1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Monday, March 2, 2020 6 9:00 a.m. 7 Commissioners' Courtroom 8 Kerr County Courthouse 9 Kerrville, Texas 78028 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: ROB KELLY, Kerr County Judge HARLEY BELEW, Commissioner Precinct 1 24 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Precinct 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Precinct 3 25 DON HARRIS, Commissioner Precinct 4 2 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 *** Commissioners' Comments. 3 4 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 6 action on Order permitting Republic 5 Services to use proceeds from tax-exempt Bonds for their solid waste disposal 6 facility located in Kerr County. 7 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 36 action to set a date for a Subdivision 8 Rules workshop to include input from HGCD, County Surveyor, Engineer, OSSF, and other 9 entities to be named. 10 1.3 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate 40 action to approve contract for compensation 11 study. 12 2.1 Pay Bills. 44 13 2.2 Budget Amendments. 45 14 2.4 Court Orders. 54 15 *** Adjournment. 55 16 *** Reporter's Certificate. 56 17 * * * * * * 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good morning. It is March the 2 2nd, 2020, nine o'clock in the morning, and the Kerr 3 County Commissioners' Court is now in session. 4 Everybody see the flags coming in this morning? This is 5 the -- I think the 184th anniversary, independence of 6 Texas. And Friday will be the 184th anniversary of the 7 fall of the Alamo. So don't forget, remember the Alamo. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Remember the Alamo. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Let me remind everybody 10 to turn off your cell phones if you have them. And if 11 you notice, I don't. Commissioner Moser carries his 12 cell phone for me. Tells me what time it is. And if 13 you will notice, we don't start until the Atomic clock 14 says the stroke of nine. And let the record reflect 15 that Commissioner Belew was here early today. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: 60 seconds to spare. 17 JUDGE KELLY: For those of you that don't 18 come regularly, you don't appreciate the humor. 19 The first item on the agenda is the public 20 input. We invite the public to address us on any 21 subject that they would like. We have certain 22 limitations on that, but this is the opportunity that if 23 something is not on the agenda, it's an opportunity for 24 the public to come address the court. Is there anyone 25 who would like to address the court on an item not on 4 1 the agenda? 2 Okay. Then we'll go on to Commissioners' 3 Comments. 1. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Happy Texas 5 Independence Day. That's all I got. I don't have 6 anything else to say. 7 Oh. I did drive around some of the other 8 counties this weekend. I did go over to Bandera County 9 and visit with another Commissioner recently about 10 things that affect all of us, and so I'm trying to 11 just -- you know, it really helps us if you take a 12 little drive in the surrounding counties, look at their 13 roads, come back and compare them to ours. That sort of 14 stuff. You know, what's going on in the other counties. 15 What kind of construction and things that are happening 16 in subdivisions and whatnot. And it clears out your 17 head, too. I recommend it. 18 JUDGE KELLY: And for those of you that 19 don't know, Kerr County is one of the few counties in 20 the State of Texas, that's 254 counties, that all our 21 county roads are paved. And we're very proud of that. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Moser. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let's see. We all 24 encourage the agricultural activities. And Precinct 2 25 has a very nice olive grove, okay, orchard. That's the 5 1 good news. Some of the concerns are, though, to keep 2 the trees from freezing, they have big fans, okay, that 3 sound like helicopters that go all night long. So there 4 are a number of people in Kerr County Precinct 2 that 5 are not really happy about that. So anyway, to be 6 addressed. Okay. But unless the airport folks have had 7 a helicopter sitting over there that we don't know 8 about, okay. But anyway, it's progress. Road 9 construction is always -- the road to progress is always 10 under construction, I guess you could say. That's it. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That's the status in 2. 12 3. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nothing to report today. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, the past week we 15 had the West Kerr Chamber Banquet. That was well 16 attended and got to see a lot of good people recognized 17 for their achievements. And then Saturday Ducks 18 Unlimited was well attended and had a very good showing. 19 And I think it's increased in size, and part of it is 20 the venue is out there at the Exhibit Center, the 21 Exhibit Hall. And so, I think there were 600 people 22 there. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. I would say there were 24 probably 600 people there. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think we're going to 6 1 get more events at the Hill Country Youth Event Center. 2 People have outgrown wherever they're meeting now. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Exactly. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And that's an example 5 of it. 6 JUDGE KELLY: You're right. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You're right. Good 8 show. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. All good. 10 So let's move on to the agenda. Item 1.1 11 consider, discuss and take appropriate action on an 12 Order permitting Republic Services to use proceeds from 13 tax-exempt Bonds for their solid waste disposal facility 14 located in Kerr County. 15 You ready to come back? 16 MS. GREATHOUSE: Glad to be here again. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll bet. 18 MS. GREATHOUSE: Good morning. No, happy to 19 be here. Hopefully we have a little more information 20 and can answer all of your questions adequately. 21 Again, just to refresh your memory, we are 22 here because the Mission Economic Development 23 Corporation is proposing to issue tax-exempt bonds for 24 the benefit of Republic Services. And in 2008, we -- 25 they issued bonds for the acquisition and improvement of 7 1 solid waste facilities throughout the state, one of 2 which is located in Kerr County. They are right now 3 proposing to refinance those bonds, and also to do some 4 additional improvements on various facilities throughout 5 the state. Your approval is required under state law. 6 These are not -- and I think this may have 7 been the source of some of the lack of clarity -- these 8 are not general obligation bonds, so they are not issued 9 by Kerr County or by Kerrville or any economic or other 10 development corporation here. These are from Mission 11 Economic Development Corporation, and they are private 12 activity bonds, which means that they are for the 13 benefit of a private entity. 14 And as a little bit of background, I know 15 that we talked about this last time. Private activity 16 bonds are regulated by the state and federal government. 17 There are 26 activities that the federal government has 18 determined are eligible as private activity bonds. 19 Essentially what happens there is the bonds that -- the 20 proceeds from the bonds or the interest earned on the 21 proceeds from the bonds is tax exempt to the bond buyer, 22 therefore, they are willing to accept a lower interest 23 rate which allows the private entity, in this case 24 Republic, they are able to get debt that is cheaper. 25 They're paying a lower interest rate; therefore, the 8 1 service that they provide to the citizens here in Kerr 2 County and the surrounding areas is cheaper. They're 3 able to do it at a more efficient rate. 4 So that is the reason behind the private 5 activity bond program. That, again, is the federal 6 government and state government, and in one of those 7 activities is this waste disposal. The not-to-exceed 8 amount for the portion located in Kerr County is 12.6 9 million dollars. That is a three-year plan of funding 10 and that is the maximum amount. It is not anticipated 11 that it will be that amount, per se. That is just a 12 not-to-exceed amount. 13 And I know one of the questions last time 14 was the ownership of the facility. It is owned by the 15 City. Republic operates it under a long-term lease. So 16 any of the capital improvements or maintenance that they 17 do on this will remain the property of the City. So if, 18 at the end of this ten years -- I believe there is ten 19 years remaining on the lease. So at the end of those 20 ten years, anything that -- any work that they do will 21 immerse the benefit of the citizens of Kerrville. 22 And I believe that's all that I have. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: A couple of questions. 24 So explain again why the County has to weigh in on this? 25 MS. GREATHOUSE: There is just a provision 9 1 in the state law that says that the governmental entity 2 that has authority here, if there's any kind of 3 overlapping jurisdiction, because you could also issue 4 general obligation bonds here for this area, it is just 5 a -- kind of like we're -- we're playing on your 6 playground, are you okay with that. That is kind of 7 that -- that type of a situation. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. I see. 9 MRS. STEBBINS: And y'all do this -- 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So it's a combination, 11 just an overlap of the City and the County, so therefore 12 you need to have the County's weigh in on it, in 13 addition to the City. Correct? 14 MS. GREATHOUSE: Correct. Yes. We have to 15 have the County's because Mission Economic Development 16 Corporation is issuing the bonds here. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 18 MS. GREATHOUSE: And there -- and Mission 19 has the ability to issue throughout the state. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You also need to have 21 that from the City, too. Is that correct? Am I 22 understanding it? 23 MS. GREATHOUSE: I don't believe that the 24 City can issue bonds with respect to that particular 25 area. 10 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The City is a partner 2 in it with -- 3 MS. GREATHOUSE: They are, but I don't know 4 that they have the authority to issue bonds there. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I think that's 6 what excludes them is that they're a partner and they 7 would have a conflict. 8 MRS. STEBBINS: If you'll remember, y'all do 9 this as it relates to some bonds that were issued to -- 10 for some improvements out at Schreiner University. 11 Y'all do this every year. You have, since I got here, 12 for the same -- same type -- same reasons. The State 13 law requires it. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. One other 15 question. What is the obligation of the County? Are we 16 obligated in any way? 17 MS. GREATHOUSE: No. You -- this is -- your 18 name is not on these bonds. These are not -- this is 19 not -- these are not GO bonds of Kerr County; these are 20 private activity bonds of Mission Economic Development 21 Corporation. 22 So I have a little more information with 23 respect to this project. So this project, the 24 obligation or the -- the lien or the -- the relation of 25 the bond on this is guaranteed by Republic, and there is 11 1 a limited guarantee and a limited recourse back to 2 Mission. So whatever amount of money Mission gets for 3 participating in this, for issuing the bonds, if 4 something was to happen and the debts didn't get paid 5 and the bank went to foreclose on it, then Mission would 6 only be responsible for the amount of money that it has 7 received. So if it received, let's say, $10,000 for its 8 participation, the bank could only get $10,000 from 9 them. They can get zero dollars from you or from anyone 10 in Kerr County. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So I can see it as a 12 positive from the County perspective because I think 13 Republic does a really good job of -- for recycling and 14 everything else, and keeping litter off the highways. 15 It is great at this facility here. So that's -- that's 16 the plus, that's the upside. What's the downside for 17 the County? 18 MS. GREATHOUSE: There is no downside for 19 you. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. All right. 21 MS. GREATHOUSE: You have, again, no 22 obligation. This is not a debt of Kerr County. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Well, allow me to weigh in at 25 that point, on the downside. Ms. Hall was here last 12 1 week. The lady that spoke, if you'll remember. And 2 Ms. Greathouse, right? 3 MS. GREATHOUSE: Yes. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Who is my neighbor. And as an 5 elected official, when your neighbor asks you a 6 question, you have to be able to answer the question. 7 And she was asking me questions that I can't answer. 8 And quite frankly, I still can't answer. 9 I know that the County is responsible for 10 solid waste in the County. And this is the solo, the 11 only solid waste facility that we have approved in the 12 County. I know that through AACOG. I learned -- I 13 learned that going to other committee meetings. 14 And is that the reason that our approval is 15 required? Because she's asking me, and frankly, if your 16 neighbor asks you a question, I think I owe them an 17 answer. Why are we in the loop? Why do you need our 18 approval? And so is it because we -- we are the solid 19 waste authority? I mean -- I've got -- no, I'm -- yeah, 20 I'm pointing back in the corner over there. I don't 21 know. 22 I understand as far as finance goes that the 23 government, federal or state, are going to require 24 approval of certain people that are in the loop. I -- I 25 got that. But I'm not sure where we're in the loop, 13 1 because the City owns this land. We designated it as 2 the landfill. We did that. We have an order to that 3 affect. But we're not the contracting party with 4 Republic. 5 MS. GREATHOUSE: Right. 6 JUDGE KELLY: And so we're trying to figure 7 out where do we fit in the loop and what do I tell my 8 neighbor who is literally, if I throw a tennis ball I 9 can bounce it into her fence from my house? I'm going 10 to see -- I see her almost every day. How do I explain 11 this to -- she doesn't like private activity bonds, I 12 understand that, but that's above our pay grade. We 13 can't do anything about that. 14 But what is the County's role in this 15 approval process? Why are -- why are you asking us and 16 not the City? And I don't know. Commissioner Belew is 17 talking about because they're a partner. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's a possibly. 19 JUDGE KELLY: I don't know. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Here, let me ask a 21 question. When is this going to be on the ballot? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wait. Let her answer 23 the Judge's question. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think this might -- 25 this might help. 14 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I want to hear why. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. All right. 3 JUDGE KELLY: I'm not opposed. I just don't 4 know why we're supposed to do this. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: She's answered this 6 basically. But we don't get it. Why -- this is why I 7 want to enter this -- when is this going to be on a 8 ballot? 9 MS. GREATHOUSE: It is not on the ballot 10 because it is not a GO bond. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay, so it's not going 12 to be on the ballot. So then, we're not -- we're not 13 going to get the politics of it or the need for us to be 14 -- we should be informed of what's going on in our 15 County, basically. It seems to me it's more courtesy 16 than anything. What other -- what other reason would we 17 have? 18 JUDGE KELLY: Did you read the order? 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: My question still is, 21 what -- what law requires that the statute that says we 22 have to approve this for Republic to refinance? 23 That's what I would like to know. 24 MS. GREATHOUSE: So I want to make sure that 25 I get it right, so I will go to the order. So Section 15 1 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 requires 2 that approval. And then I also believe 501.159 of the 3 Texas Local Government Code. Those two statutes require 4 that when there is overlapping authority, that the 5 authority who's not issuing the bond gives its approval. 6 And like I said, it's kind of like, hey, we 7 are -- we are in your area, we're operating in your area 8 and then, so you are informed because you do answer 9 questions, you're an elected official. 10 JUDGE KELLY: But why? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why are we -- why is 12 there overlapping authority because we have nothing to 13 do with that facility? 14 MS. GREATHOUSE: Because you could issue 15 bonds in Kerr County. It is a geographic overlap. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It could be a conflict 17 of timelines and so on. That's why I asked what I did 18 about being on the ballot. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If we had -- if our 21 citizens in this County had two ballot measurements 22 coming -- two bond issues coming up at the same time, 23 what's the likelihood that either of them will pass? 24 Seriously. People are going to go, well, this is going 25 to cost me money, this is going to cost me money, maybe 16 1 this one won't cost me money. And how hard is that 2 going to be? We've had a hard enough time in here 3 understanding it. How are you going to explain it to 4 the general public? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So the reason we have to 6 approve it is because the statutes say that we could 7 issue bonds for this purpose. 8 MS. GREATHOUSE: For that purpose? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, not -- not 10 Republic, but for -- 11 MS. GREATHOUSE: In that -- in this area for 12 -- for any -- any governmental purpose which -- or 13 private activity purpose, you could issue bonds for a 14 similar purpose, exactly. In a similar area. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Next question is, part 16 of the -- when I went back down through the order, and 17 the whereas, it talks about a Public Hearing. And the 18 Public Hearing was held in Bexar County. Which has no 19 relevance to us. Does a Public Hearing need to be held 20 in Kerr County? 21 MS. GREATHOUSE: No. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why only Bexar County? 23 And it's on the -- let me see what page it's on. It's 24 page -- it's Attachment 1, Exhibit A. Certificate of 25 Public Hearing regarding Public Hearing, and then right 17 1 below that, there is a attachment of a Public Hearing 2 that was held in Bexar County. Then the affidavit of 3 publication. It was Hearst Media, San Antonio Express 4 News, and whatever the date was. February 14th. So why 5 is that even in here because we have nothing to do with 6 Bexar County. If there's a Public Hearing required, why 7 isn't there one in Kerr County? 8 MS. GREATHOUSE: I don't know the answer to 9 that question. The hearing that was held in Bexar 10 County was with respect to this project. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it's -- but the 12 order refers to a Public Hearing. And if Bexar County 13 had to do it, why don't we have to do it, or why don't 14 you have to do one in Kerr County? 15 MS. GREATHOUSE: I actually cannot answer 16 that question. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: See, that's the thing, 18 you know, that's what's confusing to me. And I 19 understand the other part, that we've done these over 20 the years on various projects. But that requirement for 21 Public Hearing confuses me. And with the exception for 22 the affidavit for one in Bexar County. 23 JUDGE KELLY: And let me be clear to 24 everybody, to the public about this. I've been in 25 office slightly over a year, and one of the things I 18 1 hear most often is well, that's the way we've always 2 done it. We've always brought these things to us, and 3 we routinely approve them. But when a living, breathing 4 human being who is my neighbor asks me, why are you 5 doing this, I feel like I owe them an answer. And, 6 quite frankly, I don't understand. 7 And it's not -- it's not that I disapprove. 8 I approve of the financing. I -- you know, I -- I don't 9 argue with the IRS about their rules. I don't argue 10 with the State of Texas. I disapprove sometimes, but 11 I -- I abide by the law. And I understand that this is 12 something that apparently is required in order to be 13 able to facilitate the refinancing that Republic wants 14 and needs, and that Mission wants and needs, and so you 15 come to us. I just need to be able to explain it -- I 16 need to be able to understand it myself and be able to 17 explain it to my neighbor, who I see every day, why 18 we're doing this. 19 And -- and I think we all -- I don't think 20 any of us are opposed to what you're doing. I don't 21 think. But I don't know how to explain it. And 22 unfortunately, as I told you earlier before the Court 23 reconvened, I've been practicing law 45 years. I'm a 24 lawyer. And lawyers, you know, explain things, are 25 supposed to be able to explain what the law is. 19 1 And here we are the second time. We did 2 this last Monday. We're here again today. And we don't 3 understand why we need to weigh in. It's not that we 4 disapprove, it's that at the end of the day I've got -- 5 I've got to look at Terri and say -- she goes did you 6 vote for that? And I'm going, Yeah. And she's going to 7 say why, and I'm going to say, I -- I -- because we 8 always do it that way. And that's not good enough. I'm 9 sorry, that's not good enough. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I understand why. It's 11 IRS code and the federal code and the State statute says 12 that if they're going to issue the bonds, we have to 13 acknowledge it. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Well, it doesn't say WE do. 15 It says some -- and that's what we're trying to figure 16 out. Where do we fall in the definition of the ones 17 that are required to approve this? There's a legal 18 definition of who's got to approve -- 19 MRS. STEBBINS: It has to do with location. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the question I go 21 back to then, is the Court Order that you submitted as 22 the backup is in Kerr County, and Section 2 of that says 23 in order to comply with Section 147(f) of the Code, a 24 Public Hearing has been held on behalf of the county in 25 which its -- and blah, blah, blah. There is no hearing 20 1 that I'm aware of in Kerr County so we cannot sign this. 2 It says Kerr County and what's attached is Bexar County. 3 That's the problem I have. 4 MS. GREATHOUSE: It's a Public Hearing and 5 it's due to the general circulation available to the 6 residents of Kerr County. So if the residents of Kerr 7 County have -- 8 MS. GREATHOUSE: That doesn't follow the -- 9 JUDGE KELLY: I deliberately don't take that 10 paper. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nope. Anything -- 12 anytime we have a Public Hearing, it has to go to a 13 local paper in Kerr County, and we do lots of Public 14 Hearings. That's not going to qualify for us. It's 15 gotta be in the -- you have three papers to choose from. 16 Really two papers to choose from in Kerr County. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Under that criteria it 18 could have been in any newspaper in the State, so -- 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Or in the nation. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Or in the nation. So 21 we would have to be local. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. It has to be the 23 Daily Times or the Community Journal. Those are the two 24 that we accept. 25 MS. GREATHOUSE: Yeah, I didn't -- I didn't 21 1 do the TEFRA hearing, so -- 2 JUDGE KELLY: We know. 3 MS. GREATHOUSE: -- I -- I don't know what 4 qualifies as generally available in Kerr County because 5 I've not done that research. So I am having to rely on 6 the fact that it is in general circulation that is 7 available. You could -- you could have a subscription 8 to the Express News here, correct? 9 (Talking over.) 10 MS. GREATHOUSE: With all due respect, 11 Judge, if you could. I also do not -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: I know. I did. 13 MS. GREATHOUSE: I also don't have a 14 subscription to the Express News and I live in San 15 Antonio, so -- for similar reasons. But it is generally 16 -- it is available. And it is a news for general 17 circulation here. So the -- so the notice, according to 18 what I have here, would be relevant. It would be valid. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I don't know. How 20 many people out there get their Express News? Anybody? 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: No. Don't go there. 22 MS. GREATHOUSE: I mean that's not -- again, 23 you can choose to have that subscription or you can 24 choose not to. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If that's the legal 22 1 definition of what is required by the State, then that's 2 what we get. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: By luck or unluck, I'm 4 Chair of a regional water planning group. The Daily -- 5 the Express News does not qualify for general 6 circulation for Kerr County or Bandera County or any 7 other county in the Hill Country. It doesn't qualify 8 for that for the Water Development Board so I -- to me 9 it doesn't apply. It's got to be a Kerr County paper. 10 Now, if there is no Kerr County paper you 11 can use a bigger paper, but first choice has to go to 12 the County. As I understand the state regulations that 13 I deal with. This, I've never dealt with. But I think 14 it needs to be a Kerr County paper. Or I need someone 15 to tell me that that qualifies as a paper for Kerr 16 County. And if that can be done, I'm okay with it 17 because I understand the purpose of it. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Sure. Well, I have one more 19 question. Again, I've only been in this seat for a 20 year. Okay. Y'all have been here longer. My 21 experience has been that we have two roll-call votes a 22 year, budget and tax rate. And this calls for a 23 roll-call vote. And I'm kind of curious, why do we get 24 a roll-call vote on approving financing on economic 25 development bonds? Just curious. How do I explain 23 1 that? This has a roll-call vote. And I know this is 2 kind of outside your wheelhouse, but we're truly not 3 being oppositional. We're trying to -- people are 4 asking us questions and we're trying to figure out how 5 to answer them. Why do we have a roll-call vote. 6 MS. GREATHOUSE: Well, in -- 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: It's not even people 8 outside asking; it's us asking ourself. 9 MS. GREATHOUSE: In other counties these are 10 typically approved on a consent agenda. They can be 11 pulled from the consent agenda if there are questions. 12 I do -- I cannot answer the question as to why this is 13 set up the way that it is here. That's a question 14 outside of -- 15 JUDGE KELLY: I know the -- I promise you, I 16 know the reason we don't have consent agendas because 17 I've asked. And it's because we've never done it that 18 way. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, that's not the 20 reason. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We discussed it 22 recently and decided not. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We discuss it regularly 24 and because of things like this, I don't like consent 25 agendas. I want to be able to openly discuss 24 1 everything. 2 JUDGE KELLY: I'm just making light of it. 3 I -- I did ask that question, though. 4 MS. GREATHOUSE: Well, I mean, you can 5 always have a consent agenda if there's a particular 6 item that you wanted to discuss, you could pull that 7 off. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I'd pull every one 9 out every time. 10 MS. GREATHOUSE: I'm -- I'm a zoning 11 commissioner from the City of San Antonio and so I'm 12 fully aware of how that works, right, and you can always 13 pull something off if you want. 14 So with respect to your questions, it is a 15 statutory requirement that because you have the ability 16 to issue bonds in Kerr County and because this project 17 is located in Kerr County, it is -- it is a -- an 18 acknowledgement of the bond. You are not approving the 19 bonds, you are acknowledging the bonds. They are not -- 20 it's not your obligation. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I understand that. 22 I don't understand the Public Hearing part. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Do we need to get a 24 definite answer on that before we proceed? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: For me, yes. 25 1 JUDGE KELLY: I feel sorry for Republic and 2 for you. I mean, we normally don't go into this much 3 depth on these things. But here we are. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But that's a very good 5 question. 6 JUDGE KELLY: It is. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Does the regional 8 newspaper qualify as notice? Do we -- do we have to 9 have our own Public Hearing here? 10 JUDGE KELLY: Let's ask our lawyer. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is it -- is it fair to 12 the people of Kerr County to have a public meeting in 13 Bexar County about something that's happening here that 14 they were unaware of, except for the Bexar County 15 newspaper that they should have been reading in Kerr 16 County? That doesn't really logically follow in my 17 mind. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it -- to me, that -- 19 it's contrary to the way we do things openly. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Sure. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Counterintuitive but it 22 doesn't mean that it's not something somebody's 23 contrived and -- 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: If I was sitting out 25 there, that would look like a sneaky way to get 26 1 something done. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's -- yeah, 3 exactly. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, and I would have 5 asked that question last week, but sorry, I wasn't here. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We had a robust discussion 7 last week as well. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, we did. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes, we did. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So let's get that 11 answer and then we can proceed. 12 MS. GREATHOUSE: Are there any other 13 questions that I can try to get the answer to before 14 next week so that we're not going to make this a fourth 15 week? 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, you might get the 17 answer before we can adjourn. 18 MS. GREATHOUSE: I'm texting the lawyer who 19 is actually the one who's handling this, so excuse my 20 texting up here, to try to understand something. And I 21 didn't -- I didn't hold the TEFRA hearing and I didn't 22 prepare that document. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: We can come back to it. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, we can come back. 25 JUDGE KELLY: We really don't mean to 27 1 inconvenience you. We understand this is a pro forma 2 thing that ought to just sail through, but it's not. It 3 didn't. 4 MS. GREATHOUSE: Well, and it sounds like 5 you guys have done this previously, so I guess I'm just 6 concerned, is there -- you're -- there really are no 7 more -- David is here to answer any questions that you 8 guys might have about the specific project. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have done projects 10 that are financed in a way that we need to approve it 11 that I recall that public hearings were always here. I 12 believe. Or maybe it wasn't written like this and it 13 wasn't, I'm not sure on the Public Hearing part. But we 14 have done -- approved requests for financing that are 15 similar to this. 16 MS. GREATHOUSE: So if it's within 100 miles 17 you can combine it, you can combine the two counties. 18 And it was published in a newspaper that is circulated 19 in both counties. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. So that answers 21 that. How about the roll-call vote? 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Have we -- you're the 23 longest on the Court, Commissioner Letz. Have we had 24 anything from Republic come up before the Court prior? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I do not recall one from 28 1 Republic, but I wouldn't say we didn't have one. The 2 most recent one that I remember is from Schreiner. And 3 we have done some on -- we have done several times on 4 Schreiner University. 5 MRS. STEBBINS: You probably would have had 6 to at the initial financing, right. 7 JUDGE KELLY: My guess is that we did. I 8 don't know. 9 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes. 10 MS. GREATHOUSE: It would have had to have 11 or else the rest of the bonds would not have been 12 issued. These are all the requirements that you have to 13 check this box, and if this box does not get checked, 14 the bonds do not get issued and the project does not 15 happen. It is -- there is no way around that. There is 16 no alternative. 17 So the Kerr County citizens did have notice. 18 They had the opportunity to provide comments through 19 mail or by the phone. There's a phone number that they 20 could have called and so it wouldn't require them to 21 actually go and be present in Bexar County. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay, so that is -- 23 you just got it. If it's within one hundred miles and 24 it's circulation in both counties, then that satisfies 25 that. 29 1 MS. GREATHOUSE: Correct. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. A roll-call 3 vote, it's no big deal to me. Okay. 4 MS. GREATHOUSE: And I don't think that's 5 something -- it's not been handled that way in other 6 counties. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I apologize for not 9 being here last week, but what improvements have been or 10 will be done here? 11 MS. GREATHOUSE: I have a representative 12 from the -- from the company who can answer those 13 questions. 14 JUDGE KELLY: If you would please state your 15 name. 16 MR. CARRINGTON: Yes. John Carrington, 17 Mission Manager with Republic Services. Okay. So some 18 of the improvements that have been done, there was some 19 cell development down there. We've built a transfer 20 station. And some of the projects that we're looking at 21 in the future, as you mentioned earlier, the growth in 22 the County, the transfer station basically is getting 23 too small. Our compost facility is getting too small 24 for making -- for handling the sludges and making 25 compost over there. 30 1 The City has also just recently done an 2 expansion on the landfill. That unfortunately -- not 3 unfortunately, it's a good thing, but money wise it 4 costs money more to do that because now the landfill is 5 larger. And I'm going to use an acronym which I don't 6 know what it stands for, but NSPS, which is air laws in 7 the State of Texas, and also with the EPA, require 8 different types of gas extraction systems. A little bit 9 more sophisticated type systems than are out there right 10 now. 11 So there's several projects that we're 12 looking to try to get done and to move forward and 13 provide, you know, economic viability for the area. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And that -- you would 15 need more equipment for the -- for the air quality 16 control? 17 MR. CARRINGTON: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. 18 Uh-huh. They're somewhat outdated. They're fine for 19 what the rules they fall into right now. The emission 20 standards become more strict under NSPS, and so you have 21 to provide additional equipment in there. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is there a minimum of 23 how many of these machines, or how many acres you have, 24 and those kind of things? 25 MR. CARRINGTON: It's a matter of how many 31 1 metric tons are -- 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That are brought in? 3 MR. CARRINGTON: -- that are placed into the 4 facility. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Gotcha. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But this -- this is not 7 bond related, not just to this facility, correct? 8 MR. CARRINGTON: As far as I know, most of 9 it is to service the debt and to -- to handle the 10 capital projects in the area here. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But just -- so 12.6 12 million just for this facility. Is that what you're 13 saying? 14 MR. CARRINGTON: Yes. That's -- 15 MS. GREATHOUSE: That's a not to exceed. 16 MR. CARRINGTON: Not to exceed. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, right, I 18 understand. Wow. Yeah. So it's basically refinancing 19 too? 20 MR. CARRINGTON: Right. Yes. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's an odd format to 22 me. So the order -- it's not really a roll-call vote, 23 though, Judge. It just says ayes and nays. 24 JUDGE KELLY: No. It says the roll was 25 called of the duly constituted officers and members of 32 1 the said Commissioners' Court and the County Clerk, to 2 wit: And then it has the ayes and the noes. That's 3 what the order is. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: That's not required in the 5 Internal Revenue Code or the Local Government Code. I 6 don't know why it was included in the Order but -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why don't we strike 8 that -- 9 MRS. STEBBINS: -- I don't think it's 10 required. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- line from the Order 12 and take a regular vote? 13 JUDGE KELLY: Well, that -- that's the 14 certificate that the County Clerk signs. The Order is 15 two pages back. And it's quite detailed with all the 16 findings that we supposedly have heard evidence and find 17 here today. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. The Order 19 actually just says that we're agreeing to authorize the 20 third-party financing and that a Public Hearing was 21 held. That's all -- and that we're not liable. That's 22 what -- that's what we're saying. There's a bunch of 23 whereases. 24 JUDGE KELLY: That's what we're saying; 25 that's not what this says. 33 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we're -- that's what 2 we're saying. All we're doing is that we approve the 3 bonds and the public hearing was held. I don't like the 4 way the Public Hearing was done, but I guess it's 5 compliant with the law. And then the disclaimer that 6 Kerr County Commissioners are not liable for -- 7 JUDGE KELLY: Is there a motion? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion. But 9 I'm going back to the part about the roll-call. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Wait a minute. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The Sheriff wants to 12 talk. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Stop the press. The Sheriff 14 wants to talk to us. 15 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The only thing is, does 16 Republic actually own the trucks and that, that are 17 hauling from this transfer station to San Antonio? 18 MR. CARRINGTON: The trucks that are 19 hauling? 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 21 MR. CARRINGTON: They are subcontracted. 22 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Okay. So in regards -- 23 I know Commissioner Moser said something. But the one 24 thing we have had an issue with a lot is the amount of 25 debris, trash and that, coming off those trucks when 34 1 they're headed to San Antonio loaded. Because it used 2 to all go down Highway 27 and just trashed our roads 3 terrible. And then when I complained about it enough, 4 they switched the routes to I-10. It doesn't solve the 5 issue; it just changed the route. 6 And I do have a concern, and a lot of us do, 7 with the amount of trash that's coming off of those 8 trucks. I don't know if your capital improvements can 9 put better covers on those trucks or what, but we need 10 attention to that. 11 MR. CARRINGTON: Yeah. Sheriff, we -- we 12 recognize the same thing. You have brought it to our 13 attention several times and -- 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I have. 15 MR. CARRINGTON: -- and it's appropriate and 16 we recognize that. We recently switched contractors 17 that has a better tarping systems on there. I don't 18 know if you've seen any improvements along there 19 recently, within the last couple of months. 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: No, I haven't. Because 21 I just know we had a whole bunch of trash and it all got 22 cleaned up two weeks ago. But we had a whole lot more 23 trash. But that needs to be looked at -- 24 MR. CARRINGTON: Yes, sir. 25 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: -- because it really is 35 1 an issue. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to 3 approve the Court Order as presented. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Motion has been made by 6 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Moser to 7 approve the Order with respect to Republic Services, 8 Inc. project as presented. Is there any other 9 discussion? And is this going to be a roll-call vote? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nope. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Nope, okay. Those in favor 12 raise your hand. Those opposed raise your hand. Those 13 abstain raise your hand. I don't think it passed. I 14 think we're two-two. We didn't pass it. We're willing 15 to work on it. I abstained because I don't understand. 16 I got no explanation to give my neighbor, and I'm not 17 going to vote for something that I can't explain. It's 18 that simple. 19 MS. GREATHOUSE: May I just ask a quick 20 question? So are you -- I can come next week prepared 21 with a briefing on the IRS Code if everyone here would 22 like to hear that. And with maybe some case law and 23 some -- I'm happy to go in as depth as you would like. 24 I also don't want to bore everyone to death. So if -- 25 if you would like that, I'm happy to come with a whole 36 1 presentation prepared. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Let me be very direct. I 3 don't understand. You're the lawyer. I'm the client 4 today. And I don't understand. Until you can explain 5 it to me that I understand it and believe this is 6 something I ought to do, I'm not going to do it. What 7 they're going to do, that's up to them. But I don't 8 understand. So you figure out how to explain it to me 9 so that I understand it and I'll vote for it. But until 10 then, I'm not going to vote for it. 11 MS. GREATHOUSE: Okay. Thank you. 12 MR. CARRINGTON: Thank you. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Let's go to the next item on 14 the agenda. 1.2 consider, discuss and take appropriate 15 action to set a date for a Subdivision Rules workshop to 16 include input from the HGCD, which is Headwaters, right? 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 18 JUDGE KELLY: -- and County Surveyor, the 19 Engineer -- County Engineer, OSSF, and other entities to 20 be named. Commissioner Belew. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I just want to make 22 sure we have heard from everybody before we finalize our 23 latest revisions to the Subdivision Rules. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's working right now. 25 The County Engineer is working on it. Then it will go 37 1 to I think Chuck Kimbrough to look at. And Charlie's 2 redoing it based on what Chuck Kimbrough says, and as 3 soon as we have a draft, we'll then go out to the 4 public, including all these entities. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, what I'd like to 6 do is I'm not sure that all of us on the Court 7 understand some of the particulars, especially where it 8 pertains to water. And we had a little discussion in 9 here one day that -- about how many units you can put 10 breakers for tiny homes. Some of these things that are 11 going to be issues -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- coming up in the 14 future. And I would like for us to all be on the same 15 page with it and understand it. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But that -- that's the 17 content of the subject. This is -- the agenda item is 18 to set the date for the workshop. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, right. Exactly. 20 But I'm telling you why -- 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But that's all -- 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- why I would like for 23 us to all get together and sit down. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. But we have -- 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That one -- that's one 38 1 of the reasons -- let me finish. That's one of the 2 reasons, and I would like for us to have a workshop. 3 Everybody can have input. We might all learn something 4 and these workshops have been, I think, in large part 5 beneficial. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I don't think anybody 7 disagrees with that. But we have -- we haven't 8 scheduled all of our workshops yet. I know this agenda 9 item is to set a date for this workshop. I think we 10 need to look at all of our workshops and put this in 11 order with the others. So that's all I'm saying. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think it's a -- 13 this is working towards the point that we can have a 14 workshop. And it's an important one and it's for the 15 public. The legislature threw us a huge curve ball. We 16 just about had our rules rewritten and then they changed 17 the rules September 1. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we had to basically 20 scrap our revisions and go back to make amendments to be 21 in compliance with state law. And the County Engineer 22 and our outside counsel, Chuck Kimbrough, are working on 23 that. And as soon as they have a draft that -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Which we've seen -- 25 we've seen several and we have had revisions and -- 39 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, but this is -- 2 we're making a change. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We're getting close -- 4 right. We're getting close to the end with all the new 5 legislative changes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Now is the time to -- 8 for everybody to understand what we're doing. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Once we have a draft. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. So I talked to 11 the County Engineer about it, the County Surveyor, the 12 representative of Headwaters -- 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The subject is set the 14 date; not to discuss the content. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, that's the point 17 of it. And to -- and I'm telling you the reason for 18 it -- 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- if you're going to 21 be picky about it. So -- 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'm just reading what 23 it says. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I understand what 25 you're doing. I know what you're doing, Tom Moser. 40 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We've got a cat fight in 2 here this morning. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Let's move on to the next 4 picky topic. We past that one? 5 1.3 consider, discuss, and take appropriate 6 action to approve a contract for a compensation study. 7 Do we need to go into Executive Session on this, Ms. 8 Doss? 9 MRS. DOSS: We need Heather. 10 JUDGE KELLY: This has to do with the 11 compensation study. If we need to do this in Executive 12 Session, I would like to push that to the end and go 13 through the rest of the agenda. 14 MRS. STEBBINS: Do you need to do it in 15 Executive Session? 16 JUDGE KELLY: That's what we're asking. 17 MRS. STEBBINS: That's really up to y'all. 18 If y'all want to discuss negotiations about that, then 19 it can go into Executive Session, if you take a vote and 20 you can rely on my opinion from last weak that those 21 negotiations in a public meeting would -- would 22 affect -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: I think we talked about the 24 negotiations last week. I have nothing else to say 25 about the negotiations. It's just about the letting of 41 1 the contract that we're discussing. 2 MRS. STEBBINS: I've read the contract with 3 the proposal. I have no recommended changes to it. If 4 you guys want to discuss negotiations related to that 5 contract, it can be in Executive Session but -- 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that we 7 approve the professional services agreement and 8 authorize the County Judge to sign the same. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: That's with -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: With the Public Sector 12 Personnel Consultants. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Motion's been made. I 14 need a second. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: He seconded. 17 JUDGE KELLY: I'm sorry. Motion's been made 18 by Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 19 enter into a contract with Public Sector to conduct a 20 compensation study for the County. Any further 21 discussion? 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. I'm all for 23 doing this. When would we get started, do you think? 24 And are we going to -- is it going to go into -- try to 25 go into this coming year or what? 42 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: She can answer that. 2 MRS. DOSS: We have -- we're on the books 3 to get started. They're going to come down and meet 4 with employees and just explain the why and the how on 5 March 24th and 25th -- the afternoon of the 24th and the 6 morning of the 25th. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And how long do they 8 estimate, 60 days? 9 MRS. DOSS: 90. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 90, yeah. I remember 11 the three months. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. Where we left 13 this was we can implement part of it and so on. Do it 14 piecemeal, and not have to have it in this next budget. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: In the agreement, they'll 16 provide you with options for plans of implementation. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I just want to be 18 clear on that. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, we probably have 20 to do. 21 JUDGE KELLY: I want to be clear, too. So I 22 think what I'm hearing said here is, we're going to have 23 them do it, and we haven't decided today whether or not 24 that's going to be part of the coming budget or next 25 year's budget. 43 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, we'll get -- 2 we'll decide that when -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- we see what they 5 recommend. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. But I'm just -- 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: When they implement 8 it. 9 JUDGE KELLY: -- saying, I want to be clear. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: They do -- they do 11 their job, then we decide what we're going to act on. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Precisely. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: The funds to have them 14 do it in this year's budget but where we implement it -- 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: We won't decide that 16 until we see what they recommend. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, right. 18 JUDGE KELLY: You understand, right? 19 MRS. DOSS: Yes, sir. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That's what's 21 important. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, We got a motion and a 23 second. Any other discussion? Those in favor raise 24 your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 25 MS. DOSS: Thank you. 44 1 JUDGE KELLY: See, we're not contentious all 2 the time. 3 Let's move on to the Approval Agenda. 2.1 4 pay the bills. We're not going to argue about this. 5 MS. SHELTON: Good morning. This week's 6 invoices, we have $124,108.79 for Kerr County. For the 7 Airport, $15,133.30. Adult Probation, $4,042.92. The 8 216th DA Forfeiture Fund, $1,742.00. The County Clerk's 9 Fee Fund is $125.90. And the 198th DA Forfeiture Fund 10 is $73.88. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Move we pay the bills 12 as presented by the Auditor. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 15 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 16 approve paying the bills as presented. Any further 17 discussion? 18 I didn't -- I have one item. And it's -- 19 it's kind of -- it relates to something later on in the 20 Agenda that we'll be talking about the Public Defender's 21 Office. I did notice that we had quite a few court 22 appointed attorney's fees. At some point, we're going 23 to need the Auditor's Office to start compiling that 24 information so that we can analyze it to see where we 25 are before we go forward with anything on the public 45 1 defender's office. 2 MRS. STEBBINS: If you want to have a look 3 at that, that's available on the Texas Indigent Defense 4 website. You can go look at Kerr County locally. You 5 can look at each attorney specifically. It's available 6 to any of you right now. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Well, one of the things that I 8 was interested in was, we have a lot of different areas 9 that we appoint attorneys. And so I just want to make 10 sure that whatever it is that we're looking at pulls 11 together everything. 12 MRS. STEBBINS: It does. Their website 13 does, I believe. 14 MRS. SHELTON: And we -- we could pull 15 something together from that, from our financial system 16 also. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Those in favor raise 18 your hand. Pay the bills. Unanimous, five zero. 19 Budget amendments. 20 MR. ROBLES: Yes. We have six today. The 21 first three are going to be line item transfers for the 22 courthouse security water planning, or plateau water 23 planning, in the 216th DA. Number four is recognizing 24 and certifying new revenue for the Sheriff's SCAAP grant 25 setting up a corresponding expenditure budget. And 46 1 number four and five are both for the County Clerk. 2 This is reallocating some of her lines to increase her 3 part-time to serve more hours. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: On number one, what is 5 the transfer for maintenance contracts out of the 6 courthouse security? 7 MR. ROBLES: We're taking it from security 8 improvements into maintenance contracts. I believe one 9 of the contracts we had had an increase in the contract 10 price that wasn't budgeted. We had budgeted, I believe, 11 last year's contract price. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: But it's for security 13 as opposed to maintenance? 14 JUDGE KELLY: From security. Well -- 15 MR. ROBLES: It's from security into the 16 maintenance contract which they provide. 17 JUDGE KELLY: What is that, Shane? 18 MR. EVANS: No, that's not mine. 19 MR. ROBLES: That's the Sheriff's. 20 JUDGE KELLY: The Sheriff? 21 MR. ROBLES: Courthouse security. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So see, you're 23 transferring it to maintenance contracts. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The courthouse security 25 maintenance contract. 47 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The courthouse 2 security. It's the Guardian contract. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Gotcha. 4 MR. ROBLES: It's in the same fund. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And number four, I 6 don't know what that fund is. 7 MR. ROBLES: The SCAAP grant? 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: SCAAP? What are those, 9 Sheriff? 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's that State 11 Criminal Alien Assistance Program. It's not necessarily 12 illegal aliens, but just people of different origin, you 13 might say, that there is a federal formula on us housing 14 those and we get so much in return for doing that. They 15 could actually be from Germany, they could be from 16 anywhere, it's just over the year of different ones -- 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But not Nebraska. I 18 mean, you're not talking about -- 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Not Nebraska, no. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. All right. 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Different countries. 22 Yeah, it doesn't mean they're not a U.S. citizen now; 23 it's just their original origin could have been -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So some people in 25 Nebraska are aliens? 48 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, they are to me. 2 Especially on Texas Independence Day. 3 JUDGE KELLY: And what are the archives in? 4 MS. DOWDY: It's allowing the part-time 5 position to have more hours and -- 6 THE REPORTER: Can you speak up, please? I 7 can't hear you. 8 MS. DOWDY: It is allowing the part-time to 9 be fully funded as a full-time to do specific records 10 archival projects. 11 MR. ROBLES: We're moving some of the 12 salaries out of the general fund into her special 13 revenue fund. We're anticipating saving the general 14 fund a little over 3,000 by doing this. Since they're 15 doing jobs specific to her archival, we're allowed to 16 put some of their salary in there. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So one -- I don't know 18 if y'all talked about it last week, but I know a few 19 weeks ago we talked about it. This is where we -- the 20 part-time spot is becoming a full-time spot to do the 21 records archival. This year is 25 percent out of the 22 records archival, and 75 percent out of the general 23 fund? 24 MS. DOWDY: Correct. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But next year we'll flip 49 1 that to be 75 percent out of that. And I talked with 2 the County Clerk a little bit about a job description 3 that I think the job description needs to be very 4 clearly tied to records archival. This is not a new 5 position to that department. It's a records archival 6 person. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And grant money is 8 paying for it. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's a dedicated fund 10 will pay the 75 percent of that salary going forward. 11 JUDGE KELLY: So this is $8,000 out of the 12 archival fund? 13 MR. ROBLES: No. It's within the archival 14 fund. We're just reallocating it from one account to 15 salary accounts. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. But 8,000 from it, and 17 5,000 from the County Clerk's budget? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Is that right? 20 MR. ROBLES: And the County Clerk's budget 21 is staying within the County Clerk's budget. Overall -- 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Just moving a line 23 item. 24 MR. ROBLES: -- we won't be using the entire 25 amount of part-time in the general fund. We're only 50 1 moving 5,000 when there's several thousand above that 2 left. The way we had looked at it is we're going to be 3 saving $3,038.00 in the general fund that would have 4 normally gone to pay for this. We are increasing the 5 budget for the records archival by about 7800, but 6 again, that's something that can only be used for that 7 specific task. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One of the things that 9 may help a little bit because I visited with the County 10 Clerk on this. The -- we can't take more out of the -- 11 the records archival funding, you can only take money 12 out of that once a year with a Public Hearing. So the 13 amount that was -- that we agreed to take out earlier is 14 the maximum amount that can come out of that. Next year 15 that amount will be increased and we can take more of 16 this salary out of that. 17 So it's this year that they're trying to 18 make it fit, and then next budget year, 75 percent will 19 come out of the records archival fund but there has to 20 be a Public Hearing and we can't go into it twice in the 21 year. We've already gone into it once. 22 JUDGE KELLY: My question really is, are we 23 backdooring a part-time employee to a full-time position 24 new hire before we do the budget? Is that what we're 25 doing? 51 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That's what I wanted to 3 know. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it's not really 5 backdooring it. It's a -- going into a dedicated 6 records archival. It is moving that into a budget, but 7 it will be a dedicated fund position before -- 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: But the position is 9 going away? 10 MS. DOWDY: Originally -- 11 JUDGE KELLY: It's going to be a full-time 12 position. 13 MS. DOWDY: Originally, I had asked for a 14 full-time, and the Court granted a part-time, and now 15 knowing after the fact that monies can be actually used 16 from the records management fund for salary. I know 17 this after the fact; otherwise, I would have presented 18 it earlier on in last budget season. Which I did, but I 19 needed an opinion on that. 20 It has been confirmed, so moving forward 21 into the next budget cycle, I will be asking again for a 22 full-time, but it's going to be 75 percent -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: And I'm against it. And I 24 just want to be very very clear. When you and I talked 25 last fall at the Animal Control workshop, you didn't 52 1 have a need for that position. Now you want a full-time 2 position. I am absolutely against new hires. 3 MS. DOWDY: And -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: I'm trying to -- I can talk. 5 Excuse me. I get to talk. I'm absolutely -- this is 6 getting -- going into budget, I'm going to present my 7 own budget in April, and I've got my Auditors right 8 here, they're helping me on it. And you know I'm trying 9 to limit the new hires. We are a $3.7 million deficit 10 budget. We don't -- haven't shown any progress in 11 trying to reduce that deficit and we're going into new 12 budget season, and I'm on my war horse, my warpath about 13 this. I don't want anymore new hires at this point and 14 I'm voting against it, so that's my position. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, the question is, 16 and this -- you know what Commissioner Belew said, we 17 have this records archival problem. 18 JUDGE KELLY: I agree. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And we have a storage 20 problem. 21 JUDGE KELLY: I agree. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is a way to solve 23 that problem without going into the general fund. 24 MS. DOWDY: That's right. Thank you. 25 MR. ROBLES: And also on the deficit 53 1 question, this is reducing our general -- 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I can't hear you, 3 James. 4 MR. ROBLES: On our deficit question, this 5 is reducing the amount of money in our general fund. 6 JUDGE KELLY: By 3,000. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that's -- but it's a 8 matter of -- I mean, in the next -- to me, it is going 9 to a full-time position, but it's also solving the 10 problem that I think Commissioner Belew talked about 11 most strongly two weeks ago that we've got to -- if we 12 have a dedicated fund to solve our storage -- or help 13 solve our storage and records archival, we should do it. 14 MR. ROBLES: And in next budget season we 15 anticipate saving more by having more of that salary in 16 that dedicated fund, reducing the general fund expenses. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I'm in favor of 18 doing it, whether it's done now or in the budget doesn't 19 make any difference to me. 20 JUDGE KELLY: I'm in favor of doing it in 21 the budget; not now. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Are you making a 23 motion? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to 25 approve the Budget Amendments as presented. 54 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 3 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 4 approve the Budget Amendments as presented. Any further 5 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Those 6 opposed? Three two, Passes. 7 Late bills. 8 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. 10 Court Orders. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Oh, I've got one. 12 Okay. I've gone through the Court Orders 37965 through 13 37986 from Monday, February 24th, 2020 from the regular 14 session, and I move to approve them. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 17 Commissioner Harris, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 18 approve the Court Orders as presented. Any other 19 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 20 Unanimous -- oh. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll abstain. 22 JUDGE KELLY: You'll abstain? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I wasn't here. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Sure. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I haven't read the 55 1 minutes, so I don't know. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So it's four, zero, one 3 for -- to approve the Court Orders. 4 Let's take a five minute break and we'll 5 come back and do the various status reports. 6 (Break.) 7 (Updates and discussion.) 8 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, it is 11:40 and the 9 Court is back in session. There being no other 10 business, the Court is adjourned. 11 * * * * * * 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 56 1 STATE OF TEXAS * 2 COUNTY OF KERR * 3 I, DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD, Certified Shorthand 4 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, and Official 5 Court Reporter in and for Kerr County, do hereby certify 6 that the above and foregoing pages contain and comprise 7 a true and correct transcription of the proceedings had 8 in the above-entitled Special Commissioners' Court 9 Consideration and Approval Agenda. 10 Dated this the 7th day of March, A.D. 2020. 11 12 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/31/2021 14 * * * * * * 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25