1 1 2 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 3 Special Session 4 Thursday, May 23, 2019 5 9:00 a.m. 6 Commissioners' Courtroom 7 Kerr County Courthouse 8 Kerrville, Texas 78028 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: ROB KELLY, Kerr County Judge 23 HARLEY BELEW, Commissioner Precinct 1 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Precinct 2 24 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Precinct 3 DON HARRIS, Commissioner Precinct 4 25 2 1 INDEX 2 NO. Page 3 1.1 Pay Bills. 3 4 1.2 Budget Amendment. 4 5 1.5 Court Orders. 5 6 2.1 Reports regarding Commissioners/Liaison Committee Assignments 28 7 2.2 Reports regarding Elected Officials/ 8 Department Heads a) Road and Bridge Biannual Report 7 9 b) Engineering Biannual Report 19 10 *** Adjournment 49 11 *** Reporter's Certificate 50 12 * * * * * 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 08:45AM 3 08:45AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. It is Thursday, May 09:02AM 2 the 23rd, 2019, 9 o'clock a.m. and the Kerr County 09:02AM 3 Commissioners' Court is now in session. This is our 09:02AM 4 bill pay agenda. Item 1.1 is to pay the bills. 09:02AM 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move to pay the 09:02AM 6 bills. 09:02AM 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Moving quickly. 09:02AM 8 MRS. JOHNSON: Good morning. 09:02AM 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I forgot, Joy, do you 09:02AM 10 want to go over the bills first? 09:02AM 11 MRS. JOHNSON: No, I am good. 09:02AM 12 JUDGE KELLY: He's already made a motion 09:02AM 13 so... 09:02AM 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'm just chomping at 09:02AM 15 the bit to second. 09:02AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: Go ahead. 09:02AM 17 MRS. JOHNSON: Okay. You want me to go 09:02AM 18 ahead? 09:02AM 19 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, we are just teasing. 09:02AM 20 MRS. JOHNSON: We have $2,088,607.88. For 09:02AM 21 other funds for the treasurer to disburse we have adult 09:02AM 22 probation, $19,008.87; airport, 3,105.61; Fund 78, which 09:03AM 23 is the county clerk fees, $151.89; and Fund 95, 198; the 09:03AM 24 forfeiture account, $220.48. 09:03AM 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I might comment the 4 09:03AM 1 reason the amount is so much is that there is 1.7-plus 09:03AM 2 million dollar bill to the Center Point West project. 09:03AM 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I second. 09:03AM 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I made a motion 09:03AM 5 earlier. 09:03AM 6 JUDGE KELLY: It's been moved by 09:03AM 7 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commission Moser to pay 09:03AM 8 the bills. Any further discussion? Those in favor 09:03AM 9 raise your hand. Unanimous, 5-0. 09:03AM 10 1.2 budget amendments. 09:03AM 11 MRS. JOHNSON: We have seven of them, 09:03AM 12 county court; the county attorney; road and bridge, 09:03AM 13 auditor certified new revenue; animal control; 09:03AM 14 historical commission, auditor certified new revenue, 09:04AM 15 road and bridge and jail expansion. 09:04AM 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: There's a lot of money 09:04AM 17 there with animal control, what's going on there? 09:04AM 18 UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is moving money 09:04AM 19 from the animal control to the UGRA funds so we can 09:04AM 20 continue the hog bounty program. 09:04AM 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's good. 09:04AM 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval of 09:04AM 23 the budget amendments. 09:04AM 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 09:04AM 25 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Letz has made a 5 09:04AM 1 motion, seconded by Commissioner Harris to approve the 09:04AM 2 budget amendments. Any further discussion? Those in 09:04AM 3 favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 5-0. 09:04AM 4 1.3 late bills. 09:04AM 5 MRS. JOHNSON: There is none. 09:04AM 6 JUDGE KELLY: 1.4 approve payroll. 09:04AM 7 MRS. JOHNSON: There is none. 09:04AM 8 JUDGE KELLY: 1.5 court orders. 09:04AM 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We do have court orders 09:04AM 10 from both the May 16th meeting and the May 20th. And 09:04AM 11 the May 20th meeting I want to go over a couple of them 09:04AM 12 because there has been a couple of rewrites. I want to 09:04AM 13 make sure we have those right because those are somewhat 09:05AM 14 important court orders. 09:05AM 15 One, is the acceptance of the resignation 09:05AM 16 of John Trolinger dated to be effective May 19th. It's 09:05AM 17 pretty simple. 09:05AM 18 The other is to appoint Bruce Motheral as 09:05AM 19 interim director of information technology and setting a 09:05AM 20 salary of 65,000 effective immediately. And I think 09:05AM 21 that we -- that was modified to add the word "interim" 09:05AM 22 from the original court order. 09:05AM 23 This one I've wordsmithed a little bit, but 09:05AM 24 I think what the intent of it was, Mr. Moser made the 09:05AM 25 motion and I seconded it, but it's approve and authorize 6 09:05AM 1 Commissioner Belew in consultation with the sheriff to 09:05AM 2 retain and consult within the amount not to exceed 09:05AM 3 $25,000 for the purpose of preparing an initial security 09:05AM 4 assessment of Kerr County Information Technology 09:05AM 5 Department and the county computer network system. 09:05AM 6 Funds are to be used from electronic monitoring funds 09:05AM 7 from the sheriff's department. 09:05AM 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's good, yeah. Do 09:05AM 9 we need -- 09:05AM 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, I just wanted to 09:05AM 11 make sure. I'll make a motion that we approve the court 09:06AM 12 orders as have been modified and presented today, both 09:06AM 13 of them from the May 16th meeting and the May 20th 09:06AM 14 meeting. 09:06AM 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 09:06AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: Mr. Letz has moved and 09:06AM 17 Commissioner Moser has seconded to approve the court 09:06AM 18 orders as presented. Any further discussion? Those in 09:06AM 19 favor raise your hand. 5-0, unanimous. 09:06AM 20 I am going to skip over the Liaison 09:06AM 21 Commissioners and go ahead and take our reports from -- 09:06AM 22 first we will call Juvenile Probation Department Jason 09:06AM 23 Davis. 09:06AM 24 MR. DAVIS: Good morning, Judge, 09:06AM 25 Commissioners. 7 09:06AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good morning. 09:06AM 2 MR. DAVIS: This is a report I have just 09:06AM 3 kind of modified for you-all. Bedtime reading, pretty 09:07AM 4 exciting stuff. I am not going to really refer to that, 09:07AM 5 that's just kind of for your information. And I won't 09:07AM 6 do this every time. I will cover on this first one, I 09:07AM 7 know this initial meeting, I may give a little bit more 09:07AM 8 information than I normally would in the future. 09:07AM 9 There's some things I do want to point out, and then 09:07AM 10 give you some specific updates and then answer any 09:07AM 11 questions you may have in reference to what's going on 09:07AM 12 with the department. 09:07AM 13 First thing is, and I see Jake is here and 09:07AM 14 our county attorney, as well, this last month the 09:07AM 15 department along with the county attorney's office -- 09:07AM 16 and I want to thank publically Jake and, of course, 09:07AM 17 Heather for their efforts -- we were able to put on a 09:07AM 18 juvenile law conference providing CLEs for the State 09:08AM 19 Bar. In order to educate local attorneys in juvenile 09:08AM 20 law which is actually a requirement of the law that many 09:08AM 21 of our attorneys have not had the minimum requirements. 09:08AM 22 And so the juvenile board sponsored that training along 09:08AM 23 with the county attorney's office and the support of the 09:08AM 24 county through Jake and the Youth Event Center. So I 09:08AM 25 thank you for allowing us to use that facility so that 8 09:08AM 1 we could bring that in. I think it was a good event. 09:08AM 2 We had very good feedback. I think we had five county 09:08AM 3 attorneys present in the room, and we had Lucy Wilke and 09:08AM 4 her office was there. We had defense attorneys and 09:08AM 5 juvenile probation staff. A very good response and 09:08AM 6 definitely a desire to continue this as an annual -- 09:08AM 7 annual training. 09:08AM 8 We had approval from TJJD for probation 09:08AM 9 hours and from the State Bar for CLE. We got all that 09:08AM 10 straightened out, so that's something -- that was a big 09:08AM 11 thing going on. 09:09AM 12 Other news, community -- other new is our 09:09AM 13 First Tee golf tournament is July the 15th. It is 09:09AM 14 actually the state boys golf tournament so we are 09:09AM 15 hosting that. We don't know -- I haven't spoken with 09:09AM 16 Carla about how many teams she has registered right now. 09:09AM 17 I will tell you that Crane County has just begun a 09:09AM 18 First Tee program through their juvenile probation 09:09AM 19 department rather. In working with their Chief Jose 09:09AM 20 Martinez, who is a friend of mine, for a couple of years 09:09AM 21 trying to get it off the ground, and they just kicked it 09:09AM 22 off in the last month. We have a number of items, 09:09AM 23 mainly golf clubs and bags, that were donated by 09:09AM 24 Riverhill that we don't have use -- the men's golf club, 09:09AM 25 Riverhill. We do not have -- we don't have a specific 9 09:09AM 1 need for it so Crane came with a trailer and picked up 09:09AM 2 half a trailer load of golf clubs to take to begin their 09:09AM 3 program and just start it. So what's going on here is 09:09AM 4 spreading and we expect to have some of those kids here 09:09AM 5 in July for that tournament. 09:10AM 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: To donate clubs to 09:10AM 7 that what do we do, send them to Riverhill or... 09:10AM 8 MR. DAVIS: Send them to me. Call me. I 09:10AM 9 will come get them. 09:10AM 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Good enough. 09:10AM 11 MR. DAVIS: We will be happy to take them. 09:10AM 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good deal. 09:10AM 13 MR. DAVIS: It was great, because their 09:10AM 14 program is a little bit different. They are, also, 09:10AM 15 working -- they are working with younger kids than 09:10AM 16 probation age. Ours is strictly probation kids. They 09:10AM 17 are getting kids in third and fourth grade. And they 09:10AM 18 already have a number of kids signed up. So for them to 09:10AM 19 be able to start this program, I mean, it's been a big 09:10AM 20 deal. I know they are very appreciative. 09:10AM 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 09:10AM 22 MR. DAVIS: Community service-wise, just an 09:10AM 23 update on some of that. And I know that there is a list 09:10AM 24 in there, or should be, of some of the programs that are 09:10AM 25 non-residential. No. 1, the things that we are working 10 09:10AM 1 on now and it varies from week to week, and month to 09:10AM 2 month, and year to year for sure; but right now Veteran 09:10AM 3 Cemetery clean-up is something we have been working on. 09:10AM 4 And then we have a number of other projects, Hill 09:11AM 5 Country Crisis Council, we are going to be working with 09:11AM 6 them over the summer coordinating some of those 09:11AM 7 programs. Specifically, with our community activity 09:11AM 8 officer, which was previously the juvenile supervision 09:11AM 9 officer of the JDC, our four staff that came over when 09:11AM 10 they are not doing transports or working on community 09:11AM 11 service projects. 09:11AM 12 Which brings me to staffing. We will be 09:11AM 13 addressing, obviously, and I am working on budget issues 09:11AM 14 now. I got a request from James' office and I have got 09:11AM 15 a pretty good idea of where we're going. We had one 09:11AM 16 employee retire, our data coordinator. When that 09:11AM 17 employee retired we consolidated positions. We 09:11AM 18 currently have 10 funded positions as we set today in 09:11AM 19 our budget. As we set today we have 10 funded 09:11AM 20 positions. The board has approved consolidation and of 09:12AM 21 those 10 the breakdown is one data coordinator; five 09:12AM 22 probation officers, that's including myself; and four 09:12AM 23 community activity officers, which are effectively the 09:12AM 24 transport officers. So one, five, four. The board at 09:12AM 25 previous meetings consolidated the data coordinator 11 09:12AM 1 position with one of our JPO positions. So when our 09:12AM 2 data coordinator retired we went down to nine positions. 09:12AM 3 We will not be filling that position. We will keep it 09:12AM 4 consolidated due to the reduction of numbers that we are 09:12AM 5 seeing come in, the number of referrals. I have another 09:12AM 6 individual that will be retiring, I am not sure exactly 09:12AM 7 when, sometime late summer or fall. That individual is 09:12AM 8 one of our community activity officers. That will take 09:12AM 9 us down to nine -- that will take us from 10 down to 09:12AM 10 eight positions. We are not going to fill that 09:13AM 11 position. We don't have a need, at this time. So I can 09:13AM 12 tell you with almost certainly, of course the board is 09:13AM 13 going to have to approve it, but I have laid out this 09:13AM 14 plan for the board and so they are aware that we are 09:13AM 15 going to be consolidating from 10 funded positions down 09:13AM 16 to nine funded positions. So that should reflect in 09:13AM 17 budget. 09:13AM 18 I have been working on the budget for FY20 09:13AM 19 and I can tell you that I think conservative estimate in 09:13AM 20 the overall budget is probably going to be a reduction 09:13AM 21 of about $150,000, that's including salaries, that's not 09:13AM 22 including roll-ups, that's just strictly salary, and 09:13AM 23 then cuts in other areas. So that is some good news. 09:13AM 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's good news. 09:13AM 25 MR. DAVIS: Yes, it is. We are seeing 12 09:13AM 1 fewer and fewer cases come in. 09:13AM 2 As far as an update on facilities. With 09:13AM 3 the JDC here being closed primarily we are using 09:14AM 4 Guadalupe County still. We moved our first kid this 09:14AM 5 week into Atascosa County. Guadalupe County was full, 09:14AM 6 they were running at capacity. And so we are at the 09:14AM 7 time of year which is usually, traditionally, extremely 09:14AM 8 busy which is as it is right now until school is out. 09:14AM 9 Usually it kind of drops off after that. We have a kid 09:14AM 10 right now at Atascosa. We think we are going to keep 09:14AM 11 him there, kind of a test case, and then we -- so far so 09:14AM 12 good, but we will see. 09:14AM 13 We talk to the kids, too, when they come 09:14AM 14 back. We want to see how they have been treated. We 09:14AM 15 want to see not just what we are seeing when we go in, 09:14AM 16 but when they are back here what their experiences have 09:14AM 17 been when they are in those placements and in those 09:14AM 18 facilities. So we are learning about that as we go. 09:14AM 19 Let me see if there's anything else. 09:14AM 20 That's it. Now, questions, concerns. 09:15AM 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I want to ask a 09:15AM 22 question, Jason, about transportation and vehicles and 09:15AM 23 so on. How many vehicles do you have and what does it 09:15AM 24 cost us monthly to run that. 09:15AM 25 MR. DAVIS: It should be in here and I 13 09:15AM 1 believe that, I'd have to look at it, I think, it's 09:15AM 2 eight or nine vehicles. I thinks it's the last page. 09:15AM 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's under what? 09:15AM 4 MR. DAVIS: Last page, second paragraph, 09:15AM 5 eight vehicles. 09:15AM 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. There it is. 09:15AM 7 MR. DAVIS: And -- 09:15AM 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Costs. 09:15AM 9 MR. DAVIS: You know, I don't know. I can 09:15AM 10 get you a number, but -- and again what are the 09:15AM 11 parameters of the costs, right? Are we counting staff 09:15AM 12 salaries as part of that cost. Am I counting meals for 09:15AM 13 kids as part of that cost. Am I counting -- I can give 09:15AM 14 you the fuel cost, that's pretty easy. I can go and 09:15AM 15 give you our fuel bills. I can tell you our fuel bill 09:15AM 16 is running probably $600 a month, right. But then there 09:15AM 17 are other things that factor into it other than just the 09:15AM 18 fuel, you know, vehicle maintenance and fuel. We are 09:15AM 19 probably running, I am going to say, $800 a month in 09:16AM 20 average, right. That might be -- I think that's a 09:16AM 21 pretty good number. I mean, it's a guess. And I can 09:16AM 22 give you more specific, but that's strictly for fuel and 09:16AM 23 vehicle maintenance. By the time we get, you know, 09:16AM 24 staff allocations in there, you know, four staff. 09:16AM 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: When you do that is 14 09:16AM 1 there a per diem for somebody that goes to deliver a 09:16AM 2 child and then has to eat and maybe something else. 09:16AM 3 MR. DAVIS: No, and that's a really good 09:16AM 4 thing and I'm glad you brought it up. 09:16AM 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 09:16AM 6 MR. DAVIS: I was advised that we, that the 09:16AM 7 IRS regulations will not allow us to do that. So if I 09:16AM 8 have an individual that has a child in custody and that 09:16AM 9 individual may be on a 12-hour shift that they can't 09:16AM 10 leave, right, because they are with the child. Now, 09:16AM 11 when they come back to the office we try to help out 09:16AM 12 but, you know, and I will go and sit with the kid or 09:16AM 13 somebody else will go sit with the kids so the staff 09:16AM 14 can, you know, do what they need to do, but they don't 09:16AM 15 leave. If they are on they are on pretty much. I mean, 09:17AM 16 they might take a half hour or something occasionally, 09:17AM 17 but if they've got a kid in custody there is no break in 09:17AM 18 that custody. And so they do not have an opportunity to 09:17AM 19 go home to get meals even though they may be in the 09:17AM 20 county. And I was advised I cannot reimburse that staff 09:17AM 21 for meals nor can I pay for their meals in any way 09:17AM 22 because they are in the county and at the end of the 09:17AM 23 day, and it's the end of the day and there's no 09:17AM 24 overnight trip. 09:17AM 25 So it is absolutely an expense to our -- it 15 09:17AM 1 affects our transport officers, it doesn't affect me, it 09:17AM 2 doesn't affect our POs, but our transport officers it 09:17AM 3 actually completely does. You know I can, I can pay for 09:17AM 4 the meal for the kid, which we do, you know, we go to 09:17AM 5 the grocery store so we are not running through 09:17AM 6 McDonald's all the time. We go to the grocery store and 09:17AM 7 we buy sandwich materials and fruits so that we have 09:17AM 8 that there when we have the kids back here for court or 09:17AM 9 assessments and then we will feed the youth, but we 09:17AM 10 can't feed the staff member and we don't. That's an 09:17AM 11 expense that they have to incur on their own. 09:18AM 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This is kind of an 09:18AM 13 unforeseen consequence of shutting down the -- 09:18AM 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think it was 09:18AM 15 foreseen. 09:18AM 16 MR. DAVIS: Minor, but yes. 09:18AM 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But that part we 09:18AM 18 didn't know. 09:18AM 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: We face this for all 09:18AM 20 our one-day training, if they are traveling back and 09:18AM 21 forth to San Antonio for training that last a week. 09:18AM 22 Instead of staying overnight in San Antonio for all my 09:18AM 23 transport guys that go on a one-day trip from here to 09:18AM 24 Corpus and back, they have to pay for their own meals. 09:18AM 25 We have to pay for the inmate meals, but they have to 16 09:18AM 1 pay for their own if they are in that training. If they 09:18AM 2 are not staying overnight in a hotel they have to pay 09:18AM 3 for their own meals. 09:18AM 4 MR. DAVIS: Let me give you a -- let me 09:18AM 5 carry a little further into that, and I understand 09:18AM 6 that's there is probably nothing the Court can do about 09:18AM 7 this, I get that. But -- and the furtherance of that 09:18AM 8 would be this, for instance, I had a training a couple 09:18AM 9 of months ago in San Marcus, for me I am going to need 09:18AM 10 eat the money, but if I have got an entry level 09:18AM 11 employee, entry level officer, that's just starting 09:18AM 12 out -- so I had a hotel reservation in San Marcus and I 09:19AM 13 would have had a per diem check cut for meals, and for 09:19AM 14 personal reasons, you know what, I just want to drive 09:19AM 15 back and forth. I am okay leaving at 5 o'clock in the 09:19AM 16 morning and coming back 7:00 or 8 o'clock at night, 09:19AM 17 whatever it is, it didn't matter to me. It was easier 09:19AM 18 for me personally to do that, but if you have an entry 09:19AM 19 level employee, man, if I can pay that person's lunch 09:19AM 20 and they want to come back and forth and eat a little 09:19AM 21 fuel that's a lot better than a $150 a night for a hotel 09:19AM 22 room, but that employee probably, you know, they're 09:19AM 23 going to be eating some of that cost, and it's their 09:19AM 24 benefit to stay. You know, they're going to have a 500 09:19AM 25 to $750 hotel bill that the county is having to pay for 17 09:19AM 1 as opposed to, you know, $15 in lunches or, whatever, 09:19AM 2 $12 in lunch, whatever the rate is right now. 09:19AM 3 And, again, I am just noting for -- I know 09:19AM 4 the Court can't do anything about it, it's an IRS rate, 09:20AM 5 but it is absolutely something that is frustrating. I 09:20AM 6 know that, you know, Rusty has it, concern, I have it 09:20AM 7 and there's nothing we can do about it, but it is 09:20AM 8 absolutely a concern and it falls on the employee. It's 09:20AM 9 no longer the department, right, but it is a harm to the 09:20AM 10 employee. The harm to the department would be is if the 09:20AM 11 employee says, You know what, I'm just going to -- I 09:20AM 12 will just stay, it's just better for me to do it and I 09:20AM 13 can't blame them for doing it, so... 09:20AM 14 I will tell you, and I haven't spoken with 09:20AM 15 anyone as far as the status of the JDC buildings, I have 09:20AM 16 received phone calls in the last weak or so from two of 09:20AM 17 the interested parties wanting to know the status and I 09:20AM 18 told them I didn't know. As far as I know that 09:20AM 19 everything is on hold, I didn't -- and I am asking the 09:20AM 20 Court, I don't know if when I am receiving those phone 09:20AM 21 calls if you want me to provide anything other than 09:20AM 22 there has been -- the last information I had was that 09:20AM 23 there was an assessment being done and ordering an 09:20AM 24 evaluation being done and we are waiting for that to 09:21AM 25 come back; is that correct? 18 09:21AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: I haven't talked to 09:21AM 2 Billy Snow. 09:21AM 3 MR. DAVIS: And I didn't know what we 09:21AM 4 needed. I mean, anyway they are both still interested. 09:21AM 5 I can tell you that there's still two interested 09:21AM 6 parties. 09:21AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And you talked to Billy 09:21AM 8 originally, correct? I mean, he's doing the assessment? 09:21AM 9 JUDGE KELLY: I haven't -- 09:21AM 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's in three 09:21AM 11 weeks -- 09:21AM 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's a question. 09:21AM 13 JUDGE KELLY: I don't know, I haven't 09:21AM 14 talked to him. We will follow up and let us know. 09:21AM 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So are you saying two 09:21AM 16 additional -- 09:21AM 17 MR. DAVIS: No, sir. 09:21AM 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The same two. 09:21AM 19 JUDGE KELLY: Th same two. 09:21AM 20 MR. DAVIS: Yes, sir. 09:21AM 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Still there, good. 09:21AM 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Still interested. I 09:21AM 23 know that maintenance is interested in the ice machine 09:21AM 24 over there. They asked me about that. 09:21AM 25 COMMISSIONER DAVIS: Thank you. 19 09:21AM 1 MR. DAVIS: Thank y'all. 09:21AM 2 JUDGE KELLY: Good job, appreciate it. 09:21AM 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I will be back. 09:21AM 4 JUDGE KELLY: Go ahead and come up, Jake. 09:21AM 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Ignore that. 09:21AM 6 JUDGE KELLY: He will be back. 09:22AM 7 MR. WILLIAMSON: Good morning, Your Honor, 09:22AM 8 Counsel. Thank you for taking the time today. We are 09:22AM 9 here for the semi-annual report. If you have any 09:22AM 10 questions, of course, make sure you ask me and I'll 09:22AM 11 answer them the best we can. 09:22AM 12 With me today is Keller Taylor. He is 09:22AM 13 District General Manager that does support systems, 09:22AM 14 corporate lightening that is traveling through town. 09:22AM 15 He's going to other accounts in Texas today, as well. 09:22AM 16 It just so happens that it coincided with this meeting 09:22AM 17 so I'd like to welcome him as another resource if you 09:22AM 18 ever need to reach out. We met with commissioners 09:22AM 19 yesterday and some state orders. 09:22AM 20 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 09:22AM 21 MR. WILLIAMSON: In brief what we are is we 09:22AM 22 are, of course, a contract agent of the county. We're 09:22AM 23 here to fulfill the management of the Hill Country Youth 09:22AM 24 Event Center. We do have a staff of three people, 09:22AM 25 budgeted positions, at this time; myself, an operations 20 09:22AM 1 manager, and a business manager. Currently the business 09:22AM 2 manager is open. It's been filled with a start date of 09:23AM 3 Tuesday, May 28th of next week. So we will be running 09:23AM 4 at full staff again after losing our last office 09:23AM 5 manager. 09:23AM 6 Going on to the departments, naturally 09:23AM 7 we're the event center. So we do work with all groups, 09:23AM 8 locally, regional, national, we even can get to the 09:23AM 9 venue on a rental basis. We fill up space as it is 09:23AM 10 needed and as we can. I will tell you this year we're 09:23AM 11 going to approach the 400-event threshold. That means 09:23AM 12 number of events in a year. Many of those are of the 09:23AM 13 4-H variety. I work with the sheriff's department, both 09:23AM 14 probations, to get their meetings, their CE classes 09:23AM 15 involved. We also do a few with the city, with the fire 09:23AM 16 department, public safety, as well. So those are -- 09:23AM 17 this year it's going to be about 240 of those 400 09:23AM 18 events. So we do love working with the community on 09:24AM 19 that and then filling in the weekends with our private 09:24AM 20 events, public events, spectator things. This weekend 09:24AM 21 is the Hill Country Quilt Guild show in conjunction with 09:24AM 22 the Art Festival, we are exhibiting around in town. So 09:24AM 23 we are a part of that big weekend for the town. We are 09:24AM 24 proud to do that. 09:24AM 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Jake, on that, the 240 21 09:24AM 1 events, it's real difficult to quantify dollar-wise what 09:24AM 2 that means to the county. It is like Jason just 09:24AM 3 mentioned, the law clinic he had, without that, I mean, 09:24AM 4 how do you put a value on that. I mean, Jake, we don't 09:24AM 5 get -- it's free to the county. I don't know if they 09:24AM 6 charge people that came to that event. But it's one of 09:24AM 7 those things that it's an intangible that's really hard 09:24AM 8 to figure out the value of, and we're not having to buy 09:24AM 9 any staff with that. It's absorbed -- I say "absorbed" 09:24AM 10 by Spectra, but it's really absorbed by the management 09:25AM 11 fee that we pay Spectra. So, and I'm really bringing it 09:25AM 12 up because we are doing our, going into the drafting of 09:25AM 13 the new 5-year agreement. That's the reason we pay a 09:25AM 14 management fee because we're asking them to do a whole 09:25AM 15 lot of stuff at no cost. 09:25AM 16 MR. WILLIAMSON: Okay. So that does lead 09:25AM 17 into we are in the negotiations of the contract 09:25AM 18 extension. We are excited for that opportunity. We've 09:25AM 19 been very pleased with our growth and what we will be 09:25AM 20 able to get back to you here in our first four years. 09:25AM 21 We are excited to continue that. So we do work directly 09:25AM 22 with liaisons on that and are moving along. I don't 09:25AM 23 know if we have really a definite court date, at this 09:25AM 24 time, for that, but we look forward to that. 09:25AM 25 Additionally on that, we are looking 22 09:25AM 1 forward to long-term master planning of the fairground 09:25AM 2 area or, at least, the indoor arena. There needs to be 09:25AM 3 future upgrades, see what's feasible, things that we 09:26AM 4 need to fix, repair, or replace in that venue or change 09:26AM 5 up the campus in some sort of fashion. So we're meeting 09:26AM 6 with the state holders, we will be going through that 09:26AM 7 process in the next year. 09:26AM 8 It says recognize employees who have gone 09:26AM 9 above and beyond. If anybody has been out there any 09:26AM 10 amount of time you know Ed Gonzales, Operations Manager. 09:26AM 11 He is the hands-on face for those clients during those 09:26AM 12 events. And through this transition, the six weeks with 09:26AM 13 being short staffed, he has absolutely proven himself to 09:26AM 14 be a valuable asset. And I would like to thank him and 09:26AM 15 recognize him for his efforts out there. So come out 09:26AM 16 and see him and make sure you say hi to him and he will 09:26AM 17 be there. 09:26AM 18 Other things we do, it says discuss 09:26AM 19 services the county provides. We are very thankful that 09:27AM 20 part of our management agreement includes the IT 09:27AM 21 department. They provide excellent service with taking 09:27AM 22 care of our Internet, phones, and if we have Wi-Fi 09:27AM 23 issues they've always responded promptly and made sure 09:27AM 24 we were taken care of in those fashions. The 09:27AM 25 Maintenance Department, of course, with all the 23 09:27AM 1 landscaping, mowing, things like that. We also use them 09:27AM 2 on outside projects. Like, we had recent storm damage 09:27AM 3 so before we wanted to make sure the insurance was 09:27AM 4 needed we had them come out and borrow the bucket truck 09:27AM 5 and take a look at it to make sure it was beyond our 09:27AM 6 scope of repair. So things like that are intangible, as 09:27AM 7 well. Having access to Road and Bridge, using the water 09:27AM 8 truck, the graders for certain events, just been 09:27AM 9 phenomenal and we're very happy working with everybody 09:27AM 10 and building those relationships because it helps every 09:27AM 11 facility in the county and I think it shows, people 09:27AM 12 recognize that. 09:27AM 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So what you just 09:27AM 14 mentioned there, Jake, is kind of a tradeoff, because in 09:28AM 15 another facility they would have to pay for all of that 09:28AM 16 stuff. So the county gets some free stuff, but it's 09:28AM 17 returned in those forms that you just mentioned. 09:28AM 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But if they had to pay 09:28AM 19 for it, it's more cost effective for us to do it. This 09:28AM 20 way if they had to have a maintainer out there or go 09:28AM 21 rent one that could bill -- would get billed back to us 09:28AM 22 so -- 09:28AM 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I am saying, like, in 09:28AM 24 some of their other properties if you take them and 09:28AM 25 compare them to what we have here versus some of the 24 09:28AM 1 other things, everything is straight, you know, you've 09:28AM 2 got to pay for all of it. 09:28AM 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 09:28AM 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Here we do get to use 09:28AM 5 the facility for free, but, also, a lot of services are 09:28AM 6 provided. 09:28AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 09:28AM 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And you've got your 09:28AM 9 skid still, right? 09:28AM 10 MR. WILLIAMSON: We did get the forklift 09:28AM 11 delivered. 09:28AM 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Forklift, I'm sorry. 09:28AM 13 MR. WILLIAMSON: Yes, sir. Another example 09:28AM 14 of the tradeoff would be our grappler because we do 09:28AM 15 provide trash service for many county departments on the 09:28AM 16 fairgrounds in return for fuel for the skid-steer. It 09:28AM 17 is a partnership, we understand that, and we are very 09:28AM 18 happy to keep expenses as low as possible because we 09:29AM 19 understand that's a very important vision for the 09:29AM 20 property. 09:29AM 21 Other than that, we're just working through 09:29AM 22 the budget process. Looking at future funding for 09:29AM 23 possibly an initial employee to help keep up with the 09:29AM 24 demand for the building. We are going through the rate 09:29AM 25 structure. We review that every year to make sure we 25 09:29AM 1 are still in line with other venues around. Make sure 09:29AM 2 we're not undercutting some form or being outlandishly 09:29AM 3 overpriced in another. We're still chasing a lot of 09:29AM 4 business for equine. We haven't been able to land an 09:29AM 5 equine here in a couple of years, aside from the 09:29AM 6 traveling show that comes by. We do have on the books 09:29AM 7 the circus that we have annually. We have kept that 09:29AM 8 contract going. The fair is booked. Stock show. A lot 09:29AM 9 of the annuals that have become staples, they should be 09:30AM 10 returning for years to come. We are working on another 09:30AM 11 long-term deal with the Texas Pork Producers. They did 09:30AM 12 an initial three-year contract with us. They were so 09:30AM 13 pleased in year one they want to come back and do a 09:30AM 14 five- to 10-year contract and make sure they can have 09:30AM 15 the facility for their use and growth. 09:30AM 16 With that, we have, also, a lot of the 09:30AM 17 private fundraisers. I am sure you guys have been to 09:30AM 18 many of them with the Rotary Club, Charity Ball, 09:30AM 19 Executive Woman's Club, Hill Country Youth Ranch 09:30AM 20 Auxiliary, those have all become staples returning 09:30AM 21 annual events that we've brought in, as well. 09:30AM 22 So there should be plenty of events for 09:30AM 23 years to come. We do have quite a bit on the books 09:30AM 24 already for next year, but we still have room to grow 09:30AM 25 and need to fill some of those dates. 26 09:30AM 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And the Ducks 09:30AM 2 Unlimited is coming this year? 09:30AM 3 MR. WILLIAMSON: Correct, that's a new 09:30AM 4 business for us next early spring. 09:30AM 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Thanks, we appreciate 09:30AM 6 it. 09:31AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do you have any 09:31AM 8 comments on the corporate basis. 09:31AM 9 MR. TAYLOR: Sure. 09:31AM 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Since you're down here 09:31AM 11 you might as well say something. 09:31AM 12 MR. TAYLOR: Yeah, yeah. Judge Kelly, 09:31AM 13 Commissioners, appreciate the opportunity to be here 09:31AM 14 today. I have known Jake for several years now. And I 09:31AM 15 am based is Loveland, Colorado. I am -- Spectra 09:31AM 16 corporately is not very geographically aligned. We are 09:31AM 17 more -- we have experts aligned with properties that 09:31AM 18 make sense for them to support. And as I told 09:31AM 19 Commissioner Letz yesterday I think my job is to help 09:31AM 20 connect the corporate resources to Jake and the team 09:31AM 21 here. And so we are proud of what Jake has 09:31AM 22 accomplished. As you heard from his update we have a 09:31AM 23 balance. We want to bring through, you know, touring 09:31AM 24 events, circus, and Cavalia horses when those 09:31AM 25 opportunities are there, but we also need to make sure 27 09:31AM 1 that the facility is affordable and, you know, utilized 09:31AM 2 for all the community events as well. 09:31AM 3 So we understand that balance and, also, 09:31AM 4 it's our job to make it fiscally responsible for the 09:32AM 5 county. So we are looking at opportunities to grow 09:32AM 6 that. I have personally been engaged on this account 09:32AM 7 for a few months now. And I think that our longer term 09:32AM 8 strategy is probably to have a Texas based individual 09:32AM 9 engaged on this, but, you know, in the interim Jake and 09:32AM 10 I will be continuing to work together on your behalf. 09:32AM 11 So, Spectra as you may know or you may not, 09:32AM 12 we are a Philadelphia based company. We operate in a 09:32AM 13 little over 150 different venue management related 09:32AM 14 properties, a little over 250 food service related 09:32AM 15 properties. So we try to leverage all these resources 09:32AM 16 for your benefit at the end of the day. 09:32AM 17 So I am in town and, you know, made the 09:32AM 18 trip to be here at this meeting today, so appreciate the 09:32AM 19 opportunity and happy to take any questions if there's 09:32AM 20 any on the corporate level. 09:32AM 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think we've got a 09:32AM 22 good working relationship. 09:33AM 23 MR. TAYLOR: Yeah, I think you heard it 09:33AM 24 several times, Commissioners, that it's definitely a 09:33AM 25 partnership here. You know, you provide some services 28 09:33AM 1 that traditionally probably a management company may 09:33AM 2 have under their wing, but I think, you know, every 09:33AM 3 client is a little different on the need. If there's 09:33AM 4 contingencies built by using county staff or something I 09:33AM 5 think at the end of the day those are your operating 09:33AM 6 expenses so if we are able to keep them thin by doing 09:33AM 7 that I think, I think that's the natural thing to do. 09:33AM 8 So we truly appreciate your partnership. 09:33AM 9 Looking forward to this next five-year term, and Jake 09:33AM 10 and I have already been game planning that manager 09:33AM 11 contribution of $75,000 to figure out where we're going 09:33AM 12 to be able to produce more revenue or save expense, that 09:33AM 13 way the bottom line is directly effected by our 09:33AM 14 contribution over that five-year term. 09:33AM 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you. 09:33AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: Thanks for being here, 09:33AM 17 appreciate it. 09:33AM 18 MR. TAYLOR: Yes, sir. 09:33AM 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Do we have any 09:33AM 20 department head reports? 09:34AM 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I've got a liaison 09:34AM 22 report. 09:34AM 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Liaison. 09:34AM 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I've got two short 09:34AM 25 ones. And one is -- both are informational purely, but 29 09:34AM 1 Hidden Springs subdivision I think we're all aware of 09:34AM 2 that. One of the things that we weren't aware, things 09:34AM 3 have changed, and I'm not sure how to approach this 09:34AM 4 county wide, but I want everybody to be aware of it. 09:34AM 5 This subdivision is right at the corner of partly -- 09:34AM 6 probably a third of it is in Kendall County, two-thirds 09:34AM 7 Kerr County, and it's got a Fredericksburg address. So 09:34AM 8 it has become -- it was -- it has been for the last 09:34AM 9 couple of weeks a bit of an issue because initially it 09:34AM 10 thought to have a Comfort address, the property has 09:34AM 11 always geographically had a Fredericksburg address. 09:34AM 12 Fredericksburg Commissioners' Court has passed some 09:34AM 13 rules that they only -- their mailing addresses have to 09:34AM 14 only be within the county. Mark Del Toro -- and I said 09:34AM 15 that's a federal issue what post office you report to, 09:35AM 16 it's not a county issue. If Fredericksburg post office 09:35AM 17 says it's Fredericksburg address it's a Fredericksburg 09:35AM 18 address in our view. Well, then we got, also, into the 09:35AM 19 EMS and the fire, and -- 09:35AM 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You have three 09:35AM 21 different 911s. 09:35AM 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, no -- yeah, you 09:35AM 23 have two, essentially. From what Mark Del Toro has 09:35AM 24 explained to me, if it's a Kerr County address it's 09:35AM 25 going through the Kerr County with the piece -- the 30 09:35AM 1 acronym, and then it will go from where -- then it will 09:35AM 2 get forwarded to where it needs to be, but it's coming 09:35AM 3 into Kerrville Fire Department or police department 09:35AM 4 initially. Anyway, so then the Kendall County ones we 09:35AM 5 get routed to the Kendall County. We are working on and 09:35AM 6 I think we verbally have it, we are still kind of 09:35AM 7 working on that, Comfort will handle the fire, 09:35AM 8 Fredericksburg will handle the EMS, and then they'll 09:35AM 9 have a Fredericksburg address. 09:35AM 10 I am bringing it up because as subdivisions 09:35AM 11 we get more growth and crossing county lines, it becomes 09:36AM 12 very complicated. And the reason we got or I was able 09:36AM 13 to kind of say, explain to them, and then Danny Smith 09:36AM 14 helped with the fire department, that if they are going 09:36AM 15 to be real difficult on providing EMS service they need 09:36AM 16 to recall who provides EMS service to Tierra Linda. I 09:36AM 17 didn't -- you know, I just reminded them that there's no 09:36AM 18 bill going up to Fredericksburg for that service. 09:36AM 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And for the same 09:36AM 20 reason because of geographical proximity. 09:36AM 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. You know, we 09:36AM 22 just need to -- I think it would be at some point 09:36AM 23 probably a good idea to maybe have a, you know, with 09:36AM 24 other commissioners' courts around here or something to 09:36AM 25 go over this, because it -- with budgets and values, I 31 09:36AM 1 mean, Gillespie County's argument was they get zero 09:36AM 2 value out of this subdivision. All the homes are in 09:36AM 3 Kendall and Kerr but they are providing the service, you 09:36AM 4 know. And anyway I just think it's an issue that we may 09:36AM 5 have to be able to work through on this one. We are 09:36AM 6 timing -- it all came up well before the first person 09:37AM 7 moved in a home. 09:37AM 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I looked at the 09:37AM 9 map and I thought a portion of it was in Gillespie 09:37AM 10 County, a corner. 09:37AM 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A little piece of it is 09:37AM 12 in Gillespie, but there's no home on it. 09:37AM 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: No home on it. 09:37AM 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No home was built on 09:37AM 15 that piece. 09:37AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: So they got all the value 09:37AM 17 of -- 09:37AM 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, so, but anyway, 09:37AM 19 once I brought that up there was -- or reminded them of 09:37AM 20 that fact, their position changed a little bit. 09:37AM 21 The other issue is, and it's another one 09:37AM 22 that's just kind of informational that I am not sure how 09:37AM 23 we deal with down the road, but we currently provide 09:37AM 24 workers' comp coverage for the volunteer fire 09:37AM 25 departments, it's just part of our deal. That becomes 32 09:37AM 1 into a -- we need to figure out how to communicate what 09:37AM 2 that actually means to those fire departments. The 09:37AM 3 contracts says that they have to provide a current list 09:37AM 4 of the employees and it's got to be updated whenever 09:37AM 5 there is a change. And there are certain requirements, 09:37AM 6 and I have received word that they, you know, their list 09:38AM 7 may not be accurate and the vehicles being used are 09:38AM 8 questionable sometimes as to what days they should be 09:38AM 9 covered and to work with and what is actually covered. 09:38AM 10 And part of it is I just don't want to get in a fight 09:38AM 11 with the volunteer fire department when something 09:38AM 12 happens and they think they are covered and they are 09:38AM 13 not. And it's their responsibility to do it. It's 09:38AM 14 spelled out very clearly in our contracts with them, but 09:38AM 15 I just -- I don't -- I'm not sure that all of the 09:38AM 16 volunteer departments read them as closely as they 09:38AM 17 should. 09:38AM 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Are you saying then 09:38AM 19 they are in possession of -- all the volunteer fire 09:38AM 20 departments are in possession of all the -- all the 09:38AM 21 information they need? 09:38AM 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They have the 09:38AM 23 information, it's whether they are getting it to their 09:38AM 24 volunteers and they are keeping an accurate list. I 09:38AM 25 think it's probably a reminder that maybe something 33 09:38AM 1 should go out to them. As we do that, contracts are 09:38AM 2 coming out before long, and it's just like everybody 09:38AM 3 else, I mean, the same contract goes out every year, 09:39AM 4 they just sign it, but their personnel does change. And 09:39AM 5 I think that we need to do some education with all of 09:39AM 6 them that, Hey, you know, we provide this, but you have 09:39AM 7 to give us an accurate list. And that coverage, it's 09:39AM 8 not like your vehicles are covered all the time, it's 09:39AM 9 like you are covered when you are at a fire. 09:39AM 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But new people sign up 09:39AM 11 so they have to read over some materials in that. We 09:39AM 12 just want to make sure that they -- 09:39AM 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just want to make 09:39AM 14 sure that they do it. As Rusty shakes his head, there 09:39AM 15 are -- I was almost guaranteed that our -- with the 09:39AM 16 exception of a few very efficient volunteer fire 09:39AM 17 departments, we do have some, I bet that we don't have 09:39AM 18 accurate rosters of all volunteers, and that means that 09:39AM 19 those volunteers are not covered. So it's for our 09:39AM 20 protection and their protection. We just need to figure 09:39AM 21 out a good way to communicate this on a, probably, more 09:39AM 22 regular basis. 09:39AM 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: They have what they 09:39AM 24 call their CARP meetings. I would strongly recommend 09:39AM 25 that, you know, somebody from the Court goes to their 34 09:40AM 1 CARP meetings and explain to them in detail what that 09:40AM 2 coverage is. I know we had to do it with dispatch 09:40AM 3 services with them several times, because they think 09:40AM 4 it's different than what it really is for us. Okay. So 09:40AM 5 that's normally when all their chiefs are there from 09:40AM 6 those departments. 09:40AM 7 And just real quick on your other thing 09:40AM 8 with the Comfort stuff, you know, like, Tierra Linda. 09:40AM 9 And I hadn't thought about this, Tierra Linda is, also, 09:40AM 10 now coming into our CodeRed system, which is only in 09:40AM 11 Kerr County. But because services really go there for 09:40AM 12 CodeRed and for floods and things like that we have got 09:40AM 13 under our current contract for them to cover Tierra 09:40AM 14 Linda, Tierra Linda doesn't pay, and I don't know what 09:40AM 15 you are going to want to do with that situation down 09:40AM 16 there. That's just a future discussion. 09:40AM 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, it's just -- we 09:40AM 18 went a long time without having a lot of new 09:40AM 19 subdivisions. We had a lot of replats. As these new 09:40AM 20 subdivisions come in it becomes complicated. The 09:40AM 21 addressing system in Kendall County and Kerr County is 09:40AM 22 different. 09:40AM 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, that one's an 09:41AM 24 unusual circumstance. 09:41AM 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right, but we have -- I 35 09:41AM 1 have several that are -- I have quite a few that are in 09:41AM 2 Kendall and Kerr. 09:41AM 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: There's one that's in 09:41AM 4 Pipe Creek that's in Kerr. 09:41AM 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, and that was it. 09:41AM 6 But they addressed every -- Kendall County has a 09:41AM 7 completely different addressing numbering system than we 09:41AM 8 do in Kerr. In this situation Mark Del Toro called the 09:41AM 9 county clerk in Kendall County and said, Hey, let us 09:41AM 10 address; is that okay? And they said, Fine. I mean, 09:41AM 11 it's communication, but we just need to make sure to 09:41AM 12 help facilitate that communication and remember when 09:41AM 13 these subdivisions come through that, you know, I never 09:41AM 14 really thought about it when the plat was coming through 09:41AM 15 that it was a Comfort or Fredericksburg address. It 09:41AM 16 just never entered my mind to question that. But that's 09:41AM 17 the time we need to pick these up because they were some 09:41AM 18 what irritated in Gillespie County because they knew 09:41AM 19 nothing of this subdivision until all of sudden they 09:41AM 20 were getting request for things and things for fire, 09:41AM 21 your know. 09:41AM 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Sure. 09:41AM 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we just need to be 09:42AM 24 mindful of these subdivisions and probably it's going to 09:42AM 25 impact me more than the rest of the Court, probably you, 36 09:42AM 1 possibly, as well, just where the precincts are, but 09:42AM 2 it's just an issue -- 09:42AM 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: There's about four 09:42AM 4 that look at that area out there off of Broken Spur and 09:42AM 5 all that, it's got an Ingram address, but it's in 09:42AM 6 Gillespie County and Harper, too. 09:42AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But as we get 09:42AM 8 these new subdivisions we need to be mindful of a lot of 09:42AM 9 the EMS and issues that go along with these 09:42AM 10 subdivisions. 09:42AM 11 JUDGE KELLY: Just an observation. On the 09:42AM 12 volunteer fire departments should we have some sort of, 09:42AM 13 by precinct, town hall meetings to get together with 09:42AM 14 these people? I don't think we can just -- we can't 09:42AM 15 just have them come in and report to us on a Thursday 09:42AM 16 morning. 09:42AM 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 09:42AM 18 JUDGE KELLY: That won't work. 09:42AM 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the CARP 09:42AM 20 meeting is probably the best way, it's the best 09:42AM 21 whether -- how we present it. I don't know if we 09:42AM 22 probably try and get someone, maybe, from TAC to come 09:42AM 23 down to the meeting that really understands workers' 09:42AM 24 comp. 09:42AM 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That would probably 37 09:42AM 1 be the best bet. 09:42AM 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And they would probably 09:43AM 3 listen to that person better and they can answer 09:43AM 4 questions. Because I am -- I am not an expert on 09:43AM 5 workers' comp. I just looked into it a little bit and I 09:43AM 6 said, I am concerned. So as we try to schedule that and 09:43AM 7 -- who's the chief, Rusty? 09:43AM 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I forget who the 09:43AM 9 president of the CARP is right now. Is it the Mountain 09:43AM 10 Home chief? 09:43AM 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I am pretty sure, 09:43AM 12 yes. 09:43AM 13 (Numerous people talking at once) 09:43AM 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I am pretty sure he 09:43AM 15 is. He can call a CARP meeting, but it takes all the 09:43AM 16 volunteer fire department chiefs, at any time, to set 09:43AM 17 something up with TAC coming down. I would have him 09:43AM 18 call a meeting even in here or something, that's 09:43AM 19 important to get them each to have a representative here 09:43AM 20 over it all. 09:43AM 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 09:43AM 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I've only got one in 09:43AM 23 Precinct 1, one volunteer fire department, which I go by 09:43AM 24 and talk to them about every other week. I just stop in 09:43AM 25 and see how everything is going and I can easily 38 09:43AM 1 communicate this kind of thing, but I need -- to get 09:43AM 2 them to a meeting I will hand deliver whatever 09:43AM 3 information to them. And I've talked to the Tierra 09:43AM 4 Linda guys, too, when I go to do something at Northwest 09:44AM 5 Hills or they're there. So that's the closest fire 09:44AM 6 department for them. And there are cases where, for 09:44AM 7 example Kerrville Fire Department, if there is a fire 09:44AM 8 somewhere out there on Harper Road you will have Tierra 09:44AM 9 Linda and Kerrville Fire Department, sometimes Mountain 09:44AM 10 Home will show up. 09:44AM 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: But is Tierra Linda on 09:44AM 12 our workers' comp since they respond? I think they are. 09:44AM 13 So you actually have two in yours which would be them. 09:44AM 14 I think all -- 09:44AM 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Not technically, but 09:44AM 16 yes. 09:44AM 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: But they are on our 09:44AM 18 workers' comp program. 09:44AM 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Anyway, we don't need 09:44AM 20 to get to -- I just wanted to bring it up as something 09:44AM 21 that we need to address. I was concerned about both 09:44AM 22 those issues. 09:44AM 23 JUDGE KELLY: We need to follow up on it 09:44AM 24 not just forget it. 09:44AM 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So do we want to put 39 09:44AM 1 it on an agenda? 09:44AM 2 MS. GRINSTEAD: I mean, I don't know how 09:44AM 3 you want to handle it, but just know that I mail out 09:44AM 4 those contracts for the volunteer fire department, and 09:44AM 5 as you said it's in the contracts. My cover letter 09:44AM 6 stresses workers' comp and you have got to report within 09:44AM 7 this time. You need an updated roster, let us know when 09:45AM 8 you change it. So they have the information, but I will 09:45AM 9 say maybe a handful of times in the middle of the year 09:45AM 10 have I gotten an update. They send it because I won't 09:45AM 11 -- I tell them, like, we're not going to approve the 09:45AM 12 contract without the workers on your roster and then the 09:45AM 13 Texas Ethics Commission form. So I always get one at 09:45AM 14 the beginning of the year or when the contract starts, 09:45AM 15 but I don't -- 09:45AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: Why don't we call a 09:45AM 17 countywide meeting. We can certainly have a countywide 09:45AM 18 meeting and get them all in here. 09:45AM 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I don't think they 09:45AM 20 understand the importance of it, that they have to -- 09:45AM 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know what we do. 09:45AM 22 We'll get with the president Bryan, and I don't have his 09:45AM 23 address, and have him call a meeting and we will 09:45AM 24 schedule, get a hold of TAC and have someone come down 09:45AM 25 for it, and that's how we will proceed, because you 40 09:45AM 1 know -- 09:45AM 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's a good idea. 09:45AM 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You know, I would be 09:45AM 4 glad to go to that meeting. 09:45AM 5 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, we'll probably have to 09:45AM 6 post an agenda for it. 09:45AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And maybe -- that's 09:45AM 8 probably a good idea that way they will understand the 09:45AM 9 importance of what we are putting on it. 09:45AM 10 JUDGE KELLY: I think so. Good idea. And 09:46AM 11 as far as the subdivision thing goes, maybe we need 09:46AM 12 liaison with commissioners' courts in adjacent counties, 09:46AM 13 I don't know. 09:46AM 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it depends on the 09:46AM 15 commissioners. I mean, part of the -- 09:46AM 16 JUDGE KELLY: You got three. 09:46AM 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One of the issues is 09:46AM 18 Kendall or Gillespie County has two new commissioners 09:46AM 19 that I don't know. I know Commissioner Durden and I 09:46AM 20 knew the former commissioners from Gillespie. I just 09:46AM 21 need to meet Commissioner Neffendorf who I just don't 09:46AM 22 know. I have sent him an e-mail and we are all -- he 09:46AM 23 hasn't responded to the e-mail right now, but we just 09:46AM 24 need -- it's just more of a thing when these subdivision 09:46AM 25 come in the precinct -- 41 09:46AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: But you interface with 09:46AM 2 Gillespie and you interface with Gillespie, also. You 09:46AM 3 got Kimble and Real. 09:46AM 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And then I got Bandera 09:46AM 5 and you've got Bandera. We just need to -- 09:46AM 6 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I pay attention to it. 09:46AM 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- pay attention to it 09:46AM 8 because it can be an issue. 09:46AM 9 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else to report 09:46AM 10 today? 09:46AM 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I would like to -- 09:47AM 12 would you like to hear about the security with our IT. 09:47AM 13 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 09:47AM 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So we called in Nathan 09:47AM 15 Rizzo and he came and did a -- I sat in with the IT guys 09:47AM 16 and he asked all of the right questions and then I asked 09:47AM 17 a few questions. I had and they expressed their 09:47AM 18 concerns about things that we have in the county that 09:47AM 19 were either ongoing issues or something that might 09:47AM 20 become problematic. It looks like we are in pretty good 09:47AM 21 shape overall, but we do have some sort of home brew 09:47AM 22 kind of stuff mixed in with industry standard stuff. So 09:47AM 23 one of the things they are going to look at as they go 09:47AM 24 through our security check and assessment is this stuff 09:47AM 25 that is sort of homemade that we have in the system. 42 09:47AM 1 And whether or not there is any -- when something is 09:48AM 2 homemade it may have accesses that wouldn't be real 09:48AM 3 obvious if you are using a standard system that 09:48AM 4 everybody understand and knows. So we have a -- I just 09:48AM 5 wanted you to know we have some of that in with our 09:48AM 6 system. We are pretty secure, but they are already on 09:48AM 7 it and were on it immediately the day I called. Nathan, 09:48AM 8 he came here that day. 09:48AM 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah, I couldn't 09:48AM 10 believe the response time. I mean, that was great. 09:48AM 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So they have been 09:48AM 12 really good so far. We have two guys assigned to the 09:48AM 13 job that have been busy with it already. It's well 09:48AM 14 within our budget. It's about a third right now that we 09:48AM 15 have spent. So, I hope -- now, one thing that was 09:48AM 16 expressed is that we may be able to eliminate some of 09:48AM 17 the stuff we have because we have not just redundancy 09:48AM 18 but redundancy of redundancy. We may have some overkill 09:48AM 19 and we may be able to eliminate equipment, cut down on 09:49AM 20 power usage and stuff like that and or streamline some 09:49AM 21 things. 09:49AM 22 So that's what I am hoping that we will be 09:49AM 23 able to do. Get it streamlined, get it understandable 09:49AM 24 for everybody. But we are definitely going to need a 09:49AM 25 pretty good IT director as soon as we can get him. 43 09:49AM 1 And I would make one more suggestion that 09:49AM 2 we all consider that the sheriff's department have their 09:49AM 3 own IT director. And that's already come up in this 09:49AM 4 process. Just so you know. 09:49AM 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One of the things, and 09:49AM 6 on that line, and we can discuss it more later, just so 09:49AM 7 you can maybe talked to Mark (sic) Rizzo about it. 09:49AM 8 Would it be a good idea to have an annual audit -- 09:49AM 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Assessment. 09:49AM 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- with the firm -- 09:49AM 11 assessment, like, with a company like this as a check on 09:49AM 12 our whole IT department. 09:49AM 13 JUDGE KELLY: I would feel more comfortable 09:49AM 14 if we did. 09:49AM 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And by the way, just 09:49AM 16 so you will know, TAC had tried to offer this service 09:50AM 17 and had -- it didn't work out, so that's why we went the 09:50AM 18 route we did. 09:50AM 19 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 09:50AM 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And it was -- they 09:50AM 21 asked how we found out about them and I didn't say 09:50AM 22 Judge Kelly, I said AACOG. 09:50AM 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Do we have that 09:50AM 24 position posted, Jennifer? 09:50AM 25 MS. DOSS: No, not yet. 44 09:50AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: We need to start work on 09:50AM 2 that. 09:50AM 3 MS. STEBBINS: It will need to be on an 09:50AM 4 agenda so that y'all can -- 09:50AM 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We had a press release 09:50AM 6 that went out, but it's not posted? 09:50AM 7 MS. STEBBINS: And it might be a good idea 09:50AM 8 during this evaluation process to see if you need to 09:50AM 9 change the job description and what your real 09:50AM 10 expectations are off that department before you post it. 09:50AM 11 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, I agree. We need to 09:50AM 12 get to work on it. 09:50AM 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: -- I would do the same 09:50AM 14 thing, it's a job, because I have no idea, you know, if 09:50AM 15 they can help with that if you are going to do one over 09:50AM 16 there. 09:50AM 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: They can do that. 09:50AM 18 They have all the security clearances. 09:50AM 19 JUDGE KELLY: We got the resources in here 09:50AM 20 now, let's take advantage of it and get it all squared 09:50AM 21 away. 09:50AM 22 So it has to be on the agenda to post it. 09:51AM 23 MS. GRINSTEAD: Do you want it on Tuesday's 09:51AM 24 agenda? 09:51AM 25 JUDGE KELLY: We need to start talking 45 09:51AM 1 about it. 09:51AM 2 MS. STEBBINS: Are you ready to post it or 09:51AM 3 are -- 09:51AM 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think we should post 09:51AM 5 it and then -- there's no reason not to post it. 09:51AM 6 JUDGE KELLY: Well, the definition of job 09:51AM 7 description will slow us down. 09:51AM 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You need to have that 09:51AM 9 before you post it, because the first thing they're 09:51AM 10 going to want to know is the job description. 09:51AM 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We already have a job 09:51AM 12 description for IT that's how we got John. 09:51AM 13 MS. STEBBINS: But if you're going to split 09:51AM 14 them up you're really looking at something that's two 09:51AM 15 separate, two separate ones. 09:51AM 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We haven't done 09:51AM 17 anything with that yet and we're heading into budget. 09:51AM 18 JUDGE KELLY: Are we splitting them up or 09:51AM 19 are we just going to -- he's going to have his own 09:51AM 20 independent that reports to the IT director. 09:51AM 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I would think that if 09:51AM 22 we're talking about that, yeah, if you've got an 09:51AM 23 independent IT person out there that reports to the 09:51AM 24 overall acting IT director. I don't want to split two 09:51AM 25 different IT -- 46 09:51AM 1 JUDGE KELLY: We are on the same page. I 09:51AM 2 do thing we need to take a look at quickly trying to do 09:51AM 3 an assessment of what we need to do on the job 09:51AM 4 description because that's going to be -- it's the 09:51AM 5 chicken or the egg, we're not going to get to post it 09:51AM 6 until we, at least, have the job description. 09:52AM 7 MS. STEBBINS: So what you might want to 09:52AM 8 report or post for a meeting is a report from the person 09:52AM 9 who is doing this evaluation and maybe they have some 09:52AM 10 good advice about how you proceed within the IT 09:52AM 11 department and serving the sheriff's department with 09:52AM 12 someone in particular so that you can then make a 09:52AM 13 decision about how you want to post this and how you 09:52AM 14 want to budget for it. 09:52AM 15 JUDGE KELLY: Then maybe what you ought to 09:52AM 16 do is followup with Nathan and just see when would be a 09:52AM 17 good time for him to come talk to us at a commissioners' 09:52AM 18 meeting. I don't know if we can get him on the 28th? 09:52AM 19 MS. GRINSTEAD: If we found out very soon. 09:52AM 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: He might have some 09:52AM 21 sample job descriptions that would be -- 09:52AM 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think so, I am sure 09:52AM 23 they will. 09:52AM 24 JUDGE KELLY: But if you can coordinate 09:52AM 25 that with Jody and then we can get it on an agenda. 47 09:52AM 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: All right. 09:52AM 2 JUDGE KELLY: Do we have anything else? 09:52AM 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I'd like to update 09:52AM 4 the Court on the UGRA meeting last night or yesterday 09:52AM 5 evening. We were able to -- they were able to pass and 09:53AM 6 said they would give us 10,000 more for the hog bounty. 09:53AM 7 They asked if five would work and I said, I don't know, 09:53AM 8 and so they upped it to 10 with the agreement that the 09:53AM 9 5,000 that we committed, the county committed, we use it 09:53AM 10 first before we started going into their 10. Which I 09:53AM 11 think it's -- as soon as we earmark that five it's 09:53AM 12 almost gone. So that's what happened there. 09:53AM 13 JUDGE KELLY: Good report though, good 09:53AM 14 result. 09:53AM 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good result. Good 09:53AM 16 salesman, saving money. 09:53AM 17 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else for this 09:53AM 18 meeting? 09:53AM 19 MS. STEBBINS: I would just like to point 09:53AM 20 out something that I have noticed through these reports, 09:53AM 21 that some of your elected officials and department heads 09:53AM 22 aren't going to toot your own horns, and I think they 09:53AM 23 need be tooted. Tracy Soldan is the president elect of 09:53AM 24 her county treasurers, Texas County Treasurers 09:53AM 25 Association. Charlie Hastings said something one day 48 09:53AM 1 that I didn't know that he's the president of his 09:54AM 2 respective organization in Texas. 09:54AM 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: He's national. 09:54AM 4 MS. STEBBINS: He's national. So you have 09:54AM 5 some really great people who work in this county, who 09:54AM 6 have been appointed by this Court, elected by this 09:54AM 7 community who need some recognition that they're not 09:54AM 8 going to come out and do that for themselves and I 09:54AM 9 wanted to point that out to you. Also, Jason Davis, who 09:54AM 10 was just in here this morning. He can say thank you to 09:54AM 11 me all day long, but I didn't really do a whole lot when 09:54AM 12 it comes to that training, he did that. He was the one 09:54AM 13 who organized that. He was the one who worked with the 09:54AM 14 State Bar, with TJJD to bring this to our community and 09:54AM 15 hopefully it will bring a lot of good education in a 09:54AM 16 place where we struggle to find attorneys. But these 09:54AM 17 people serve you guys in a really great way and the rest 09:54AM 18 of our community and I just wanted to point that out so 09:54AM 19 that y'all could give them an atta boy when you have an 09:54AM 20 opportunity. 09:54AM 21 JUDGE KELLY: Well, and maybe what we ought 09:54AM 22 to do is research that a little bit, and have special 09:54AM 23 recognitions on agendas on a regular basis. 09:54AM 24 (Numerous people talking) 09:55AM 25 JUDGE KELLY: I'm looking at our boss. We 49 09:55AM 1 need to find out about this stuff and that way we can 09:55AM 2 work them into an agenda and maybe do one a month or 09:55AM 3 something like that, and get a press release. 09:55AM 4 MS. STEBBINS: It would really go a long 09:55AM 5 way for the people who work here and serve the 09:55AM 6 community. 09:55AM 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Thank you for 09:55AM 8 pointing that out. 09:55AM 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think one that, 09:55AM 10 also, that nobody really knows about is the Alamo Area 09:55AM 11 Counsel of Government is that administrator who is on 09:55AM 12 the advisory committee for the entire AACOG region for 09:55AM 13 developing these correction office courses for the state 09:55AM 14 exams. 09:55AM 15 MS. STEBBINS: And I steal people from her 09:55AM 16 all the time. She's great. 09:55AM 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: She's a pain, but she 09:55AM 18 does a good job -- 09:55AM 19 MS. STEBBINS: She does. So maybe she's 09:55AM 20 your first. Rusty thanks a lot for saying that. 09:55AM 21 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. There being nothing 09:55AM 22 else then we are going to go ahead an adjourn. We've 09:55AM 23 got a docket to go to downstairs. I need to get the 09:55AM 24 court reporter out of here. 09:55AM 25 So we're adjourned. 50 09:55AM 1 STATE OF TEXAS ) 09:55AM 2 COUNTY OF KERR ) 09:55AM 3 I, KAREN FREEMAN, Certified Shorthand Reporter 4 in and for the State of Texas, and Deputy Reporter in 5 and for Kerr County, do hereby certify that the above 6 and foregoing pages contain and comprise a true and 7 correct transcription of the proceedings had in the 8 above-entitled Commissioners' Court. 9 Dated this 1st day of July, A.D. 2019. 10 11 12 /s/ KAREN FREEMAN 13 Certified Shorthand Reporter No. 4254 14 Expiration Date 12/31/19 15 ******* 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25