1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Regular Session 5 Tuesday, October 12, 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 HARLEY BELEW, Commissioner Precinct 1 24 T. BECK GIPSON, 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 *** Public Input. 6 4 *** Commissioner's Comments. 9 5 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 10 action regarding update, facility use and 6 other matters related to the COVID-19 Delta variant, including hospitalization numbers 7 and capacity. 8 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 13 action to approve documents related to the 9 Hazardous Mitigation Assistance(HMA) grant, and allow County Judge to sign same. 10 Documents include, but are not limited to: Grant Terms and Conditions, Resolution for 11 Funding Commitment, Resolution for Authorization to Apply, Certification 12 regarding Lobbying and Maintenance Agreement. 13 1.3 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 14 action to use Hazardous Mitigation Assistance 14 (HMA) grant funds to purchase on-demand generators for the Volunteer Fire Departments. 15 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 18 16 action to approve Resolution for Dietert Center to apply for Texas Department of 17 Agriculture grant for the "Meals on Wheels" services in Kerr County. 18 1.6 Discussion regarding Veterans Day - Memorial 21 19 Day and Veterans Day observances were split with the VCSO's doing Memorial Day and 20 supporting a group from this Rotary Club who took the lead for Veterans Day. That said, 21 given the rise in the Delta variant, the position of the group is to postpone conducting 22 the Veterans Day observance until '22. 23 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 39 action to approve the Interlocal Agreement 24 with Kerrville Independent School District (KISD) regarding the Hill Country Youth 25 Event Center(HCYEC) as an evacuation center in case of emergency. 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 42 action to accept a donation of a desk from 4 the Gordon Monroe family to the Office of the 198th District Judge. 5 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 43 6 action to appoint a Deputy Constable pursuant to the Texas Local Government Code 86.011. 7 1.9 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 48 8 action regarding the 2022 Kerr County Resolution in support of the grant 9 application for the "Indigent Defense Formula Grant Program" offered by the Texas Indigent 10 Defense Commission(TIDC), and authorize County Judge to sign said Resolution. 11 1.14 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 50 12 action on request from Christian Women's Job Corps Kerr County to use the courthouse 13 grounds on November 20, 2021 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to sing Christmas carols around 14 the Christmas tree. 15 1.15 public hearing regarding District Clerk's 52 Record Archival Plan, Government Code Section 16 51.317 and estimated projected revenue for October 1, 2021 thru December 31, 2021. 17 1.16 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 52 18 action to approve and adopt the District Clerk's Archival Plan for October 1, 2021- 19 December 31, 2021. 20 1.17 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 53 action to approve and adopt the District 21 Clerk's New Civil Filing Fees to be effective January 1, 2022. 22 1.18 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 53 23 action for the Court to set a public hearing for 10 a.m. on November 22, 2021 for a 24 revision of plat for Hill Country Estates Section Two, Tract 7, Volume 3, Page 30. 25 4 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.19 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 54 action to open and receive bids for Ranchero 4 Road Reconstruction Project, Phase I, read bids aloud, refer bids to the County Engineer 5 for tabulation, and award to the lowest qualified bidder. 6 1.20 Recognition of Trenton Robbins, Part-time 56 7 Temporary Engineering Technician, for outstanding work in the Engineering, and 8 Road & Bridge Departments. 9 1.21 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 58 action for the Court to receive an update 10 on the East Kerr County/Center Point Wastewater Collection Project, including budget schedule 11 and progress. 12 1.22 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 78 action for the Court to authorize the County 13 Judge to execute Amendment No. 12 to the Professional Services Agreement between Kerr 14 County and Tetra Tech in the amount of $1,196,469.00 funded under the TWBD Project 15 No. 10366 for additional services related to design, construction, and inspection of the 16 East Kerr County/Center Point Wastewater Collection Project. 17 1.23 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 82 18 action to authorize the County Judge to execute a contract with Hewitt Engineering 19 in the amount of $99,080.00 for engineering services related to Coldwell Lane at SH 27 20 and Willowbend Drive at Highway 27 Drainage Projects. 21 1.24 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 86 22 action to authorize the County Judge to execute a contract with Hewitt Engineering 23 in the amount of $24,925.70 for engineering services related to Sutherland Lane at SH 27 24 Drainage Projects. 25 5 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.25 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 88 action for the Court to approve a revision 4 of plat for Spicer Ranch No. 3, Lot 16 W3-R, Plat File #17-02753. 5 1.26 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 89 6 action for the Court to approve a final plat for Skyline Subdivision. 7 1.10 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 106 8 action regarding the County Clerk's Fee Schedule and Recording as it relates to 9 platting requirements. This is to address the interim period until the Subdivision 10 Rules are officially adopted. 11 1.11 Passed. 12 1.12 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 111 action to approve the contract with 13 DOCUmation, and to authorize the equipment removal and buyout of the UBEO contract 14 number 500-0522756-000. 15 1.13 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 114 action on procedure for hiring grant 16 administrator and review/revise job description. 17 2.1 Pay Bills. 119 18 2.4 Auditor Reports. 120 19 2.5 Accept Monthly Reports. 120 20 2.6 Court Orders. 121 21 3.2 Status Reports from Elected Officials. 121 22 3.3 Status Reports from Liaison Commissioners. 122 23 *** Adjournment. 125 24 *** Reporter's Certificate. 126 25 * * * * * * 6 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good morning. Kerr County 2 Commissioners' Court is now in session. It is Tuesday, 3 October the 12th, 2021. It's 9 o'clock in the morning 4 and we're now in session. 5 If you would, please rise for the prayer and 6 the pledge to be led by Commissioner Belew. 7 (Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance) 8 JUDGE KELLY: Please be seated. I want to 9 remind everyone, if you would please turn your phones 10 off or to at least vibrate so that it doesn't interfere 11 with today's proceedings. 12 The first thing we do in every 13 Commissioners' Court meeting is receive public input. 14 This is an opportunity for people to address the Court. 15 We're not allowed to give you output back, but we are 16 allowed to receive your input at that time. We ask that 17 you -- when you go to the podium, identify yourself, let 18 us know where you live if you live in the county. If 19 you don't live in the County, I'm sorry for your loss. 20 But -- and limit your remarks to three 21 minutes. If there are more than one of you here to 22 speak on a topic, you may cumulate your minutes that 23 way. And so with that, I'm going to -- and this -- the 24 only restriction that we have other than the time limit 25 is if it is an item that is on the agenda, we ask that 7 1 you wait until that agenda item is called; otherwise, if 2 it's not on the agenda this is your opportunity to come 3 and address the Court. I know we have some people here. 4 So with that, I would invite you to the podium. We're 5 on YouTube. 6 MR. OBLEDO: Okay. Thank you. Thank you 7 very much. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Everybody in Kerr County has 9 the opportunity to see your presentation. 10 MR. OBLEDO: Thank you. Thank you very 11 much, Judge, and Commissioners. Good morning to y'all. 12 For the record, my name is Mario Obledo, Jr. I'm Chief 13 of Government and Public Affairs at the San Antonio Food 14 Bank. And on behalf of Eric Cooper, our President, CEO 15 on our Board, our organization, thank you for the great 16 leadership that you give to this great County of Kerr. 17 Here with today is Tabitha Garza, who also 18 works with me in government relations. But the reason 19 we're here this morning is to let you know that the 20 country's safety net is still intact. We've been 21 stretched thin because of the pandemic. 22 A little bit over 200 food banks across the 23 country, 21 in our great state of Texas, we've been 24 working through this pandemic and it hasn't been easy. 25 A lot of resources, community folks, local government, 8 1 and really federal, state and local government has come 2 to our aid, and that aid has helped us help communities 3 like Kerrville and a lot of Kerr County. We couldn't do 4 what we do without great partners. 5 Like I tell you, before the pandemic hit we 6 were at 50 to about 58,000 individuals. We are now 7 assisting about 90. It went up to 120 but it's now down 8 to 90. Great individuals and organizations like Light 9 On the Hill, and here is Beth Palmer to just touch on a 10 little bit of her work to help us help the community. 11 MS. PALMER: Hi, Good morning. As Mario 12 said, my name is Beth Palmer. I'm the Outreach Director 13 at Kerrville's First United Methodist Church and Light 14 On the Hill at Mount Wesley, where we host weekly 15 drive-thru food pantries and also we partner with the 16 San Antonio Food Bank to host monthly Kerr County mega 17 distributions. 18 We are so blessed by the San Antonio Food 19 Bank. We could not do what we do without them and 20 without all the wonderful folks in our community who 21 volunteer their time to make that happen. We -- since 22 March of 2020, since the pandemic hit, we have shared 23 over 860,000 pounds of food with over 12,000 families in 24 our community, which if you look at the numbers and the 25 households, that's over 32,000 people. So I just wanted 9 1 to say thank you and especially to the San Antonio Food 2 Bank for their partnership. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we want to thank you for 4 what you do. We really appreciate your service in the 5 community. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I drove up there and 7 watched what you were doing up there at Mount Wesley 8 during the freeze and that was impressive. The 9 cooperation and what you guys did. So thank you. 10 MS. PALMER: Absolutely. Thank you. 11 MR. OBLEDO: Thank you. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Brenda, I see you out there. 13 You got a seat right up here on this wall. 14 This is the time for Commissioners' 15 comments. We'll start with Precinct 1. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Be careful when you 17 burn. It's rained, but be careful. Keep an eye on it. 18 Don't leave it. Make sure it's out when you're done. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Precinct 2. 20 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: No comments. 21 JUDGE KELLY: 3. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have nothing this 23 morning. 24 JUDGE KELLY: 4. 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Mountain Home 10 1 Volunteer Fire Department had a great turnout over the 2 weekend. I would say between 800, a thousand people 3 probably went through there. Well, I know that they 4 cooked 800 steaks. And so it was a great turnout for a 5 great cause. And again, good to see, like your prayers, 6 people getting back to normal. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Very good. So with that we'll 8 move on to the Consideration Agenda. Item 1.1 consider, 9 discuss and take appropriate action regarding the 10 update, facility use and other matters related to 11 COVID-19, the Delta variant, including hospitalization 12 numbers and capacity. Dub Thomas. 13 MR. THOMAS: Good morning, Judge. Good 14 morning, Commissioners. Hoping y'all had a great 15 weekend and are thankful for the rain. I know we're 16 going to get a bunch more over the next couple of days 17 so that will be a pretty good deal. 18 For the COVID-19, as far as our vaccine data 19 for Kerr County the number of vaccines administered at 20 this point is 47,697. People who have been vaccinated 21 with one dose, just a little over 26,000. People fully 22 vaccinated are 22,907. 23 Vaccinations by age. Ages 12 to 15, there 24 have been 625. And these are people that have been 25 fully vaccinated now. 16 so 49 is 7,024. 50 to 64 is 11 1 5,747. 65 to 79 is 6,998. 80 and up is 2,580. Just 2 for percentages, 12 and up people who have received one 3 dose, 56.56 percent. 12 and up fully vaccinated is 49.7 4 percent of the County population. 65 and up, 71.16 5 percent. And 65 and up fully vaccinated is 64.36 6 percent fully vaccinated. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Dub, a question. When 8 you say they're fully vaccinated and one vaccinated, the 9 ones that have one vaccine is that because they're 10 waiting to get the second, or they have chosen not to 11 get the second, or do they keep tract? 12 MR. THOMAS: One vaccine could be the 13 Johnson & Johnson vaccine for -- it's a combination. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. So that just 15 doesn't tell you a whole lot. 16 MR. THOMAS: To be honest with you, the 17 numbers don't tell you a whole lot of anything. 18 From the DSHS data board, the active cases, 19 and this is, of course, updated as of yesterday -- it 20 was 204. Recovered patients, 6,072. And deceased, 125. 21 As of yesterday Peterson's update for what they have, 22 they have 13 people in the hospital as of yesterday. 23 Four in ICU. Of those four, two are on ventilators, one 24 is on a bypass and one cannula, and two have been fully 25 vaccinated. 12 1 The ARMOC, which is the Regional Medical 2 Operation Center that's run out of San Antonio, that 3 number continues to drop, just like our numbers continue 4 to drop. We're at 503 or 8.1 percent of the hospital 5 occupancy for the region. That's good. And I'd like to 6 see that number get lower and lower and lower. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Did you say, Dub, that 8 two of the people in ICU are fully vaccinated? 9 MR. THOMAS: Not -- not in ICU but two -- 10 I'm sorry. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Two that are 12 hospitalized? 13 MR. THOMAS: Two that are fully vaccinated 14 are in the hospital. Yes, sir. I don't know if they're 15 in ICU or not. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Well, Dub, just from a 17 helicopter view, big picture, how would you describe 18 where we are compared to where we were, say, last month? 19 MR. THOMAS: We're -- we've dropped like a 20 rock. And that's good. That's good. We were up at 21 about 40 -- 46 hospitalizations. And I don't remember 22 what the total number of ICU's were. But we had 46 23 people in the hospital at one time, which is one-third 24 of our hospital capacity. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I think what's important 13 1 for the public to know is that the situation is getting 2 better for the time being. 3 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. For the time being. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else for Dub? We 5 appreciate all you're doing, Dub. 6 MR. THOMAS: Thank you, sir. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Good work. 8 MR. THOMAS: I'm going to hang out here 9 because I've got the next two as well. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Thank you. 1.2 11 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to approve 12 documents related to the Hazardous Mitigation Assistance 13 grant and allow the County Judge to sign same. 14 Documents include, but are not limited to: Grant Terms 15 and Conditions, and Resolution for Funding Commitment, 16 Resolution for Authorization to Apply, Certification 17 regarding Lobbying and Maintenance Agreement. 18 This is a hazardous mitigation grant that 19 we're applying for. 20 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. Hazardous Mitigation 21 grants through FEMA, based on Winter Storm Uri and all 22 that data from Winter Storm Uri FEMA puts out there at 23 15 percent, I believe, is for the total amount of damage 24 they allocate that money, 15 percent of the total 25 damages to mitigation projects, and we're going to apply 14 1 for some of those. And that's what those documents are 2 for. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What might the 5 mitiga -- I'm sorry. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Go ahead. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What might the 8 mitigation be? What are we talking about there? 9 JUDGE KELLY: Well, let me go ahead and call 10 1.3 at the same time, and it's easier for Dub to discuss 11 it. And that's going to be consider, discuss and take 12 appropriate action to use Hazardous Mitigation 13 Assistance grant funds to purchase on-demand generators 14 for the Volunteer Fire Departments. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is that it? 16 MR. THOMAS: That's it, yeah. Well, it's 17 actually -- we're looking at -- we're looking at two 18 projects. One of them is on main generators for 19 Volunteer Fire Departments or KARFA. We're looking at 20 48kW generators, propane fuel, with manual activation 21 switches; not automatic. We prefer the manual. We're 22 looking at generators for -- and then I'd like to see 23 four 10kW generators for the four radio towers that we 24 have here in the County to keep them running. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's a great idea. 15 1 MR. THOMAS: The generators for the 2 Volunteer Fire Departments, I'm looking at -- in KARFA, 3 Mountain Home, Divide, Hunt, Elm Pass, Center Point, 4 Turtle Creek, and Castle Lake Ranch. 5 And Castle Lake Ranch is part of Bandera 6 County, they're not Kerr County, but they do have 7 response capabilities for this County. We've also -- 8 we've got a contract with them, so I don't see any 9 reason why we can't can put an on-demand generator over 10 there as well. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What about Comfort? 12 MR. THOMAS: Comfort has their own 13 generator. Ingram has their own generator. Tierra 14 Linda has their own generator. Castle Lake Ranch does 15 not. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Well, so the public 17 understands, you canvassed the KARFA people and each of 18 these volunteer fire departments to find out who needs 19 the generators and you're recommending that we apply for 20 a grant to fund those generators. 21 MR. THOMAS: That's correct. I'm looking at 22 two generators for Hunt, one for their main station and 23 one for Felix Fisher out west. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What's the average cost 25 on those things? 16 1 MR. THOMAS: About 15,000 for the -- well, 2 it just depends on who you go with. But 15,000 is about 3 what I've seen for 50kW with propane. 4 JUDGE KELLY: So we need a motion to approve 5 the application process and authorization, and then 6 we'll need another motion to approve actually going for 7 the demand generators for the VFD's. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So move. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Is that for both of them? 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes, sir. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And that's a second for both 13 of them? 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes, sir. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Let's take the authorization 16 first. Any discussion about applying for the grant or 17 the authorization to apply for the grant? 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Just to -- I'm curious 19 how long the process will take once it's applied for. 20 Do you have any notion? 21 MR. THOMAS: I have no idea, Commissioner. 22 I know the deadline is November the 5th so we're hopping 23 on this pretty quick. 24 There will be another -- another funding 25 source come out here after this one. So if we don't get 17 1 it through this funding process for the November 5th 2 deadline, I'd like to go on for the next funding source, 3 which will be more FEMA money. 4 JUDGE KELLY: And -- and by the way, this is 5 being handled by GrantWorks. We're paying them to do 6 this. So they're helping us with this. So is there any 7 further discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 8 Unanimous, five zero. 9 And as far as authorization to apply for 10 these demand generators for the VFD's, we have a motion 11 and a second for that. Is there any discussion about 12 that? 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Did you go -- the 14 second part besides the generators, can you discuss 15 that? Isn't there -- 16 MR. THOMAS: Well, there's two projects 17 we're looking at. One is the generators, but that's on 18 the agenda. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 20 MR. THOMAS: The other one is covered 21 parking for Road & Bridge and for the Sheriff's 22 Department to mitigate against hail damage. Every year 23 it seems like, we're getting our patrol vehicles as well 24 as some -- probably some of the Road & Bridge that get 25 all the windshields knocked out and all that kind of 18 1 stuff and it makes it difficult for us to respond if we 2 don't have the vehicles. So I'm looking at covered 3 parking for Road & Bridge as well as at the Sheriff's 4 office. Probably R3 panel on slabs, something like 5 that. It doesn't have to be elaborate. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 7 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. Thank 8 you, Dub. 9 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. Thank you. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Dub, when it comes time 11 to locate those -- that covered parking, especially with 12 Road & Bridge, we're looking at some changes out there. 13 So we need to make sure that we're in communication as 14 to exactly where that -- 15 MR. THOMAS: Yeah, I've been talking with 16 Kelly and Charlie on that so -- and the Sheriff as well. 17 So we're looking at where we're going to be able to do 18 all that. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Thanks, Dub. 20 MR. THOMAS: Yes, sir. 21 JUDGE KELLY: We've got some timed items. 22 And when we have specific timed items we have to take 23 those as soon as we can to those times and come back to 24 the other agenda items. 25 So Item 1.4 is a 9:10 timed idem and that is 19 1 to consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 2 approve the resolution for the Dietert Center to apply 3 for the Texas Department of Agriculture grant for the 4 "Meals on Wheels" services in Kerr County. We do this 5 every year. Welcome back, Brenda. 6 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. Thank you so much 7 for having us. And Dub left before I had a chance to 8 tell him thank you for helping us facilitate 9 vaccinations for our homebound seniors. And we, with 10 his help and the Texas Emergency Management Division, 11 gave out over 200 vaccinations to our homebound seniors. 12 And that was two sets of two shots. So we did a -- had 13 a great full day full of vaccinations months ago. 14 Anyway, I wanted to tell him thank you for that. 15 Yes. We are doing rewriting to, again, our 16 grant application to the Texas Department of Agriculture 17 for our Meals on Wheels program. Last year -- or our 18 year ended September 30th. So in the past year, with 19 pandemic time, we still provided 67,968 meals to our 20 homebound seniors, even through the pandemic. We never 21 skipped a meal. 22 We got everything -- the ice storm, we kinda 23 got a little -- we had to give out extra meals whenever 24 we could get to their houses. But we were able to 25 provide food for our seniors, homebound seniors, to the 20 1 tune of over 67,000. 2 And then we did drive-thru meals for our 3 seniors that couldn't come in the building because we 4 weren't open, and we did our drive-thru at Friendship 5 Cafe and we gave out over 12,000 meals during the past 6 year for that. So for a total of over 80,000 meals we 7 provided for our seniors in our community. 8 So the Texas Department of Agriculture grant 9 just helps us, which is usually about 14 or 15,000 that 10 we get from them that helps us offset the cost of 11 providing those 80,000 meals. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And Brenda, if you would, 13 explain to the public so they understand the -- the 14 partnership that the County has with Dietert in order to 15 be able for you to qualify for this program. 16 MS. THOMPSON: In order to qualify for the 17 grant application, you have to have a Resolution from 18 your County Government that -- and a donation -- 19 JUDGE KELLY: And a donation. 20 MS. THOMPSON: -- out of -- an in-kind 21 donation, and the County does $4,500 for us annually to 22 help us apply for this grant. So with the County's 23 $4,500 plus about the 14 or 15,000 that we get for 24 the -- from the TDA, then we're able to provide almost 25 $20,000.00 to help provide food for our homebound 21 1 seniors. 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 4 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 5 second to approve the Resolution to the Dietert Center 6 to apply for the Texas Department of Agriculture grant 7 for Meals on Wheels. Any discussion about this? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This program will work. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Absolutely. 10 JUDGE KELLY: We will be remiss if we did 11 not do this. So let me ask those in favor raise your 12 hand. Unanimous. Thank you so much, Brenda. 13 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you so much. 14 Appreciate it. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We've got a 9:15 timed 16 item. I see Christine here, but let me skip over that 17 and go to 9:15, which is 1.6 discussion regarding 18 Veterans Day - Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances 19 were split with the VCSO's doing Memorial Day and 20 supporting a group from this Rotary Club who took the 21 lead for Veterans Day. And that said, given the rise in 22 the Delta variant, the position of the group is to 23 postpone conducting the VA observance until 2022. 24 And we've got a lot of people here, but 25 Jennifer, if you would, identify yourself and then 22 1 identify the representatives you have present with us. 2 MS. SANCHEZ: Sure. Good morning. Jennifer 3 Sanchez, Kerr County Veterans Service Office. I have 4 Mr. Jeff Harris, he's with the Rotary Club. And then 5 Mr. Byron Warren, Mr. Gary Noller, and then Miss Vicki 6 Marsh, who's my Advisory Counsel. So -- 7 JUDGE KELLY: A lot of Marines out there. 8 MS. SANCHEZ: There's a lot of Marines. So 9 as you may recall, Marty and Mr. Harris have previously 10 informed the Court that we -- that our office, the 11 Veterans Service Office, would continue to do Memorial 12 Day; however, a group from the Rotary Club of Kerrville 13 would lead for Veterans Day and we would support them. 14 So our request this year is that we hang up 15 our Veterans Day signs from -- to be displayed on the 16 corner from November 1st to November 12th. And then I 17 gave a printout, there's a lot of events going on, some 18 of them for Veterans Day. 19 So November 5th, it will be funded by the 20 Rotary Club to have a veterans breakfast from the 21 Veterans Center on Meadowview from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 22 a.m. That was a last minute addition of the Dietert 23 Center on Veterans Day. The Daughters of the American 24 Revolution is having a program and the Dietert Center is 25 going to provide lunch and a photo opportunity for any 23 1 veterans that are attending. 2 Mr. Alan Hill will be planning an event 3 later that afternoon due to the Dietert Center having 4 something in the morning and then pretty much all the 5 schools are hosting something for Veterans Day. 6 Center Point will be having a, quote, parade 7 that veterans will come, they'll introduce them, and 8 then the students will kind of escort them in. And then 9 they'll provide a lunch for them. 10 Ingram is going to be buying box lunches for 11 all our local recruiters. Kerrville, I haven't heard 12 back from them but they usually have a ceremony at their 13 flag pole with their Junior ROTC and Hunt will also be 14 having an assembly honoring the veterans and giving them 15 some refreshments. 16 And then the Kerrville VA Medical Center is 17 planning to have their annual car show on the following 18 Saturday, which is the 13th. Currently, it's contingent 19 due to the pandemic and they're having a project going 20 on, but that is their huge fundraiser for all our 21 veterans who reside at the VA. 22 And that is all I have. If you have any 23 questions for me? 24 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I'd like to advise 25 you -- 24 1 MS. SANCHEZ: Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE KELLY: -- The Commissioners' Court 3 has increased its veterans rights by 100 percent. We 4 now have our second veteran, Beck Gipson, on the Court. 5 MS. SANCHEZ: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We appreciate all that you do 7 for the veterans in the community. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: My thoughts on this 9 is, you know, we've had -- over the last few weeks we 10 had a gun show at the Event Center that had 1900 people 11 over the course of two days. We've had the stock show 12 fundraiser and wild game dinner and had 450 in an inside 13 building for four hours. At times we're filling up our 14 football stadiums. 15 The Mountain Home Fire Department, I just 16 mentioned, had 800 or a thousand people come through. 17 It seems important for an open air event that usually 18 draws about 150 people or so, that we have something. 19 And that seems safer than anything I just mentioned. 20 MS. SANCHEZ: So I'm not sure if you want us 21 to host an event. So what was previously discussed 22 was -- and Mr. Harris is here so he could speak on it -- 23 was that we would focus primarily on Memorial Day and 24 then the group from the Rotary Club would focus on 25 Veterans Day and then we would support them, meaning 25 1 we'll get out the advertisement, we'll get everybody to 2 know what's going on. 3 So I'm not sure if you want us to do 4 something for Veterans Day, but we were just -- 5 basically was going to support their organization with 6 this. And he can discuss more on it if you like, and 7 then we can regroup and go from there. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Well, I know Jeff 9 Harris is not bashful, so -- 10 MS. SANCHEZ: Yes, sir. 11 MR. HARRIS: If you would like a brief 12 synopsis. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Please. 14 MR. HARRIS: It was not the Rotary Club of 15 Kerrville that was going to do a Veterans Day program. 16 It was a group of citizens that just happened to be 17 comprised of about five Rotarians that are also all 18 veterans. Delta variant kind of reared its ugly head 19 again. Our veteran population is elderly. The majority 20 of our elderly and aged. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Be careful now, I resemble 22 that. 23 MR. HARRIS: Well, so do I, Your Honor. But 24 we just did not feel it would be responsible. Because I 25 don't want to have an event where we're out there and 26 1 we're doing something and one person gets sick. I don't 2 want that. I don't think y'all want that. 3 So we decided as our group that was going to 4 plan this and put this together that we would take a 5 responsible route. Let's see what happens right now and 6 then we'll be able to do it 2022. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it's -- it's a 8 voluntary event. You know, nobody is required to be 9 there. 10 MR. HARRIS: Correct. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If they're worried 12 about it, they can stay home. 13 MR. HARRIS: Yes, sir. It's just we took it 14 as a little -- our private committee, so to say, 15 Commissioner, that we didn't want to be responsible for 16 having a gathering where somebody could get sick. We 17 don't want the responsibility. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, the truth of the 19 matter is every gathering we have, somebody can get sick 20 from something. 21 MR. HARRIS: Yes, sir. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So everybody's been gun 23 shy about this. A lot of us over 65 have had it and got 24 over it. And so, I -- I agree with Commissioner Harris. 25 You got an open air event. There's -- that's a minimal 27 1 exposure or risk for anybody. And anybody that feels 2 like they are at risk doesn't have to be there. 3 MR. HARRIS: Correct. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And I'm not saying you 5 should put on an event. 6 MR. HARRIS: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm saying here at the 8 courthouse we can have something and there would be no 9 reason not to have it. We had one last year. Everybody 10 was scared to death last year. Most people. And we 11 didn't know anything about -- we didn't know near as 12 much about it then as we know about it now. 13 JUDGE KELLY: More speakers? 14 MR. HARRIS: Well, Byron is on the committee 15 with us, so -- 16 MR. WARREN: Byron Warren, 29404 Dry Hollow, 17 Kerrville. Commander, Military Order of the Purple 18 Heart here in Kerrville. In the past, the Court has 19 been very fortunate to have a -- two parades put on 20 outside of your presence, outside of your direction, or 21 out of any budget that you may have provided for that. 22 I say that because of the Military Order of the Purple 23 Heart funded the majority of those two parades. 24 We've always had the discussion, polite 25 discussion, that why are veterans putting on a parade 28 1 for veterans. It should be community, Chamber of 2 Commerce or County government or a City government to do 3 a parade. 4 It's not just jump up and let's go do a 5 parade tomorrow. You have to get permits. You have 6 street closures. You have Police Department, Sheriff 7 Department coordination, and you've got to provide some 8 expense, called insurance and port-a-potties. There is 9 expense to doing such a thing. 10 What the committee was going to propose, and 11 I think this is probably on the agenda for 2022, is do a 12 shortened parade and end up in Louise Hays Park and not 13 go down the streets and not end up at the County 14 Courthouse like the two previous parades have done. 15 But what is interesting, and the Court may 16 want to consider this, there's little or no funding from 17 the County to do this for -- put on such a celebration. 18 Which is interesting. But it may not be necessary, 19 because the committee that we're trying to form has 20 hooks, ties into people in the community who would 21 donate money, and that would be the funding. 22 Again, that just doesn't happen overnight. 23 The planning for such a large event, this involves many 24 companies, many people, many military organizations here 25 in Kerrville. 29 1 It should start planning around April and 2 May. And that is when the COVID-19 basically reared its 3 ugly head. And the decision was probably to discuss it 4 further in the summer, and then the discussion turned 5 out that we didn't want to be responsible for any 6 illness. 7 Now, our crystal ball isn't clear enough to 8 know that in September and November -- through November 9 that the virus would disappear or become less of an 10 issue. Our crystal ball wasn't that clear. But our 11 discussion was made basically back in August for the 12 welfare of the community, the welfare of the veteran 13 population and for those who may attend. 14 Also, and -- and in light of planning, most 15 of the -- we do parades, we do celebrations, and it 16 should involve children. And traditionally children 17 benefit from parades and patriotic things. 18 Well, in dealing with the school, 19 Independent School District, and getting children 20 turnout and the publication, that is the campaign that 21 takes several months. And hopefully, holding your arm 22 behind your back and doing politics. 23 But that's another issue of doing a bigger 24 celebration for the community at large. And since 25 children are not -- a lot of the children going to it 30 1 are not eligible for vaccination, that was another 2 consideration that we discussed in the meeting on the 3 Veterans Day parade or Veterans Day celebration 4 committee. And that was another discussion point. 5 So it -- a lot of things went back and 6 forth. But by the end of the day, I think for the 7 safety of the community and I think for the veterans 8 safety of the children that may involve, that was our 9 decision. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, those children 11 are in school today altogether, so I wouldn't worry 12 about that. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Gary. 14 MR. NOLLER: Good morning. Gary Noller, 15 140 Ray Drive, Center Point. We have three members of 16 the Veterans Advisory Committee here today. Bill 17 Cantrell could not make it. But I take a little bit 18 different view on the reasoning behind the Veterans 19 Service Officer's involvement in Veterans Day activities 20 and -- and that's because the primary reason we want 21 them to have a County Service Officer was so that they 22 could help veterans who need to gain benefits mainly 23 through the Veterans Administration, but through other 24 state and local agencies and nonprofits. 25 So if the Veteran Service officers involved 31 1 in Veterans Day, and I don't know how many hours that 2 takes, but let's just say it's a couple weeks of 3 full-time to do something depending on how much you're 4 doing, and that's the opportunity cost. 5 If the Veterans Service officers are working 6 on Veterans Day, then they're not working on claims. So 7 if you have people come to you saying I don't understand 8 why the Veterans Service Officer can't get to my claim, 9 well, one of the reasons maybe is because they're trying 10 to find golf carts to haul people up and down the street 11 during some kind of Veterans Day parade. And I don't 12 think they should be doing that. 13 And so kind of what the Advisory Committee 14 has done is made a compromise. We said okay, we have 15 two major veterans events every year, Memorial Day and 16 Veterans Day. Memorial Day is very solemn. And 17 Memorial Day and Veterans Day are not the same day. 18 Veterans Day should be little bit more celebratory, kind 19 of a thanking and recognition of veterans. 20 And so we pitched and got behind Veterans 21 Service Officer this last Memorial Day. And -- and so 22 when you take a look at it, and you have a sheet there 23 that Jennifer produced that shows that there's other 24 people in the community who get involved in Veterans Day 25 and want to show veterans respect. They may or may not 32 1 do the same on Memorial Day. 2 But what I'd certainly call to your 3 attention is -- is the opportunity costs that's going to 4 be involved. If your Veterans Service Office personnel 5 are running events rather than filing claims, checking 6 up on evidence, answering veterans' questions. So 7 please keep that in mind as to what you really want -- 8 how much of that time you want expended for that 9 purpose. Thank you. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you, Gary. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I want to make comment. 12 We have a Veterans Service Committee that advises us. I 13 think both of their reasons are very -- made a lot of 14 sense. I mean to plan any kind of event, whether it's 15 something on the courthouse square or a parade, it takes 16 months. 17 And we don't have -- we have a month right 18 now before Veterans Day. So we don't have time to do 19 something. And I don't want to do something that's -- 20 or vote to do something that's just thrown together. It 21 needs to be an organized event. 22 And I also agree with Mr. Noller, you know, 23 it's a fine line. And I think they finally have the 24 recommendation and the way they're doing it is that our 25 Veterans Service Officers work on Memorial Day. But it 33 1 does take a lot of time, and their main job is to serve 2 veteran claims. 3 MR. NOLLER: Yeah, and the report now is 4 they're short staffed. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And they're 6 short staffed. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That isn't -- that's -- 8 she's not hired to be an events coordinator, obviously. 9 The County could have participation in a donation, but 10 that needs to be private prior to, and it doesn't 11 necessarily have to be a parade but I like the idea of a 12 parade. We lost our parade. We had one and it was kind 13 of building up some momentum. People knew it was going 14 to happen, and then we didn't have it. 15 And so, it doesn't have to be that 16 elaborate. We'd like to see -- see it become a real 17 event. It's just as important as a lot of the other 18 parades we have. I'd love to see them. But that has to 19 be -- should be, I think, privately funded and 20 organized. 21 So to Commissioner Letz's point, having a 22 committee to put together would be important, but then 23 you have to have somebody that calls on folks, part of 24 that committee would be calling on folks for donations 25 and the County for contribution, which I'm not against. 34 1 I'm for the County having a participation in it. 2 But also, we don't need the Veterans 3 Services Officer taking time off for that. So -- we've 4 got a good -- a good idea going here, what to do with it 5 is the question. 6 MR. HARRIS: And I'm sorry, I didn't 7 announce myself earlier. I'm Jeff Harris, 769 Oakland 8 Hills Lane here in Kerrville. Colonel Marsh wanted me 9 to ask -- mention one more thing, what our plan was. 10 So we're going to start on Culley Drive. 11 That's where we want to start our parade. Culley Drive, 12 we can cross Thompson, there's only one road closure. 13 There's alternate routes around it. And we want to wind 14 up in Louise Hays Park. 15 Like Byron said, children -- I remember as a 16 kid going to Veterans Day parades in Victoria. And it 17 was amazing. And then they had events afterwards. But 18 now events have changed. But we're talking about having 19 food trucks down there, bounce houses for the kids and, 20 you know, all kind of different things. 21 There's a lot of local venders that we've 22 already talked to that want to get behind it, but they 23 were in the same position as we were. So just wanted 24 to -- that is our ultimate goal. That's where we want 25 to wind up and have a Veterans Day celebration in the 35 1 park. Thank you. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Sounds good. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That is a large 4 undertaking, without a doubt. But I know there's a -- 5 another group that's always on the agenda that would be 6 willing to have something, much like last year's out 7 front, about an hour or so, a Veterans Day celebration 8 if we're not going to do it, you know. If y'all choose 9 not to do that. Didn't realize we were -- going back to 10 the parade, just like you, the parade is a big event. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it was building 12 up to where the -- 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: But it would be nice 14 to have something out here. And there's another group 15 that would be willing to step up and do that in the 16 County. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Jennifer, do you have anything 18 else? 19 MS. SANCHEZ: May I be approved to have our 20 banner up for the two weeks for Veterans Day? 21 JUDGE KELLY: I don't think there's any 22 question about that. We'll vote on that in just a 23 second. 24 I just want to say that COVID times are 25 interesting times. And I know this required a lot of 36 1 advance planning and decisions were made before we 2 flattened out this latest surge and we understand that. 3 And we -- we understand also that because of 4 COVID, things have been somewhat decentralized. We 5 don't get together like we used to do. And -- and 6 honoring our veterans is something that is critically 7 important for this community. 8 And my personal observation is that I -- I 9 agree with Byron, that somebody else needs to be 10 organizing the parades for the vets; not vets. And to 11 look to the vets to do that I think is looking in the 12 wrong direction. 13 And this year is what it is. And Rotary has 14 stepped up, and I commend Rotary for doing this. And it 15 sounds like to me you have a good event planned. And I 16 think it's important that the community be behind that 17 event and then to be careful not to diffuse that event 18 by competing events. 19 If we're going to Honor the veterans, we 20 need to do it as a community. And so I would encourage 21 the entire community to get behind what Rotary is doing. 22 And that's going to be on what day? 23 MR. HARRIS: That will be November the 5th. 24 JUDGE KELLY: November 5th? 25 MR. HARRIS: Yes, sir. Breakfast at the 37 1 Veterans Center on Meadowview. 2 JUDGE KELLY: And then a parade to follow? 3 MR. HARRIS: Not this year. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Next year? 5 MR. HARRIS: Next year. 6 MR. WARREN: Next year will probably be -- 7 JUDGE KELLY: And what I would like to 8 recommend and, of course, as a good Methodist we love 9 committees. But I think maybe what we need to do is put 10 together a committee. Representatives from the advisory 11 council, which I think you're very focused on what your 12 mission is. And Gary, I agree with you completely as to 13 what the mission of a Veterans Service Officer ought to 14 be. 15 And -- but what -- community civic 16 organizations and the County, and let's get together and 17 let's get our act together for next year. We -- we need 18 to overcome the adversities that we have been dealt with 19 because of COVID, come back together as a community, and 20 we need to have something that we can all be proud of. 21 We respect the difficulty that you had in 22 making your decision this year, and I personally respect 23 that, but at the same time, this is something that we 24 don't need to lose sight of. We don't need to leave 25 here today and forget what needs to be done. 38 1 And so -- and I know when I tell Byron and 2 Colonel Marsh and Gary that we want to do something 3 about this, you will remind me that I want something 4 done about it. And we'll drag Jeff into it and Jenna, 5 and hopefully we'll have Marty back to help brainstorm 6 this. But this is something that we need to get back on 7 track. 8 And so on behalf of the Court, I'm going to 9 go ahead and make a motion that we approve putting up 10 the banner, because that's the least that we can do. 11 And with that, I'm going to put a rider on there that we 12 form an ad hoc committee with our advisory council, 13 civic groups, and representatives from the County to get 14 together and plan something that is deserving of our 15 veterans service and what they have done. 16 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I'll second that 17 motion. 18 JUDGE KELLY: So is there any discussion on 19 that? 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Just that I really like 21 the idea of making it more visible. The route we were 22 taking before and ending at the courthouse, it just -- 23 people would not even know it was happening. Making it 24 bigger and everybody's seen it in the park. Great idea. 25 Great idea. 39 1 JUDGE KELLY: So any other discussion? 2 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. We're 3 behind you a hundred percent. We're sorry we dropped 4 the ball this year, but we're going to get our act 5 together for next year. 6 MS. SANCHEZ: Thank you very much. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Well, Christine, I'm still 8 apologizing. We have a 9:30 event. Item 1.8 consider, 9 discuss and take appropriate action to approve the 10 Interlocal Agreement with the Kerrville Independent 11 School District regarding the Hill Country Youth Event 12 Center as an evacuation center in case of emergency. 13 Wade Ivy. 14 We do this every year. This is routine. 15 MR. IVY: Yes, sir. Just here to just say 16 we'd like to enter into this Interlocal Agreement one 17 more year. It is an integral part of our emergency 18 response plan should there ever be a need to evacuate a 19 campus or campuses, we know that we have a place where 20 we can take our students where they will be safe and 21 that we can reunite them with their families in an 22 orderly fashion. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval and 24 authorize the Judge to sign the agreement. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 40 1 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion and a second 3 to approve renewing our Interlocal Agreement with 4 Kerrville Independent School District to use our Hill 5 Country Youth Event Center as an evacuation center in 6 case of emergency, which we are proud to provide for 7 this community. So any discussion? 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I have a question 9 about the -- do the bus drivers go through a routine -- 10 what's the -- they load up on buses and go? Is that the 11 plan? 12 MR. IVY: Yes, sir. What would happen would 13 be buses would be taken to whatever campus was in need. 14 We have a route in which the buses can actually drive 15 into the back of the -- what I would call the back of 16 the barn and unload the students, kind of out of sight, 17 out of the eye of press that might be there. 18 Also it's highly secure. And then bring 19 them into the actual Event Center itself, and then we 20 would bring the partition walls across and have the 21 students on one side and then reunite with their parents 22 on the other. So it would be a highly controlled 23 environment. 24 So to answer your question specifically, 25 yes, our -- our Transportation Director knows the drill, 41 1 we review it at the beginning of every school year. We 2 were actually out there at the beginning of this school 3 year and just looked it over and so -- and we have 4 driven buses through there and we know exactly how they 5 can be staged and that they do fit. 6 JUDGE KELLY: It is a highly planned 7 evacuation. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I remember fire 9 drills. That's all I remember. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Well, this is not a fire 11 drill. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I just wonder -- 13 MR. IVY: Not a fire drill. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But the kids -- the 15 kids haven't gone through this like a fire drill. 16 MR. IVY: No, sir. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: They would be rounded 18 up and lined up -- 19 MR. IVY: Right. They would just be 20 following instructions at that point. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And yelling, I don't 22 take the bus. 23 MR. IVY: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: My mom picks me up. 25 MR. IVY: Right. 42 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We've got a motion and 2 a second. Any other discussion? Those in favor raise 3 your hand. Unanimous. 4 MR. IVY: Thank you very much, guys. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Item 1.5 consider, 6 discuss and take appropriate action to accept a donation 7 of a desk from the Gordon Monroe family to the Office of 8 the 198th District Judge. And I see Alex Monroe in the 9 back of the room. Welcome. Christine McEntyre. 10 MS. McENTYRE: Good morning. Let me get 11 this off so you can hear me. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Those of you at home that 13 don't know who Christine McEntyre is, she is our 14 District Court Coordinator. 15 MS. McENTYRE: Hello. I don't get out much. 16 On behalf of the District Judges, Judge Emerson is in 17 Bandera today, so he wasn't here to be able to thank 18 you, but he wanted me to extend how grateful he is that 19 y'all were graciously generous in donating this desk. 20 It means a lot to him personally. 21 He would respectfully like to accept the 22 Monroe family's gracious and generous donation of Mr. 23 Monroe's desk. That's all. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So move. 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 43 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 3 second to approve accepting Gordon Monroe's desk. For 4 those of you that -- out in the public that don't -- did 5 not know Gordon Monroe, he was quite a large figure. 6 And was a tremendous personality. Former Mayor of 7 Kerrville. 8 He and his family have been very active. We 9 have Alex Monroe here today who is with our Sheriff's 10 Office. I believe you're a Corporal, aren't you? 11 MR. MONROE: Yes, sir. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And your uncle, Scott Monroe, 13 was the District Attorney for the 198th. And if you go 14 around town, you're going to see the Monroe name on lots 15 of buildings and lots of improvements that they've 16 contributed to the County. And we appreciate that. 17 MS. McENTYRE: Thank you. 18 MR. MONROE: Yes, ma'am. Thank you. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any discussion? Those 20 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. Sorry 21 to keep you waiting. 22 MS. McENTYRE: Thank you. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Kyle, we kept you waiting too. 24 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: That's all right. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.7 consider, discuss and 44 1 take appropriate action to appoint a Deputy Constable 2 pursuant to the Texas Local Government Code. 3 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: I'm Kyle Schneider. 4 I'm here today, this morning, formally requesting a 5 Deputy Constable position to be in accordance with the 6 Local Government Code and Chapter 86 requires that I 7 submit in writing a request for one. And I named that 8 prospective deputy. 9 Earlier in the budget cycle, Director Givens 10 of Animal Services, who is also a Deputy Constable, 11 requested that position, and I believe it was approved 12 that any deputy -- or not deputy, but Animal Control 13 Officer Uribe, Dominick Uribe, has been submitted by 14 Director Givens as to be that Deputy Constable, and 15 we're currently in the process of -- I've completed a 16 background check and we're currently in the process of 17 going through the motions on that. 18 And I have also submitted Director Givens' 19 original letter justifying the position that y'all -- I 20 resubmitted along with my letter, so I guess basically 21 what we're doing is some housekeeping here and I'm 22 formally requesting that Dominick Uribe is the 23 prospective Deputy Constable for that Animal Control 24 position that's come available. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 45 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 3 second to approve appointing Dominick Uribe as a Deputy 4 Constable. And for those of you out in the public that 5 doesn't understand, Animal Control are law enforcement 6 officers also and they're required to be official law 7 enforcement officers. And we use Kyle Schneider's 8 office, Constable Precinct 2, to hold those licenses. 9 And so that's -- that's what we're doing here. This is 10 just a housekeeping matter to make sure that Animal 11 Control is fully deputized. 12 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: Yes, sir. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Kyle, did you say that 14 the background investigation is ongoing, or is it 15 completed? 16 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: Basically, I'll have 17 to go through TCOLE, Texas Commission on Law 18 Enforcement, for all this and they require -- even 19 though Dominick has been a County employee for several 20 years now, to become a certified peace officer they have 21 a process, and I have to go through a background check 22 and everything, and that's complete. 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 24 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: We're doing -- I 25 believe he has something this week yet -- 46 1 MR. URIBE: Yes. 2 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: -- to go yet. I've 3 also been in talks with the Sheriff here of using his 4 field training officers to put Dominick through their 5 field training officer program. It's a requirement by 6 TCOLE. And he's been gracious enough to provide his 7 officers. 8 I believe we're waiting for clarification 9 from Heather on some matters. I believe they've reached 10 out to you, but you've been out. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Her expression tells me 12 that -- 13 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: I know. 14 MRS. STEBBINS: You may be waiting a little 15 longer. 16 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: You never answer your 17 phone. 18 (Laughter.) 19 MRS. STEBBINS: Now maybe even more. Get 20 ready. 21 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: No. She's been out. 22 But we're going through this process here. And like I 23 said, and Tracy over there has been a great resource. 24 I've never hired anybody as a law enforcement so Tracy 25 over at the Sheriff's Department, she's been a great 47 1 help. Everybody's been a great help in this process. 2 JUDGE KELLY: But this is -- it's all very 3 structured. Background checks are verified. There is 4 training. And so when we get these people, they are 5 authentic law enforcement officers. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Now, does he have to be 7 bonded for this particular job? 8 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: Yes. Yeah. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. And that'll be 10 new, going with the job? 11 MR. GIVENS: Yes. We're working on all 12 that. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: The only reason I ask 14 is I thought maybe the motion should say pending the 15 ongoing process or something. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's fine. 17 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: That would -- that 18 might be best, sir. Because, like I say, we're -- we're 19 in the process, but he's got I think one or two more 20 things and then provided he completes the field training 21 officer program -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. I'll modify my 23 motion that subject to completion of all the 24 requirements. 25 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: Okay. 48 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Do you accept the 3 modification? 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Uh-huh. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 6 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 7 CONSTABLE SCHNEIDER: Thank you. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Let's try to get one more out 9 of the way before we take our morning break. Let's go 10 to Item 1.9 consider, discuss and take appropriate 11 action regarding the 2022 Kerr County Resolution in 12 support of the grant application for the Indigent 13 Defense Formula Grant Program offered by the Texas 14 Indigent Defense Commission and authorize the County 15 Judge to sign said Resolution. Mr. Robles. 16 MR. ROBLES: Yes. This is a program we've 17 been a part of for many years. It's separate from the 18 public defender's office grant. The State allocates 19 certain amount of dollars per year to help subsidize the 20 county's indigent defense expenditures, and we 21 traditionally receive about 60, 65,000 for this. 22 JUDGE KELLY: And we've been doing this for 23 years. And we received this in the mail and it's a 24 Resolution that I need to sign. And it's in the backup, 25 so we're here to ask for your permission to do that. 49 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Move for approval. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 3 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 4 second to approve the Indigent Defense Resolution. Any 5 other discussion? 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This -- we -- we have 7 an entire justice center for this. And we -- we have 8 money that came with it. Does this in any way -- is 9 there any conflict, any problem with the funding from 10 two different sources for indigent defense? 11 JUDGE KELLY: I'll answer that. No. And 12 it's not two different sources, it's the same source. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But it -- 14 JUDGE KELLY: Historically, this was the 15 only contribution we got from The State of Texas to 16 provide indigent defense in Kerr County. We'd spend 17 three-quarters of a million dollars and we'd get 60 in 18 return. 19 What we now have with the Public Defender's 20 Office is a development grant, where they're trying to 21 build these regional public defenders' offices, and that 22 was the two and a half million dollar grant and then the 23 1.7 that we got for this year. It comes from the same 24 source, but it's a different program. 25 The grant -- the formula grants, they have a 50 1 way of computing the number of indigent cases that we 2 handle, and -- and what we've paid, and it's -- it was 3 the old way of doing business, and fortunately we get to 4 take the old formula and we get to take the new 5 development grants as well. 6 So any other discussion? We've got a motion 7 and a second to approve. Those in favor raise your 8 hand. Unanimous, five zero. 9 Let's take a five minutes -- let's take a 10 ten minute break. Come back at ten o'clock sharp. 11 (Recess.) 12 JUDGE KELLY: Come to order. Okay. Court 13 will come back to order. Items 1.10 through 1.13 we'll 14 have to get back to after we finish the timed items that 15 are ten o'clock items. 16 The first ten o'clock item is 1.14, which is 17 to consider, discuss and take appropriate action on a 18 request from the Christian Women's Job Corps of Kerr 19 County to use the courthouse grounds on November 20, 20 2021, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to sing Christmas carols 21 around the Christmas tree. 22 If there's one negative vote in this room, 23 I'm going to throw you out. Amen. You'll be in 24 contempt of court. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Miss Buck. 25 MS. BUCK: Good morning. As you know, 51 1 we're -- we began the Christian Women's Job Corps in 2 2020. And we have had tremendous support from Kerr 3 County and the Kerrville community. 4 We are getting ready to graduate again, 5 another semester, and we were looking at ways to say 6 thank you for your support and to bring a little cheer 7 for Christmas. And actually the date on that is 8 incorrect. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Oh? 10 MS. BUCK: We're going to be doing that 11 December the 1st, if it's approved, on Wednesday, 12 December the 1st -- 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 14 MS. BUCK: -- from 5:30 to 6:30. It's just 15 an hour. We won't make a mess. But we'll have alumni 16 and board members, teachers, and mentors coming and 17 probably about 30 people is what I'm anticipating. And 18 we'll just been singing around the Christmas tree, 19 Christmas carols at the corner, and have a sign that 20 says thank you. So -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 23 MS. BUCK: You can come and join us and sing 24 if you like. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: As long as you don't 52 1 sing "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". 2 MS. BUCK: No, that won't be one of them. 3 JUDGE KELLY: And just to the other members 4 of the public, if there are any other groups that want 5 to sing your own traditional carols or songs of whatever 6 kind, come to us. We're happy to accommodate you. This 7 is something that's good for the community. 8 Any other discussion? Those in favor raise 9 your hand. Unanimous. Thank you, Miss Buck. 10 MS. BUCK: Thank you. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.15 public hearing. I'm 12 going to convene at this time regarding the District 13 Clerk's record archival plan pursuant to the Government 14 Code. 15 And Miss Lantz couldn't be here. This is 16 routine. We do this every year. So this is a public 17 meeting. Is there anyone who wants to talk about the 18 District Clerk's archival fees? There being none, the 19 meeting is adjourned. 20 We will move on to Item 1.16, which is to 21 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to approve 22 and adopt the District Clerk's archival plan for 23 October 1 through December 31. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move for approval. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 53 1 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 2 second to approve that. Any discussion? Those in favor 3 raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 4 The next item is also Miss Lantz, which is 5 Item 1.17. It's to consider, discuss and take 6 appropriate action to approve and adopt the District 7 Clerk's New Civil Filing Fees to be effective January 1, 8 2022. Again, this is routine. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 11 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion and a second 12 to approve that. Any discussion? Those in favor raise 13 your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 14 Item 1.18 consider, discuss and take 15 appropriate action for the Court to set a public hearing 16 for 10 a.m. on November the 22nd, 2021, for a revision 17 of plat for Hill Country Estates Section Two, Tract 1 18 (sic). Charlie Hastings. 19 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. This 20 proposal divides Tract 7, 25.27 acres, into two lots. 21 Tract 7N will be 10.27 acres with frontage on Green Oak 22 Drive and Indian Mound Road, and Tract 7S will be 15 23 acres with frontage on Indian Mound Road. 24 County Engineer requests the Court set a 25 public hearing for 10 a.m. on November 22nd, 2021 for a 54 1 revision of plat for Hill Country Estates Section Two, 2 Tract 7, Volume 3, Page 30, Precinct 3. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and second 6 to approve the setting of the public meeting for Hill 7 Country Estates Section 2, Tract 7. Any discussion? 8 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. 9 Item 1.19 consider, discuss and take 10 appropriate action to open and receive bids for Ranchero 11 Road Reconstruction Project, Phase I, read the bids 12 aloud, refer the bids to the County Engineer for 13 tabulation, and award the lowest qualified bidder. This 14 is in Precinct 1 and 2. Charlie Hastings. 15 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. I believe 16 we have -- I don't know, we'll hear from the County 17 Clerk. How many bids did we receive on time? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two. 19 MR. HASTINGS: Two? And then was there one 20 that was not -- it was received this morning? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. We received one 22 late. 23 MR. HASTINGS: Okay. That one that was 24 received late, do not open it. But the other two can -- 25 can be opened. 55 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. There's one from 2 J3 Company and it looks like the total for Job A is 3 $662,392.00. And then we have one from Texas Materials, 4 total for Job A is $774,652.00. And I'll make a motion 5 that we accept both bids and refer them to the County 6 Engineer for review and recommendation. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And take a note for the 9 record also that Ranchero -- from LCR Total Transport 10 was received late and was not opened or accepted. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We have a motion and a 12 second to receive the two bids that were timely filed. 13 Any discussion? 14 MR. ROBBINS: Judge? In questioning the 15 lateness for the LCR bid, we talked -- 16 JUDGE KELLY: Excuse me. I need you to go 17 to the podium to talk. 18 MR. ROBBINS: Oh, excuse me. I'm L.C. 19 Robbins. I'm questioning the late on the bid. There 20 was a stipulation of before -- I thought it was before 21 10 o'clock this morning. I signed it in before 10 22 o'clock. 23 MS. DOWDY: It was published to be received 24 by the Clerk on October the 8th. 25 MR. ROBBINS: Oh. 56 1 MR. HASTINGS: By 2 p.m. 2 MR. ROBBINS: Oh, I guess I -- my guys 3 missed that. 4 MS. DOWDY: I'm sorry. 5 MR. ROBBINS: Sorry guys. All right. Thank 6 you. 7 MR. HASTINGS: Sorry, sir. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We have a motion and a 9 second. Any discussion? Those in favor raise your 10 hand. Unanimous, five zero. 11 Item 1.20 recognition of Trenton Robbins, 12 Part-time temporary engineering technician, for 13 outstanding work in the Engineering, and Road & Bridge 14 Department. Charlie Hastings. 15 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. 16 Trenton, where are you at? Stand up and be 17 recognized. Trenton Robbins worked in the Engineering 18 and Road & Bridge Departments during the summer of 2021 19 as a temporary part-time engineering technician. During 20 that span, he accomplished much with little to no 21 oversight or instruction. 22 Examples of his work are he learned to use 23 the geographic information system software (QGIS), which 24 I might add I don't know how to use that software, Bobby 25 doesn't know how to use it. It's something new, it's 57 1 something free that's available to the public. 2 We handed it to him and we said, figure out 3 how to use it and show us if it's a good product. And 4 he developed engineering construction plans using that 5 software. He prepared engineering construction 6 documents, utilized the software to accurately measure 7 construction material quantities. 8 He interacted with the public and solved 9 customer problems. He was instrumental in archival and 10 reorganization of department files. He attended 11 development plan review meetings, assisted with the 12 construction inspection, assisted with development plan 13 reviews and other duties as assigned. That's our 14 favorite one right there. He was a catchall. 15 Trenton was a joy to work with and he was 16 well accepted by his peers and the public. Trenton 17 graduated from high school this year. He is taking a 18 gap year before college, and he plans to study 19 engineering. Trenton will make a fine engineer. He is 20 detail oriented, customer friendly, and considers others 21 as better than himself. 22 So thank you, Trenton. Thank you so much 23 for working with us. 24 (Applause.) 25 MR. HASTINGS: I might add that he visited 58 1 College Station this weekend and helped beat the hell 2 out of Alabama. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Good weekend to visit. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: May be awhile before 5 that happens again. 6 MR. HASTINGS: Can I say that on YouTube? 7 JUDGE KELLY: You just did. 8 MR. HASTINGS: Amen. 9 MR. ROBBINS: Judge, can I speak one more 10 time on the road deal? I just called my office and we 11 were -- I'm told we received an addendum that changed 12 the time to today at 10 a.m. to turn in the bids. 13 MR. HASTINGS: For opening the bids. 14 MR. ROBBINS: For opening the bids? 15 MR. HASTINGS: That's right. Yes, sir. 16 Yes. The times for turning in the bids has always 17 remained October the 8th at 2 p.m. The time for the bid 18 opening was changed from yesterday, Columbus Day at 10 19 a.m. to today at 10 a.m. 20 MR. ROBBINS: Okay. That's all right. 21 MR. HASTINGS: That -- that was -- yeah. 22 Thank you for checking on that. 23 MR. ROBBINS: Yeah. Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.21 consider, discuss 25 and take appropriate action for the Court to receive an 59 1 update on the East Kerr County/Center Point Wastewater 2 Collection Project, including the budget, schedule and 3 progress. Charlie Hastings. 4 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. No 5 official action is required on this item. An update on 6 the progress of the East Kerr/Center Point Wastewater 7 Collection Project will be presented to the Court by Don 8 Burger. He is with Tetra Tech Engineering, and they are 9 our consultant on this job. Go ahead, Don. 10 MR. BURGER: Thank you very much. Just -- 11 I understand we have some new Commissioners who may not 12 have heard the last update on this project. It was 13 probably a year ago or so. And -- actually it's 14 probably closer to two years since we actually did a 15 full blown update. So I do want to walk through the 16 project background just to refresh that in everybody's 17 memory. I won't spend a lot of time on that. But we'll 18 talk about the funding, and then the current status of 19 the project, where we are and where we're going. 20 The project was started many years ago 21 because of some malfunctioning septic systems in Eastern 22 Kerr County, and specifically in the Center Point area 23 of Kerr County, and these malfunctioning septic systems 24 pose a serious health hazard to the residents of that 25 community and because of the proximity to the Guadalupe 60 1 River, also posed an environmental hazard to the water 2 quality in the Guadalupe River. Unfortunately, many of 3 these septic systems are not easily repaired and many of 4 the residents who had the failing septic systems could 5 not afford the cost to -- to repair them. And -- and 6 this problem was compounded by the fact that the 7 development in the area was simply too dense for 8 adequate service by an on-site sewage facility or a 9 septic system. 10 And so Kerr County applied to the Water 11 Development Board for funding to help find the solution 12 to the project and additional funding to implement the 13 project. So there have been several rounds of funding 14 on this project going back to, I think, 2012 if I'm not 15 mistaken. I think was the first EDAP fund that was used 16 to develop a plan to address this issue. 17 The project includes about 27 miles of 18 six-inch to 15-inch sewer main, and 11 lift stations and 19 six force mains. The original project was designed to 20 serve approximately 900 new customers or 900 people that 21 were existing homes, existing businesses, would be 22 hooked onto the system. We're going to get pretty close 23 to that, I think, not quite but pretty close. 24 JUDGE KELLY: What was the number again? 25 MR. BURGER: 900. 900 was the original that 61 1 was planned for was about 900. The project will 2 transport the wastewater to the Comfort wastewater 3 treatment plant in Comfort, which is across the County 4 line in Kendall County over there, and so it's operated 5 -- owned and operated by the Kendall County WCID #1. 6 The WCID #1 has contracted with Kerr County 7 to operate the project, to bill the customers, provide 8 the customer service necessary throughout the project, 9 and provide treatment of the wastewater. In exchange, 10 as part of this project, the wastewater plant was 11 expanded to accommodate the additional capacity, the 12 additional flows that this project would deliver to the 13 plant so they would have sufficient capacity for that. 14 And about half a mile of gravity sewer had 15 to be replaced in Comfort to accommodate, again, the 16 capacity that was needed for this project, and about 1.3 17 miles of force main was built in Kendall County to pump 18 to the Comfort collection system, so that all the 19 wastewater can get to the treatment facility. The main 20 backbone of the system is a gravity sewer that runs down 21 State Highway 27, beginning at a lift station at the 22 corner of Schladoer Lane, and that lift station was 23 installed in Phase 1. So it's out there in the field 24 today, you can see that when you drive by on Highway 27. 25 So that main sewer runs all the way up to 62 1 the intersection with China Street. And the rest of 2 Center Point basically pumps to that sewer. And so 3 then, when we talk about the 11 lift stations, that's 11 4 different pump stations that pump. The first main one 5 is down at the corner of Schladoer, that pumps all the 6 wastewater from the project to Comfort, then the others 7 help address the issues. 8 And we have all these communities that 9 backup to the river and some of the other creeks. We 10 can gravity flow back towards the river, but eventually 11 we have to pump to get back up to the sewer on the 12 highway. So that's why there are so many pump stations 13 in this project. 14 But the project does serve downtown Center 15 Point, serves areas south of Center Point off of Verde 16 Creek Road, Elm Pass Road and that area that backs up to 17 Verde Creek, as well as portions of Center Point, just 18 north of 27 and behind the Mini Mart there in downtown 19 Center Point and the Dollar Tree and that -- that area 20 there as well. There is a lift station located on 21 Center Point ISD property, in the school district 22 property that they have reserved for a future school 23 site, and it's right across the street from their 24 athletic complex. So when that lift station is built 25 and that sewer is built, if the school wants to hook 63 1 onto the system there will be a service stub out for 2 them at that time. And that will also serve any future 3 high school or middle -- whatever they develop on that 4 property that they already own there. It'll be -- the 5 service is available for that as well. 6 The other Center Point ISD facilities have 7 been hooked up to the system in the first phase of 8 construction. So we are providing service to the Center 9 Point school district as well as the residents in that 10 area. 11 The total project cost, our total budget at 12 the moment is about 63 million dollars. The project -- 13 about 43 percent of that was used in Phase 1 14 construction. We have 19 percent and 14 percent 15 allocated for Phase 2 and Phase 3 construction. Other 16 budget categories include basic engineering. The budget 17 is about five percent. Special services, which includes 18 testing, geotechnical work, surveying, and construction 19 inspections, accounts for about six percent of the 20 budget. 21 Administration and other services, which is 22 grant administration, County administration, some of 23 that money actually pays the County for the services of 24 the County Engineer, for Charlie and his staff to 25 administer the project, and then also land acquisition 64 1 falls into that category as well. 2 Fiscal services. This is the bond counsel 3 and financial advisors. Loan origination fees and 4 things like that account for about two percent. And we 5 currently have about 8 percent of the budget for 6 contingencies. So -- and then contingencies, of course, 7 are for those unknown things that may or may not happen. 8 The funding sources include a variety of 9 funds. The Texas Water Development Board is managing 10 the lion's share of the funding and the Texas Water 11 Development Board has two basic funds that they provide 12 for these types of projects. One is the Clean Water 13 State Revolving Fund. 14 The Clean Water State Revolving Fund is a 15 fund created under the Clean Water Act that was passed 16 back in the 70's and the -- that funding was provided as 17 Congress -- the U.S. Congress provided seed money for 18 that fund so that the states could provide low interest 19 loans to communities for projects just as this. The 20 whole point of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund was 21 to reduce pollution to the waterways as well as promote 22 public health. So that's -- that's why a lot of this 23 funding is from there. So we do have some loans under 24 that Clean Water State Revolving Fund plan. 25 In addition, the Water Development Board in 65 1 the State of Texas offers a loan forgiveness program. 2 So for communities that are low to moderate income and 3 otherwise economically disadvantaged, they can qualify 4 for up to 70 percent of the loan amount to be forgiven 5 under the CWSRF loans. 6 And so in each of the loan fundings that 7 have been applied for in this, we have maximized that 70 8 percent and been a high enough priority project that we 9 were able to get a share of that fund. And, in fact, 10 some -- in one or two years we got almost all of those 11 funds that were available. Because there's a limited 12 amount of that loan forgiveness fund available each year 13 and only the highest priority projects then are 14 eligible. So this has been a high priority project 15 statewide. 16 The other source of funding is the 17 Economically Distressed Areas Program. We refer to that 18 as the EDAP program. That's exactly what funding was 19 used to get this project started. And so we also have 20 funds under that program for construction and completion 21 of the project, as well as a loan under that program. 22 So I think the important takeaway regarding 23 the funding is that of all of the funding sources, the 24 loan forgiveness grants, grants from the Texas 25 Department of Agriculture, they make up about 80 percent 66 1 of the total financing on the job. So less than 20 2 percent of the total budget for this project is through 3 loan wise. 4 So by the County and the residents of that 5 area investing in and with using these loans, we were 6 able to leverage that to create this big project and 7 make it happen. So that's -- I think that's the big 8 takeaway regarding the funding. 9 Currently, the funding budget is about -- 10 there's approximately $58 million left to be spent and 11 we have about $48 million of that earmarked for 12 construction. We have about $2 million earmarked for 13 basic engineering, $3 million for special services, a 14 little over a million dollars earmarked for 15 administration. Fiscal services, we've spent a little 16 over a million dollars. And then we have $5.4 million 17 in contingencies remaining. 18 Project status. As it sits today, we have 19 Phase 1 construction is complete. And we have paid for 20 -- paid that contractor his final payments. That 21 Phase 1 construction was completed by Pasado 22 Construction. 23 Phase 2 construction, notice to proceed was 24 issued on March 29th. The current contract substantial 25 completion date is June 22nd of 2022. So next summer 67 1 the Phase 2 should be complete. 2 Phase 3 is a smaller phase than Phase 2. It 3 also started on March 29th of this year and current 4 contract completion date is March 29th of next year. So 5 this project should also be completed by next summer. 6 We have a third contract currently under 7 construction as well for wastewater service connections. 8 This contract is funded by grant funds from the Texas 9 Department of Agriculture. The two funds that we have 10 are the -- are Colonia funds. Colonias are communities 11 of low to moderate income within 150 miles of the 12 U.S./Mexico border. 13 So we have a number of these communities in 14 this project area that qualify as Colonias, so the 15 Colonia Economically Distressed Areas Program, or the 16 CEDAP fund, is providing a grant money that allows us to 17 use that money to pay for the connections from the sewer 18 mains to the homes of low to moderate income residents. 19 We also have money from the Colonia fund for 20 construction as these grants. And so this third 21 contract is being financed through that grant funding to 22 make these connections. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One quick point. The 24 TWD -- the clean water funds provide the connections on 25 everybody else. 68 1 MR. BURGER: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So everyone who gets 3 connected under the -- under our grant are without any 4 additional cost, as long as everything is close enough. 5 There's two -- the connections are being funded by two 6 different sources. Some of them by the CEDAP fund, the 7 economic distressed areas, and other -- everybody else 8 goes under the water state revolving fund. 9 MR. BURGER: Yeah. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it was a way for us 11 to maximize dollars. 12 MR. BURGER: Yeah. And -- and, you know, 13 the TDA funds are grant funds. So -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 15 MR. BURGER: -- they do not have to be paid 16 back. We just have to spend it. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You mentioned special 19 services earlier. 20 MR. BURGER: Uh-huh. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What would that entail? 22 MR. BURGER: Special services is testing, 23 surveying, application, costs to prepare the 24 applications for the grants and loans. Construction 25 inspection is being paid as a special service. 69 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Something we would call 2 professional services here in our -- 3 MR. BURGER: Perhaps. Yes. A lot of it is 4 profess -- most of it is some type of professional 5 services. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 7 MR. BURGER: There's also categories that 8 fit under that that we're not actively using, include 9 things like sewer system modeling and that sort of 10 thing. And so, project management funds. The -- but 11 some of the funds that we have used under that category 12 have been for developing capacity analyses and things 13 like that. So the capacity analysis that we presented 14 back several months ago, that's financed through the 15 special service -- that falls as a special service. 16 But most of that fund is going towards 17 construction inspection. Our in-the-field inspectors 18 that we have out there every day running that inspection 19 team. We also have prepared operations and maintenance 20 manuals under that fund as well. Things like that. 21 Things that are above and beyond basic 22 engineering and sometimes require a special -- all of 23 the early on environmental reports and environmental 24 studies that had to be done prior to construction were 25 also under that special services. 70 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 2 MR. BURGER: And as Commissioner Letz 3 indicated, all of the services are financed. So we are 4 able to connect every property that is adjacent to the 5 sewer. We do have the funding to do that one way or 6 another. So the low to moderate income funding 7 residents qualify for funding under the TDA grants, but 8 if they're not low to moderate income we can still hook 9 them up with water development board funds, so funds 10 from the CWSRF and EDAP funding is there. 11 We have expended or we have currently -- 12 excuse me, currently committed funds of approximately 13 $18 million under the construction contracts, the three 14 construction contracts I just talked about. We have 15 about $277 million -- or $277,000 committed for basic 16 engineering, 1.7 million dollars committed for special 17 services, about $700,000 committed for administration. 18 I don't anticipate any future costs for 19 fiscal services because most of those costs are paid at 20 the beginning of funding, when the funding is originally 21 obtained. And we haven't spent, and hopefully won't 22 have to spend, any money on contingencies but, you know, 23 that always changes. 24 But that total amount of funds subtracted 25 from the funds remaining on the project gives us a 71 1 balance of around nine to ten million dollars in funds 2 that are not currently committed. So we will have some 3 money leftover when this project is done. And that's -- 4 so we have sufficient funding to complete the project, 5 and we will have some money leftover. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What are the 7 requirements of what to do with that money? 8 MR. BURGER: Well, we have some choices. We 9 can -- some of the money can be used to retire some of 10 the debt service. So that could reduce the cost of the 11 debt service to the customers and to the County 12 residents. 13 Also some of that funding could be used if 14 there are expansions of the project that -- where we 15 didn't build a sewer line that we want to consider 16 building a sewer line or that sort of thing or kind 17 of -- and -- and actually expand the project somewhat. 18 So that's -- those are the considerations primarily that 19 can be used for the funds. 20 But my recommendation would be that most of 21 that go back into debt service, but there may be a few 22 relatively small projects that we want to consider to 23 expand the project somewhat. 24 And so the total today, we've expended about 25 $30 million. We have a little over $21 million left to 72 1 spend. And there are -- will be approximately a little 2 less than $10 million that's currently uncommitted. I 3 do expect that we will get into -- find some 4 contingencies. 5 The funds committed is based upon contract 6 amounts with current construction contracts; however, 7 there are usually change orders, and on this project a 8 lot of the change orders come from the various unknowns 9 associated with hooking up various residents and that 10 sort of thing. There's always something funny out there 11 that's not -- and that can't be anticipated before we 12 bid the project that will increase those construction 13 contract amounts before they're closed out and done. 14 So -- but I don't think we'll get anywhere 15 near to using all of that $9 million. Any questions? 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That was a good 17 synopsis. 18 JUDGE KELLY: I -- I want to make sure that 19 I understand, Don. The 900 families, is that 900 20 hookups to the -- 21 MR. BURGER: It's connections. And so 22 they're not all residential connections. For example, 23 the school district is included in that, their 24 facilities. There are some commercial -- several 25 commercial entities in Center Point that are connecting 73 1 to the sewer or have connected to the sewer. And so a 2 good portion have it, the vast majority are residential 3 connections. 4 JUDGE KELLY: And what capacity have we 5 hooked up today? Of those 900? 6 MR. BURGER: About 450. 7 JUDGE KELLY: About half? 8 MR. BURGER: 435. About half. Yeah. We 9 hooked up a little over 400 in Phase 1. 10 JUDGE KELLY: So we have four or 450 11 remaining to hook up? 12 MR. BURGER: Approximately, yes. And that 13 number changes -- not daily, but it does change from 14 time to time because we have new people that come to us 15 and say hey, I want to hook up. And then we have people 16 that say well, I wanted to hook up but I don't want to 17 now. So -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What is the estimate 19 for how many can ultimately be on that system with 20 changes? 21 MR. BURGER: It -- yeah, it varies 22 significantly depending upon where they are. So in the 23 maps I brought to y'all several months ago provide some 24 estimates of those capacities available at different 25 locations in the system. And so, there's probably 74 1 another 100 to 200 additional connections that the 2 system has capacity for, about 20 percent of the total 3 capacity approx -- give or take. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So in other words, if 5 it's before or after pump station A or B or whatever, 6 it'll change that number? 7 MR. BURGER: Yeah. Yes, exactly. So -- and 8 it depends, you know, because at the bottom end of the 9 project, you know, right before we pump it to Comfort 10 that's where we have, you know, we have a limiting 11 capacity there. But then that sewer that feeds that 12 lift station also has a limited capacity and then 13 there -- you know, the -- each part as you branch off, 14 it gets less and less capacity. Some of those have a 15 lot of extra capacity in them within their selves, but 16 then they're limited by some facility further downstream 17 that doesn't have quite as much capacity. So that's 18 what makes it kind of a complex question to answer. And 19 it really depends upon the exact location of where we're 20 talking about in the system. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Where -- where is the final 22 pinch point? 23 MR. BURGER: The main pinch point is at the 24 downstream end. Lift station A and that sewer on State 25 Highway 27. So that would be -- the sewer at State 75 1 Highway 27 is a 15-inch sewer. That would be the most 2 expensive element upgrade should additional capacity be 3 desired. So -- because of its length, it's miles and 4 miles long. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Some of the other 6 capacities up and to that choke point can be upgraded by 7 lift station capacities. I mean, increase the pump 8 size. There's a lot of -- it's not a -- there's not a 9 black and white answer. It's very -- it's going to be, 10 you know -- 11 MR. BURGER: Yes. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- you can add 50 homes 13 here, but to do that you're going to have to increase 14 and put a whole new pump and lift station at some point. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But the pipes are big 16 enough. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And you get to a 18 point -- I mean, you have to look at the pumping 19 capacity and then the pipe size. So it's going to be an 20 ongoing for every, you know, connection. And WCID is 21 the one that looks at it. They look at it and they 22 pretty much know -- they know -- they're monitoring the 23 meters at every lift station and they know what's going 24 in and what's going into the plant and they kind of make 25 the determination really. 76 1 And they're hooking people up, or I think 2 they are, that we don't even know about really because 3 that's the way it's set up. They go and -- so that if a 4 new home gets built off of there if there is one, you 5 know. But they want them to go and that person would 6 just have to pay a connection fee. 7 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Of the original plan 8 for 900 hookups, have you had many rejections? 9 MR. BURGER: There have been a number of 10 people that have declined not to connect. The 11 Commissioners' Court early on in the project prior to 12 the construction beginning, issued a court order that 13 requires those residents or property owners with 14 properties less than an acre -- 15 MR. HASTINGS: Or one -- one acre or less. 16 MR. BURGER: One acre or less, sorry. That 17 is an important distinction. One acre or less to 18 connect to the project. And so those properties are 19 basically required to connect, and I think most of those 20 people have consented and applied. There may be a small 21 handful of holdouts that just said no, we're not going 22 to do it. And -- and we have a list of those if that's 23 needed. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And people that are 25 over -- 77 1 MR. BURGER: And we have people over an 2 acre, yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And they're not 4 required. And they're not even included really in the 5 original -- 6 MR. BURGER: Right. So many of those folks 7 that are over an acre have also said hey, yes, we -- we 8 want to be on sewer service. We don't want to have to 9 maintain this old septic system anymore, or aerobic 10 system or whatever they have. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Any other comments or 12 questions for Mr. Burger? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just -- I'll make one 14 more comment. Really more for Beck. There is a 15 distance. We pay for a certain footage to connect. How 16 much is it, Charlie? 17 MR. HASTINGS: Two hundred. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The first 200 feet is 19 covered. If someone lives 250 feet, their home from the 20 sewer line, they have to pay that 50 foot incremental 21 cost. And that's usually what starts for people -- 22 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Yeah. Backing off. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- start backing off 24 because it starts costing too much to connect. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else? 78 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: No, that was good. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Thanks, Don. We appreciate 3 you coming. 4 MR. BURGER: Appreciate it. Appreciate the 5 opportunity to do this important work for the County. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Let's take Item 1.22, 7 which is to consider, discuss and take appropriate 8 action for the Court to authorize the County Judge to 9 execute Amendment No. 12 to the Professional Services 10 Agreement between Kerr County and Tetra Tech in the 11 amount of $1,196,469.00 funded under the TWBD, that's 12 the Texas Water Development Board, Project No. 10366, 13 for additional services related to design, construction, 14 and inspection of the East Kerr County/Center Point 15 Wastewater Collection Project. Mr. Hastings. 16 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. The final 17 phase of the construction of the East Kerr Center Point 18 Wastewater Collection Project are underway. There have 19 been several changes to the design and revisions to 20 accommodate easement acquisition and other project 21 obstacles. 22 In addition, services are required to assist 23 County staff in coordinating the connections of future 24 development to the wastewater collection system. Tetra 25 Tech prepared maps of the project showing available 79 1 capacity information and proposes to aid with the 2 adoption of the County policy that addresses future 3 connection and development of the system. The project 4 construction is being inspected by CEC under contract 5 with Tetra Tech. 6 Tetra Tech proposes to expand the inspection 7 services to include resident project representation 8 through CEC to provide better coordination and field 9 representation of the design team. This has been 10 working well since construction began and will provide 11 better quality assurance for the project construction. 12 In addition, this type of oversight will 13 help to reduce change orders and provide better 14 communication and coordination between all parties 15 involved. 16 We do have a scope of services and the price 17 for the proposal, there's more details in your packet. 18 But as the Judge mentioned, what we're asking the Court 19 to do is to award Professional Services Agreement. This 20 is Amendment No. 12 between Kerr County and Tetra Tech 21 in the amount of $1,196,469.00 and it's funded under the 22 Texas Water Development Board Project No. 10366 for 23 additional services related to design, construction and 24 inspection of the East Kerr/Center Point Wastewater 25 Project. 80 1 Those particular funds are the CWSRF Loan 2 Fund L 1000484, CWSRF Loan Forgiveness Fund LF 1000748, 3 and EDAP Grant Fund G 1000904. There are sufficient 4 funds remaining for this service. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think in summary that 6 two big parts of this, and correct me if I'm not 7 accurate on this Don or Charlie, but one is we're 8 increasing CEC, which is the expected services. We're 9 increasing their involvement. 10 We found in the first phase that we were 11 short on funds there. There was actually an amendment 12 done to help that. But that, and the other large part 13 of this is because this is the Mosty Lane, part of that 14 16 A and B, isn't that rerouting? 15 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. The other large 17 part of this is there's -- over near Verde Creek off 18 Elm Pass there was a -- we had to reroute that whole 19 area due to the failure to be able to get some easements 20 that we needed. So a lot of this work is really -- 21 that's already all been done, and they just didn't bill 22 it and we couldn't do it until we had the contract going 23 for the other parts for additional engineering, and that 24 takes up the bulk of this. 25 MR. BURGER: The lion's share of it is for 81 1 the construction inspection. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I didn't -- I was 3 waiting for that. When you were enumerating all the 4 expenditures, how much of it was easement cost? 5 MR. BURGER: The easement costs -- 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is it incidental to 7 that amount? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 9 MR. BURGER: And it's -- yeah. The total 10 easement cost on the project, I think, the actual cost 11 for the land was not all that much. It was like a 12 hundred or $150,000 or something like that -- 13 MR. HASTINGS: Something like that. 14 MR. BURGER: -- I think more money was spent 15 on the real estate folks that helped us acquire those 16 easements and did all the negotiations and all of that. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What heading is that 18 under in there? 19 MR. BURGER: That's under administration. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval of 21 the agenda item, the approval of Change Order 12 in the 22 amount of $1,196,469. 23 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion, is there a 24 second? 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 82 1 JUDGE KELLY: Any further discussion? Those 2 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 3 MR. BURGER: Thank you very much. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Moving on to Item 1.23 5 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 6 authorize the County Judge to execute a contract with 7 Hewitt Engineering in the amount of $99,080 for 8 engineering services related to Coldwell Lane at State 9 Highway 27 and Willowbend Drive at Highway 27 Drainage 10 Projects. 11 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. Storm 12 water drainage along State Highway 27 in Center Point 13 areas back up onto State Highway 27 during large storm 14 events at multiple locations. These locations were 15 analyzed by TxDOT and their engineers during a recent 16 expansion/upgrade of the State Highway 27 road facility, 17 and TxDOT enlarged various highway culverts to 18 accommodate the larger storm water conveyance under 19 their highway as a result. The next step is to convey 20 said storm water from the highway culverts to the 21 Guadalupe River. 22 The attached contract with Hewitt 23 Engineering, Inc. is for the drainage issues at both 24 Coldwell Lane at State Highway 27 and the Willowbend 25 Drive at State Highway 27, and has a scope of services 83 1 which includes the following tasks: Data collection and 2 local agency meetings, determine hydrology and peak 3 flows for different frequency storms, determine culvert 4 and channel hydraulics, prepare preliminary engineering 5 reports with alternatives and recommendations, and 6 prepare final construction plans, field surveying and 7 estimate project costs. 8 This project has also been identified in the 9 Region 11 Guadalupe Region Flood Plan as engineering 10 funded and underway, and needing construction funding 11 should Region 11 select said project for possible 12 grants. 13 The County Engineer recommends that the 14 court authorize the County Judge to execute a contract 15 with Hewitt Engineering, Inc. in the amount of 16 $99,080.00 for engineering service related to the 17 Coldwell Lane at State Highway 27 and Willowbend Drive 18 at State Highway 27 Drainage Projects, Precinct 2. And 19 John Hewitt is here if you have any questions. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we've got another one 21 after this. But these are the drainage projects that we 22 need to do out there past the airport -- 23 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 24 JUDGE KELLY: -- that Commissioner Moser, 25 your predecessor called for? 84 1 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I know, I looked at it 2 with Charlie. 3 JUDGE KELLY: So -- 4 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I move for approval. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 7 second. Any discussion? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a little bit of 9 discussion on the Region 11. Let me explain that a 10 little bit. It's similar to the -- well, Region 11 11 flood planning group is going to prioritize these and we 12 have to be listed in there to get state funding. They 13 won't be providing the funding, the funding will be 14 through a grant that we have to submit to Water 15 Development Board, probably to them. 16 There -- it could be through somebody else. 17 FEMA possibly, too. But we have to get -- this is -- 18 basically, we have to know what we need to do. And 19 because this is a feasibility study to figure out how we 20 do that so we can accomplish it then we can go forward 21 with the grant and actually do the project. 22 JUDGE KELLY: And this -- Commissioner Moser 23 did have this included in the budget. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. You made a motion 25 to that, I'll second. 85 1 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second. 2 The Court is open for discussion. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is the baseline of 4 this, Don, going to be the floodplain studies or is this 5 all brand new stuff? 6 MR. BURGER: No, it's -- it's different from 7 the floodplain study. It will be the crossings. Each 8 crossing. So it's not really in the floodplain per se, 9 it's the crossings and how much water is getting there 10 and how we're going to get it out of that intersection 11 and back to the river. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, this is basically to get 14 the normal flow of water that hits that area handled so 15 that we can still use the roads, the highways. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 27. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I get that. But 18 you have to have a starting point. You don't know how 19 much volume of water is going to go on any given rain. 20 So I -- I don't know where you -- what the starting 21 point is on something like that from an engineering 22 standpoint. 23 MR. HASTINGS: So we'll look at different 24 storms and we call them different frequency storms. So 25 we'll look and see in a two-year event something that 86 1 theoretically will happen on average every two years, 2 did that go over the top of the road? Then we'll look 3 at five, ten, 25 and 50. And the floodplain is based on 4 a hundred year storm and we -- we don't -- we are 5 nowhere close to that on these crossings. 6 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion and 7 second. Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 8 five zero. 9 Let's move on to the next one, which is Item 10 1.24 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 11 authorize the County Judge to execute a contract with 12 Hewitt Engineering in the amount of $24,925.70 for 13 engineering services related to Sutherland Lane at State 14 Highway 27 Drainage Projects. Charlie Hastings. 15 MR. HASTINGS: The attached contract with 16 Hewitt Engineering, Inc. is specifically for the 17 drainage issues at Sutherland Lane at State Highway 27 18 and has a scope of services which includes the following 19 task: Data collection and local agency meetings, 20 determine hydrology and peak flows for different 21 frequency storms, determine culvert and channel 22 hydraulics, prepare preliminary engineering report with 23 alternatives and recommendations, prepare final 24 construction plans, and the project estimated costs. 25 This project has also been identified in the Region 11 87 1 Guadalupe Region Flood Plan as engineering funded and 2 underway, and needing construction funding should 3 Region 11 select said project for possible grants. 4 The County Engineer recommends that the 5 Court authorize the County Judge to execute a contract 6 with Hewitt Engineering in the amount of $24,925.70 for 7 engineering services related to the Sutherland Lane at 8 State Highway 27 drainage project. Precinct 2. 9 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I'll move for 10 approval. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 12 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 13 second to approve the contract with Hewitt Engineering 14 for the Sutherland Lane at State Highway 27 drainage 15 project. Any discussion? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. My 17 recollection is that -- and Don may know this, that that 18 drainage to there was changed at one point by the 19 previous owner. And there used to be a winding creek, 20 kind of, where that culvert is at Sutherland Lane to the 21 river. And then it was straightened out and went right 22 through that field where it is now where they boarded it 23 and now there's a big depression. Is it part of the 24 study that dumped this water into that big hole? 25 MR. BURGER: Yeah, that's what we're going 88 1 to -- that's an alternative we're going to look at. 2 But -- and you're right, I think that area has been 3 modified. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. So that -- that 5 is an option to dump it in the big hole? 6 MR. BURGER: Yeah. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If they wanted. 8 JUDGE KELLY: It's a de facto detention 9 pond? 10 MR. BURGER: The hole is there. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The hole is there. 12 JUDGE KELLY: All right. Any other 13 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 14 five zero. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: A hole in the ground. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Moving on to Item 1.25 17 Consider, discuss and take appropriate action for the 18 Court to approve a revision of plat for Spicer Ranch 19 Road No. 3, Lot 16. Charlie Hastings. 20 MR. HASTINGS: This proposal divides Lot 16 21 W3-R, 8.99 acres, into two lots. Lot 16 W3-R1 will be 22 5.51 acres fronting on Highway 16, and Lot 16 W3-R2 will 23 be 3.69 acres fronting on Mark Drive. 24 We held a public hearing on this on 25 September the 27th, just the final plat wasn't quite 89 1 ready for signatures at that time, so we're bringing it 2 to you now. 3 County Engineer requests the Court approve a 4 revision of plat for Spicer Ranch 3, Lot 16 W3-R, Plat 5 File No. 17-02753. Precinct 1. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move for approval. 7 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Second. 8 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 9 second to approve the revision of plat for Spicer Ranch 10 Road No. 3, Lot 16 W3-R. Any discussion? Those in 11 favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 12 Item 1.26 consider, discuss and take 13 appropriate action for the Court to approve a final plat 14 for Skyline Subdivision, Precinct 2. Charlie Hastings. 15 MR. HASTINGS: On March 23rd, 2021 a notice 16 of violation of the Kerr County Flood Damage Prevention 17 Order was issued for this property. There was regrading 18 of the property with a bull dozer without a floodplain 19 development permit or a no-rise certificate. 20 On April the 9th, 2021 an incomplete 21 floodplain development permit application was received. 22 And on August the 6th, 2021 a floodplain development 23 permit was issued pursuant to meeting the requirements 24 of the flood damage prevention court order. 25 On August the 6th, 2021 a plat application 90 1 was received for this subdivision that proposes two lots 2 fronting Skyline Road in Center Point. Lot 1 will be 3 5.01 acres and Lot 2 will be 9.06 acres. Said Lot 2 was 4 found to be sold and conveyed on June 29th, 2021 in 5 violation of Section 6.00 of the Kerr County Subdivision 6 Regulations which states: "No sale of lots in any 7 subdivision shall begin until the Court has approved the 8 final plat, and subdivision plat has been filed with the 9 County Clerk of Kerr County, Texas." 10 Both lots lie next to the Guadalupe River 11 and are completely within the regulatory floodway. Any 12 proposed improvement require a floodplain development 13 permit and must meet requirements for development within 14 the floodplain as noted on the plat. 15 There is a specific note that states what I 16 just said. And if you look at that plat, you will see 17 there's shading. That is to make it very, very clear to 18 whoever buys these lots or owns these lots that if 19 they're going to try to develop it, you're not just in 20 the floodplain, you're in the floodway. And I just have 21 real concerns that someone would ever be able to do 22 anything with these lots. 23 But they do have a plat before you and I'm 24 asking the Court to consider, discuss and take 25 appropriate action on the final plat for Skyline 91 1 Subdivision. It is Precinct 2. It does meet our 2 floodplain development regulation. The plat does. 3 Because it has notes that makes it clear to everyone, 4 you're in the middle of a bad situation if we're in a 5 storm. 6 And I'm reminded of what happened recently 7 in Junction with -- I think it was an RV park. And I 8 think there are some RVs and trucks that are still 9 buried in the ground. 10 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Yes, there are. 11 MR. HASTINGS: So I just -- I just don't 12 want to see that happen here or anywhere. I realize 13 that we're a river community and if you live anywhere 14 near the river, you're going to see a flood one day, and 15 it's going to be bigger than the floodplain maps. 16 The floodplain is just to establish 17 insurance. That's what it's there for. It's also to 18 let us know this is a special flood hazard area and we 19 need to take caution. We need to -- it's okay to dream 20 big, but you also need to look at your history books and 21 look at the pictures and see what that river does, and 22 when it comes through it's relentless. 23 So -- but we need to proceed with caution 24 and that's -- that's what I recommend. But does it meet 25 our platting regulations, the plat that's in front of 92 1 you? Yes, it does. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I brought it up a 3 meeting or two back whether the County should have some 4 kind of policy about people understanding what they're 5 getting, rather than just the buyer beware. Having a 6 better understanding or a way to understand that. 7 Especially for somebody that's moved here and not used 8 to this -- our kind of terrain and the river and the 9 flood. We don't have anything like that. So -- 10 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I -- I applaud the 11 effort to put people on notice to let them know that 12 that is floodway. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But there's a lot of 14 that sort of thing where people could be flooded. 15 That's the floodway, which is different. But there's 16 possibilities in a lot of places and it's basically a 17 buyer beware attitude here. And we don't have a policy. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I like the fact that 19 Charlie did it. But that's not the problem with this 20 application. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I know. But -- but 22 doing it on special -- under special circumstances, hit 23 and miss. Piecemeal. 24 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I kind of see it as 25 two issues here. One is the plat and Charlie is saying 93 1 it fits our standards. But the other part is what we do 2 about the ones who violated our laws about filing. They 3 did make it right later, but you know -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: Well, first of all, they 5 violated the rules by changing the floodway without a 6 permit. Right, Charlie? 7 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 8 JUDGE KELLY: And they got cited for that. 9 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 10 JUDGE KELLY: And they got a cease and 11 desist order. 12 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 13 JUDGE KELLY: And then they went out and 14 hired the engineer to go fix what they had done. And 15 we've got that under control now. 16 MR. HASTINGS: Correct. 17 JUDGE KELLY: But in the meantime, before 18 they came to us to request approval for this plat 19 revision, they sold part of the property as though it 20 was a separate lot that had not been platted and 21 violated our rules on that. 22 And my question in my mind was, was this 23 inadvertent or was this intentional? And to me it looks 24 like it was an intentional act for them to sell the 25 property, knowing the requirements of what they were 94 1 going to have to do to get the plat approved. That 2 bothers me. That is a flagrant act of disobedience. 3 And I believe that it's also a crime. A Class B 4 misdemeanor. 5 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, then there's a 7 fee that goes with that. 8 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes. But it's also 9 punishable by jail time. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And/or? 11 MRS. STEBBINS: That's not often what 12 happens but -- 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is it a fee and/or jail 14 time? 15 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes. Up to -- I think it's 16 up to 180 days in jail. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I'm not near as 18 interested in how much time they would spend in jail as 19 to what kind of fine should they pay us for what they 20 did? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think there's 22 two issues that I agree with you, Judge, on the platting 23 issue. And I think that our rules are very clear and 24 the state law is very clear that they're in violation 25 of, you know, a Class C misdemeanor. And I think we 95 1 should probably pursue that. 2 The other issue about the -- the other 3 violation they did floodplain, they've handled that part 4 of it and that's not part of the platting process, which 5 I mean -- so to me, you know, and I don't know, I'll 6 defer to the County Attorney, if there is a -- if it was 7 done improperly, does it still get approved or -- I 8 mean, what's the process of -- and I think these people 9 ought to be -- we ought to probably -- you know, anybody 10 that does this, not just these people but anyone that 11 knowingly violates our rules, we should refer to your 12 office for prosecution and then you have to look at the 13 facts, I guess. 14 MRS. STEBBINS: And the prosecutor will look 15 at facts like he does any other criminal violation. And 16 I think it could be -- it's not just a citation, it's 17 a -- 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think if we 19 defer it to you but -- 20 MRS. STEBBINS: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- I think the question 22 is, I think we should do that A. And B, do you -- does 23 it still get approved into the new state law after 30 24 days? 25 MRS. STEBBINS: I don't -- 96 1 JUDGE KELLY: I talked to Charlie about this 2 this morning. And I think at the end of the day, we're 3 going to have these two lots out there. We are 4 identifying that they are in the floodway. We're 5 providing additional notice that we're not required to 6 provide, but I think it's wise that we do it. 7 But they're just going to be lots on the 8 ground. And if we don't approve it, I don't know what 9 happens to those would-be lots out there. But they 10 can't just do this with impunity. They can't just thumb 11 their nose at our rules. 12 They were -- they were violating the 13 requirements. They were cited. They corrected it. I 14 agree, that's not part of what we're doing here today. 15 But they were already bad players. And then they played 16 badly again. And that's what bothers me. You know, 17 first time shame on you. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So I guess -- I mean -- 19 MRS. STEBBINS: But your question is is 20 whether or not the plat can be approved by operation of 21 law if y'all don't even take action today? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we approve it and 23 then -- if we approve it and refer it to the County 24 Attorney, is that how we would do it? 25 JUDGE KELLY: That would be my motion. In 97 1 fact, I'll move that we approve the plat and refer the 2 matter to the County Attorney's Office to investigate. 3 MS. DOWDY: Well, I think once it's approved 4 it must be recorded in the County Clerk's office. So 5 there's also that. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 MS. DOWDY: I don't think we have a delay in 8 that. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 10 JUDGE KELLY: I mean, it is what it is. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So the 30 day rule -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: It's done. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: How does the 30 day 14 rule enter into this? 15 MR. HASTINGS: Once the -- I'll go ahead and 16 answer. 17 MRS. STEBBINS: You can answer. 18 MR. HASTINGS: Once a plat has been 19 submitted that meets our regulations, 30 days from that 20 date the Court must either approve, approve with 21 conditions, or deny. 22 MRS. STEBBINS: With the specific reason. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So would this one have 24 qualified? 25 MR. HASTINGS: And if you deny, you have 98 1 to -- and if you deny, you have to cite specifically why 2 that plat doesn't meet the regulations. And it meets 3 our regulations, so -- 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 5 JUDGE KELLY: And then the other option, and 6 this is something for us to consider, is to not act. 7 Because then it's approved by operation of law, correct? 8 MRS. STEBBINS: It would be approved by 9 operation of law. 10 JUDGE KELLY: So maybe that's what we ought 11 to do so that there's always going to be a little 12 blemish on this transaction because of the way we did 13 it. Just let it be approved by operation of law. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But then it's not 15 recorded -- 16 MRS. STEBBINS: That's correct. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- necessarily. If we 18 don't do anything -- 19 MR. HASTINGS: It still -- it still has to 20 be recorded. 21 MR. BURGER: It still has to be recorded. 22 After 30 days effectively. 23 JUDGE KELLY: They have to come to us and 24 ask for it to be recorded. I think. Don't they, 25 Charlie? 99 1 MR. HASTINGS: I -- I believe all they've 2 gotta do is go to the clerk and say we understand the 3 Court didn't take any action, it's been 30 days. Please 4 file this. 5 MRS. STEBBINS: Uh-huh. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I -- I don't want to put 7 any additional headaches or requirements on the clerk. 8 My clerk's innocent. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, but have -- have 10 you dealt with anything like that, Jackie? 11 MS. DOWDY: I think it becomes an unofficial 12 plat or something. There -- there are terms we use in 13 the office as an unofficial subdivision plat and it goes 14 in a drawer. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But since all this 16 happens, that 30 day policy, you haven't had any -- any 17 of them just go through? We haven't done anything like 18 that. So this would be new territory. 19 MS. DOWDY: Not since I've been here. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Well, it is what it is. In 21 the future -- whoever wants to buy this property in the 22 future knows that it's in the floodway. And whatever 23 this problem is should be dealt with at this time by 24 this applicant. I see no reason to punish future 25 purchasers of the property. 100 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we've got to make 2 sure it gets filed because we want the public to be on 3 notice that it's in the floodway. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So I think -- 6 JUDGE KELLY: I think my motion was that we 7 go ahead and approve the plat because it meets the 8 requirements and refer the matter to the County 9 Attorney. 10 MRS. STEBBINS: And know that I -- we don't 11 have an investigative -- we don't have an investigator 12 in my office to investigate the crime. So it'll need be 13 submitted to us for review for prosecution. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Do you send a letter to 15 the -- 16 MRS. STEBBINS: Charlie usually sends a 17 letter. Their department sends a letter out, the notice 18 of violation, what they did here, you done it wrong, and 19 then usually people in our community generally are going 20 to comply with whatever they need to comply with when it 21 comes to violations like this. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Does that go with some 23 kind of fee schedule or something? 24 MRS. STEBBINS: Well, if it's -- if a 25 Class B misdemeanor ends up being filed then it -- it 101 1 becomes a criminal case. So all of the criminal fees 2 and fines come with it. It's outside of any kind of 3 fines that would -- would be imposed in the -- on the 4 civil side. It becomes a criminal case. Just like 5 possession of marijuana or DWI or -- 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So it would be 7 incumbent on your office to prove they willingly and 8 wilfully did this? 9 MRS. STEBBINS: We would have to -- we would 10 have to prove -- 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That they were -- 12 MRS. STEBBINS: -- a mental state. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- told -- with 14 knowledge they were doing something wrong. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: Well -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it's the law. 17 MRS. STEBBINS: -- it kind of depends. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, ignorance of the 19 law is one thing, but what you said earlier, Judge, you 20 said they knew not to do it and they did it. And you 21 can do it and be -- you know, you don't know that the 22 speed limit is -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: Here -- here's -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- ten miles an hour 25 and you do 50 and -- and you're still in trouble so 102 1 that's what I'm asking. 2 JUDGE KELLY: But -- but so that everybody's 3 clear about what happened, they went out there and 4 started changing the floodway without having the proper 5 permits. Charlie sent them a letter telling them they 6 were in violation. 7 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Actually, I saw it. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. And so that -- that put 9 them on our radar screen. The remediation for that 10 violation included retaining one of our local civil 11 engineers, John Hewitt, that we just put under contract 12 on these other matters. And so he came out. He knows 13 what the rules are. 14 They also involved with this platting 15 process, Lee Voelkel, one of our local surveyors, county 16 surveyor as a matter of fact, who -- who knows that this 17 was not in compliance with our rules. 18 I want my engineers and surveyors out there 19 to help these applicants comply with what they know our 20 rules are. This sets a dangerous precedent that well, 21 we don't have to do that anymore. The County -- the 22 Commissioners' Court will just rubber stamp. You can do 23 what you want to out there and get away with it. I 24 don't like to set that precedent. We need to enforce 25 our rules, to the extent that we can. 103 1 I'm not trying to be overly punitive, I'm 2 just trying to say you violated the law, you have to 3 answer for it. You shouldn't have done it that way. 4 You're working with an engineer that knew the rules. 5 And if we had John in here -- I don't want to put him on 6 the spot, I'll bet you he told them what the rules are. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I can guarantee 8 you that the County Surveyor did. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. So here we are. Why 10 are we having to deal with it? I've got a County 11 surveyor involved, I've got one of the best engineers in 12 town involved, and we're having to deal with somebody 13 that just thumbs their nose at us. I'm sorry. I've got 14 my jaw out of joint on this one. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm going to make 16 this -- I'll second your motion, Judge. And then we can 17 refer to the County Attorney and I -- and I hope the 18 County Attorney -- I mean -- 19 JUDGE KELLY: Set a precedent. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- and have -- have 21 Charlie do whatever research is needed on that so that 22 we can -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: We'll offer Charlie and 24 Bobby's help. 25 MR. HASTINGS: We -- we did. That's what 104 1 the packet is. It's all there. The only thing that we 2 have not done is issue a notice of violation that they 3 sold the lot. We're bringing it right here in front of 4 the public to expose it. Because it was part of our 5 process, our due diligence of putting this packet 6 together. That's what we -- we do. So it fleshes 7 itself out when people turn things in. 8 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion to 9 approve the plat as presented because it meets our 10 requirements, with the referral to the County Attorney's 11 Office and instruction to the County Engineer to send a 12 notice of violation so that we can have some 13 accountability for this infraction. Any other 14 discussion? 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That works. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I have a 17 question. Have we shaded this too much discussing it 18 like this? Sounds like we've already got somebody 19 guilty of something and it hasn't gone to any kind of a 20 court trial. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we think he's 22 guilty but it's up to the Court. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I understand that. But 24 we've just told the -- 25 JUDGE KELLY: We've got prosecutorial 105 1 discretion to decide what to do, number one. And number 2 two, and -- and my guess is, this problem will be worked 3 out by some sort of agreement as -- as most things like 4 this are. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We don't want 6 anybody -- 7 JUDGE KELLY: That's what I'm saying. I'm 8 giving it to her because I don't want to let it go yet. 9 MRS. STEBBINS: The prosecutor will review 10 it just like he does every other criminal case that's 11 submitted to our office. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. And then ultimately 13 it's up to the Judge or the jury to make a decision on 14 it. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Sure. 16 JUDGE KELLY: If they don't get it worked 17 out with the County, then they may have to go through 18 the entire process. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. Just want to 20 make sure that we, you know, we never used the word like 21 alleged or anything like that. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Well, it's a matter of fact. 23 It's in Charlie's report. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I -- even so, it's not 25 proven in a court of law. 106 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So any more discussion? 2 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 3 Okay. Interesting morning. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Do we have to go back 5 on something? 6 JUDGE KELLY: No, I think we're good. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We skipped some. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 10, 11, 12, 13. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They're pretty quick. 11 JUDGE KELLY: 1.10 consider, discuss and 12 take appropriate action regarding the County Clerk's fee 13 schedule and recording it as it relates to platting 14 requirements. This is to address the interim period 15 until the subdivision rules are officially adopted. 16 Ms. Dowdy. 17 MS. DOWDY: Commissioner Letz can take it. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This came up because 19 Jackie called me because somebody wanted to file a 20 preliminary plat of record and she says what do I do? 21 JUDGE KELLY: We don't do them anymore. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And we don't have 23 preliminary plats anymore. So I said we need to put 24 this on the agenda and my recommendation is that we 25 modify her fee schedule that there's only -- everything 107 1 except the final plat fee schedule is deleted. 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: That makes sense. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we get rid of all -- 4 anything to do with concept plans or preliminary plats 5 related to the fee schedule. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Is that a motion? 7 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Well, are we losing 8 money by -- do we need to -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we -- we can 10 wait a couple months. It's not going to break us. 11 Yeah, I think we need to look at our fee schedule based 12 on this now because it's going to put us on a quicker 13 time crunch frame. 14 JUDGE KELLY: One idea would be to just call 15 it whatever the fees that are charged for the 16 preliminary plan. Eliminate -- eliminate that. But 17 call that a pre final filing fee. If they want to bring 18 one to us and give it to us -- 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You should get what you 20 pay for. So to say they're not getting this and this 21 and this but we're going to charge them more for this, I 22 don't like that. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The problem I have with 24 anything preliminary or pre final is that from the 25 advice of our outside counsel, and inside counsel, 108 1 anything we do to approve something before the final 2 plat may set that we're final -- or approving something 3 before we really want to approve it. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. I agree with that. 5 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Well, one of the 6 things -- and this may be aside from that, but I've 7 considered looking at this, and that is with -- with the 8 encumbrance on our staff to jump through the roof to 9 comply in that period of time, I think those final plat 10 fees need to reflect that so that our budget doesn't get 11 beat up by this. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. And we need to 13 look at -- you know, and all of our subdivision fees, 14 which also need to be looked at because I was looking at 15 them today as well, and they're pretty low. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: They are low. But we 17 shouldn't just up them because we dropped something 18 else. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But those are 20 intended to be user fees. And they should pay what it's 21 actually costing us to do those. 22 But I'll make a motion that we delete the 23 preliminary plat fees from our fee schedule. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll second that. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and second. Any 109 1 discussion? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I see almost -- 3 MRS. STEBBINS: Well, I just have a 4 question, because this brings up a question for y'all 5 that I think is -- this -- now is a good time as any to 6 address it, but people are asking well, what happens in 7 the meantime until you adopt your new rules? Will you 8 even consider preliminary plats or concept plans in the 9 same way that you have before? I think that local folks 10 are asking and would like an answer and this sounds like 11 the answer is no. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The answer is no, I 13 think. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The answer is no, but 15 it'll still going the way it has. You go to the 16 Engineer's Office, you sit down and you talk with the 17 people and their -- their Commissioner. So everybody 18 is -- knows what's going on. That's all. 19 MRS. STEBBINS: Yeah. Okay. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Well, the only comment I would 21 make is we -- we eliminate these -- these preliminary 22 plat approval fees. And I know we no longer have an 23 official preliminary plat process that we're required to 24 accommodate. But I do want to encourage the developers 25 to bring these matters to our Engineer well in advance 110 1 of submitting a final application to give all of us more 2 lead time to make sure we know where we are with this. 3 So I mean I -- I want to encourage them to 4 do some kind of pre final discussion with Charlie and 5 presentation. We're not going to take any action. 6 That's what we're clarifying. We're not going to 7 approve a concept plan. We're not going to approve a 8 preliminary plat plan. There's not going to be any fees 9 if they want to submit them. But we encourage them to 10 still work with our Engineering Department in that 11 regard. 12 MRS. STEBBINS: And the Commissioner of that 13 precinct. 14 JUDGE KELLY: And the Commissioner of that 15 precinct. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The process is still 17 there. And they can -- the Commissioner and Charlie can 18 bring them to the Court if needed for a discussion, but 19 we're not going to take any action on them. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. And Charlie's 21 going to always tell us if the driveway clearance is not 22 enough, if they need different drainage and all of that 23 is going to come up anyway. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. We just need to 25 be careful that we don't get too involved. We just 111 1 listen and receive information more than -- 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, right. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You guys are going to 5 be able to operate without the whiz kid now, right? 6 MR. HASTINGS: We're already struggling. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I know you can barely 8 run a cell phone, but you need a young guy in there 9 again, or a young gal. 10 MR. HASTINGS: Yeah, we're going back to 11 flip phones. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I made a motion. Did 14 you second it, Beck? 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I did. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, you did? Harley 17 did. 18 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 19 second to eliminate the preliminary plat fees with the 20 County Clerk. Those in favor raise your hand. 21 Unanimous, five zero. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And Judge, we can skip 23 Item 1.11 because -- 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. And then we'll go to 25 Item 1.12 consider, discuss and take appropriate action 112 1 to approve the contract with DOCUmation and to authorize 2 the equipment removal and buyout of the UBEO contract 3 number 500-0522756-000. Sheriff. 4 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yes, Judge and Court. What 5 I've been doing is having Sonya pull contracts to get 6 close. A lot of vendors out there are hungry and trying 7 to get -- make sure to get the best bang for their buck. 8 But on this one, it wasn't the numbers that 9 got me; it was the service. Our current company, UBEO, 10 their service tech who lives in Bandera has left and 11 went to another company, just happens to be the new one 12 I want to go to. 13 But he's told us that it's up to three days 14 on service, they're out of Austin, which was not 15 acceptable to me. So I had DOCUmation give us some 16 numbers. And what I wanted to run by y'all, they're 17 willing to buy out our old contract and, of course, add 18 a little bit to our current one but I'll give you those 19 numbers here in a minute. 20 With the current company we get 11,000 black 21 and white copies a month, zero color. With the new 22 company we get 18,000 with 700 color copies, and I'll 23 give you those numbers where it'll make a little more 24 sense in a minute. 25 But with the new contract they will replace 113 1 our copier in our workroom. We have two contracts with 2 this company. The other one's just not a good time and 3 we need to wait about six months. It wouldn't be cost 4 effective to change. But with the current one, if we 5 have a copier in our workroom, warrants, and dispatch. 6 And I'm also asking for a fourth copier for 7 our patrol room where about 24 deputies work out of that 8 room and I kind of wonder since I've been in there, they 9 walk around the outside of the building all day and all 10 night which, you know, I never really got an answer why 11 there's not a copier in there but I want to put one in 12 there. 13 But anyway, with this all being said, at the 14 end of the day the cost -- our current contract runs 15 869.07 a month. The new one would be 942.50 a month, 16 which is what, about $73.43 change. But like I said, we 17 don't get any color copies so we average 140 to 150 a 18 month in overage consistently. So at the end of the 19 day, it's a 50 to $75 savings adding a copier, updating 20 our current copiers where I'm getting all this but from 21 40 pages per minute, they'll be doing 53 whatever. 22 But anyway, so overall I think it's a real 23 good deal. We have sent it to Heather. She had one 24 request -- change. We've changed that and I'm just 25 coming to y'all today to get that approved. 114 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 3 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 4 second to approve the buyout of the UBEO contract with 5 DOCUmation from the Sheriff's Office. Any discussion? 6 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 7 SHERIFF LEITHA: Thank y'all. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.13 consider, discuss 9 and take appropriate action on procedure for hiring 10 grant administrator and review/revise job description. 11 Commissioner Letz. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just put this on the 13 agenda so we can keep this moving. As of Friday, we 14 only had one application. But -- 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Pretty low bar too. I 16 mean -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But either way, we still 18 need to review that one candidate and see if it's 19 acceptable or not. I know that the Auditor's Office is 20 anxious for us to move forward. So I figure that the, 21 you know, committee -- I know the Judge is interested in 22 being on the committee. He has mentioned Rosa Lavender 23 may want to assist in this. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Rosa has volunteered to help 25 on this. 115 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's fine. And 2 probably Jennifer. I think those three on the review 3 committee and then come back with a recommendation to 4 the Court. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, do we have a 6 deadline for when we need this filled? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: ASAP. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I know we -- we said 9 that. But, I mean, is there something to back it up 10 we're waiting on or -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 12 JUDGE KELLY: We need a contact person with 13 GrantWorks. That's -- that's what's holding us up right 14 now. They're going to do all the administration but 15 they need to know who to talk to here at the 16 courthouse -- 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 18 JUDGE KELLY: -- and keep the ball rolling. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But -- but my point is 20 we've lived without that up until now. Do we want to 21 keep looking for candidates? We only got one -- one 22 person. 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It would be nice to 24 have some more. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It would be nice to 116 1 have some choices. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. 3 JUDGE KELLY: I agree. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I don't know what to do 5 to be -- because now what we could do is make this a 6 little more visible. I mean, put it on -- did Lisa put 7 it on Facebook and all that? 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think so. I'm 9 pretty sure. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I don't know what else 11 we could do. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- I'm not sure 13 about Facebook. But I think that, you know, maybe we 14 give it another week and then start interviewing. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I would think you'd 16 want more than one candidate. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I -- I agree with that. 18 But -- but in terms of the hiring, I want to include 19 Jody in that process. Because I've reached out -- we've 20 reached out to Jody to supervise this person, so that 21 you know. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And as we all know, 23 Jody's more important than he is. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Absolutely. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And he'll be the first 117 1 to -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll agree with that. 3 JUDGE KELLY: I'm going to do what she tells 4 me anyway. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Yeah. Well, 6 certainly add Jody. Does that makes sense? 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Without a doubt. 8 JUDGE KELLY: I think so. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Let's -- 10 JUDGE KELLY: She's going to be the direct 11 supervisor, she needs to say is this somebody that she 12 could work with or not. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Bingo. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it's not the kind 15 of job -- I mean it's the kind of job that it's rather 16 specialized so I wouldn't expect a horde of people 17 applying for it. But still, you might think that there 18 would be more than one. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other thing you 20 may be -- you know, is to reach out to the City of 21 San Antonio, which I presume has a grant writing 22 department. Reach out to the City of Austin. Maybe 23 not. Maybe just go to San Antonio. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, but not a lot of 118 1 difference there. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we need to reach 3 out on -- 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Are you talking about a 5 letter, a press release or what? 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We could send a press 7 release to those places. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd almost -- 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Who has a good one to 10 steal? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. What's -- what's 12 Medina County got? 13 JUDGE KELLY: Take it up with Judge 14 Schuchart. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Would there be -- 16 here's a way I think -- you know, when somebody retires 17 from something or they've worked somewhere and they 18 leave, then they become a consultant. So GrantWorks 19 might know somebody that could fill the job too. They 20 may -- they have contact with all kinds of people. Don 21 might know somebody. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: They know the good ones 23 and the not so good ones. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Well, why don't we extend the 25 opening for another two weeks and reach out and see if 119 1 we can't get more attraction. And meanwhile, we'll plan 2 on putting together the committee that includes the HR 3 Director Jennifer, our Court Coordinator Jody, myself, 4 and who else do we have in there? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Rosa. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Rosa. And Rosa's our 7 consultant. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I'll make the 9 motion for that. 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 11 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion and a second. 12 Any discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Did you hear my name? I 14 don't think I did. It was quick. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. I think that concludes 16 our consideration agenda. We'll move on to the approval 17 agenda. 2.1 is to pay the bills. 18 MRS. SHELTON: Invoices for today's 19 consideration is $639,856.62. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move that we pay the 21 bills. 22 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made to pay the 24 bills and second to pay the bills as presented. Any 25 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. We need to 120 1 vote. Okay. It's unanimous. 2 2.2 budget amendments? 3 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 4 JUDGE KELLY: 2.3 late bills? 5 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 6 JUDGE KELLY: 2.4 Auditor reports? 7 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. Auditor's Office 8 conducted two internal audits from the Justice of the 9 Peace Precinct 1 and Precinct 2. And we ask that you 10 accept the reports. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move that we accept 12 the reports. 13 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 15 approve the Auditor reports as presented. Any 16 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, 17 five zero. 18 2.5 monthly reports. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. For August 2021 20 amended report from J.P. 4, Bill Ragsdale, Animal 21 Control Services, Reagan Givens. For September 2021, 22 payroll approval report, County Treasurer, Tracy Soldan. 23 Auditor's report, Tanya Shelton. 24 Constable's monthly report, Constable 1, 25 Tommy Rodriguez, Constable 2, Kyle Schneider, Constable 121 1 3, Paul Gonzales, Constable 4, Brad Ryder. Fines, 2 judgments, and jury fees collected, J.P. 1, Mitzi 3 French. J.P. 2, J. R. Hoyne. J.P. 3, Kathy Mitchell. 4 J.P. 4, Bill Ragsdale. District Clerk, Dawn Lantz. 5 County Clerk, Jackie, J.D. Dowdy. And Environmental 6 Health OSSF Director, Ashli Badders. I move for 7 approval. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and second to 10 approve the reports as presented. Any discussion? 11 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. 12 2.6 court orders. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Court Orders from the 14 meeting I missed last week. Court orders from October 15 6th, 38984 to 38986. And then the ones from our 16 September 27th meeting is 38957 through 38983. Move for 17 approval. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Motion and second to approve 20 the court orders as presented. Any discussion? Those 21 in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. 22 Okay. I think that concludes the approval 23 agenda. Let's go on to the information agenda. Do we 24 have any department heads with a status report? 25 Moving on, do we have any elected officials 122 1 with a status report? Sheriff. 2 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yeah, real quick. When I 3 spoke to y'all last time I think we had four human 4 smuggler events. Two in Kerr County, one in Kimble, and 5 one in Kendall. The last two weeks we've averaged one 6 smuggling case a week. 7 Both incidents we arrested -- well, we -- 8 we took in custody nine illegals. The first one we put 9 one person in jail for human smuggling. And last week 10 we put two individuals. Currently, I was supposed to be 11 in a meeting in San Antonio where all the sheriffs meet 12 about once a month. I have two guys there but, like I 13 said, we'll just continue to maintain things and they'll 14 be picking up for us. We'll keep you posted. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other elected 16 officials? 17 Okay. 3.3 Liaison Commissioners. Any 18 report? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The only thing to report 20 is I mentioned a couple times about that Lone Star 21 program -- 22 JUDGE KELLY: Operation Lone Star? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Operation Lone Star. I 24 visited with John Bull last week. And his 25 communications with Keith Williams. They decided that 123 1 we don't want to participate. So they're not going to 2 bring that forward to the oversight committee, I don't 3 believe, at least at this time. It was -- seems like a 4 lot of work for not much gain. And -- and not the right 5 thing to do right now. So at the present time no plan 6 for that. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I got one from 8 the Historical Commission. There's going to be a 9 historical marker dedication at Glen Rest Cemetery on 10 the 13th at 10 a.m. That's this Saturday. State 11 Highway 27. Everybody's invited. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Anything to report? 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: No. 14 JUDGE KELLY: I got a couple to report. One 15 is the CIP committee. Our capital improvement planning 16 committee. They're in the process of a six-month 17 awareness program to make the public aware of what our 18 capital needs are. The month of October is for the 19 courthouse and courthouse security. Fred Henneke is 20 heading that up. You can expect him to be here probably 21 at our last meeting of the month to brief us on how 22 that's going and to make the Court generally aware of 23 what these needs are. So that's to report. 24 The other thing I'll report is last week we 25 had our very first Kerr County APO advisory council 124 1 meeting. It went very well. We had probably a dozen 2 and a half people there. It was well attended, well 3 received. And so we're -- 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And the APO is? 5 JUDGE KELLY: The Aggregate Production 6 Operators. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Less people forget. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Well, but -- and the way we're 9 running that meeting is I actually preside somewhat like 10 I do here, that I don't -- one side cross-examine the 11 other side. I have questions directed to the bench. 12 And then I'll refer them -- if we have a citizen out 13 there asking questions, they come to Jill and I, and 14 then we hand those questions off to the operators and 15 kind of intercede so that we don't get the finger 16 pointing and the name calling and dramatics. And 17 everybody has behaved beautifully. So we're off on a 18 good foot. 19 Anything else to report? 20 MRS. GRINSTEAD: Judge, just for 21 clarification, I think that marker is November 13th; not 22 October. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Did I say October? 24 MRS. GRINSTEAD: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I said this Saturday. 125 1 Yes. You're right. Thank you. November 13th. Because 2 this Saturday is the 11th or something. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We have one item to 4 take up in Executive Session involving our Juvenile 5 Detention Facility that is -- we have inquiries and 6 potential offers that are being made to lease that 7 facility that we want to bring to the Court's attention 8 and take that matter up in Executive Session. 9 Meanwhile, we're going to take a five minute 10 recess and when we reconvene we'll be in Executive 11 Session which shouldn't take very long. 12 (Recess.) 13 (Executive Session.) 14 JUDGE KELLY: We're out of executive 15 session, no action to be taken, so Court is adjourned. 16 * * * * * * 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 126 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 Regular Commissioners' Court. 9 Dated this the 23rd day of October, A.D. 10 2021. 11 12 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/30/2023 14 * * * * * * 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25