1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Monday, April 19, 2021 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 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Precinct 2(via phone) 24 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Precinct 3 DON HARRIS, Commissioner Precinct 4 25 2 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 3 action to adopt a Resolution supporting 4 the Winter Storm Uri Road Damage Report submittal to FEMA. 5 *** Adjournment. 18 6 *** Reporter's Certificate. 19 7 * * * * * * 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 JUDGE KELLY: It is Monday, April the 19th, 2 2021, nine o'clock in the morning and the Kerr County 3 Commissioners' Court is now in session. First thing we 4 have on the docket today -- we don't -- I've got public 5 input hear. Do we have any public input today? 6 Okay. Commissioners comments? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: No, let's do it. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Consideration Agenda 10 1.1 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 11 adopt a Resolution supporting the Winter Storm Uri Road 12 Damage Report submitted to FEMA. Charlie Hastings. 13 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. As you 14 know and I'd like for the public to understand, that 15 there's been a big scramble been going on ever since the 16 storm hit. There's obviously maintenance that had to 17 take place right away, but an extreme amount of 18 documentation as to damage to our roads had to also take 19 place. Reports had to be put together, filed and 20 submitted to FEMA. That has happened. 21 Last week, there was a phone teleconference 22 that came from I think the Texas Department of Emergency 23 Management Services working through FEMA, of course, and 24 I think a lot of people came away from that phone 25 conversation very disheartened. They felt like maybe 4 1 all of our efforts to put reports together to try to get 2 some funding from FEMA, some aid from the disaster to 3 repair our roads that we feel were damaged 100 percent 4 only because of the storm. If the storm wouldn't have 5 happened, we'd be fine. 6 They felt like maybe we wouldn't be able to 7 get that -- wouldn't be eligible. But they also 8 provided a 65-page guidance document. In this 65-page 9 guidance document, there are 55 pages of pictures, 40 of 10 them are not eligible. These are examples of things 11 that are not eligible, don't submit them to FEMA, don't 12 waste their time, and I think that's the reason -- was 13 the purpose of the phone call. They were really trying 14 to clarify that there's a lot of people that have bad 15 roads. They were bad before the storm and then they 16 think, oh good, we're going to get it rebuilt because 17 the disaster has been declared. 18 Well, if you saw the image of the entire 19 State of Texas covered in snow and ice, you know every 20 county is going to be submitting something. This is not 21 something localized. So FEMA'S going to be overwhelmed. 22 So that the purpose of that phone call last week was to 23 clarify that there are things that are eligible, and it 24 has to be something that's a direct result of the storm. 25 And the only way you can prove that is if you have a 5 1 really good record. And guess what? We have really 2 good records. That's why we qualify for the CTIF grant. 3 We brought in $92,000 last year to rebuild some of our 4 roads because we had really good records. Those records 5 have been kept by the Road & Bridge Department for 6 decades. 7 So with that, I have put together a sample 8 Resolution. I gave it to you. That first paragraph on 9 my agenda backup document that I gave you was kind of a 10 recap from a couple weeks ago when we hired Rock 11 Engineering. I think I make reference to Rock 12 Engineering on that because I just -- this morning I 13 didn't have time to delete it. But here's my take on a 14 Resolution I would like for you to consider adopting. 15 WHEREAS, Kerr County adopted the Unified 16 Road System in 1986; and 17 WHEREAS, at that time Kerr County had over 18 200 miles of unpaved dirt and gravel roads; and 19 WHEREAS, Kerr County implemented a Pavement 20 Management System that simultaneously maintained 21 existing paved roads through the application of seal 22 coats, and converted dirt roads to gravel, and gravel 23 roads to paved; and 24 WHEREAS, in 2013 Kerr County completed the 25 task of paving all unpaved roads, and became the first 6 1 county in Texas to do so; 2 And that I believe is very key; and 3 WHEREAS, in 2016 Kerr County implemented a 4 seal coat program where all roads will be seal coated on 5 a regular 10-year cycle; and 6 WHEREAS, the U.S. Presidentially declared DR 7 4586 "Winter Storm Uri" swept through the Texas Hill 8 Country beginning February 11th, 2021 and ending 9 February 19th, 2021. The storm included freezing rain, 10 snow, ice, sleet, sustained sub -- sub-freezing 11 temperatures, repeated freeze-thaw cycles on all roads, 12 and freezing of moisture well below the normal frost 13 line, causing heaving and the disintegration of 14 subgrades and road base failures on all Kerr County 15 roads, some of which were very well maintained; and 16 WHEREAS, FEMA has issued a 65-page Road 17 Repair Guidance document, the purpose of which is to set 18 forth guidance of repairing roads back to pre-disaster 19 function and capacity based on 44 CFR Section 206.223, 20 General Work Eligibility, and Section 206.226, 21 Restoration of Damaged Facilities (addressing how 22 maintenance or the lack of maintenance will influence 23 the eligibility of determination. For example "an item 24 of work must be required as a direct result of the 25 declared disaster"); and 7 1 WHEREAS, Kerr County has excellent 2 maintenance records of their entire road system which 3 are normally approved by the Court in May of each year, 4 the most recent being the 2019 Annual Road Condition 5 Report approved in May of 2020 (the report is in 6 compliance with the Texas Transportation Code Sections 7 251.005 and 251.018); however, said report does not take 8 into account maintenance performed in 2020. 9 Again, that was the 2019 report that we 10 approved last year in May. We haven't done the 2020 11 report. 12 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Kerr County 13 will submit said 2019 Annual Road Condition Report as 14 updated by the County Engineer to aid FEMA in their 15 determination of Kerr County's eligibility for federal 16 aid due to damage caused as a direct result of DR 4586 17 "Winter Storm Uri." 18 I don't know if there's anything you would 19 like to add to this Resolution. I think it covers 20 things. The only thing I can think of possibly to add 21 is perhaps add another whereas that a couple of weeks 22 ago we hired Rock Engineering to perform a geotechnical 23 study of our worst roads to -- to let us know what's the 24 best way to rebuild this. 25 So the numbers I initially submitted to FEMA 8 1 assumed worse case scenarios. We get that report back 2 from Rock Engineering, they may say hey, you can back 3 off and do this a different way, and save a lot of 4 money, and revise that number down. I don't know if 5 that's necessary to put that in there. Perhaps, perhaps 6 not. 7 But I think the main thing is, is that we 8 need a Resolution to backup our total package that we 9 send to FEMA. It's due tomorrow. If we can get this 10 Resolution approved, put that on the top. We can put 11 all the documentation behind it, including our 2019 12 annual report with some redlines on it so that they 13 realize hey, we did work in 2020. I don't think any of 14 the roads we did in 2020 received damage from the storm. 15 I can't remember. 16 MS. HOFFER: No. The only one that was 17 close to it I think was Upper Turtle Creek. 18 MR. HASTINGS: Okay. Which was done in 19 2019. 20 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 21 MR. HASTINGS: It got damaged and that was 22 brand new. We spent a ton of money in this one section. 23 We removed a bunch of bad material and brought in extra 24 thickness of base and it still got damaged in the storm. 25 That proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the issue 9 1 was that we were sustaining subfreezing temperatures for 2 multiple days combined with multiple freeze/thaw cycles 3 on the roads. You may have felt cold when you went 4 outside, but you notice that the roads -- all the ice 5 and the snow was melting. And guess where it was going. 6 Right back in through the cracks that just got created 7 the night before from the first freeze. And then it 8 froze again. And then again. And again. We kept 9 having freeze/thaw cycles and it just tore those roads 10 up. If we don't do something, we'll lose them 11 completely. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Hey Charlie, this is 13 Tom Moser. 14 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir? 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Once there was also 16 alleged that the Hill Country had a more severe winter 17 storm condition than other parts of the State. I 18 believe that we heard that when we were having the 19 discussion with KPUB and LCRA and that. And I don't 20 know if that would be something you want to add in there 21 as to one of the whereases, we just had a more -- more 22 severe condition than other parts did. 23 MR. HASTINGS: I -- I think that's right. I 24 believe that. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Charlie said that 10 1 he agrees and is going to add some language to that 2 effect. 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Thanks. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Charlie, the one thing 5 that kinda hit me wrong, and let me run it by you. 6 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second to the last 8 paragraph. The last of it where it says, some of which 9 were very well maintained. 10 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Some of which? 12 MR. HASTINGS: Some of them weren't. Some 13 of them weren't. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Some of them weren't? 15 MR. HASTINGS: And our report shows that. 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. It shows -- 17 MR. HASTINGS: Because I'm -- I'm making a 18 statement that every road in the County sustained some 19 kind of damage. And they did. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 21 MR. HASTINGS: Some of them were very well 22 maintained, meaning if you look at our documents, you'll 23 see that we just chip sealed that last year or five 24 years ago or seven years ago. I think that when FEMA 25 goes through this, I think the industry standard is 11 1 they're going to look at anything that was chip sealed 2 in that seven to ten year window, and if it was before 3 that, it's going to fall off -- 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Sure. 5 MR. HASTINGS: -- of our list. And we have 6 some on there that are -- 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 8 MR. HASTINGS: -- before that. We know it 9 was a direct result of this storm. We have really good 10 quality materials that we have been using for a long 11 time. We're re-using the extra good trap rock and 12 really good oil. And just here recently, we've seen 13 because of the oil refineries, they just keep getting 14 more and more refined, the oil we're receiving is not as 15 good as it was 15 years ago, 20 years ago. So a road 16 that was rebuilt 15 years ago and chip sealed, it may 17 still be in really good shape. 18 But FEMA has to use something more 19 standardized and they'll say 15 years is a long time to 20 go between chip seals and we'll go, well, you ought to 21 come over here and look at our roads. We don't get 22 those subfreezing temperatures that you guys get. And 23 that's just not normal for us. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Charlie, when you read 25 it, the word "some" in that last sentence struck me too. 12 1 Could we say most or many instead of some? 2 MR. HASTINGS: Oh, absolutely. We could. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That's what I was 4 getting at. It just sounds like -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's the word "some." 6 MR. HASTINGS: "Most." 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. 8 MR. HASTINGS: Most of which were very well 9 maintained. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 11 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. That is correct. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. And the other 14 question I had, and I don't know if it really adds much. 15 But under -- on the same paragraph it says, "Sustained 16 sub-freezing temperatures." We did that -- we've had 17 that a lot. What seems very different is including 18 record low temperatures as low as two degrees. If we 19 could add that in there and just write -- you know, 20 sustained sub-freezing temperatures, including record 21 low temperatures as low as two degrees, and that shows 22 that this is a -- it wasn't just a freeze period, it 23 was an extreme freeze period for an extended period of 24 time. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Historic. 13 1 MR. HASTINGS: And I have heard negative 2 five also, by the way, in the Hunt area. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I don't -- I mean 4 I don't know, I just know at our house it was two. 5 MR. HASTINGS: Would we like to use negative 6 five or would we like to use two? 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, if it's 8 documented someplace. 9 MR. THOMAS: It better be something you can 10 verify. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah, Something 12 verifiable. 13 MR. HASTINGS: Two degrees is verifiable. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. From my sensor. 15 MR. HASTINGS: That gives it more teeth. 16 JUDGE KELLY: But I'd also like to use the 17 word "historic lows." 18 MR. HASTINGS: Historic lows. Including -- 19 JUDGE KELLY: Historic lows. 20 MR. HASTINGS: -- record low temperatures, 21 or historic -- 22 JUDGE KELLY: Record lows. 23 MR. HASTINGS: Historic record low 24 temperatures? 25 JUDGE KELLY: Historic. 14 1 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE KELLY: And the only question I have, 3 Charlie, is we've got the 2019 report that we approved 4 last May? 5 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. This is April the 19th. 7 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 8 JUDGE KELLY: The report is due tomorrow. I 9 understand. We gotta move quickly. 10 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 11 JUDGE KELLY: But we're almost to the point 12 of having the 2020 report -- 13 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 14 JUDGE KELLY: -- ready to go. Come before 15 us, right? 16 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 17 JUDGE KELLY: And so how far along are we 18 with being able to offer that information to FEMA? 19 MR. HASTINGS: It won't be ready tomorrow 20 because it needs to be approved -- 21 JUDGE KELLY: I know. 22 MR. HASTINGS: -- by the Court. 23 JUDGE KELLY: I know. 24 MR. HASTINGS: But -- but we can submit it 25 to them next month after it gets approved by the Court, 15 1 first meeting in May. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Maybe we should -- maybe 4 we could say that in here that -- and we'll be 5 submitting the 2020 report as an addendum to this 6 submission. 7 MRS. STEBBINS: You could say it after -- 8 MR. HASTINGS: The therefore -- 9 MRS. STEBBINS: Well -- 10 MR. HASTINGS: -- at the end? 11 MRS. STEBBINS: -- you've said that as -- as 12 amended by County Engineer. On that 2019 report, you 13 read some language that says -- 14 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: -- as amended. And then say 16 as will be supplemented -- and will be supplemented by 17 the 2020 report following approval by the Kerr County 18 Commissioners' Court. Does that work for y'all? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. Uh-huh. 20 JUDGE KELLY: And you can put down there 21 May 3rd. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: As soon as you can get 23 it -- 24 JUDGE KELLY: If it's ready, we'll -- we'll 25 approve it on May the 3rd. 16 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. As soon as you 2 get it, we'll approve it. 3 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Whatever we need to do. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No rush. 6 JUDGE KELLY: No rush. But we're -- we're 7 trying to accommodate you, Charlie. So why don't you 8 just tell us. Because you have that information. It's 9 just a matter of compiling it -- 10 MR. HASTINGS: Oh, we do. 11 JUDGE KELLY: -- and getting it to us. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 MR. HASTINGS: Absolutely true. 14 JUDGE KELLY: And even if it means sending 15 something to supplement your initial Resolution here, 16 and get it to them within a week or two, we want to do 17 that. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 19 MR. HASTINGS: So I'll continue to work on 20 this language as we go into the workshop. And are we 21 going to need to take a final action on final language? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we can -- I'll 23 make a motion that we approve the Resolution submitted 24 by the County Engineer as may be amended -- 25 JUDGE KELLY: To include the proposed 17 1 revisions set forth. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. To include the 3 proposed revisions and authorize the County Judge to 4 sign the same. 5 MR. HASTINGS: Okay. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I'll second that. 7 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion by 8 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Harris to 9 approve the Resolution as presented with the suggested 10 revisions. 11 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. And we'll -- we'll 12 need that by the end of the day today so it can be 13 submitted tomorrow. Is that right, Tanya? 14 MS. SHELTON: Yeah. 15 MR. HASTINGS: Tomorrow is the deadline. So 16 just -- 17 JUDGE KELLY: Go finalize it. Bring it to 18 me. 19 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you. Thank you. 20 MRS. STEBBINS: Let me know if you need 21 anything, Charlie. 22 MR. HASTINGS: Oh. So I just did that on an 23 agenda bill. We're going to need someone to take and 24 type it up on an actual Resolution. Who would do that? 25 Heather or Jackie, or -- 18 1 MRS. GRINSTEAD: That would be me, I guess. 2 MR. HASTINGS: Jody. Okay. 3 MR. HASTINGS: I'll -- I'll call Bobby and 4 have him forward it. 5 JUDGE KELLY: She's our resident Mikey. 6 MRS. GRINSTEAD: I didn't keep track of 7 those changes though. 8 MRS. STEBBINS: Charlie did. 9 MRS. GRINSTEAD: Okay. 10 MR. HASTINGS: Okay. Thank you. Oh, are -- 11 JUDGE KELLY: No, we didn't vote. 12 MR. HASTINGS: -- we on YouTube today? 13 JUDGE KELLY: We didn't vote. 14 MR. HASTINGS: Bobby, can you send that to 15 Jody, please? 16 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 17 Those in favor say aye. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Aye. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That's four, zero. 20 Unanimous for those present. 21 And that concludes that part of the agenda. 22 So at this point, I think we're going to discontinue 23 YouTube as we go into our workshop. 24 * * * * * * 25 19 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 24th day of April, A.D. 2021. 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