1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Friday, October 29, 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 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 3 action to approve "Intent to Submit" form 4 for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, and determine the time frame to 5 accept forms. 6 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 4 action to approve "Project Application" 7 form for the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, and determine the time 8 frame to accept applications. 9 1.3 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 21 action to define specific criteria (example: 10 Application must be completed and submitted on time and with all backup data to justify 11 expenditure) and Scoring Process for applications submitted for American Rescue 12 Plan Act(ARPA) funding. 13 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 22 action to approve "Procurement Policies 14 and Procedures" and "Procurement Checklist" for the American Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) 15 funding. 16 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 23 action to set budget for anticipated 17 expenditures for the American Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) grant administration. 18 1.6 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 30 19 action regarding public input related to American Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) funding. 20 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 31 21 action regarding Grant Administrator job posting and interviews. 22 *** Adjournment. 33 23 *** Reporter's Certificate. 34 24 * * * * * * 25 3 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. The Kerr County 2 Commissioners' Court will come to session for a Special 3 Meeting, and it is 10:57. 4 The first item on the agenda is to consider, 5 discuss and take appropriate action to approve the 6 "Intent to Submit" form for the American Rescue Plan Act 7 funding and determine the time frame to accept forms. 8 That's the attachment under tab one. 9 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I'll move for approval 10 as submitted. 11 JUDGE KELLY: And with that -- and this 12 would be for the -- to submit by the end of the year? 13 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Yeah. December 31st. 14 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion to approve 15 the form and make the deadline for them December 31 of 16 this year. Is there a second? 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 19 second. Those in favor? 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Wait a minute. And so 21 we'll change this from -- one form says now to December 22 31st? 23 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Yes. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. The form now 25 says -- 4 1 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: November 11th. 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. 3 MRS. LAVENDER: There's that packet that I 4 gave you, that's all the updated. That one does say 5 December 31st. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. Very good. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 8 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And just for 10 clarification. This is a -- this is pretty much 11 expected, a one page -- 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Very simple. 13 MRS. LAVENDER: Do we want to take business 14 off of it? 15 JUDGE KELLY: No. That's fine. 16 Item 1.2 consider, discuss and take 17 appropriate action to approve the "Project Application" 18 form for the American Rescue Plan Act funding and 19 determine the time frame to accept applications. And 20 the proposal, I believe, is to approve the form and 21 applications would be due -- 22 MRS. LAVENDER: It's 30 days. 23 JUDGE KELLY: 30 days from when? 24 MRS. LAVENDER: Right. From the time they 25 receive electronically their invitation to submit. Then 5 1 they -- 30 days after that would be the deadline. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 3 MRS. LAVENDER: Because as we get these 4 letters of intent we're going to send them in. So if we 5 get some of them back, then I'll go ahead and invite 6 them to -- and that way we don't have all of the 7 applications come in on the same day. We've got time 8 to -- 9 JUDGE KELLY: So it will be a very fluid 10 process. 11 MRS. LAVENDER: Right. Exactly. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But it won't go any 13 further than the end of January 31st? 14 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I -- 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If we're going to have 16 them submitted by -- didn't we just decide we're going 17 to have them submitted by the 31st of -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: That's right. Then they go to 19 GrantWorks. And then GrantWorks bounces them back -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 21 JUDGE KELLY: -- and we get them back to the 22 applicants. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So when is the trigger 24 pulled, is what I'm trying to get to? 25 MRS. LAVENDER: When the -- when we get them 6 1 back -- 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: 30 days from whenever 3 GrantWorks sends them back? 4 MRS. LAVENDER: Correct. When they're 5 approved to submit. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So that would -- they 7 would all have to be in by the end of January. Unless 8 they're going to sit on them awhile. 9 MRS. LAVENDER: Correct. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I have a process 11 question here. We're only looking at the first block of 12 money, 5.1 million or two million. And we know -- we 13 think we're going to get a second block. So we're going 14 to -- anyway, I guess my point is, is there a reason 15 that we have to have all these deadlines? Why can't we 16 just put it out there, they submit them, we review them 17 and we can start funding as we decide we want to do it. 18 Why do we have to wait until all of them come at once? 19 MRS. LAVENDER: We don't. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Because we may have -- 21 JUDGE KELLY: I don't think we want to. 22 MRS. LAVENDER: Huh-uh. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We don't want to, what? 24 JUDGE KELLY: Wait until they all come in. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The money doesn't have 7 1 to be spent until the 25th -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. So I mean I -- I 3 don't -- why do we need deadlines on these -- on the 4 notice of the advance of the application? As soon as 5 they submit them, it goes through the process and if the 6 money's gone, the money's gone. 7 MS. LAVENDER: Well, the reason I chose the 8 December 31st was because of the Thanksgiving, Christmas 9 holidays were coming up and I didn't want to put a 10 stress on anybody to do it on November the 15th or 11 November 30th or whatever. Because that -- we would -- 12 I got the impression Monday that you wanted to extend 13 the time out a little ways. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I'm -- 15 MRS. LAVENDER: But as soon as they send in 16 the notice to submit, I can forward it to Laurie. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm saying not have a -- 18 have deadline dates, period. I'm saying just let them 19 submit them and -- you know, I think -- I mean, there 20 are some people that are aware of this. There's more 21 will be aware of it after the workshop. But we -- I 22 mean I just -- we're going to get more money and I just 23 think we start dealing with them as we get them and I 24 don't think we need a deadline. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: For order. To do 8 1 things -- 2 MRS. LAVENDER: Okay. Do you want to take 3 out -- 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- in an orderly 5 fashion. We have deadlines for everything. We have 6 times. We have windows for all kinds of stuff. I don't 7 think this should be any different. Now, whether we 8 want to expand it out and give us 12 months so everybody 9 knows, your point is well taken that some people won't 10 know, but I don't think it should just been open ended. 11 That's -- that's -- we're trying to get back to normal. 12 We've had two years worth of we don't know when the hell 13 anything is going to happen or whether the rules are 14 going to apply. I'm tired of that personally. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I don't mind -- I 16 mean, I guess the deadlines all seem short to me. I 17 mean -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, that -- that's a 19 good point. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I don't know why 21 our -- 22 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I think what I'm 23 hearing -- excuse me. We're talking about the -- the 24 intent to submit. And we're trying not to rush people 25 on that because of the holidays. We're all in agreement 9 1 on that? 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. 4 JUDGE KELLY: And so arbitrarily Rosa has 5 picked the end of the year, December 31. We passed 6 that. Let's leave that alone. But as I understand it, 7 as these intents to submit come in it's going to be a 8 fluid process. We'll go from Rosa to GrantWorks. 9 GrantWorks will do whatever they want to do with them 10 and then give them back. This is just a thumbs up, 11 thumbs down. First look. And when -- once they get the 12 thumbs up, they can apply right away. 13 MRS. LAVENDER: Right. 14 JUDGE KELLY: There doesn't need to be a 15 deadline on that. 16 MRS. LAVENDER: Right. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well -- yeah, there 18 should be. Because you've got to know how much money 19 you got. 20 MRS. LAVENDER: Well -- 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Am I right? Tanya? 22 MRS. SHELTON: That would be my preference. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 24 JUDGE KELLY: That's us. That's -- 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I know. But if you 10 1 have a check out there that hadn't cleared, you'd want 2 to know that. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 4 MRS. LAVENDER: That was the reason I 5 thought the 30 days window would be easy for them. 6 Because some of them probably already have most of their 7 backup information and what they want to do with it. So 8 let's hypothetical again, I guess their intent to submit 9 on December the 2nd. Okay. Send it to GrantWorks. 10 GrantWorks sends it back on December the 10th. I'm 11 going to give y'all some dates. Because it's the 12 holiday time and you'll -- okay. 13 So they send it back December 10th. So I 14 send an e-mail to whatever organization -- the Sheriff's 15 office. We'll use the Sheriff's office. I send an 16 e-mail and say, okay, now go online, fill out the 17 application, get your stuff together, get it submitted. 18 So he's already got a lot of stuff done. So he submits 19 his on December 23rd. Okay. I'm going to send it to 20 GrantWorks. They're not going to do it on December 21 23rd, 24th, 25th, whatever. But they might get that 22 application back to us -- if I put a 30-day deal on it 23 then they're going to get that back to us by January 24 15th. Okay. And then we bring it to the Court, the 25 Court says yes. That's the end of it. 11 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess I would say -- I 2 mean on the application, just thinking, and I've dealt 3 with a lot of non-profits trying to get bids on 4 something right now. Not even in this County. It took 5 two months to get an engineer to draw a simple drawing 6 and it hadn't even gone out for bid yet. So I think, 7 you know, if it's a -- 8 MRS. LAVENDER: Well, you want to make it 60 9 days? Would that be -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd almost say 90. 11 MRS. LAVENDER: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean because if you -- 13 yeah, and I mean some of them, they should be able to 14 fill out an application almost in one day. 15 MRS. LAVENDER: Okay. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But some of them, if 17 someone's doing a construction type project, it could 18 take 90 days easily to get that. 19 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Well, let's go back to 20 deadlines. I mean, we're looking at 5.2 million 21 whatever else. But, you know, what are we thinking of 22 in terms of our deadline to get something done? And 23 that -- that may or may not involve other applications 24 but I'm talking about what we internally are thinking 25 about it. Are we thinking that's open-ended too? 12 1 MRS. LAVENDER: Well, you have until 2 December 31st of 2024. 3 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: I guess what I'm 4 getting at is it's the same thing. We're going to have 5 to make some decisions on some big items. And then 6 we're going to be looking at how much we have left -- 7 MS. LAVENDER: Right. 8 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: -- of these 9 applications that we can help. So we kind of need some 10 sort of a deadline that we're all looking at. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We have to look at 12 everything? 13 JUDGE KELLY: Well, the deadline for 14 obligating the funds is December 31, 2023. 15 MRS. LAVENDER: '24. 16 JUDGE KELLY: '24. Okay. So we got two 17 years. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Two years. 19 MRS. LAVENDER: And then they have two years 20 after that to actually, you know -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So I -- 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- make it happen. 23 MRS. LAVENDER: So it's a big window. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I think the 25 notice of intent is good. Because that way we have some 13 1 idea what's out there. The application, I think, should 2 be, you know, at least 90 days. And -- and some of them 3 may be a day but some of them may take a long time, it 4 just depends on what the applications are. 5 MRS. LAVENDER: Okay. So you're going to 6 hold on to the ones that you get for 90 days and wait 7 until the 91st day and look at all of them? Or are you 8 going to -- 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: See, here's -- here's 10 what I'm thinking is that when somebody comes and they 11 file, they're going to -- they're going to build 12 something. And they file with the County Clerk. 13 They're putting in new construction. It's an automatic 14 thing and there is a time limit on it. You have 30 days 15 or it just happens. And you can't do that to this. 16 It's going to be -- but it still needs a time. 17 Everything needs a trigger date from when it starts and 18 when it can be completed. And you need to know. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. So I mean -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Otherwise, you're -- 21 the organization you're talking about, if you're talking 22 about construction, that kind of stuff, you kind of have 23 to know when your start date is and when you're going to 24 be able to build and so on. 25 MRS. LAVENDER: That's one of the 14 1 requirements is you have -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, what I'm saying 3 is, and presume the application's going to be for like 4 $1,000,293.10. Well, we're going to have to -- they're 5 going -- it's going to take a fair amount of time to 6 come up with that number. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it's going to be 9 more than 30 days. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Jack? 11 MR. CLARK: Sorry, Judge. Just throwing it 12 out there. If the Sheriff turns in an LCRA radio 13 contract for the whole county for 5.2 million dollars 14 and it's approved, what are you going to do? 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: They'll be a second 16 round of 5.2. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And everything else 18 would be put on hold. Well, hopefully it's not going to 19 be that much, Jack. 20 MR. CLARK: Well, it's up there. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know it's up there. 22 But I think that we -- you know, I think that we approve 23 them as they come in to a point or we wait at some 24 point. I mean, I don't see there's any rush between now 25 and, I don't know, six months from now, a couple months 15 1 before we start making decisions. And I think that's 2 kind of a more -- maybe that's the right way to approach 3 it. When do we want to make the decision -- start 4 making decisions and then have applications due 30 days 5 before that date? 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, also the scoring 7 process, and you might look at those that say that 8 they're based on -- 9 MRS. GRINSTEAD: And just -- because when 10 those applications are due, it's still going to take 11 quite a bit of time after that. Because it's then going 12 to go back to GrantWorks to make sure they're still in 13 compliance, and then if you decide to have them graded, 14 whatever criteria you use, or whoever you use, you've 15 got to give those people time. So it's not like even if 16 they're due, you know, in six months and you want to 17 make that decision in seven months, that's not enough 18 time. So just keeping in mind that even when they're 19 due, it's going to take -- it's a process after they're 20 submitted, also. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What are other counties 22 doing? How long between submitting the notice and 23 having an application? 24 MRS. STEBBINS: Sorry, I had her distracted. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is Jo Carroll. I 16 1 think she can answer the question. 2 MS. CARROLL: So GrantWorks is actually 3 working with about 140 different cities and counties on 4 this Act and I'll tell you this, that you're the first 5 one to get to this point where you've actually got a 6 process that's been worked on. So right now you're 7 leading the rest of the state. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's why there's other 9 cities here to watch. I feel better now. 10 JUDGE KELLY: I feel comfortable that we 11 need -- it's good to let the people know that they need 12 to get these intent to submit in to us. I think that's 13 good. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's good. I agree. 15 JUDGE KELLY: And -- and -- but at this time 16 do we set the deadlines today? Or do we massage this 17 process over the next -- until the -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It might be good to 19 come back to it. 20 JUDGE KELLY: -- and come back and we have a 21 better feel of what these deadlines ought to look like. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Here's -- here's what I 23 don't like about it is this. That we have it 24 open-ended, people might drag their heels. It might go 25 too long. A lot of parents in here, if you tell your 17 1 kids I want you to do that, but you don't give them a 2 deadline, does it happen? No, not until there's a 3 deadline and that's true of all of us. We carry all 4 those habits with us our entire lives. So we really do 5 need to have some kind of, you know, close the lid, this 6 is done. Sorry, the last guy in the gate. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. And I agree 8 with that. And I think that -- yeah, and I'm fine with 9 the Judge -- 10 JUDGE KELLY: But I think setting deadlines 11 today, we haven't thought it all through. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: True. 13 JUDGE KELLY: So I think what we'll -- what 14 we've done I agree with. But on these others, going 15 forward I'd like to have the latitude to come back after 16 we've had a chance to think and talk it over and then 17 see what the realistic timetable should look like. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And see what the notice 19 of the intents are. Because that will give us some idea 20 as to how much time some of this is going to take. 21 MRS. LAVENDER: Absolutely. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. Seems -- 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And it might -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm sorry. 25 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: And budgets. 18 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It might be good to 2 hear from some of the non-profits that have done a big 3 project or made a big submission and got a grant, how 4 long that process took. It's new to me. I don't know 5 how long it takes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's pretty long. It 7 takes -- I mean, you're going to have to get contractors 8 in and -- I mean, it's a -- it takes easily six months. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, that's -- that's 10 not on all of them. That would a rare -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. A big -- a bigger 12 project, yeah. But a -- a smaller one could take 30 13 minutes. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, like a -- the 16 Youth Orchestra, you know, had a bad fundraiser. Okay. 17 They can fill that out pretty quick and submit it to us. 18 JUDGE KELLY: In order to expedite things, 19 we've been at this almost two and a quarter hours. On 20 Number 2, I think I would just not determine the time 21 frame to accept the applications at this time. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we pass that one. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We're going to pass it? 24 JUDGE KELLY: Well, we pass the application. 25 We've approved the project application form. 19 1 MRS. LAVENDER: We've approved the 2 application. 3 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: But we omit the 4 deadlines. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: One thing, we -- Rosa, 7 maybe the last question on this, should we prompt people 8 to maybe turn in three or four years, if it's somebody 9 like the VFD that has fundraisers and then had to cancel 10 it because of Covid? Do we prompt them to put up what 11 they normally make -- 12 MRS. LAVENDER: As there -- yeah, I think 13 that would be wise to provide the data. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: So do we add this to 15 the form though? 16 MRS. LAVENDER: Sure. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: The question maybe? 18 MRS. LAVENDER: Sure. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And that could be 20 little league or whatever -- 21 MRS. LAVENDER: See down there -- see down 22 there where it says note, application and any additional 23 information must be submitted. See it down there on the 24 bottom of that first page? So that should cover that. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. And any other -- 20 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And any of -- I think it 3 might say prior year's budgets. You know, I think it 4 might leave a little bit on the other application as to 5 what we're looking for so we don't get them in and then 6 have to go back. I think anyone requesting money 7 because of a loss is going to have to submit three 8 year's budget. 9 MRS. LAVENDER: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You're talking about 11 their P&L or are you talking about what they normally 12 budget for a year? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Their P&L. 14 JUDGE KELLY: You know, all we're trying to 15 do really is approve forms. And this is just an -- this 16 is the application. We've approved the intent form. 17 Now we're asking to approve the application form. All 18 this detail that we're talking here, we're getting down 19 in the weeds. It's going to be when she's telling them, 20 be sure and put your -- put the documentation in there, 21 be sure and do this -- 22 MRS. LAVENDER: Yeah. I can suggest in my 23 e-mail that they add their prior two year's budget or 24 whatever. Those are little things that we can do 25 easily. 21 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I guess it's the 2 schoolteacher in me coming out. I know how you get 3 three or four word answers to some questions. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Well, just to kind of move 5 things along, I'm going to go ahead and move that we 6 approve the application form. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I'll second. 8 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: Without the deadline? 9 JUDGE KELLY: Without the deadline. Just 10 approve the form, get it started. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll second that. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any discussion about 13 that? We've got a motion and a second. Those in favor 14 raise your hand. Unanimous. 15 Let's do the same thing on number three. 16 Number three says consider, discuss and take appropriate 17 action to define specific criteria -- and that's that 18 criteria that's been printed out under that tab three -- 19 and Scoring Process for applications submitted for the 20 American Rescue Plan Act funding. 21 I like the criteria. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 24 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 25 second to approve the criteria for the ARPA grant -- the 22 1 ARPA funding. Any other discussion? Those in favor 2 raise your hand. Unanimous. 3 1.4 consider, discuss and take appropriate 4 action to approve the "Procurement Policies and 5 Procedures" and the "Procurement Checklist" for the ARPA 6 Act funding. Any discussion on that? 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So move. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion and a second 10 to approve the Procurement Policies and Procedures and 11 the Procurement Checklist. 12 MRS. STEBBINS: Judge? May I just -- this 13 is one of those where I think that it would be a good 14 idea for each of you to look through each of those 15 requirements, and Tanya and I talked some about this one 16 last week and we thought -- or week before last even, 17 maybe when we first got it, and we thought that Marinda 18 this morning was going to provide a little bit of 19 education about what those policies are. 20 But it will be good for y'all to adopt it as 21 it relates to the ARPA funding specifically. So that 22 order can be attached. If you adopt that policy, the 23 order can be attached and so it's just adopted as it 24 relate to ARPA. Because that's -- 25 JUDGE KELLY: I agree. 23 1 MRS. STEBBINS: -- I think in the past when 2 we've adopted Federal rules or other guidelines, it's 3 been to specific projects, and that would be helpful in 4 this regard. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I agree. You got a 6 motion, Harley? 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes. I agree with 8 that. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 10 JUDGE KELLY: So do we have a motion and a 11 second on this one? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We had it. Harley and 13 me. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Those in favor raise 15 your hand. This is to ARPA funding. Unanimous. 16 1.5. Consider, discuss and take appropriate 17 action to set a budget for the anticipated expenditures 18 for the American -- the ARPA grant administration. And 19 the budget there includes GrantWorks as well as our 20 grant administration. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's all out of the 22 grant money? 23 JUDGE KELLY: All paid out of the ARPA fund. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So we know what the 25 amount is. 24 1 JUDGE KELLY: Right. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. I move for 3 approval. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now -- but other 5 contract services, that's -- what we're paying Rosa and 6 others, or the next? 7 MRS. LAVENDER: Yes. 8 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's everything. It 10 all comes out of that. 11 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. And this is -- keep in 12 mind, this is over four years. It's not due for the 13 current year. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But the salary for that 15 new position which is largely going to be for this grant 16 is over 50,000 a year. 17 MRS. SHELTON: And so when we get to where 18 we hire the employee for that, we will be pulling in the 19 budget for that and looking at decreasing the amount 20 that's currently in funds -- general fund, Fund 10, and 21 we would be moving it to the ARPA at that point. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why wouldn't we include 23 it now? 24 MRS. SHELTON: We could. We haven't hired 25 anybody yet as an employee. 25 1 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: It's going to have to 2 change regardless. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I know. But this 4 is -- I mean, this is a budget for the ARPA funds. 5 We're hiring someone for this. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But not just -- 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Not yet. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This -- I don't know if 9 we can put a percentage tag onto it. But I don't think 10 we can and I don't think we should because we have 11 somebody that's going to do all grants, and it's not 12 tied just to the ARPA. 13 MRS. SHELTON: And it will be based on time 14 sheets. They will have to keep separate time sheets for 15 the ARPA fund just like we currently do right now for 16 the sewer project. 17 JUDGE KELLY: So we're going to be doing 18 budget amendments as we go along with regard to grant 19 administration related to the ARPA funds. 20 MRS. SHELTON: When we get somebody hired 21 when we commit the funds for a certain reason, my 22 thought is bring it in at that point. I mean, we could 23 set a ten million dollar budget right now for the entire 24 fund, but we'd have a huge line for who knows where it's 25 going to go at this point. 26 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess my point is that 2 number seems real low to me. And should we try to have 3 this more accurate or just leave it the way it is and 4 amend it later? 5 MRS. SHELTON: Oh, the 40,000? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 7 JUDGE KELLY: They can't hear you. 8 MRS. SHELTON: Oh, sorry. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just the 40,000 fund. 10 MRS. SHELTON: Yeah. The 40,000 should be 11 enough for this year probably. But you're right, we may 12 need more funds as we go along. This was -- this was 13 hopeful that we'd get a permanent grant administrator 14 sooner rather than later. And so this just put in the 15 40,000. It's just a number. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess my point is we 17 get 10.2 million. The 460,000, or whatever it is, is 18 coming out of that off the top, so we can't spend -- 19 that's coming -- that's not available for projects. 20 MRS. SHELTON: Correct. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would rather have this 22 number higher so we're taking that off the table right 23 now. I would rather put 200,000 here but then we've got 24 600,000 that we're allocated that we're going to hold in 25 reserve as opposed to 460,000. 27 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I think we should 2 work with the 5.1, that's what we've already had. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well yeah, but I'm -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: But that's not -- but that's 5 not the administration budget. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. I agree. I just 7 think the administration budget we would want it higher 8 rather than lower so we don't over spend. 9 MRS. SHELTON: Okay. So go ahead and add it 10 right now? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I'm just -- 12 yeah, I said 200,000. I'm not sure what that number is 13 supposed to be. Maybe it's 150,000. But I just think 14 that we ought to have that number -- it's going to be a 15 lot more than 40,000. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Then what about -- 17 JUDGE KELLY: This is for this fiscal year, 18 right? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's for the whole year. 20 MRS. SHELTON: Well, it's for the -- it's a 21 four-year grant, so it would be for the four years as 22 we -- I guess my thought process was, as we commit the 23 money certain places, we would bring in the revenue at 24 that point to cover it. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we're accumulating 28 1 all of GrantWorks monies in this one line item? 2 MRS. SHELTON: Because we've signed a 3 contract and we've committed for it. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we haven't committed 6 for the office supplies. 7 MRS. SHELTON: And that is an estimate of 8 getting the computer ready, getting all of the paper 9 that will be needed for the current -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It seems we're doing two 11 things. For some items we're doing only what we're 12 doing right now and other items we're doing for the 13 grant. And that seems inconsistent to me. 14 MRS. SHELTON: Okay. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It ought to all be what 16 our best guess is today that we're going to spend to the 17 administration for the ARPA fund. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Some of it's start up 19 costs, so that goes away. 20 MRS. SHELTON: So you want me to come back 21 and multiply all of these by four? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just don't know. I 23 mean we have -- the GrantWorks is the full amount. The 24 others are unclear to me if it's a -- I just think they 25 need to have -- I think we need to know what the total 29 1 administration -- administrative estimated cost is going 2 to be. I think we need to be consistent on this 3 subject. Right now we have a -- one item is a four-year 4 period so it's a hundred thousand a year, the other 5 items are one year. And we should make them all one 6 year or all four years. 7 MRS. SHELTON: Okay. Jody and I can confer 8 on that and bring in a different budget back to you then 9 on next Commissioners' Court. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Am I not -- am I off 11 base? 12 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: No. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: No, it doesn't hurt to 14 block it out. 15 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: But I think you give 16 confidence of when we distribute what we got left. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You've got to earmark 18 it. 19 JUDGE KELLY: So move on the basis of fiscal 20 year. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Four years. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Four years? 23 MRS. SHELTON: I would say go four years 24 just because we know what we're going to have to pay 25 GrantWorks for the four years. The rest, we're still 30 1 not going to know. It'll be our best estimate for four 2 years. 3 JUDGE KELLY: It's an apple to apple 4 comparison. 5 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So does this -- does 7 that money at that point go in the general fund or 8 how -- how do you handle that? 9 MRS. SHELTON: No. This will be in a 10 separate fund that we've set aside for ARPA money only. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: In a separate account? 12 MRS. SHELTON: It's in a separate account 13 right now also. The Treasurer did set that up. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. Good. 15 JUDGE KELLY: So we're going to pass on that 16 today? 17 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Then let's move on to 1.6 19 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 20 the public input related to the ARPA funding. 21 And that -- we're just going to handle that 22 at the workshop next Thursday, right? 23 MRS. LAVENDER: Yeah. That would be the 24 community survey and the PowerPoint that we need to 25 approve. 31 1 JUDGE KELLY: So that's to approve the 2 community survey and the PowerPoint -- 3 MRS. LAVENDER: Yes. 4 JUDGE KELLY: -- as amended in the workshop 5 today? 6 MRS. LAVENDER: Correct. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the community survey 8 will be consistent with our -- 9 MRS. LAVENDER: And we'll mark off G? 10 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. We'll redo it 12 just to make it line up with this. 13 MRS. LAVENDER: Right. Exactly. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I'll move for 15 approval. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 18 second to approve the PowerPoint and the community 19 survey as presented in the workshop today. Any other 20 discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous. 21 1.7 consider, discuss and take appropriate 22 action regarding a Grant Administrator job posting and 23 interviews. 24 We've got three applicants. Did y'all get 25 copies of those applications? We've got three 32 1 applications. And we talked about interviewing all 2 three, 'cuz there's just three of them. But we didn't 3 want to do them necessarily back to back. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Is it -- are we closed 5 taking applications? 6 MRS. GRINSTEAD: No. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I had somebody inquire 8 with me yesterday and I just sent them the link. 9 JUDGE KELLY: It's still open as far as I 10 know. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think we could do 12 this like we've done the Extension Office. You know, 13 just have everybody in a day, bring them in, talk to 14 them. That's what I would prefer. And get to it 15 quicker that way. You know at the end of the day what 16 you're doing. 17 JUDGE KELLY: So you want to do them in one 18 day? 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I would like to do them 20 in one day. 21 COMMISSIONER GIPSON: My previous experience 22 indicates that, too. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's fresh in your mind 25 what you just heard from one candidate to the next. 33 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Exactly. 2 JUDGE KELLY: The posting is still open; is 3 that correct? 4 MRS. GRINSTEAD: Exactly. It's open until 5 filled. So do you want to put a deadline on that? 6 JUDGE KELLY: I would prefer not to. 7 Because if we don't want to hire one of the three it's 8 still open. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would say ASAP. If 10 any inquiries come in. 11 JUDGE KELLY: And for those of you out there 12 that have any interest in it, get your applications in 13 as soon as possible. And whoever your inquiry was, let 14 them know to get it in. And we'll just do them all in 15 one day. So is there any action we need to take? 16 Okay. It's been a long morning. I 17 appreciate everybody's patience. But I think it's 18 important to discuss these things and have a clear plan 19 going forward as to how we're going to do it. So I 20 thank everybody for that. And there being no other 21 business before the Court, we are adjourned. 22 * * * * * * 23 24 25 34 1 STATE OF TEXAS * 2 COUNTY OF KERR * 3 I, DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD, Certified Shorthand 4 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, and Official 5 Court Reporter in and for Kerr County, do hereby certify 6 that the above and foregoing pages contain and comprise 7 a true and correct transcription of the proceedings had 8 in the above-entitled Special Commissioners' Court. 9 Dated this the 7th day of November, 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