1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Monday, June 1, 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. 4 4 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 7 action regarding update, facility use and 5 other matters related to COVID-19. 6 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 14 action to extend 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 9 order of the Kerr County Commissioners' Court" on March 30, 2020. 10 1.3 Information regarding the plans and status 23 11 of the petition campaign for placing on the November ballot Alcoholic Beverage 12 Sales in Precinct 2, Kerr County. 13 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 28 action to set a public hearing for the Kerr 14 County, Texas Economic Development Program, including guidelines and criteria for tax 15 abatement. 16 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 30 action to acknowledge Kerrville Little 17 League's use of county fields for baseball season. 18 1.6 Discussion regarding available office space 31 19 for Regional Public Defenders Office, including advantages and disadvantages of 20 leasing versus purchasing the space. 21 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 38 action regarding the recycle program. 22 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 48 23 action regarding recent storm damage. 24 2.1 Pay Bills. 51 25 2.4 Auditor Reports. 52 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 2.6 Court Orders. 52 4 3.2 Status reports from Elected Officials. 53 5 3.3 Status reports from Liaison Commissioners. 58 6 *** Adjournment. 61 7 *** Reporter's Certificate. 62 8 * * * * * * 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come to order. It 2 is Monday, June the 1st, 2020. It's nine o'clock in the 3 morning. And the Kerr County Commissioners' Court is 4 now in session. 5 I have my telephone here, (830) 792-6161, 6 for any input from the public that wants to call in, 7 it's on and it will ring in the courtroom if you call. 8 Other that that, I'd ask everybody else to please keep 9 your phones on vibrate. It's okay to have them on and 10 everything, but rather not have them go off during the 11 Court session. 12 At this point, we have -- this is our public 13 input. Anyone who would like to address the Court is 14 free to do so. Those that want to call, call 792-6161. 15 Do we have anyone present that has any input to the 16 Court for something that is not on the agenda? Okay. 17 There being nothing about that, then let's have 18 Commissioners' Comments. Let's start with Precinct 1. 19 Commissioner Belew. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Nearly seven inches of 21 rain so far since all this mess started. A few trees 22 down and -- no real complaints. Everything is going 23 good in Precinct 1. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: For the year, 23 inches 5 1 of rain, which is really good. Okay. A lot as -- as 2 Commissioner Belew said, lots of damage from hail and 3 trees and leaves being totally stripped from trees, and 4 that's all the bad news. 5 I want to -- if I -- if I may, just comment 6 on something that's Precinct 2 but across the board. 7 And that is our Emergency Management plan has a section 8 in there for terrorism. So -- and I've looked at it 9 this morning. It's extremely good. So should this -- 10 anything like this occur in Kerr County. I think we've 11 got a good plan. So -- important thing to have in 12 place. That's all I have. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Plenty of rain. 15 Plenty of rain. And -- 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is there any such 17 thing? 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I got an inch and 19 three-quarters last night. Plenty of wind damage out in 20 our area. Looking good. I mean, we're set up pretty 21 good. So we're good. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. The eastern part 23 of the County has not had nearly as much rain and we 24 also haven't had the wind damage and hail. So we've had 25 the good part but the rain would have been nice. The 6 1 past, I guess, two days we've had less than a quarter 2 inch total. Whereas, I know I was in Kerrville 3 yesterday afternoon and they probably had three inches. 4 It was pouring. But anyway. It'll all come around. 5 But we've had a pretty good year so far. Hope to get a 6 little bit more rain. 7 As a general comment that -- just to be 8 thinking about it as we go into budget and things, and 9 since I'm looking over at Kelly, kind of involves her 10 department. It is getting harder and harder for Road & 11 Bridge to find locations to put their material. And we 12 really need to look at the budget of either buying a lot 13 of small one acre tracts, scattered throughout the 14 County for putting material or buying another yard 15 somewhere. It's becoming a real problem. And I know we 16 just lost another one in my Precinct. And it's kind of 17 like, you know, there unsightly, I understand. People 18 don't want them right next to their front gate. But at 19 the same time, it's going to start costing the County a 20 lot of money if they have to have everything in one 21 central location and in the middle of Kerrville. So -- 22 it's something we need to think about going into budget. 23 That's it. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Well, I don't have 25 anything to report on the County level other than that 7 1 we survived last week. And we're very blessed. We just 2 lost one huge tree but that -- that's enough. But we 3 didn't lose a roof and we didn't lose a house. A lot of 4 people in Kerrville South did. I know. 5 Okay. With that, let's go ahead and start 6 the agenda here. Let's go to 1.1, which is Dub Thomas, 7 our Emergency Management Coordinator. Consider, discuss 8 and take appropriate action regarding the update, 9 facility use and other matters related to COVID-19. 10 MR. THOMAS: Good morning, Judge. Good 11 morning, Commissioners. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Good morning. 13 MR. THOMAS: All right. This is situation 14 report number 13. Our 13th week in working through the 15 COVID. We're going to kind of go through the report 16 like we usually do. I'm going to kind of leave off some 17 of the stuff that's been talked about in the past. All 18 the Governor's Executive Orders and those types of 19 things. 20 Our Emergency Operations Center is still 21 active. And we're still operating at an increased 22 readiness level. Annex H Health and Medical is still 23 implemented and we're still in current -- in Phase 3 of 24 the pandemic plan. 25 The current situation, Kerr County received 8 1 one positive COVID-19 result last week. That's one DSHS 2 confirmed. You've seen probably where Peterson Regional 3 posted that we've had basically two, Number 20 and 21. 4 But I've not received confirmation from DSHS yet on that 5 Number 21 but that -- that one is expected. 6 Mobile testing. Testing continues by the 7 Texas Military Forces today at Hill Country Youth Event 8 Center from 9:00 a.m. to 5:0 p.m. If y'all probably got 9 the Code Red this weekend telling everybody how to 10 register for that. There's an 800 number. I'm sorry. 11 It's (512) 883-2400 or they can go to the 12 Txcovidtest.org to be screened and they will get an 13 appointment to sign up for COVID testing today. 14 So you've still got your numbers from the 15 nursing homes and the last three military testings have 16 been done. Totals today for the Kerr County testing. I 17 did not have Peterson Regional's -- you know, go back to 18 page three, there at the bottom where -- under Kerr 19 County testing. Peterson Regional Medical Center as of 20 today has done 999 tests. So that's -- 880 is last 21 week's number. Texas Military Forces have done 295 22 nursing homes. 675 were done by the Kerrville Fire 23 Department and Peterson Regional. COVID positive total 24 was 1,969 -- I'm sorry, COVID positive was 20. So our 25 infection rate is less than -- it's right at one 9 1 percent, .0101. Other than that, based on Friday 2 afternoon's numbers for DSHS Region 8. In Texas we've 3 had 64,287 confirmed cases. 1.82 million in the United 4 States and 6.11 million worldwide. Total deaths for 5 Texas, 1,672. 106,000 in the United States. 370,000 6 worldwide. 7 Texas recovered is 42,000. The United 8 States, 397,000. And the world, 2.6 million people have 9 recovered from COVID-19. Testing continues in the State 10 of Texas at total of 1,073,491 tests. Of that -- and 11 this is new stuff that they've been putting on their 12 website. The viral test, those are the ones where you 13 get the nasal swab which is what we're currently doing. 14 There are 951,865 tests been done state-wide. 15 Antibodies test. Those are serology tests to determine 16 whether or not you have had the virus and you just 17 didn't know it, 102,928. 18 The surrounding Counties. We've had Kendall 19 County is 30. Medina is 72 with two fatalities. Those 20 numbers keep rising. The DSHS website, of course, has 21 not been updated as of -- over the weekend, they'll 22 update it today about noon. But they're showing Kerr 23 County with 19. We know we have 20. Gillespie County 24 is five. Bandera is six and Kendall County is one. I 25 left off some of the other counties. Blanco, Llano, 10 1 those counties, they're not in DSHS Region 8 but -- so I 2 did not update us for those numbers. 3 Total Texas counties, 231 that have COVID 4 positive cases. The DSHS Region 8 numbers, active cases 5 they've had 1,440. 2,067 people have recovered. And 6 deaths are 103. Our operational priorities are still 7 the same. We're going to continue to work with the City 8 of Kerrville and Peterson Regional in providing testing 9 and for information on how to avoid being infected with 10 COVID-19. Any questions on anything this morning? 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I want to thank you for 12 putting the percentage on there. 13 MR. THOMAS: You're welcome. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. It puts a little 15 perspective on it. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Hey, Dub. Just to follow-up 17 on a meeting we had last week with the City and with 18 Peterson. We are coordinating how we report these 19 positive cases. Everything's going to go through the 20 DSHS, Department of State Health Services. Dub is our 21 primary contact on that. The hospital and the City have 22 their own Emergency Management coordinators who will go 23 through him. And for people that want to know the 24 actual number, the official number, it will come through 25 Dub. Through the County. 11 1 MR. THOMAS: And we did that to avoid any 2 kind of confusion. I know a couple weeks ago when we 3 had -- I think Peterson Regional put out they had COVID 4 positives 13, 14, and 15. In reality somebody had been 5 tested at an off-site facility somewhere else and DSHS 6 had already notified me of number 13. But Peterson 7 Regional did not know that at that time. So try and 8 keep all the numbers consistent with what's on the DSHS 9 website and what we -- we know that we have. The State 10 notifies the County Emergency Management coordinator and 11 I will push those numbers out to the PIO. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And so that the public 13 understands, the reason for this is because not all the 14 testing is done here in Kerr County. If Peterson did 15 all the testing, they'd have the information. But we 16 have the National Guard, we have Franklin Clinic who's 17 doing some testing, we've got testing coming out of 18 San Antonio and other places. So we coordinate it all 19 through the State, through Region 8. That's what we're 20 doing. So if anybody wants to know the official count, 21 go to the website or call Dub. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Dub, those that have 23 been -- tested positive, how many have spent time in the 24 hospital? 25 MR. THOMAS: I want to say three. 12 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Three. 2 MR. THOMAS: I'd have to get confirmation on 3 that from Pam at Peterson but I'm pretty sure three. I 4 know two were transferred to facilities or hospitals in 5 San Antonio and one was -- was here, but then they 6 released him and then that's when they found out they 7 were positive. So I believe just three have been 8 hospitalized. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. I knew it was a 10 small amount -- 11 MR. THOMAS: A small amount. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: -- and one of them 13 spent like 24 hours. 14 MR. THOMAS: And no deaths. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. Very good. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I will make a 17 note that the City has been hosting a, kind of, a news 18 conference weekly at 10:30 on Thursdays. It was carried 19 live and those will be discontinued and will be done as 20 further needed. 21 JUDGE KELLY: That's the Thursday 10:30 22 public announcements? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. That's been 24 cancelled. It's just a weekly update. If there's a 25 reason to reinstitute it, it will be done. But a lot of 13 1 people participated in the County. Dub, the City, 2 Peterson. But it was felt that -- I think all the 3 stakeholders will continue to discuss at nine o'clock 4 and then, if needed, a press conference will be called. 5 MR. THOMAS: And our steering committee, the 6 task force that consists of myself and Jerremy Hughes, 7 who's the City's EM, infection control and Peterson 8 Regional emergency management coordinator, we're going 9 to weeks -- meetings every other week instead of weekly 10 now, so -- 11 JUDGE KELLY: But so the public knows, the 12 stakeholders are still meeting for their weekly 13 briefings at nine o'clock on Thursdays. We're just not 14 having a public announcement after. 15 MR. THOMAS: Right. We're still going to 16 confer on a daily basis. It's just not -- it -- we're 17 just not going to be doing the formal weekly. 18 JUDGE KELLY: In fact, I was very in 19 impressed with the level of cooperation and the 20 collaboration that we had in our meeting last week to 21 get the City and Peterson and the County together. 22 We're working seamlessly. So I think we're -- we're 23 able to serve the public. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, Dub, do you feel 25 like we need to do these weekly, your update? 14 1 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 3 MR. THOMAS: Just to keep the numbers going 4 and if we have some kind of change, I think being here 5 every Monday is -- is still going to be beneficial. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else for Dub? Thank 8 you very much. 9 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Appreciate all you're doing. 11 Okay. The next item on the agenda is 12 another one that we do weekly these days, as long as 13 we're still under a state of disaster. And that is 1.2 14 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 15 the Local State of Disaster Due to a Public Health and 16 Economic Emergency Proclamation that was signed by me on 17 March 24th, and extended until terminated by order of 18 the Court, on March 30th. I keep this on the agenda 19 because these orders are only good for seven days. So 20 we renew it every week. We renewed it until terminated 21 and so what we do on a weekly review is to see is it 22 time to terminate it? And I think in a lot of ways 23 we're close to being ready to terminate it. But we did 24 get advice from our counsel last week that for grant 25 purposes and disaster relief that we're leaving it in 15 1 place. I will disclose to everybody that I'm wearing a 2 mask today at my wife's request. But this will probably 3 be the last day that I wear the mask, if everything 4 continues to improve the way it has. But in terms of 5 the disaster, is anybody ready to terminate the 6 Proclamation? 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I want to ask a 8 question about the -- the grant process. Does anybody 9 know when and how that's going to begin? 10 JUDGE KELLY: It's begun. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's begun? Okay. 12 What can you tell us about it, Tanya? 13 MS. SHELTON: We have one grant that's going 14 to be due on the 15th of June. That's the one that 15 y'all have already approved through Commissioners' 16 Court. It's going to be about $30,000 and that's for 17 basically the cost of security when we were operating 18 the Hill Country Youth Event Center testing site, and 19 then some of the sick leave during that time for the 20 jail, and then a lot of the PPE, the sanitizing items 21 that they purchased at the jail. 22 And another one was turned in last week. 23 This is also through the CARES Act, and that's the one 24 that the County could receive up to $1.4 million. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I guess what I 16 1 really wanted to ask is, do we have any idea when this 2 will all be completed? What all the expenses are? 3 MS. SHELTON: Most of the expenses are open 4 until like mid December. December the 20th. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So it's going to be 6 through the end of the year? 7 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 8 JUDGE KELLY: And the expenses that we're 9 incurring today, today is June 1. For those that's 10 forgot, this is the day that we begin the in-person 11 hearings for our criminal defendants and begin jury 12 selection and jury trials. And so we have -- we're 13 meeting out at the Youth Event Center today. This is 14 the first day that any of these inmates that have been 15 in jail for the last three months are going to be taken 16 out of their cell. So this is a big day. That's why 17 I'm wearing a mask. When I left the house this morning, 18 she said you are going to wear it one more time because 19 you're going to have new people at the courthouse today. 20 So that's what we're trying to do. But that's going to 21 be a big expense. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Tanya, as I recall, 23 there was something on the Federal grants that -- 24 equivalent to $55 per person in the County, so that's 25 like -- 17 1 JUDGE KELLY: That's the 1.4. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- two -- two and a 3 half million dollars -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: It was 1.4. 5 MS. SHELTON: It was 1.4. It's -- 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: 1.4 what? 7 JUDGE KELLY: Million dollars. 8 MS. SHELTON: Million dollars. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. But what was the 10 $55 per person? That would be equivalent to two and a 11 half million. 12 MS. SHELTON: Yes, but it's split between 13 the City of Ingram and -- 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. So -- 15 MS. SHELTON: -- the City of Kerrville and 16 us. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. That was going 18 to be my next question. 19 MS. SHELTON: Uh-huh. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that two and a half 21 million is split Ingram, City of Kerrville and the 22 County? 23 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Gotcha. Okay. 25 Thank you. 18 1 MS. SHELTON: And -- and a lot of these 2 grants, they have different start dates. The one for 3 the Sheriff started, I believe, February the 1st and the 4 1.4 million, I believe the expenses go back to 5 March 1st. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. And that's for 7 the County, 1.4 million? 8 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So outside of the 10 incorporated areas. 11 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Thank you. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And there could be 14 more come about that we don't even know about yet. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, that's what exist 16 today. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. So, you know, 18 I'm sort of like you, Harley. But I don't want to cost 19 the taxpayers any possible grant. You know, like I said 20 last week, we're not overreaching with this. 21 JUDGE KELLY: We don't -- we don't talk 22 about -- the County taxpayers. 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. Yeah. 24 Exactly. 25 JUDGE KELLY: It's all taxpayer money. 19 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Exactly. So we've got 2 to care of Kerr County. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, so basically this 4 is on until the end of the year for any unforeseen stuff 5 that comes between now and then. At this juncture, we 6 have a pretty good handle on what has been turned in, 7 what needs to be turned in? 8 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. So -- 10 JUDGE KELLY: The Auditor's doing a great 11 job keeping on top of these grants. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. So that's really 13 what I wanted to know is how long this is going to keep 14 going and unless there's some other surprise, we have a 15 pretty good handle on where we're at. 16 My other question is about this couple of -- 17 the $2.5 million. Some of this other money that -- that 18 was available ran out, depending on who filed first to 19 get it. 20 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is that going to be the 22 case for this? 23 MS. SHELTON: The money -- my understanding 24 of the -- the $55 grant was that that was why they 25 distributed out and I've already said this is going to 20 1 be for each County or each territory. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So it's going to be 3 there if and when. 4 MS. SHELTON: It's -- it's going to be there 5 for us to draw on. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. Good. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How -- is the -- is that 8 grant styled so that every -- every entity gets that 9 amount of money regardless or do you have to apply for 10 it? And then, if you need to apply for it, what are 11 the -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: It's a matching grant -- 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But -- 14 JUDGE KELLY: It's not? 15 MS. SHELTON: It's not matching, no. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: My -- my question is, 17 what are the eligible expenses to draw it down? 18 MS. SHELTON: Yes. We're still looking into 19 that. A lot of what we think are COVID sick are pay 20 codes that we've been using. Those should be able to 21 apply. So it's anything that -- that we've done for 22 protection, you know, of somebody getting the COVID-19. 23 So that opens us up a little bit more for being able to 24 apply more of our expenses that we've already had toward 25 it. You know, the -- the cost of the plexiglass that 21 1 we've all got now in our buildings, all of that. We've 2 got IT time now that would be able to qualify for 3 setting up, you know, the cameras that we have now in 4 this room. The Sheriff costs that he's going to have 5 for opening up the jail, the transporting, you know, the 6 inmates. Anything that's directly related to COVID-19. 7 And those are changing daily. There's a -- questions 8 that are updated almost daily on what -- what it -- what 9 can be used for that grant and what cannot be used for 10 that grant. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One of the -- and you 12 may have done this. I talked to Kelly sitting right 13 there. I know that Kelly made a lot of operational 14 changes on transportation of our employees. I don't 15 know how the -- we can go back and quantify that. But 16 that's mileage, you know, I would -- the easiest way to 17 calculate it, I would think, would be the additional 18 mileage that we're paying per mile on a vehicle, like 19 65 cents is the IRS rate right now, rather than keeping 20 track of it, the fuel, but it's also the wear and tear 21 on additional vehicles. So that -- that's a pretty big 22 number. 23 MS. SHELTON: We'll get with Kelly and see 24 if there's anything that we can go back and apply for 25 it. 22 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I think you're also 2 going to have costs associated with the election. And 3 that's -- 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Oh, yeah. 5 MS. SHELTON: We -- that's -- yes, and 6 that's a different grant. The HAVA grant is what y'all 7 approved the resolution for last week, I believe it was. 8 So we -- we have those for the security of the election. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What about lost revenue 10 for all the cancellations at the Hill Country Youth 11 Event Center? 12 MS. SHELTON: All I've seen so far for that 13 has been a loan that's available. So as far as just for 14 lost revenues, there's not any grant that I've seen so 15 far to cover anything like that. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's wishful thinking. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If they started 19 reimbursing people for lost business, we'd just close 20 everything up and go home. And nobody else -- we won't 21 have a nickel left in the state. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: In the nation. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: In the nation, right. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Let's move on to item 23 1 1.3 on the agenda. Information regarding the plans and 2 status of the petition campaign for placing on the 3 November ballot Alcoholic Beverage Sales in Precinct 2. 4 Commissioner Moser. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Judge, if I may start. 6 Thank you, Judge. 7 Try to put things in perspective. There's 8 three numbers to remember associated with this. 9 Precinct 2. Okay. And as the -- as the item says, the 10 alcoholic beverage sales in Precinct 2. So it's 11 equality for Precinct 2, okay, in alcoholic beverage 12 sales. 13 The next thing is the number 2020. That's 14 how many signatures we need on a petition to be signed 15 to get this on the ballot for November 3rd. So 16 Precinct 2. 2020. 17 The next thing is, those petitions have to 18 be signed -- that number of signatures by August the 19 1st. Ballpark. So with that, we had hoped -- or three 20 -- three things. We're trying to get it done. Petition 21 signed electronically. Andy Murr asked the Governor to 22 consider electronic signatures for that. We haven't 23 heard from the Governor. There was a petition filed 24 with the -- Judge Pattillo's court, that was denied. 25 Okay, based on whatever, okay. And that's okay. 24 1 So now we have a campaign that's getting 2 ready to kick off today. Okay. So Claudia Richards is 3 here to talk about the campaign and how we're going to 4 get this 2,020 signatures signed between now and 5 August 1st. Okay. 6 Why don't you stand up there, Claudia. 7 MS. RICHARDS: Good morning. But as 8 Commissioner Moser stated, we had planned to do this 9 prior. We had -- in November of last year is when we 10 actually started to get this going. And we marketed for 11 April 1st is when we were going to begin the petition 12 circulation. However, the pandemic. We felt like 13 Public Safety was and is still our highest priority and 14 to try and reach out to every registered voter within 15 Precinct 2 in a big manner has been another obstacle. 16 Now, we are going to -- moving forward, 17 since we have been denied any type of relief locally 18 thus far, we're going to have drive-thru petition 19 signing. We're going to promote BYOP, Bring Your Own 20 Pen. We are going to do sidewalk signatures. Also, all 21 of our affiliates will still have petitions available 22 there. 23 We are this weekend, on Saturday at the 24 Los Dos Amigos, we'll be holding a drive-thru signing 25 event. We'll be at the annual golf tournament and 25 1 almost every chamber event that we can attend. Again, 2 this is just to get this on the ballot. This is not -- 3 if we get the signatures needed. It is not legalizing 4 the sale. It is giving the option to vote on 5 legalization of the sale. 6 Right now, with COVID and the economy in the 7 state that it is, I feel like it's even more so 8 important to get that sales tax revenue. Upon review of 9 the annual fiscal report that was released September 10 30th of last year, the County stated with stimulation of 11 business and commercial activity and the creation and 12 retention of job opportunities was in the County is the 13 highest priority. That is our goal is to create job 14 opportunities. And to stimulate the economy with the 15 bill tax revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So another thing to put 17 it in perspective there, a little over 9,000 registered 18 voters in Precinct 2, so to get to 2000, well, it's 19 2,020, it's going to be a monumental task but we will 20 get it done. 21 MS. RICHARDS: We're not stopping yet. So 22 that's all I got this morning. Any questions? 23 JUDGE KELLY: I don't know if the public 24 understands exactly what we're talking about here. But 25 Precinct 2 is a dry precinct. And so they can't sell 26 1 alcohol -- well, hard liquor, I guess. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or wine. 3 JUDGE KELLY: What? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or wine. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Anything over six 6 percent. 7 MS. RICHARDS: Five percent. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Five percent. Excuse 9 me. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Five percent. Okay. And so 11 we've tried -- for a number of years we've tried to get 12 this on the ballot. And we've got to have signatures to 13 get it on the ballot. Then in November there has to be 14 a vote to approve it. So it's a two-step process. 15 Gotta have the petition and you've got to have the vote. 16 The lawsuit was an effort to try to get 17 those signatures electronically because of the COVID-19 18 crisis. And that was denied. So we have to do this in 19 person. So you're here appealing to us to get these 20 signatures in person and giving us all the different 21 opportunities and venues that you're going to be there 22 to secure these signatures, correct? 23 MS. RICHARDS: Yes, sir. And we will be 24 doing so with face masks and every sanitizer necessary. 25 So -- 27 1 JUDGE KELLY: And one of the reasons that 2 this is important to the County is because the Hill 3 Country Youth Event Center is in Precinct 2. And so 4 that limits the amount of revenues that we can generate 5 from the Hill Country Youth Event Center. 6 So I just want to incentivize the citizens 7 of Precinct 2 to work with Commissioner Moser, and work 8 with Miss Richards to get this petition so that we can 9 get it on the ballot so that we can open up Precinct 2 10 for some of these craft businesses, vineyards and 11 wineries and stuff like that. If we don't get this 12 thing passed, then I will be -- I will personally be 13 asking to have the Youth Event Center moved to 14 Precinct 3 so that we get over this. And don't want to 15 do that, but we've got to just the problem. Gale. 16 MR. MATTER: Yes, sir, Judge. One thing you 17 might look into is Center Point's Fire Department. When 18 they usually have their annual deal -- I don't know if 19 they're going to have it this year or not, but that 20 would be a good place to get a bunch of signatures. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Absolutely. Thanks. 22 JUDGE KELLY: But I really want to encourage 23 the people of Precinct 2 to get out and sign this 24 petition and get this on the ballot and get it passed or 25 we're going to do something about it. 28 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good deal. 2 JUDGE KELLY: So, with that -- okay. Thank 3 you, Miss Richards. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thank you, Claudia. 5 MRS. STEBBINS: Commissioner Moser and 6 Judge, if Miss Richards could let y'all know when these 7 events are happening so that maybe Lisa can know and 8 publicize it on social media and otherwise, that would 9 be helpful to get people informed about were they can go 10 and when they can do that. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: There's a -- we'll have 12 a publication on all of the events -- it will be 13 organized like in River Hills, Comanche Trace, not only 14 planned events but other -- we'll set up holding -- I 15 mean signature stations for specific days. But yeah, 16 that -- it'll all be publicized so thank you. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Moving on. Let's go to 18 item 1.4 on the agenda consider, discuss and take 19 appropriate action to set a public hearing for the Kerr 20 County, Texas Economic Development Program, including 21 guidelines and criteria for tax abatement. 22 This is what we talked about at the last 23 meeting. We went over that with our attorney there in 24 Executive Session. We needed to schedule a public 25 meeting for that. And how many days does it have to be. 29 1 MRS. STEBBINS: This specific program 2 doesn't have a particular number of days. Once 3 particular agreements are entered between any time 4 period. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 6 MS. STEBBINS: But this -- I think we were 7 looking toward the 20 -- hold on. I'm sorry. 8 JUDGE KELLY: The meeting on June 22nd? 9 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. 10 JUDGE KELLY: So I'd recommend that we set 11 the public hearing on June the 22nd, which is a 12 regularly scheduled Commissioners' Court. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll second that. 14 JUDGE KELLY: I'll make the motion, seconded 15 by Commissioner Belew, to set the public hearing for the 16 adoption of our Texas Economic Development Program, 17 including guidelines and criteria for tax abatement on 18 June the 22nd, 2020. Is there any further discussion? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is that at 10:00 a.m.? 20 JUDGE KELLY: 10:00 a.m. 21 MRS. DOWDY: And does it need to be 22 published? 23 JUDGE KELLY: 10:00 a.m. Pardon? 24 MRS. DOWDY: Does it need to be published? 25 MRS. GRINSTEAD: And I think there should be 30 1 an e-mail that you received over the weekend that I 2 printed out. On the very last page it says this is a 3 sample publication. 4 MRS. DOWDY: Thank you, ma'am. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 6 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 7 Next item on the agenda is 1.5 consider, 8 discuss and take appropriate action to acknowledge 9 Kerrville Little League's use of its county fields for 10 baseball season. Commissioner Letz. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think I mentioned it 12 before, that they plan to start a shortened baseball 13 season and softball season. Practices start today, 14 games starting on the 15th, as per the Governor's 15 guidelines. 16 They did ask that the Court acknowledge the 17 use of that facility because it is a County owned 18 facility. And so I'll make a motion that it's 19 acceptable for the Kerrville Youth Baseball and Softball 20 Association to use the county fields for baseball season 21 this summer, and that would include, as long as it's 22 done within the Governor's guidelines, and it does 23 include the use of the concession stand limited. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 31 1 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Moser to 2 approve the use by the Little League of the county 3 baseball fields. Any other discussion? Those in favor 4 raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 5 Next item on the agenda is 1.6 discussion 6 regarding the available office space for Regional Public 7 Defenders Office, including advantages and disadvantages 8 of leasing versus purchasing the space. 9 This is something I put on the agenda. 10 Commissioner Letz and I met last week with an owner 11 group. The building just up the street here. They've 12 offered to lease us -- it's a building that, by the way, 13 is two blocks up. It's the old Church of Christ Sunday 14 School building. Two-story building. Ten thousand 15 square feet gross. That doesn't include the net square 16 footage. 17 But they -- they've made us a lease proposal 18 as well as a purchase proposal. So we needed to bring 19 that to the Court and let you know so you're aware of at 20 least what we're talking about. They've been very 21 solicitous. Very cooperative with us. We're looking at 22 needing probably 3,000 to maybe 3,500 square feet. 23 One floor of that building is, I think, 24 2,950 square feet. The other places that we talked 25 about, there's that building. There's open office space 32 1 at the Wells Fargo building at Five Points. There's 2 some private law office space down on Main Street down 3 by Notre Dame that's available. Those are probably the 4 only three options that we have on the table right now. 5 But one of the things that we needed to do 6 was to bring to you the fact that they are making 7 proposals for us to buy the building, which are very 8 attractive. And they're proposing -- they've had the 9 property listed up here for $780,000, and they offered 10 it to us for substantially less than that. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So what -- what is -- 12 what is the timing on all of this? 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: We're talking about a 15 facility but we're still discussing and we'll make a 16 decision on whether or not to pursue this capability. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge. The question I 18 have. Just before -- it's a procedural question. I 19 didn't mean to interrupt you, Commissioner. I know what 20 we -- what you've said so far is fine in open session. 21 But if it goes much further it's -- we're going to need 22 to go into Executive Session on this. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Well, but the issue is the 24 leasing versus purchasing. Should we even discuss with 25 them the possibility of purchasing? 33 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Shouldn't we have an 2 agreement with all the other counties before we -- 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's my question. 4 How -- where does this fall in the series? 5 JUDGE KELLY: Where we are in the process is 6 we filed the grant application last week on behalf of 7 all five counties. We are waiting on two additional 8 attachments with regard to that grant application, which 9 are agreements from two of the counties for their judges 10 in that county to approve the use of the public 11 defender's office. That would complete the grant 12 process with those two attachments. 13 Following that, we will have -- we will -- 14 once we complete locally, internally, we will work with 15 the other four counties to come up with some sort of 16 agreement on how to -- to do this. And we're not -- 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We're going to share 18 expenses. But will that include their portion of a 19 rental of a building that we own? That kind of -- 20 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- stuff should be -- 22 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- worked out. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we've already discussed 25 that. It's been discussed. It's not in -- 34 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it hasn't been 2 agreed upon. 3 JUDGE KELLY: It has -- no agreement has 4 been signed but in -- in practice and in -- in theory. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: In theory. 6 JUDGE KELLY: And what we've worked on is 7 not doing it on the basis of the population of the 8 county but on the caseloads for the county to be 9 reviewed probably every three years. So we would come 10 up with an allocation between the five counties on the 11 basis of caseloads, which Kerr has the largest caseload 12 and Medina has the second largest. And then -- then 13 Kendall and then Gillespie and Bandera. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So let me ask a 15 question a different way. So all of this public 16 defender's capability is being looked at, discussed. 17 Applications have been submitted. Agreements looked at 18 between the multiple counties. And then we've got the 19 facility that's out there. 20 So regarding the facility, which is an 21 agenda item, could we do something that says -- well, in 22 executive session or whatever -- enter into -- or have 23 that discussion pending approval of the Public 24 Defender's Office? 25 JUDGE KELLY: Absolutely. 35 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Sure. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that would be the 4 way to do it rather than -- yeah. So -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And we may still -- I 6 mean, once we get the results of the application, we're 7 assuming, and I think rightly so, that we're going to 8 have a pretty good -- 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 10 COMMISSIONER LET: -- grant from the State 11 to get this off the ground. But how long that grant 12 goes into play and there's some other financial matters 13 that I think we have to know before we can do anything 14 definitely but we -- at the same time, we have to keep 15 on going in -- down the road in multiple tracks. 16 JUDGE KELLY: We're kind of running dual 17 tracks. That's what we're doing right now. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. That's good. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Because the grant -- the TIDC, 20 Texas Indigent Defense Commission, received the grants 21 in June and will probably make their determination in 22 August. So that's what we're looking at. The -- the 23 effective date of the grant would be the fiscal year, 24 which would be October 1. There's no expectation that 25 if we do this that we'll have a complete office up and 36 1 running by October 1. We're targeting more for 2 January 1, to give us some time to put it together. 3 What we're doing right now is, if we're 4 going to do this, we don't have a place to house them. 5 So we're looking at possible places to house them, the 6 office. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And you just don't 8 want to be caught flat footed. 9 JUDGE KELLY: That's right. 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think -- 11 JUDGE KELLY: And as we look at it, we -- 12 when initially just approached on leasing space, but 13 with the economic disaster that we're going through 14 there are some good opportunities in cost of a purchase. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That might be -- 16 JUDGE KELLY: We're just making sure that 17 the court's up to speed that these are issues that are 18 being discussed. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I recommend we go into 20 Executive Session at the end of the meeting to go over 21 the numbers. Because I think really the Court needs to 22 understand that part of it and then that helps on a 23 decision, is it better to -- to lease half a building or 24 buy a whole building. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Can we do that today? 37 1 MRS. STEBBINS: You can do that today. You 2 can go into Executive Session. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Even though we don't 4 say what it is? 5 MRS. STEBBINS: Pardon? 6 JUDGE KELLY: It will be contract 7 negotiations. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 9 MRS. STEBBINS: It would be contract 10 negotiations. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 12 MRS. STEBBINS: And I think that this is one 13 where you'll have to -- 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Good. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: -- get a written attendance 16 from me and then a vote from the Court to go into 17 Executive Session. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But, I mean, it's not a 19 secret. It's -- 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- the people that own 22 the building have come to us and we've gone to them. So 23 it's -- 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. No, I was just 25 asking a procedural question of -- 38 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- of the County 3 Attorney. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think the 5 discussions beyond what we've done should probably be 6 done in Executive Session. 7 JUDGE KELLY: And what we're trying to do is 8 get the Court up to speed because of our Open Meetings 9 Act restriction, so that you know what's going on and 10 get the public up to speed that this is what we're 11 looking into and we're having to do this on a dual track 12 because we have a pretty short time fuse on the whole 13 thing. So we're -- we're running fast. 14 Okay. Let's move on to Item 1.7 on the 15 agenda which is, consider, discuss and take appropriate 16 action regarding the recycle program. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: One thing to set the 18 stage for this, there's been a lot of discussion about 19 whether materials are recycled. So I reached out to 20 the -- to the City of Kerrville, the City Manager, and 21 asked specifically if they could confirm that these 22 materials are recycled. They are recycled. The only 23 reason the materials are not recycled that the City 24 picks up or is taken to the transfer station out at the 25 landfill, and I'm just seeing the transfer station, is 39 1 if the material is contaminated, has a lot of things in 2 there that are not recyclable, then they -- they are not 3 able to recycle them. 4 And the other thing is -- the only other 5 reason that it's not recycled, if there's some material 6 in there that's not of value -- of enough sufficient 7 value to be recycled. For instance, maybe paper or 8 something like that, then it may not be recycled. That 9 particular type of thing. Otherwise, it is, make it 10 official, it is recycle -- all that material is recycled 11 if it meets those conditions. So just to set the stage 12 for that. 13 And I want to say that at the beginning and 14 then we can talk about trailers. And I -- I've had a 15 lot of complaints about the trailer -- well, people are 16 disappointed that the capability doesn't exist at the 17 landfill anymore with being able to take recyclable 18 material there. Had a lot of people call and -- 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But that's not -- we 20 have nothing to say about that. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's -- the City has 22 made that decision. That's not us. 23 The other thing is that we do have something 24 to say about is the trailer at Hays Street. People hate 25 it because it's like a mail slot that you have to put 40 1 the recycle materials in. If you have a can full of -- 2 a big container of plastic bottles, you can't put them 3 through there unless you take them out almost 4 individually and put them through the slot. 5 So I don't know if there's anything that 6 Shane could do about that. So that's the only things I 7 have to say on the subject and I think the -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have a general 9 comment. I mean, one, and I -- my constituents don't 10 use it as much as probably the rest of the members of 11 the courts' constituents. But I know there have been a 12 lot of complaints about the trailers not being there and 13 things of that nature. And I know that the -- and I've 14 talked to Jody some, she's getting a lot of the calls. 15 And people are -- don't seem to understand that when it 16 gets full, it has to be taken back. So it's not at any 17 location 24-hours a day. It's in and out. And courtesy 18 would be nice from the public, both to Shane's people, 19 to our staff. And there's a lot of people that are -- 20 you know, they rub me to the point I'm ready to do away 21 with the whole program. I mean, if people aren't polite 22 and courteous, I don't have a lot of room for this 23 program. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The first thing I did 25 when we had it at the Turtle Creek school is went and 41 1 got a sign for it telling the hours and the times and 2 all that. So that eliminates a lot of it just having 3 that communication on-site. But I agree with you that 4 people have been pretty testy about it. And it's not my 5 job to help people get rid of their recyclables really. 6 It's not part of the job description for anything we do 7 here. It's a nicety. But just like anything, you grow 8 to expect it when it's there. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I want to go back to 10 something Commissioner Moser said and clarify. So what 11 they're telling you is we might take stuff out there 12 that people have gathered to recycle, you and I or 13 whoever goes out there, and then at that time period 14 they're not taking paper, recycling paper, then we've 15 done it for naught. Or it might be plastic or whatever. 16 They -- they don't have a market for it or something. 17 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, no, no, that's 18 not what they said. They said if you have a combination 19 of a lot of different materials, there may be something 20 in there -- they -- they separate those materials at the 21 recycling facility. Not here, but in San Antonio or 22 whatever. So if paper were to not be recycled, they may 23 take paper out and they just trash it. That's just an 24 example I'm making. The rest of it would be recycled. 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. Yeah. But it 42 1 might be one segment that we thought was going to be 2 recycled -- 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: -- ended up not 5 getting recycled. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Depending on the 7 market. Correct. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Depending on the 9 market. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And I called them this 11 morning to clarify that. And it was mostly like you're 12 saying, contamination. Which could include everything 13 getting wet. A big bunch of sloppy paper that they -- 14 they don't want to mess with. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. Waste of time. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But they have a 17 specific corner where they put all recyclables and they 18 take it to San Antonio. I called actually to ask if 19 they can cut people a break on all the trash and debris 20 from -- you know, Commissioner Harris and I have talked 21 about that. And they're working on that. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Brush. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: To get people's -- 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: The downed limbs. 25 Right. 43 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: All these downed limbs 2 and trees. And they may be able to -- they have to ask 3 higher ups for that kind of stuff. But again, it's not 4 something that we're provided or supposed to provide in 5 the County. If it's in the road, we take care of it. 6 If it's in your yard, it belongs to you. 7 JUDGE KELLY: I think the point that we're 8 all walking around politely, is that this is not a 9 necessary service of the County. This is a 10 discretionary service that we provide. And as long as 11 we can afford to do it and people are cooperative, the 12 County will try to continue to do this. But if -- if 13 the testiness becomes too burdensome, we won't. Just to 14 let you know. 15 And the calls that have come into this 16 courthouse, highly inappropriate. Some of them. Highly 17 inappropriate. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And I think Shane's 19 got some photos of just the recent collection of the 20 trailers and, you know, these trailers are going to fill 21 up. Okay. And they -- these guys are going to take 22 them and dump them and bring them back to the location. 23 And what have you. 24 (Mr. Evans distributing photographs.) 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Are you going to hold 44 1 these up to the camera where everybody can see them? 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. It's probably 3 the best -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: You probably have the best 5 camera to do that, Shane. Just hold up a couple of 6 those photographs and let the folks see what we're 7 looking at. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Can they see that, Ben? 9 MR. TOLL: Not very well, but yeah. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 11 MR. EVANS: That was this morning. The 12 other photo was one on a similar day. That was last 13 week. Also on Memorial Day weekend, on Monday, we had 14 come in and because of the storm people were leaving 15 their recycles. Because it was full on that weekend. 16 They left it on the top of the recycle trailer. The 17 wind caught it and blew it all over the road and the 18 fence crossed -- or the -- across the street from Hays 19 Street, it caught all of it. So we picked up. Me and 20 my -- one of my guys picked up probably four bags of -- 21 four big trash bags full of what would have been 22 recycled. But it was all wet cardboard. So that didn't 23 end up in the recycle. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: However, this does 25 demonstrate that people use it. 45 1 MR. EVANS: Yeah, they use it. They do 2 definitely use it. And I -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: They use it and abuse it. 4 MR. EVANS: I've -- I've caught some flak 5 from -- you know, we're doing -- in the process of 6 moving it because, you know, one, they want a schedule. 7 But if it's filling up daily and one -- one of my 8 notations there is we -- it was emptied twice in one day 9 and people are kind of -- on the testing edge they're 10 telling us we need a bigger trailer, we need a schedule. 11 You know, how do we make a schedule when we're emptying 12 it every day. 13 So -- and I'm not going to -- I don't see 14 the point of if it's half full at a particular time or a 15 particular day taking it in when it's half full. So 16 when it gets full we -- we respond, we get it emptied 17 and we go from there. But I think where some of these 18 people are getting testy is when they come over to the 19 recycle and we have a sign out that the trailer will be 20 back but it's not there when they get there. So they're 21 a little -- a little testy with it. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, I think most 23 people are -- that I've talked to are very cordial. But 24 when you see stuff like that, it could be a few bad 25 apples ruining it for everybody else. 46 1 MR. EVANS: Yes. And there's been some 2 positive. You know, there's been -- there's been good 3 with bad or vice versa. 4 JUDGE KELLY: All this is just before we 5 ever get to the budget issue. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Sure. 7 MR. EVANS: Sure. So the first week with 8 the recycle trailer on Hays, there wasn't a whole lot of 9 action. I think there was still some confusion because 10 a lot of people didn't realize the City had done away 11 with their recycle containers. And then, you know, they 12 didn't know where to go. But the City kind of helped 13 them and directed a call to our Commissioners' Court 14 coordinator. And she received a lot of phone calls and 15 I've been getting a lot of phone calls. So -- and it 16 definitely picked up to the point where we're having to 17 empty it daily at that location. 18 JUDGE KELLY: It's not only a discretionary 19 service that we provide, it's getting to be a very 20 burdensome service that we provide. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Takes a lot of time. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And Shane, over the -- 23 say the past year or so, do you know of times that y'all 24 have left this off and maybe ended up in the landfill 25 or -- 47 1 MR. EVANS: We -- like everybody's -- it's 2 been noted, there is a spot for the recycle. It's the 3 first bay. It doesn't happen every time, but when -- 4 when we have left we have noticed that there's a trailer 5 coming in there and they do not have recycle and they 6 back into that bay. I didn't personally see them unload 7 on top of that, but that is the possibility of what 8 could happen. And it's like the last time I helped 9 personally, I believe it was on the 26th or whatever, as 10 soon as we pulled out there was an operator got on a 11 piece of equipment and pushed it up into, you know, the 12 recycle pile so it was, I know, at that point recycled. 13 But that has not always been the case. We pull out, 14 someone in a big trailer comes in and they start 15 unloading. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. I think it's a 17 scenario that's really not our problem. Because you do 18 what you're supposed to do. I'm not -- it is not the 19 jurisdiction of this Court to police the Republic 20 services or anybody else. We deliver it and that's the 21 end of it. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: But, I have had 23 conversation with a lot of people call me that why am I 24 doing this if there's a chance it's going in the land 25 fill anyway. You know, why are we jumping through all 48 1 these hoops. They collect it. We collect it. And then 2 maybe it goes in the landfill. So that's -- that 3 defeats the whole purpose. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Seems like, you know, 5 we're somewhat committed contractually through this 6 budget year and then we'll make a decision. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: There you go. If 8 there's any way to improve the slots in the trailer, do 9 it. 10 MR. EVANS: Yeah, I can see why they would 11 be upset with it. They're spring loaded. And if 12 they're -- if they're not -- 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: If there's any way to 14 modify it, consider it. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You need a cutting 16 torch, don't you? 17 (Laughter.) 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: A grinder, at least. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Thank you. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Moving on to the next 21 item on the agenda is 1.8 consider, discuss and take 22 appropriate action regarding the recent storm damage. 23 Commissioner Letz. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I put this on the agenda 25 just because I know Road & Bridge received some 49 1 questions or comments about it. And it's -- as long as 2 I can remember, our policy has been mostly related to 3 brush and debris that blows down throughout the County. 4 I do not recall the County ever providing any service to 5 pick up brush from the public. But I said we can put it 6 on the agenda and see if there's any desire to do it. I 7 don't have any desire to do it. But I think one time 8 there was a much larger -- it was a flood. We did 9 provide a place to put some of the debris, and I think 10 it was either -- I can't remember, it was either the 11 polo field or the Dog Park, as I recall. And it was not 12 used very much. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's where we used to 14 burn it. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, and that caused a 16 problem. It caught -- it caught on fire and we had a 17 big fire at the Dog Park. But anyway, I thought we'd 18 put it on the agenda. And I have not had any requests 19 myself. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, Harley and I 21 spoke about this Friday. And, you know, Harley has 22 called, that's what he's referring to. You call to see 23 if there's -- give the County people concession on 24 bringing brush out there or what have you. A discount 25 or -- or a window that you can bring stuff in. And 50 1 where they -- they say they gotta check with higher ups, 2 right? 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: (Shaking head yes.) 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: So if somebody could 5 load it up, why take it to the polo field or someplace 6 else. Take it straight there would be the ideal thing 7 to work with. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, if you have a big 9 run on people bringing in huge tree stumps and stuff, 10 that's a boom to your business. If you're charging for 11 it. And so, if they to want give us a discount, that's 12 up to them. But -- 13 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I lost a three foot 14 diameter oak. And I'm not taking that to the dump. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I wouldn't. I don't 16 blame you. I wouldn't either. 17 JUDGE KELLY: I'm not paying for that. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So you bought some 19 splitters, did you? 20 JUDGE KELLY: No. I brought -- I brought my 21 grandson and son and we cut it up and they're out there 22 burning it this morning at the river. So just taking 23 care of it ourselves. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So no action? 25 JUDGE KELLY: No action. 51 1 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. That was easy. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Let's take a five 3 minute break and come back at ten o'clock and we'll do 4 the Approval Agenda and the Information Agenda and the 5 Executive Session Agenda. 6 (Break.) 7 JUDGE KELLY: Will come back in session. 8 Let's move on with the Approval Agenda, 2.1 pay the 9 bills. Ms. Shelton. 10 MS. SHELTON: Good morning. This morning 11 the invoices for your approval for Kerr County, 12 $392,214.98. The Airport, $10,533.43. Adult Probation, 13 $934.36. And Juvenile Probation, $5,595.75. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Move for approval. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 17 Commissioner Moser, seconded by Commissioner Harris, to 18 approve the bills as presented. Any discussion? Those 19 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 20 Budget amendments. 21 MS. SHELTON: There are not any. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Late bills? 23 MS. SHELTON: There are not any. 24 JUDGE KELLY: And no Auditor reports? 25 MS. SHELTON: We have one Auditor's 52 1 report -- 2 JUDGE KELLY: Oh. 3 MS. SHELTON: -- for y'all to receive. And 4 it is Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Oh. Right. And I remember 6 there was a parks and wildlife issue on that. Other 7 than that, it was a clean bill of health. 8 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Very good. 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. I'll second that. 12 Commissioner Harris moved to approve the 13 audit report, I seconded it. Any other discussion? 14 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 15 Any other monthly reports? 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: No. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Then we go to Court Orders. 18 Any Court Orders? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. We have a Court 20 Order from our May 26th meeting. It's Court Order 38095 21 and 38 -- 38105. I did make -- suggest some change to 22 Court Order 38099. This is relating to the committee on 23 the five county regional Public Defender's Office. And 24 I thought it a little bit more precise to read as 25 follows: 53 1 Approve and authorize the County Judge to 2 appoint members as discussed on the committee -- to the 3 committee on the five county regional Public Defender's 4 Office and suggested members include Dawn Lantz, Heather 5 Stebbins, Steven Harpold, Don Harris, Judge Kelly, and 6 the chairperson. And with that I'll make a motion to 7 approve the Court Orders. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Motion's been made by 10 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Moser to 11 approve the Court Orders as presented in Court today. 12 Any other discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 13 Unanimous, five zero. 14 Information Agenda. Status reports from 15 Department Heads. 16 Okay. 3.2 status reports from Elected 17 Officials. Sheriff. 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Thank you. Real quick. 19 I'll give you a little update on some of what we're 20 going through. We -- we still are doing good in the 21 jail, of course. We have not opened up out -- housing 22 more out-of-county inmates, but I'm still at 18 that we 23 have. We do have one of the other county's really 24 wanting us to accept some right now. But I'm still not 25 at the point of doing that just due to the low number of 54 1 separation cells and the availability of being able to 2 quarantine or quarantine groups and isolate. Just kind 3 of too risky. On the other -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: What's the count on our 5 separation cells right now? 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Sir? 7 JUDGE KELLY: What's the count on our 8 separation cells? 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Friday I had five. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Five open? 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Five open. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And so the public -- we'll 13 just remind the public. We've got 35 that we can use, 14 we've got 30 occupied, so we got five open cells to 15 quarantine people for 14 days before they go into the 16 general population. 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That was as of Friday. 18 And it could have opened up a little bit more over the 19 weekend. I can pull it up this morning but -- I didn't 20 look at it this morning. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: If you could tell a 22 little bit how -- what's the capacity on those, you 23 know, for each cell? 24 JUDGE KELLY: One. 25 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: One. 55 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Oh, just one? 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Those are separations. So 5 that's -- that's like solitary confinement. Every 6 inmate that goes into our jail system is quarantined in 7 separation cells for 14 days before they go into general 8 population. We got 35 of those, 30 are occupied. We've 9 only got five open. 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: You know, I had cell 11 blocks of eight to ten person blocks that are open too. 12 But then you're trying to make -- and it just doesn't 13 work. So it's an issue we're dealing with. 14 On the other hand, the storm that we had did 15 wreak havoc. There's a lot of people hurting right now 16 throughout the county. And, thank goodness, we only had 17 the one injury that I know of. The man that was struck 18 by lightning in Greenwood Forest. The other issues we 19 had, it was mainly Kerrville South was the biggest area 20 that we got hit. The County -- out in the County. And 21 I know that consisted of seven homes that received 22 extensive damage to those. We've got probably another 23 20 or so that lost roofs. We had, I think, over 20 24 telephone poles snapped off or down and power outages 25 throughout. The weather service did come up, the 56 1 national weather service. They inspected most of the 2 Kerrville South area. They met with me afterwards and 3 said what they could tell that -- they're not saying it 4 wasn't a tornado somewhere in the County, an EF1 or 5 different areas, but the main area that they inspected 6 they were seeing microbursts and straight line winds of 7 probably 70 to 80 mile an hour winds. Okay. Which 8 we're -- it's going to take Kerrville South awhile to 9 recover. There's extensive amount of damage out in that 10 area. I know just even in my area out off Bear Creek 11 one of the homes out there is probably a million dollar 12 home and it lost its roof and chimney. The whole thing. 13 Just took it off. And so, you know, there's a lot of 14 damage throughout the County. It's going to take a 15 while to -- and landfills and where they're going to go, 16 the contractors, there's going to be a lot of debris. 17 You know. But KPUB did a remarkable job. Because they 18 brought in electric companies from Seguin, 19 Fredericksburg, Pedernales, all the other areas around. 20 It was just a load of trucks by our office out there, 21 with them having crews out 24-hours a day trying to get 22 power back up for some. Because as soon as they try and 23 turn it on, you'd have something catch fire over here or 24 trees or whatever is tangled up in the line. So there 25 was a lot more to getting it back to where people would 57 1 be safe. But I think they're mostly done with that 2 right now. 3 But other than that, the countywide -- our 4 damage, what I'm seeing so far is -- I don't -- I 5 haven't seen any building damage that we've had 6 associated with the Sheriff's office. I do have five 7 vehicles that received damage. Most of it light hail 8 damage. But some of it broken rearview mirror on the 9 outside or a black -- back turn lens where it got hit by 10 hail or things like that. Because they were out in it 11 the whole time, trying to help people. But we'll just 12 have to see if any of it amounts to the deductible 13 amount. It may not because of the small amount. We'll 14 just have to get them up here once we get it all figured 15 out. Because each vehicle has its own deductible so I'm 16 not sure that it will work that way. Although 17 unfortunately, two of the vehicles were 2020s. The ones 18 we just put on the road. So there -- we'll get through 19 it. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's interesting that 21 from an insurance standpoint that TAC contacted us the 22 morning after the storm and wanted to know what damage 23 we had. I guess they're so used to us having hail 24 storms through here. They're like, oh, another one's 25 coming from Kerr County. They said minimal damage to 58 1 the county property so we were lucky. 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Most of our hail was 3 smaller. So it was just a lot of it. That's it. 4 Thank you. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Any other reports from Elected 6 Officials? Okay. Liaison Commissioner reports. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I have one thing, 8 Judge. On the airport. I think the County authorized, 9 as I recall, like $600,000 for some capital improvements 10 from the Horseshoe hangar runway, strengthen integrity 11 in preparation for T-hangars. And I've asked the 12 Airport Board and the airport manager to come back to 13 the Court. I think they're going to revise some things 14 they want to do. And I thought if they revise what 15 they're going to do, they need to come back and tell us 16 what they plan to do since we approved it for a specific 17 thing. So they should be coming back in the future. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Any other reports? 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Maintenance is busy. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. With that, then that 21 will conclude the public part of the meeting. We're 22 going to adjourn into Executive Session. We'll take a 23 five-minute recess and come back in Executive Session. 24 It is 10:09 now. We'll start back at 10:14. 25 (Recess.) 59 1 (Executive Session.) 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. It is eleven o'clock 3 and we've come out of Executive Session. We have no 4 action to take. We have a few clean up items. I know 5 one, Precinct 2, Commissioner Moser. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. Judge, I should 7 have mentioned, and it's happening in Precinct 2, there 8 will be a public meeting for TCEQ air quality permit on 9 June the 4th at 7:00 p.m. It'll be by webinar. And it 10 was in regard to Martin Marietta's amendment to their 11 air quality permit for their rock crushing -- I mean, 12 for their facility on Highway 27. 13 And to access the webinar, I will give that 14 information to Jody, so anybody that cares to enter into 15 that webinar, call Jody at (830) 792-2211, and she'll 16 have the webinar access information. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is this on their -- the 19 Kerrville facility or the Center Point facility? 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: It's on the Center 21 Point facility. It's where the rock crusher is. Yeah. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. And Commissioner 23 Harris. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. I need to talk 25 to the other Commissioners real quick. I have a 60 1 workshop for the VFD's on June 17th at 10:00 a.m. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So we've set a workshop 3 for the volunteer fire departments on June the 17th at 4 10:00 a.m.? 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That's right. 6 JUDGE KELLY: And we've got a air quality -- 7 a TCEQ air quality permit meeting webinar on June the 8 4th at 7:00 p.m. 9 Is there any other business before the Court 10 today? 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Are we meeting here for 12 the VFD's? 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We were going to try 14 to have it at the AG barn, I believe, isn't that what 15 you discussed? 16 JUDGE KELLY: We can do the AG barn. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And we were wanting 18 it, you know, chiefs or at least one representative from 19 each department, you know. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I've already 21 asked somebody from one of the VFD's to come and explain 22 how that works. So is that good? 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That would be a good 24 time. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What's the purpose of 61 1 the workshop? To talk about VFD's? 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: VFD's. Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 4 JUDGE KELLY: All change is controversial. 5 Anything else before the Court today? Okay. 6 Then we will be adjourned. 7 * * * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 62 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 Dated this the 5th day of June, 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