1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Emergency Meeting 10 Thursday, June 25, 2015 11 4:00 p.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: TOM POLLARD, Kerr County Judge 23 H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 24 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 ABSENT: BOB REEVES, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X June 25, 2015 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve implementation of plan recommendation 4 by regional zoonosis and local Rabies Control Authority for Kerr County 3 5 --- Adjourned 29 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Thursday, June 25, 2015, at 4:19 p.m., a emergency 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 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, we're going to get 8 started now. This is the Commissioners Court, and it's an 9 emergency meeting at 4:19 Thursday, June the 25th, 2015, at 10 the courthouse. We're in the Commissioners Courtroom. Let 11 the record reflect that Commissioner Reeves and Commissioner 12 Letz are absent at this time. Judge Pollard is here now. 13 The item that we're going to discuss today is 1.1; consider, 14 discuss, and take appropriate action to approve 15 implementation of plan recommendation by regional zoonosis -- 16 DR. WOZNIAK: Zoonosis. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. That's easy for you 18 to say. And local Rabies Control Authority for Kerr County. 19 Mr. Garcia and Ms. Stebbins, you are part of this. Take your 20 liberty, sir. 21 MR. GARCIA: Good afternoon. Thank you for showing 22 up in the interest of public health and safety. I requested 23 this meeting after talking to the County Attorney and our 24 local zoonosis, Dr. Wozniak, in regards to our ninth rabies 25 case that we just received today, a new rabies case. As you 6-25-15 emg 4 1 recall, we had -- the seventh was a family pet that came in 2 contact with a skunk and a raccoon. Then we had the 3 seventh -- eighth case. That was a raccoon? 4 MS. MERRITT: I believe so. 5 MR. GARCIA: And the ninth case is a raccoon as 6 well, and these are back to back. So, this -- with our 7 regional zoonosis, Dr. Wozniak, we had concerns that we 8 needed to talk to the Commissioners Court. 9 JUDGE POLLARD: Well, were these both in the same 10 general area? 11 MR. GARCIA: These areas -- we're going to show you 12 where they're at. And the reason why Dr. Wozniak and I and 13 the County Attorney decided to request this meeting is 14 because there is an interest in stepping up the control for 15 Kerr County. We are at number nine. Last year we were at 16 10, and we tested 97, okay? And I explained to the Court 17 earlier that the reason why there was more positive cases 18 coming up is because testing had been stepped up. We -- in 19 the past, there was different practices. Since 2013, 20 October 2013, any animal in the high-risk rabies carriers -- 21 fox, skunk, raccoon, or bat and coyote -- if the public sees 22 an animal that is acting or that is exhibiting some kind of 23 signs of rabies, we will test, okay. Or the other 24 circumstances in is contact -- human known contact with a 25 pet. So, this is where we've come to today. To-date, we 6-25-15 emg 5 1 have tested 53, and nine are confirmed positive cases. 2 To-date. And this is calendar year, January to this date. 3 We have two more on the road to be tested, one more -- one 4 cat that's going to be transported tomorrow, because we just 5 had a report of a citizen who stopped and picked up a stray 6 animal and was bitten by a cat, so immediately ordered that 7 one to be euthanized and taken for testing as well. The 8 majority -- majority of these cases are in Precinct 4, off of 9 Highway 479. And, again, the dates are on there. 10 (Commissioner Letz entered the courtroom.) 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So, what's the general 12 proximity? 13 MR. GARCIA: What was the -- the proximity on that? 14 MS. MERRITT: This one on the map, on the left-hand 15 side, this is 479. It is, according to Google, 8.6 miles 16 from the bottom at Elizabeth Lane to the top at Esquell Ranch 17 Road. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But that doesn't mean anything 19 to me. 20 MS. MERRITT: Pardon me? 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I said those names don't mean 22 anything to me, so -- 23 MS. MERRITT: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Relative to east, west, north, 25 south? 6-25-15 emg 6 1 MR. GARCIA: This is in the west part of the 2 county, Precinct 4. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: West. 4 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir. That's Highway 479. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 6 MR. GARCIA: That's also -- 7 JUDGE POLLARD: Isn't that Reservation Road? 8 MR. GARCIA: 479. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's what you know as 10 Reservation Road, yeah. 11 MR. GARCIA: That's also where the dog -- the pet 12 came in contact. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, thank you. 14 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir. So, after talking with Dr. 15 Wozniak, you know, we talked about measures to improve the 16 control of rabies, okay? The control of rabies is 17 vaccinating our pets, vaccinating our animals, so we want to 18 step up the control. And we thought it necessary -- and Dr. 19 Wozniak, after speaking to him as well, thought it was -- it 20 set off an alarm, and we think we need to step up control. 21 And he has with him -- forgive me. Your name again, sir? 22 MR. HENEFEY: Justin Henefey. 23 MR. GARCIA: Justin Henefey. He is a health 24 expert. And then Dr. Wozniak, who is our regional zoonosis. 25 DR. WOZNIAK: Zoonosis. 6-25-15 emg 7 1 MR. GARCIA: Veterinarian, okay, Region 8. So, we 2 want to step up and get recommendations from Region 8 as to 3 how we can increase the measure of control. 4 JUDGE POLLARD: Question. If you vaccinate them 5 before they're exposed to it, it works then, but how about in 6 the early exposure? 7 MR. GARCIA: The primary control here -- 8 JUDGE POLLARD: That doesn't -- 9 MR. GARCIA: Primary control is, again, vaccinating 10 your pets. Get them vaccinated. That's step number one. 11 That's going to -- that's there, and we need to have our 12 local press help us to get it out to the public. But, you 13 know, we want to step up and be proactive in this, because 14 we're at number nine, and for the public health and safety, 15 I'll let Justin explain some programs that we're going to 16 recommend to the Court that we implement, and I also 17 recommend whatever the State has, that we implement it 18 immediately. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Once an animal is vaccinated, 20 how long does take it before the vaccination is effective? 21 DR. WOZNIAK: It takes a while, unfortunately. You 22 really need to have multiple doses, and there are at least 23 two doses to get an effective level of immunity. So, you're 24 looking at probably a couple months, really, before there's a 25 good immune response. 6-25-15 emg 8 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh, really? Wow. But you say 2 a couple of doses. Nobody vaccinates twice that I know of. 3 DR. WOZNIAK: Well, they should vaccinate at 4 between three and four months of age, and then at one year of 5 age, and from there on out, in accordance with the label on 6 the vaccine. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I see, okay. Okay. So, it's 8 not necessary multiple times each year. 9 DR. WOZNIAK: No, no, no. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, got you. Thank you. 11 MR. GARCIA: So, with that said, I would like to 12 bring Justin up so he can recommend to the Court some extra 13 control measures. 14 MR. HENEFEY: Over the years past, in the past, we 15 had a fox strain of rabies here, and the State came through 16 and dropped those baits on them. I don't know if you 17 remember that or not. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 19 MR. HENEFEY: They're doing trials like that in the 20 eastern part around Sealy, that area, but they don't have the 21 baits, you know, to do any other area right now, so that 22 option's not available. 23 DR. WOZNIAK: What he's talking about is dropping 24 baits for skunks, 'cause what you're dealing with here is a 25 skunk strain of rabies. It's well adapted to skunks, and 6-25-15 emg 9 1 readily goes from skunk to skunk and into other species as 2 well. 3 MR. HENEFEY: You'll have your spillover. That's 4 what we call spillover. It gets into domestic animals and 5 raccoons and all -- and, like, the dog and the raccoons, they 6 go to our lab; they test them for rabies. Then when they 7 come back positive, then they automatically find out what 8 strain they are, and 99 percent of them -- 100 percent of 9 them are always from a skunk strain, because we eradicated 10 the fox strain of babies. Rabies is rabies. It'll all kill 11 you, but there's different strains of rabies. One option, 12 you know, you could go in there and you can -- rabies is a 13 natural virus. That's what -- it's here for a reason. When 14 you have a large population of wild animals, it's going to 15 come through there and it's going to knock the population 16 down, and then you're not going to see it any more. And it 17 just kind of moves like a wildfire, and then it doesn't -- 18 might have little sparks behind it, but it kind of clears 19 through. You can help the virus and you can reduce the 20 population, and that would be one -- another option. And 21 then, I mean, the best thing to do really is to get the 22 public aware, make sure their animals are vaccinated, know 23 what they should look for. I mean, if they have livestock -- 24 a lot of people, you know, they'll have cattle, and they'll 25 see a cow out there and they'll think, "She's got a bone down 6-25-15 emg 10 1 her throat," and they'll reach in there and they'll try and 2 get it out. They take it to the vet, and they have rabies, 3 and then we get multiple people exposed to rabies. And 4 that's our main prevention, is to prevent people from getting 5 exposed and having to go through the rabies series, because 6 on the average, it costs about $5,000 a person. 7 DR. WOZNIAK: A person, and it's just for the 8 material. 9 MR. HENEFEY: I mean -- 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You said something a while ago 11 that's very interesting and very compelling, is there are 12 multiple strains, -- 13 MR. HENEFEY: Yes. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- but they'll all kill you. 15 MR. HENEFEY: Right. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's what you said. 17 That's -- 18 DR. WOZNIAK: Yeah. They're all -- 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's pretty potent. The 20 public ought to recognize that, and probably lots of people 21 don't realize. Hey, can I ask you one other question? 22 MR. HENEFEY: Yes, sir. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You're talking about the small 24 animals; skunk, fox, blah, blah. Are deer susceptible to 25 rabies? 6-25-15 emg 11 1 MR. HENEFEY: Yes, sir. We just don't see a lot of 2 deer. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Somebody asked me that today. 4 MR. HENEFEY: We've had cases, but it's very, very, 5 very rare. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 'Cause we have a lot of deer. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What are the symptoms? I mean, 8 can you -- and for my knowledge and also for the rest of us, 9 if you see an animal, whether it's a cow or a deer, what 10 should you be looking at? 11 MR. HENEFEY: Just any odd -- if an animal is real 12 friendly to you, that's one. You know, a wild animal; I mean 13 a coon or a skunk. A skunk should raise its tail up and try 14 to spray you, not try to come up to you where you want to pet 15 it. I mean, just any unusual behavior on any type of 16 animals. Some are more aggressive; some are not. It's 17 just -- you can't just say one thing, like, "Okay, it's 18 foaming at the mouth; it must be rabies." A lot of raccoons 19 have distemper. You'll find them by the water trough or 20 something like that. And -- and being in summertime, you'll 21 start seeing that more and more. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: If you see a coon walking 23 around during the day like a pet. 24 MR. HENEFEY: It could be distemper, could be 25 rabies, but with all the cases around here now, that would 6-25-15 emg 12 1 be -- I would think rabies first. 2 DR. WOZNIAK: Actually, foaming at the mouth is 3 relatively rare. You'll probably never see that. It could 4 be something as subtle at lameness, you know, limping on one 5 limb that you see as an early manifestation of rabies. 6 MR. HENEFEY: And I think once it gets out to the 7 press and public, you're going to -- they're going to get 8 more calls. I mean, I've seen this over and over year after 9 year. The more cases you have, it gets out there, and 10 with -- you know, with Facebook and all the other stuff, 11 people are going to know more about it, and they're going to 12 be calling us here to come pick up more animals, and your 13 numbers are going to come up. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Ray, are you going to propose 15 that we have some rabies vaccination more readily available 16 to everyone? 17 MR. GARCIA: Well -- 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Or is that in the -- 19 MR. GARCIA: Most definitely, it would be -- and I 20 don't know what is on-hand currently, but the 10 people that 21 -- the people that we've had exposed in the past, I believe 22 that was readily available, because they've all started their 23 series. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: And as far as the veterinarians are 25 concerned, they need to have plenty of it too, because there 6-25-15 emg 13 1 is going to be an increased demand. 2 DR. WOZNIAK: For animal use, dogs and cats, and 3 horses too. 4 JUDGE POLLARD: I've got a question for you. Now, 5 you've answered the question about what to look out for, I 6 think, with regard to wild animals. Now, the point you've 7 made is that wild animals don't customarily come up and get 8 close to humans. They want to get away from us ordinarily, 9 and so if they show something different, like being friendly 10 to you and want to get up around you, that's a different kind 11 of a conduct, and you need to be concerned with it. Now, 12 what do you do when you got domestic animals, your dogs and 13 pets around the house that are going to be friendly to you 14 anyway? What are you looking for there? 15 MR. HENEFEY: If they're vaccinated, the rabies 16 vaccine works tremendously. 17 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay. Let's assume they're not 18 vaccinated. 19 MR. HENEFEY: Okay. If they're not vaccinated, if 20 they become any type of sick -- they get off food, they get 21 off water, just any unusual behavior. I mean, that's all -- 22 that's the only thing I can really say, just unusual 23 behavior. I mean, if this dog was never really that 24 friendly, and then all of a sudden it is. You know, if it -- 25 if it was shy and it was -- you know, roll over and do 6-25-15 emg 14 1 whatever, and now it's just -- 2 JUDGE POLLARD: Or if it's friendly, and not now. 3 MR. HENEFEY: Right. Right. I mean, every dog is 4 different, and everyone knows their pet like they know their 5 kids, and you just know when something is wrong with an 6 animal. I mean -- 7 DR. WOZNIAK: A change in behavior. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And because I know in one of 9 these cases, another thing, like if you have a dog and it 10 gets sprayed by a skunk, that dog -- I mean, it won't get it 11 from the spray, but that means that it was near a skunk, and 12 skunks are -- 13 MR. HENEFEY: Oh, yeah. Yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, that's what I'm saying. 15 It's an indicator, something to look at. 16 MR. HENEFEY: I would -- I would get that animal 17 boostered, especially 'cause if it happens at night and your 18 dog comes up the next morning -- you know, you go outside and 19 he smells like a skunk, I would get that animal boostered, 20 because you don't know what happened. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So you're recommending 22 boosters if you think -- 23 MR. HENEFEY: If it's currently vaccinated. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: If it's currently vaccinated 25 and you think it may have been exposed, you recommend 6-25-15 emg 15 1 boosters? 2 MR. HENEFEY: Yes, sir. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Like recommending a booster 4 after how many months or weeks or whatever after the last 5 vaccination? 'Cause my dogs just got vaccinated not long 6 ago, and I live, you know, where there's skunks and fox and 7 everything else. So if they were -- say it was a month ago. 8 MR. HENEFEY: A month ago, I would. If they -- 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Get a booster? 10 MR. HENEFEY: Yes, sir, get one booster. And you 11 watch him; you isolate him and watch him 45 days. If they're 12 not currently vaccinated, our recommendations are they get a 13 booster, they get another booster on the third week, and then 14 on the eighth week, and it's a 90-day -- 15 DR. WOZNIAK: Observation. 16 MR. HENEFEY: -- observation. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's very important, what 18 you just said. 19 MR. GARCIA: That protocol, Commissioner, is given 20 out through Animal Services, the administrative assistant. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Is that on the county website? 22 MR. GARCIA: Do we have that on our site? 23 MR. HENEFEY: Should be on y'all's. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: Let's get it on there right away. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Put it on the county website. 6-25-15 emg 16 1 Since we're making this a county-wide issue, put it on the 2 county website. 3 MR. GARCIA: The standard protocol is when they do 4 call and they tell -- 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let's just put it on there 6 where people can go to the website and find it. 7 DR. WOZNIAK: The dog case you just recently had, 8 historically, it was smelling like a skunk several weeks 9 back. It had obvious wounds that was ignored. And then I'm 10 told the raccoon -- during the day, then they thought the 11 raccoon may have exposed it, so they took it to a veterinary 12 clinic. And, of course, the dog at that point was already 13 incubated, and it broke while it was at the veterinary 14 clinic. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 16 DR. WOZNIAK: Ten people exposed, and they -- 17 nobody carries large quantities of these materials, because 18 they're -- you know, it's expensive, and if it's expired, 19 then you have to just discard them. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: So we have 10 people going out to 21 Sid Peterson -- 22 DR. WOZNIAK: Some of them here; some of them had 23 to go to up to Fredericksburg and Kendall County as well. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What about porcupines? I guess 25 they could get it as well? 6-25-15 emg 17 1 DR. WOZNIAK: Sure. Sure. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just think our dogs have a 3 pretty regular -- 4 MR. HENEFEY: Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- battle with porcupines. 6 DR. WOZNIAK: As Justin said, -- 7 MR. HENEFEY: I know mine do, yeah. 8 DR. WOZNIAK: -- in almost any case you see an 9 abnormal host like that, whether it be a dog or cat, fox, 10 it's going to be south central skunk strain of rabies. 11 MR. HENEFEY: High-risk animals are your skunks. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Do rodents carry rabies? 13 Rats? 14 MR. HENEFEY: They can. They can get it, but the 15 philosophy about that is that a rat is going to have to 16 survive being attacked by a skunk. 17 DR. WOZNIAK: Which is unlikely. 18 MR. HENEFEY: So it's going to have to live long 19 enough for the virus to incubate. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 21 MR. HENEFEY: So that's why we don't worry about 22 rodents. 23 DR. WOZNIAK: It's not impossible. It's just not 24 real common. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But not real common, okay. 6-25-15 emg 18 1 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. So this program that 2 you're talking about administering here is having -- I guess 3 it's having more vaccination stuff available through the 4 various veterinary clinics, and that you guys are going to 5 come in with traps of some kind and go into areas and try and 6 trap as many as you can of the wild animals and get them 7 vaccinated? Is that -- is that what -- 8 MR. HENEFEY: We were going to kind of just -- we 9 don't have the -- we don't vaccinate wild animals. 10 DR. WOZNIAK: Vaccines aren't even labeled for 11 them. 12 JUDGE POLLARD: I'm asking what's the procedure, 13 then? What do we need to do? 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What's the action? What 15 action are we going to take? 16 MR. HENEFEY: That's -- 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What's do you recommend? 18 MR. GARCIA: Talking about population control of 19 these animals. 20 MR. HENEFEY: That's y'all's operation. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Everybody -- recommending 22 everybody go out and get their animal vaccinated. 23 MR. GARCIA: That's first and foremost. We're 24 going to get the public information out there with the help 25 of the media here, to make them -- the public education, make 6-25-15 emg 19 1 them aware, don't come into contact with any wildlife. Stop 2 feeding outside. Stop feeding -- well, that's another big 3 one that we need to make sure that we stress. When you see a 4 stray animal, a dog or cat, just like what just happened, 5 don't make contact with it. Call local animal services, or 6 call law enforcement. Do not contact -- come into contact 7 with stray animals, okay? Those things. But, again, first 8 and foremost, vaccinate your animal. Vaccinate your animal, 9 because it's required by state law. Number two, do not 10 approach wildlife and do not approach stray animals. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Say that again; it's required 12 by state law. A lot of people don't know that. 13 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir, vaccinating your animals. 14 DR. WOZNIAK: You have an ordinance as well, right? 15 MR. GARCIA: Yes, we have our county ordinance that 16 requires that, a court order that we've already had. 17 MR. BARTON: You talk about feeding wildlife. 18 You're talking about deer also? 19 MR. GARCIA: Yes. Again, because that -- that 20 creates a vector. You know, again, let -- yeah, let me -- 21 because I think I know where you're going with that. We need 22 to be careful with the deer feeders, what we're talking 23 about. But in town in highly dense -- densely populated 24 areas, you know, when you've got folks throwing out food 25 scraps for the deer, you become a vector for those high-risk 6-25-15 emg 20 1 rabies carriers. Everything from your skunks, your fox, your 2 raccoons are going to be hitting these places, leaving food 3 out for these guys. Obviously, when you're deer-feeding, you 4 know, whatever the case may be, that's a different situation, 5 because in a lot of game cams, you do see a bunch of raccoons 6 around these feeders. 7 DR. WOZNIAK: Yeah, around the corn. 8 MR. GARCIA: So in town, because of our population, 9 yeah, you know, we recommend -- always recommended do not 10 feed wildlife, because you are a vector to bring in those 11 high-risk rabies carriers. So that's the other thing that we 12 need to understand, make sure the public understands, is 13 that, yeah, it's nice to see the animals around your property 14 here in town, but you also have to be aware of when you're 15 feeding these animals, you are creating free food for those 16 guys that come around, and those are the high-risk rabies 17 carriers; your raccoons, your foxes, and your skunks. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Ray, are you recommending also 19 that we do something like a public vaccination facility, like 20 at the Ag Barn or whatever, that happens like maybe once a 21 year or something like that? 22 MR. GARCIA: We do that, yes, sir. That's the one 23 we come up here every year. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But are you recommending doing 25 it again in light of this, quote, epidemic? 6-25-15 emg 21 1 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir, I think that's a great idea. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Huh? 3 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir, I recommend that we do have 4 that. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: In light of this increase -- 6 increase in -- 7 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- rabies, are you 9 recommending that? 10 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Is that what are you 12 recommending? 13 MR. GARCIA: Well, I have to get with the local 14 vets, and we -- again, because it's all based on all the 15 local vets participating. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Too early to get -- 17 MR. GARCIA: Yes, sir. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- a response? 19 DR. WOZNIAK: That would help with the, you know, 20 domestic animals. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 22 DR. WOZNIAK: If they're exposed, really, to get it 23 under control, but what you want to do is reduce the source. 24 Reduce the skunks. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's where most people will 6-25-15 emg 22 1 get affected, if their domestic animals get it. 2 DR. WOZNIAK: That's right. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 'Cause they're going to be in 4 contact with them. So you're not -- we're not going to go 5 out and vaccinate all the coons; I know that. 6 DR. WOZNIAK: Goes from a skunk to a dog or cat, 7 and from there, a lot of people. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Ray, do y'all keep in contact 9 with the -- is it U.S.D.A.? The government trapper. 10 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 11 MR. HENEFEY: The wildlife services here, like Jude 12 Sandoval, his office is here, and they're the ones that do 13 it. And we've worked together with them on numerous projects 14 with the rabies and stuff, and they do a good job of 15 population reduction. 16 JUDGE POLLARD: I got to figure out a better way to 17 feed my outside cats. I put it on the back porch, and often 18 times I go in there, and late at night, man, there's a big 19 coon or big old -- 20 MR. GARCIA: There you go. 21 JUDGE POLLARD: -- possum, or even skunks 22 occasionally. 23 DR. WOZNIAK: With cats -- 24 JUDGE POLLARD: Right there on the back porch. 25 DR. WOZNIAK: You might be able to put -- keep the 6-25-15 emg 23 1 skunks out of it; just put it on an elevated type platform. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: But it's mostly raccoons. All 3 right. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 5 JUDGE POLLARD: You got any other discussions about 6 how to be safer about feeding the cats? I like to have cats 7 around, because it keeps the snakes down. 8 MR. HENEFEY: Without the cats, you're not going to 9 get the mice. That's what I tell my wife. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's true. 11 JUDGE POLLARD: Well -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, when do we meet again? 13 When's our Commissioners Court? Could we -- is there an 14 action item on the agenda? 15 MS. GRINSTEAD: Mm-hmm. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Could we -- I don't know how 17 quick you can get with the area vets, but could we authorize 18 Ray to, as soon as he can -- we don't meet until the 13th, I 19 think, of July. We can authorize Ray to set up a vaccination 20 clinic in coordination with the vets and lower the fee to one 21 dollar, can't we? You can just do a general one, at the 22 earliest time that you can put together such a vaccination 23 program. 24 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 25 JUDGE POLLARD: Set it up for one dollar? 6-25-15 emg 24 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Isn't it one dollar? 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Something like that. 3 MR. GARCIA: Yeah, and then I would also request 4 that we take action on population control. 5 MS. STEBBINS: As recommended by the Region 8. 6 MR. GARCIA: Recommended by Region 8. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What was the recommendation? 8 MR. GARCIA: The population control in that area 9 where we are -- 10 DR. WOZNIAK: Reduction of skunks -- primarily 11 skunks and raccoons. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Don't give us code like 13 "population control." What do you mean? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Kill them rascals. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Be specific. 16 MR. GARCIA: To control and to trap -- to live-trap 17 these animals. 18 JUDGE POLLARD: We're going to do that? 19 MR. GARCIA: Skunks and raccoons. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: Who's going to do that? 21 MR. GARCIA: We have -- we have live traps that are 22 available to the public as well, that we -- that the 23 public -- 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And then when they trap them, 25 they call you? 6-25-15 emg 25 1 MR. GARCIA: They trap and then call us. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Your department's going to do 3 that trapping? 4 MR. GARCIA: Yes. 5 MR. HENEFEY: I would try to contact wildlife 6 services here and see what -- see if they can help. 7 DR. WOZNIAK: We have a lot of traps as well. 8 MR. GARCIA: So if -- 9 JUDGE POLLARD: So you're going to do some, but you 10 encourage the public to do a lot of it too? 11 MR. GARCIA: Right. Yes, most definitely. 12 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. 13 DR. WOZNIAK: The more eyes you have out there, the 14 better. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. There was a motion 16 there of some sort. We want to -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a run at it again; 18 that we reduce the fee to one dollar -- is that what we do 19 once a year? 20 MR. GARCIA: That was the registration. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Registration. What do we do on 22 rabies? Is there -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It was a reduced amount, but 24 he's got to get -- he's got to get -- 25 MR. GARCIA: I've got to get with the vets and see 6-25-15 emg 26 1 what they all agree to do with us again. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: Let's make a motion that we -- that 3 we try to get a program going with the local vets at a 4 reduced rate. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 6 JUDGE POLLARD: And that rate's going to be 7 determined by what he finds out by talking to the vets and 8 all of that. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Make a motion that we direct -- 10 direct you, whatever your title is -- (Laughter.) 11 JUDGE POLLARD: Authorize you to go ahead -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Authorize you -- 13 JUDGE POLLARD: -- to do the population control 14 thing, which is kind of a nebulous thing I'm shooting at 15 there, I think. I'm not sure exactly what that is. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Authorize the head of Animal 17 Control to get with the area vets and do a public vaccination 18 program at reduced rates if possible, as soon as possible. 19 JUDGE POLLARD: All right, those two things. The 20 population control thing, and to do the thing with the area 21 vets with the deal. Is there something else we need to 22 include in this motion? 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Then I'll second that. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. It's been moved -- 25 DR. WOZNIAK: Those two measures should help you 6-25-15 emg 27 1 bring your problem under control. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: We got to get specific about our 3 motions, you know, up here. Not emotions. Motions. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Specific action. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, okay. 6 JUDGE POLLARD: And that's the motion, and there's 7 a second. Do you -- do you guys think that motion is 8 adequate? Did we cover the waterfront on that, do what we 9 had to do? 10 DR. WOZNIAK: So, what are the two things? 11 Trapping and population control of skunks and raccoons, 12 and -- 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Set up a clinic. 14 DR. WOZNIAK: -- vaccination? 15 JUDGE POLLARD: Yes, sir. 16 DR. WOZNIAK: Yeah, I think that can help. 17 JUDGE POLLARD: All right, that's the motion. It's 18 been seconded. Those in favor of it, signify by raising your 19 right hand. 20 (The motion carried by unanimous vote, 4-0.) 21 JUDGE POLLARD: Wham, it's 4-0. Thank you. Okay. 22 DR. WOZNIAK: All these -- all these animals that 23 are trapped, we will test them, see if they're rabid, and 24 then you can go get information on that, and we'll test them 25 for some other things too, like tickborne relapsing fever, 6-25-15 emg 28 1 for instance. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: I want to say that we really 3 appreciate you guys coming down to help us with this, and I 4 have confidence that you -- you fellows are very efficient. 5 With our Environmental Health Department, you're going to get 6 control of this thing. But I'm not going to call it an 7 epidemic or anything like that, but it's something to be 8 concerned about, and I feel like that this is going to 9 control the situation. There's no reason for everybody to 10 get in a panic about this, but we need to be quietly 11 deliberate about getting all of these goals done without 12 getting all excited about it. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And it's nice to see the 14 Sheriff's office here, the city police, and the city fire 15 department. 16 JUDGE POLLARD: It is, and it's going to be a 17 cooperative effort of everybody. I appreciate that. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 19 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay. Is there anything else that 20 needs to be done or said at this meeting? 21 MS. STEBBINS: I don't think so. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: If not, I'll entertain -- 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes, sir? 24 MR. LENARD: I think for the -- when y'all figure 25 out what you want to put on the website, I think the City 6-25-15 emg 29 1 would mirror that, the same language. I'll get with our -- 2 JUDGE POLLARD: Talk to our I.T. man. 3 MR. LENARD: As soon as you get that done, we'll 4 try to mirror that, be exactly the same. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Thanks, Tony. 6 MR. LENARD: Same message. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you. 8 JUDGE POLLARD: Thank you very much. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The same message. I.T. will 10 just put it up. 11 JUDGE POLLARD: And Ray can also send it over to 12 you guys, I think. 13 MR. LENARD: Please, and we'll try to get the same 14 message out. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: I.T. can send it to you, okay. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 17 JUDGE POLLARD: Thanks for everybody's cooperation. 18 Thank you very much. 19 MR. GARCIA: Thank you, Judge. Thank you, 20 Commissioners. 21 (Meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.) 22 - - - - - - - - - - 23 24 25 6-25-15 emg 30 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 26th day of June, 2015. 8 9 REBECCA BOLIN, Kerr County Clerk 10 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 11 Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 6-25-15 emg