1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Regular Session 5 Monday, March 27, 2023 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 RICH PACES, 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 *** Commissioners' Comments. 14 5 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 18 action to accept annual financial report, 6 with included Independent Auditor's Report and audited financial statement for the 7 period ending September 30, 2022 as presented by Armstrong, Vaughan & Associates, P.C. 8 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 26 9 action to approve Proclamation regarding Child Abuse Awareness Month, and request 10 to place signs and ribbons on the courthouse grounds for the month of April. 11 1.3 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 32 12 action to approve Proclamation for National Vietnam War Veterans Day. 13 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 34 14 action to receive donation of a picture of the Union Church building, and request 15 to paint a mural on a wall in the courthouse. 16 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 41 action on request to place a shoe shining 17 booth in the courthouse. 18 1.6 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 46 action to approve the proposed Best Management 19 Practices (BMP) for Aggregate Production Operation (APO) as recommended by the APO 20 Council. 21 1.11 Presentation of the Excellence in Safety 55 Award from representative from Texas 22 Association of Counties (TAC). 23 1.12 Update regarding the Cyber Security Training 57 Presentation being held on April 12th at the 24 Hill Country Youth Event Center (HCYEC). 25 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.10 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 59 action, if any, relating to the 4 recommendations and comments in the Eagle Ridge "Roadway Safety Study" dated February 5 2023, including the impact of Twin Creeks Development on and road integrity during 6 different phases of the development of Twin Creeks. 7 1.13 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 79 8 action for the Court to approve Certificate of Construction Completion for TDA Project 9 7217045, East Kerr/Center Point Wastewater Collection Project Phases II and III. 10 1.14 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 82 11 action for the Court to set a public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on May 8, 2023 for a revision 12 of plat for Hidden Valley Ranch Section One, Tracts 5 and 6. 13 1.15 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 84 14 action to receive clarification from the Court concerning engineering certifications 15 on plats. 16 1.16 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 90 action on a change order to the Wastewater 17 Service Connections Contract TDA Grant Number 7218055 with Qro-Mex Construction Co., Inc. 18 for additional work to repair pavement damaged during construction of the East Kerr 19 County/Center Point Wastewater Collection Project. 20 1.17 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 97 21 action for the Commissioners' Court to set a Public Hearing regarding the proposed 22 change of private road name Cheryl Drive S. to Big Boot Hill S. 23 1.18 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 100 24 action for the Commissioners' Court approval regarding the general contract with Interstate 25 Barricades & Markings for pavement markings on Skyline Dr. S. 4 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.19 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 102 action for the Commissioners' Court approval 4 to purchase (1) LeeBoy L600T Emulsion Trailer. 5 1.20 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 104 action to offer 10 Road & Bridge trucks as 6 trade-ins for new property of the same general type per LGC 263.152. 7 1.21 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 104 8 action for the Commissioners' Court to approve the Master Open-End Vehicle Lease 9 Agreement with Commercial Vehicle Leasing, L.L.C., d/b/a D&M Leasing, and the 10 Commissioners' Court approval to place the order on the trucks. 11 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 112 12 action to approve a $2,934.00 donation from Kerr County Crime Stoppers for the purchase 13 of a StatTrak - Traffic Data Collection Box for the Kerr County Sheriff's Office to be 14 entered into line item 72-370-531 and to be transferred to line item 72-562-569 for 15 payment. 16 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 114 action to surplus items from the Treasurer's 17 Office, County Jail, and County Extension Office. 18 1.9 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 115 19 action to approve budget calendar for fiscal year 2023-2024. 20 1.22 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 116 21 action to authorize Commissioner Letz and County Judge to submit appropriate documents 22 to the City of Kerrville regarding the development of the property located off Spur 23 100 for the new KCAS Animal Control facility and update the status of site planning for 24 the project. 25 5 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.23 Update on the status of the Interlocal 132 Agreement between Kerr County and the City 4 of Kerrville, Texas for the Provision of Animal Control Services within the City of 5 Kerrville, Texas and the services of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library for 6 Residents of Kerr County. 7 1.24 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 144 action to determine whether to allow the 8 retail fireworks permit holders to sell fireworks to the public in celebration of 9 San Jacinto Day, pursuant to Texas Occupations Code, Section 2154.202(h). 10 1.25 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 145 11 action to extend the submission date for the Request for Sealed Bids Regarding Lease 12 of Kerr County Juvenile Facility to May 15, 2023 by 5:00 p.m. 13 2.2 Pay Bills. 148 14 2.3 Late Bills. 148 15 2.4 Auditor Reports. 149 16 2.5 Accept Monthly Reports. 149 17 2.6 Court Orders. 149 18 *** Reporter's Certificate. 152 19 * * * * * * 20 21 22 23 24 25 6 1 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come to order. It 2 is Monday, March the 27th, 2023, 9:00 in the morning and 3 the Kerr County Commissioners' Court is now in session. 4 If you would, please rise for the prayer and pledge, 5 which will be led by Commissioner Belew. 6 (Prayer and Pledge.) 7 JUDGE KELLY: Please be seated. I ask 8 everyone to turn your phone off or to silent so it 9 doesn't interrupt the proceedings. And with that, we'll 10 go right into the public input. I understand we have 11 some people here this morning for public input? 12 MRS. DOWDY: Yes, sir. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Kitty Ocker. 14 MS. OCKER: Good morning, gentlemen. My 15 name is Kitty Ocker and I live in Kerrville. I'd like 16 to thank each and every one of you for authorizing the 17 workshop regarding electronic voting machines that was 18 held last week. You heard a very detailed presentation, 19 an excellent presentation by Bob Reeves, who explained 20 that his staff works within the law using state 21 certified Hart InterCivic electronic equipment. I have 22 a few points to make about the machine. 23 The Hart machines are manufactured in 24 Austin, but the components come from overseas, including 25 China. In the words of the Hart president, any system 7 1 can be hacked. Texas law requires that all votes be 2 backed by paper ballots by 2006, and the Hart rep was 3 very proud of his picture that showed a comparison 4 between currently used ballots and the new revised 5 ballots. He made a point of telling us that the 6 currently used ballots include bar codes, which can 7 contain a lot of data. 8 And in the second -- the second ballot, the 9 new revised, he made a point of telling us how the bar 10 codes can be removed, which they have. They were 11 replaced by a QR code, which can contain a tremendous 12 amount of data. 13 The Hart rep stated that ballots should be 14 readable with human eyes and should not include embedded 15 bar code, yet the new revised version included a QR 16 code. In addition to the mechanical issues with 17 machines, please consider your budget. Has anyone 18 compared the cost of maintenance and upgrades of 19 electronic equipment with that of paper ballots that are 20 sequentially numbered and signed by an election judge on 21 counterfeit resistant paper? Because electronic 22 machines are just that, they're machines that must be 23 purchased, maintained, and upgraded by a third party to 24 ensure accurate, transparent, and audible election. I 25 strongly urge you to examine the benefits of 8 1 sequentially numbered paper ballots, printed on 2 counterfeit resistant paper, and signed by an election 3 judge. Thank you. 4 JUDGE KELLY: If the matter is on the 5 agenda, you need to wait until we call that agenda item. 6 That was my problem. I'm sorry. 7 MS. OCKER: Well, I'm sorry. You called my 8 name. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Is there anyone who would like 10 to address the Court on a matter that is not on the 11 agenda? 12 JUDGE KELLY: Then the next one is Nikki 13 Caines. 14 MS. CAINES: Good morning, gentlemen. My 15 name is Nikki Caines. And I agree with everything that 16 Miss Ocker just said, but I'm going to -- I would like 17 to add -- present more of a personal testimony. I have 18 worked with the registrar's office all last year on all 19 the elections, serving on the signature verification 20 committee as well as the ballot board. And what I 21 realized through that time is that the number of mail-in 22 ballots in my opinion is way more than necessary. 23 Because the law allows anyone over 65 to come -- to do a 24 mail-in ballot. 25 What I found through the verification 9 1 process is there were many people who had not filled out 2 their ballot envelope correctly. We had to call them 3 and ask them to come in and fix it. If those people can 4 come in and fix it, I would just like to say that those 5 same people maybe shouldn't be using a mail-in ballot, 6 and it overworks both the staff and I find it 7 unnecessary. 8 I would also like to say that the E-poll 9 books that are used at the election facility, I don't 10 believe that they are reliable, and my personal 11 testimony is that I voted at the -- in the primaries 12 last year at our polling station using the E-poll book. 13 When I went in to do the runoff vote, I was told I was 14 not on the -- any roll. And I said, Well, how can that 15 be? And it always -- from what my experience is for 16 after a year, it always comes back to human error. 17 And I say if there was not an electronic 18 poll book, if there was a paper poll book, then there is 19 a way for myself and any other voter to say, Look, I 20 voted. Because right now, it's my word against a 21 machine. And I think that is implausible. And if you 22 do not want to disenfranchise any voter, again I agree 23 with Miss Ocker that the way to do it is to do 24 everything old-fashioned, paper book, somebody checks 25 you off, you vote. I voted by paper ballot. And when I 10 1 voted by paper ballot, my -- what I was told is that at 2 least your vote counted. But I say no, it did not. You 3 might have said it voted because it was a paper ballot, 4 but because I was not on a party poll book, I am then 5 disqualified from being a delegate. So I am all for 6 going back to using paper and paper only. Because then, 7 we don't -- when we leave a polling station right now, 8 do we get any kind of a receipt that said we voted? Not 9 a thing. 10 So just my personal testimony. And I know 11 I'm not the only one. Because throughout the last year, 12 we heard from quite a few people who said this happened 13 to me and this happened to me. So thank you for your 14 time. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Kathy Rising(phonetic). 16 MS. RISING: Yes. My name is Kathy Rising 17 and I live on Nimitz Drive in Kerrville. I wanted to 18 thank you for allowing Mark Cook to speak about voter 19 integrity, which I think is very, very, very important. 20 In my opinion, probably one of the most important things 21 we are facing as a nation. Not just Kerr County. 22 But a little bit of background about my 23 concerns about these machines and how sensitive things 24 are. Our oldest son works for a different government 25 contractor, in the state of Virginia. He's a computer 11 1 expert. He travels the world working on different 2 projects. A lot of GPS. Things like tracking the 3 Somali pirates. And he's worked in Kenya, Africa. He's 4 worked in a lot of countries. He's very good at what he 5 does. 6 Now his knowledge of computers did not 7 trickle down to myself or my husband. We are not that 8 good at it. But he's related different things and it's 9 pretty shocking. For example, when he goes into a 10 meeting in Virginia, all -- everybody's cell phone comes 11 out. It goes into a bank of lockers that are protected. 12 The meeting that he attends is in a completely different 13 building. That's how sensitive it is. You think you 14 turn off your cell phone. Everything is being tracked 15 and traced. You can't take that battery out. You're 16 still -- you take the battery out. You can't do that 17 anymore. You are being tracked and traced. People turn 18 off their cell phone. They think it's dead. No, it 19 isn't. We're actually from California and there was so 20 much tracking and tracing, things going on. We had dark 21 bags for our phones. 22 And, you know, if you have to resort to 23 things like that, there's -- these computers -- the 24 machines for voting -- you really need to pay attention. 25 It's things that you -- unless you're in that industry, 12 1 you don't have a clue. We all know how to use our cell 2 phones, but how many of us when we get a new cell phone 3 we have to learn how to use it again. 4 And these voting machines are very, very 5 sophisticated. And the part -- you might have it 6 assembled here in the U.S., but there are many 7 components that are made in other countries and that's a 8 very big concern. It should concern each and every one 9 of us. But I just wanted to say that. Thank you for 10 your time. And I did buy some books that Mark Cook 11 recommended and we're going to be reading them and I 12 brought some for you. Be happy to pass it out right 13 there. Thank you. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Greg Rising. 15 MR. RISING: Greg Rising, 116 Nimitz Drive. 16 Put my two cents in for the election integrity subject. 17 I attended Mark Cook's briefing also. And I noticed 18 that when he was finished, there was stunned silence in 19 the room after his presentation. Including you all. 20 It's a lot -- a lot to -- to take in. Like Kathy said, 21 we're from California and we came to Texas intending not 22 to bring California with us. And we are determined that 23 Texas not turn into California. One of the ways to 24 prevent that is to secure our elections. 25 And we've met a lot of people here in our 13 1 short two and a half years. And to a person -- I think 2 I can speak to all of our friends, that we will all 3 volunteer to count ballots, if that -- if that's 4 necessary. I don't think that would be an impediment to 5 adopting some or all of Mr. Cook's recommendations. The 6 simplicity of his recommendations struck me especially, 7 and I think that I will volunteer to count ballots, 8 Kathy will, and I think a lot of other people in this 9 room and in the general community would do that. That 10 would not be a problem. So thank you for your 11 attention, and please secure our elections. 12 JUDGE KELLY: John Sheffield. 13 MR. SHEFFIELD: Commissioners. Your Honor. 14 My name is John Sheffield. I live at 204 Verde Park 15 Boulevard in Center Point, Texas. I own the Ole Ingram 16 Grocery in Ingram, Texas. I think enough has been said 17 about it. I just wanted to thank the Court, Your Honor, 18 Bob Reeves, Hart -- I believe it's InterCivic, and 19 Mark Cook. Excellent presentation. Thank you very 20 much, gentlemen. That's all I wanted to say. Have a 21 good day. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Alicia Bell. 23 MS. BELL: Alicia Bell. I live in Kerrville 24 in Precinct 1. I'd like to thank Judge Kelly and the 25 Commissioners for having this workshop. It was very 14 1 enlightening. However, what was shown during the 2 presentation is that not only is election fraud 3 possible, it is probable. Which means that it doesn't 4 even have to be local people that does it. Somebody 5 could just pick up a cell phone across the state, across 6 the country, across the world and change the election 7 results. So I support going to hand count paper 8 ballots, sequentially numbered paper ballots, and not 9 even using an electronic scanner. I do have an 10 electronic scanner experience. 11 I used to work for our Federal Government 12 and I tested people going into the military and we used 13 electronic scanners. Those scanners can be hacked. 14 They can be programmed to -- with any key you want. And 15 if you want this bubble to win, if you want -- anyway. 16 None of that's going to work. So -- so I say we go to 17 hand count sequentially numbered ballots, and I'd be 18 willing to count -- count them. Thank you. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other public input? 20 Then let's move on to Commissioners' Comments. 21 Precinct 1. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I have nothing. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Note that on the record. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: For Precinct 2. Look, 25 we have gotten a little bit of rain in the last week or 15 1 so but it has not been significant. Now, the burn ban 2 remains lifted for Precinct 2, but if we don't get any 3 rain in the next day or two it'll go back into effect. 4 And I'll just point out that residents in 5 the Center Point area who receive water from Aqua Texas 6 received a notice restricting watering to only one day 7 per week as a result of the Stage 3 drought conditions. 8 And again, Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District, 9 as I understand it, are contemplating going to Stage 4. 10 We just have not been getting any water to reach our 11 aquifers. 12 I just want to inform folks that I have been 13 meeting with TxDOT on a number of Precinct 2 projects. 14 And notably they have agreed to progress the crossing 15 street bridge reconstruction. That'll be a great 16 benefit to folks in Center Point. They turned over the 17 Witt Road bridge. And then our group, Road & Bridge, 18 was able to remove the last two posts and a section of 19 guardrail that was too close to the edge of the road and 20 that made some of the local residents extremely happy. 21 There's good progress on the Eagle Ridge 22 Road safety concerns that arose as a result of the Twin 23 Creeks development, but I think we're going to talk 24 about that more on a separate agenda item so I'll leave 25 it there. 16 1 Working with Martin Marietta to improve road 2 safety at the entrance to their plant adjacent to the 3 Sutherland Lane. Toured its facility, looked at other 4 traffic that might be affected on Sutherland Lane. So 5 we'll keep working with them on that. And I really 6 appreciate Martin Marietta's cooperation and intent to 7 do the right thing. 8 We met with Mendez Engineering last week to 9 progress the Veterans Pathway Project, which is, you 10 know, aimed at installing a sidewalk that would connect 11 the VA hospital with Flat Rock Park and the Kerrville 12 river walk on the other side. So progress is being 13 made. Let's see if we can get it done by Veterans Day. 14 And last off, in light of some of the 15 comments, I am working with an election integrity group 16 to develop a low cost ballot hand-counting system that 17 can handle a thousand ballots with up to 20 races and 18 two to five choices per race. We want to see how long 19 does it actually take to count ballots by hand. It 20 might be a little more representative to Kerr County. 21 And that would be, of course, under a video camera 22 system that would live stream the count for anyone and 23 everyone to watch or audit. 24 And finally, we have an ESD 3 board meeting 25 tonight at the Center Point Volunteer Fire Department. 17 1 That's it. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. You needed the extra 3 time. Three. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Burn ban is in effect 5 for Precinct 3 if it stays dry. However, as things 6 green up, even though we have not had enough rain, it 7 may come off this week as we're seeming to get a little 8 bit of rain. Not much, doesn't look like. But still, I 9 know there are things that need to be done. Coastal 10 fields need to be burned, if they haven't been done 11 already. And certainly some minor brush piles. But 12 still, do be very careful and remember state Law. 13 And the other -- excellent workshop we had 14 on election integrity and I would encourage Commissioner 15 Paces to put an agenda item on how to go about hand 16 counting so we can all be in agreement on how to put the 17 best way to do that to get a test. That's it. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: All right. One thing 19 that we had scheduled was a hazardous household waste 20 collection in the spring but that's been cancelled. And 21 the reason for it was TCEQ has required some changes in 22 these events. So it's going to be rescheduled for this 23 fall. And there's always a big turnout. And this is 24 something that we work with the City on, try to do each 25 year, but it will be this fall. And we'll keep you 18 1 updated when that date will be. That's all I got. 2 JUDGE KELLY: The only thing that I would 3 add is I appreciate the concern about election 4 integrity, but we do not have an election integrity 5 problem in Kerr County. We have a system that not only 6 meets but exceeds all state standards. And so what 7 we're really talking about here is doing things -- 8 (Lady shaking head in audience.) 9 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, ma'am, we do. And -- but 10 that -- if you want to do something about this you need 11 to go to Austin. There's no reason to do it here. We 12 don't have a problem here. So with that, let's move on 13 to the consideration agenda. 14 Item 1.1 consider, discuss and take 15 appropriate action to accept the annual financial 16 report, with included Independent Auditor's Report and 17 audited financial statement for the period ending 18 September 30, 2022, as presented by Armstrong, Vaughan & 19 Associates. Ms. Fraser. 20 MS. FRASER: Good morning. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Welcome back. 22 MS. FRASER: Thank you. There was rain 23 headed your way by the way, I think, from San Antonio. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We hope. 25 MS. FRASER: I'd like you to -- well, first 19 1 of all, I'd like to thank Tanya, Tracy and their staff, 2 because we -- we -- we try not to be invasive, but we're 3 auditors, so we are. I mean, that's just unfortunate. 4 So you -- if you turn to page one, this is 5 your modified -- unmodified auditor's opinion. It 6 basically says that after adjustments your financial 7 statements were fairly stated and materially correct. I 8 want to tell you that we had three audit adjustments. 9 One was provided by client. That is excellent for your 10 size of a government. So again, very, very much kudos 11 to Tanya. 12 On Page 15 and 16. This is your statement 13 of net position. This report is on the full accrual 14 basis. It's not the way you budget, but the full 15 accrual basis, which means that you see all of your 16 capital assets, deferred outflows of resources which are 17 your pensions, your liabilities and -- that are included 18 are your post employment benefit liability, and then all 19 your debt associated with the County. So you had total 20 assets of one million six hundred and sixty six 21 thousand -- or one million six hundred sixty six -- two 22 hundred sixty six thousand four forty five. 23 You had seven million of total deferred 24 outflow of resources. These are your -- basically your 25 prepaid pensions. The pension that the County pays from 20 1 December 1st through September 30th. Because they're 2 not included on the TMRS report. 3 You had liabilities of 61 million. You had 4 total deferred inflows of resources. And again, these 5 are related to your other post employment benefit and 6 your pension related liability. Those were 12 and a 7 half million. And then you had total net position of 8 99.6 million. 9 I do want to point out something that's 10 fairly unusual in counties, but very -- a very good 11 thing. On Page 15, right below -- right above the 12 total assets, you had a net pension asset of three 13 million dollars. And typically we see a liability. So 14 that means that your pension currently is well funded. 15 On Page 19 and 20, this is the balance sheet 16 of your governmental funds. And this is the way you 17 budget. So you don't see the capital assets. The 18 pension assets liability, the deferred inflows and 19 outflows, nor do you see your long-term debt. The total 20 assets at the end of the year were $61.7 million. Of 21 that, your general fund was 33.3 million. 22 If you turn to Page 21 and 22. Your total 23 government fund, and this is your statement of revenues 24 and expenditures, and basically the way you do -- I'm 25 sorry. This is your liabilities of your balance sheet. 21 1 And you'll see that your total liabilities were 27.9 2 million. Your deferred inflows of resources were 2.9 3 million. This consists of property tax that has not yet 4 been collected and your fines and fees. Total fund 5 balance is 30 point -- 30.9 million. You had an 6 unassigned fund balance in the general fund of 18.8 7 million. I'm sorry. That's very important because 8 you're -- you're seven months funded for the next year. 9 The GFOA recommends four to six months. So that's a 10 very good signal of health. 11 On Page 24 and 25. This is your statement 12 of revenues and expenditures. Your total revenues were 13 50.4 million. Of that, 33.3 million were collected in 14 the general fund. Your expenditures, total 15 expenditures, were 51 and a half million. Of that, 16 almost 30 million were in the general fund. You'll see 17 that your Center Point, which is on Page 25, those 18 projects are coming to an end. So you'll see that the 19 expenditures are more than your intergovernmental 20 revenues and grants. So that's part of the reason your 21 expenditures exceeded your revenues. 22 On Page 26 and 27, you had other financing 23 sources of 608,000. This includes primarily transfers. 24 So your net change in fund balance of the -- over all 25 funds was a negative 408,000, but you had an increase of 22 1 2.2 million in your general fund. 2 I'm going to ask you to go back to page 62 3 and 63. This is basically a budget to actual of your 4 general fund. Schedule of revenues. So you'll see not 5 only your budget to actual for the 2022, but you'll see 6 your 2021 actual figures. So your total revenues again 7 in the general fund were 33.3 million. You had actually 8 budgeted to bring in 30.9 million. The other taxes were 9 primarily -- other taxes and fees of office were 10 primarily where your favorable variances occurred. You 11 have 33.3 million, a positive variance of 2.4 million. 12 And compared to the prior year, you spent 30.7 million. 13 You brought in 30.7 million. Sorry. Total 14 expenditures, you budgeted 32.1 million. You actually 15 spent 29 and a half million, which was a favorable 16 variance of 2.6 million. And then that compared to last 17 year, you had spent 26.2 million. You budgeted to bring 18 in a net loss of 1.2 million. You actually had a net 19 gain of 3.8 million. So that was a positive variance of 20 five million dollars. 21 Your net change total on fund balance was 22 2.2 million. You had a positive variance of six 23 million, and you brought your fund balance up to 19.3 24 million. And again, 18.8 of that is unassigned. 25 On Page 63 in your Road & Bridge fund. Your 23 1 total revenues were three million. You budgeted 2.9 2 million. And that's really comparable to the prior 3 year. Your expenditures were 4.9 million. You budgeted 4 for five and a half million, so you were 560,000 with a 5 positive variance. And that fund, if you go down to the 6 third line from the bottom, you budgeted a 15,000 almost 7 net change in fund balance. And you actually had 8 122,000. 9 I'm going to ask you to turn to page 66 and 10 67. When I went over the net position, I did point out 11 that you had a net pension asset, which is fairly 12 unusual. And if you go to the last column, the fourth 13 line up, you'll see that you were 3 million over funded. 14 Your plan fiduciary -- your net position was 103 percent 15 funded. The GFOA recommends anything over 70 percent to 16 be excellent. 17 I also do want to point out about halfway 18 down the page you'll see the net investment income. And 19 you had a banner year. The TCDRS invests for you your 20 pension liability. And they just brought in almost 16.7 21 million in that investment. Their increase in services 22 investment. 23 On page 69, the last page that I want to 24 point out, is your schedule of other post employment 25 benefit liabilities and those ratios. You will see at 24 1 the very bottom your total overhead liability, and this 2 is for your retiree health insurance, when they did your 3 new actuarial study they brought you down to an ending 4 liability of 2.8 million compared to 9.3 million last 5 year. So when they assessed the number of people who 6 are actually using it and the expenses that are going, 7 they reduced your liability considerably. So you are 8 17.5 percent funded as part of your covered payroll. 9 You did also have a compliance report that 10 we did on your federal funds. We had no comment to 11 modify the payment on both of those that government 12 accounting center, as well as each major fund. 13 That's actually all I have. If you have any 14 questions, I'd be glad to answer them. I do see that 15 there's a couple new members. My phone number is on the 16 opinion and on the letter. If you have questions about 17 your report later on, feel free to call me and I will go 18 over the report. I'm a little nerdy that way. So 19 anyway -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: There's only one 21 new member, but another guy grew a beard. So maybe 22 that's -- 23 MS. FRASER: No, I did recognize him. 24 Beard and all. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Any questions for Ms. 25 1 Fraser? 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: No. Thank you. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. Looks like we're 4 in excellent condition. 5 MS. FRASER: You are very healthy. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: Debbie, I appreciate 7 you walking us through the report because I just got it 8 this morning. My only comment is next time could we get 9 it a day or two before your presentation? 10 MS. FRASER: Yeah, I -- I -- 11 COMMISSIONER PACES: But thank you. 12 MS. FRASER: That's my fault. Because I 13 thought the draft was going in your packets. But I -- 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. 15 MS. FRASER: Sorry. 16 COMMISSIONER PACES: I do read them, but 17 prefer to -- 18 MS. FRASER: Oh good. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: -- read them ahead of 20 time. 21 MS. FRASER: Yeah. Yeah. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: Thank you. 23 MS. FRASER: Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Thank you very much. 25 Our next item is 1.2. 26 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we need to accept 2 the -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: I think so. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I make a motion that we 5 accept the annual audit. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 8 approve the annual audit as presented. Any discussion? 9 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Being none, it's 10 approved. 11 Item 1.2 consider, discuss and take 12 appropriate action to approve a Proclamation regarding 13 Child Abuse Awareness Month, and request to place signs 14 and ribbons on the courthouse grounds for the month of 15 April. Miss Early. 16 MS. EARLY: Judge and Commissioners. Thank 17 you for having us here today. My name is Kellie Early 18 and I'm president of the Kerr County Child Services 19 Board. And our Board falls under the direction of the 20 Commissioners' Court under Section 264 of the Texas 21 Family Code. 22 Our funding comes from several sources. The 23 County, donations of jury fees, and grants from 24 non-profits and churches. Our volunteer board is made 25 up of myself, John Carlson, Jody Grinstead, Brenda Hudd, 27 1 Lorie Lowe and Berline Walter, Katie Bass and Tammy 2 Paces. I have a couple of my board members here. 3 Jody -- if y'all would stand up. Lorie, Brenda and Jody 4 are here with me today. Thank you. 5 The mission of the Kerr County Child 6 Services Board is to meet the critical needs of abused 7 and neglected children through local education, 8 collaboration, and provision of emergency services. By 9 building partnerships with community volunteers, local 10 government, and other agencies, Kerr County child 11 services board increases community awareness of child 12 abuse and helps children grow up to be healthy and 13 productive adults. 14 Today I have with me the staff of CASA and 15 the staff from Belong and we have recently collaborated 16 with these two groups to form a collaborative space 17 across the street from the courthouse. If you all 18 haven't seen it, I would really encourage you to go 19 over, take a look at it. 20 You know, collaboration is a big word in 21 today's society and we were recently able to work all 22 together for a common cause. We had a vision for this 23 space. To give people a place where we could meet the 24 needs of abused and neglected children. We have a hope 25 closet there that is open 24/7, seven days a week, and 28 1 accessible by our volunteers, CASA volunteers, the 2 Belong case workers and the Department of Protective and 3 Family Services. 4 We have go bags. We have quilts. We have 5 diapers, car seats, pack and plays. All the things that 6 a case worker might need if they're moving a child 7 from -- from one placement to another or taking a child 8 into care. 9 The dream that we had for this space was it 10 to be really flexible. And so it's also a place where 11 attorneys can meet with clients. A lot of our attorneys 12 that represent children and families in the courts are 13 not Kerr County attorneys anymore. They're attorneys 14 from San Antonio, so they don't have a place to meet 15 with the families in this area. So we provide office 16 space. We provided two really nice visitation rooms 17 where kids can visit with their family or their 18 relatives. And then we have a conference room and a 19 kitchen. And it just turned out to be a great space and 20 it's just -- we want Belong to succeed. They are the 21 new -- they've taken over part of the case work from the 22 Department. And they're doing -- they're a private 23 company that's taken over that case work, and we want 24 them to succeed in our community. So by partnering with 25 them, we are trying to help them with some resources. 29 1 One of the things that we recently did was 2 we provided Belong with car seats and booster seats for 3 them to use in transporting our Kerr County children 4 from one place to another. 5 I just want to give you all a couple of 6 examples on a few things that we have done in the past 7 couple weeks. We worked with a family who had -- they 8 needed their whole property and their house cleaned up 9 in order for the child to be able to stay in the home. 10 We provided a roll-off dumpster. 11 Now, we don't go out and clean it up for 12 them, but we provided a roll-up dumpster. They cleaned 13 up the property and cleaned up the house, and we had it 14 hauled off, and the child was able to stay in that home 15 with their family. We also provided fire extinguishers 16 for some grandparents who were on a fixed income and 17 they were taking their grandchildren in. Which we see a 18 lot of that in Kerr County. And so being on a fixed 19 income, the State requires that they have certain fire 20 extinguishers and also lock boxes for medicine and 21 weapons. And we have provided those to a lot of 22 families in our area. 23 As y'all know, child care is a big issue in 24 our community and recently we were able to help a mother 25 with her registration and a month of child care for her 30 1 child to be able -- so she could work and have her child 2 return to her. Which we feel like that the faster we 3 can get kids back with their families or someone they 4 know, the less trauma that they receive. 5 So I'm here today for two things. My ask 6 is, first, we have a Resolution that we'd like for you 7 to approve. And I'm not going to read the whole thing, 8 I'm just going to tell you a little bit about what it 9 says. And one of the stats that is really troubling to 10 me is that 56,942 children in Texas where confirmed 11 victims of child abuse. That's not reported. That's 12 not calls to the hot line. That is confirmed. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: Kellie, is that one 14 year? 15 MS. EARLY: That's from last year, yes. 16 So what I'd like -- I'm going to read the 17 Resolution, the bottom part of it. So, Now, therefore, 18 be it resolved that the Kerr County Commissioners' Court 19 does hereby proclaim the month of April 2023, to be 20 Child Abuse Prevention Month in Kerr County and calls 21 upon all citizens, community agencies, faith groups, 22 medical facilities, elected leaders and businesses to 23 increase their participation in our efforts to support 24 families, thereby preventing child abuse and 25 strengthening the community in which we live. 31 1 So I'm asking y'all to approve this 2 resolution. And then, also we would like to put our big 3 sign out in front of the courthouse. And it does have 4 the statistics. It says April is Child Abuse Awareness 5 Month and it has this -- this year we're going to put 6 the 56,942 number on our sign that represents children 7 that have been abused and neglected in our state. 8 So I'm really proud of the work that these 9 volunteers do. Most -- and our board is totally -- all 10 volunteers, we have no paid staff. And we do a lot of 11 just behind the scenes, one-on-one, working with 12 caseworkers. Working collaborative in our community to 13 help children that are abused and neglected. And I just 14 want to thank CASA and Belong for just working alongside 15 us to do that. And thank you for allowing us to be here 16 today. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Kellie, I'd like to 18 say that -- thank you for coming in, all of you ladies 19 for coming in and -- here this morning. And Kerr County 20 does care about their youth. So with that, I move for 21 approval. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: I second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 24 approve the proclamation regarding Child Abuse Awareness 25 Month for the month of April here in Kerr County. 32 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And putting the sign on 2 the front. 3 JUDGE KELLY: And putting the sign on the 4 courthouse grounds. Any discussion? Those in favor say 5 aye. Opposed? There being none, it passes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank y'all. 7 MS. EARLY: Thank you. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: Thanks to all of you. 9 You're doing a great job. Thank you. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Next item is 1.3 consider, 11 discuss and take appropriate action to approve a 12 Proclamation for the National Viet Nam War Veterans Day. 13 Gary Noller. 14 MR. NOLLER: Good morning. My name is Gary 15 Noller. I live at 140 Ray Drive, Center Point. 16 Precinct 3. And I'm representing the Kerr County 17 Veterans Services Advisory Committee this morning. We 18 were here two weeks ago and the Court approved an event 19 to be held Wednesday, which is March 29th, which is 20 declared Viet Nam War Veterans Day. And there will be 21 proclamations read by the Mayor of Kerrville and by 22 Judge Kelly, Kerr County Judge. 23 As to what we wish to do today is to get the 24 County Proclamation approved for that reading. It will 25 be held at 12 o'clock noon out by the Veterans Memorial 33 1 on the Kerr County grounds. May we have approval for 2 that Proclamation. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: I move we approve it. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second. 6 Any discussion? I would add that one of the things 7 we're trying to emphasize with this is this is the 8 anniversary -- 50-year anniversary for the end of the 9 Viet Nam War. But this is really more for the veterans. 10 The ones that served during that time. 11 And many of you may not know. We were 12 treated very disrespectfully in those days and we met 13 and talked about this with the group sitting around that 14 table in my office remembering what it was like back 15 then. We've come a long way for honoring our veterans 16 and it's something that is vitally important to our 17 community. 18 MRS. DOWDY: Is this something that's on the 19 Events Page of the County website? 20 JUDGE KELLY: I don't know. 21 MS. WALTER: I have something that's going 22 out this afternoon. 23 JUDGE KELLY: The question was whether or 24 not that's going to be on the website and the answer is 25 yes. Good. So those in favor say aye. Opposed? There 34 1 being none, it's unanimous. 2 Thanks, Gary. 3 MR. NOLLER: Thank you. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Next item is 1.4 consider, 5 discuss and take appropriate action to receive a 6 donation of a picture of the Union Church, and request 7 to paint a mural on a wall in the courthouse. 8 Mr. Waring. 9 MR. WARING: Good morning. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Welcome. 11 MR. WARING: George Waring. Precinct 3. 12 Local artist. I thank the staff or the panel -- the 13 panel for this. As you know, I have one picture already 14 hanging in the hallway, but I feel the judicial system 15 is important. And I feel that faith goes with it. So I 16 would like to donate a picture of the First Union Church 17 to be hung by the side of it. 18 JUDGE KELLY: You can hold it up. Get it on 19 the camera right here. The camera is right in front of 20 you. 21 MR. WARING: Oh. Right. 22 JUDGE KELLY: There you go. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There you go. 24 MR. WARING: So I would like it to be 25 hung -- I would like for this to be hung with the 35 1 picture of courthouse that you have already hung here. 2 So I feel this is appropriate, like I said. So that's 3 one thing. 4 Right now I'm currently with Doyle Community 5 and Big Skis organization. I'm painting the City Park 6 that's on West Street. Carver Park. So I have that 7 project going. And I'm painting a tax district mural 8 also. So the second thing I would like to -- 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We've got to do them 10 one at a time. 11 MR. WARING: Yes, sir. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Do we have a motion to 13 accept the donation of the picture of the Union Church? 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll make a motion. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 17 accept the picture of the Union Church. Any discussion? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a comment. I 19 would think it would have been more appropriate to have 20 it hung at the Union Church as opposed to the 21 courthouse. If you didn't object. 22 MR. WARING: Yes, sir. I already have one 23 going over there. I work at the historical too. They 24 were going to put it in the case, but I feel it would be 25 appropriate because the courthouse is built on religion, 36 1 on faith. So I just feel that's where I want to hang 2 it. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. That's fine. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 5 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank 6 you. 7 Now we move on to number 5, which is to 8 consider, discuss and take appropriate action on a 9 request to place a shoe shining booth in the courthouse. 10 Mr. Wearing. 11 MR. WARING: I had one more thing. Because 12 on that -- 13 JUDGE KELLY: The mural? 14 MR. WARING: Yeah. Y'all have an 15 outstanding custodial staff and they've been helping me 16 find locations and places along here. And I wanted to 17 put a build on justice right in front -- or in the 18 bathroom area. A black and white mural. I was -- a 19 four by six. I was wondering if we could get that done 20 somehow. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Can you bring them up to us? 22 MR. WARING: Like I said, the staff has been 23 helping me, the custodial staff. There's a location 24 right out front where they said they could move a 25 picture. And then that's the bathroom. I prefer the 37 1 bathroom, but they were wanting it up front to where 2 they could walk in and they can see it. So it's just a 3 regular black and white four-by-six right on the wall. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So then what you 5 propose is -- 6 MR. WARING: That's the one I like. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- right here? 8 MR. WARING: The one they like is right here 9 on the outside. They said they would remove a picture 10 and that would be a perfect spot where you walk in. 11 It's a picture of all the courthouses. It comes off the 12 wall. It's -- it's right out here in front. I didn't 13 want to take the picture of it with -- with the other 14 picture already hanging on it. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Four by six foot? 16 MR. WARING: Well, yes. It's four -- the 17 wall is four-by-four. So it would be in the middle. So 18 it would be four by actually four. And it's right where 19 all the courthouses are hung. It's one of -- they said 20 they'll remove it and -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Mr. Waring, if you could 22 go back -- 23 MR. WARING: Yes, sir. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- to the podium so the 25 public can see you. And hear you. 38 1 MR. WARING: Yes, sir. So it's something 2 plain and simple. Black and white. And I believe this 3 is one of the best court systems we have throughout 4 Texas, so -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think I'm a little -- 6 the idea is fine but I'm not sure I want a mural painted 7 on -- permanent on the wall. I'd rather have more of a 8 painting -- something that can be removed or taken down 9 at some point in the future. Instead of having to 10 repaint the wall. I'm not real -- a big fan of 11 permanent changes to the courthouse. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We're limited on space 13 to begin with. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, if it's -- if 15 it's moveable, it can be used here, it can be used at 16 the annex building, it could be used at the Sheriff's 17 Department. So if you could put something together -- 18 MR. WARING: I have -- 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, paint it on 20 something we could move around. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Frame or something. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: A frame. 23 MR. WARING: Yeah. I have no problem with 24 that. I have an excellent framer at Hometown Crafts. 25 So I'm good friends with them over there. So no 39 1 problem. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I think -- and this 3 is just, you know, I'm going back and pulling from 4 memory. I think we do have a policy about -- generally 5 about donations and there's a time limit as to how -- 6 it's not forever -- 7 MR. WARING: Oh yes. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- or -- and I'll have 9 to look back at that policy. But any kind of a donation 10 like this, I know we had some -- way, way back -- for 11 how it was donated at one point. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I remember that. I 13 remember a certain Commissioner that beefed about it a 14 lot, too. So if we don't have a policy, this brings up 15 the opportunity to establish something if we don't 16 already. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 18 MR. WARING: Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I don't have any 20 problem with you, you know, painting a mural, and we 21 could use it in the courthouse. I'll make a motion that 22 you can go ahead and proceed. And you'll have to take a 23 second -- you'll have to bring it back and we'll have to 24 accept it at that point. 25 MR. WARING: Okay. 40 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But, you know, at this 2 point -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. Why don't you go ahead 4 and prepare one and bring it to us. 5 MR. WARING: No problem. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This is a really cool 7 thing you're doing. 8 MR. WARING: Oh, yes. Rex Emerson's going 9 to come back for the Tax District one. My whole thing 10 was we'll get -- when y'all get the next one, I'll -- 11 he's coming back for that. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I visited with him a 13 little bit this morning and he's a busy man. He's 14 working several jobs, plus doing this on his own. 15 MR. WARING: I got -- I covered a whole 16 basketball court, inside of the basketball court too. 17 So I'll be done with that in the interim, so April 1st. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I appreciate all 19 your community support. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. It's awesome. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Let's pass this back to him. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So as to the mural, 24 we're not taking action yet. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 41 1 JUDGE KELLY: So we'll move on to item 2 number 1.5, which is the shoe shining booth at the 3 courthouse. 4 MR. WARING: Yes. My father used to work 5 downstairs in the juvenile department. I don't know if 6 he ever had a shoe shining booth here. But part of the 7 shoe shining boot is -- I feel like it would be a good 8 fit. I know Gibson's -- I worked at Gibson's. They had 9 one before. But I feel that's something the courthouse 10 can -- can use. 11 And like, I wouldn't mind coming in and 12 doing it or shining shoes. He's a second generation -- 13 well, I'm a second generation shoe shiner. I would like 14 to put ten percent towards restoration of artwork into 15 the courthouse for maintenance and stuff like that. So 16 that's all part of the shoe shining booth. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: When do you propose 18 hours of operation? 19 MR. WARING: Oh, well on your busy days. So 20 like every third Monday, Tuesdays, misdemeanor court, 21 felony court, and pretrial. So at least three days out 22 of the week until one o'clock or until -- 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You're talking about 24 moving around, it's mobile? 25 MR. WARING: Well, I can move it in or out 42 1 or I can leave it stationery. That would be up to 2 y'all. 3 JUDGE KELLY: So you have -- you customize 4 your times that you'd be open? 5 MR. WARING: I mean, lunch is usually 12 6 o'clock. So I would be out of here at 12 o'clock. 7 Because it's usually 8:00 to 12:00. So I feel that 8 that's good hours. A good fit. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: County Attorney, do we 10 need an agreement or anything -- 11 MRS. STEBBINS: Probably. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- type of thing? 13 MRS. STEBBINS: Probably, yes. To use -- 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It kind of opens the 15 door for other people wanting to start a business down 16 here and what have you. 17 MRS. STEBBINS: So you have a courthouse use 18 policy that I did not review before today, but that was 19 put in place in part because you wanted to be able to 20 control who puts businesses or other events on out here 21 for financial gain or to provide it for non-profit 22 purposes. So I'll have a look at that and -- and 23 consider what type of agreement y'all would want to put 24 in place and let you guys know. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Well, why don't we refer to 43 1 you to look into before we get to it? 2 MRS. STEBBINS: Sure. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. That's probably 4 the best. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So we can -- 6 MRS. STEBBINS: Okay. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- all see how -- the 8 policy that we settle on had to do with non-profit and 9 it was about the use of the parking lot. 10 MRS. STEBBINS: That's right. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Not the -- I don't 12 think the building inside was included in it. But it 13 was about non-profit. 14 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Because we had a 16 farmers market that wanted to set up or something. 17 So -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: Well, whatever we've got in 19 place we need to review before we make a decision. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We do. Right. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We need to review our 22 policy. 23 MR. WARING: I would have no problem with 24 having people who have community service come and work 25 and pay it towards community service also. But I was 44 1 more on the restoration of art work and restoring art 2 work or -- because I'm an artist. So I was more into 3 that. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: One question. If you 5 were going to devote your time to this up until noon one 6 day, what kind of volume would it have to take to make 7 it worth your while? 8 MR. WARING: I mean that's something we 9 can -- I'm not -- I work three jobs. So I mean, like -- 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You're looking for a 11 fourth, huh? 12 MR. WARING: So I mean -- I mean, probably 13 something like -- we would have to talk. I mean, I'm 14 not necessarily in it for money but for helping people. 15 But I understand with me putting my own money in there, 16 it has to be some kind of a -- that's something we'd 17 have to talk about. So that's more on my just -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: I think we're going to have to 19 work on the business model on this to see what it looks 20 like. 21 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'm not sure that we 22 want to encourage small businesses within the 23 courthouse. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: I would be interested 45 1 in supporting, you know, if it was for a good cause, a 2 fund raiser. I mean, I might even volunteer to shine 3 some shoes as one of the County Commissioners. I mean 4 maybe some others would, too. And, you know, if it was 5 going to raise funds for a good cause. But having 6 something kind of permanently in here that supports an 7 individual, that's probably opening a Pandora's box 8 here. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And just thinking, you 10 know, this type of thing is in a lot of public places. 11 And the other thing you can do is if it's not a 12 business, it could be tips only. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, you know, I 14 could see maybe at certain events out at the Event 15 Center or something. You get a high volume. And maybe 16 something like that could be worked out and be more 17 profitable and, you know, try to have a line of people 18 waiting to get their shoes shined. Whereas here, it 19 would be pretty sporadic I would think. 20 MR. WARING: So it's more of a service, like 21 I said. It's restoration and having people who don't 22 have places to do community service. Eventually I'm 23 trying to get my name on the community service list to 24 help out people in my precinct and around Kerrville to 25 where they could come and do community service. 46 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: One thing you may do, 2 George, is visit with Jake Williamson out at the Hill 3 Country Youth Event Center. 4 MR. WARING: Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's maybe a really 6 good location and get us out of the mix. If you talk 7 and get an agreement with Jake. And I think, you know, 8 it's a -- may be a whole lot more beneficial to you or 9 community service to everyone. And Jake's out there at 10 Hill Country Youth Event Center almost every day. 11 MR. WARING: No problem. That's no problem. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And I wouldn't mind 14 going out there with you when you spoke to him. 15 MR. WARING: Okay. Thank you. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. So we'll table 17 that one for now and move on to item 1.6, which is to 18 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to approve 19 the proposed Best Management Practices for the Aggregate 20 Production Operation advisory council as recommended by 21 the council. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: George. (Handing 23 picture to Mr. Waring.) 24 MR. WARING: So would I leave this picture? 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm sorry? 47 1 MRS. STEBBINS: Oh, the one you donated? 2 Here. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Oh, that picture. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: Uh-huh. Thank you. It's 5 beautiful. 6 MR. WARING: All right. You have a good 7 day. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Thank you. 9 JUDGE KELLY: I put this item on the agenda. 10 We had our council meeting a couple weeks ago. And 11 we've been working for the last year and a half plus 12 trying to come up with the first draft anyway of the 13 recommendation for BMP, the Best Management Practices, 14 and working with Jill Shackelford. And it was a very 15 interesting meeting. 16 There are several people in the room that 17 were there. But we had probably, I would say, 30ish. 18 Something like that. If you'll remember, we have 11 19 council members, and what they include are three of the 20 homeowners in that area, three of the operators that are 21 in that area, three of the business people that are in 22 that area, and then certain governmental groups that are 23 represented there on the -- in the council. 24 When it came time to take a vote on the 25 recommended practices, and you can see them there that 48 1 they're pretty extensive, there was a question of, well, 2 do the 11 get to vote or does everybody get to vote? 3 Because it affects everybody. We kinda looked at one 4 another and said, well, let's hear from everybody. 5 Let's see what everybody thinks. And believe it or not, 6 it was unanimous. Every single person that had been 7 coming to these meetings for almost two years voted to 8 accept -- recommend these practices to the Court for 9 approval. And they expect to have version two out 10 within the next month or two. So they're moving right 11 along. And I think as Kelly already said earlier, it is 12 truly a collaboration. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: So I move that we adopt 14 the Best Management Practices for Aggregate Production 15 Operations as recommended by the APO council. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second. It 18 was an interesting meeting for you two, wasn't it? 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: It was. 20 JUDGE KELLY: One of the things that we do, 21 and I guess I can do this because I'm County Judge, but 22 I don't want to get out of hand. And sometimes there 23 are very sharp emotions that we have to deal with on 24 some of this stuff, and one of our homeowners was 25 calling out an operator and being very aggressive. And 49 1 I got -- I got up, I walked over to right where he was 2 sitting. He had his wife, his child, his parents there. 3 I mean, it was a family outing. And I just stood there. 4 And asked him to stop the attack. He did. He 5 apologized. The meeting continued. We stayed and met 6 with him afterwards. And the operator met his concerns. 7 It was really a collaboration in action. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: How long did that 9 mediation take? I left. You were hard at it. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Oh, yeah, I would say 20, 30 11 minutes. It wasn't bad. My wife noted that I got home 12 late. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: Well, thank you for 14 doing it. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What -- I guess my -- 16 great work. My question is what do we do with this? 17 JUDGE KELLY: Well, what Jill and I, our 18 vision of it, we're -- in order to make this official, 19 we're asking that the County Commissioners' Court accept 20 these recommendations from the APO council with an eye 21 towards using this as a template for other counties as 22 to what -- what the people, the businesses, and the 23 operators can actually agree on. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So that still doesn't 25 quite answer the question that Commissioner Letz asked. 50 1 Do we post these on the website? Do we have them -- 2 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Do we have George make 4 a picture, a mural with them? 5 JUDGE KELLY: No. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What do we do with 7 these? 8 JUDGE KELLY: We would like to have them 9 posted on the website -- 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 11 JUDGE KELLY: -- as the approved for BMP for 12 aggregate mining here in Kerr County. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 14 JUDGE KELLY: And use that to try to build 15 some sort of momentum to have more of these statewide 16 and become an effective community group. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: Well, I think it's 18 worth noting that these are voluntary Best Management 19 Practices. But most of our aggregate production 20 operators are already adhering to these for the most 21 part. And it creates a starting point for further 22 dialogue with the public as these operators can come and 23 report when we have these subsequent meetings, and then 24 tell the public what they're doing about specific areas 25 of the Best Management Practices. 51 1 JUDGE KELLY: And it's a community holding 2 each other accountable so that we know what -- what to 3 expect. People know what to expect, the operators know 4 what to expect, the businesses know what to expect. And 5 they have a forum to come if they have a problem. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. There's -- but 7 there's no teeth in it. There's no -- I can't get out 8 and ticket book and write a ticket if they don't do it. 9 JUDGE KELLY: No. It's all voluntary. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other thing that 11 may be done with this. It says to the operators in this 12 County. And some of them are local, this is their only 13 pit. They probably, I mean, know it. But like Martin 14 Marietta, may appreciate having something formal that 15 they can send up the chain that -- 16 COMMISSIONER PACES: Because they've all 17 been involved in this. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: They've all seen it. 20 They've all contributed. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think having it 22 adopted by the Court -- 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- you know, it may be 25 good for some of them. 52 1 JUDGE KELLY: It gives -- it gives them at 2 least the air. Well, we've seen it. We've approved it. 3 And this is something that everybody that -- that's 4 working in that area agrees that this is what they're 5 going to follow. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's definitely an 7 improvement of where we were several years ago. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. How much of it, 9 though, is -- a lot of it comes from our facilitator 10 who -- it's boiler plate stuff she's seen everywhere. 11 In every one of these cases. A lot of that is a common 12 thread. So how much of it is specific to Kerr County 13 and how much is being different? 14 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I think aggregate 15 production is pretty much the same wherever it is. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's -- that's my 17 point. So most of these best practices are in place. 18 Any place she's been for sure. 19 JUDGE KELLY: But they've never been 20 codified like this. We're the first in the country to 21 put one of these things together. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: She said that. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We've helped pay for 25 the blueprint that others can model after. And that's 53 1 all right. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Well, if you kept everything 3 tamped down pretty well in East Kerr County. It flares 4 up every now and then, but then we come back to these 5 and get back in line. 6 Okay. Any other discussion? 7 MRS. GRINSTEAD: You should have a 8 participation form on there. 9 JUDGE KELLY: I guess I do. Let's see. 10 Tara Bushnoe. I had it here. 11 MS. BUSHNOE: Well, I think you said it 12 already anyway. But good morning, Judge, Commissioners. 13 Tara Bushnoe with Upper Guadalupe River Authority. It 14 was my pleasure to work with Jill Shackelford and the 15 council to develop the BMP document. 16 And you know, thank you very much to this 17 Court for your previous action to create a framework 18 with -- through the council to bring a document like 19 this together with the local support. Definitely going 20 to continue to be involved in the revisions and future 21 iterations of it and through our Board president's 22 participation on the council as well. 23 I think, Commissioner Letz, kind of to your 24 question, too, some of the tweaks that we have for the 25 next revision are to create, like, a stand-alone kind of 54 1 one pager that outlines those practices. That maybe 2 could be something visual at the quarry. I think 3 certainly, you know, sending it to all of them would be 4 another suggestion that I would make, too. Thank you. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 6 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank 7 you. 8 Let's take a five minute break and we'll 9 come back and start the 10 o'clock items and then come 10 back to 1.7. 11 (Recess) 12 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come back to order. 13 We've got kind of a scheduling problem today. We've got 14 a lot of people here from the community that we want to 15 hear. We've got a lot of items at 10 o'clock and I 16 occasionally do this. I'm going to look at Charlie and 17 Kelly and ask if we could shove those back so we can 18 hear the people first. 19 But we're going to go ahead and do the 9:45 20 docket and then we're going to take the Eagle Ridge 21 issue out of sequence because when we have that 22 addressed that will thin the crowd out. 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: I was just outside. I 24 told them they were going to be delayed. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Well -- 55 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: They'll be happy. 2 They will be happy. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is the Eagle Ridge 4 matter and they're going to be before 10 o'clock. So 5 before we call the 10 o'clock items. 6 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yeah. 7 JUDGE KELLY: So let me go ahead and call 8 the 9:45 docket. The first one is 1.11 presentation of 9 the Excellence in Safety award from a representative 10 from Texas Association of Counties. Miss Hernandez and 11 Victor Uvalle. 12 MR. UVALLE: Good morning. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Good to see you back. 14 MR. UVALLE: Good morning, Judge, 15 Commissioners. Good to see y'all again. I just wanted 16 to come by. This past week we had our County management 17 risk conference in Austin and we officially presented 18 that County earned an Excellence in Safety award again 19 this year for doing a great job in doing training, 20 on-site training for the County, adopting policies and 21 keeping your workers' comp claims down. 22 Not only do you keep your claims down, but 23 you also help to keep the cost down which helps the 24 taxpayers overall by keeping your premiums down on the 25 workers' comp. And most importantly, keeping your 56 1 employees safe and free from injury and that way they 2 can go home safely every day. 3 And I do want to thank Rosa for helping me 4 set up some of these trainings and helping us to 5 coordinate this. And also, thank you for your support 6 for allowing us to come train. I want to thank also the 7 other County officials and supervisors for participating 8 and helping us to do training and sending your employees 9 to our training. We don't do it alone, we do it 10 together with y'all. And like I said, together we can 11 continue to do this. 12 I do want to show you the 20 -- this was 13 earned for 2022 award. And like I said, you are one out 14 of 11 counties out of the State that got it. We got 220 15 counties that participate in the workers' comp pool, but 16 another hundred entities or so that districts and CCDs 17 that also participated. So it's pretty unique. It's a 18 pretty high standard. It is earned. They do have to 19 work at it. The County has to work at it. So it was 20 earned. Thank you so much. 21 And like I said, it's all to keep your 22 employees safe at work. I do have a press release that 23 kind of states a lot of the items that I spoke about 24 that's available to -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: She's right here. 57 1 MS. WALTER: Thank you. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Man, you're good behind 3 the podium. You oughta be on the highlights reel. 4 (Laughter.) 5 MR. UVALLE: Well, thank you. Practice. 6 Practice. 7 MS. WALTER: Can we get a photo? 8 JUDGE KELLY: Sure. We will get a photo. 9 But Victor -- 10 MR. UVALLE: Yes, sir? 11 JUDGE KELLY: -- how many years have we 12 gotten this award now? 13 MR. UVALLE: You know, I would say at least, 14 12, 15 years. I've mean -- mixing them together, 15 15 years or so. 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Ever since John 17 retired so it's -- 18 MR. UVALLE: Yeah. And as a matter of fact, 19 Judge, I got -- like on the following agenda, we're 20 already working for next year's award. And we already 21 have a class set up for April the 12th. It's going to 22 be all on cyber security. It's a four session so it's a 23 half a day training. And we're going to repeat it in 24 the afternoon. It's going to be at the Youth Center. 25 It's paid for. It's part of your coverage. It's 58 1 included under your public officials liability. 2 This training to keep your claims down in 3 the cyber area. As you know, we're getting hit more in 4 those areas nowadays so we are going to have four 5 different sessions for all Kerr County employees to come 6 and attend and take advantage of those. And like I 7 said, this helps with the safety award for next year, 8 for 2023. For 2023. Thank y'all. Did y'all want to 9 take a picture? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Rosa, come on up. 12 (Photographs taken.) 13 JUDGE KELLY: And for those of you that 14 don't understand, TAC is our insurance company. Texas 15 Association of Counties. And we're self-insured. 16 MR. UVALLE: Self-insured. 17 MS. WALTER: Get in there, Rosa. 18 MRS. STEBBINS: Thank you. 19 MR. UVALLE: Thank you. We'll see you at 20 the training hopefully. Come see us. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Next item is 1.12 update 22 regarding the cyber security training presentation, 23 which he just did. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: He did both of them. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. Okay. So with that, 59 1 let's go ahead and call the Eagle Ridge people in. That 2 would be item 1.10 consider, discuss and take 3 appropriate action, if any, relating to the 4 recommendations and comments in the Eagle Ridge Roadway 5 Safety Study dated February 2023, including the impact 6 of Twin Creeks Development on and road integrity during 7 different phases of the development of Twin Creeks. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: I put this on the 9 agenda at your request, Mr. Mosty. 10 MR. MOSTY: Thank you. I'm Richard Mosty. 11 I live in Center Point and I office in Kerrville. And I 12 would just briefly -- I think all of us know more about 13 Chapter 232 and the House Bills than we want to know. I 14 think everybody understands. We all agree on what the 15 County's obligations and limitations and parameters are, 16 so I'm not going to rehash all that. 17 We do have John Nevares is here, who did our 18 traffic engineering study that you said that we have 19 given to you. And he's here simply to answer questions, 20 if you have any. And so if -- at the appropriate time 21 if you have any questions, John can address those. And 22 then I'm going to turn it over to the residents of the 23 area to really talk about the long-term safety and the 24 long-term plans for Eagle Ridge Road. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Before you leave, let me brag 60 1 on you a little bit. For those who don't understand 2 what we're dealing with here, we have a new subdivision 3 going in on the south of town, off of 173, but it's 4 actually off of Eagle Ridge Road, which is a county 5 road. And we have traffic and safety issues. 6 We've done our own TIA, a traffic impact 7 assessment, and then the citizens out there have 8 expressed their concerns because they went and hired 9 their own expert to prepare a report, what, it's at 10 least an inch thick. I think. And very thorough. And 11 we have sat down and cussed and discussed these issues 12 and I think we'll come up with a mutually agreeable plan 13 by the time we're all done. 14 But some of that we're going to talk about 15 in Executive Session because we don't want to affect 16 negotiations talking about it in the public. But we're 17 in the process and what -- what Richard did was give us 18 something that we could give to TxDOT. And it was 19 because of Mr. Nevares' report that TxDOT actually sat 20 down with us and, without even being solicited, agreed 21 to a 75/25 match on being able to put in a left turn 22 lane on 173. Which is huge. 23 And went sat down with the developer and 24 we'll talk about those details later. But what we have 25 in the works right now, I say in the works, is what 61 1 looks like it's going to be a mutually beneficial 2 resolution. And I want to thank you for taking the 3 lead, Richard. 4 MR. MOSTY: Well, thank you, John, who is 5 the person who really did it. And I think the people 6 who are here today are really going to -- their focused 7 on the Eagle Ridge part of the project and what can be 8 done to improve that. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just want to clarify a 10 point. He said we did a TIA, I believe the developer 11 did the TIA. 12 MR. MOSTY: I think you're right. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We -- the County just 14 does not do TIAs. 15 JUDGE KELLY: The developer did the TIA. We 16 had it. We're using it. Okay. So I've got at least 17 four people that have signed up to talk on this topic; 18 is that correct? And Don, why don't you come up first? 19 MR. McDONALD: It's mama. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Your wife? 21 MR. McDONALD: The wife. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Amanda. 23 MS. McDONALD: Good morning, Your Honor and 24 Commissioners. My name is Amanda McDonald. I am a 25 resident and representative of the Eagle Ridge Road. We 62 1 expect our elected County officials and engineer to 2 protect the tax paying citizens that live in the County 3 at present and protect the safety and welfare of the 4 current Eagle Ridge residents. 5 Eagle Ridge Road was never designed to 6 handle 110 lots and over 1,000 cars per day. It was 7 designed as a country paved lane for up to eight lots, 8 which is what it currently is. 9 We asked the County to do their own 10 independent traffic study back on November 28, 2022, 11 which our tax paid elected officials refused. Instead, 12 the tax paying citizens that live on the road were 13 forced to defend ourselves and hire and pay for our own 14 independent traffic study and attorney. The County has 15 the obligation to protect the health, safety, and 16 welfare of the citizens in our community. They have 17 not. 18 When the County Engineer was asked about the 19 Eagle Ridge residents completing our own traffic study, 20 he advised against it. If the Eagle Ridge Road 21 residents would not have spoken up and hired legal 22 counsel, our own independent engineering firm to do our 23 own investigation and traffic study, this would have 24 been swept under the road at the future peril of the 25 County's safety and financial obligation. 63 1 Now, in order for this development to go 2 forward and Eagle Ridge Road to be brought up to safe 3 standards and County code, it's going to come out of 4 Kerr County taxpayers' pockets, an upgrade to Eagle 5 Ridge Road that could cost in excess of a million 6 dollars in order to be safe and up to County code. All 7 for a development that's being done by an out-of-state 8 developer. The same out-of-state developer that Bandera 9 County officials shutdown on a property that is within a 10 few miles of Eagle Ridge as the crow flies. 11 My family has been residing on Eagle Ridge 12 Road for over 20 years. We are invested in the road and 13 our neighbors. Non-resident traffic has continued to 14 increase on Eagle Ridge. By family and neighbors 15 continue to recount incidents of being run off the road 16 or near misses by non-resident traffic, including 17 contractors from the developer and, most recently, 18 currently County trucks working on the road. 19 Again, Your Honor, you yourself stated in 20 the August 8th Kerr County Commissioners Court to expand 21 Eagle Ridge is going to be very problematic with the 22 terrain. I think access using Eagle Ridge is going to 23 be dangerous. Very, very dangerous, which y'all are 24 addressing. 25 I said it last time and I will say it again. 64 1 To subdivide and develop land with one entrance and exit 2 on a narrow road is just plain careless and 3 irresponsible. Now, we have been made aware that our 4 road will be made into a collector road. So what are 5 y'all going to do? Commissioners? Engineer? Your 6 Honor? As long-term residents we would like to know how 7 it's going to be made into a collector road and what the 8 timeline is. We want this to be a condition of the 9 final plat. 10 The residents of Eagle Ridge Road would like 11 the final plat denied until the road is brought up to 12 safe conditions. We have significant concerns about the 13 increase of traffic count in the coming months and the 14 swarm of traffic coming with the grand opening, white 15 tent sales lots with thousands of cars coming in. I 16 know you have all seen that. 17 On another note, it has been brought to my 18 attention that the developers are sucking water out of 19 our already drought ridden creeks to build their own 20 roads. It is my understanding that this is entirely 21 illegal for commercial purposes, especially in times of 22 extreme drought. Thank you for your time and 23 consideration. 24 JUDGE KELLY: I'm trying to read the name 25 hear. McGuire? 65 1 MR. McGUIRE: McGuire. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Jeff. 3 MR. McGUIRE: Thank you, Commissioner Kelly 4 and -- Judge Kelly and Commissioners. So interesting 5 comment about -- that was made at the meeting previously 6 about the collaboration that took place with the 7 community and aggregate operators. Eagle Ridge Road 8 neighbors have had no collaboration with the developers. 9 The County has not helped us with a collaboration. 10 All of this discussion with the County and 11 the developers seems to have been done behind closed 12 doors. And neighbors, if you will, have been uninformed 13 by the County. We became aware of what was going on 14 probably in October, and finally got to say something 15 officially to the County in November, which is when we 16 then found we need to get or wanted to get a traffic 17 report. 18 So how did we get to this point? After the 19 fact -- after the fact, we learned of the meetings in 20 August and September. Never got an invitation. And 21 only in November 27th were we given a chance to speak. 22 We understood the County was meeting with developers 23 behind closed doors many, many times. 24 Okay. What the -- my basic question is, can 25 we assume that all of the Commissioners have read the 66 1 three traffic reports to the commission by the developer 2 and then the neighbors traffic report. Because if you 3 have, you will see there's no disagreement. They all 4 point out that Eagle Ridge Road, the three miles -- 5 three miles is all we're talking about -- is not in 6 compliance with Kerr County rules and regulations on 7 collector roads. How do we -- how do we know this? 8 Well, back in August, Commissioner Gipson 9 expressed concern about the width of the pavement of 10 Eagle Ridge Road. And he went to, where? Kerr County 11 Road & Bridge. Road & Bridge told Kerr -- I mean 12 Commissioner Gipson, Eagle Ridge was not constructed to 13 current County base in compaction standards. That's 14 back in August. 15 Then, if you will, in September I know 16 Commissioner Kelly, when he first kind of got involved 17 in this thing, expressed his -- his concern about safety 18 on Eagle Ridge Road. So everybody is on board. The 19 three engineers have pointed out the deficiencies. The 20 two builders' engineers have pointed out the 21 deficiencies. Our engineer has pointed out the 22 deficiencies. The Commission -- all of the courts 23 understand the deficiencies. So what is the -- what is 24 the problem? Even the developer by the way, even the 25 developer does not deny the deficiency. When the 67 1 developer's engineer pointed out the road was not wide 2 enough to accommodate -- safely accommodate the traffic, 3 all he said was hey, so it's too expensive. I'm not 4 going to pay for it. Wow. What an admission that was. 5 So the developer never claims that the road 6 is safe. He just doesn't want to pay for his mistake. 7 Now, who is the developer? Where we call it Twin 8 Creeks -- it's not Twin Creeks by the way. Twin Creeks 9 is a marketing vehicle. The -- if you will, the 10 developer, the owner, is Kerr Acquisitions Limited 11 Partnership. And who are they? A Texas foreign limited 12 liability company. Oh, really. What? So when people 13 start looking for the deep pockets three years from now 14 after there's been an accident out there and we realized 15 the road is defective, who is going to pay for the 16 lawsuit? Well, if you want to go after deep pockets, 17 deep pockets is Kerr County. 18 So Kerr County is on the -- and the 19 developer has a history, if you go back and look at his 20 other developments in North Carolina and Tennessee, he 21 disappears after three years or four years. So there's 22 nobody out there. 23 I just want to point out what he -- what one 24 of the developer's reports showed, if you really read 25 the report, which I know you all did, the Rock 68 1 Engineering report, is it's -- they took four core 2 samples out there. One at the beginning, another one at 3 the next interval, next interval, next interval, so 4 there is a one mile gap between core sample A and core 5 sample B, another mile to core sample B and C, another 6 mile. Core sample C, if you will, measured a base, a 7 compact base of six inches. The County standard is ten. 8 So yet if you -- if anybody -- I've showed 9 this to other traffic engineers. They've said, hey, if 10 that was six inches, it's a 40 percent deviation from 11 the requirement, and how do you know it doesn't go one 12 mile to the right, and one mile to the left? It could 13 be 10 -- two miles of road out there. At least one 14 mile. But maybe two. Two-thirds of the road is 40 15 percent deficient, if you will. 16 Now, again, Kerr County Road & Bridge knows 17 that. Kerr County Road & Bridge has said from the very 18 beginning that it was never designed to accommodate this 19 kind of traffic. Hastings. Oh, by -- what -- is 20 Charlie Hastings here? 21 MR. HASTINGS: I'm here. 22 MR. McGUIRE: Oh, County Engineer. Thank 23 you, Charlie. Where's Charlie? 24 MR. HASTINGS: (Indicating.) 25 MR. McGUIRE: Oh there. Okay. So you 69 1 pointed out, if you will, to the County bridge and road 2 people when Judge Kelly was asking you about the report, 3 if you will, you said, oh by the way, portions of 4 Eagle -- of the road have been reconstructed by the 5 County Road & Bridge who really knows what's going on 6 out there, by the way, and they said they were surprised 7 at the average thickness of the base was nine and a half 8 inches. They were surprised. The reason they were 9 surprised is because it isn't nine and a half inches. 10 What, if you will, the engineer did to 11 accommodate the developer, he took an average, okay. 12 And by taking an average, you can't do -- you can't do 13 that. Six inches is what that core sample showed, 40 14 percent deviation. It could be two-thirds of the road. 15 And Charlie Hastings, somehow over having coffee at Road 16 & Bridge, oh, said we got this report. And Road & 17 Bridge says they were surprised. Of course they were 18 surprised. 19 So the point is, that if you will, 20 Commissioner Gipson back in August had said that Road & 21 Bridge told him it was not constructed to County 22 standards and that he called, Commissioner Gipson back 23 then, the development a problematic subdivision. Very 24 problematic to widen Eagle Ridge Road. He said you 25 couldn't do it. 70 1 So, if you will, what -- where are we now? 2 Where we are is we got three engineer reports, and the 3 Court, Commissioners' Court, all agree, this is unsafe 4 road. Three miles need to be totally reconstructed. 5 One million dollar plus project -- well, a million and a 6 half dollar project. So what are the remedies? 7 Here are what some people have said to me 8 could be the remedies. Have the developer pay for the 9 road. The whole road. Dig it up. Widen it. Put the 10 right base in there. And -- and not the Kerr County 11 taxpayers. Have the developer post a bond, if you will, 12 from an A rated bonding company to resolve the 13 liability. 14 The developer has an obligation to warn his 15 buyers out there because there's a defect, if you will, 16 on that property, because they can't get into that 17 property safely. So if he doesn't inform his buyers of 18 the potential liability, every contract out there is 19 going to be rescinded. Kerr County has an obligation to 20 erect signage, to warn motorists if there are cement 21 trucks out there in the next couple of months and they 22 drive off the road, if you will, it's going to be a 23 lawsuit. And guess what? Kerr County knew about it all 24 along and they allowed these cement trucks and gravel 25 haulers to go up and down the road. 71 1 You can issue a cease and desist order until 2 Eagle Ridge is in compliance as the collector road, 3 which is what the County has, you know, published all 4 this thing. And, you know, who's liable if an accident 5 occurs? Whatever. So, if you will, did we know that 6 Eagle Road was unsafe? We knew it from the very 7 beginning. The very beginning. When did we know it? 8 We certainly knew it back in August when Commissioner 9 Gipson pointed all this stuff out. What did we do to 10 protect the safety and -- of the neighbors? 11 And, you know, I don't know what we're 12 doing. The only person who, if you will, is on the 13 other side of this equation, as far as -- I don't know 14 is head fainting, is the County Engineer. The 15 developers never said the road is unsafe. So the County 16 Engineer is somehow taking all this expert testimony and 17 presenting something to the Court, which is not the 18 case. 19 So just -- where safety is concerned, no 20 expense should ever be spared. No expense. Just ask 21 Norfolk and Southern, as they are being investigated by 22 Congress and the National Safety Board over their 23 negligence. And I will leave it at that. 24 Thank you for your time. And read the 25 reports. They're in the file. And lawyers are going to 72 1 be looking for those things if there's a situation that 2 develops. Thank you. 3 COURT REPORTER: Excuse me. What is your 4 name? 5 MR. McGUIRE: Jack McGuire. 6 COURT REPORTER: Thank you. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Next is Jim Demont? 8 MR. DEMONY: Demony(phonetic). 9 JUDGE KELLY: Demony. 10 MR. DEMONY: Good morning, Judge Kelly and 11 Commissioners. My name is Jim Demony. My wife and I 12 live on Eagle Ridge Road. And we just happen to live at 13 the crest of the first big hill, which is problematic in 14 itself. I, along with other residents of Eagle Ridge 15 Road, addressed the Commissioners' Court in November, 16 2022. 17 At that time, and I'm not going to rehash 18 everything that was said to you, we expressed our 19 concern about the road not being adequate to handle the 20 increase in traffic from the increased development. 21 Everyone, including the Commissioners, agreed that Eagle 22 Ridge Road, in its current condition, is not adequate 23 and presents a safety issue everyone. 24 Let's fast-forward to March. Safety issue 25 on Eagle Ridge Road has not improved. In fact, it has 73 1 become worse. There has been significant increase in 2 large truck traffic as well as worker traffic due to the 3 working being conducted on the Twin Creeks property. 4 In living at the crest of the hill, we are 5 always susceptible to vehicles coming up from the east 6 when we leave our property. Who -- and many -- many of 7 those drivers are not familiar with the road and tend to 8 drive in the middle of the road because it's so narrow, 9 and sometimes at speeds exceeding the posted speed 10 limit, which forces us, coming out of our property, to 11 get on the edge of the road, which is not very good, or 12 in the dirt and grass. Likewise, when we come home, 13 going back up the hill, same thing. The traffic comes 14 down from the west. 15 Just an example, the other day I was out in 16 my yard and a big truck came up the road pulling an 17 asphalt paver. He was taking up the entire road. He 18 had no choice. He was that wide. If I'd been coming 19 out of my driveway at the same time, I had no place to 20 go. 21 Has the physical condition of the road 22 deteriorated? I'm not a road engineer, but common sense 23 would say yes. Considering a significant increase in 24 traffic, especially large trucks. It was not 25 constructed to allow for this type of traffic. And it's 74 1 not constructed for a thousand cars on the road every 2 day. And it will only get worse, unless it's improved, 3 once the subdivision begins home construction. 4 All we ask is our elected officials do the 5 right thing to protect anyone who lives or travels on 6 Eagle Ridge Road. That is to hold the developer 7 accountable and make road improvements at their expense, 8 not the County's, a condition for plat approval. 9 At the prices they're going to be charging 10 for that property, I think they can afford a million 11 dollars or a million and a half to improve three miles 12 of road. 13 All too often, we see our elected officials 14 roll the dice or kick the can down the road and not make 15 the tough decisions. Any developer, not just Twin 16 Creeks, should not be allowed to come into our area, 17 disrupt current environment, and then leave with no 18 consequences. 19 In closing, everyone knows how unsafe Eagle 20 Ridge Road is and will be with the increase in traffic 21 if no improvements are made. It is not a case of if a 22 tragic accident happens, but when. Knowing it could 23 have been prevented but wasn't will not be a viable 24 defense for Kerr County when a tragic accident does 25 occur. Thank you for your time. And I trust the 75 1 Commissioners and Judge Kelly will make the right 2 decision. Thank you. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Shelly McCullough. 4 MS. McCULLOUGH: Thank you. My family owns 5 Eagle Bluff Ranch and we've owned it for about 30 years. 6 It is almost directly across from the proposed 7 development of Twin Creeks. My husband and I and our 8 two daughters have lived full-time at the ranch for the 9 last 15 years. So we've seen significant changes since 10 we bought the ranch and since the time that we have 11 lived there full-time in terms of the traffic on the 12 road as other -- other ranches along the road have been 13 either acquired or they've done work, but its been 14 liveable. 15 Everybody has talked about the problems with 16 the road, and I'd like to say I'm a recovering attorney. 17 I don't practice. I haven't for many years. But I 18 understand the limitations that the Court is facing and 19 that you're not in a position to simply say we want you 20 to do X, Y, Z because we think you should. But you do, 21 as you've recognized, have an obligation to protect the 22 health and safety of the community. And I think that's 23 what the residents of Eagle Ridge Road are trying to say 24 today, is that the health and safety of anybody who 25 drives on Eagle Ridge Road as this development goes 76 1 forward are in significant jeopardy. 2 My daughter, my younger daughter, learned to 3 drive just about two years ago, and other than the 4 access on and off 173, which I -- I think a turning lane 5 will help, it's not a perfect solution but I think it's 6 great that you've been able to accomplish that. The 7 other scary part of her learning to drive was just 8 getting off and on Eagle Ridge Road because that three 9 mile stretch from our ranch to 173 is very narrow. It 10 winds and there are multiple crests in the road. And 11 you can't see oncoming traffic on those crests. 12 And I would say the majority of people who 13 do not live on the road, drive right smack in the middle 14 of the road and that's because the road is narrow and 15 there are ditches and brush and animals and who knows 16 what else on either side, and they don't expect 17 necessarily to meet a lot of traffic. 18 I have a couple pictures that were taken 19 that show the lines of trucks that have recently been 20 going in and out to the Twin Creeks property. And I 21 just want to -- I'll put them up where they can be seen. 22 And this is the entrance to Twin Creeks. My ranch is 23 right over here. This is from 173 up. And if you see, 24 and then I have a -- further down the road, the trucks 25 are all going in the middle of the road. You can see 77 1 the tire marks quite clearly. And if you're lucky and 2 it's daylight and nice weather and they're not going too 3 fast, you may be able to get out of the way. If they're 4 going too fast, if it's nighttime when there's no lights 5 along that road, you're lucky if you don't end up in the 6 ditch. 7 And as a mother and a resident, a long-time 8 resident and hope to be a -- we love living out there, 9 and I understand that we may not be happy with 10 everything about this development and that we're not 11 going to necessarily be able to prevent it from 12 happening, but I do think from a safety standpoint, 13 absolutely essential. 14 And I think the one thing that the 15 Commissioners' Court can do, your one authority, is to 16 approve or disapprove this plat. And while I know that 17 you have concerns about liability, I'm an attorney, I 18 would be advising you all the time to be concerned about 19 that. You also have liability on the other side, and 20 that is the liability for the health and safety of 21 people who might be injured or worse. 22 And I think as -- like the residents -- 23 other residents of the road have said, it's just a 24 matter of time. I cannot count the number of times I've 25 been run off the road, primarily by service trucks, 78 1 delivery vans. And if we're going to have all of this 2 construction out there, it's going to be a nonstop 3 stream of major large trucks. 4 And I think it's going to be very difficult 5 to avoid tragedy. And that's really what we're here 6 asking you today, is -- is really begging you to use all 7 of your persuasive ability, and you obviously have had 8 some success with that so far with all of your other 9 collaboration, but also in the end the ultimate thing 10 that the -- that you do have with the developer is you 11 can approve or not approve that plat. 12 And if this road isn't safe, and if you look 13 at our traffic report, you will have evidence. You say 14 you have to spell out why you don't approve the plat, 15 the information is there that would allow you, I think, 16 safely to do that and protect you from liability and 17 you're doing what you should do and what we've elected 18 you to do, which is protect the citizens of Kerr County. 19 And we really do thank you for having heard 20 us several times. And for, once again, considering 21 doing everything you can to preserve the safety of the 22 residents along the road. Thank you. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Is there anyone else that 24 wants to speak on this topic? 25 MR. CLEMENS: I will. Good morning. Thank 79 1 you for having us here today. My name is Doug Clemens. 2 I am also a former attorney. And I live on Lin Creek 3 which feeds off of Eagle Ridge. 4 I've heard everything today. And I've been 5 involved in everything that's been going on. And I 6 think what y'all need to decide is, are we going to pay 7 for a road now or are we going to pay to defend a 8 lawsuit later that may involve loss of life. So that's 9 what we need to think about is safety. And thank you. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Anyone else? Any comments or 11 questions? 12 COMMISSIONER PACES: Raised some valid 13 concerns. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think I would -- the 15 only comment I want to make is -- I can't remember your 16 name. The lady right there. I appreciate your comments 17 that, you know, our authority is pretty limited. And to 18 get into the -- what we do have is public safety. What 19 that exactly means is -- is gray. I think we're looking 20 at it and trying to do the best we can to address that. 21 But I appreciate your comments. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else? Thank you. 23 Thank you. 24 Okay. Moving back to the 10 o'clock docket. 25 Item 1.13 consider, discuss and take appropriate action 80 1 for the Court to approve a Certificate of Construction 2 Completion for TDA Project 7217045, East Kerr/Center 3 Point Wastewater Collection Project, Phases II and III. 4 Charlie Hastings. 5 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you. Before you you 6 have a corrected certificate of construction completion 7 for TDA project 7217045, East Kerr/Center Point 8 Wastewater Collection Project Phases II and III. 9 And both Tetra Tech and Grantworks could not 10 be here this morning, so they asked that I present this 11 for them. I spoke with Rosie to understand what's the 12 issue here, and the Certificate of Construction 13 Completion that was adopted by Court Order 39778, there 14 was an error in it. A $50,000.00 error that affected 15 the amount of the original contract. The amount of the 16 contract and then the remaining contract. That has been 17 corrected. 18 I asked Rosie what happened. She said when 19 the data was put into the TDA GO system, that was 20 something that was -- that TDA required about four or 21 five months ago, they said you gotta go to this new 22 electronic system. She said that the original contract 23 was entered in incorrectly and then that just carried 24 forward automatically when this form was printed. 25 She noticed it was an issue and brought it 81 1 forth to TDA, and they said oh, you need to -- we'll get 2 that fixed, and that's what this does. 3 So Grantworks and Tetra Tech request that 4 the Court rescind Court Order number 39778. They also 5 request that the Court authorize County Judge to execute 6 this Corrected Certificate of Construction Completion 7 for TDA Project 7217045. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 11 approve the Certificate of Construction Completion for 12 TDA Project 7217045, East Kerr County/Center Point 13 Wastewater Collection Project Phases II and III. Any 14 questions or -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a comment. This 16 project has a number of different grants and loan 17 forgiveness, different -- that puts it all together. 18 And what we're talking about here is the Texas 19 Department of Agriculture grant that covers first time 20 sewer connections for certain people. So it's an income 21 criteria. So that's what we're looking at. This is not 22 the project as a whole, it's just the connections for 23 certain first time service connections. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: I guess my only 25 question for you, Charlie, is you know, in light of some 82 1 of the issues that we're seeing with a contract that's 2 already been closed out from Phase I, are we aware of -- 3 you know, have we really done a good job -- before we 4 close this contract out, have we done a good job and 5 made sure that there aren't any other trenches that have 6 subsided that, you know, we're done with any connected 7 homes and any -- anything else that we need the 8 contractor to complete and go back one more time? 9 That's -- I just don't want to end up with a whole bunch 10 of these things again that come back to haunt us later. 11 MR. HASTINGS: Well, the -- the contractor 12 still is under the other contract, and so if there is an 13 issue, that -- that can be resolved with the secondary 14 contract, which we close later this month. In April. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: There are periodic 16 inspections anyway, right? 17 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. So -- Tetra Tech has -- 18 has provided engineering construction administration, as 19 well as the inspections for this. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Then 21 those in favor of approving the Certificate of 22 Construction Completion for this TDA Project say aye. 23 Opposed? None. 24 Item 1.14 consider, discuss and take 25 appropriate action for the Court to set a public hearing 83 1 for 10:00 a.m. on May the 8th, 2023, for a revision of 2 plat for Hidden Valley Ranch, Section One, Tracts 5 and 3 6. And this is not the salad dressing people, right? 4 (Laughter.) 5 MR. HASTINGS: No, sir. 6 In November of 2022, the property owner, 7 Marian Cox, proposed revising Tract 5, 5.44 acres, and 8 Tract 6, 5.33 acres, into Tract 5R and 6R. Both tracts 9 would remain over five acres and front on Felix Drive. 10 A public hearing was set and conducted on 11 January 9th, 2023; however, the owner has submitted a 12 request to alter this proposed revision of plat and 13 allow for reduced road frontage of 90 feet for Tract 5R. 14 Tract 5R will become 5.19 acres with 90 foot of frontage 15 on Felix Drive. Tract 6R will be 5.57 acres with more 16 that 300 feet of frontage on Felix Drive. Section 7.04 17 of the 2007 regulations, that's what they're under, 18 access to roads of the subdivision regulations requires 19 150 foot of lot frontage but it also states that minimum 20 lot frontage distances may be reviewed by the 21 Commissioners' Court and lesser distances may be 22 approved based on lot configuration, topography, and 23 other mitigating factors recommended by the County 24 Subdivision Administrator. Subdivisions where the above 25 minimum lot frontage distances are not practical will be 84 1 considered on a case-by-case basis. 2 So the applicant is asking that they modify 3 their lot, and that would reduce that lot frontage down 4 to 90 feet. If you take a bird's eye view of that 5 neighborhood, everybody's got three, four, 500 foot of 6 frontage. And they -- this is just how they want to do 7 it. And it will require setting a new public hearing. 8 So the County Engineer requests the Court to 9 set a public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on May 8th, 2023 for 10 a revision of plat for Hidden Valley Ranch Section One, 11 Tracts 5 and 6, Volume 4, Page 33, Precinct 1. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So move. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 15 approve setting A public hearing for Hidden Valley Ranch 16 Section One, Tracts 5 and 6. 17 Charlie, in your opinion is this -- I mean, 18 it looks like pretty good sized lots. 19 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Is this practical and 21 reasonable? 22 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. Yes. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 24 in favor say aye. Opposed? It carries. 25 Item 1.15 consider, discuss and take 85 1 appropriate action to receive clarification from the 2 Court concerning engineering certifications on plats. 3 Mr. Hastings. 4 MR. HASTINGS: The Court -- the issue is 5 that our regulations, our brand new ones, they appear to 6 require an engineering certification even when State law 7 does not require that an engineer be engaged. The State 8 law that deals with that is also in our new regulations. 9 A licensed Texas professional engineer shall 10 be engaged for all engineering designs, as well as 11 supervising the engineering construction work accepted 12 for completed public works projects will exceed $8,000 13 per the Texas Engineering Practice Act. 14 It does make sense to omit the engineering 15 certification in those instances since there is nothing 16 for the engineer to certify. I just want the Court to 17 acknowledge this. 18 I'm not asking for any language change in 19 the subdivision regulations, the new ones. The -- just 20 asking for the Court to acknowledge that if a licensed 21 professional engineer is not needed on a plat that's 22 being submitted, that the engineering certification that 23 is in our regulations that says it's supposed to be on 24 the plat is -- is omitted in those instances. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, what's the 86 1 criteria? 2 MR. HASTINGS: The criteria for what? 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, you have to have 4 some kind of a threshold. You can't just say they're 5 not always needed. When are they not always needed? 6 MR. HASTINGS: An example would be a 7 subdivision of a lot that is on an existing road and 8 they're just creating a new lot. They're not building 9 another road. They're not building any drainage 10 facilities. Everything already exists. And we have a 11 number of those. Those come in all the time. 12 JUDGE KELLY: What was that $8,000 13 reference? 14 MR. HASTINGS: That's from the Texas 15 Engineering Practice Act. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But are -- are you 17 saying this would have to be a case by case. So you 18 review it basically on paper and say nobody needs to do 19 anything? Is that what you're saying? 20 MR. HASTINGS: Commissioner Letz and I 21 talked about this the other day and he had some 22 suggestions. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I've seen the 24 e-mails and all of that sort of stuff. 25 MR. HASTINGS: Right. 87 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But I'd like to know 2 when you -- you know, I raised six kids. So you gotta 3 have rules. And you gotta say here's -- you know what 4 the rule is. So I want to know what the rule is. 5 Everybody here needs to know what the rule is. If 6 there's a cutoff point, if there's a threshold, if 7 there's a circumstance that kicks this in or negates you 8 having to get involved, we need to know what that is. 9 And if it's on a case-by-case then that's all you need 10 to say. 11 MR. HASTINGS: And it's not a case-by-case. 12 But I do have -- Wellborn Engineering is who brought 13 this to my attention, as well as the County Surveyor, 14 Lee Voelkel. Mike, would you like to address the Court? 15 MR. WELLBORN: Sure. Sure. Mike Wellborn 16 with Wellborn Engineering & Surveying, 631 Water Street. 17 Judge, Commissioners. So there are certain cases what 18 would be considered a minor plat. For example, if 19 there's an easement created and you need to -- it was 20 created by plat. One of the ways to get rid of that 21 easement is to replat it, in which case there's no 22 engineering designs required whatsoever. So there's 23 numerous examples. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So the answer is it's a 25 case-by-case basis. 88 1 MR. WELLBORN: Case-by-case. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 3 MR. WELLBORN: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's what I wanted to 5 hear. 6 JUDGE KELLY: But it has to be minor. 7 MR. WELLBORN: Yes. If you're building a 8 subdivision and creating roads -- yeah. But if you're 9 creating a road -- a typical subdivision, you're 10 creating roads and drainage improvement. But there are 11 cases where you're doing none of that. And so for us, 12 as engineering and surveying hang ups, we can take care 13 of that. But the surveyors that don't have engineering, 14 they then have to go and hire an engineer for something 15 that there is just no engineering. 16 JUDGE KELLY: But this is really more of a 17 mom and pop combination type -- 18 MR. WELLBORN: Minor subdivision. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Minor subdivision. Yeah. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, it's where we -- 21 we do a lot if we're moving fence lines -- 22 MR. WELLBORN: Yeah. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- and there's no road 24 being built. Even the one we just did the public 25 hearing on, I don't -- there's no roads. We're dividing 89 1 a lot, changing a lot. Nothing new is going to be done. 2 A driveway is going to be added but that wouldn't 3 trigger it. That's just a slab. I mean that's -- that 4 follows State Law on their driveway improvement. So 5 this is just saying basically that, you know, there's no 6 infrastructure improvements, that we're going to touch 7 the land for the plat eventually. 8 So, I mean, if you're taking a -- if you 9 hire -- already have frontage on a county road or a 10 private road, it doesn't make any difference, if you 11 create a new lot and you have ten acres and you make two 12 five acres lots, you don't need to do an engineering 13 study. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I agree. That's what I 15 wanted to hear Charlie say. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. It's 17 case-by-case. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And I read your 19 e-mails, Charlie, and you were very succinct and it made 20 sense and I thought it was kind of a slam dunk deal but 21 you didn't really say that a minute ago so I thought 22 maybe something else had come up. 23 MR. HASTINGS: Harley, it's a slam dunk 24 deal. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 90 1 MR. HASTINGS: It's a case-by-case. I did 2 want to hear -- y'all to hear, though, from the folks 3 who brought it to my attention. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 5 JUDGE KELLY: So there's no action to be 6 taken, this was informational? 7 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Good. Then let's move on to 9 Item 1.16 consider, discuss and take appropriate action 10 on a change order on Wastewater Service Connections 11 Contract, TDA Grant Number 7218055 with Qro-Mex 12 Construction Company, Inc. for additional work to repair 13 pavement damaged during construction of the East Kerr 14 County/Center Point Wastewater Collection Project. Mr. 15 Hastings. 16 MR. HASTINGS: Again, Tetra Tech couldn't be 17 here today. They're our engineer that's managing this 18 project. And the issue that we had at hand was in 19 the Serenity Hills Mobile Home Park. They've got 20 existing paved streets. Sewer mains were relocated to 21 go down some of the middle of some of those streets 22 because of utility conflicts. 23 And so in 2022, in the fall, the Court did 24 adopt a Change Order to -- that would allow for the 25 additional quantity to be added in for the paving. We 91 1 had some concerns about that over the fall. And in the 2 winter we met with the property owner out there. Walked 3 it. We thought that there might need to be some changes 4 to make it more robust, the repair. And we asked for 5 the contractor, Qro-Mex, to give us some proposals and 6 they didn't respond in a timely manner. 7 Because of that, we're asking you to just 8 pass on this item, but I'll read to you from our -- from 9 Tetra Tech what he sent to the contractor. 10 Per our telephone conversation earlier 11 today, request for proposal number five is hereby 12 rescinded. Please move with all due haste to complete 13 the work in the contract documents, including the work 14 in Change Order No. 2 for the service treatment road 15 repair in the Scenic Hills -- it's not Scenic Hills, 16 it's Serenity Hills Mobile Home Park. This work is to 17 be completed in accordance with Section 321216, asphalt 18 paving included in the contract documents. 19 The Change Order quantity of 8,580 square 20 yards must not be exceeded. See Paragraph 3.07 of 21 Section 321216 for the required service preparation and 22 Paragraph 3.12 for level up and surface treatment 23 installation and requirements. 24 We're asking the Court to pass on this 25 because we never received a proposal from the contractor 92 1 to do anything different than what he already agreed to 2 do in Change Order No. 2. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Well, Miss Taylor Simmons? 4 MS. SIMMONS: Yes. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Would you like to address the 6 Court? 7 MS. SIMMONS: Yes, please. My name is 8 Taylor Simmons. I'm one of the owners of Serenity Hills 9 Mobile Home Park. I'm a Center Point graduate, Center 10 Point native. I was not born there. I don't think 11 anyone is. The other owners would be my brother, Brian 12 Barton, a disabled veteran who served in our United 13 States Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as my 14 father, Robert Barton, also known by Bob. 15 In the '60s and '70s Robby Barton, his dad, 16 was Sheriff Lucky Gross. All to point out that we are 17 from Center Point. There was a misconception that the 18 owners of Serenity Hills was Californians and that 19 misconception came with some distasteful negative 20 underlying tones. 21 JUDGE KELLY: And I'm sure you properly 22 disabused them of that mistake? 23 MS. SIMMONS: Yes. I'm here today. By 24 shared coincidence last night I received my first -- 25 well, maybe not first but since I've owned it, first 93 1 negative Google review for my business in our community. 2 All regarding the roads being considered horrible. If 3 you have not gone by, if any of the Commissioners do 4 today, I would highly encourage you to do so. 5 I know we walked the property with Mr. Paces 6 back in January, I believe. Mr. Paces, the roads have 7 not improved by any means. Our roads, as pointed out on 8 the screen, it clearly says damaged during construction. 9 Yet for some reason I'm sitting in here today having to 10 fight and having to advocate for our roads to be 11 repaved. 12 They were once paved and fine. Now, they're 13 completely damaged. The whole 12 foot of them. Every 14 single one of them. I get complaints every day. We 15 have a lot of disabled people that live in our 16 community. Lots of elderly, income restricted. A lot 17 of families. We have a lot of hard working families. 18 We are not trailer park trash. We are not a drug town. 19 We do not tolerate that. We're great citizens. And I'm 20 here advocating for my tenants who are very, I don't 21 know the words, 'cuz our roads have been like this for 22 so long now. 23 It is starting to affect my business 24 negatively. I'm getting negative reviews. I've had 25 someone come in and say, "Oh, I'd love to move my new 94 1 mobile home in here but I don't like the roads. It's 2 going to damage my car." And so now I'm starting to 3 lose revenue. 4 I have had tenants who have asked for rent 5 reduction because our roads have been bad for so long. 6 Anytime it rains we have vehicles -- it doesn't matter 7 whether it's small or a truck, they get stuck in the mud 8 in the middle of a street. In the middle of homes. 9 Everyone's cars are dirty. 10 And I'm sitting here today still with no 11 answers, just a lot of -- I would say pass along the 12 responsibility of what's going on here to different 13 people and I've been seeing no action taken to improve 14 this road for our community that was damaged during the 15 construction. 16 And as per our super construction easements 17 and all documents signed for the County and for this 18 project that we welcomed into our community to help with 19 the environment, it clearly states any damage done on 20 property will be repaired in as good or better condition 21 than what it was. 22 And what I'm hearing today is possibly only 23 the center strip of our 12-foot road might get improved. 24 Unfortunately, I was unaware that this meeting was 25 occurring today and that my property would be on the 95 1 agenda so I'm not prepared. I don't have any photos to 2 show you. I didn't find this out until 11 o'clock last 3 night. 4 So I encourage you if this decision might be 5 in your hands at some point, or if not, because maybe 6 there is some sort of agreement to go ahead and do it, 7 to go and look at our roads at what this construction 8 has done. And there's no way a center line would 9 benefit this road. It would probably make it worse. 10 Because you have one smooth for two wheels and then your 11 other two wheels are falling in four-foot potholes one 12 at a time. 13 I just hope that you can consider our road 14 actually being paved and this being taken care of. 15 Thank you. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. Charlie, did I 17 understand this is not an action item? 18 MR. HASTINGS: Correct. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: We need to push and get 20 this done. There's no doubt. And I can attest those 21 roads are horrible. And there's mud caked all over and 22 when it rains, yeah, I'm amazed people can get in and 23 out. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Do we -- Charlie, do you 25 have a timeline from Qro-Mex to work on these roads? 96 1 MR. HASTINGS: They have until April the 2 22nd to be done with the project. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And there's a -- they 4 have a bond put up -- 5 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- like the others if -- 7 if they don't get it done? 8 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 9 JUDGE KELLY: If you could get us some kind 10 of status report so that we know kind of where we are 11 with this Qro-Mex thing. We've been going off and on 12 with them for some time now. And I know they've got a 13 deadline, but just kind of like to know where they are 14 with it. 15 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 16 COMMISSIONER PACES: Well, I think it's also 17 important to -- you know, are they really going to 18 address the little center strip where it's actually 19 trenched or -- those roads are bad. It goes beyond just 20 that center strip. So what, if anything, are they going 21 to do about that? 22 MR. HASTINGS: Understood. 23 JUDGE KELLY: The public deserves an answer. 24 MR. HASTINGS: Right. 25 JUDGE KELLY: So we need -- we need to get 97 1 information and find out where we are with it. 2 Next item is 1.17 consider, discuss and take 3 appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court to set a 4 public hearing regarding the proposed change of private 5 road name from Cheryl Drive South to Big Boot Hill 6 South. Precinct 4. 7 MS. HOFFER: Ashley Middleton applied 8 through the Kerr 911 Office on January 5th, 2023 to 9 change the existing private road name of Cheryl Drive 10 South to the new name of Big Boot Hill South. 11 At this time, I ask the Commissioners' Court 12 to set a public hearing for Monday, May 8th, 2023 at 13 10:00 a.m., regarding the change of the private road 14 name of Cheryl Drive South to the new private road name 15 of Big Boot Hill South. And this is in Precinct 4. 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 19 set a public hearing for the change in private road name 20 from Cheryl Drive to Big Boot Hill Drive. 21 MRS. DOWDY: Question. Kelly, is this one 22 that the clerk will publish or will your office? 23 MS. HOFFER: You guys usually publish. 24 MRS. DOWDY: Okay. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. Do the 98 1 property owners on the road get written notification? 2 Being this is one that I know we had a member -- 3 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- that was here in 5 Court, like, last meeting I believe. 6 MS. HOFFER: We have not. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We don't generally? 8 MS. HOFFER: No. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Just the public 10 notice? 11 MS. HOFFER: Yes. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And that's the thing. 13 You're right. It was here before, and I think we didn't 14 have sufficient notice in the paper or it didn't get 15 posted or something like that. Isn't that -- wasn't 16 that the case, Kelly? 17 MS. HOFFER: No. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: No? What was it? 19 MS. GRINSTEAD: No. It was I didn't get it 20 on the agenda. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Oh. Sorry. 22 MRS. STEBBINS: And that was actually the 23 person who requested it. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. Okay. I knew 25 there was something messed up. Okay. Well, I move for 99 1 approval. 2 JUDGE KELLY: So this is just a motion to 3 set a public hearing. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Is there a good cause for 6 this? To request a change of the name? 7 MS. HOFFER: I mean it's a private -- 8 it's -- it basically is a driveway. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's a subjective 10 term. 11 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's listed as a public 13 hearing, Judge. 14 MS. HOFFER: But I mean if -- if you look at 15 the aerial on it, and I may have included one, I'm not 16 real sure. It basically is a driveway to a piece of 17 property. That's what it is. 18 MRS. STEBBINS: And this agenda item is just 19 to set a public hearing. 20 JUDGE KELLY: I know. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. And I'm the 22 one that pumped the brakes on this thing originally 23 because I -- the name Cheryl, I though oh gosh, they 24 want to just do it. But, well, if it somebody's great 25 aunt or something, you know, and we -- 100 1 JUDGE KELLY: Well -- 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: -- do all that kind of 3 stuff. So I'm the one that pushed for a public hearing. 4 MS. HOFFER: Well, and we did -- we did find 5 an additional property that also had a Cheryl address 6 and separate property owners. So I think it was a good 7 idea that Commissioner Harris suggested the public 8 hearing. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Which I seconded. 10 MS. HOFFER: Uh-huh. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So we could vote on it. 12 I don't think we're going to get anywhere talking about 13 it. We're just talking about a public meeting. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And I appreciate your 15 second. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Well, okay. Those in favor 17 say aye. Opposed? We'll have a public meeting on May 18 the 8th at 10 o'clock. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll send a picture of 20 it to Ashley. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. And I'm going 22 to contact her. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Moving on to a timed item at 24 10 o'clock is 1.18 consider, discuss and take 25 appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court approval 101 1 regarding the general contract with Interstate 2 Barricades & Markings for pavement markings on Skyline 3 Drive South. Ms. Hoffer. 4 MS. HOFFER: Before you is a striping 5 general contract for pavement markings on Skyline Drive 6 South. Skyline Drive South is one of the roads this 7 year that is being reconstructed. After the 8 reconstruction is done, we will have the past pavement 9 markings reinstalled on Skyline Drive. The County 10 Attorney has reviewed the general contract with 11 Interstate Barricades & Markings. 12 At this time, I ask the Commissioners' Court 13 for their approval of the general contract before you 14 from Interstate Barricades & Markings for pavement 15 markings that will be reinstalled after the 16 reconstruction is completed on Skyline Drive South. And 17 this is in Precinct 2. 18 COMMISSIONER PACES: I move that we approve 19 the general contract with Interstate Barricades & 20 Markings for work on Skyline Drive South. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 23 approve the Barricades & Markings contract as presented. 24 Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 25 Motion carries. 102 1 1.19 -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Can -- can -- I have a 3 quick question on that, Judge. The cost is not to 4 exceed 16,000? 5 MS. HOFFER: Yes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is that above or below 7 what we've been paying for marking roads? It seems like 8 a reasonable cost to me. 9 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. It's -- it's probably 10 right in there. The company that you had seen their 11 truck that we used I think last year, their price was a 12 little bit cheaper last year. I didn't hear back from 13 them this year when I sent to inquire about it. But 14 pavement markings seem to go up every year. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 16 MS. HOFFER: So I would say it's -- it's 17 pretty reasonable. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Pretty reasonable or 19 comparative. Okay. Thank you. 20 JUDGE KELLY: The next timed item is Item 21 1.19 consider, discuss and take appropriate action for 22 the Commissioners' Court approval to purchase one LeeBoy 23 L600T Emulsion Trailer. Ms. Hoffer. 24 MS. HOFFER: The Road & Bridge Department is 25 asking for the Commissioners' Court approval to purchase 103 1 one LeeBoy L600T Emulsion Trailer from ROMCO Equipment 2 for $29,957.00. This purchase is being made under the 3 BuyBoard Contract Number 685-22. We are trading in our 4 Finn Hydro Seeder Trailer, which the County Auditor had 5 surplused that, I think last meeting or the meeting 6 before. The Kerr County Auditor did surplus it on March 7 13th, 2023. 8 At this time, I ask the Commissioners' Court 9 for their approval to purchase one LeeBoy L600T Emulsion 10 Trailer from ROMCO Equipment Company and allow for the 11 Finn Hydro Seeder to be traded in on the LeeBoy. This 12 will be used in Precincts 1, 2, 3 and 4. 13 And I think I also included a brochure so 14 you could see what this emulsion trailer looks like. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Kelly, am I reading this 16 right that we're going to get money back? 17 MS. HOFFER: We've got a credit and we're 18 looking at some accessories. Possibly for either our 19 Volvo loader or for another piece of equipment that they 20 said they probably -- if we need a bucket for something. 21 The guys had not found what they're looking for. But 22 yes, there is a credit there. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A credit of 8,000 -- a 24 little over $8,000.00. Good. I move for approval. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 104 1 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 2 approve the purchase of the LeeBoy Emulsion Trailer as 3 presented. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 4 Opposed? Motion carries. 5 Next timed item is 1.20 consider, discuss 6 and take appropriate action to offer 10 Road & Bridge 7 trucks as trade-ins for new property of the same general 8 type. Miss Shelton. 9 MRS. SHELTON: Good morning. You have in 10 front of you a list of the 10 trucks that we will be 11 trading-in for new trucks. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 15 approve trading-in the 10 Road & Bridge trucks as 16 presented. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 17 Opposed? Motion carries. 18 Last timed item, 1.21 consider, discuss and 19 take appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court to 20 approve the Master Open-End Vehicle Lease Agreement with 21 Commercial Vehicle Leasing, L.L.C., d/b/a D&M Leasing, 22 and the Commissioners' Court approval to place the order 23 on the trucks. Miss Hoffer. 24 MS. HOFFER: We would like to order eight 25 new trucks for our crew chiefs, supervisors and shop 105 1 supervisor. The Commissioners' Court approved for our 2 leasing line item in the current bud get that we're in, 3 line item 15-612-462. They had put in $140,580.00. Our 4 monthly payment will be $10,699.00 on these eight 5 trucks, and the annual payment will be $128,388.00 for 6 these eight trucks. So it's under the amount that was 7 budgeted for leasing. 8 We may be able to come back for this, we may 9 be able to get one, possibly two more trucks because we 10 originally set out to get ten trucks with another 11 leasing company and we decided to go with this company. 12 So we currently have ten vehicles that will get traded 13 in upon the arrival of the eight new units. 14 D&M Leasing is a member of SourceWell and 15 BuyBoard. I believe this purchase would be done through 16 their BuyBoard contract. 17 At this time I ask the Commissioners Court 18 for their approval of the Open-End Lease Agreement and 19 approval to order the eight new vehicles that we will 20 lease from Commercial Vehicle Leasing, L.L.C., d/b/a D&M 21 Leasing, and to have the County Judge sign the same. 22 And again, these vehicles will be used in Precincts 1, 23 2, 3 and 4. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Kelly, that seems like 25 a lot all at one. I mean, in one year. What percentage 106 1 is that of our fleet? 2 MS. HOFFER: Well, probably most of our 3 trucks. We range anywhere from probably about 140,000 4 miles. We've got one that's got over 300,000 miles. 5 And these are pickups. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 7 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: How many total pickups 9 do you all have? 10 MS. HOFFER: Probably about ten that we 11 surplus. I'm not getting a new truck. But probably all 12 of them that are getting traded in is probably about 13 what we've got is 10 pickups. The newest ones are 14 2012s. So they're 11 years old. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Sheriff, you -- you 16 rotate vehicles and you have quite a few. Would you 17 have a model you operate off of? 18 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yeah, we usually rotate 19 probably between six and eight every year. Just depends 20 on what miles they are. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But you have -- you 22 have more trucks -- or vehicles out there. 23 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yeah. Oh yeah. 24 Definitely. Probably 50. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So this is half of 107 1 yours, Kelly? 2 MS. HOFFER: This is -- this will just about 3 cover it all. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So 80 percent? Is it 5 90 percent? Is it -- 6 MS. HOFFER: I'd say probably 90 percent. 7 And these are like -- some are pickups, some are cabin 8 chassis that will have the utility beds like the 9 plumbers have with the doors on the side. So these -- 10 this isn't dump trucks and things like that. It's 11 pickups and -- 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. You know, I -- 13 I know the need. I just hate that we're in this 14 position where we gotta change out almost the whole 15 fleet all at once. You know, we got ourself in a 16 predicament I guess but -- 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it means it'll 18 happen again. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. Exactly. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'd like to see it 21 staggered a little bit. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I would too. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I mean the difference 24 in the Sheriff's Department and yours is you have 25 mechanics. 108 1 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And those guys work on 3 those trucks, I know, anyway. 4 MS. HOFFER: Our years go anywhere from the 5 year 2000 year model -- actually we -- I think we have 6 one that is a 1996, and then 2000, 2001. And then, like 7 I said, the ones that are the newest trucks are 2012. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But you understand what 9 I'm talking about? 10 MS. HOFFER: Uh-huh. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If you do them all now, 12 you do them all again at the same time? 13 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: But it is a lease. 15 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. 16 COMMISSIONER PACES: So it's not like we're 17 incurring a huge capital mass expenditure in one year. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It doesn't matter. It 19 all happens again together. 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Well, you're right. 21 But it's -- the payments are -- 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It's a big payment. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think the -- my 24 feeling is and I'm in favor of doing it but I also -- I 25 think that the model that we're using with Enterprise, 109 1 what the Sheriff is using, is that we trade these in and 2 out a lot quicker when the -- while the value of the 3 vehicle is much higher, so I mean -- yeah. So we need 4 to not wait until we do them all at once. We need to 5 get them staggered. Probably do -- I mean like in three 6 years, three of them get rolled off and then that way 7 you're -- the value of them is much, much higher on the 8 trade-in. But I'll move for approval of the agenda 9 item. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 12 approve the Master Open-End Vehicle Lease with D&M 13 Leasing or whatever it is. 14 MS. HOFFER: So how many is that for? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Eight. 16 MS. HOFFER: Okay. 17 JUDGE KELLY: The motion is for eight. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: All of which you 19 wanted, but I would request that you take a look at, you 20 know, replacing some of them sooner than later so that 21 this doesn't happen again. 22 MS. HOFFER: Right. Well, on some of them, 23 too, they -- it's kind of like Enterprise. They may 24 contact us and say, hey, the values of these trucks are 25 really high so we're going to have you trade them in and 110 1 then replace those, so it's the same as Enterprise. I 2 mean, but it may vary, you know, as far as on the value 3 of the trucks. These trucks are worth a lot of money 4 today. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I picked on poor 7 Charlie to bargain a fleet of two and -- because they 8 wanted to get two trucks last year. Can't we stagger 9 it? So I apologize to you, Charlie. 10 MS. HOFFER: Well, that's -- you know, and I 11 know it sounds like a lot but, you know, we still got 12 heavy equipment and dump trucks that are old, too. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Oh, I know. 14 MS. HOFFER: And, you know, we've gotten rid 15 of a lot of equipment, old equipment that have gone in 16 on good trades where the values are pretty good. I 17 think by the time we're done this year, we will have 18 gotten rid of 26 pieces of equipment -- 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I understand. 20 MS. HOFFER: -- off of our inventory, so -- 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, the need is 22 there. We don't need you on foot. Because we gotta 23 keep our roads up. But I'm -- you know, I'm like 24 Harley, we -- as far as we can try to stagger it down 25 the road sure would be beneficial. 111 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: But I've got to say 2 this, I think it's commendable that you've gotten 11 3 years out of these vehicles. So that -- that's being 4 frugal with the taxpayers money and I appreciate that. 5 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. 6 MS. GRINSTEAD: So just to clarify. Kelly, 7 there's five quotes with that, right? So will this 8 be -- are all five of those vehicles available? The 9 Judge needs to sign all five of those? 10 MS. HOFFER: Not real sure. We had heard 11 that somebody had gone in on one that they have actually 12 there at the dealership. But then Tony, shop manager, 13 told me that he wasn't sure if that truck -- if the guy 14 was able to get financing on it or not. So if it's 15 there, we're going to take them. 16 MS. GRINSTEAD: So at this point just sign 17 the lease but not those quotes yet? 18 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. I think that would be 19 fine. 20 MS. GRINSTEAD: Okay. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Sign the lease and not the 22 quotes? 23 MS. GRINSTEAD: Until we know exactly which 24 vehicles. 25 MS. HOFFER: Yeah. Some will have to be 112 1 ordered. I think there was -- I think there was four 2 that were built that they had on the lot. And this is 3 Dodge Ram in New Braunfels. Bluebonnet. And I think 4 one pickup truck. And I think -- the rest of them, I 5 think, have to be ordered. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: Are y'all going to be 7 able to transfer and utilize some of the old tool boxes? 8 Are we -- on those types of trucks, or are we going to 9 have to -- 10 MS. HOFFER: We might be able to. What we 11 can use, we will. Body styles on pickups change, 12 though. And sometimes the headache racks, because of 13 the way that they have done the sides of the bed for 14 aerodynamics sometimes they don't fit. But if we have 15 something we can use, we will. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So we got a motion and 17 a second on the floor. Anymore discussion? Those in 18 favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 19 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That finishes the timed 21 items. Do we need to take a break? Let's take a five 22 minute break, and we'll come back to Item 1.7. 23 (Recess.) 24 JUDGE KELLY: I apologize. Let's go back on 25 the Agenda to 1.7, which is where we stopped to take a 113 1 break from timed items. And that is consider, discuss 2 and take appropriate action to approve a two million -- 3 no. $2,934.00 donation from Kerr County Crime Stoppers 4 for the purchase of a StatTrak Traffic Data Collection 5 Box for the Kerr County Sheriff's Office to be entered 6 into line item 72-370-531 and to be transferred to line 7 item 72-562-569 for payment. Sheriff Leitha. 8 SHERIFF LEITHA: Okay. Let's further 9 clarify those line items. This item has been purchased 10 on behalf of the Kerr County Sheriff's Office from Crime 11 Stoppers. So it's already paid for. Just need y'all's 12 approval. 13 And basically on this item, I think it'll be 14 a very valuable tool. Right now we're working on some 15 policies and procedures before we implement it. I know 16 Lieutenant Gaige has been talking to Commissioner 17 Harris. But this is an item we'll be able to go -- I 18 consistently get calls all the time for speeders. I 19 know y'all do too. In certain areas everybody's 20 speeding. 21 But with this tool we'll be able to 22 deploy -- I don't want to say a whole lot about it, but 23 we'll be able to deploy it probably two weeks at a time 24 and then if we identify an issue -- one thing this will 25 help. This will give us when the main traffic is, the 114 1 times, when the speeds are, probably there's more in the 2 afternoon, then we deploy a deputy to take care of 3 business on that. 4 So we're just looking for your approval to 5 be able to accept this and, you know, maybe in the 6 future we'll be getting another one but we'll see how 7 this one goes. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 11 approve the donation of almost $3,000 from the Kerr 12 County Crime Stoppers for the Sheriff's Office for a 13 StatTrak Traffic Data Collection Box. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It's a tongue twister, 15 isn't it? 16 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, it is. Any discussion? 17 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 18 SHERIFF LEITHA: Thank you. 19 JUDGE KELLY: 1.8 consider, discuss and take 20 appropriate action to surplus items from the Treasurer's 21 Office, County Jail, the County Extension Office. Miss 22 Shelton. 23 MS. SHELTON: Yes. You have three different 24 lists in front of you. The Treasurer, I believe is the 25 chair. The Extension Office, there are also I think 115 1 three chairs. And there's a whole list of supplies from 2 the jail. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. A motion and a second 6 to approve the surplus items as presented. Any 7 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion 8 carries. 9 1.9 consider, discuss and take appropriate 10 action to approve the budget calendar for fiscal year 11 23, 24. Miss Shelton. 12 MS. SHELTON: Yes. Just looking into the 13 summer to get every one of the workshops on schedule and 14 then I'll put everyone's scheduled. We want to present 15 this budget calendar for your approval. The dates could 16 change if we -- you know, if y'all have conflict with 17 some of them if you'll let me know, we can switch it up. 18 JUDGE KELLY: I don't remember a year we 19 haven't changed something yet. 20 MS. SHELTON: This is standard every year. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I have a question on 22 the August 21st. That's Monday. That's just when we 23 set the public hearing or -- 24 MS. SHELTON: Just a second. Adoption of 25 the budget. So we're setting the hearing -- oh. Just a 116 1 second. You know, let me -- let me look at that and 2 clarify that. Because that's a great question. This 3 just may be our help that tell us how many days we have 4 to do it before the actual adoptions start so that we 5 can count backwards. So let me review that and -- 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It wasn't clear to me. 7 MS. SHELTON: -- get back to you. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. Thank you. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move for approval. 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 11 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second 12 to approve -- and it may be supplemented by Miss 13 Shelton. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 14 Opposed? Motion carries. 15 Okay. Moving back to the next item in the 16 Agenda being Item 1.22 consider, discuss and take 17 appropriate action to authorize Commissioner Letz and 18 County Judge to submit appropriate documents to the City 19 of Kerrville regarding the development of the property 20 located off Spur 100 for the new KCAS Animal Control 21 facility and update the status of site planning for the 22 project. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mentioned, I believe 24 at one of our previous meetings, one of the first part 25 of the agenda item is that the property needs to be 117 1 rezoned or I think it's proper to rezone it, and that 2 process takes a number of signatures and things going 3 on. 4 We're still talking to the City about 5 whether it's -- should be zoning PI, which is public 6 institutional, or CM, which is something about kennels, 7 dog kennels. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's PI now, isn't it? 9 JUDGE KELLY: No. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No; it's residential. 11 JUDGE KELLY: It's 16 acres -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's residential right 13 now. I'm not sure what that code is for residential, 14 but it's residential. So we're looking at doing that. 15 And we're looking at trying to get it on the -- you 16 know, the City has their timelines and it doesn't match 17 up with our Court timelines to get this done. So it's 18 just basically to authorize the -- and basically for me 19 to get to work with Peter Lewis and the City, and for me 20 and the Judge to sign the documents to get the process 21 moving for rezoning that property. That's the first 22 part of it. 23 And the second part is an update. And it's 24 a couple of things. The City of Kerrville did a 25 floodplain study, I don't know, several years ago. We 118 1 have re-looked at that -- or we haven't, our hydrologist 2 looked at it. And we may look at amending that study, 3 which would change the area of that property as to how 4 it's used. That will require going back to FEMA and 5 working with the City. But that's all in the works. 6 It's kind of informational. 7 The other thing we're -- at our meeting we 8 had -- looking at the site plans and met with a 9 representative of KPA, Reagan and myself and Peter 10 Lewis. And one of the things that came up is that would 11 it be permissible for us to maybe reduce some of our 12 building a little bit and allow KPA -- I believe the 13 kennel size reduce it, KPA currently, but someone else 14 in the future could lease a portion of that property and 15 handle the adoptions at the location but not in our 16 building. 17 It's kind of a -- you know, Peter kind of 18 wanted to, you know, bring that to the Court and say, 19 you know, is that an option that we would even entertain 20 or would we say no, we want it all to be one building so 21 we control everything? We talked about -- 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You're talking about 23 setting a precedent. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. It's just -- 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Where else do we have 119 1 one? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I mean the -- I 3 guess the precedent would be that we're going to enter 4 into a contract with KPA to handle our adoptions so we 5 don't have to do them basically. That's what we're 6 looking at doing. And they would be a place -- it 7 would -- it doesn't make sense for us to take dogs under 8 our custody and control, move it to an off-site 9 location, and then bring them back. So the options are 10 to see if KPA could have their own little facility on 11 our property, and it would be a lease, and if they -- 12 KPA disappeared, so would the lease. 13 But it was able -- the other option is that 14 we continue to handle the pet adoptions as we do and KPA 15 uses our facility. That would require probably a little 16 bit more square footage to do it that way. So it's a 17 matter of -- 18 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'm getting just a 19 little confused I think. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Well, let me give you the 21 first one first. We got a lot of things to talk to the 22 City about. And quite frankly, we're walking on -- very 23 tenderly with this. But there's property that we need 24 to develop over on the 16 acres that we bought. There 25 are floodplain issues. And we've always had floodplain 120 1 issues in that area over there and they haven't gone 2 away and we're going to have to deal with them politely. 3 Okay. 4 We're going to have grading issues because 5 of the floodplain and how we're going to handle the 6 grading on that property. We need to talk to them about 7 that. We've got to talk to them about the zoning issue. 8 And see how that's going to -- and, because we do have 9 the Animal Control facility that we're getting ready to 10 build and KPA wants to talk to us about being able to 11 have a presence on-site, although be it detached. 12 COMMISSIONER PACES: And that's -- that's 13 what I wanted clarification about. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Well, that's just -- but 15 they're talking about it. They've been asking for that 16 from the get-go. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: KPA is not the City. 18 JUDGE KELLY: No. So -- it's all Animal 19 Control issues. 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Are we going to build 21 it separate? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 23 JUDGE KELLY: No. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: They will spend their 121 1 money to build whatever they need? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They -- what they're 3 looking at doing is bringing in some sort of a temporary 4 type building -- 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: Ahh. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- and having it there 7 and then they would build their own kennels to house the 8 adoptable dogs. I mean, you still would have a -- you 9 have multiple type categories of dogs. Some that are 10 picked up that have, you know, 72 hours in quarantine 11 and they need to be in one area where they're not seen 12 by anybody else. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: Walled off. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Because people -- yeah, 15 people want to -- you know, as they see it, they want to 16 adopt them. And then we have dogs that are quarantined 17 for various reasons. And then we also have dogs that 18 once they go through the system are adoptable. And KPA 19 works a lot with that group of dogs. 20 And right now, I mean one plan is to have 21 part of the kennel area house those dogs. What we're 22 looking at is the other option is to have some of those 23 dogs or all of them -- I say dogs, dogs and cats -- 24 housed over at -- on-site but a different location that 25 we would not be responsible for building. 122 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, that oughta be 2 discussed after the fact. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we can't -- we 4 can't design a facility until we know the direction. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You can have some kind 6 of an area. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's all square footage 8 driven. And we have to know what we can afford to do, 9 and we can't -- 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: It all needs to stay 11 within -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: These are all issues that 13 we're familiar with. And the design of that facility is 14 something that's critical for people to know for us to 15 be able to even start it. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: He can probably design 17 two options. But he's -- he doesn't need -- there's no 18 reason for him to waste time because they know we're not 19 going to allow something like that. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I understand that. But 21 I have -- my main concern is that you have anyone ever 22 have access to Kerr County property. It's not -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: That's -- that's on their wish 24 list and it has been from the get-go. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But I don't -- I don't 123 1 want anybody, just like we don't want to -- we have 2 policy about the use of the courthouse grounds. We have 3 to have policy about something like that so that people 4 don't have gate codes or get into a facility they 5 shouldn't be in and all of this sort of thing. 6 So if there's a piece of property, a lot of 7 us have done this, where you build a house, and then you 8 say at some point we're going to do this that and the 9 other here on this thing for this property. There's no 10 hard, fast rule against that. Or is there -- I don't 11 see that there -- Peter Lewis knows what he's doing. He 12 knows how to plan for something like that. So I would 13 say we do this now and I -- I understand what you're 14 talking about. Allowing for that. But you would -- you 15 don't necessarily have to pour a slab for them or 16 anything else. 17 I would say if they're going to lease a 18 piece of property from the County, then they lease that 19 piece of property from the County and do what they have 20 to do to make it work for them. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But that -- but 22 Peter has to know what direction to go. Do we design it 23 so that the entire adoption portion is in our building 24 or not in our building? 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I would say an out -- 124 1 it's an out building. It's outsourced. Just like you 2 said a moment ago. You said if it ever goes away or 3 anything, then that goes away, too. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What you mean -- I 6 mean, you could expand in an area that they have. I 7 don't think that there should be access to Kerr County 8 property by another organization. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Agreed. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Anyplace. Not in this 11 building. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we do right now. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Where? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: At the Animal Control 15 facility. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I know that they're 17 there. 18 MRS. STEBBINS: And -- and the Event Center. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But we're trying to 20 plan for some -- we're planning for something better. 21 MRS. STEBBINS: And at the Event Center. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But that would 23 mean they would have access to that property if they had 24 their own facility. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What? 125 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They wouldn't be able -- 2 they would have to access the County property if they 3 had a separate facility. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But it's a part of 5 their lease. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I mean, I've seen a 10 chain link fence in between what's Kerr County property 11 and what they lease. That's the way I would do it. 12 That way there's no question about anything. You got a 13 little gate there and lock it up on the weekend or 14 whenever. You have to keep them separate. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- the practice -- 16 JUDGE KELLY: That's a weighted issue. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's why it's -- this 18 should be done after the fact. 19 JUDGE KELLY: We got stuff we gotta talk to 20 the City and we gotta get worked out. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, we gotta work this 23 out too. I mean, this is an important thing. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I -- I think -- 25 JUDGE KELLY: But -- but that -- that always 126 1 involves KPA coming to a seat at the table. That's -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But this -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: And what you're saying is 4 keep -- keep everything separate for the time being. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's what I think. 6 JUDGE KELLY: And I don't know what we're 7 going to do. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well -- 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Jonathan, let me ask a 10 question. And I'm visualizing maybe them building -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we're on two 12 different levels here. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: Maybe Peter needs to go 14 ahead with some very preliminary design that helps us 15 understand what we're talking about, what the difference 16 is in these two scenarios. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's all money. We can 18 do that but it's off -- 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: Real preliminary. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we can -- 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Some guideline. I'm 22 visualizing something like the building we put out 23 that's a shelter now for Reagan and them. Getting a 24 building with something like that with some kennels in 25 the back of it. 127 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 2 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: So if that building 3 ever -- that would be their building. If it ever went 4 away -- except for the fixed kennels, they would remain. 5 They're fixed on a leased property. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And if it was a 7 permanent -- if they happened to build a permanent 8 building, it would be much like -- 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- the Little League 11 fields where the Little League built them and the County 12 owns them -- 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- at the end of the 15 lease. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I understand that. But 17 my concern goes back to access. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think that 19 the -- 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And liability. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that you -- I 22 would recommend that you talk to Reagan about how we 23 currently operate. Because -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm familiar with -- I 25 know what they do. I've watched that. 128 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we're going to have 2 to increase staff if we don't use volunteers to help 3 with adoptions. We have to do something with the 4 animals. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, the County is not 6 an adoption agency. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we have to -- 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We're tasked with 9 rounding up loose -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- do something with the 11 animals when we get them in our facility. I mean, we 12 can't just let them sit there. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But it's -- look, 14 here's -- here's what I'm getting at, Jonathan. There 15 are at least three other adoption places in Kerr County. 16 Right? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And the County doesn't 19 have any kind of a grievance with them whatsoever. The 20 KPA came out of people being concerned with what's going 21 on at the Kerr County Animal Shelter. It grew out of 22 that. So that's the only real reason we have had a -- 23 an association with them. Because there's plenty of 24 other adoption agencies. 25 It came from a lot of controversy and people 129 1 wanting a no-kill shelter. And we have helped them and 2 facilitated a lot of it so far. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They -- they have helped 4 us. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, they've helped us 6 with that part of it, too. I'm not saying it's not a 7 mutual -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- aid to society. But 10 I'm just saying that I don't think that a private or a 11 non-profit should have access to the County's anything. 12 And by anything, I mean anything. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think that if we can 14 figure out how to save the taxpayers money by using 15 volunteers, we should explore it. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I -- that's not what 17 I'm saying. I'm talking about -- 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But that's -- 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- dividing up the 20 property. If they're going to lease part of the 21 property, that doesn't mean they have the keys to the 22 building that belongs to Kerr County. 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I agree with what 24 you're saying. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It's down the -- it's a 130 1 clear bright red line. This is what you guys do, this 2 is what we do. And we might meet and there's going to 3 be -- obviously there's going to continue to be mingling 4 in conversation -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- and how it's all 7 done logistically with the new building, but the 8 animals -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think what you're 10 saying isn't realistic from how it works. I mean, I 11 think we have County staff. I think that they're going 12 to have to work with -- together with the County. 13 That's how we do it. And I'm saying KPA because they're 14 the organization right now that's volunteering to do it. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Sure. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: KPA isn't going to be 17 around forever. I doubt. Maybe it will be. I don't 18 know. But this is for any future organization as well. 19 I think that if we can get a non-profit of some sort to 20 handle a portion of the adoptions, which we have to do 21 something with these animals, that is a win for 22 everybody. It can be KPA, it can be Freeman-Fritts. I 23 don't care who it is, it's just that -- and this is a 24 mechanism to do it. And if we can do that, then we 25 don't have to have County staff doing it. That's -- 131 1 that's the direction. 2 And Peter wants to know, is this something 3 we would entertain. It sounds like we can entertain it, 4 but we're not going to say we're going to do it. I 5 mean -- 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'm for anything that 7 saves the taxpayer dollars. You know particularly if we 8 don't have to spend 5.75 million, I'm all for it. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think it can be 10 worked out. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's going to -- yeah. 12 Okay. I'll try to relay that back to Peter. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm sure they've seen 14 the video. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. Hopefully, Peter 16 watched this. 17 JUDGE KELLY: And can -- can we talk to the 18 City? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. And then the other 20 thing is I'll make a motion -- I'll make a motion to 21 authorize myself and County Judge to proceed with the -- 22 working with the City on replatting that property. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 24 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second. 25 Finally. Any other discussion? I can't believe the 132 1 discussion comes after the motion and the second but 2 okay. Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 3 Item 1.23 an update on the status of the 4 Interlocal Agreement between Kerr County and the City of 5 Kerrville for the Provision of Animal Control Services 6 within the City of Kerrville and the services of the 7 Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library for Residents of Kerr 8 County. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. What I want 10 to do here is first the statement I'm about to read, I 11 sent a copy of it to Commissioner Harris and 12 Mr. E. A. Hoppe and to the Mayor, Judy Eychner. And the 13 Mayor responded that she believes this is accurate. And 14 there is -- no action is needed by either entity to 15 proceed. 16 JUDGE KELLY: So it's informational? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. And I'm going to 18 read it. 19 Effective March 13th, 2023, the Interlocal 20 Agreement between Kerr County, Texas and the City of 21 Kerrville, Texas for the provision of Animal Control 22 Services within the City of Kerrville, Texas, and the 23 services of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library for the 24 Residents of Kerr County was terminated. And that was 25 terminated based on action taken by this Court in 133 1 December. 2 In the past several months, there have been 3 several meetings between representatives from Kerr 4 County and the City of Kerrville regarding these two 5 agreements. During these meetings, it was determined 6 that there is no governmental need for the continuation 7 of this Interlocal Agreement. 8 The Butt-Holdsworth Library is a department 9 of the City of Kerrville and it will be operated solely 10 by the City of Kerrville. Kerr County Animal Services 11 is a department of Kerr County and it will be operated 12 solely by Kerr County. 13 Moving forward, Kerr County as the County 14 rabies control authority will continue to provide the 15 same level of service in Kerr County as it currently 16 does and as it may be amended from time to time. This 17 level of service will be the same within the 18 incorporated limits of the City of Kerrville as it is 19 throughout the entire County. 20 Our understanding, which is my 21 understanding, is that the City of Kerrville will 22 continue to provide access to the Butt-Holdsworth 23 Memorial Library to all residents of Kerr County under 24 the same basis, which is currently -- which is currently 25 at no cost for the residents that live within the 134 1 incorporated City limits of the City of Kerrville, and 2 those that live outside the incorporated City limits of 3 the City of Kerrville. We believe that's an example of 4 the City of Kerrville and Kerr County continuing to work 5 together for the betterment of all residents of Kerr 6 County. 7 So that's what we're doing. There's no 8 longer an agreement and there will not be one. We will 9 continue to provide Animal Control Services based on 10 rabies control as we may modify the policy countywide. 11 And the City is going to provide free access to the 12 Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library to all residents of 13 Kerr County. 14 That's it. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And this does not 16 change anything as far as my views or condoning what's 17 happened at the library. And I can tell you with the 18 short term that I was supposed to be on this library 19 board, I sent several questions to the library that were 20 total ignored. 21 So what I would tell the public out there, 22 if you have a problem with it we -- we don't have a 23 voice at the table. It's up to you. You know, you can 24 either agree or disagree with the library. You know, 25 I -- and you can change things if you want to change 135 1 them in the ballot box. There's a couple people running 2 for City council that their style on the issue has been 3 overwhelming. It's been deafening. So that's where I 4 would leave it. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Is there a member of the 6 public that wants to address the Court in person? 7 MS. FERGUSON: Barbara Ferguson. I live on 8 Dry Hollow Drive here in Kerrville. And the one aspect 9 is what was read that was different than I think what 10 the Commissioners talked about back in November, was 11 that the services to the City, Animal Services to the 12 City would continue as they have been. 13 Now, I understand the State requires certain 14 things from the County when it comes to Animal Services. 15 The rabies and things like that. However, I know back 16 in November there was discussion that probably -- maybe 17 a vehicle or two would no longer be needed for pickup if 18 they were not having to serve the City. That the 19 overwhelming number of dogs that were picked up were 20 from the city. 21 And I'm just concerned that what you're 22 looking at here in this proposal, is that nothing has 23 changed. And I think a whole lot has changed. We're 24 concerned about our services to the animals in our 25 community. And I'm an animal lover. But yet we're not 136 1 concerned about our children. This not going away. 2 Every meeting I have this comes up from citizens. What 3 are we going to do? 4 Now, this is going to go forward. The City 5 is going to have to deal with it. San Antonio Express 6 dealt with it. There was a big article in the paper. 7 If you haven't seen it, you should read it. It's not 8 going away because the issue is wrong. Sexualizing 9 children is wrong. And I'm surprised that the County 10 Commissioners are looking at an agreement that says oh, 11 nothing to see here. All going back to normal. 12 There are some changes that could be made. 13 I suggest if you can get rid of one of those vehicles 14 and use the money you save and fix that road in that 15 poor Center Point division you heard about earlier. We 16 can do something. And I just would suggest that you 17 look at how can we save the County some money now. We 18 don't need to be providing services that we said we were 19 not going to serve. And I think it's time to look to 20 save the County a few bucks. Thank you. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: To your comment that -- 22 one, there are things we're not going to do any longer 23 that were in the agreement that we were required to do. 24 So there in -- you know, the other thing about we 25 negotiate -- there's no option. There's no agreement. 137 1 We terminated the agreement so there's nothing to 2 negotiate -- 3 MS. FERGUSON: Right. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- at the moment. The 5 City is very aware, and we met with the Mayor, as to why 6 we took the action we did. And what -- you know, that 7 whole thing. Okay. And it's -- you're totally correct. 8 It's on them. It's their library. They need to run it 9 the way they want to. There's some things that, you 10 know, we don't want to have represented by the library. 11 They no longer have a representative on our animal 12 advisory committee. 13 It was made very clear to them that, you 14 know, we will treat all County residents the same. If 15 we reduce staff, they will have less service. If we 16 don't buy trucks, you know, I'm mean there's lots of 17 things. But we're going to treat all residents of the 18 County the same. And we're not going to do anything 19 additional in the City of Kerrville that we're not doing 20 in the rest of the County. That's the agreement. 21 That's what we're -- that's what I just said. 22 MS. FERGUSON: Nothing additional for the 23 City other than -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. 25 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. So there's no 138 1 longer -- the City is not going to be responsible for 2 some of their own Animal Services then? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There is -- what we're 4 doing is rabies control. 5 JUDGE KELLY: It's their choice. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 7 JUDGE KELLY: It's their choice what they 8 want to do. It's our -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They can do more. If 10 they want to do more, they have the ability to pass an 11 ordinance and do it. 12 MS. FERGUSON: Uh-huh. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But we're not going to 14 do it for them. We're going to treat all residents 15 exactly the same. 16 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. 17 JUDGE KELLY: No matter where you live. 18 MS. FERGUSON: Well, my question was in the 19 agreement -- and I'm -- I'm not sure what you titled 20 what you just read from. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's just something I 22 wrote -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: It's a statement. 24 MS. FERGUSON: It's just -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- something I wrote so 139 1 I could get it exactly written right. 2 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. Well, I think there 3 are going to be -- if you would clarify some of that. 4 There are going to be a lot of questions from the 5 public, just like I have right now. What are you 6 talking about, we're going to do everything the same 7 that we have been doing? There was an Interlocal 8 Agreement to provide services to the City for Animal 9 Control. That no longer is in place. What did that 10 entail? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's why there's no -- 12 that's why it was decided that there's no reason for the 13 agreement. 14 MS. FERGUSON: Uh-huh. So you did nothing 15 for them? 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's -- there is -- 17 we did some things under the agreement that we're no 18 longer doing. 19 JUDGE KELLY: That agreement was negotiated 20 between Bonnie White and Tom Moser. And ask them what 21 it means. 22 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. Well, I guess I'd like 23 to know then what -- what the list -- you know, I'd like 24 to see a list. What have you been doing? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If you get a copy of the 140 1 Interlocal Agreement, there's five or six, the County 2 shall, the County shall. That's what we're not required 3 to do anymore. 4 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. And none of those are 5 impacted by State Law that require you to do certain 6 things? 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 8 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We defer to -- you know, 10 there are some, you know, hours of operation that were 11 required and number of staffing. There are things like 12 that that we're talking about. Now it's up to basically 13 for our Director, that's Reagan Givens, to determine how 14 he wants to operate and it'll be the same countywide. 15 Everyone's going to be treated the same. 16 MS. FERGUSON: But -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's up to us, of 18 course, from the budget standpoint. 19 MS. FERGUSON: Yeah. But those -- those 20 list of things under the Interlocal Agreement will no 21 longer be provided? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Correct. Unless they're 23 provided to all other County residents. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: The whole county. 25 Right. 141 1 JUDGE KELLY: But there's no obligation 2 either way. And -- and whether there were ever really 3 any obligations either way other than an agreement to do 4 that, I don't know. I understand why you're perplexed. 5 But we're going to provide the same Animal Services 6 whether you live in the County or not. Or whether you 7 live in the City or not. 8 MS. FERGUSON: Right. 9 JUDGE KELLY: They'll be the same. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, the standard 11 really -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: It's the same thing -- 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: The standard is the 14 State law. Basically. We're tasked with implementing. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Well, no. Now let me correct 16 that. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: All counties are tasked 18 with implementing State Law. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. All -- that's true. But 20 my first year in office, if you remember, and I made a 21 lot of mistakes. This was probably one of them. But I 22 pointed out to the public the things that County was 23 obligated to do and the things that we voluntarily chose 24 to do. And a couple of those that were very heated at 25 the time, Animal Services and Veterans Services. And 142 1 let me tell you. I got my "you know what" handed to me 2 several times over those issues. And you can -- and 3 right now, I support nearly everything the Animal 4 Services want and I support the veterans. They 5 convinced me of the merits of their cause. 6 And to do what we're doing with Animal 7 Services and what we're doing with veterans is something 8 that we as a community value and we choose to do it even 9 though we're not required by State Law. And that's the 10 truth. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. But the 12 minimum -- if you want to see what the template is it's 13 State law. And if you want to see what's being 14 eliminated, you take the old agreement that was between 15 the City and the County and see what additional was 16 provided and you'll see what -- what's been eliminated. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The actual -- it was 18 minimal. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. It wasn't much. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It was minimal. 21 MS. FERGUSON: And -- and the additional 22 won't -- won't result in any cost savings for the 23 County? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Minimal. 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It depends going 143 1 forward how -- you know. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. It gives us the 3 flexibility to run the Department as we want to run the 4 Department. There were some strings that, you know, 5 were -- you know, and we were doing it that way so they 6 really weren't strings. But we can change it now. When 7 we had the Interlocal Agreement, we couldn't 8 unilaterally change things on how we operate -- 9 MS. FERGUSON: Uh-huh. Well -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- in some areas. 11 JUDGE KELLY: As an example, because I sat 12 through some of the meetings. One we called the Animal 13 Service council or whatever it was? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. And the 15 services -- right. 16 JUDGE KELLY: The City had a representative 17 on there. And I'm telling you, the City's voice was 18 heard. Vocally heard. And it affected the way we ran 19 Animal Services. Now, we don't know at this point 20 what's going to change with Animal Services, but the 21 City is not going to have a say in what it is. I can 22 tell you that. It's going to all be done by the County. 23 MS. FERGUSON: All right. 24 JUDGE KELLY: And they want the same thing 25 to do with the library. And frankly, at this point, 144 1 they can have it. Just -- I mean, the library's a good 2 thing. And -- and I understand these issues. But those 3 are now City problems. They're not County problems. 4 MS. FERGUSON: Okay. I just wanted some 5 clarification on the Interlocal Agreement and what all 6 it entailed and what changes. And I appreciate your 7 time. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Certainly. 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: It does show the 10 importance of elections. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes, it does. Good 12 luck. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. That was just an 14 update. Informational. 15 We'll move on to Item 1.24, which is 16 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 17 determine whether to allow the retail fireworks permit 18 holders to sell fireworks to the public in celebration 19 of San Jacinto Day, I said that correctly. I grew up in 20 Midland and we had to say it San Jacinto. Now it's 21 San Hacinto(phonetic). 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You know, I've been 23 told that the reason it's pronounced San Jacinto is 24 because the Anglos won the war. They said it any darn 25 way they wanted to. 145 1 JUDGE KELLY: I put this on the agenda 2 because we have to decide. And by the way, San Jacinto 3 Day, San Jacinto Day, is April the 21st. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Letz's birthday. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: It won't matter what we 6 say. There will be fireworks at every house. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Unless we get a whole lot of 8 rain -- 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. 10 JUDGE KELLY: -- I'm not seeing it. 11 COMMISSIONER PACES. No. Unless we get a 12 lot of rain. But it would have to be rain close to the 13 event and, you know, that's kind of hard to tell these 14 people whether they can sell or not but -- 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We -- we -- as long as 16 we do nothing it's taken care of. 17 JUDGE KELLY: So if we do nothing -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Pass. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Moving right along. 20 Let's go to Item 1.25 consider, discuss and take 21 appropriate action to extend the submission date for the 22 Request for Sealed Bids Regarding the Lease of the Kerr 23 County Juvenile Facility to May 15th by 5:00 p.m. 24 MRS. STEBBINS: Part of that also needs to 25 be that with submission date extension, the submission 146 1 opening needs to be extended to -- to the May 22nd court 2 date at 9:30. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Judge. 3 JUDGE KELLY: No. That's okay. We need to 4 get it right. 5 MRS. DOWDY: When was the opening date? 6 MRS. STEBBINS: May 22nd. 7 JUDGE KELLY: As you know, we couldn't sell 8 the Juvenile Detention Facility because we couldn't get 9 an appraisal on it. Because there was no other 10 comparable one in the state. So then we -- we couldn't 11 list it because we didn't know what a fair list value 12 was. 13 So when we had Commissioner Gipson on the 14 court, he came up with a really good idea and that was, 15 let's create a market. Let's put out a request for 16 sealed bids and see what they're willing to pay. And we 17 put it under contract, if you will recall, with rights 18 of passage. And they were going to pay us -- I think it 19 was something like $17,000 a month, which is pretty good 20 income. 48 bed Juvenile Detention Facility. And then 21 they ran their numbers and withdraw their offer. 22 And then with this new legislature, things 23 have happened, they came back to us and expressed some 24 more interest if whether or not they could possibly 25 lease the place. And we said well, you know, if this 147 1 submission for proposal -- as long as it passed 2 you've -- and it's been three years. So we went back to 3 the County Attorney. She said we had to repost. We 4 reposted it for 30 days. Well, the legislature is still 5 in session and they're still talking and they're talking 6 about grants and what's coming out, we don't know what 7 they're going to do. 8 And I was asked, would we mind just 9 extending that period for anybody that's interested in 10 making a proposal to us until they see what's happened 11 at the legislature when they come back. So we said -- 12 asked them how many days. They said 45, so that's what 13 we did. And we're just trying to keep it alive. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And that's until 15 May 22nd you said? 16 JUDGE KELLY: It would be -- the 22nd will 17 be the hearing. But the deadline for submitting the 18 proposal is May the 15th. 19 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 20 MRS. DOWDY: Does this need to be 21 republished? 22 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 24 MRS. DOWDY: Okay. 25 MRS. STEBBINS: I was just sending you an 148 1 e-mail. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. So I make a motion that 3 we extend the deadline as presented. 4 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second it. 5 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 6 second. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 7 Opposed? Good. Interesting day. 8 Let's move on to the Approval Agenda. I 9 didn't even have to mention it. 2.1 budget amendments. 10 MS. SHELTON: There are not any. 11 JUDGE KELLY: 2.2 pay bills. 12 MS. SHELTON: Yes. Invoices for today's 13 consideration amount to $1,410,280.30. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 17 approve the bills as presented. Any further discussion? 18 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? It passes. 19 2.3 late bills. 20 MS. SHELTON: Yes. We have two invoices 21 that amount to $5,489.42. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: Move for approval. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 25 approve the late bills as presented. Any discussion? 149 1 These in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 2 Auditor reports. 3 MS. SHELTON: I'm going to report back on 4 Commissioner Harris's question earlier on Item 1.8. The 5 four items that are listed there under August the 21st 6 will all be agenda action items on that day. So we will 7 have the public hearing. We will set the amount of the 8 salaries, expenses and allowances for the Elected, 9 County and Precinct officers. We will adopt the budget. 10 Or at least vote to adopt it. And then also set the 11 proposed tax rate and the date of the proposed tax 12 hearing on August the 21st. 13 JUDGE KELLY: So that's D Day? 14 MS. SHELTON: Yes. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Item 2.5 monthly 16 reports. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. Another big 18 list. For February 2023 Justice of the Peace, Precinct 19 one, Mitzi French. I move for approval. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 21 JUDGE KELLY: You got a motion and a second. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Wrap it up. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor say aye. 24 Opposed? Motion carries. 25 Court orders. 150 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Court Orders from our 2 March 13the meeting, 39869 to 39887. All looks to be in 3 order. Make a motion to approve. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second. 7 Any discussions? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 8 Motion carries. 9 Okay. Information Agenda. 3.1 status 10 reports from department heads. 11 Okay. There being none, we'll move on to 12 3.2 status reports from elected officials. 13 There being none, 3.3 status reports from 14 Liaison Commissioners. 15 None? There being none we'll move on. 16 In Executive Session we have advice from our 17 attorney. Under 4.1 (a) is consider, discuss and take 18 appropriate action regarding pending and possible 19 litigation. 4.2 (a) is to consider, discuss and take 20 appropriate action to discuss retirement under TCDRS 21 regarding a part-time employee. And then under 4.3, 22 which is contract negotiations, we have consider 23 negotiations with developer of Eagle Ridge Road 24 development. We'll talk about it in Executive Session. 25 So we'll -- in order on the contract 151 1 negotiations, we're going to have to take a vote whether 2 or not we think that it -- determine whether we believe 3 that the holding of these discussions in open meeting 4 will have a detrimental affect on the position of the 5 Commissioners Court in the negotiation. And I assure 6 you it would. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: And we have -- we have an 10 attorney opinion. 11 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. 12 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion and a 13 second. Those in favor say aye. Okay. 14 COURT REPORTER: Who seconded that? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I did. 16 JUDGE KELLY: So we're going to go into 17 Executive Session. Let's take a five minute break and 18 reconvene. 19 (Break.) 20 (Executive Session.) 21 (Judge Kelly, Mrs. Stebbins and the Court 22 Reporter exited meeting after Executive Session to 23 attend juvenile court.) 24 * * * * * * 25 152 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 7th day of April, A.D. 2023. 10 11 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/30/2023 13 * * * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25