 14 especially at Brinks, 'cause it's -- it's -- I think, as 15 Commissioner Letz said, it's bad. 16 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: At Brinks, we also need to 17 look at a lot of the signage on the No Parking. We're having 18 a lot of issues with the way that is. And, you know, we 19 talked about it last year, but Brinks is, by far, one 20 crossing in the county that brings up more concern than any 21 other one. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: It's a long way from where 23 they park down to the river, and when they create trash down 24 there, they're not going to carry it all the way back to the 25 car. When they get back to the car, there's no place to put 7-8-13 52 1 it anyway. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Brinks is an issue all the way 3 around because of the narrow right-of-ways. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: But if there is discussion on 6 Brinks, I think it needs to be, you know, broadened out. The 7 trash, the parking, everything needs to be -- 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right, agreed. 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: -- brought up on the table and 10 discussed about Brinks. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We talked with some of the 13 landowners in the past about trying to figure out how to 14 solve that problem. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Mm-hmm. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They're sympathetic, but at the 17 same time, they're afraid it's going to make it worse if 18 they -- 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yeah. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- let their property be used 21 for parking and some of that. They're kind of -- last year, 22 I talked to -- well, the owner of Shelton's property. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And they're -- they understand 25 it, but they just don't want to make it worse. They're 7-8-13 53 1 afraid by opening up the property, it's just going to get 2 worse and encourage it. 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I agree. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it is -- it's a problem 5 there. It's a bad corner. There's not much parking 6 anywhere; people park in the road, almost. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And then -- but the trash that 9 was there, I don't know -- what was it, Friday? It was -- I 10 called Ray. It was terrible. Somebody threw out a bunch of 11 garbage a few feet -- probably less than 2 feet from the 12 river. 13 MR. GARCIA: We picked up eight garbage bags full 14 of trash and, you know, three barbecue pits. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: It was a week before that that 16 lady went down there on her own and cleaned everything up. 17 MR. GARCIA: And that's not -- right, that's not 18 including what she does down on the river banks. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It is a problem area. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, we're going to work on a 21 solution to that. Treasurer? 22 MS. SOLDAN: No. 23 MS. BURLEW: No, sir. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: District Clerk? 25 MS. BURLEW: No, sir. 7-8-13 54 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Auditor? Sheriff? 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Just quickly, jail population 3 seems to be holding its own and doing pretty well right now. 4 This morning, we were at 117, 21 females. And I think with 5 the redistricting, we're -- hopefully, we'll even see more 6 improvement on that. One issue we are having, and that will 7 continue -- and you'll see part of it's in the budget that 8 we'll talk about, but it's jail medical issues. We're having 9 a lot more medical issues coming out of the jail, and those 10 costs are going up drastically that we're just going to have 11 to deal with. There's nothing I can do; it's just been a bad 12 year with medical issues coming in. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir. County Attorney? 14 MR. HENNEKE: No, sir. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's go back to our agenda, 16 to Shawna. Item Number 10, an update regarding Alamo 17 Colleges Greater Kerrville Center. Shawna Fahrenthold. 18 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Good morning. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Morning. 20 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: I would like to start by thanking 21 you guys. Thank you for your help on the welding building. 22 Thank you for allowing some funds to be cleared up for us to 23 complete the electrical to get that project going. I'm -- it 24 took everything that we had to get that building running. It 25 is running. It is going. We've trained 17 adults. One of 7-8-13 55 1 those was a Fox Tank employee. The other 16 paid cash to 2 take that course, so -- so there is some interest in it, even 3 for people who are having to pay out of pocket. That's -- 4 you know, its $575 for them to take 40 hours of training, so 5 that's some expense to them. It's not an extreme high 6 expense, but it is an expense to them to take the training, 7 but it does show their desire to get a skill, to get a job. 8 Recently, a couple weeks ago -- and I asked Judge Tinley to 9 come by. We -- we, Alamo Colleges, paid for the instructor, 10 and we had seven youth who went through training, ages 14 to 11 18. Only one of those young men had any experience welding. 12 When he walked in that door, he was the only one, and he had 13 taken it as an ag mechanics course at school. The others had 14 not had any training in welding at all. 15 We had three that really excelled, just really, 16 really excelled. We sat out there a lot of days, just 17 because they were youth; we didn't -- we didn't want any 18 horseplay going on, so we not only had the instructor, but 19 one of my staff sat and just observed, and I did several days 20 myself, and it was a really amazing thing for me to watch 21 these young men walk in and have no skill, go through a 22 little frustration period. I had one student who was really, 23 really frustrated 'cause he could not do the vertical weld, 24 and so we changed him to the overhead weld. His very first 25 weld was perfect, just unbelievable. He got past that 7-8-13 56 1 frustration. So, I think that of those seven young men, we 2 have three potential welders for sure, hopefully seven when 3 it -- when it -- you know, as maturity and things go with 4 them. So, we're real excited about that. That's something 5 that I would love to continue. It's a budget thing, so we 6 have to -- we'll have to work on that in order to have that. 7 I have -- we had an article in the paper, and I've had some 8 calls since then from parents who are interested in their 9 youth taking a welding course, summer course, in the summer. 10 So -- 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: May I ask you a question? 12 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Sure. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Of the ones that paid the 575, 14 do you know how many of those got jobs after they completed 15 the welding course? 16 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: That is not an answer I know off 17 the top of my head. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 19 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: I know for certain one got a job, 20 but I have not -- I have not followed up with the others. 21 But I will have Dana do that, who is my employee that's over 22 the welding. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And one other question. How 24 often do you have the classes? 25 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: They're just -- they're sporadic. 7-8-13 57 1 And we do that because I have to have a certain amount of 2 students to make the class. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Sure. 4 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: And so we have to -- we have to, 5 you know, find those students, either get them -- find them 6 funding for them be able to have funding. You know, we've 7 had some -- we've had some students -- potential students who 8 have called and said, "I'm going to quit my job when I can 9 get in the welding training,' cause they're -- you know, 10 they're confident that they can get that -- that welding job 11 after they're out. So, it's just -- they're just sporadic. 12 We'll, you know, probably have them more often once Fox Tank 13 gets their A.P.I. certification or stamp and they can start 14 hiring more employees, and then that'll make it more 15 accessible. Another thing that we ran into is that C.E. 16 courses aren't covered by a FAFSA; your federal Pell Grant 17 doesn't pay for C.E. type courses. But there's TPEG. It's a 18 Texas Pell Grant, and it does pay for C.E. type courses, but 19 those funds ran out for the year, and so we haven't been able 20 to provide any financial aid to these students. That will 21 change in August. In August-September, we'll be able for 22 these students to apply for financial aid to attend this 23 course, and -- and they will get some. You know, we will 24 have students who qualify, who will get that, and that will 25 help some other students get in. Now, it's not easy for 7-8-13 58 1 everyone to come up with $575 to go through a week of 2 training. You know, pretty -- you know, it's just not easy 3 for them. And -- but we were surprised at how many that we 4 did have. 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think what you'll also 6 see -- I noticed it last week in the jail -- is that I've 7 seen correspondence going out from some of those that are 8 more minor offenders talking about trying to get into that 9 welding class so that they could get a career going. So, I 10 think the benefits of that could help us all, all the way 11 around, whether it's recidivism in the jail or a 12 rehabilitation-type deal. 13 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Right, yes. 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: It's a good program. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: What about Workforce? 16 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Workforce Solutions? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: What kind of assistance are you 18 getting from Workforce? 19 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: We've had one -- one student that 20 came through Workforce that was qualified with their -- they 21 have guidelines, and we have had one student that came 22 through training that was paid for by Workforce. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 24 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: They have some steps that they 25 have to -- guidelines that they have to fall into in order to 7-8-13 59 1 be given those funds. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Are -- are students that want to 3 take this kind of vocational training eligible for the grant 4 or scholarship funding that old Neil Griffin was kind enough 5 to make, that million dollar gift? 6 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: At this time, it's purely 7 academic scholarships, but I think it's something that we 8 should have a discussion with him to see if some money would 9 be transferred, for lack of a better word, to C.E. for people 10 to be trained. Because I think that in -- I mean, in his 11 vision, I don't know that it was necessarily that he expected 12 these people with scholarships to take just completely 13 academic courses, but to get some skill. So, that is 14 something that we need to research with him and see if that 15 would be an availability. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't you tell us about what -- 17 other than the welding components out there, what other 18 improvements that you folks made to that building, and what 19 additional uses can be -- can now be made of it that wouldn't 20 have been utilized before. 21 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: We -- of course, with you -- with 22 the City and the County's help, we got -- we upgraded the 23 electrical. We did -- we did two new bathrooms. The 24 bathrooms had to be completely renovated to make them A.D.A., 25 so two completely new bathrooms. Fireproofing spray was 7-8-13 60 1 sprayed on all structural beams in that building, and that 2 was pretty costly. So, those were the major things. We -- 3 we built a pipe rail around the loading dock for safety 4 purposes, just so nobody would walk up and fall in there. 5 I'm trying to think. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Classroom. 7 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: The classroom -- yes. We -- we 8 put tile in all of the offices, classroom, and in front of 9 the bathrooms. The bathrooms kind of open up into the shop 10 area, so they're not in an enclosed area, but we laid ceramic 11 tile throughout the offices and bathrooms and the classroom. 12 We've had -- I've had some A/C repair come out and be done. 13 Had to put up self-illuminating exit signs above the doors, 14 so that if it was in the dark, that it -- the people could 15 see to get to the exit signs. We installed four exhaust fans 16 to circulate air, and dampers throughout the building, so -- 17 you know, when they're welding, those doors are up and 18 there's a draft in there, but that -- but the fans pull any 19 of the smoke that comes off the -- while they're welding, 20 'cause it's right behind their stations, and it pulls. So, 21 we -- that's the major things. 22 That, and we built a little cement pad with a chain 23 link fence around the back to store gases in when we have 24 them, because they can't be stored together. And we bought 25 tons of equipment. We have 12 -- we have 12 stick welders 7-8-13 61 1 and one mig welder, band saw. We -- we had purchased a 2 shear, and after we got it here, got it mounted to the floor, 3 had the electrician run all the electricity, figured out we 4 had the wrong shear. And so now we've had to return that 5 shear, and we're going to purchase the shear that cuts the 6 metal that we really need. It wouldn't cut the thickness of 7 the metal that we needed for our training. But we've been 8 very lucky in that Mr. Fox has allowed us to have our metal 9 taken there and cut to the pieces that we need so that they 10 can cut their little coupons out of metal. He's also given 11 me scrap metal of his. We've welded on it, and then we give 12 it back to him, and he takes it and does whatever they do 13 with their scrap metal. 14 So, I've been very fortunate in that area, because 15 I didn't have a shear to -- to cut the metal that we needed. 16 We have partitions in there, like, they're welding curtains 17 that block off the cubicles. Cabinets. It's just a 18 really -- really, that welding building, we've been working 19 on it for quite a while, over a year. I think we first had 20 talked about doing welding in January, and about this time 21 last summer is when we decided that we would be able to use 22 the building and started going through the process. From 23 about October -- September-October until March, it consumed 24 everything I had. Everything that Shawna did was welding. 25 It just -- it was just that much work to make sure that 7-8-13 62 1 everything was where it needed to be so that I could get the 2 City to come out and inspect and approve, and so it took a 3 lot of work. And, you know, the building is great. We're 4 going to use it for welding. Now, if it changes to be 5 something else later, then we're all for that, but the -- but 6 the building is in good working order right now. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I know you caught Rusty and 8 I laughing at one of your comments about the City coming out. 9 I mean, that's a pain in the butt, to put it mildly. 10 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: It wasn't easy. I was -- 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No kidding. 12 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: I was just recently -- well, I 13 was in an automotive shop on Friday getting the brakes fixed 14 on my pickup truck, and I was talking to the owner there 15 about the need for auto mechanics in this area. And I told 16 him a little bit about doing the welding building and that, 17 you know, auto mechanics was something else that we had 18 considered doing in the future, and was asking him about the 19 cost of equipment, et cetera. And my daughter, who is 12, 20 was with me. She looked at me and she goes, "Mom, no. After 21 welding, no." And so just -- just so you understand, my 22 12-year-old child understood how much work mom did in those 23 months. Even over Christmas break -- we have a two-week 24 holiday -- I spent some of my days in that welding shop on my 25 days off, because I needed it to be up and running and going 7-8-13 63 1 for me, for the community, for everyone. 2 So -- so, the welding building was a huge -- huge 3 thing. It's going to be so beneficial to this community. 4 I'm so glad we have it. We're going to train people; they're 5 going to work here, they're going to give back to this 6 community, and there's nothing more that we can ask for. And 7 having trained these youth, that was just like the ultimate, 8 because they -- they are our future. And if we give them a 9 skill at that age, and they grow on that, they're going to be 10 great adults, working adults, making good money. You know, 11 they're going to be fabulous. So, I hope that doing the 12 youth is something that we can do in the future too. So, 13 I've said enough about welding. Let me tell you a few other 14 things that we've done at the center, because we have, 15 besides welding, done a few things. 16 We just completed a class for Certified Nurse's 17 Aide for students of Tivy. We had 13 students in the spring. 18 They came to our center for two hours a day for several weeks 19 and did training, and then they did their clinicals at a 20 local nursing facility, and we had 13 students complete 21 C.N.A. We've had 16 students complete food handler, and 22 we've had nine students who did Microsoft Word, so these are 23 our C.E. courses. Academically last year, as a total, fall, 24 spring, and summer, we had 2,860 enrollments in -- for us. 25 We had 1,934 in arts and sciences, and this includes what was 7-8-13 64 1 on my center and dual credit. We had 183 C.E. enrollments, 2 which are your workforce-type classes, 18 in academies -- and 3 I'll tell you about those girls in just a second -- and 725 4 in dual credit. And when we talk about dual credit, we're 5 talking about Tivy, Ingram, Bandera, Comfort, Center Point, 6 so just this area. Just the -- and these are the people that 7 we work with. We go to their school, we test their students, 8 and we help them do with their dual credit. So, the 9 academies, I want to go back to that real quick. Three 10 girls. We started with them two years ago. They did a dual 11 credit program, and they are in courses right now this summer 12 in San Antonio. And when they complete -- when they complete 13 these courses and pass them, they can sit for their LVN NCLEX 14 test. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: These are high school students? 16 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: High school students. These 17 girls are 18 years old, and they will be able to sit for 18 their NCLEX and be Licensed Vocational Nurses. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Tell me what's going to happen with 20 this LVN academy program. 21 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: The LVN academy is -- is no 22 longer an academy with Alamo Colleges. The trend in the 23 medical field is RN. Most all of the hospitals now pretty 24 much only hire RN's, and -- and it's a lot -- a lot of the 25 hospitals that way. You can get an LVN job, but the trend is 7-8-13 65 1 RN. And so what Alamo Colleges did with the academies, 2 they've changed it to where the students who wanted to take 3 the nursing track have -- they take the prerequisites that 4 you have to have to be an RN, and that's like 31 credit 5 hours; anatomy, physiology, chemistry macro-biology, those 6 type of courses, which are just basic -- you know, they're 7 just academic courses, so it's not -- it's not vocational 8 like the LVN program was for these three girls. One of the 9 -- one of these three girls is a very young mother, has a 10 child, and, you know, at the end of this summer, when she can 11 sit for the NCLEX and pass it, she's going to have a job and 12 be able to support herself and her child without assistance, 13 and I think that's amazing. 14 And, you know, there -- there were challenges. 15 There were tough times. These classes aren't easy, and you 16 can imagine these girls going in at 16, taking these courses. 17 They're not easy courses, and -- and they pushed through. 18 They did study groups. Alamo Colleges and others provided -- 19 we called her the teacher, but she was really more, you know, 20 of just a tutor, and she worked with these girls in class, 21 out of class; they met on weekends and she helped them with 22 so much -- with so much of their work, you know, to learn, 23 and taught them more things than probably the other LVN 24 students learned. There was -- our girls were -- we had 25 three, and then Floresville had a group, and then there was a 7-8-13 66 1 group out of San Antonio, and our three girls last summer all 2 got their practicum at Peterson Regional Medical Center. And 3 only one other student out of, like, 18 students got to do a 4 practicum. And that was, you know, something that Alamo 5 Colleges, my budget -- my greater Kerrville budget, we paid 6 for those two -- one girl qualified under Workforce to get 7 funding, and we paid for the other two girls so that they 8 could have that experience. And so -- so they -- they're 9 out. We had a little graduation ceremony, and they -- if 10 they complete these classes this summer -- and this summer 11 for them is, like, labor and delivery and pediatrics, which 12 are -- are difficult courses. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But LVN's are not finding 14 jobs? Is that what you're saying? 15 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: You can get a job as an LVN. You 16 can, but the trend is RN. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, I know. But -- so the 18 trend -- but still, LVN's are still being able to find -- 19 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: You can find employment. Most of 20 the time, as an LVN, you're going to get employment at a 21 nursing home or doctor's office, something like that. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 23 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: And the hospitals, they're 24 really -- like, I know Methodist in San Antonio only hires 25 RN's. 7-8-13 67 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 2 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: And so there's just -- it's 3 just -- and it's even trending up to the BSN; they're wanting 4 nurses to have a Bachelor of Science in nursing. And, of 5 course, the higher they go, the more money they make. So, 6 you know, we've been talking with these girls since they 7 started with us about LVN, RN, BSN, you know, even nurse 8 practitioner, physician's assistant, you know, something just 9 to keep going, to better themselves and to -- and to do that. 10 One other class that we had that I didn't mention that I just 11 thought of was the Child Development Associates, and we 12 started last September with 18 students, and at the end of 13 April, we graduated 18 students. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Wow. 16 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: And that's pretty impressive. I 17 was very impressed that we started -- I'm not sure that I've 18 ever had another class that started with one number and ended 19 with that same number, and so we're looking to do that one 20 again. These are, you know, people who take care of our 21 children and grandchildren in local day care centers, and 22 they're getting trained, and they get a national certificate 23 that says that they are nationally credentialized to provide 24 child care. So, that's something -- something very good. 25 The last thing I wanted to just kind of say is about our 7-8-13 68 1 scholarships, what we have gotten from the Griffin 2 Scholarship and other others. 3 In the spring of '13, we got $19,200, and in the 4 fall we got $24,000, and that's for students who take classes 5 on my campus, and that money comes through my door, and so 6 that's big. That's big. For the -- for the spring, we had 7 an enrollment in arts and sciences of around 400, about 200 8 unique students. So, you know, 19,000 is a good amount. 9 And, you know, I don't know -- I don't know what the other 10 centers do as far as scholarships, but I would have to say 11 that mine probably get more scholarships, thanks to 12 Mr. Griffin for what he did. We're working with Schreiner 13 and Texas Tech to do two-plus-twos, which means they complete 14 two years with Alamo Colleges, and they can transfer to 15 Schreiner or Texas Tech with no problem. It's an agreement. 16 Once they get what they need with us, then they go there; 17 then they complete their Bachelor's with them. So, that is 18 my update. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Very good. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I think we've probably asked all the 21 questions, but we may have some others. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't think I have any 23 more. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I have one. I do have one. 25 I just want to go back and pick up a piece of information 7-8-13 69 1 that I missed somewhere. I don't know how I missed it. When 2 you were talking about the welders, there was "X" amount of 3 young men that paid the 575, and then you had one with Fox 4 Tank. How was that paid? 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We got a grant with Texas Workforce 6 Commission, and -- 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The Fox Tank people didn't 8 pay for it? 9 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: No. No, it's under a grant that 10 we -- that we did with Texas Workforce Commission. And the 11 new employees that Fox Tank Company hires will be able to be 12 trained by Alamo Colleges under the grant. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Good. Fox Tank's getting a 14 free ride in Kerr County. That's good, thank you. 15 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Thank you. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: How many students are there 17 total in Alamo College? 18 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Across -- through all your -- 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: All curriculum. 20 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Oh, 60,000 for the colleges in 21 San Antonio and -- 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: No, but here? 23 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Oh, for here? 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Locally. 25 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: For last year, number -- like, 7-8-13 70 1 unduplicated number? 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 3 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: 1,181. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 5 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: In, you know, fall, spring, 6 summer. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 8 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: C.E. -- that includes C.E., dual 9 credit. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. So, 1,200 ballpark. 11 Wow. Good. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: The investment which Alamo Colleges 13 made in that vocational training building out at the airport, 14 round figures, how much -- how much did Alamo throw into the 15 deal? About 300,000? 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: 250 for sure. 17 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: It was -- I'm just going to say 18 approximately 200,000. Just -- I'm just going to stay with 19 that, because I know the fireproofing spray was $50,000. The 20 bathrooms were almost 50, so -- and then you throw in a lot 21 of other things that -- that went into it, so it -- you know, 22 the equipment and things like that. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. A sizable chunk of money. 24 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Yes. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Which improved the building that was 7-8-13 71 1 owned by the City and the County. 2 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Yes. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: And now is usable for a whole lot of 4 different purposes. 5 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: Yes. You know, at the time that 6 -- that Alamo Colleges no longer needs that building, and I 7 hope that that's a very long time, -- 8 JUDGE TINLEY: As do I. 9 MS. FAHRENTHOLD: -- then, you know, somebody else 10 could go in that building and use it, and it would be up to 11 code as far as the city code goes for fire, electrical, 12 plumbing. It would be up to code for someone to move in and 13 use. But I hope that that's not the case for a very long 14 time. I hope that we're providing welding training for years 15 to come. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Good, thank you. We appreciate it. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We've heard two very 18 successful stories this morning. That's great. That's great 19 stuff going on in our community. Good stuff. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Why don't we go out of public 21 or open session at 10:22 for the purposes of going into 22 executive or closed session under Item 15. 23 (The open session was closed at 10:22 a.m., and an executive session was held, the transcript of which 24 is contained in a separate document.) 25 - - - - - - - - - - 7-8-13 72 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, we are back in open or public 2 session at 10:37, it looks like. Anything else to come 3 before the Court on this particular agenda? What are you 4 raising your hand for? 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I do want to mention one other 6 thing. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: You got 30 seconds. 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Okay. And you're aware of 9 part of this. While I was gone on vacation, my Chief Deputy 10 and Juvenile Detention and all them got together, and the old 11 Juvenile Detention building kitchen that is not used, has not 12 been used since '08, we took people over there and had it all 13 cleaned up -- actually, employees, and with Tim's help, and 14 had a hot water heater installed, and getting the walk-in 15 cooler and freezer working. We are going to be sending a 16 letter ending our contract on the meal service in the jail, 17 and we're going to start putting up our own vegetables out of 18 the garden, and that way we have a place to process them in 19 that kitchen over there. We already have volunteers from 20 graduates of the citizens' academy, older people that want to 21 volunteer to help do that, and -- and put up and preserve 22 that produce. And start trying to do our own kitchen again 23 this next budget year, and hopefully saving costs, and I 24 think it will make a lot better use of our garden. We'll 25 still have to donate some to, like, Dietert Center. They've 7-8-13 73 1 been one of our best people, and we really like doing that, 2 but we're providing so much produce out of that garden that 3 I'd really like to start seeing if we can cut costs in our 4 kitchen even more than what they are. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Are you going to start a 6 chicken house now, too? 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: You know, I doubt it, but if I 8 could get U.S.D.A. to -- to agree to stuff... One thing I 9 have seen that other states are doing -- of course, if you 10 can believe it, I guess some states have a worse deer 11 population than we do, and I know Tennessee allows hunters to 12 hunt, like, four deer a day during that hunting season. And 13 what a lot of those jails have done through inmates is they 14 set up a processing plant by the jail, and hunters can donate 15 that meat to them, and it is totally processed, preserved, 16 ground, you know, the whole thing by the jail, and used at 17 their jails. And we had an issue a long time ago with 18 U.S.D.A. inspecting the -- Bruce was around back then, and 19 Buster, where we had to quit using deer donated by game 20 wardens. But if we could do something like that, that 21 kitchen could handle it, and we could process that kind of 22 stuff a lot better. But those are just things that I think 23 we need to look at being a little bit more self-sufficient. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You'll get a lot of deer that 25 way. 7-8-13 74 1 JUDGE TINLEY: You don't -- you don't have an 2 appreciation of what 30 seconds is, do you? 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Well, I was asked a question; 4 that cut off the 30 seconds, Judge. Blame Letz. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else to come before the 6 Court on this particular agenda? 7 MS. PIEPER: Judge, before you adjourn, the list 8 was called out for monthly reports. They inadvertently 9 printed out the wrong list, so if we can correct that. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's go back to monthly 11 reports under Section 4 of the agenda. Actually, the reports 12 that were handed to me under the cover sheet were Constable, 13 Precinct 1, June of this year; County Clerk, June of this 14 year; Constable, Precinct 3, May of this year; Constable, 15 Precinct 3, June of this year; and Treasurer for the month of 16 June of this year. Do I hear a motion that those particular 17 reports, which are actually included and presented to the 18 Court under Section 4 of -- Item 4 under Section 4, be 19 approved as presented? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded. Question 23 or discussion? All in favor, signify by raising your right 24 hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7-8-13 75 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carried. Anything else to 4 come before the Court under this agenda? We're adjourned. 5 Workshop is at 1:30. 6 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 10:40 a.m.) 7 - - - - - - - - - - 8 9 STATE OF TEXAS | 10 COUNTY OF KERR | 11 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 12 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 13 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 14 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 15 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 10th day of July, 2013. 16 17 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 18 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 19 Certified Shorthand Reporter 20 21 22 23 24 25 7-8-13