1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Regular Session 10 Monday, August 12, 2013 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge 23 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 24 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 2 1 I N D E X August 12, 2013 2 PAGE --- Visitors' Input 7 3 --- Commissioners' Comments 10 4 1.1 Public Hearing regarding the revision of plat for Lot 10R and Lot 8 of Cave Springs Addition, 5 Precinct 4 11 6 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for final approval regarding revision of plat for 7 Lot 10R and Lot 8 of Cave Springs Addition 12 8 1.3 Public Hearing regarding revision of plat for Lots 17, 18, and part of 16 of Saddlewood 9 Estates, Precinct 1 14 10 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action for final approval regarding revision of plat for 11 Lots 17, 18, and part of 16 of Saddlewood Estates 15 12 1.12 Consider/discuss, take appropriate actions to approve 2014 sheriff and constable fees as 13 required by L.G.C. 118.131, with no changes 17 14 1.13 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on Coast2Coast Rx Card county marketing agreement 18 15 1.14 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 16 rescind Court Order 33206 regarding exchange of Law Library space with Treasurer’s Office 19 17 1.15 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 18 regarding moving County Treasurer’s office and County Law Library, including funding of each 22 19 1.5 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 20 drop private road name “Run Rd SW” and not rename this road, Precinct 4 26 21 1.6 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 22 accept preliminary revision of plat for Lots 7 and 9 of Lake Ingram Estates; set a public 23 hearing, Precinct 4 27 24 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize Environmental Health Director to merge 25 Animal Control Department with Environmental Health Department and assess operational needs 28 3 1 I N D E X August 12, 2013 2 PAGE 3 1.8 Consider/discuss, approve consolidating polling locations in accordance with Chapter 43, Texas 4 Election Code, for November 2013 election 35 5 1.9 Consider/discuss, approve appointment of election judges and alternates for term of 1 year in 6 accordance with Texas Election Code Section 32 37 7 1.10 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve central counting station personnel 8 pursuant to Chapter 27, Texas Election Code 38 9 1.11 Consider/discuss, approve appointment of Early Voting Ballot Board Judge for term of 1 year in 10 accordance with Texas Election Code Section 32; consider and set number of members to be appointed 11 by Early Voting Ballot Board Judge 39 12 1.16 Acknowledge receipt of Quarterly Investment report from Patterson and Associates for quarter 13 ending 6/30/13 39 14 1.17 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on request from AGLOW International to use Union 15 Church Building the first Saturday of every month; allow a change to Kerr County’s standard rental 16 agreement with regards to indemnity paragraph 40 17 1.18 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to initiate process and/or steps to construct fire 18 station on Ranchero Road on Kerr County property 44 19 1.19 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to establish policy that ensures the salary of each 20 elected official is at least $5,000 more than that of their chief deputy 45 21 1.30 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 22 set public hearing on District Clerk Written Archival Plan 52 23 1.32 Consider/discuss take appropriate action 24 regarding Turtle Creek Cemetery and School, including adoption of resolution necessary to 25 convey cemetery and school to K.I.S.D. 54 4 1 I N D E X August 12, 2013 2 PAGE 3 1.33 Acknowledgment of Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance 4 Officers Association 58 5 1.35 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to solicit or obtain applications or other 6 expressions of interest from persons seeking appointment by Kerr County Commissioners Court 7 to fill vacancy of Kerr County Attorney 59 8 1.31 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action on request from Kerr County Roller Derby to apply 9 monthly rental fee they pay to practice at the Hill Country Youth Event Center towards their 10 spectator event on 8-24-2013 at H.C.Y.E.C. 60 11 1.34 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to reconsider designation of supervision of 12 county’s Indigent Health Program 65 13 1.20 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to establish salary of Ray Garcia as director of 14 combined Animal Control & Environmental Health Departments and any necessary adjustment to salary 15 of interim Animal Control Director (Executive Session as needed) 82 16 1.21 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 17 concerning personnel, job descriptions, compensation levels, and supervisory 18 responsibility in Court Compliance Department (Executive Session) 84 19 1.36 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 20 concerning Guadalupe Blanco River Authority draft permit #12378 filed with T.C.E.Q. 21 (Executive Session) 86 22 1.22 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to make any necessary adjustments to budget items 86 23 1.23 Consider/discuss, take record vote on proposed 24 2013 Kerr County tax rate, set dates and times of first and second public hearings on said tax 25 rate, if necessary 93 5 1 I N D E X August 12, 2013 2 PAGE 3 1.24 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to set public hearing on proposed Kerr County 4 budget for FY 2013-14 at 9:45 AM on 8-26-2013 96 5 1.25 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize publication notice of consideration 6 and adoption of proposed 2013 Kerr County tax rates on 8-26-2013 at 10:15 a.m., if needed 96 7 1.26 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 8 authorize publication notice of public hearing on consideration & adoption of Kerr County budget 9 for FY 2013-14 on 8-26-2013 at 10:00 a.m. 97 10 1.27 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to authorize publication notice of proposed salary 11 increases, expenses, and allowances for elected county and precinct officials for FY 2013-14 98 12 1.28 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 13 adopt position schedule and step and grade schedule for FY 2013-2014 Budget Book 98 14 1.29 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 15 approve general provisions and holiday and payroll schedule for FY 2013-2014 99 16 4.1 Pay Bills 101 17 4.2 Budget Amendments 102 4.3 Late Bills --- 18 4.4 Approve and Accept Monthly Reports 104 19 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments 105 20 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 105 21 --- Adjourned 109 22 23 24 25 6 1 On Monday, August 12, 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 regularly scheduled meeting of the 9 Kerr County Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this 10 date and time, Monday, August 12, 2013, at 9 a.m. It is that 11 time now. Commissioner Letz? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Would everyone please stand for 13 a moment of prayer, followed by the pledge. 14 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Be seated, please. At 16 this time, if there's any member of the public or audience 17 that wishes to be heard on any matter which is not a listed 18 agenda item, this is your opportunity to come forward and 19 tell us what's on your mind. If you wish to be heard on a 20 matter which is an agenda item, we'd ask that you fill out a 21 participation form -- there should be some located at the 22 rear of the room -- so that I know you want to be heard on 23 that item, and hopefully we'll not overlook you. However, if 24 we get to an agenda item you wish to be heard on and you've 25 not filled out a participation form, that's okay too. Get my 8-12-13 7 1 attention in some manner and I will give you the opportunity. 2 But right now, if there's any member of the public or 3 audience that wishes to be heard on a matter which is not a 4 listed agenda item, this is your opportunity to come forward 5 and tell us what's on your mind. 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Good morning. I would like to 7 play -- or have Trolinger play, if it will work right, just 8 about a three-minute short You-Tube video that I think you'll 9 be interested in watching. Remember back on April -- the 10 middle of April, there was an extremely horrific wreck out on 11 the interstate which killed one Pasadena police officer and 12 severely injured another Pasadena police officer, and this is 13 what this is in reference to. Hopefully it will play. 14 (Video was shown.) 15 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Kind of jumped around there at 16 the end, but I just wanted y'all to know what kind of 17 officers you have working this county, and what it means to 18 them. And you can tell that kind of shook Alex, and he 19 didn't realize the second officer, who was also hit by the 20 car, was even there, okay? The officer that was speaking 21 lost one leg, and the other leg was severely, severely 22 injured, and that's what he did. The other thing is, D.P.S. 23 troopers at the scene put Officer Alex Monroe in for what's 24 called the Director's Award from D.P.S. The Director's 25 Lifesaving Award; it's the highest honor that any non-D.P.S. 8-12-13 8 1 personnel can be given, and Alex will be awarded that this 2 Thursday in Austin. 3 MR. TROLINGER: Where at? Austin? 4 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Austin. So, I think this just 5 says a lot for our guys. I wanted y'all to know about it. 6 Alex couldn't be here today, 'cause he had to work all night, 7 so he's still doing it. But I think if you see him, anybody 8 that sees him, he just needs to be commended. Thank you. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Sheriff. 10 MS. HARRIS: Good morning. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning. 12 MS. HARRIS: Morning, everybody. My name is Karen 13 Harris. I almost -- I do respect the Court this morning, but 14 I feel kind of strange with my back to the rest of the 15 people. My name is Karen Harris. I am here this morning to 16 let you know that I am seeking the Republican nomination for 17 the Texas House of Representatives for this district. I just 18 wanted to come down this morning and introduce myself to you, 19 get to know you, let you get to know me. I am a resident of 20 Lakehills in Bandera, Texas. I've been a woman of prayer and 21 politics all of my adult life, and I am happy to say I 22 wouldn't live anyplace else other than Texas. I am running 23 because I am deeply concerned about the Texas that our 24 children and my grandchildren will inherit. I have a degree 25 in radiologic science from the university in Virginia, 8-12-13 9 1 Virginia Commonwealth University, and my husband and I -- my 2 husband of 30 years and I own and operate medical services 3 small businesses here in Texas. I am just thrilled to be 4 able to be with you this morning. And my experience, not 5 just on a local level, but my experience on a statewide 6 level, includes two Republican -- two gubernatorial 7 appointments, one to the Health and Human Services Commission 8 Council, and the other is to the Texas Education Association 9 Council. I believe that I am uniquely qualified in that my 10 experience -- my life experience and my experience on a 11 statewide level will absolutely give me a smooth transition 12 as I serve Texas from a local level, and continue to serve 13 them on a statewide level. I would also like to say this 14 morning that I am really here, as I've said before, to get to 15 know you. And I am confident that after you get to know more 16 about me and what I have been doing with, for, and on behalf 17 of the state of Texas for the last 20 years, I am pretty 18 confident that you will find me to be a candidate that is not 19 only worthy of your support, but worthy of your vote as well. 20 Thank you, and thank you for hearing me this morning. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Ms. Harris. Equal time? 22 You want to remove your hat as you sit there, and -- 23 MR. HENNEKE: No, sir. Judge, we've got a busy 24 agenda. Thank you. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. All right, thank you. 8-12-13 10 1 Commissioner Letz, what do you have for us this morning? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just kind of an observation; it 3 kind of goes on top of what Rusty's You-Tube was. There have 4 been an awful lot of serious wrecks in Kerr County in the 5 past couple months. I mean, some friends over in the city 6 have had some very, you know, severe losses. There was -- I 7 know Friday, there was a real bad wreck on Elm Pass Road. I 8 know Rusty's people were the first ones there. I happened to 9 get there slightly after that. I just caution people, you 10 know, slow down a little bit and be careful. We have a lot 11 of winding, narrow roads throughout the county, and we have 12 just had a -- seems to me it's a higher -- high number of 13 wrecks with severe injuries and fatalities in the last couple 14 of months. That's it. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I have the same thing in my 17 area, you know, especially up Highway 39, 1340. Seems like 18 every year, you know, we have multiple -- more motorcycle 19 wrecks probably than anything. Anyway, on another note, 20 three people in my precinct passed away over the weekend. 21 Chuck Hawkins was the first, and then after that was Tom 22 Syfan, and then -- of course, Tom was a longtime -- I think 23 his real title was head of the Mountain Home mafia. 24 (Laughter.) And he -- he was the big boy. And then Chris 25 Henley -- Henry passed away from a terrible tragedy on 8-12-13 11 1 Saturday. So, those are -- those things just seem to keep 2 mounting up in my area. If we keep losing them, I'm not sure 3 who's going to be left to vote there before long. But very 4 tragic, all friends, and so that's it. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Commissioner Moser? 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I don't have a thing. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's get on. We've got plenty of 8 business to take care of today. At this time, I will recess 9 the Commissioners Court meeting, and I will convene a public 10 hearing regarding the revision of plat for Lot 10R and Lot 8 11 of Cave Springs Addition, Section 5, Phase I, Block C, Plat 12 Record 12-6526, set forth in Volume 5, Page 164 and Volume 5, 13 Page 19, Plat Records, and located in Precinct 4. 14 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 9:11 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 15 court, as follows:) 16 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public or 18 audience that wishes to be heard with regard to the revision 19 of plat for Lot 10R and Lot 8 of Cave Springs Addition, 20 Section Five, Phase One, Block C, Plat Record 12-6526, set 21 forth in Volume 5, Page 164, and Volume 5, Page 19? 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Seeing no one seeking recognition or 24 coming forward, I will close the public hearing regarding the 25 revision of plat for Lot 10R and Lot 8 of Cave Springs 8-12-13 12 1 Addition, Section Five, Phase One, Block C, Plat Record 2 12-6526, set forth in Volume 5, Page 164, and Volume 5, 3 Page 19. 4 (The public hearing was concluded at 9:12 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 5 reopened.) 6 - - - - - - - - - - 7 JUDGE TINLEY: And I will reconvene the 8 Commissioners Court meeting. Mr. Odom, are you ready to 9 proceed on Item 2? 10 MR. ODOM: No, sir. I would ask you -- at this 11 point, I do not have a plat, so if you would defer that, 12 there's -- the property owners are supposed to be here. But 13 I think -- 14 JUDGE TINLEY: You expect them later on this 15 morning? 16 MR. ODOM: That's what I was told. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 18 MR. ODOM: But -- 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Give us the high sign when they 20 arrive and you're ready to proceed on that one, if you would, 21 please, sir. 22 MR. ODOM: All right, sir. That may be the 23 gentleman there. I see something in his hand. Do you mind 24 if we wait just a minute? 25 JUDGE TINLEY: May be a timely arrival, huh? 8-12-13 13 1 MR. ODOM: Timely arrival. I blame it on building 2 maintenance. (Laughter.) 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: He's supposed to be getting 4 people up here. Isn't that part of his job? 5 MR. ODOM: That's right. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Get them in the door. 7 MR. ODOM: That's right. Tim, don't do that again. 8 MR. BOLLIER: Yes, sir. 9 MR. ODOM: Thank you. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Are we ready to proceed with 11 Item 2, Mr. Odom? 12 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Let me call Item 2; to 14 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action for the 15 Court's final approval regarding the revision of plat for 16 Lot 10R and Lot 8, Cave Springs Addition, Section Five, Phase 17 One, Block C, Plat Record 12-6526, as set forth in Volume 5, 18 Page 164, and Volume 5, Page 19. Mr. Odom? 19 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. Mr. and Mrs. Butcher and 20 Drapela own Lot 8 and 10R in Cave Springs, Section Five, 21 Phase One, Block C. The request from both parties is to 22 change the lot line between the two properties. So, at this 23 time, I ask the Court for their final approval regarding 24 revision of plat for Lot 10R and Lot 8 of Cave Springs 25 Addition, Section 5, Phase One, Block C, Plat Record 12-6526, 8-12-13 14 1 Volume 5, Page 164, and Volume 5, Page 19, Precinct 4. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll make a motion for 3 approval of the agenda item. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 6 approval of the agenda item. Any question or discussion? 7 All in favor of that motion, signify by raising your right 8 hand. 9 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 11 (No response.) 12 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. At this 13 time, I will recess the Commissioners Court and convene a 14 public hearing regarding the revision of plat for Lots 17, 15 18, and part of Lot 16 of Saddlewood Estates, Section Two, 16 Block Five, as set forth in Volume 7, Pages 39 through 42, 17 and being located in Precinct 1. 18 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 9:15 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 19 court, as follows:) 20 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Is there any member of the public or 22 audience that wishes to be heard with regard to the revision 23 of plat for Lots 17, 18, and part of Lot 16 of Saddlewood 24 Estates, Section Two, Block Five, as set forth in Volume 7, 25 Pages 39 through 42? 8-12-13 15 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Seeing no one seeking to be 3 recognized or otherwise coming forward on the matter, I will 4 close the public hearing regarding the revision of plat for 5 Lots 17, 18, and part of Lot 16 of Saddlewood Estates, 6 Section Two, Block Five, as set forth in Volume 7, Pages 39 7 through 42. 8 (The public hearing was concluded at 9:15 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 9 reopened.) 10 - - - - - - - - - - 11 JUDGE TINLEY: And I will reconvene the 12 Commissioners Court hearing and call Item 4; to consider, 13 discuss, and take appropriate action for the Court's final 14 approval regarding the revision of plat for Lots 17, 18, and 15 part of Lot 16 of Saddlewood Estates, Section Two, Block 16 Five, set forth in Volume 7, Pages 39 through 42, and located 17 in Precinct 1. Mr. Odom? 18 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. Mr. and Mrs. Owen would like 19 to combine Lots 17 and 18 and part of Lot 16 to make Lot 17R, 20 consisting of 6.69 acres. So, at this time, we ask the Court 21 for their final approval regarding the revision of plat for 22 Lots 17 and 18, and part of Lot 16 of Saddlewood Estates, 23 Section Two, Block Five, Volume 7, Pages 39 through 42, in 24 Precinct 1. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll make a motion for 8-12-13 16 1 approval. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 4 approval. Is there any question or discussion on the motion? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I have a quick question. 6 Just about -- in the "as platted" portion, you know, box up 7 here, there's the little piece, that .68 acres of Lot 16 is 8 set aside as a separate line. Is that how it's actually 9 platted right now? 10 MR. ODOM: To my knowledge. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This takes care of that, 12 though, doesn't it? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I'm just wondering how 14 that -- how that happened. 15 MR. ODOM: I don't know, sir. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Shouldn't have. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, this corrects it, which 18 is the right thing to do. I just wanted to see if that was 19 accurate. Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think we had something like 21 this the last time when they came up here. Oh, you weren't 22 here, maybe. You weren't part of it. 23 MR. ODOM: That was -- that was -- part of this was 24 in -- I don't recall whether this was in the ETJ of the city. 25 I think it was. 8-12-13 17 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, that's fine. I was just 2 curious. That's fine. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or discussion on 4 the motion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 5 your right hand. 6 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8 (No response.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Did you vote, Commissioner Moser? 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I did. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. You voted in favor? 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Thank you, sir. Motion 14 carries. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I was going on to the next 16 one. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's go to Item 12, if we might; to 18 consider, discuss, take appropriate action to approve the 19 2014 Sheriff and Constable fees as required by Local 20 Government Code Section 118.131 with no changes from last 21 year's amounts. Ms. Pieper? 22 MS. PIEPER: Gentlemen, this is something that our 23 Comptroller requires us to do each year. And I polled the 24 Sheriff and the Constables, and they do not wish to increase 25 their fees. 8-12-13 18 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move approval. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 4 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: A question. When was the last 6 time that these fees were raised? 7 MS. PIEPER: Last year, I believe. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Last year? Okay. All right. 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Some were adjusted last year, 10 some the year before. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. All right. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other comments? Questions? All 13 in favor of that motion, signify by raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Let's go to 18 Item 13; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action on 19 the Coast-to-Coast Rx card county marketing agreement. 20 Commissioner Letz? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is on the agenda because I 22 said we'd put it back -- or I'd put it back on the agenda. 23 It's on the agenda. I have no -- no motion to offer. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Any member of the Court have a 25 motion to offer with respect to the agenda item? Hearing 8-12-13 19 1 nothing further, we'll proceed. Let's go to Item 14, if we 2 might; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to 3 rescind Court Order Number 33206 regarding exchange of the 4 Law Library space with the Treasurer's office. I put this on 5 the agenda as a result of some recent occurrences -- number 6 one, I checked after the fact that order was entered, and was 7 advised that the District Judges had not had input, and they 8 had some concerns about moving that Law Library from the 9 second floor, which is where their activities are. And, of 10 course, they, as well as the lawyers appearing there, would 11 have access to it. And secondly, because the funding -- I 12 think we're going to have a more critical need to utilize 13 those funds, at least at this point in time, in connection 14 with the restructuring of the Animal Control and 15 Environmental Health Department, and I believe those funds 16 are going to be critically needed there. What I'm asking is 17 the Court rescind that order, and that -- not necessarily say 18 it'll never happen, just to say it won't happen right now. 19 It may be something that will occur down the road, but at 20 this point in time, I just want the record to be clear that 21 it should not go forward, at least at this point in time. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, that's -- I mean, let me 23 ask a question. That's primarily priorities of funding? Is 24 that the main reason? Or is it a combination of both the 25 judges and -- 8-12-13 20 1 JUDGE TINLEY: It's a combination of all of those, 2 Commissioner. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 5 MR. HENNEKE: Just to be clear, gentlemen, you 6 know, before we did this, I -- you know, I visited with Rex 7 about it. I'm pretty sure I visited with Keith about it as 8 well, and, you know, they seemed positive to the idea. I 9 don't think I ever caught Judge Ables, or Judge Barton is 10 around a bunch too, but Rex and Keith were fully -- Rex was 11 positive on the thing. Just as an update, the library's 12 already boxed up. That's been about three weeks ago. Got 13 that done right away to get out of the way so Tim and his 14 crew could -- could follow the direction of Commissioners 15 Court. And it's y'all's courthouse, so however you want to 16 allocate the space, but that's not been any kind of holdup 17 there. That's all cleaned out. They boxed them up, put them 18 downstairs, out of the way, so that's ready to go. That's 19 not a delay at all. 20 One thing I want to clear up, too, is I heard just 21 a rumor that, you know, well, it's just going to be so 22 technical, you know, electronic and technological that -- you 23 know, that we're not sure that it's going to work. And I 24 just wanted to clear that up. We're really not adding any 25 kind of technology or anything more sophisticated than what's 8-12-13 21 1 there. I mean, the only thing we're looking at doing, 2 really, is having a conference room, and then, you know, I 3 think those computers up there are older than my kids are. 4 So -- so -- and all the attorneys here who use them up there 5 have said if you do anything, would you get us a new 6 computer? 'Cause those things are slower than -- you know, 7 we go get a cup of coffee and come back. So, change-wise on 8 that, you know, wherever it is, you know, I'm not trying to 9 do anything that's going to confuse people or make it less 10 used. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: There was a lot of argument 12 for making that move for the Treasurer to be in a better 13 location, as opposed to where she is now, as I recall. What 14 was the amount of -- what was the estimated cost for the 15 move? 16 MR. HENNEKE: Well, for -- there were two different 17 costs. The library itself is sitting on $85,000 in cash 18 reserves, so -- for the cost of moving the library, and then 19 buying the furniture and equipment downstairs, to -- to set 20 that up. That's -- that's money that's set aside that we 21 can't spend for anything else. And I met with Tim and kind 22 of talked about the ideas of what to do with that space. You 23 know, to move Tracy upstairs and to finish out her office, I 24 think it was -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Around 10,000. 8-12-13 22 1 MR. HENNEKE: Ten or so, yeah. That was a quote or 2 something that was done. And, of course, that can't be paid 3 for by the library budget, because that's not library 4 purposes. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, can we call -- or can 6 you call the next item? Which was put on there by the 7 Treasurer, which is kind of related to the same thing. That 8 way we can hear from the Treasurer. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: There's several items that 10 are going to either make this or -- or not. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Sure, no problem. Let me go ahead 12 and call Item 15; consider, discuss, take appropriate action 13 regarding the move of the County Treasurer's office to County 14 Law Library, including funding of it. That's where we are 15 now anyway, isn't it? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Kind of. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 18 MS. SOLDAN: I put it on the agenda really as more 19 to get a status update, because the County Attorney had 20 packed up the books and everything, and then everything was 21 put on hold. So, I had heard also that there were some 22 funding issues. I just wanted to find out what the Court 23 wanted to do about it. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: At some point, you still would 25 rather be in the new digs? New office space? 8-12-13 23 1 MS. SOLDAN: Well, it's a better location, but I 2 will do whatever the Court wants to do. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Okay. Answered that 4 question. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I don't -- I don't have 7 a problem -- and I don't -- whether we rescind the court 8 order or not doesn't make that much difference. I think we 9 do need to look at the overall office space, 'cause there are 10 some changes based on some of the changes that we made at our 11 last meeting related to Environmental Health Department. So, 12 I mean, I think we need to look at this as a whole. And I 13 have no problem on delaying doing -- or, you know, putting a 14 hold on doing anything, certainly, you know. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I think we need to 16 discuss what we're going to do with Environmental Health 17 Department, if it's going to move or if it's not, or what all 18 that space is going to be used for down there and decide all 19 of that, and that'll determine what we need to do here. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, that's part of an overall plan 21 that Commissioner Letz was talking about. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Right. If we're going to do 23 some major changes, we need to -- we need to look at all that 24 stuff, and then come out with some kind of a decision on what 25 we feel like is best, most advantageous for the spaces that 8-12-13 24 1 are required. 2 MR. TROLINGER: Judge, can I chime in on the cost 3 of this? I just wanted to add in -- 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I suppose you can, John. 5 MR. TROLINGER: -- on the existing -- the new 6 courtroom and the existing offices and the infrastructure 7 that goes on down in that -- that part of the lower level 8 annex, we've spent about $3,500 upgrading and improving the 9 infrastructure on that end of the building, and it's in 10 pretty good shape for whatever y'all need to do move-wise. 11 Up here at the Law Library, we've just got whatever -- 12 electrical work's done. We're going to have some wiring done 13 at the same time. It's probably minimal cost. We've got the 14 infrastructure for it already. So, I.T.-wise, I don't think 15 there's really much to consider. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Not much of an impact either way? 17 MR. TROLINGER: Yes, sir. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Good, John. What's the 19 Court's pleasure? 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: One other question is -- 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Just defer? 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think just -- I'd like to 23 just kind of pass on this, and -- not pass it, but just need 24 to recall it later after we discuss some of these others. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No action. 8-12-13 25 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No action at all, I don't 2 think, right now. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: One other question. Since the 4 law library's packed up, is that -- what's the impact? 5 MR. HENNEKE: Well, it's closed right now. We -- 6 we had contemplated it had to be this two-step -- we had to 7 clean out the library to make room for Tim or whoever was 8 going to -- 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Sure. 10 MR. HENNEKE: -- finish out for the Treasurer, 11 finish that, then move Tracy up, then get the Treasurer's 12 space ready for the library, and then move the library in. 13 So, for right now, it -- after the Court took action whenever 14 we did it, I cleaned out the library, and there's nothing in 15 there right now. It's next to Rosa's office. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, the impact of having 17 everything all boxed up is what? 18 MR. HENNEKE: Well, it's closed. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The law library's not being 20 used. 21 MR. HENNEKE: It's closed right now, and there's 22 nothing upstairs for anybody to use. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Are the computer terminals still 24 there? 25 MR. TROLINGER: Yes. 8-12-13 26 1 MR. HENNEKE: We put in a work order to move those. 2 MR. TROLINGER: They are still there. When I saw 3 the Commissioners Court item, I didn't do anything about it. 4 But they -- once in a while, I do see someone in the -- in 5 the office there -- in the law library using the computer, -- 6 MR. HENNEKE: Yeah, those -- 7 MR. TROLINGER: -- every couple of days. 8 MR. HENNEKE: Those get used by the public from 9 time to time. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: So, that's the -- right now, the 11 extent of the available use to the public or whatnot is those 12 computer terminals. The rest of it's all boxed up? 13 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: All right. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's come back to some more 17 of our timed items. Item 5; consider, discuss, take 18 appropriate action to drop the private road name Run Road 19 Southwest, and not rename this road. 20 MR. ODOM: Yes, sir. Mr. Caviale came to the 911 21 office to request the road name of Run Road Southwest be 22 dropped. This road is a private road that is privately 23 maintained. The owner would not like to rename this road at 24 this time. So, at this time, we ask the Court for their 25 approval to drop the private road name of Run Road Southwest, 8-12-13 27 1 Precinct 4. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And does this have any impact 3 on 911? 4 MR. ODOM: No, sir. We've talked to 911 about 5 that, Commissioner, and they just said that that's -- they 6 have GPS. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 8 MR. ODOM: And they don't really go by it. They 9 just go by the GPS. Everything's been shot; they've got it. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 11 MR. ODOM: They didn't have a problem with it, said 12 it doesn't affect them that much. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, thank you. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I move approval of the agenda 15 item. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 18 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? All in 19 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Item 6; 24 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to accept the 25 preliminary revision of plat for Lots 7 and 9 of Lake Ingram 8-12-13 28 1 Estates, Amelia Reinaman Survey Number 133, Abstract Number 2 281, and also Volume 4, Page 182, and to set a public hearing 3 on the same, being located in Precinct 4. 4 MR. ODOM: Mr. Conklin and Bonnie Smith own Lots 7 5 and 9 in Lake Ingram Estates. They would like to make Lot 7, 6 which is currently 5 and a half acres, into 9.47 acres, and 7 make Lot 9, which is currently 8.99 acres, into 5.01 acres. 8 So, at this time we ask the Court to accept the preliminary 9 revision of plat for Lots 7 and 9 of Lake Ingram Estates, 10 Survey Number 133, Abstract Number 281, and also Volume 4, 11 Page 182, and set a public hearing for Monday, September the 12 23rd, 2013, at 9 a.m. in Precinct 4. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I move approval. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made to approve the agenda 16 item and set a public hearing on the matter September 23, 17 2013, at 9 a.m. Question or discussion on the motion? All 18 in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 19 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 21 (No response.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Item 7; 23 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to authorize 24 Environmental Health Department Director to merge Animal 25 Control Department with Environmental Health Department, and 8-12-13 29 1 assess operational needs for new department. Commissioner 2 Letz? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I put this on the agenda just 4 to basically give us an opportunity to visit with Ray a 5 little bit. Because of the sometimes cumbersome way that we 6 have to operate with Open Meetings and what we can talk 7 about, we couldn't really -- we didn't talk about this last 8 time 'cause we didn't know what we were going to do until 9 after we voted. Anyway, I just want to make it just, I 10 guess, clear to Ray that kind of -- at least what I think he 11 needs to be doing right now is assess all functions of how 12 this merger's to take place. Obviously, we authorize him 13 that he can be over these two departments, and if they need 14 to be, you know, run as two separate offices or combined into 15 one office, look at facility needs, personnel numbers, 16 financial stuff, you know, safety. Pretty much, you know, 17 that he has, you know, in my mind, the authority to do a 18 total evaluation of those two departments and what makes the 19 best sense moving forward, what, you know, changes we need to 20 do. 21 Part of that we just touched on, may be some 22 facility changes. Animal Control building is, you know, not 23 big enough, obviously, right now to house everything, but if 24 that's the long-range goal, I think we need to hear that. If 25 he thinks the best thing is to move everybody out there, I 8-12-13 30 1 see that makes a lot of sense to me, but I want to hear -- 2 you know, let him have a little bit of time to look at it. 3 And let me pretty much say that it's his game right now, and 4 he needs to figure out how he wants to operate all that. And 5 I'll look for him to come back, you know, as soon as 6 possible, hopefully next meeting, with some idea. He may -- 7 I think he's already done some of this work, or is doing it, 8 and that's really the reason for the agenda item. I don't 9 know if we really need to take action on it. It was just 10 really to say this is what we want you to do for the next 11 couple of weeks or months, whatever it's going to take. Ray, 12 how long do you think it will take, I mean, for you to come 13 back with a pretty good evaluation as to how you think these 14 departments should be merged and where -- you know, all -- 15 the whole big picture? Can you have it done in two weeks? A 16 month? 17 MR. GARCIA: A month would be -- that would be, to 18 me, getting just, like, the preliminary information to you 19 guys, inside of a month. Two weeks is too early. Right now, 20 I'm -- I'm just working on getting in the door with the 21 safety, the liability, the other functions, the way things 22 are operating out there currently. I'm just trying to 23 evaluate that right now and trying to get that in order. I 24 do have my plans set up to do the assessment of the building, 25 the assessment of combining of the departments, but right now 8-12-13 31 1 that would be -- I think it would be premature for me to 2 bring it up that early to you. I will try, and I have been 3 working at getting close with that department out there and 4 doing, like I said, the preliminary action of trying to get 5 the safety and liability issues taken care of immediately, 6 and some of the operating functions that they are currently 7 operating. So, if I was to say two weeks or the next 8 Commissioners Court, that to me would just not be enough 9 time. I would ask to bring it after the -- in September, try 10 to get back to you with that information. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 12 MR. GARCIA: I will try to have something if I can 13 for the next agenda item. I understand we have to get this 14 done immediately. But, again, if this thing is going to be 15 done right, I do need some time to do an exact assessment on 16 it. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'd like to go back one step 19 on this, and that's the implementation of it. I think we 20 should make a part of this pros and cons of why we're doing 21 this, combining these two departments, because there's -- 22 there's probably some pluses and minuses for this. Animal 23 Control seems to be working extremely well. Environmental 24 Health is working extremely well. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commissioner, I don't think 8-12-13 32 1 Animal Control's working well right now. So, I mean, I think 2 that's a difference that I have. I think that it -- you 3 know, it needs a new -- a manager that is more experienced 4 than the interim management we have out there. And I think 5 that -- and Ray has proven to me that he's a good manager. 6 He has taken a very difficult department and turned it to be 7 recognized statewide. I think the other reason is a little 8 bit -- somewhat financial. I think we have too many 9 department heads, and this is a look at other counties and 10 other organizations, and I think we are the only county -- 11 peer county that has a separate entity as Animal Control. 12 It's either combined with the Sheriff's Department or with 13 regulatory services. So -- and we are -- you know, part of 14 this is basically eliminating a managerial position, 'cause I 15 think we have too many. So, that's -- there's two reasons in 16 my mind why this makes sense right now. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, I will -- I will say 18 that Animal Control -- you may think it doesn't operate to 19 your liking, but they are still one of the top Animal Control 20 facilities in the state of Texas, and they're used more as an 21 example to others rather than because of what they do. They 22 do more than just animal control; they also do a lot of 23 adoptions and -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We had changed the way we've 8-12-13 33 1 euthanized to injection rather than the other old method that 2 was -- nobody condoned. And so, you know, I think it does 3 very well. I don't totally disagree that -- that Ray would 4 not be the right person to help make that department even 5 better. I don't -- I don't have a problem with that at all, 6 and we do have a young staff out there. And -- but for the 7 most part, the gal that's been running it has -- has faced 8 some real challenges, and she's met them head-on, and she's 9 changed some of the policy. Not to say that it can't be 10 improved, and I don't -- I don't object to Ray taking over 11 the head of it. And I do -- you know, if it were to merge 12 both -- well, you know, merge the departments as to the same 13 facility or in the same area, that might have some bearing. 14 I don't know that we go through -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We got to see what the costs 17 are for doing that, and then, you know, have a discussion -- 18 continue the discussion about overall use of the space here 19 in the courthouse and what it's going to be used for, which I 20 think is -- more of that's addressed on this agenda. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But as far as giving him 23 time, what he needs, he needs to take his time and do it 24 right. You know, he's not going to give you an answer that's 25 not true and correct. 8-12-13 34 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: To the best of his ability. 3 And I think it will -- I think it'll take another step up 4 with him at the helm. I really do. And with the staff 5 that's there are doing all they can do, and they're still one 6 Animal Control officer short, and that depends on what we 7 do -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: -- with some other things. 10 But they're running as fast as they can run, believe me. 11 I'm -- I've been liaison for that for a long time, and I know 12 pretty well what they do out there, and it's pretty intense, 13 and they've had a lot of bite cases. We have, you know, 14 rabies cases getting reported periodically, and that takes a 15 lot of time to deal with those things. It's just -- it's a 16 big -- it's a lot bigger than what a lot of people think it 17 is. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other thing, just to 19 bring it up also, that has been the reason for this, is that 20 there's a belief that I have, and I think some other members 21 of the Court probably have, is that it would be helpful in 22 some of their function to have them be law enforcement. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, that's the other side 24 of it. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 8-12-13 35 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Although they have been 2 working together anyway. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They've been working. It's -- 4 we've been able to work -- work through, but Ray's 5 department, he has constables or deputy constables in that 6 department that have -- they are law enforcement; they can 7 bring something extra out there. And that was the other 8 argument -- reason, frankly, that I think a lot of counties 9 have it under the Sheriff's Department. I think this is a 10 more cost-effective way to do it. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Definitely more 13 cost-effective with deputy constables. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, thank you. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: You got your charge, do you, Ray? 16 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir, I do. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. When you're ready to give us 18 your evaluation, why, you put on it the agenda and we'll see 19 what you bring, okay? 20 MR. GARCIA: All right. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir. 22 MR. GARCIA: Thank you. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything further on that particular 24 item? Let's go to Item 8; to consider, discuss, approve 25 consolidating polling locations in accordance with Chapter 43 8-12-13 36 1 of the Texas Election Code for the November 2013 election. 2 Ms. Bolin? 3 MS. BOLIN: Good morning. Ms. Nadene couldn't make 4 it; she put her daddy in the hospital this weekend. Per the 5 Election Code, Chapter 43, we are going to bring to the Court 6 to consolidate for the November Constitutional election all 7 of the precincts. Precinct 101, 107, 109, 113, 118, and 119, 8 the polling place would be at River Hills Mall. For Precinct 9 202, 211, 215, and 220 would be at the Union Church. 10 Precinct 303, 308, 312, and 314 is at the Cailloux City 11 Center. 404, 405, 406, 410, 416, and 417 is at the Kerr 12 County Courthouse Annex in Ingram. That would be Election 13 Day polling places. For early voting, we would hold the 14 early voting at the Cailloux City Center, and our second 15 location would also be at the Kerr County Courthouse Annex in 16 Ingram. And I just would like a vote on this and approval, 17 please. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Question. 19 MS. BOLIN: Certainly. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: On the early voting, we've used the 21 annex here in Ingram before? 22 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. It works very well. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Large number of votes are cast there 24 in early voting? 25 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 8-12-13 37 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: A lot. 3 MS. BOLIN: A lot. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And that thing has had kind 5 of a little remodeling done to it, and it's going to be more 6 usable for that this time than it has been. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 11 approval of the agenda item approving the consolidation of 12 polling locations. Question or discussion? All in favor, 13 signify by raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let me call Item 9; 18 to consider discuss, and approve the appointment of election 19 judges and alternates for a term of one year in accordance 20 with the Texas Election Code, Section 32. Ms. Bolin? 21 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. In your backup, we have the 22 17 judges for the Republican party and 17 that are for the 23 Democratic party that have been recommended by the party 24 chairs, and I just would like approval on that, please. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So moved. 8-12-13 38 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval -- or second. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 3 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion on same? 4 All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let's go to Item 9 10; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to 10 approve the central counting station personnel pursuant to 11 Chapter 27, Texas Election Code. Ms. Bolin? 12 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. The central counting station 13 personnel would be -- the presiding manager is Michelle 14 Schneider. The judge would be Nadene Alford. Tabulating 15 supervisor, Eva Washburn. Clerk, Mimi Valverde, Linda Hott, 16 Cindy Guardiola, Marie McCoy. And the calls to the Secretary 17 of State and for the website is John Trolinger. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move approval. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 21 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor of that 22 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 23 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 25 (No response.) 8-12-13 39 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Item 11; to 2 consider, discuss, and approve the appointment of Early 3 Voting Ballot Board Judge for a term of one year in 4 accordance with the Texas Election Code, Section 32. 5 Ms. Bolin? 6 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. The Early Voting Ballot 7 Board Judge would be Joe Armistead, and the maximum number of 8 workers for the Early Voting Board is four clerks. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 12 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion? All in 13 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. 18 MS. BOLIN: Thank you, gentlemen. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Ms. Bolin. Let's go to 20 Item 16; acknowledge receipt of Quarterly Investment Report 21 from Patterson and Associates for the quarter ending June 22 30th, 2013. Ms. Soldan? 23 MS. SOLDAN: I'm just submitting this Quarterly 24 Investment Report as usual. It just needs to be acknowledged 25 by the Court. 8-12-13 40 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We don't -- no action required? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Other than we acknowledge receipt of 3 the quarterly report. Thank you very much, Ms. Soldan. 4 MS. SOLDAN: Thank you. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a question. In the 6 future -- or next budget year, we're not going to use this? 7 Or are we going to use Patterson and Associates? 8 MS. SOLDAN: I will be bringing it to the Court 9 next court date to cancel the contract. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I thought that's what we 11 decided. It's not serving any real purpose. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We have two investment people 14 on board. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right, okay. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We don't need to be paying 17 somebody else. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 0.1 percent? 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, the return is -- is so minimal 20 right now that it just economically does not make sense to be 21 paying that out, with the returns that we're getting. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: None whatsoever. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's go to our 9:45 item, Item 24 Number 17; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action on 25 request from Aglow International, being an approved 8-12-13 41 1 501(c)(3), to use the Union Church building for meetings on 2 the first Saturday of every month, and allow a change to Kerr 3 County standard rental agreement with regard to the indemnity 4 paragraph. Ms. Harper? 5 MS. HARPER: Yes, sir. Good morning. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning. 7 MS. HARPER: What Aglow is proposing is to offer 8 the County a certificate of insurance in the amount 9 referenced in the first paragraph on Page 2 of the rental 10 agreement as an exchange for striking the indemnity 11 paragraph, which is located at the top of Page 3 of the 12 contract. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Question. What's "Aglow" 14 stand for? 15 MS. HARPER: Aglow is an international Christian 16 ministry. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What's it -- what's the 18 acronym? 19 MS. HARPER: It's not an acronym; it's actually out 20 of Romans 12:11. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I see, okay. It's not an 22 acronym, all right. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: County Attorney, have you had an 24 opportunity to review the request concerning the modification 25 of the rental agreement contract? 8-12-13 42 1 MR. HENNEKE: I have. I mean, it's a question of 2 policy for the Court. You know, the insurance covers damage 3 up to the amount that -- you know, the Court's determined to 4 be a reasonable amount, you know, 500,000 per occurrence, a 5 million dollars general aggregate, which would cover a lot of 6 large accidents that could happen on the facility. But in 7 the event of some kind of catastrophic occurrence there, you 8 still have the indemnity clause at the end, to where the 9 lessee still agrees to hold harmless the County for, you 10 know, any personal injury or death or loss or damage to 11 property that, you know, I guess would be beyond the 12 insurance. You know, if something like that would happen. 13 So, the indemnity clause is a greater protection for the 14 Court. But you can look at the amount of insurance that's 15 required and the amount of insurance that your group is 16 offering, and see if you think that that, you know, 17 adequately provides protection without the kind of indemnity 18 clause in there. Why are y'all wanting to take out the 19 indemnity clause? I mean, it's -- the insurance really will 20 cover what really could happen out there. 21 MS. HARPER: Aglow has a policy of limiting their 22 responsibility, because many of the indemnity clauses put the 23 onus of burden on Aglow, and not on the owner of the 24 property. Aglow has 4,000 lighthouses worldwide, so you can 25 see that if every one of those lighthouses has an indemnity 8-12-13 43 1 clause, you can see that Aglow's responsibility or liability 2 is -- is endless. And Aglow is a Christian ministry that is 3 supported through offerings and donations. It does not have 4 the ability to be unlimited in its -- in its financial 5 coverage for any kind of catastrophic liability. And so 6 that's why they're asking for the certificate of insurance in 7 lieu of the indemnity clause. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I guess that's one of my 9 concerns, but the other concern is that -- that I know a lot 10 of people rent the church for weddings, and a lot of those 11 weddings are on Saturdays, and so it's kind of a conflict if 12 you have exclusive -- for every first Saturday of every 13 month, because there are times when people have decorating to 14 do, and they -- you know, so I have a little problem with it 15 being exclusive -- 16 MS. HARPER: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: -- every month. 18 MS. GRINSTEAD: That's why I wanted it to come 19 here. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. You figured it out for 21 me; you already had it figured out. 22 MS. GRINSTEAD: Oh, yeah. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Because of the recurring -- 24 recurring date issue? 25 MS. GRINSTEAD: Yes, sir. 8-12-13 44 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And have we done that in the 3 indemnification issue with anybody else? Is this a -- 4 MR. HENNEKE: Not to my knowledge. We require the 5 insurance, but also the standard agreement has that 6 indemnification clause. That's what's being asked. That's 7 the same for use of the Hill Country Youth Event Center, as 8 well as the Union Church. I think both of those agreements, 9 Jody, are pretty identical, right? 10 MS. GRINSTEAD: Yes. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think we'd be setting a 12 precedent, too, if we did that. You know, what was -- 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The recurring date? 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: The recurring date, and also 15 the indemnity. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Any member of the Court have a 17 motion they wish to offer with regard to this particular 18 agenda item? Hearing none, we'll move on. Thank you, ma'am. 19 MS. HARPER: Okay. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's go to Item 18; consider, 21 discuss, and take appropriate action to initiate process 22 and/or steps to construct fire station on Ranchero Road on 23 property owned by Kerr County. I put this on as a recurring 24 agenda item. I am not aware of any new information that -- 25 that we have available right now to move us forward. We have 8-12-13 45 1 the drainage study that was done. That was done as a 2 prerequisite to seeing exactly how we'd be able to use that 3 property. I'm not sure if all members of the Court have seen 4 that or not. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I've got it. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, I've seen it. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. I think the next issue, of 8 course, is going to be how do we fund it? And, of course, 9 that is, of course, going to be a critical issue. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Unless some other member of the 12 Court has something to offer there, we'll move on. Okay, 13 let's go ahead and go to Item 19; to consider, discuss, and 14 take appropriate action to establish a policy that insures 15 the salary of each elected official is at least $5,000 more 16 than that of their chief deputy. Commissioner Letz? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I put this on the agenda mainly 18 because it's been brought up before us several times. I 19 think the problem really exists primarily in the Sheriff's 20 Department, where the chief deputy is -- his salary, because 21 of longevity, bumps up very close to his, and -- and it's 22 just something to consider. I think it's reasonable. I 23 don't think that -- I think elected officials should be the 24 highest paid individuals in their departments. You know, and 25 that would probably exempt the Commissioners, because we have 8-12-13 46 1 people working for us that -- 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, we'd have to exempt us. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Exempt us. But I think for the 4 other ones, I think this policy makes sense. I see the 5 County Attorney raising his hand; maybe he gets -- maybe 6 there's a problem with his office as well. But, anyway, it 7 just seems to me -- I put it on there as a discussion item. 8 I received an e-mail from one elected official that thinks 9 it's not a good idea, the County Clerk. So, it's kind of -- 10 it's here. Really, and we have done it, I guess, 11 sporadically for the Sheriff's Office -- or for the Sheriff. 12 And it'd be interesting to see what the rest of us have to 13 say about it. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think instead of looking at 15 this as a policy which would be for all elected officials, do 16 it on a case-by-case. Because I could see, you know, 17 sometime in the future, somebody would have an expert working 18 for them that could probably justify a higher salary than the 19 elected official. So, therefore, if you put this in place as 20 a policy, then you artificially bump that person up with -- 21 probably without real justification. So -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't disagree with that. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: You have a comment? 24 MR. HENNEKE: Yes, sir. You know, every year at 25 budget time, of course, that can be considered, and the Court 8-12-13 47 1 could have a benchmark, a rule of thumb that it goes from. 2 But as far as a binding policy or binding Commissioners Court 3 order that would bind future year's budgets and future 4 Commissioners Courts, I don't think it would be valid or 5 enforceable as a -- a policy if it were enacted. Y'all can 6 use that as a rule of thumb, but just as a valid order, I 7 don't think that that's -- 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Be a lot easier just to raise 9 one salary a little bit. 10 MR. HENNEKE: You could do it every year when you 11 set the budget and stuff. But I'm just saying to enter an 12 order that says in future years, this is how we're going to 13 budget, just as any other kind of appropriation that is 14 outside of the budget, there are limits on what -- how you 15 can do that. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So a court order here wouldn't 17 be enforceable on the next budget year anyway? 18 MR. HENNEKE: I don't think it would be. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: I -- you know, I've tried to think 20 which particular offices this might -- might create some 21 effect, and the only one I can think of is the Sheriff. But 22 I think what it does, it prompts the -- the more global issue 23 of longevity. And what -- what creates the issue is the fact 24 that employees who are not elected officials are covered by 25 the longevity policy that I believe was passed in 1999. 8-12-13 48 1 That's still in effect, and I think it's a good policy, 2 because the longevity of your employees is -- is something 3 you want to encourage, and it gives you continuity and gives 4 you stability. But with the employees who are not elected 5 officials having longevity, you create a creep that catches 6 up with the elected official. And I think it prompts the 7 greater discussion about longevity generally for elected 8 officials. I know Commissioner Williams, several years ago, 9 said it's something we're going to have to look at because of 10 that very issue. 11 And is longevity appropriate for elected officials? 12 Some would say yes; some would say no, I'm sure. But I think 13 the longer an elected official is in office, the more 14 effective they become generally, the more continuity and 15 stability it gives generally to county government in that 16 office. But I think that's what it prompts, is the 17 discussion about longevity across the board, including 18 elected officials. So, certainly, if -- if the Court were 19 wanting to consider a policy of longevity for elected 20 officials, it would be prospective going forward, and that 21 would be that. What that policy might be, again, that's open 22 for discussion, but I think that's really what it brings to 23 us so that we don't keep facing this issue. Like I say, the 24 only one I can think of it affects is the Sheriff. If there 25 are other elected officials that might be affected, I'd be 8-12-13 49 1 interested to know who they are. 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: If we're doing that, we ought 3 to consider the entry level salaries for elected officials to 4 be less than -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, that would be the -- that 6 would be -- that would certainly be the case. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Until they learn the job 8 and -- you know, best you can. You know, it takes a while to 9 get a handle on it. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Yeah, I know when I first got 11 here, I wasn't sure which door of the courthouse to come in. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I can say the same thing; I 13 didn't know whether I was coming or going. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: There you go. But I think -- I 15 think that's the issue that it prompts, and I think it has -- 16 certainly has merit to have that discussion. And -- and I 17 think it's something that promotes equity among those elected 18 officials who are longer -- longer served. So, there it is. 19 MS. PIEPER: Gentlemen, Friday I polled the -- the 20 County and District Clerk's website Friday afternoon, and 21 just in that length of time between Friday afternoon and this 22 morning before court, I got, like, 47 different counties that 23 have gone to the longevity. And -- 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Of elected officials? 25 MS. PIEPER: Of elected officials. So, they've 8-12-13 50 1 evidently faced the same thing that y'all are facing, 2 probably. And they all range -- some -- Clay County gets $50 3 per year of service. Chambers County gets $110 per year. 4 So, I mean, they all range in different amounts. But I'm 5 still having e-mails this morning, probably while I'm 6 standing here, coming in on -- on other counties that also do 7 longevity for their elected officials. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I think that -- that research 9 you're doing is going to be part of the overall discussion of 10 that issue. 11 MS. PIEPER: Well, and I think that's one way that 12 -- if Rusty gets his increase every time his chief deputy 13 does, then I just kind of think that's fair for the elected 14 officials. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Anybody else have anything to 16 offer on that? Don't miss an opportunity. Don't come 17 talking to me about it after the fact. 18 JUDGE MITCHELL: How about I agree? I agree with 19 her. 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think that's what you get, 21 is all elected officials would agree that that would be a 22 fair way to do it. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: I think it is more equitable, and I 24 think -- 25 MS. PIEPER: I also think that yearly, when we have 8-12-13 51 1 to put it in the newspaper, the publication, if it's a 2 standard thing, then I think the general public would go for 3 it a lot better, because they know to expect it. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I think it's reasonable. I think if 5 it's properly explained to the public, yeah. 6 MS. PIEPER: And then this kind of takes the burden 7 off of y'all from the taxpayers. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: That doesn't take any burden off of 9 us. (Laughter.) It still stops right here. 10 MS. PIEPER: But this way you can say, "Well, it's 11 been a policy that's been put in place for a while." 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A policy -- we create the 13 policy. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 15 MS. PIEPER: But y'all created it with our input. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I understand. Right. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything you wish to offer? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think this item can be 19 handled under Item 1.22. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If needed. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 23 MS. PIEPER: Department heads get longevity, so it 24 only makes sense. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 8-12-13 52 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's go to Item 1.30; to 2 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to set a 3 public hearing on the District Clerk Written Archival Plan. 4 Ms. Burlew? 5 MS. BURLEW: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Didn't know you were going to be up 7 this quick, did you? 8 MS. BURLEW: No, sir, I didn't. This is just 9 basically everything that we have to do every year, so I just 10 need to set it for a hearing. It's under the Government 11 Code, Section 51.305. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: What's the number of -- minimum 13 number of days required? 14 MS. BURLEW: Fifteen. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Fifteen? 16 MS. BURLEW: Yes, sir. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: We obviously can't set it for the 18 26th, can we? 19 MS. BURLEW: No, sir. I was a little bit late 20 bringing it forth. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: What's the first meeting in 22 September? You're going to make me look? 23 MS. BURLEW: Yes, sir, I'm sorry. I didn't check 24 that out. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Would be the 9th. 8-12-13 53 1 MS. GRINSTEAD: 9th. 2 MS. BURLEW: The 9th, Jody says. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think that's what I said, 5 just guessing, 'cause I know the 2nd's the first Monday. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: How about we set a public hearing on 7 that matter for October the 9th, 2013, at 10 a.m.? That work 8 for you? 9 MS. BURLEW: September, sir. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: September the 9th. 11 MS. BURLEW: You said October. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Oh, I did. I wrote down October, 13 too. 14 MS. BURLEW: September the 9th at 10 a.m. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, September the 9th at 10 a.m. 16 MS. BURLEW: All right. Thank you. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: You like that? Do I hear a motion 18 to that effect? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to set a 22 public hearing on the matter September 9th, 2013, at 10 a.m. 23 Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by raising 24 your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 8-12-13 54 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Okay. Let's go to 4 Item 32; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action 5 regarding Turtle Creek Cemetery and School, including 6 adoption of resolution necessary to convey cemetery and 7 school to Kerrville Independent School District. 8 Mr. Henneke? 9 MR. HENNEKE: This is really Commissioner Baldwin's 10 precinct and project. Without him here today, I don't 11 know -- I left a message last week to see if he wanted to 12 proceed forward or not. You know, the resolution's ready. 13 The quitclaim deeds are all, I think, part of the backup to 14 Commissioners Court to take action to trigger the reversion 15 clause that conveys the school and cemetery back to K.I.S.D. 16 They're on board with this, and then at their next meeting, 17 then they would consummate the initial transaction that 18 occurred back in 1976 by deeding the property to the 19 nonprofit that exists, because at the time of the original 20 sale, there wasn't a legal entity in existence to take title 21 to the property. But as far as action today, I don't want to 22 -- this has been Commissioner Baldwin's project, and I don't 23 know if he wants to say something about it or if he has any 24 thoughts about it, but legally, it's ripe for the Court to 25 consider. 8-12-13 55 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I move that we adopt the 2 resolution. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, I have a motion. 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll second. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and second to adopt 6 the resolution which would trigger the reconveyance of the 7 property back to Kerrville Independent School District. 8 Question or discussion? Yes, sir? 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Real quick, just so it's 10 brought before the Court, in regards to this, there are two 11 different handouts that need to go to you. As y'all well 12 know, inmate labor has been being used to maintain and take 13 care of that property and facility. We've used a lot of 14 inmate labor out there, and there are some regulations in 15 that. The first page there is out of the Code of Criminal 16 Procedure. It says that they may be put to labor upon 17 maintenance projects for a cemetery that the Commissioners 18 Court uses public funds, county employees, or county 19 equipment to maintain under Section 713.028 of the Health and 20 Safety Code. They may also be put to labor providing 21 maintenance and related services to a nonprofit organization 22 that qualifies for a tax exemption under 501(a), Internal 23 Revenue Code, 1986, as an organization described by Section 24 501(c)(3) of that code, and is organized as a nonprofit 25 corporation under the Texas Nonprofit Corporation Act and 8-12-13 56 1 Vernon Statutes, provided that at the Sheriff's request, the 2 Commissioners Court determines that the nonprofit 3 organization provides a public service to the county or to a 4 political subdivision located in whole or in part in the 5 county. So, what I'm saying is that at this point, if it's 6 not County-owned property, okay -- 7 JUDGE TINLEY: It's County-owned right now. 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right this minute, until you 9 deed it back to the -- 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But you don't have to do it 11 any more. 12 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: We -- and I'm not going to. I 13 just don't want the organization to think things are going to 14 continue the way they are at this time. I'm stretching -- 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This says it's not going to 16 happen. 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And I just wanted the Court 18 and everybody involved in this to be aware. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. This just takes your 20 guys out of one more thing. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Rusty, that last sentence, 22 though, says that if the Commissioners Court says it's a 23 public service, that it can be done, right? 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: At the Sheriff's -- if I 25 request it first and then y'all determine that, then that's 8-12-13 57 1 true. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that would be a future -- 3 that would be a future -- 4 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's kind of like -- 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- discussion? 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: It would be a future 7 discussion, kind of like what we do over at the Dietert 8 Center, okay, where we do maintain -- we do go over there 9 once in a while and mow their area and take care of it. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You can if you decide to 11 request it and we say it's okay. 12 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: If I request it and y'all 13 determine that it's okay, then you can -- then it can be 14 done. Now, it's different -- and that second page is about 15 cemeteries alone, you know, with markers over 50 years. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Seems to me that to be safe, we 17 ought to, maybe on an annual basis, you give us a list of 18 those that you're requesting. What comes to mind -- Dietert, 19 you mentioned. The Little League facility -- of course, 20 that's County-owned, Little League. Okay. 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: County-owned. The only one 22 that I can think of right offhand that's not a governmental 23 deal is going to be Dietert. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 8-12-13 58 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other question or comment? All 2 in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 5 (No response.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's go to 7 Item 33; an acknowledgment of the Distinguished Budget 8 Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers 9 Association. Ms. Hargis' office has been recognized by the 10 Government Finance Officers Association by being presented 11 with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, and that's 12 something you and your staff put in a considerable amount of 13 work on; is that correct, Ms. Hargis? 14 MS. HARGIS: That's correct. Actually, when I 15 first came over here, I wanted to make -- do this, and we've 16 been working at it each year piece by piece. And before 17 Tracy left my office last year, she wanted to send it in, so 18 most of the credit goes to Tracy. She did the research for 19 me and got the book ready. So, I want to acknowledge the 20 fact that she is the one who has done most of the work on 21 this and helped me to do this. But the Judge didn't think it 22 was very important, but it does help us when we go to do our 23 bonding, that we have gotten this kind of award. So, I had, 24 in my prior life across the street, done that for both the 25 budget and for the financial statements. So, this is our 8-12-13 59 1 first, and we're pretty proud of it, so I'd like to commend 2 Tracy for this as well. Take a picture? Tracy? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Get Tracy. 4 MR. TROLINGER: We could turn around and have y'all 5 in the background. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Got it? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good job. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's go to Item 36, if we 9 might; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action 10 concerning Guadalupe Blanco River authority draft permit 11 Number 12378 filed with T.C.E.Q. Commissioner Letz? Wait a 12 minute, this shows executive session. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. And the other -- I know 14 the County Attorney had a question whether this is an 15 executive session item or not. My thought was that it's -- 16 MR. HENNEKE: You confer with me on legal issues. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's a legal issue of a -- 18 ramifications of a contested hearing. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let me withdraw that Item 36, 22 and let's talk about item 35; to consider discuss, take 23 appropriate action to solicit or obtain applications or other 24 expressions of interest from persons seeking appointment by 25 Kerr County Commissioners Court to fill vacancy of Kerr 8-12-13 60 1 County Attorney. Commissioner Baldwin asked that this be 2 placed on the agenda. Efforts were made to contact him to 3 determine whether or not he wanted that removed from the 4 agenda. We couldn't get that direction, so it's on the 5 agenda. But my thinking is, without him here to move it 6 forward or present it, that -- 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Wait till he gets here. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, okay. Any other member of the 9 Court have anything to offer? Okay, we've got that one out 10 of the way. At this time, the Court is going to go out of 11 public or open session for the purpose of going into 12 executive session to consider matters on the agenda which are 13 listed as executive session. We're going out of public 14 session at 10:10. 15 (The open session was closed at 10:10 a.m., and an executive session was held, the transcript of which 16 is contained in a separate document.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's come back to order, if 19 we might. We're back in open or public session at 11:26, it 20 appears. Let's go to Item 31, an 11:15 timed item that we've 21 rolled by, as it were; to consider, discuss, take appropriate 22 action on a request from the Kerr County Roller Derby to 23 apply the monthly rental they pay to practice at the Hill 24 Country Youth Event Center, that being $300, towards their 25 spectator event on August 24th, 2013, at the Hill Country 8-12-13 61 1 Youth Event Center. Ms. Jones? 2 MS. JONES: Which y'all are all invited to, by the 3 way. On August 24th, we're having our first bout here in 4 Kerrville. Proceeds will be going to Combat Marine Outdoors. 5 They work with wounded servicemen from all services, not just 6 the Marines. We're asking as an exchange for sponsorship on 7 the Kerr County Commissioners Court, if we could apply the 8 $300 rent to the $600, and if that would be all right for 9 this event. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And the benefit for the -- 11 that you said, does that stay in Kerr County, or is that 12 abroad? Nationally? 13 MS. JONES: This is a local -- this is a local 14 nonprofit. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 16 MS. JONES: It is a Texas nonprofit. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But it's a local -- 18 MS. JONES: Mm-hmm. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, good. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm not fully understanding what 21 you're asking for. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I guess I'm not either. 23 MS. JONES: Okay. Instead of us paying $900 for 24 the month of August, being our $300 rent on top of the 600, 25 we'd ask if we could consider it like a trade-out for a 8-12-13 62 1 sponsorship, if we could apply -- we can pay 600, and put 2 $300 towards the $600 rental fee. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: What you're asking for is one 4 session that you would otherwise be charged a fee for, that 5 the Court waive that fee, and in lieu of that, being a 6 sponsor of this benefit event that you're doing? 7 MS. JONES: Yes, sir. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 MS. JONES: Sorry. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Would there be -- what would 11 be the non -- what would be the nonprofit charge for that? 12 MS. GRINSTEAD: Well, they don't have nonprofit 13 status. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I know they don't. I'm just 15 asking what that would be. 16 MS. GRINSTEAD: The nonprofit would be $300. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So -- 18 MS. GRINSTEAD: Instead of 600, she's referring to 19 900, because that includes the cleaning deposit also. But 20 the rental fee for her organization would be $600. She's 21 asking that since they pay $300 monthly anyway, if they can 22 pay $300 for this event. 23 MS. JONES: We have paid 600, so I would pay -- pay 24 a total of 600 for the whole month of August instead of 900, 25 $600 plus the rental fee. That's my -- that's what I'm 8-12-13 63 1 asking. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: You're essentially asking us to 3 waive one $300 fee that we'd otherwise be entitled to 4 receive? 5 MS. JONES: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: And have that considered as a 7 sponsorship -- 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Sponsorship. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: -- of the event, which is to 10 benefit? 11 MS. JONES: Combat Marine Outdoors. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Some -- some wounded armed 13 forces personnel? 14 MS. JONES: Yes, sir. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, you guys have been paying some 16 money all along, haven't you? 17 MS. JONES: Yes, sir. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: They've been -- 19 MS. JONES: We try to be good kids. (Laughter.) 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I haven't heard any 21 complaints. 22 MS. JONES: We clean up after ourselves; we clean 23 up if it's already there. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I move for just what the Judge 25 said. 8-12-13 64 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I second that. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to -- for 3 the Court to waive one $300 fee that would otherwise be due 4 on the event, and in lieu thereof, consider it a sponsorship 5 of the event, which is to benefit -- 6 MS. JONES: Thank you. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: What's the name of the organization? 8 MS. JONES: It's Combat Marine Outdoors. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Combat Marine Outdoors, which is a 10 wounded service -- 11 MS. JONES: Yes. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Armed forces service member -- 13 MS. JONES: Thank you. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: -- organization. Okay. Any 15 question or discussion on that? All in favor of the motion, 16 signify by raising your right hand. 17 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 19 (No response.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. 21 MS. JONES: Thank you. You're all getting tickets, 22 by the way, so I hope to see you there. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That event is on what day of 24 the week? 25 MS. JONES: August 24th. It's a Saturday. 8-12-13 65 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: A Saturday. 2 MS. JONES: The game will start at 7:00. Doors 3 open at 5:00. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Wow. 5 MS. JONES: And we'll have vendors. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: First one of those? 7 MS. JONES: This will be our debut, and we'll be a 8 mash-up, so we'll have other skaters from across Texas coming 9 so we won't get killed on our first game. So, we'll have a 10 bunch of other skaters from across Texas also skating. All 11 right. Thank you, guys. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. Appreciate it. We've 13 got an 11:30 timed item -- isn't it miraculous how I brought 14 us to the last timed item? -- to consider, discuss, take 15 appropriate action to reconsider designation of supervision 16 of the county Indigent Health program. Ms. Lavender? 17 MS. LAVENDER: Good morning. After sitting and 18 listening to the discussion this morning, I'm going to modify 19 a little bit what I was going to say, because I didn't really 20 understand a week ago today why did you this, and now after 21 listening to Commissioner Letz' comments about doing away 22 with smaller departments, I better understand, perhaps. I 23 was absolutely blindsided by what you did last week, because 24 no one discussed it with me ahead of time. And I've spent a 25 very long week in a lot of turmoil over this, of what to do 8-12-13 66 1 or what to say. So, I prepared some comments, and then I'm 2 going to give you a copy of them after I get through. I 3 apologize for reading, but I feel like in order to -- to be 4 sure that you understand my position on this, I need to read, 5 okay? After the meeting last week, I followed Commissioner 6 Letz out into the hall because I was so stunned, and I said, 7 "Why did do you this?" And his statement to me was, "Because 8 you're not going to be here much longer." 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, that's not what I said. 10 MS. LAVENDER: That's exactly what you said. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 12 MS. LAVENDER: Or something to that effect, yes, 13 sir. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 15 MS. LAVENDER: Yes, sir, it was. And to review for 16 Commissioner Moser's benefit here, in September 2008, I was 17 involved in the decision to bring the Indigent Health program 18 from Peterson Regional Medical Center over to the County. 19 And we talked about it the other day. For the last five 20 years, I've helped supervise the program. And I'm going to 21 stop right now and quit using the "I," because it's not been 22 my program, and I have not done it. It's been a "we." It's 23 been a collaborative effort, a cooperative effort and a team 24 effort, and we've cross-trained -- when Dawn was doing it, 25 and now that Mary Lou is doing it, we are cross-trained to 8-12-13 67 1 handle each other's programs. If someone comes to our door 2 that needs help, either of us can help those people, up to a 3 certain level. We are cross-trained. 4 This decision last week takes me out of the loop to 5 be able to do that. I can no longer deal with the Indigent 6 Health issues or the Indigent Health people because of HIPAA 7 regulations, and that dramatically changes what we can do in 8 those offices. I don't think I've done anything wrong. I'm 9 not aware of any reason to be reprimanded or anything in this 10 situation, so I need -- I guess I need some clarification on 11 where we go from here on this. If I'm not supervising the 12 program, then perhaps we could give some designation to me to 13 allow me to continue to do it. Another thing that -- that 14 you may or may not be aware of is in late 2011, because we 15 had reduced the program, the expenses, the number of people 16 on the program so dramatically from the time we brought it 17 over here, from 40 people and about a million dollars a year 18 down to -- I think we have eight on the program today, and 19 seven of them are pending Social Security, so we really only 20 have one person on the program that's a fully qualified 21 indigent health. And -- and we've done a lot to help with 22 the building of the reserves by reducing the cost of these 23 programs. 24 But in -- in late 2011, as we began to see the 25 numbers of the Court-appointed attorneys, the cost it was -- 8-12-13 68 1 it was incurring for the county, we approached the District 2 Judges -- this was before Dawn left -- and offered to use the 3 same methods that we used to screen indigent health clients 4 with the indigent appointed attorneys. And the District 5 Judges -- and we did it on a trial basis to see how it 6 worked. Well, it was so successful and they liked the 7 process so much, it has reduced the Court-appointed attorney 8 fees and made, again, people who -- only people who are 9 qualified for those programs are on the program. And there's 10 some real guidelines set up through both programs to be sure 11 that you get the right people on the program. In the spring 12 of 2012, Judge Brown came to us and asked us to do the 13 misdemeanors, and right now Mary Lou and I are sharing that. 14 We get the applications from the jail. We have walk-in 15 people. We go to court twice a month or three times a month 16 and screen the applicants for the judges. We don't appoint 17 attorneys; we just make recommendations to the judges as to 18 whether these people are qualified. 19 In the Victims Services program and in Indigent 20 Health both, HIPAA issues are there, so if I can't help with 21 the Indigent Health program, that's going to be a problem, 22 and I -- the efficiency of the program will decline. The 23 other issue is because of the proximity of those two offices. 24 There is a safety factor. And some of you know several 25 months ago, we had a couple show up; they were very angry. 8-12-13 69 1 He was very upset. He came in -- they came in and began to 2 talk to Mary Lou. It got pretty abrasive. I stepped up, 3 opened the door -- you know, the door between our offices. I 4 can do that, and I stepped up to the door, and I did this to 5 her, to push the button to get the bailiff down here, because 6 the bailiff -- or the button is in her office. And they 7 didn't come. And the situation escalated to the point that I 8 stepped into the -- the class -- to the office. We later 9 found out that it was a button malfunction, and it's since 10 been corrected. It was corrected the next day. But when I 11 stepped into the office, luckily, the woman was somebody who 12 knew me, and immediately the situation calmed down. If I 13 have no involvement in that program, I'm not going to be able 14 to do that any more. 15 If someone is put on -- let's say checks into the 16 hospital, the hospitals have 24 hours to notify us that the 17 person has been hospitalized. If Mary Lou's out for vacation 18 or a doctor's appointment or whatever, all that's going to 19 have to go to Dawn, and Dawn's a very busy lady. And she's 20 done a wonderful thing for this county in taking over and 21 doing what's she's done in the last five years. But this 22 program needs somebody there to answer the phone, to -- the 23 vendors -- medical vendors or medical providers have to call 24 and get preclearance on anything they do that's a 25 non-emergency on our clients. And if -- you know, I do that. 8-12-13 70 1 I do that every day. And Mary Lou helps me with the crime 2 victims, and we together do the indigent defense stuff. One 3 of the biggest things that happened two years ago, when she 4 came on board, was the fact that she speaks Spanish, and we 5 have quite a number of Spanish-speaking people that come to 6 our office, and it's been a -- a super -- you know, but, 7 again, she won't be able to help me, and I won't be able to 8 help her if we don't get this straightened out. And I don't 9 know how -- how you want to do it, but I would request for 10 the benefit not only of the people that come to our office, 11 but also for Kerr County as a whole, that we make some 12 modifications to this decision. Thank you. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a comment 'cause of 14 the first thing you said. First of all, you know, 15 Ms. Lavender, there's nothing you've done wrong, from my 16 standpoint. You know, you've done a great job out there. 17 The issue that I had, and what I said out in the corridor 18 was, "I have no idea how long you're going to be there." My 19 job as a commissioner is to set up a structure for longevity 20 and positions and people. You are funded by a grant. 21 MS. LAVENDER: Correct. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If that grant -- that grant's 23 going to come year to year. If that grant disappears next 24 year, -- 25 MS. LAVENDER: Correct. 8-12-13 71 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- we need some -- that 2 Indigent Health care needs to be somewhere. 3 MS. LAVENDER: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And for that reason -- and we 5 looked around, and, you know, my feeling was -- and I talked 6 to the rest of the Court, and they agreed that a logical 7 spot, because of what they deal with, is to put it under the 8 H.R. Department. And I think that it is incumbent on me as a 9 Commissioner, and as a Commissioners Court as a whole, to set 10 structures in this county that are not based on who's in a 11 certain job. Right now, you're willing to do a lot of this 12 work, which is -- and we thank you for it. I think it has to 13 be how we go long-term, because I don't know -- you know, I 14 said -- made a comment, and I did say -- I said I don't know 15 how long you're going to be here. I have no idea. You told 16 me three years? 17 MS. LAVENDER: I don't either, luckily. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You told me three years. You 19 told me three years or -- I believe, or something like that. 20 MS. LAVENDER: I told you when we started the 21 victims program I was going to do it for a couple of years, 22 and that was nine years ago. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 24 MS. LAVENDER: But -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think, you know, it's 8-12-13 72 1 done great. I think it is very, very important from the 2 grant standpoint that I think only 90 or 95 percent of your 3 time has to be spent on that grant. 4 MS. LAVENDER: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think that, you know, 6 you're -- from what you're telling me now, it sounds like a 7 fair amount of your time is possibly doing other stuff. You 8 know, I think that it is important that we have a -- an 9 organizational structure that works. 10 MS. LAVENDER: Okay. Will you let me -- let me say 11 something? Okay. I probably spend less than 30 minutes a 12 day, which is my two 15-minute breaks that I never take, on 13 any of this stuff. I do -- we do do the Court-appointed 14 attorney stuff, but I'm up there anyway. That maybe takes 15 15 or 20 minutes. And I don't want to argue the -- the 16 logistics of this, but I will say to you there's no evidence 17 that we're going to lose the grant at this point. Even if we 18 lose the grant, even if we do, victims services doesn't go 19 away. In the last nine years, the State Legislature and the 20 federal government have added to the responsibilities that 21 victims services coordinators have. And this is not even 22 addressing this item on the agenda, and I would have 23 preferred to have done this at a different time, but since 24 you've got it up here, we'll do it. 25 You're going to have to have somebody do it. The 8-12-13 73 1 law says that every prosecutor's office and every law 2 enforcement agency must have someone designated to do victims 3 services. In Kerr County, that's me. I'm the only one in 4 the county that can access the Attorney General website for 5 crime victims compensation information, and there's a number 6 of other things. In the past two years, I've also served 7 felony victims in Gillespie, Bandera, Edwards, Kimble, 8 Menard, Mason, and McCullough Counties of the two D.A. 9 offices here at no cost to Kerr County. Not one dime. 10 Whatever expenses there have been have been borne by the 11 D.A.'s offices or by me. If you do away with this office, 12 you're going to shift what I do into the hands of four 13 different people, and those agencies are the Sheriff's 14 Office, the two prosecutors, and the County Attorney -- I 15 mean the two District Attorneys and County Attorney's office. 16 And so you're going to have to pay somebody to do this. It's 17 not going to go away when I leave, okay? 18 So, it may be cheaper to have one person cover all 19 of it than it is to -- to do -- and it creates a central 20 location and a central person for people to see, and that 21 would be my argument. If I have the grant, if I retire -- 22 which I don't plan to do for some number of years, or, you 23 know, whatever, but you're going to have -- the money's going 24 to have to come from somewhere to fund the victim's offices. 25 So if you shift it, it doesn't matter where you shift it; 8-12-13 74 1 it's like a moving shell -- moving shell game. It's still 2 going to have to be done. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I -- I still think that it does 4 not make sense to have Indigent Health Care under Victims 5 Services. I think those are different functions. It works 6 great the way you're working, but -- 7 MS. LAVENDER: Indigent health care doesn't have 8 anything to do with health insurance. Indigent health care 9 doesn't have anything to do with health insurance. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: What -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Neither does H.R. Department 12 only do health insurance. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm concerned about the -- about the 14 confidential information -- 15 MS. LAVENDER: Exactly. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: -- requirement that we've run into 17 in those, and you've got -- you've got the resources of 18 Indigent Health to -- the information and databases to 19 determine whether or not there's eligibility. That same 20 data, of course, concerns eligibility for Court-appointed 21 attorneys, and I think there has been some savings there. 22 I've noted in past years, we've always tried to take away 23 from Court-appointed services to prop up Court-appointed 24 attorneys. More recently, our budget amendments have been 25 exactly the reverse. 8-12-13 75 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Court-appointed services, we're 3 taking from Court-appointed attorneys, 'cause there's 4 additional funds there. So -- and those numbers will bear 5 that out. I'd like to have some line -- and maybe it's a 6 dual responsibility line of organization or reporting so that 7 we don't lose the ability for -- for the victim's service 8 people, who's also -- they're, in fact, doing it -- to assist 9 on the Court-appointed thing, where you've got access to that 10 information. And the HIPAA thing also is -- is very 11 concerning, because if you get outside the lines on HIPAA, 12 you've potentially got yourself a real problem. I'm not 13 aware of any cases, but I don't want to see the first one 14 here in Kerr County, for sure. Maybe it's a dual -- a dual 15 reporting line of -- line of authority or responsibility, or 16 coordination or collaboration; call it what you like. 17 I've used Ms. Lavender's skills in a lot of areas. 18 Most of you know I commonly refer to her as my special 19 projects gal, and when I call upon her to do something, I 20 don't need to worry about, "Is it going to get done?" It 21 gets done. I want to continue to use her skills. If there's 22 some change down the road with a different person in that 23 job, so be it, but I want the benefit of her skills in 24 whatever manner we can use them. And if there's a -- if 25 there's a HIPAA bar, I'd like to do away with that in some 8-12-13 76 1 manner so that we don't have that problem. Or if there's 2 some other impediment -- I don't see it as much as a line of 3 authority, 'cause I don't think it's being used in that 4 capacity. I think it's being used for a collaboration and 5 cooperation and teamwork in determining these various 6 functions. But whatever it takes not to create those 7 impediments, I'd be in favor of putting in place. 8 Like I say, even if it were a dual thing, so that 9 you -- you've obviously got the H.R. Director involved too. 10 Of course, H.R. Director, that, of course, would give that 11 position the ability to have access to the HIPAA in addition 12 to the other HIPAA responsibilities through the health 13 benefits program and related programs. So, whatever it takes 14 to get there. I realize it may be making an adjustment about 15 -- I don't think it was addressed in the MGT study, because 16 it was grant-funded; I think it was considered essentially 17 outside their scope, so that kind of leaves it wide-open to 18 us. But that's my two bits worth. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let me comment on -- 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Y'all have at it. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let me comment on something I 22 really believe in. And better's the enemy of good, or if it 23 ain't broke, don't fix it, and I've said that on a number of 24 occasions on different things. And from what I can see, it's 25 working extremely well, for all the reasons that Rosa talks 8-12-13 77 1 about. I don't see a driving -- driving reason or cause to 2 change it right now, personally. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, if we don't change, we 4 have to change job descriptions, 'cause there is a problem, I 5 believe, under the Fair Labor Standards. Rosa's doing a lot 6 of work for Kerr County that is not in a job description. 7 And her job description -- 8 MS. LAVENDER: But when we did the job 9 descriptions, I was told not to put any of this other stuff 10 in my job description, because the next guy that comes along, 11 or woman that comes along as a Victims Services Coordinator 12 is not going to have the skills and stuff. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's exactly my point. 14 MS. LAVENDER: Yeah. The other thing that I might 15 point out to you that's related to this indigent defense 16 thing, now that we've got it all on the table here, is that 17 when you get an indigent defense application, when Rusty gets 18 one from an inmate out there, or someone walks into our 19 office and says, "I need an attorney," the clock starts 20 ticking, and you only have 72 hours to make a decision on 21 that attorney. And when you don't have two people in the 22 office able to do stuff -- right now, when the applications 23 come in from the jail, we split them up. If I've got 24 something going on that day, then she does them all. If 25 she's got something going on, I do them all. If not, we 8-12-13 78 1 split them. I do not spend a lot of time. It takes me two 2 minutes to call somebody and write a little sticky note, put 3 it on the deal and take it upstairs. Everything else I do, I 4 do at home. I do the grants at home. I do the newspaper 5 articles at home. I do the resolutions, for the most part, 6 at home. None of that's in the 40-hour week that I do. None 7 of it. And if I work with Mary Lou on an indigent health, 8 just like I did with Dawn -- and Dawn will tell you, I didn't 9 interfere. The only time I get involved in it is if there's 10 a situation that needs to be resolved. I don't do daily 11 management of that program. I approve her time card; that's 12 the major thing I do. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You know, I don't care where it 14 goes, but your job description has to reflect what you're 15 doing, and if you're doing, you know, all of the -- a lot of 16 these things that you are doing and we've asked you to do, it 17 needs to be in your job description. Otherwise, I think 18 we're opening ourselves up -- 19 MS. LAVENDER: That's fine. I can do a separate 20 job description to entail these, but it can't be with the 21 Victims Services deal, because it's not germane to that. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know that, but that's the 23 problem. 24 MS. LAVENDER: But nobody told me to do that, or I 25 would have been glad to do it. 8-12-13 79 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't do you that, and we'll 2 take a look at it. 3 MS. LAVENDER: Okay, sounds like a plan. Now, in 4 the meantime, what do I do? Because I'm in a liability 5 situation now with the HIPAA stuff, and I need to have some 6 direction on what to do with that, because I will not 7 continue to do what I've been doing unless I have direction 8 from the Court that says, "Rosa, you need to do that. You 9 need to continue in the role that you're playing as the 10 support person for the Indigent Health program." 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So, it could still be the 12 department head under H.R., but we can designate her -- 13 that's what I was trying to get to. So we could -- it would 14 be great -- fine for her to continue doing what she's doing. 15 She just wouldn't be necessarily what might be considered a 16 department head. 17 MS. LAVENDER: You might consider maybe manager or 18 some other term other than department head, if that fits into 19 your scheme of things. 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't care how we do it, as 21 long as she continues to do what she's been doing. 22 MS. LAVENDER: Or coordinator. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: A dual line of authority with the 24 Indigent Health specialist. A dual line of authority and 25 coordination with both Ms. Lavender, under her official 8-12-13 80 1 duties, the job description to be refined as presented, and 2 the H.R. Director. 3 MS. LAVENDER: Will that work? 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I know what Ms. Lantz' response will 5 be. "If that's the way y'all want to do it, that's the way 6 I'll do it." 7 MS. LANTZ: Mm-hmm. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think another general 9 comment. Rosa, the reason I didn't talk to you is that you 10 understand that we have an Open Meetings issue here. I 11 didn't talk to any -- until I talked to the Court, I didn't 12 want to go talk to various departments heads and people -- 13 employees that may be affected and say, "This is what we may 14 be doing," and then have the rumor mill exploding around the 15 county that they're doing this, they're doing that. I had -- 16 a lot of what I recommended was not adopted by the Court -- 17 by the Commissioners. 18 MS. LAVENDER: Well, how would you have felt if 19 you'd have been me? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I understand that, but you have 21 to understand that -- 22 MS. LAVENDER: It was just not handled the way, 23 perhaps, it should have. And I'm over it, okay? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I will follow the law. I'm not 25 going to -- 8-12-13 81 1 MS. LAVENDER: It's not that big a deal. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Open Meetings is Open Meetings. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Do we have a consensus here on the 4 Court about a dual line of authority with regards to the 5 indigent health services with both Ms. Lavender and -- and 6 H.R.? 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Until we make some other 9 arrangements. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move approval. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 13 indicated. Question or discussion? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And -- but it's subject to job 15 descriptions, and we'll revisit it once the job descriptions 16 are completed, and so we can figure out how this fits into a 17 structure, 'cause right now -- 18 MS. LAVENDER: There will be no additional 19 compensation request or anything. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 MS. LAVENDER: Not at all. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Additional questions? Discussion? 23 All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8-12-13 82 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. 3 MS. LAVENDER: Thank you. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. Let us -- okay, 5 gentlemen. I have one issue. Do you want to charge forward 6 and finish our agenda, or do you want to take a break for 7 lunch and come back later? 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Charge ahead. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: This man says charge ahead. What do 10 you say? 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Fine with me. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's go. Okay, let's go to 13 Item 20, if we might. Any member of the Court have anything 14 to offer with respect to that particular agenda item? To 15 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to establish 16 salary of Ray Garcia as Director of combined Animal Control/ 17 Environmental Health Department, and necessary adjustment to 18 salary of interim Animal Control Director. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that we set 20 that salary at 66,500 -- is the Auditor listening? 21 MS. HARGIS: No, we're trying to fix a computer. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Set that salary at 66,500, and 23 then that salary would be subject to the COLA increase that 24 may be included in the budget. So, that's this year's 25 salary. 8-12-13 83 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 3 indicated. Question or discussion on the motion? All in 4 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. Any further 9 motions with regard to Item 20, as called? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that the 11 interim Animal Control Director will be a -- as currently in 12 the job description, be a Level 17 -- Grade 17. 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: 17.5. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 17, and the Animal Control 15 interim -- the current person in that slot will receive a 2.5 16 percent merit increase. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: In addition to the current step? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The current step she has. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Which is a 17.5. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion, and second by 22 Commissioner Moser, essentially that that slot be a Grade 17, 23 with whatever steps are currently in place for that 24 individual, plus one additional step. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 8-12-13 84 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that correct? All right. 2 Question or discussion on the motion? All in favor, signify 3 by raising your right hand. 4 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 6 (No response.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Anything 8 further with regard to Item 20? Hearing none, we'll move to 9 Item 21; consider, discuss, take appropriate action 10 concerning personnel, job descriptions, compensation levels, 11 and supervisory responsibility in Court Compliance 12 Department. Any member of the Court have anything to offer 13 with regard to that particular item? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not sure -- I think I'll make a 15 motion that we eliminate both -- eliminate the Court 16 Compliance Department and both of those positions. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 19 indicated. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 20 raising your right hand. 21 (Commissioners Letz and Oehler voted in favor of the motion.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed? 23 (Commissioner Moser voted against the motion.) 24 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Any other motions 8-12-13 85 1 with regard to Item 21? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we add 3 a -- a new position to the position schedule in the District 4 Clerk's office and the County Clerk's office, which will be a 5 Court Compliance Clerk. That will be a Grade 16. Isn't that 6 what we said? 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Mm-hmm. 8 MS. HARGIS: Both of them? 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Grade 16. 10 MS. HARGIS: For both? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, in each -- in each of the 12 County Clerk and -- and the District Clerk offices. Court 13 Compliance Specialist? Officer? What did you name it? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Court Compliance Clerk is what 15 I said. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm not sure what the title is. 18 I'll let -- we need to work on a job description and work 19 that out. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: That position will also be a 21 deputized clerk in that office, secondarily? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Question or discussion? 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I just want to be on record as 25 saying I -- I'm going to vote against it, because I don't see 8-12-13 86 1 a reason for restructuring. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Other questions or comments? All in 3 favor of the motion, signify by raising your right hand. 4 (Commissioners Oehler and Letz voted in favor of the motion.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed? 6 (Commissioner Moser voted against the motion.) 7 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Let's go to Item 9 36. Any member of the Court have anything to offer with 10 regard to Item 36? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we 12 authorize the County Attorney to file for a contested hearing 13 under Guadalupe Blanco River Authority's draft permit Number 14 12378. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 17 indicated. Further question or discussion on the motion? 18 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 19 hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Okay. Let 24 me see where we go from here now. Let's go to Item 22; 25 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to make any 8-12-13 87 1 necessary adjustments to budget items. Commissioner Letz, do 2 you have anything specific you want to offer? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. I put this on the agenda. 4 The one that comes to mind to me is I believe the current 5 budget has a -- about a $7,000-something -- 7,000-plus-dollar 6 increase for the H.R. Director, and I would like to reduce 7 that to a $5,000 increase, and I'll make that as a motion. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll second. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We have a motion and a second 10 that the Human Resource Director increase in the current 11 proposed budget be reduced to a $5,000 increase. Is that 12 correct? Question or discussion? 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And what's the reason for 14 that? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just think that a $7,000 16 increase is too much in one year. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let's see. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That is. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know there's some additional 20 responsibilities we've added to that office, but I don't 21 think they justify that kind of increase. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions? Comments? 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Hmm-mm. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Just for the benefit of those 25 present, I was the one that proposed the -- the salary 8-12-13 88 1 increase, and I did so based upon a number of things. Number 2 one, there were three people in that office until this past 3 year. One was a part-time employee, and the other two 4 full-time. The part-time position has been eliminated, so 5 those functions have been assumed by those remaining two 6 individuals. Since that -- since last year, the H.R. 7 Director's been designated as the County Liability Pool 8 Coordinator, being responsible for all the aspects of county 9 liability claims related to any of the TAC pool policies, be 10 they auto or workers comp or property or liability. In 11 addition, we have eliminated the insurance consultant that we 12 had previously for employee benefits to the Commissioners 13 Court. That eliminated $12,000 from the budget. Also, 14 previously we were paying $12,000 for the software to handle 15 all of the administrative aspects with the health benefits 16 plan. That was eliminated, and that's been assumed by H.R. 17 now. That's being done by H.R.; that's another $12,000. 18 Safety program, inspection and so forth, that's been added, 19 and also some other outside things with the District Judges' 20 offices and D.A.'s offices, airport, Adult Probation, which 21 technically are not county employees, but they're 22 administered through our H.R. office. So, I just wanted you 23 to be aware of some of the things that Ms. Lantz has taken 24 on. There's been significant savings. I know Ms. Lantz, as 25 I indicated a little bit ago, if asked for what her response 8-12-13 89 1 is to either my proposal or the Court's proposal, her 2 response is going to be, "Whatever the Court wants, I'm on 3 board with it; I'm a team player." Did I miss? 4 MS. LANTZ: You're exactly right. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, I kind of figured. So -- 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I agree with everything you 7 said, Judge. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: $5,000. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. We have a motion and a 11 second. Further question or discussion? All in favor of the 12 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 13 (Commissioners Letz and Oehler voted in favor of the motion.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed? 15 (Commissioner Moser voted against the motion.) 16 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. You got it, Madam 18 Auditor? 19 MS. HARGIS: I do. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One more item. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that we set the 24 Sheriff's salary at $5,000 above the chief deputy. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, I have a motion. Do I hear a 8-12-13 90 1 second? 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Hearing no second, motion dies for 4 lack of a second. The members of the Court have in front of 5 them -- I call it a cut sheet which outlines the adjustments 6 which I've made in the proposed budget to this point. Most 7 all of them are in compliance with the MGT study 8 recommendations. In two cases, I've done incremental 9 increases, because we just didn't have, in my opinion, enough 10 funding to cover the gap. That was in the Road and Bridge 11 Department, heavy equipment operators that call for several 12 grade increases. I have increased them one grade, with the 13 idea in mind that we'll revisit that again next year and see 14 if we can make another installment towards bringing those 15 people to where they belong. The second thing has to do with 16 the Juvenile Detention, where they recommended several grade 17 increases to bring those folks, those -- those detention 18 officers to a parity with the jailers over at the jail. And 19 what I've done there is to increase one and one-half grades. 20 In the law enforcement and detention function, you've got 21 half grades, so I went one and a half there. Still, again, 22 we got a ways to go. That's a good faith effort, but that's 23 generally where the cut sheet carries everybody. 24 MS. PIEPER: What about the educational increase 25 that we requested in our budget? 8-12-13 91 1 JUDGE TINLEY: That is not in the proposed budget. 2 MS. PIEPER: Can we put it in there? 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Pardon? 4 MS. PIEPER: Can we put it -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm not going to put it in there, if 6 that's your question. 7 MS. PIEPER: Well, I had put it in there, but I 8 don't think it's in there, is what I'm saying. And -- 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That's correct. 10 MS. PIEPER: -- and it goes in -- it coincides with 11 our county policy with our educational increase. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: I'm not sure it does coincide with 13 the county policy. The educational increase issue, I think, 14 is something that the Court revisited a few years ago, and 15 determined that maybe, outside of the law enforcement, those 16 educational increases were not something that was really 17 viable for other departments. Irrespective of whether that's 18 the current policy or not, I can tell you I'm not including 19 that in the proposed budget which I'll be filing. Now, if 20 the Court wants to vote on that, it's up to the Court. Okay, 21 any other adjustments to be offered? Okay. I guess the next 22 question is, then, the other adjustments as indicated by the 23 cut sheet which details all of those. Is the Court ready to 24 offer a motion for approval of those, except as we've 25 modified here in court today? 8-12-13 92 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And you're speaking of the -- 2 the salary? 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The step and grade portion of 5 the budget? 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, mm-hmm. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll move we adopt -- approve 8 the salary change based on the MGT study for 2013-2014 budget 9 with the modifications made today. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: And this is strictly 11 everybody but elected officials? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: This does not affect elected 14 officials, no. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's -- I didn't think it 16 did. I just wanted to make that clear. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it does not -- it does not 18 include the actual job descriptions, which I know there's 19 been quite a bit of issues with, and they are being reworked, 20 and they will be looked at at a future time. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, this does not affect job 22 descriptions. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll second your motion. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. We have a motion and a 25 second for approval of the salary change based schedule 8-12-13 93 1 that's been presented to the Court, with the exception of 2 adjustments which have been made to individual positions here 3 in open court. Question or discussion? All in favor, 4 signify by raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Any other 9 adjustments that -- individual adjustments that any member of 10 the Court wishes to make at this time? Okay, let's move 11 forward and go to Item 23; to consider, discuss, and take a 12 record vote on proposed 2013 Kerr County tax rate, and set 13 dates and times of first and second public hearings on said 14 tax rate. If the tax rate proposed is the effective tax rate 15 or below, no public hearings are required, in accordance with 16 Texas Tax Code, Section 26.05(d). 17 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But being as it's going to be 19 the effective rate, we don't have to have a hearing, right? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: That's exactly right. 21 MS. BOLIN: Right. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is the numbers? 23 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the total effective rate. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that we 25 adopt the total effective -- or total tax rates of 44 -- 8-12-13 94 1 .4458. And that is broken down; M and O is .3619, I and S at 2 .0516, for a total there of .4135. Road and Bridge? And 3 Road and Bridge tax rate will be .0323. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: You're offering that as the proposed 5 2013 tax -- Kerr County tax rate? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes, sir. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 2013? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: '13-'14. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What was the total tax rate 10 for last year? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: .4443. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that doesn't change? Tax 13 rate stays the same? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: No. No, the effective tax rate is 15 .4458, which is 15 hundredths of a penny higher than last 16 year's tax rate. I think if you work the numbers, it comes 17 out to, like, $43,000 difference in terms of revenue. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And what's the impact if we 19 keep it the same tax rate? 20 JUDGE TINLEY: 43,000. 21 MS. BOLIN: Mm-hmm. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, but I meant as far as 23 implementation in the operating budget. 43,000 is -- 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Our -- the proposed budget that I've 25 been working on to this point is based upon the effective tax 8-12-13 95 1 rate, which is offered by this motion. 2 MS. BOLIN: The effective tax rate brings in the 3 same amount of revenue that we had last year, based on this 4 year's -- 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But to an individual, it's an 6 increase. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not necessarily. 8 MS. BOLIN: Minimal. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But it's an increase. 10 MS. BOLIN: Slight. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not on everybody. Depends on 12 if the appraisal went up or down. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, I know. I understand, 14 but it's a tax rate increase for individuals. Yes or no? 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Maybe yes, maybe no. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: But if there is an increase, it's 18 based solely on the tax rate. It's miniscule. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'd like to see it stay the 20 same. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, we have a motion. 22 Question or discussion further? All right. All in favor of 23 the motion, signify -- we're going to do a record vote. 24 Commissioner Oehler? 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. 8-12-13 96 1 JUDGE TINLEY: You vote in favor. Commissioner 2 Letz? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: In favor. Commissioner Moser? 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: No. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: The chair votes in favor. The 7 motion carries. The proposed 2013 Kerr County tax rate is as 8 set forth in the motion. 9 MS. BOLIN: Thank you, gentlemen. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's go to Item 24; to 11 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to set a 12 public hearing on the proposed Kerr County budget for fiscal 13 year 2013-14 at 9:45 a.m on August the 26th, 2013. That's 14 the budget public hearing. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 18 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 19 raising your right hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Go on to Item 25; 24 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to authorize 25 publication of notice of consideration and adoption of 8-12-13 97 1 proposed 2013 Kerr County tax rates on August 26, 2013, at 2 10:15 a.m. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Whoa. 5 (Discussion off the record.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Proposed tax rates, yeah. Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is to publish the notice. 8 So moved. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second in 11 favor of the agenda item. Question or discussion? All in 12 favor, 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 carries. Go to Item 26; to 17 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action to authorize 18 publication notice of public hearing on consideration and 19 adoption of Kerr County budget for fiscal year 2013-14 on 20 August the 26th, 2013, at 10 a.m. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 24 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 25 raising your right hand. 8-12-13 98 1 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 3 (No response.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Item 27; consider, 5 discuss, and take appropriate action to authorize publication 6 notice of proposed salary increases, expenses, and allowances 7 for elected county and precinct officials of Kerr County for 8 fiscal year 2013-14. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's fine. We still have a 10 chance to -- if we want to take something out, we can still 11 do it. Publication needs to be done. So moved. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 14 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 15 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. Item 28; consider, 20 discuss, and take appropriate action to adopt the position 21 schedule and step and grade schedule for fiscal year 2013-14 22 budget book. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 8-12-13 99 1 approval. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 2 raising your right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Did you vote? 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, I did. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Item 29; consider, 9 discuss, take appropriate action to approve general 10 provisions and holiday and payroll schedule for fiscal year 11 2013-14. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Question. Is that the same 13 number of holidays as the previous year? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: I think it's one less. 15 MS. LANTZ: No, it's the same. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Same, okay. 17 MS. LANTZ: Same. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 21 approval. Question or discussion? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. I have not really 23 looked at this holiday schedule. We're not going to have to 24 change any of them? I mean, we've -- a lot of times we have 25 to adjust some of them 'cause of where they fall, or we have 8-12-13 100 1 in the past. And we're in conformity with federal holidays 2 where possible, and -- 3 MS. LANTZ: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Usually Thanksgiving and 5 Christmas is where we have an issue. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. Depends on what day of 7 the week it falls on -- well, Thanksgiving always falls on 8 Thursday, but Christmas is always a -- 9 MS. LANTZ: It fell in the middle of the week, 10 Christmas. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What's the day of the week? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Christmas is on Wednesday, so 13 we'd have Tuesday and Wednesday off, which makes sense. 14 Thursday and Friday... 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments? 16 All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 17 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 19 (No response.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carries. Okay, folks. I 21 believe -- 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Judge, go back to Item 1.22, 23 if you would. There was -- we had a discussion about the 24 Tierra Linda Volunteer Fire Department. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: I'll tell you what I did. I 8-12-13 101 1 increased that to $6,000. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: I thought that was appropriate. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, okay. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Because of their coverage here in 6 Kerr County. They cover a lot of that stuff north of I-10. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. I just wanted to see 8 that, what that was. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Sounds good to me. I'm glad 10 you did that. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The other thing is, we talked 12 about a COLA for the retirees. I've talked to Dawn. Dawn's 13 given me beaucoup stuff on that, and I can see why that can't 14 happen without doing everybody that's in the entire pool. If 15 there's some way we could be creative to do it, we could do 16 it, but I don't see a way to do that. And the other thing 17 that I mentioned was increasing -- paying our share of the 18 library for 350,000. I don't think that that's in there. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: That is not there. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Anyway, those are things I 21 just wanted to bring up. Thank you. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Okay, I believe that 23 brings to us Section 4, payment of the bills. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move we pay the bills. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 8-12-13 102 1 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and second to pay 2 the bills. 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: That motion does carry. Budget 8 amendments. We've got Budget Amendment Requests Numbers 1 9 through 12, as detailed on the Budget Amendment Request 10 Summary dated 8-1-2013. Do I hear a motion that the budget 11 amendments as specified thereon be approved as presented? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question on the -- where the 13 money was coming from in the first one. 14 MS. HARGIS: Yeah. We had to transfer some cash in 15 there. The reason was, remember, we didn't know we were 16 going to have a payment on that -- that issue until the new 17 year, and so it wasn't funded. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 19 MS. HARGIS: So we had to put some money in there. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments? Do 22 I hear a motion? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Motion to approve budget 24 amendments. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 8-12-13 103 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to approve. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: One other question. 3 MS. HARGIS: Mm-hmm. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: On Item 7 -- Request Number 7, 5 it's moving money from group insurance for Ag Extension to 6 vehicle repair. 7 MS. HARGIS: Yes. He needed to buy tires. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Huh? 9 MS. HARGIS: He needed to buy tires. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: He was wanting a new vehicle. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That was the -- okay, got it. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now he gets more maintenance. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Now he gets to have tires. 15 MS. HARGIS: You get it one way or the other. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: How do you like that largesse, Roy? 17 MR. WALSTON: What? 18 JUDGE TINLEY: How do you like that largesse? 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 20 MR. WALSTON: Better than boot leather. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: There you go. Any other questions? 22 Comments? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 23 your right hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8-12-13 104 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion carried. Do we have any late 3 bills? 4 MS. HARGIS: Not that I know of. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Reports. I've been presented 6 with monthly reports from July 2013 from Kerr County Payroll; 7 County Clerk; Constable, Precinct 4; Justice of the Peace, 8 Precinct 2 -- Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, rather; 9 Constable, Precinct 1; District Clerk; County Clerk, 10 corrected; and Environmental Health. Do I hear a motion that 11 the indicated reports be approved as presented? 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Did you get a motion? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: That's what I'm looking for. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved, to approve the 15 reports as presented. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Do I have a second to the motion to 17 approve the reports as presented? 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: All right, I have a motion and a 20 second. Question or discussion? All in favor, signify by 21 raising your right hand. 22 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 24 (No response.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Okay, 8-12-13 105 1 reports from Commissioners in connection with their liaison 2 or other assignments. Commissioner Letz? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't think I have anything. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: About wrung everything out, haven't 5 we? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, sir. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Moser? 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Not a thing. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Reports from elected officials or 12 department heads? Starting over here. 13 MS. LANTZ: Open enrollment starts Wednesday and 14 Thursday, so I want to make sure everybody has their 15 employees attend. If they can't, make arrangements with H.R. 16 to get the paperwork. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That's this Wednesday and Thursday? 18 MS. LANTZ: Yes, sir. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Open enrollment, health benefits 20 program and supplemental, right? 21 MS. LANTZ: Yes. And Wednesday it will be at the 22 Sheriff's Annex, and Thursday will be here at the courthouse. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. All right, thank you. Yes, 24 ma'am? 25 MS. BOLIN: Real quick. Our office is going to be 8-12-13 106 1 closed on Thursday, the 15th. We will be doing our 2 continuing education in Atascosa County. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Your whole office will be down 4 there? 5 MS. BOLIN: The whole office. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 7 MR. GARCIA: Last Thursday there was a fire at one 8 of our staff's house. It was in the paper the following day, 9 on Friday. Deputy Constable James Lang, the fire at his 10 house started allegedly -- I haven't got the report yet. I 11 don't know, Rusty, if you've received it, where the fire 12 originated. 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't have it yet. 14 MR. GARCIA: But it burned all around his house, 15 and the master bedroom had some smoke damage -- minimal smoke 16 damage to it. He's since got power back out to his house, 17 and the house was spared. Just to let the Court know that 18 he's fine, and the family's fine. And the dog is fine. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Dog's okay, huh? 20 MR. GARCIA: Dog's okay. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: John? Kevin? Over here? The 22 Sheriff says no. How wonderful. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh my gosh. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Roy? 25 MR. WALSTON: I just want to remind the 8-12-13 107 1 Commissioners and Judge about our awards banquet on Saturday, 2 the 17th, that y'all are all invited. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: That's 4-H? 4 MR. WALSTON: 4-H annual awards banquet. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. And the Commissioners Court 6 presents one of the major awards in that function. 7 MS. HARGIS: We are going to do the Wounded 8 Warriors project against this next year, and they're going to 9 bring in eight families instead of six. And so, you know, 10 we're going to -- and they've also asked for an extra day, 11 the day being so they can just get here, get acclimated to 12 their surroundings. Because of their handicaps and so forth, 13 they just felt that they needed an extra day to get... So, 14 we will be -- the golf tournament, I think it's the 15 Republican, is going to give -- excuse me -- 50 percent of 16 their profit to -- to this, but we will need more money. We 17 were very frugal this year, thanks to Ms. Stevens, but we 18 can't get any money from the foundation any more. That was a 19 personal check from her. So, there is some money left, but 20 because we're going to do eight of them, I mean, we'll need a 21 little bit more, but the community really pitched in and 22 helped, the camps and everything, and the -- the warriors 23 were really pleased. I should have brought -- I have a video 24 that my husband did of some of the events, and I'll bring 25 that next time so some of you can see how -- you know, how 8-12-13 108 1 pleased they were and how they appreciated everything that we 2 did. One of them was in a wheelchair, and it took everything 3 he had to stand up Sunday to do it, you know, 'cause he was 4 hurting standing up. And so it really helped their morale. 5 Their children were happy, and the wives, and so it's a great 6 thing we've started. So, if any of you want to help next 7 year, we certainly would appreciate additional volunteers, 8 especially younger volunteers. We don't like the old codgers 9 like me, so if you could get some -- 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll be in again. 11 MS. HARGIS: I know. I appreciate that. So, 12 anyway, it was a great event. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let me add one thing -- two 15 things, if I may. Again, Bruce needs a lot of recognition 16 for what he did, and I think everybody that was a member of 17 that committee probably benefited as much or more so than the 18 recipients from the wounded warriors. I mean, it's a great 19 experience. And the Republican golf tournament -- I think 20 it's October the 7th, if I'm not mistaken. It's going to be 21 a golf tournament at Riverhill, combined. It's going to be a 22 Republican party fundraiser for Kerr County and for Wounded 23 Warriors, so they're going to split those proceeds 50/50. 24 So, we're looking to raise enough money in that to -- to meet 25 what Ms. Stevens contributed this last year personally, so 8-12-13 109 1 we've got a big effort going on that to make that happen. 2 So -- 3 MS. HARGIS: But I do have to say, you know, I 4 usually don't break my diet, because I'm really trying hard 5 to lose this weight I'm losing. And Bruce's ribs were 6 absolutely out of sight, and so everybody -- there wasn't one 7 left. So, the food was wonderful, and he did a great job. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Is that a complaint that you didn't 9 get seconds and you wanted to? 10 MS. HARGIS: I wanted another one, but I couldn't 11 have it. Harry ate it for me. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: County Attorney? 13 MR. HENNEKE: No, thank you. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Anything else to come before 15 the Court on this particular agenda? We're adjourned. 16 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 12:25 p.m.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 8-12-13 110 1 STATE OF TEXAS | 2 COUNTY OF KERR | 3 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 4 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 5 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 6 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 7 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 15th day of August, 8 2013. 9 10 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 11 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 12 Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 8-12-13