1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Regular Session 5 Monday, April 13, 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 *** Commissioner's Comments. 5 4 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 9 action regarding an update, facility use, 5 and other matters related to COVID-19. 6 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 26 action regarding the Local State of 7 Disaster Due to a Public Health and Economic Emergency Proclamation that was 8 signed by Judge Kelly on March 24, 2020 and "extended until terminated by order 9 of the Kerr County Commissioners' Court" on March 30, 2020. 10 1.3 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 31 11 action to approve the variance for a re-platting on Elm Pass in Center Point. 12 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 42 13 action regarding County playground equipment. 14 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 44 15 action to approve contract with Rainwater Systems, Inc. to repair rainwater tank and 16 system at the Hill Country Youth Event Center (HCYEC)). 17 1.6 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 45 18 action to approve new appointment of Labor Standards Officer forms (A701) for 19 Grant Numbers 7215045, 7217045, 7218045, and 7218055. Forms reflect a change in 20 the Labor Standards Officer. 21 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 45 action to determine whether to allow the 22 retail fireworks permit holders to sell fireworks to the public beginning May 1, 23 2020 and ending at midnight May 5, 2020 in celebration of Cinco De Mayo, pursuant 24 to Texas Occupations Code, Section 2154.202(g)(3). 25 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 47 action to request annexation of Riverview 4 Road and Rowland Lane into the City of Ingram. 5 1.9 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 47 6 action for the Court to set a public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on May 26,2020 for 7 a revision of plat for Ingram Hills Subdivision, Tract 22A, Volume 5, Page 152. 8 1.10 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 49 9 action for the Court to set a public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on May 26th for revision of 10 plat for Elm Pass Ranch No. 2, Tracts 126 and 127, Volume 3, Page 100, Pct. 2. 11 1.11 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 51 12 action for the Court to approve a Concept Plan for 6.576 acres on Church St. in 13 Center Point. 14 1.12 Public hearing regarding the installation 54 of (2) stop signs at the intersection of 15 "Red Oak Ln. W." and "Sherwood Ln. W." (Greenwood Forest, Section 7 Subdivision). 16 1.13 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 54 17 action for the Commissioners' Court Final Approval regarding the installation of (2) 18 stop signs at the intersection of "Red Oak Ln. W." and "Sherwood Ln. W." (Greenwood 19 Forest, Section 7 Subdivision). 20 1.14 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 55 action for the Commissioners' Court Final 21 Approval regarding naming Private Unnamed Road "Dr. Victor Ln. N. 22 2.1 Pay Bills. 57 23 2.2 Budget Amendments. 58 24 2.5 Accept Monthly Reports. 58 25 4 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 2.6 Court Orders. 59 4 3.3 Status reports from Liaison Commissioners. 60 5 *** Adjournment. 64 6 *** Reporter's Certificate. 65 7 * * * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good morning. It is April the 2 13th, 2020, nine o'clock in the morning, and the Kerr 3 County Commissioners' Court is now in session. If you 4 would please stand for the prayer and the pledge. It's 5 to be given by Commissioner Belew. 6 (Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.) 7 JUDGE KELLY: For those of you that are 8 watching on YouTube, we are trying to exercise social 9 distancing here at the court. I -- we generally had a 10 rule of policy here in the courtroom that we asked you 11 to turn your cell phones off. I'm going to not hold 12 anybody to that today. We have -- we have our County 13 Attorney here on speaker phone -- her phone. And so if 14 the phones do go off, though, I would ask that you step 15 out in the hall. 16 Just so that the public knows, other than 17 the five of us -- and you can see how we're spaced -- 18 down to my left, your right, is Commissioner Letz, 19 Precinct 3. And over here -- and he is -- I tease and 20 call him my designated survivor but he's the one that's 21 next in command if I get sick. And then on -- over here 22 to my right, your left, is Commissioner Moser, who is 23 Precinct 2. And so we are all appropriately spaced. 24 So with that is an opportunity now for 25 public input. I've had one request for public input 6 1 from Terri Hall that we have here that we're going to 2 give to the Court Reporter and make it a part of the 3 record. A copy has been provided to all of the 4 Commissioners. 5 So that you know, Miss Hall, if you're 6 watching, we can't reply to what you've given us here 7 but it's all -- it's been delivered to all of us and we 8 have read it. 9 So thank you. 10 Put that over there for the Court Reporter, 11 and that will be part of the official record. 12 Next, there are Commissioner Comments. 13 Start with Commissioner 1. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Man, we've had a lot of 15 rain. It's been good. We got about four inches of rain 16 since it started. A little better actually. So that's 17 good. And I smell cedar burning, that's always a good 18 thing. 19 And it was -- we went to -- we had a 20 drive-through communion yesterday. That was weird. 21 I'll just say it was weird. It was, you know, what 22 people are doing now. And streaming church services, 23 saw some of that. Saw family anyway in spite of this. 24 And personally lost patience with all this, but we're -- 25 we are where we are. So that's my report. 7 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good. Commissioner Moser. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'm going to pass. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Commissioner Letz. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a general comment. 5 I think I'm like with Commissioner Moser, I'm a little 6 bit fed up with it, but it's part of the life that we're 7 leading right now. Overall I see very good compliance. 8 I know there are certain -- primarily the construction 9 area, people are continuing to work. 10 But the areas where I am and people that I 11 see, they're making efforts to social distance. They're 12 continuing to work but they're doing it at a much -- 13 kind of a more careful pace than they ever have in the 14 past. So I think people are -- are -- you know, 15 understand the severity of the problem and are doing 16 their best to accommodate. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS. I agree. I agree with 19 Commissioner Letz. That people all do seem to be 20 abiding by things. It's kind of bittersweet. I mean, 21 people get trained very easily and that's kind of scary. 22 I don't know. From the long run, I'm a little -- a 23 little fed up with it as well. So I'll just leave it at 24 that. 25 Thank you for the rain. And thank you for 8 1 yesterday having -- we had a beautiful day for Easter. 2 It was just beautiful. The Lord provides us well. 3 So -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: Good. I have a couple of 5 things. First thing I want to say is I am wearing a 6 mask. Not because it's required, but because my wife 7 asked me to. And I see a lot of people every day. 8 Trust me, I see a lot of people every day. And she has 9 no idea who I've been exposed to. So I've asked -- she 10 asked me in public to wear the mask and so that's why I 11 have it on. For my family. 12 Next, I would point out that there was a 13 photograph in the paper last week of Dub Thomas, who's 14 getting ready to speak to us again. That photograph was 15 not taken last week. It was taken about last month or 16 so. Back before we had the Executive Order from the 17 Governor. And I think it was, I guess, a file photo 18 that the Times had and they used it. So for those of 19 you wondering if we are exercising social distancing, we 20 are. And we have -- the Sheriff is at the door to make 21 sure that we never have more than ten in the room at any 22 time. 23 Next. I would point out that I was driving 24 -- as I was driving in this morning, I crossed the Lemos 25 Street bridge, and I looked over to my left and I saw 9 1 six City workers in white hard hats and their reflective 2 vests, all huddled maybe six inches to a foot apart, not 3 exercising social distancing. I think as a community 4 we're doing good. But I want to remind everybody, even 5 when you're working on an essential service, try to 6 exercise your social distancing and let's just stand a 7 little bit farther apart. You can see what we're doing 8 here. We want to encourage everybody to keep doing 9 this. This is not an order. It is a request. We think 10 it's in everybody's best interest to do this. 11 So that's all I have. With that, is there 12 anything else before we go on to the first item on the 13 agenda? 14 Okay. Seems like this is item Number 1 on 15 every agenda now. 1.1 consider, discuss and take 16 appropriate action regarding update, facility use and 17 other matters related to the COVID-19. Dub Thomas. 18 MR. THOMAS: Good morning, Judge. Good 19 morning, Commissioners. Hope everyone had a great 20 Easter. I know I did. But like you said, Commissioner, 21 the weather was perfect for it. It was a little breezy 22 but it was still -- still a nice day. 23 I'm here to give another update. This is 24 week five. The situation report for our COVID-19 -- 25 Kerr County COVID-19 response. The EOC activation 10 1 level, Kerr County, Kerrville, City of Ingram Emergency 2 Operations Center, is still operating at an increased 3 readiness level and we're fully activated. And we're 4 remotely -- we're working remotely. We're trying to 5 honor the social distancing and stay as spread out as 6 much as possible. I mean, we're still operating at 7 phase three of the pandemic plan. The call center 8 continues to be open for citizens needing information. 9 The current situation. COVID-19 continues 10 to spread exponentially according to the CDC and 11 Department of State Health Services. Community spread 12 is active in Texas. And some of the figures from the 13 Department of State Health Services are listed below. 14 It's kind of a break up of the demographics 15 for the COVID-19. 35 percent of COVID-19 infections are 16 locally acquired and these demographics changed from 17 last week because the numbers have changed as far as the 18 testing and stuff goes. 15 percent COVID-19 infections 19 from travel outside their county. 20 percent were 20 acquired from outside the state of Texas. 18 percent 21 acquired from close contact. Ten percent acquired from 22 travel outside the United States and two percent are 23 unknown. 24 The current numbers as far as the United 25 States goes, and these were as of yesterday, were 11 1 525,704 people were -- have been infected. U.S. total 2 deaths is 20,486. Texas infected, on the DSHS website, 3 is 13,484. Total deaths in Texas is at total 261. 4 There has been 124,553 tests. Of that, 5 117,277 were done by private labs. Public labs have 6 conducted 7,276 tests. Of the total number of 7 individuals who have been infected in the state of 8 Texas, the hospitalizations have numbered 1,338. 9 That makes the most important number here 10 and my favorite number to look at from all of this is 11 the number of recovered individuals, which is 2,014. I 12 think that's outstanding and I think we need to 13 concentrate more on the number of recoveries than the 14 other numbers. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Now, Dub, you had 16 requested that they list this? 17 MR. THOMAS: Oh, yeah. I've been sending 18 them an e-mail all the time and even talking to our 19 Region 8 representatives to start putting out some 20 positive numbers. Give us something -- something we can 21 have a little hope on. Some bright light for us to look 22 at rather than gloom and doom. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it's not just 24 that, it also tells you where you're at. 25 MR. THOMAS: Yes, it does. 12 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And it gives you better 2 bearings of where you're standing now. 3 MR. THOMAS: In our surrounding counties, 4 Kendall County has 11, Medina has had 13, with one 5 fatality. 6 JUDGE KELLY: I think that's up to three. 7 MR. THOMAS: Is it up to three? 8 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Fatalities? 10 JUDGE KELLY: Three fatalities in Medina 11 County. 12 MR. THOMAS: I'm looking at the numbers from 13 Friday. So they haven't -- well, no, these are the 14 numbers from yesterday. They haven't updated it today. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: These are numbers for 16 what? 17 MR. THOMAS: These are the numbers from -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: COVID-19 cases. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: These are cases or -- 20 these are cases? 21 JUDGE KELLY: Positive. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Positive. Okay. 23 MR. THOMAS: Yeah. Positives. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thank you. 25 MR. THOMAS: Llano County, three. Blanco, 13 1 four. Burnet, six. Kerr, two. Gillespie, one. And 2 Bandera, two. I will say that the two that are listed 3 here for Kerr County, of course, it's not been updated 4 yet but I was notified on Friday by the Department of 5 State Health Services to take those two individuals, 6 those two locations, out of our cad, that they are no 7 longer being monitored and that they have recovered. So 8 those numbers have not been updated. But it was still 9 listed on there this morning so I left it on there. 10 JUDGE KELLY: I believe the one in Gillespie 11 has also recovered. 12 MR. THOMAS: I believe so. Yes, sir. 13 Our Department of State Health Services, 14 Region 8 numbers active cases were 660. Recovered, 15 again, 189. And deaths, 27. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Just for the public, 17 what is Region 8? 18 MR. THOMAS: That's the Department of State 19 Health Services Region, 28 counties in this area. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: How many counties? 21 MR. THOMAS: 28. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 28. Okay. Dub, could 23 you -- where you show all the statistics for the United 24 States, the deaths, infected, blah, blah, blah, total 25 tests. Could you give that for the County in the 14 1 future? Like total tests that we've had? How many 2 people are hospitalized or -- 3 MR. THOMAS: I can get you a number here 4 in -- 5 JUDGE KELLY: That's a different form. 6 MR. THOMAS: -- a little bit later in the 7 report. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh, is it? Okay. Good 9 enough. 10 JUDGE KELLY: And just for the record, I 11 believe I sent all the Commissioners, or had Jody send 12 all the Commissioners, the daily report from DSHS, the 13 Department of State Health Services. And that has all 14 28 counties listed on it. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. I think people 16 would be interested in knowing in Kerr County how many 17 people have been tested, how many, etc., etc. 18 JUDGE KELLY: If you look at the City 19 website for the press announcement that we had Thursday 20 after the stakeholders briefing -- 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 22 JUDGE KELLY: -- Corey Edmondson, with the 23 Peterson Regional Medical Center, had that number. And 24 I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 or 25 something. 15 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Does that sound about right, 3 Dub? 4 MR. THOMAS: I don't know what -- 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, all I'm saying is 6 people -- since this is a County Commissioners' Court, 7 just list that each week for the County, okay. We do 8 for the region, we do for the U.S. It'd be nice to have 9 it for the County. That's all I'm suggesting. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we have to find -- yeah, 11 we've got to go to the source before we get that 12 information. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 14 MR. THOMAS: All right. The -- again, our 15 operational priority -- public safety continues to be 16 the top priority. And we're going to continue to 17 provide via the EOC timely accurate information to the 18 public concerning the spread of the virus and ways to 19 avoid becoming infected. We're going to continue to 20 work with the City of Kerrville Emergency Management, 21 Kerrville Fire Department and EMS and Peterson Regional 22 Infection Control in developing tactics for testing, 23 isolation and treatment. 24 PPE is still coming in, albeit's a little 25 slow. We're still putting in the request but at least 16 1 we're starting to get some now. So we're starting to 2 get that distributed out to the first responders and 3 others that are coming in close contact with the public. 4 Mobile testing continues this morning at 5 0900 at the Hill Country Youth Event Center for 6 appointments only. Since we have started, there have 7 been 174 COVID-19 samples sent off for testing. I don't 8 know how many total folks they've screened. I've asked 9 for that number and I'm not certain that they're 10 actually keeping that number, but they are -- they have 11 sent 174 off for testing. All have returned back 12 negative with the exception of two. One was the health 13 care worker -- 14 JUDGE KELLY: That we know about. 15 MR. THOMAS: -- that we know about, and the 16 other one was the Bandera County resident. Everybody 17 else from Kerr County has -- has turned -- has come back 18 negative. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good deal. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we've got one in the 21 east part of the County. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They weren't tested 23 here. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Oh, they weren't tested here. 25 Okay. Just the test. 17 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You know, it's -- 2 that's a dramatic statistic Dub just gave us. Nobody 3 from Kerr County has tested positive. Whereas 60 miles 4 away, or less than that, in San Antonio, Bexar County -- 5 Bexar County, like 700. So that's amazing. That's 6 really, really good news. So what we're doing is doing 7 it right. 8 JUDGE KELLY: If you'll look at the 9 demographic on the DSHS report that we get daily, you'll 10 see that Bexar County is in the center, which is the 11 epicenter of the COVID virus here in the Hill Country. 12 If you look at the counties to the north and the east, 13 they're up in the 40 to 50 case range. To the south, 14 they're more like in the five to ten. Medina County is 15 hit particularly hard, they got 13. Kendall has, what, 16 10? 17 MR. THOMAS: 11, I believe. 18 JUDGE KELLY: It's up to 11? But then you 19 look in the outer circle of counties, one county removed 20 from Bexar County. We're doing good. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Uh-huh. The further 22 west you get, the better it is. 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. We're not 24 living on top of each other, you know. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge -- and maybe just 18 1 a little bit more comment from Bruce. The link to that 2 web page that's updated daily for Region 8. It would be 3 good to put that on the County website. It's really 4 good information. And I look at it every day and it -- 5 there's little tabs across the bottom. You can click 6 demographics, ages, fatalities. It's all done by 7 County. 8 MR. THOMAS: I think we put that on there. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: It's on there. 10 MR. THOMAS: Yeah, it's already there. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would encourage 12 everyone to look at that because it gives a lot of -- 13 it's updated 11:45 every day. And it's really good 14 information about -- you know, about -- you know, who's 15 tested positive. Age wise. The majority of them are -- 16 I think it's 40's -- 30 to 40's the age group, it's the 17 highest group. There's not many fatalities but it's the 18 highest percentage of those tested that have it. 19 JUDGE KELLY: And I'll check with Corey 20 Edmondson over at PRMC and see if we can't get a link to 21 whatever information they have about the test. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Dub, it's been 23 reported in the United States within a month or so, I 24 think they're saying, testing the quick testing to see 25 if you have the antibodies, okay? There will be like 19 1 they can do ten million a week, okay, which is one of 2 the objectives is understanding who's had it, who's 3 immune, etc. Is there any indication of when that type 4 of testing could be available in Region 28 or -- or in 5 Kerr County? 6 MR. THOMAS: To my knowledge, Peterson 7 Regional -- Peterson Regional Medical Center is trying 8 to get those tests. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good. 10 MR. THOMAS: But at some point they will get 11 them but I don't -- I really can't speak for Peterson. 12 I just know that Mr. Edmondson had said they were trying 13 to get those as soon as possible. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good deal. Okay. 15 MR. THOMAS: There's a 15-minute test and I 16 think there's a 45-minute one. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. But ten million 18 a week, I -- that's a lot of testing. That would be 19 really good. It's in the U.S., so -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's supposed to be 21 just a little pinprick in your finger like if you were 22 doing your blood sugar and they take it and they can -- 23 they can test you from there. 24 MR. THOMAS: All right. Our public 25 education outreach, the Peterson Regional's line for 20 1 talking with the nurse is still operational, and I 2 believe the hours have been extended for that as well, 3 and that number is 896-4200, extension 1. And that's 4 for individuals who believe they're sick and have 5 questions about testing and whatnot. 6 Kerr County, Kerrville EOC has been 7 established and manned Monday through Friday. And we 8 also have a number of volunteers at the call center. 9 That number is 258-1111 for individuals who have 10 questions about canceled events and etc. 11 Kerr County and the City of Kerrville 12 websites continue to be updated and include links to 13 Peterson Regional, CDC, DSHS websites, and any other 14 information that we find that might be advantageous for 15 the public, we'll try to get those put on those websites 16 as soon as possible. 17 We do have and have established a list of 18 recovery resources for citizens who seek assistance with 19 food, utilities, rental assistance. That is also 20 included on our website. And it's also on the City of 21 Kerrville's website. 22 And again, the Small Business Administration 23 -- I'm going to continue to put this out -- established 24 an economic injury disaster loan that will provide up to 25 $2 million in financial assistance. And for that 21 1 website is www.sba.gov/disaster and click on the apply 2 for assistance. It's my understanding from talking to 3 several local business individuals here that they are -- 4 people here are applying for those small business loans. 5 That's all I have for this morning. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: If I may, Judge, 7 there's a couple of things that since the agenda item is 8 COVID-19 and other matters. 9-1-1 emergency services is 9 important. Of all the activity where there was a line 10 cut last week, okay, that was one of the redundant lines 11 for 9-1-1, it was the -- between Bandera and Pipe Creek. 12 It was cut by the same company that cut the line here, 13 who's not working here right now. I'll get to that in a 14 minute. 15 But there are two other contractors working 16 in that area. One of them is the AT&T contractor, the 17 other one is City of Bandera contractor. So everybody 18 has agreed not to work in this area, in the critical 19 area, as long as that work is going on there. Once that 20 work is complete, and we're assured of full redundancy 21 then they'll come back into the Kerrville area and 22 complete the work here for the fiber optics line going 23 to KISD. So that's just full cooperation by everybody 24 without any mandates or any edicts or anything else. So 25 I think that that's -- that's really good and that 22 1 assures us, you know, of -- of full redundancy and full 2 capability. 3 When the line was cut the other day, 9-1-1 4 services were cut by 50 percent. So they were down to 5 about five simultaneous calls, where it's -- normally 6 can take about ten. So I think everybody's realizing it 7 and -- and heeding what needs to be done for the 8 community. 9 So I just wanted to get that out that that's 10 a critical -- I think in New York City or something like 11 that 9-1-1 was getting a 9-1-1 call, emergency call, 12 every 15 seconds. So, you know, it just shows how 13 people's anxiety and all, it really increases. So 14 having the capability is critically important. That's 15 all. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But that was a lot of 17 diplomacy on your part. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, it was -- there 19 was a whole group. It was the whole group, you know. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I just wanted to 21 commend you on that. It wasn't easy. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. Well, it was 23 a -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well done. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have a question. And, 23 1 Heather, this is probably for you, but I don't expect an 2 answer right now. 3 MRS. STEBBINS: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The questions is that, 5 you know, last weekend a lot of the parks were closed 6 around the State. We chose to leave our parks open, 7 which I supported totally. The question comes in as to 8 who has authority to close the river? 9 And it comes to my mind, I was -- happened 10 to be driving in Kendall County and there was a location 11 where there's a crossing of the Guadalupe where there's 12 old river access on both sides, and there was a sign up 13 saying river access closed by Kendall County. And I 14 just questioned how the County has authority to close on 15 a state right-of-way on a state river. 16 And I think it's something good to know for 17 the future, because if this does prolong, we have 18 numerous places, some of them on state highway, some of 19 them on county roads, where there is river access. And 20 I think that, you know, it would be something that we 21 need to figure out who has that authority. 22 MRS. STEBBINS: Okay. That's a good 23 question. I'll see what I can find. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think I had heard 25 that they were doing that specifically for Easter 24 1 weekend where there's a lot of people together. I don't 2 know if they'll continue it, you know, next weekend or 3 what have you or through the week, but that's what I'd 4 heard because of the gathering. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, but is it legal? 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Exactly. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the issue is more as 8 we get into the summer, we have several of the highest 9 frequented river crossings in the State, for weekends. 10 And I think we oughta be -- you know, figure out how we 11 -- you know, it's better to have a plan than have to 12 react. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's right. Yeah. 14 Good idea. 15 JUDGE KELLY: And while we're talking about 16 authority, the Governor did extend the Executive Order 17 yesterday. If y'all didn't see that. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Extended it? 19 JUDGE KELLY: Extended it. It does not 20 specify for how long. So my interpretation is probably 21 indefinitely. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: He followed your lead. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I don't know. My wife's 24 read it. She says I don't know long it's extended. She 25 handed it to me and I said, oh, I can read that order. 25 1 And I read it. And I read it again, and it doesn't say. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Kind of like his last 3 order. There were some confusing parts to it. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Oh, really? But the public 5 needs to know that the Executive Order is extended and, 6 for all practical purposes, it looks like it's 7 indefinitely. I think he just wanted to get past the 8 April deadline that he had. I'm not sure. 9 Okay. Anything else, Dub? 10 MR. THOMAS: That's it. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. One -- one request. 12 And I'll be part of this with you. If we could next 13 week when we have our special Commissioners' Court 14 meeting, let's see if we can't get more information to 15 answer how they're doing these tests and how we can -- 16 places where we can find out the number of tests that 17 are being done. We'll check with Corey Edmondson and 18 something to bring up over at the EOC, our Emergency 19 Operation Center. Just -- I think -- I think the public 20 would like to know that and I think we -- if we can 21 gather that information. 22 MR. THOMAS: Yeah, I've asked for -- for 23 total number of screenings and total number of tests 24 sent off. And we'll see if we can't get them to start 25 providing those numbers. 26 1 JUDGE KELLY: And the last thing that I 2 would share is Judge Krause in Comal County has 3 predicted that they're probably two weeks out from the 4 peak, so -- 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And what's he basing 6 that on? 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Models. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Models. Increased population. 9 And their numbers have been -- have grown slowly, but 10 they -- they have grown, so -- 11 Okay. Thank you very much, Dub. 12 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. Thank y'all. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Thank you. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Next item on the agenda is the 15 one that I put on each week now, which is to consider, 16 discuss and take appropriate action regarding the Local 17 State of Disaster Due to a Public Health and Economic 18 Emergency Proclamation that I signed on March the 24th, 19 2020 and extended until terminated by order of the Kerr 20 County Commissioners' Court on March 30, 2020. 21 And so I put that on the agenda so we can 22 talk about it, leave it in place or terminate it. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, aren't we in the 24 same position? The Governor in the interim has updated 25 his last Executive Order so that renews -- you know, or 27 1 extends it. 2 JUDGE KELLY: I think we just piggyback on 3 his. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Exactly. Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Without a doubt. His 6 supersedes everything else. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: One thing we've done as 8 a Court is have some -- one of the Commissioners here 9 every day from two-hour segments, and I guess the 10 question is do we want to continue that? I think the 11 first couple of weeks it was very useful, a lot of 12 people in the court had questions. 13 I don't -- you know, it's been kind of quiet 14 here lately, so that's a question we want -- do we want 15 to continue that policy? 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It has been slow. 17 Personally, I don't mind. I think it's good to be seen 18 here. And you know, I -- there's -- from time to time 19 there are people that need to visit with somebody, 20 whether it be employees here or what have you. So 21 personally, I don't mind. So -- myself being up here. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I'm up here quite a bit. 23 And so that the public knows, the way we social distance 24 in my office is I sit at my desk and whoever is talking 25 to me sits on the far chair back on the other side of 28 1 the round table. So we maintain a safe distance in 2 there so we can communicate. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And if we're in 4 commissioners' offices there's no way to do it so we 5 don't work -- meet in our offices. 6 JUDGE KELLY: That's right. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. Hint, hint. 8 JUDGE KELLY: We don't even stand in the 9 doorway. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, Friday got really 11 quiet. I think I could have heard a cricket outside the 12 building it was so quiet inside the building so -- 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So from that, let's -- 14 it sounds like we will continue with our schedule of -- 15 of somebody being here at all times, okay? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's good to 17 have people here. But having a set schedule for my case 18 is difficult sometimes because I'm trying to run the 19 kids places still and do things. But I -- I think it is 20 important for -- you know, come in like we have been and 21 to have somebody here, and I think it's pretty rare that 22 I've been here that there hasn't been anybody here. 23 So -- 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, that -- that's 25 the question. Do -- we have a set schedule. So my 29 1 question is, do we keep that set schedule? That's the 2 question. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: In a rough way, maybe. 4 I say -- because that's not feasible in my mind, for me 5 to try to be -- me at that schedule. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: All right. Okay. Good 7 enough. 8 JUDGE KELLY: I wanted to let y'all know 9 that the regular Thursday briefings that we have with 10 the stakeholders, and we've been having a special 11 announcement afterwards. Next week will be done 12 remotely. This coming -- this coming Thursday. Not 13 next week, this Thursday. So it will be a Zoom -- or 14 the Zoom equipment that we have to get everybody set up 15 so you'll be able to see it. And if y'all haven't -- I 16 don't know how many of y'all have experienced Zoom. I 17 know I'm an old dog but I've learned that new trick and 18 it works. I've been conducting my hearings through 19 Zoom. Participating in Zoom conferences. It would be 20 my goal to try to set up a Zoom Commissioners' Court 21 meeting so that we could practice it, like next week. 22 Try to do that. We can -- we can be in our offices but 23 just do it on Zoom. Work with Bruce to get it up on the 24 monitors in here. Have the public meeting and just do 25 it by Zoom. Just to practice it. If we get to that 30 1 point, we'll be able to do it. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think that's a 3 good -- I mentioned this to the Judge last Monday when I 4 opted to stay -- not come into the courthouse. Very 5 difficult on a conference call to participate in this 6 format here. I think it's one of those things that if 7 we're all on Zoom and it seems like it's a better 8 format, then it works. But to try to have -- be remote 9 on a phone call is difficult. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Were you able to keep 11 up with the conversation? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I could hear it but it 13 was -- trying to get a word in was impossible -- well, I 14 won't say impossible. It was difficult. And it was -- 15 it just was not nearly as productive from me being a 16 commissioner standpoint. I don't -- you know, it was 17 just being aware of what's going on and following. You 18 listen to it. You can hear it but you're not engaged as 19 much. It's difficult to be as engaged as I like. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Zoom works well that 21 way, though. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 23 JUDGE KELLY: And one of other things I like 24 about Zoom is people can raise their hand so you -- 25 whoever's hosting the meeting will know to call on them. 31 1 So I thought next week maybe we'll try to do a little 2 trial run just to see how we do with it. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Sure. 4 JUDGE KELLY: And -- and try to have a 5 public meeting and see -- still have public access so 6 that the -- the courtroom here would be open. And if 7 people want to come, we'll have a phone out here on the 8 desk that they can take. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good deal. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Just -- just trying to be 11 prepared. And with that I would remind everybody that 12 as much as we would like for it to be, it is not 13 business as usual. We still have to be vigilant. We've 14 gotta get past this peak. I don't know when it's 15 coming. We've done real -- very well so far. But this 16 is not business as usual. Anything else on the state of 17 disaster? 18 Okay. Going to item 1.3 consider, discuss 19 and take appropriate action to approve the variance for 20 re-platting on Elm Pass in Center Point. Mr. Gentry. 21 MR. ASHLEY: Good morning, sirs. 22 JUDGE KELLY: This is Eric Ashley? 23 MR. GENTRY: Eric Ashley. Baxter Gentry, 24 the owner of the property in question is sick, and so I 25 think it's good that he didn't come. 32 1 JUDGE KELLY: It's probably very good he 2 didn't come. 3 MR. ASHLEY: These are extraordinary times. 4 Business must go on, though. I mean, there -- and you 5 can't just everybody go bankrupt or everybody quit doing 6 business. And I appreciate y'all continuing to do 7 business. 8 I did not come prepared to speak for -- on 9 behalf of a variance for Baxter, but I'll try to lay out 10 his case. He's desperate to sell his property. He has 11 a contract. And he discovered -- I don't know what it 12 was, a couple years ago, he had built this cabin over 13 his property line and apparently the County had told him 14 he had to re-plat. I don't know which came first, me 15 surveying it and him buying the one acre, or the issue 16 of platting came up. 17 It's in Elm Pass Ranch. So I talked to Tom 18 Pollard about it. And Tom said well, Eric, just do a 19 boundary line agreement and deed the one acre and that 20 should solve the problem. So that's what Baxter did. 21 Now, from the County's perspective and the 22 OSSF pre -- perspective, that's an illegal subdivision. 23 From my perspective it's the common sense way to solve a 24 problem that cost $900 as opposed to $3,500 to re-plat 25 two tracts in Elm Pass. 33 1 So what's the issue? Okay. Their septic 2 line crosses the property line; therefore, septic line 3 can't cross the property line, right? But a boundary 4 line agreement resolves that. It's no longer a property 5 line. Both tracts are not substandard, so there's no 6 issue with the County as far as size of tracts. 7 He put in a septic system but he had 13 8 acres, so he was exempt or did not have to have a permit 9 to put in the septic system at the time he did. 10 The one acre cannot be sold separately 11 because it's land locked and the boundary line agreement 12 solves that problem. So I understand it's in the rules, 13 but I have to ask why? What is -- how does this affect 14 the public in an adverse way? When you can look on the 15 records of the appraisal district and there's 30, 40, 50 16 tracts that have been divided like that. So, 17 respectfully, I think he's very concerned he's going to 18 lose his contract and he'll never get a contract from 19 here forward that's going to be the same price as he 20 got. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What size are the two 22 tracts again? 23 MR. ASHLEY: I don't have the plat in front 24 of me. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Ballpark? 34 1 MR. ASHLEY: I think his was going to be 2 about 13 or 14 acres. And the other tract's going to be 3 about, I believe, 8. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Eric, are these in a 6 platted subdivision? 7 MR. ASHLEY: Yes, sir. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: See, that's the issue, 9 is when you change -- and -- and -- yeah, the issue 10 becomes do we want to keep accurate plats in the County? 11 Because if we allow anyone to change a lot line for any 12 reason and not change the plat, then we might as well 13 forget platting. Because, I mean, you can take it -- 14 you know, people will -- and not Mr. Gentry. I 15 understand his situation and it's kind of unique. 16 But then you can just go in there and say, 17 okay, I'm platting a one-acre lot of a hundred acres, 18 and then go in there and carve it up and not have to 19 file a re-plat because, hey, we did it here. We're 20 being arbitrary. And once we do something arbitrary -- 21 you know, and I'm thinking it's going to the extreme, 22 but that's the reason we haven't ever given a variance 23 here is because once you start giving a variance on any 24 existing subdivision, then all of a sudden you don't 25 have accurate subdivision plat records. 35 1 If it was not in a platted subdivision, he 2 could absolutely do it by the way that Tom Pollard said, 3 by doing a cross conveyance because that's exempt from 4 platting. 5 MR. ASHLEY: And I don't want to argue the 6 subdivision ordinance. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 8 MR. ASHLEY: We'll talk about that later. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But that -- that's the 10 reason. Whether we want to give a variance, that's 11 another issue. You know, we have not in the past. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, we've never 13 granted a variance to date that you know of? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not that I'm aware of. 15 Not -- 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Now, we've had these 18 kind of issues but typically it's family -- it stays in 19 the family kind of thing. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If it's a family 21 partition that's exempt. Well, once it's in a platted 22 subdivision it's not exempt. Once it's in a -- none of 23 those exemptions that goes with the family partition 24 apply once it's in a family -- or a platted subdivision. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 36 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Those are prior to 2 platting. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think that happened 4 personally. It's been you know, 24 years ago now. But 5 the fence line or the property line was off by a foot or 6 so. And my neighbor made the error and it had to be 7 re-platted to show that, exactly what it was. I mean, 8 it was one acre, you know. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. And here, you get 10 in a situation, I would be willing to wager a fair 11 amount, this has been done many times and the problem is 12 illegally done many times. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Uh-huh. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The problem that comes 15 up is that when it's caught, usually it's through our 16 subdivision, or through our OSSF. When they come to get 17 the permit they realize that there's a problem. And it 18 is, it -- you know, it's gut wrenching when you have 19 someone who's trying to do it right gets caught in here 20 and you have people all over that have probably done it 21 illegally. And, you know, they'll get caught -- 22 somebody gets caught down the road. 23 So I mean, you know, I -- I commend Mr. 24 Gentry for at least coming and asking. Whereas, I think 25 a lot of people wouldn't do that. 37 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, this -- this is 2 kind of a -- what you just brought up is sort of like 3 there's always got to be the last one that's in the 4 gate. So that's really where we're at. I think. We're 5 trying to get it right from this point forward and not 6 keep building on the mistakes of the past. And what 7 we're talking about here really sounds like about 2,600 8 extra dollars for him. 9 MR. ASHLEY: Yes, sir. Which he couldn't 10 afford at the time but now he -- you know, now that he's 11 in the situation, you know, what choice does he have. 12 And again, I don't want to debate the ordinance now. 13 But I do wonder what harm is being done to the public in 14 a case like this? 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's a good question. 16 MR. ASHLEY: Yeah. I mean, it's -- it's 17 just a common sense question. It's not a code question 18 or ordinance question. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I guess it's just a 20 records thing. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the -- in this 22 particular instance, I can agree. Is there any harm? 23 Probably not. But down the road, if this person does 24 it, Mr. Gentry does it, and then his neighbors do it. 25 And there's a -- and there's -- a septic system is near 38 1 that fence line, all of a sudden we have -- are breaking 2 State Law by having septic systems crossing property 3 lines. And we have -- if a neighbor then goes and does 4 it right in that same area, wants to make a change to 5 their lot and their -- and the surveyors are all -- 6 generally don't go in and survey the entire subdivision, 7 they'll go in to the subdivision and make -- or survey 8 the initial tract and all of a sudden, if you don't have 9 accurate records then we're making decisions that could 10 be adverse to the public. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And then $2,600 looks 12 pretty cheap. 13 MR. ASHLEY: Well, but when you say accurate 14 records, the records are all recorded in the clerk's 15 office. And the title companies and the surveyors and 16 attorneys deal with this type of thing every day. It's 17 not as difficult to determine what is accurate and 18 what's not, other than drawing a picture and filing it, 19 you know, in the records. It's an over-simplification 20 of an everyday problem. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's your opinion. I 22 agree with you on that. The deed records are accurate. 23 The plat records will not be. 24 MR. ASHLEY: No. The plat records -- 25 there's 30 or 40 lots in Elm Pass that are not accurate. 39 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I -- and I agree 2 with that. That's what I said. You know, I agree with 3 you. 4 MR. ASHLEY: But it is accurately recorded 5 in the courthouse. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, when you see 7 somebody else's stakes start to show up on your property 8 people get agitated about that. So it's better to keep 9 it all as consistent. See, the thing is, what you're 10 talking about, you're right. There may not be any harm. 11 It's a lot more difficult to figure out what went on 12 here and why. And it's not -- now, everything shouldn't 13 just be standard -- standardized, but as much as 14 possible -- 15 MR. ASHLEY: Then everything oughta be 16 platted then. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, yeah. 18 MR. ASHLEY: Then everybody would know and 19 it would all be clear. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. And as they -- 21 what happens is that they come -- as they come up again 22 then you have to make the correction. This is an 23 example of it. 24 MR. ASHLEY: Yes, sir. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 40 1 MR. ASHLEY: And then you go next door and 2 there's an unplatted subdivision with that exact same 3 problem, same tract size, everything, but because theirs 4 was not platted, they can do the $900 solution versus 5 the $3,500 solution. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now what we -- part of 7 that $2,600 are fees to the County, correct? 8 MR. ASHLEY: Yes. A small part. Mainly 9 it's surveying fees, so -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But that has to be -- 11 doesn't the property have to be surveyed regardless? 12 MR. ASHLEY: No, not at all. When you have 13 a -- a simple property line and a simple triangle, you 14 can survey a piece of that. And so, it -- the extent of 15 the work is much less, so that's -- that's the point I 16 was trying to make. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The County Surveyor is 18 a staunch proponent of replats and getting everything on 19 the same page. He's not here to say that but -- and I 20 know he's a friend of yours. 21 MR. ASHLEY: Yeah. Publicly yes, you know, 22 I'm sure he would say that. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that we -- I 24 mean, Eric is one of our local surveyors that does it -- 25 does it right. Wants to do it right. He may disagree 41 1 with us sometimes. But he will -- he wants to do it 2 right. The problem we have is there are other 3 surveyors, primarily out of San Antonio, that could care 4 less and will just survey whatever you want and that's 5 where we end up with the problem. And it -- there's an 6 equity issue there. 7 MR. ASHLEY: That is correct, in that the -- 8 most of the local surveyors are never going to do 9 anything intentionally that would intentionally violate 10 an ordinance. When we solve a problem -- in this case, 11 help to solve a problem and circumvent the ordinance if 12 we're requested by our client, we prefer not to do that 13 but if it solves the problem and doesn't -- there's no 14 substandard tracts, there's no issues with wells, 15 there's no issues with septics, you know, sometimes it's 16 -- when you're dealing with people who don't have any 17 money and they -- they -- their money is in their little 18 piece of land here and there, I mean, do you morally -- 19 are you obligated in some cases like that? I don't 20 know. Sometimes I think we are. 21 But at any rate, that's -- I don't expect 22 y'all to grant this variance. And I wasn't intending to 23 argue it. But I thank you for your time. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thanks, Eric. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else on this agenda 42 1 item? 2 So we'll move on to 1.4 consider, discuss 3 and take appropriate action regarding the County 4 playground equipment. Commissioner Moser. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thanks, Judge. 6 Let's see. We have -- the County has kept 7 its parks open and has taken no action on playground 8 equipment. Let me separate those two variables, if I 9 may. 10 The county parks, in particularly Flat Rock 11 Park, is like a river trail. It's probably two miles of 12 trails within the park and -- and it's -- you know, it's 13 a way for people to exercise, and I think in today's 14 environment it's critically important for people to do 15 physical and mental relief by going and being outdoors, 16 so we've kept the park open. I hope we keep that park 17 open. 18 I know the City has taken some other 19 actions. The Governor has closed state parks. But I 20 look at Flat Rock Park and the Dog Park as sort of 21 trails. I was out there yesterday afternoon. People 22 were separated. There was nobody on the playground 23 equipment. I think playground equipment is a different 24 part of the park that we probably oughta look at and -- 25 and take the action to probably close off the playground 43 1 equipment, because there is close proximity. Kids are 2 up against one another, there could be multiple families 3 at the playground equipment. 4 Yesterday, there was nobody on the 5 playground equipment. Just probably because of the wind 6 and all. But -- so with that, I would make a motion 7 that -- or move that we, for right now, consistent with 8 the emergency declaration, that we close the playground 9 equipment at Flat Rock Park and Lions Park in Center 10 Point and do it with temporary barriers around the 11 equipment itself like, I believe, the City has done. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I second that. I 13 agree. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 15 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Harris, to 16 close the playgrounds at the county parks. Any further 17 discussion? 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Playground equipment. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Playground equipment. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And just to further 21 back up what Tom said, I drove through there Friday 22 about mid day and, I mean, everybody was going about it 23 the right way. And I heard from another employee 24 earlier they went there this weekend, same thing. 25 People were spread out. No gatherings. Nobody on the 44 1 play equipment. But for safety reasons. I can see 2 blocking off the -- taping it off. Whatever we need to 3 do on the playground equipment. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Those in favor raise 5 your hand. Those opposed? 6 Motion passes, four to one. 7 (Commissioner Belew opposed.) 8 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.5 consider, discuss and 9 take appropriate action to approve contract with 10 Rainwater Systems, Inc. to repair the rainwater tank and 11 system at the Hill Country Youth Event Center. 12 Commissioner Letz. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. We approved going 14 ahead forward with these repairs previously. We 15 received the proceeds from the insurance company in the 16 neighborhood of about 38,000 as I recall. But I thought 17 that we probably should based -- consistent with our 18 bigger projects out of hail damage, I thought we should 19 have a contract so I asked Rainwater Systems to prepare 20 one, which has been attached. 21 Heather has looked at it, has no problems 22 with it, and the Exhibit A would be the bid that none of 23 us could put our fingers on this morning. But it's in 24 the neighborhood of $38,000 and that would be the 25 Exhibit A attached. 45 1 I'll make a motion to approve the contract 2 with Rainwater Systems, Inc. for the repair of the 3 rainwater tank at the Hill Country Youth Event Center 4 and authorize the County Judge to sign the same. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 7 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Moser to 8 approve the contract with Rainwater Systems, Inc. Any 9 further discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 10 Unanimous, five zero. 11 Item 1.6 consider, discuss and take 12 appropriate action to approve the new appointment of 13 Labor Standards Officer forms A701 for Grant Numbers 14 7215045, 7217045, 7218045, and 7218055. Forms reflect a 15 change in the Labor Standards Officer. Commissioner 16 Letz. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: These are just forms 18 that we're part of with GrantWorks. There are certain 19 questions that come back from Labor Standards. 20 Something that GrantWorks has handled and they're 21 basically changing the two that's handling it for us is 22 Rosie Daly and Regan -- what's Regan's last name? 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Lenehan. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Lenehan. Reagan 25 Lenehan. So those are the two that will be handling 46 1 those -- these forms as needed on those reference 2 grants. I'll make a motion to approve the agenda item. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 5 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Moser to 6 approve the agenda item as presented. Any further 7 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 8 five zero. 9 Item 1.7 consider, discuss and take 10 appropriate action to determine whether to allow the 11 retail fireworks permit holders to sell fireworks to the 12 public beginning May 1, 2020 and ending at midnight, May 13 5, 2020 in celebration of Cinco De Mayo. We do this 14 every holiday, so -- 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. I move for 16 approval. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 19 Commissioner Belew, seconded by Commissioner Letz to 20 approve the sale of fireworks for Cinco De Mayo as 21 presented in the agenda item. Any further discussion? 22 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 23 We've got a ten o'clock item. Let's take a 24 short break and we will come back at 10:00. 25 (Break.) 47 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, the Court will come back 2 to order. The next item on the agenda is 1.8 consider, 3 discuss and take appropriate action to request 4 annexation of Riverview Road and Rowland Lane into the 5 City of Ingram. Precinct 4. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We're going to pass on 7 that -- 8 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: -- per Heather. Their 10 attorney and our attorney are working on it. Isn't that 11 right, Heather? 12 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. I am working with 13 the attorney who represents the City of Ingram to figure 14 out the best route, which is not going to be annexation, 15 but we'll work together, and probably later this week 16 she said she'd be able to get back to me maybe Thursday 17 or Friday with what works best for the City of Ingram. 18 Within there. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Good. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We'll pass that and 21 move on to item 1.9. Consider, discuss and take 22 appropriate action for the Court to set a public hearing 23 for 10:00 a.m. on May the 26th for revision of plat for 24 Ingram Hills Subdivision, Tract 22A. Charlie Hastings. 25 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you. This proposal is 48 1 in Ingram's ETJ and it revises Ingram Hills Subdivision, 2 Tract 22A, which is 4.97 acres, into three lots. Edward 3 Sanders previously divided and conveyed portions of the 4 tract without revising the plat. He did this through 5 the family division of property so he thought he was 6 exempt, but he wasn't. The plat revision will correct 7 the matter. Eventually, he needed a septic permit and 8 that's how it came to our attention that this needed to 9 be done. 10 Lot 22-RA will front Ingram Hills Road with 11 128.24 feet. We require 150 feet of frontage. Lot 12 22-RR will front Ingram Hills Road with 146.11 feet and 13 Lot 22-RE will front Ingram Hills Road with 63.85 feet 14 and Kuhn Road with 342.76 feet. So there's a couple 15 that are less than 150 feet, one of them only by four 16 feet. The other by -- it's 128 feet. That's a lot of 17 frontage, especially in a small subdivision like -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What's the speed limit 19 there? It's like 30 miles an hour or something? 20 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 22 MR. HASTINGS: It's residential. This -- 23 these are more like City lots. So it's not uncommon and 24 the court in the past -- and there's a lot of us at 150 25 feet and certain circumstances, and they're requesting 49 1 that along with this revision of plat. 2 But what we're asking for today, the County 3 Engineer requests the Court consider, discuss and take 4 appropriate action to set a public hearing for 10:00 5 a.m. on May 26th, 2020, for revision of plat of Ingram 6 Hills, Tract 22A, Volume 5, Page 152, Precinct 4. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 10 Commissioner Harris, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 11 approve the public hearing for May 26th. Any other 12 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 13 five zero. 14 Item 1.10 consider, discuss and take 15 appropriate action for the Court to set a public hearing 16 for 10:00 a.m. on May 26th for revision of plat for Elm 17 Pass Ranch No. 2, Tracts 126 and 127. Charlie Hastings. 18 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you. You have heard 19 from Eric Ashley this morning. This is the same tract 20 that Mr. Baxter -- Baxter Gentry was sick and he didn't 21 come and speak today out of respect for being sick. I 22 did want to pass that along. But his backup plan was 23 he's going to go through the revision of plat process. 24 This proposal revises the property line 25 between Tract 126, which is 13.24 acres, and Tract 127, 50 1 which is 9.59 acres. Tract 126R will become 14.29 acres 2 and Tract 127R will become 8.62 acres. Property access 3 and road frontage will not change. 4 Again, the whole purpose for them being here 5 was that he had built over a property line, worked out 6 an agreement with his neighbor, and then when it was 7 time to get some kind of a septic permit it was noted, 8 hey you -- you're over the line. He said, I've already 9 got that resolved. We said, well, we have a plat here 10 on record that needs to be revised. 11 So the County Engineer requests the Court 12 set a public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on May 26th, 2020, 13 for a revision of plat for Elm Pass Ranch Number 2, 14 Tracts 126 through 127, Volume 3, Page 100. Precinct 2. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Move for approval. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 19 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 20 set a public hearing on -- for May 26th for Elm Pass 21 Ranch No. 2. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I do have just a comment 23 going back to the earlier discussion a little bit. A 24 lot of times in deeds, the ones that I see when they're 25 already a subdivision, it will refer to the lot number 51 1 and not a legal description. So if this was not done, 2 in a future sale the -- they would say Lot 127. Well, 3 127 has been changed. So if you don't get the accurate 4 -- the plats accurate, you do potentially cause problems 5 down the road. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good point. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor raise your 8 hand. Unanimous, five zero. 9 Item 1.11 consider, discuss and take 10 appropriate action for the Court to approve a Concept 11 Plan for 6.576 acres on Church St. in Center Point. 12 Precinct 1. Charlie Hastings. 13 MR. HASTINGS: This proposed subdivision 14 would create -- 15 JUDGE KELLY: Is that Precinct 1 or 2? 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Precinct 2 if that's in 17 Center Point. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. That's what I thought. 19 MR. HASTINGS: It should be Precinct 2. I 20 apologize. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But if I took that 22 over, I could get that liquor thing passed, I think. 23 I'll tell ya. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: We need help. I think 25 we got a new leader. 52 1 (Laughter.) 2 MR. HASTINGS: This subdivision proposes 3 three lots on Church Street within the high density 4 development area of Center Point. The property owner is 5 requesting the Court to allow lots that have less than 6 150 feet but more than 100 road frontage. 7 Section 7.04, access to roads, of the Kerr 8 County Subdivision Rules and Regulations requires 150 9 lot frontage. It also states that minimum lot frontage 10 distances may be reviewed by the Commissioners' Court 11 and lesser distances may be approved based on lot 12 density, topography, and other mitigating factors 13 recommended by the County subdivision administrator. 14 Subdivisions with a high -- within a high density 15 development area and where the above minimum lot 16 frontage distances are not practical will be considered 17 on a case-by-case basis. 18 So here we are. This is the perfect 19 opportunity to look at this and consider it. The 20 smallest lot that they're proposing is 1.21 -- 1.2 21 acres. And the smallest that's allowed is one acre. 22 They will be on public water system, Aqua Texas. 23 They're also going to be on a public sewer. This is in 24 the Center Point sewer project and we've got taps set 25 out there and we may need to cut another tap in as part 53 1 of Phase 2, but that's fine. 2 At the time, when we talked with the owner 3 of this, they weren't sure that they were going to be 4 cutting it up. But they came to us a couple months ago. 5 We met with Commissioner Moser. We had a -- just a 6 concept plan meeting and we said, you know, because 7 these lot sizes are smaller, not the lot sizes but the 8 frontage is less, we really need to get the Court to 9 approve the concept before moving forward. She didn't 10 want to spend money unnecessarily on platting if it's 11 not going to be approved. 12 But the County Engineer requests that the 13 Court accept this concept plan for the 6.576 acres on 14 Church Street in Center Point, Precinct 2, as presented. 15 So we recommend that you do allow that lesser road 16 frontage. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Move for approval. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 20 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Letz to 21 approve the concept plan for the lots on Church Street 22 in Center Point. Any further discussion? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a quick comment. 24 This is exactly what we thought and were hoping would 25 happen with the sewer system, that we could get a little 54 1 bit higher density done properly in this area, which 2 will increase the tax base, which will also increase the 3 debt repayment. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Good. Those in favor raise 6 your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 7 Item 1.12, a public hearing regarding the 8 installation of two stop signs at the intersection of 9 "Red Oak Ln. W." and "Sherwood Ln. W." in Greenwood 10 Forest. 11 It's a public meeting, so I'm convening the 12 -- calling the public meeting to order. Is there anyone 13 here that wants to speak at the public meeting? There 14 being no one, then we will adjourn. 15 And we'll go to Item 1.13 consider, discuss 16 and take appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court 17 Final Approval regarding the installation of two stop 18 signs at the intersection of Red Oak Ln. W. and Sherwood 19 Ln. W. in Greenwood Forest. Kelly Hoffer. 20 MS. HOFFER: Paula Risely made a request to 21 the Road & Bridge office on February 12th, 2020 for the 22 installation of two stop signs at the intersection of 23 Red Oak Ln. W. and Sherwood Ln. W. 24 The County Engineer looked at this location 25 and recommends the installation of two stop signs at 55 1 this location. A public hearing was just held regarding 2 this request. So at this time, I ask the Commissioners' 3 Court for their final approval regarding the 4 installation of two stop signs at the intersection of 5 Red Oak Ln. W. and Sherwood Ln. W. in Greenwood Forest, 6 Section 7 Subdivision, and it's in Precinct 4. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 8 I drove it yesterday. I can see where it needs one. 9 You can get some speed coming down the hill, couldn't 10 you? 11 MS. HOFFER: Yes, sir. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 14 Commissioner Harris, seconded by Commissioner Letz to 15 approve the stop signs in Sherwood Forest -- Greenwood 16 Forest. Any other discussion? Those in favor raise 17 your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 18 Item 1.14 consider, discuss and take 19 appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court Final 20 Approval regarding naming Private Unnamed Road "Dr. 21 Victor Ln. N. in Precinct 3. Kelly Hoffer. 22 MS. HOFFER: Judy Vordenbaum applied through 23 the Kerr 9-1-1 office on March 23rd, 2020 to name an 24 unnamed road easement Dr. Victor Ln. N. This road 25 easement is not maintained by Kerr County. 56 1 We have attached the petition with the 2 signatures of the five property owners involved in this 3 private road easement naming. The owners listed are 4 Judy Vordenbaum, Barbara Heinen, Penny Hughes, J. 5 Hardin Perry II, Jennifer Shandua, Trust and Stuart 6 Barron Trust. 7 At this time, I ask the Commissioners' Court 8 for their Final Approval regarding the private road name 9 of Dr. Victor Ln. N. based on the signatures of the five 10 property owners listed in the attached signed petition. 11 And this is in Precinct 3. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 15 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 16 approve the naming of the unnamed road Dr. Victor Ln. N. 17 Any further discussion? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I will make a 19 quick comment on this. Normally, we require -- and here 20 we have as well, required all property owners to agree 21 to a name because we've had some problems in the past. 22 And if you look at the plat, it's a very strange 23 ownership. There's a line that goes all the way down 24 towards the interstate. Where the ownership of that 25 road belongs to not the adjoining property owners, I 57 1 mean, all the adjoining property owners don't have 2 access to that. It's not a public easement. He 3 actually owns a strip of land that has a road going 4 through it. So all the property owners that 5 concurrently use this road have agreed to it. 6 So it's an odd situation. Kelly and I went 7 around and around about this for about a month or 8 longer. Making sure we understood what they were doing. 9 But we're comfortable with it. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 11 Those in favor raise your hand. Five zero, unanimous. 12 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. 14 Now we go to the approval docket. 2.1 pay 15 bills. Ms. Shelton. 16 MS. SHELTON: Good morning. This morning's 17 invoices for approval for Kerr County, $192,668.44. The 18 Airport, $15,837.18. Adult Probation, $3,029.42. The 19 Plateau Water Planning, $80.00. And the 198th 20 DA Forfeiture Fund, $601.16. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Say we pay the bills as 22 presented by the Auditor. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 58 1 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 2 approve the bills -- pay the bills as presented. Any 3 other discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 4 Unanimous, five zero. 5 Budget amendments. 6 MS. SHELTON: We have two budget amendments. 7 One is to move money from the court-appointed civil 8 attorneys to interpreters for about 13,000 -- or closer 9 to -- 12,375, let's just get it exactly. And then the 10 other one is to move from contingency to professional 11 services in the general fund. And that's 40,000. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 15 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 16 approve the budget amendments as presented. Any 17 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 18 five zero. 19 Late bills. 20 MS. SHELTON: There are not any. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Auditor reports? 22 MS. SHELTON: There are not any. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Monthly reports? 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. For February 25 2020 standard monthly reports from Constable Precinct 3, 59 1 Ken Wilke, Constable Precinct 4, Gene Huffaker. March 2 2020 standard monthly reports from Constable Precinct 1, 3 Tommy Rodriguez, Constable Precinct 2, Kyle Schneider, 4 Constable Precinct 4, Gene Huffaker. Fines, judgments, 5 and jury fees collected for J.P. 1, Misty French, J.P. 6 2, J.R. Hoyne, J.P. 4, Bill Ragsdale. Environmental and 7 Health OSSF activity report, Director Ashli Badders. 8 And that's it. I move for approval. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made my 11 Commissioner Harris, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 12 approve the monthly reports as presented. Is there any 13 further discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 14 Unanimous, five zero. 15 Court orders. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. We have two court 17 Orders from our April 6th, 2020, meeting. Court Orders 18 38040 and 38041. I move for approval. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 21 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Harris to 22 approve the Court Orders as presented. Those in favor 23 raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 24 Okay. Information Agenda. 3.1 status 25 reports from Department Heads. 60 1 Okay. 3.2 status reports from Elected 2 Officials. 3 3.3 status reports from Liaison 4 Commissioners. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess it's kind of -- 6 I have a quick comment or question. The -- or we can't 7 talk about it, I'm not sure. Where are you in the 8 budget process? Okay? I mean, with all this going on 9 are you -- is it going as smooth as can be expected or 10 -- just curiosity, and as kind of an update as to where 11 we are on the -- as -- do you have an idea as to how 12 this -- the whole shutdown has affected our budget? 13 Current budget? And that -- you know, it's not really 14 an agenda item so maybe we can talk about it next time. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I think what we'll need 16 to do is probably get a report from the Auditor as to 17 how it's affected us thus far. Where we are in the 18 budget process is I'm working with the Auditor. I 19 haven't been as diligent about it recently because we 20 were meeting a brown bag lunch every Tuesday. Kind of 21 got thrown off schedule. I'm working on having a draft 22 of my proposed budget to everybody by the end of April. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that's the current 24 schedule. So we're still working toward it. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 61 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 2 JUDGE KELLY: We're staying on that 3 schedule. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. Okay. 5 JUDGE KELLY: And then we get input from the 6 departments and elected's on -- in May and we start -- 7 we're on track. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Good. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So have -- I thought we 10 had skipped a couple of the tentative meetings. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: No. 12 JUDGE KELLY: No. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Are we still -- we're 14 good? Okay. 15 JUDGE KELLY: I think we're still good. 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We had other workshops 17 we took off. 18 JUDGE KELLY: But I was getting together 19 with -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. It was the 21 workshops that we put off. 22 JUDGE KELLY: I'll get together with Tanya 23 and we'll get a presentation on how this has affected us 24 thus far. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's the current -- 62 1 that's the current budget? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Current budget. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The -- the new budget 4 we got the schedule, sticking with it right now. Good 5 deal. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good. 7 JUDGE KELLY: And one of the things I'm 8 looking at is -- is try to present as close to a 9 balanced budget as possible. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Sure. 11 JUDGE KELLY: And people won't be happy with 12 what's in it. But we'll have -- I'll have it separated 13 out as to what our essential functions of the County 14 that we have to do and what are the things that we can 15 choose to do and we'll be able to present that so we can 16 make the choices that we're going to make. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I have something 19 that pertains to IT, and the Tax Assessor. Because 20 people aren't coming down here, they're all calling 21 in -- I say they're all calling in. The volume has 22 increased in calls to the Tax Assessor's Office. And 23 that's presented a little bit of a concern about the 24 backlog, people getting cut off and so on. 25 So the fix right now, if you hear anything 63 1 about this is that they really need a tutorial. I don't 2 know how many people realize that in this building your 3 phone is real not a phone. It's an IP address. It's a 4 computer IP address. If you take the phone from my 5 office and I plug it in down here in the clerk's office, 6 it still rings to me. So that's the way the phones work 7 nowadays. They're IP addresses. And because of that, 8 it makes it a little more difficult for them to properly 9 transfer a call and so on. 10 Some of that stuff that they do over there 11 has to be done in front of certain computers. So it's 12 not as simple as it used to be with an old PBX system, 13 put them on hold and -- no body calls and dials 9 to 14 call out anymore or any of that stuff we used to do, for 15 those that remember it. So it all operates a little 16 differently now and because -- and it hasn't been as big 17 a problem because the volume hasn't been there. 18 Now people are calling all the time to make, 19 you know, sure that they're not going to get thrown in 20 jail for not paying their taxes or have their house 21 auctioned off. And so it's just created that problem, 22 that Bruce is well aware of, Mr. Reeves is well aware of 23 how to deal with it. Probably going to require a 24 tutorial and it might even require -- they've already 25 strung some more wire in there, but it might require 64 1 some other monetary fix which will come out of Bruce's 2 budget. It's not going to be astronomical, but just in 3 case you hear any rumblings or anybody mention it, it's 4 in hand. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. I don't think -- I 6 don't believe we have anything for Executive Session, do 7 we? 8 MRS. STEBBINS: Not from my end. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That being the case, 10 Court's adjourned. 11 * * * * * * 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 65 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 Reporter in and for Kerr County, do hereby certify that 6 the above and foregoing pages contain and comprise a 7 true and correct transcription of the proceedings had in 8 the above-entitled Regular Commissioners' Court? 9 Dated this the 28th day of March, A.D. 2020. 10 11 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/31/2021 13 * * * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25