1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Regular Session 5 Monday, May 8, 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. 7 4 *** Commissioners' Comments. 9 5 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 14 action on Proclamation declaring June as 6 Elder Abuse Awareness Month. 7 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 17 action on Proclamation celebrating Community 8 Action Month in May 2023. 9 1.3 Presentation regarding the Kerr County 18 Historical Commission Summer History Camp 10 2023 being held on Monday, June 5 through Friday, June 9 at the Union Church Building. 11 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 22 12 action on request to add a left turn lane at Highway 27 East and Wilson Creek Road North. 13 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 30 14 action to allow Texas Parks and Wildlife Department contractors to fill water tanks 15 at the Hill Country Youth Event Center for the Healthy Creeks Initiative Program to 16 manage giant cane (Arundo donax). 17 1.6 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 31 action to authorize Texas Parks and Wildlife 18 Department contractors to spray Arundo donax on Kerr County property. 19 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 33 20 action regarding Interlocal Agreement between UGRA and Kerr County regarding Guadalupe 21 River crossing patrols. 22 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 34 action to reappoint Robert Neuman to the 23 Kerr 911 Board. 24 1.9 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 35 action to allow Enterprise Leasing to pick 25 up and sell the 2012 Dodge truck assigned to the Precinct 4 Constable's Office. 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.10 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 36 action to end Animal Disposition Agreement 4 with Kerrville Vet Clinic, and allow 30 days written notice to be given. 5 1.11 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 38 6 action to accept donations totaling $200.00 for the month of April 2023 to be added to 7 the Operating Expense line item 10-642-330. 8 1.12 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 38 action to surplus a 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe 9 VIN# 1GNLCDEC2HR170079 with 91,472 miles and a bad transmission to be sold by Enterprise 10 Fleet. 11 1.25 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 39 action to approve estimated fees related to 12 the new Animal Control facility including but not limited to: City of Kerrville review, 13 FEMA review, Flood Plain Analysis, FEMA ESA Compliance, Endangered Species Act compliance, 14 and Texas Antiquities Permit review. 15 1.26 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 40 action to authorize updated Interlocal 16 Agreements regarding the provision of court-ordered mental health services with 17 the following counties: Bandera, Blanco, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, 18 Kimble, Kinney, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, and Val Verde. 19 1.27 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 42 20 action to authorize County Judge to sign and submit County's Request for Capital Credits 21 from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. 22 1.28 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 43 action on Implementation of the Burn Ban. 23 1.30 Update regarding current and future grant 44 24 opportunities for Kerr County Sheriff's Office. 25 4 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.31 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 46 action to submit the FY23 State Criminal 4 Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) reimbursement grant from the Office of Justice Programs 5 (OJP) of the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Kerr County Jail. 6 1.13 Status of investigation of allegations 48 7 against Commissioner Belew. 8 1.14 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 60 action on a variance request from 1605 Hunt 9 Group, LLC concerning building setbacks and water available study requirements. 10 1.15 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 67 11 action for the Court to authorize the Judge, Commissioner Precinct 2, Road & Bridge 12 Administrator, and County Engineer to negotiate an engineering scope and fee with 13 Tetra Tech Engineering for potential road improvements for the first three miles of 14 Eagle Ridge Road. 15 1.16 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 75 action for the Court to approve a reduction 16 in Letter of Credit No. 154208 from Security State Bank & Trust in Comfort, TX from 17 $446,827.00 down to $16,400.00 for associated construction improvements in Comfort, TX. 18 1.17 Public Hearing for a revision of plat for 76 19 Hidden Valley Ranch Section One Tracts 5 and 6, Volume 4, Page 33. 20 1.18 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 76 21 action regarding a revision of plat for Hidden Valley Ranch Section One Tracts 5 and 22 6, Volume 4, Page 33. 23 1.19 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate 77 action regarding a final plat for Great 24 Sky Ranch Phase II. 25 1.20 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 80 action regarding a final plat for Mirage West. 5 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.21 Public Hearing regarding the proposed change 81 of private road name "Cheryl Drive S." to 4 "Big Boot Hill S." 5 1.22 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 81 action for the Commissioners' Court to 6 approve the proposed change of private road name "Cheryl Drive S." to "Big Boot Hill S." 7 1.23 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 88 8 action to set a Public Hearing regarding the installation of "No Parking" signs on 9 Kelly St. at FM 480 just west of FM 480. 10 1.24 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 91 action for the Commissioners' Court 11 authorization to go out for a rebid for crushed paving aggregate. 12 1.29 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 92 13 action to determine whether to allow the retail fireworks permit holders to sell 14 fireworks to the public in celebration of Memorial Day, beginning May 24, 2023 and 15 ending at midnight May 29,2023. Pursuant to Texas Occupations Code, Section 2154.202(g)(3). 16 1.32 Consider, discuss, and take appropriate 99 17 action to add Sylvia Zapata to the OASys Access Agreement as an Administrator. 18 1.33 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 99 19 action to approve a job description for Part-Time Assistant Court Coordinator/ 20 Receptionist for the District Court Administration. 21 1.34 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 100 22 action to authorize payment to Texas & County District Retirement System for $46,199.10 to 23 correct enrollment error by submitting an adjustment and to submit appropriate adjustment 24 to TCDRS for time credit for Mary Frances Root's employment from January 2006 through March 2023 25 and to acknowledge Mary Frances Root's contribution of $14,800.63 for the same period. 6 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.35 Recognition of Healthy County Award of Iris 103 Stagner Honorable Mention award to Tracy 4 Soldan. 5 1.36 "Kerr County Mid Plan Year Review" 104 presentation from TAC Representatives in 6 regard to the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefits Pool. 7 1.37 Passed. 8 2.1 Budget Amendments. 118 9 2.2 Pay Bills. 118 10 2.4 Auditor Reports. 119 11 2.5 Accept Monthly Reports. 119 12 2.6 Court Orders. 120 13 3.1 Status reports from Department Heads. 120 14 3.2 Status reports from Elected Officials. 121 15 3.3 Status reports from Liaison Commissioners. 125 16 4.2a) Consider, discuss and take appropriate 128 17 action to allow donation of sick time and/or PTO hours among employees. 18 1.38 Discuss and take action on an order 129 19 authorizing the issuance, sale and delivery of Kerr County, Texas Limited Tax Bonds, 20 Series 2023; securing the payment thereof by authorizing the levy of an annual Ad Valorem 21 Tax, and approving and authorizing the execution of a Paying Agent/Registrar 22 Agreement, a Purchase Contract, an Official Statement, and all other instruments and 23 procedures related thereto. 24 *** Adjournment. 152 25 *** Reporter's Certificate. 153 7 1 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come to order. It 2 is Monday, May the 8th, 2023, 9:00 o'clock in the 3 morning, and the Kerr County Court -- Commissioners' 4 Court is now in session. If you would, please turn your 5 phones off or to vibrate, please don't interrupt the 6 proceedings. And with that, please stand for the prayer 7 and pledge, which will be led by Commissioner Harris. 8 (Prayer and Pledge.) 9 JUDGE KELLY: Be seated. At our regular 10 Commissioners' Court meetings we always have the input 11 opportunity for the public to tell us what you think, 12 what you want us to know. So this is the -- I'm going 13 to open the -- the proceeding up for public input. And 14 limit your remarks to no more than three minutes. 15 Identify who you are. And this is for items that are 16 not on the agenda. If the item you want to speak on is 17 on the agenda, wait until that agenda item is called. 18 So you may proceed. 19 Yes, ma'am. 20 MS. WATKINS: I'm sorry. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Ms. Watkins? 22 MS. WATKINS: Yes. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, you may. 24 MS. WATKINS: Harley, can you -- can we 25 speak? 8 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I can't come up 2 there with you. 3 MS. WATKINS: He promised to stand with me. 4 UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: I will. 5 (Commissioner Belew going to podium.) 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I thought you were 7 speaking figuratively. 8 MS. WATKINS: No. I mean truly. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm sorry. 10 MS. WATKINS: I'm -- I've never spoken in 11 public before but -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: If you would, please tell us 13 your name. 14 MS. WATKINS: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Porchia 15 Watkins. I live here in Kerrville. And is it okay if I 16 go ahead now? 17 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 18 MS. WATKINS: Okay. The other night I was 19 speaking and it just seemed like the Lord came to me and 20 told me why didn't somebody think about this a long time 21 ago. It's regarding the school shootings that happen. 22 And I -- if you don't mind, I'll just read it. 23 Because -- anyway. You all should have a copy of what 24 I -- what I wrote down. 25 It says: My name is Porchia Watkins, I live 9 1 in Kerrville, Texas. Anyway, I was praying the other 2 night about all the shootings in the school and what 3 might be the best way to stop them. At that moment, it 4 seemed like the Lord told me the best way to stop all 5 the school shootings was to have a canine officer and 6 his dog in each school. Everybody is afraid of a dog 7 bite. 8 And it seems that the only -- that if only 9 one dog and an officer were in each school, it would be 10 a lot more cost effective than anything else. The dogs 11 used could be rescue dogs and trained by the Police 12 Department like they train their dogs for drugs, 13 weapons, etc. The minute somebody came into the school 14 with a weapon, the dog would sense it if the officer 15 could order his dog to attack. That would be the end of 16 the threat. No loss of life. 17 I really do not know how much it would cost 18 to train these dogs, but it seems like it would be a lot 19 cheaper than paying armed officers to be in the schools 20 full-time, and God forbid the cost of lives of more 21 children. Thank you. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you, Ms. Watkins. 23 Any other public comment on items not on the 24 agenda? Very well. We will move on to Commissioners' 25 Comments. Precinct 1. 10 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Just praying for rain. 2 Oh, and I went to the event in Center Point over the 3 weekend, which I saw this nice guy there. And served 4 him tea and lemonade and stuff. Two of my grandsons are 5 now Junior Texas Rangers. That was fun. It was a good 6 event. 7 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. Well, I was 8 going to talk a little bit about it, so that's why I'm 9 wearing my honorary Texas Ranger badge. 10 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You're a junior member 11 too? 12 (Laughter.) 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: It was a very 14 successful fundraiser and this benefitted the Center 15 Point Area Historic Preservation Association. It was a 16 great time. Good food, good music. The Rangers were 17 there in force. There was a wonderful ceremony at the 18 Center Point Cemetery where 36 Texas Rangers are buried. 19 More than any other cemetery in Texas. 20 So if you haven't been to the Center Point 21 park, it's come a long way. We've got a ranger cabin, a 22 livery, and we're putting up a pavilion. So a lot of 23 good things going on in Center Point. 24 Okay. There is no burn ban for Precinct 2, 25 so -- and we're praying for rain, too. 11 1 We are coming to the end of the EDAP 2 Wastewater Project. QRO-Mex has already been 3 demobilized and we have D Guerra trying to wrap things 4 up. We're trying to expedite the Bandera Electric three 5 phase power hookup for this Station 8 on Sutherland 6 Road. That will be good. 7 But, look, anybody who needs to make a claim 8 for damages or warranty within that first year can get 9 directions by contacting GrantWorks, Rosa Daly, at (512) 10 957-1465, between 8:00 and 4:00 p.m. weekdays. All 11 right. For more details, go to the April 21st press 12 release on the County website. 13 I also want to just talk about there's a lot 14 of illegal dumping going on in Kerr County. We've got 15 tires, mattresses, general trash being dumped. So, you 16 know, look, this takes a lot of time from the 17 environmental group to investigate and then Road & 18 Bridge has to go pick it up and dispose of it. Takes 19 them away from their normal duties. Road & Bridge 20 particularly is already substantially under manned, so 21 if you see something doesn't look right, like people 22 dumping trash, you see tires, mattresses, whatever, 23 call. Call the Sheriff's Department and report it. And 24 we need to toss a few of these individuals because this 25 is a real problem for the County. At it's -- it's 12 1 everywhere. I seem to have a lot in my Precinct, but 2 I'm sure elsewhere as well. 3 Okay. And just finally, a little update on 4 our paper ballot hand counting. That's proceeding. 5 We're -- the Texas First team has a legal position. We 6 do not believe that it will require any form of 7 certification, but we'll proceed in pursuit of that with 8 the Secretary of State's office. And we're also looking 9 for people to identify themselves and -- as volunteers 10 to hand count. So if you need more information on how 11 to do that, just contact me. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Precinct 3. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's easy to go after 14 Precinct 2 because he talks about everything in my 15 Precinct because we adjoin each other. Thank you, Rich. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Stole your thunder? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Center Point project, he 18 told you what you need to do if you have any issues and 19 that project is wrapping up. 20 Trash. One more thing. We have a lot of 21 trash hauled from the dump in Kerrville to San Antonio. 22 And those trucks are not real good about keeping tarps 23 on their trucks. If you see one of those trucks, write 24 down the license number. And you can, you know, get it 25 to the Sheriff, give it to me, or give it to Rich. 13 1 Because it's usually me and one of our precincts and we 2 can at least make a complaint to the company or you can 3 make a complaint to the company. But it does help. You 4 know, the Sheriff can't do anything if it's -- unless he 5 sees it himself, generally. But down the interstate or 6 down Highway 27, every once in a while you'll see those. 7 Take a photo. That will help. 8 And then it looks like we have the best 9 chance of rain we've had in probably about six to nine 10 months for the next ten days. So hopefully it'll come 11 through. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. On Friday, I 13 went to a couple events. The Duck Derby in Ingram. It 14 was well attended and it epitomized our need for rain. 15 I mean the dust was unbelievable. All those 300 kids 16 stomping around and kicking up dust and it was a mess. 17 But anyway, it was a good turnout and Ingram Elementary 18 reaped the rewards. It was a fun event. 19 After that, we went on to Crider's and they 20 had their first catfish fry. And if you haven't been, 21 go. West Kerr County kind of comes together out there. 22 Good fellowship and to meet and mingle with a lot of 23 different people and, you know, we stayed there a couple 24 hours, you know. And it was a lot of fun. So that's 25 all I got. 14 1 JUDGE KELLY: Good. With regard to the 2 Texas Rangers, I was telling Rich that my 3 great-great-grandfather was a Texas Ranger. Married a 4 Comanche woman. That's why I'm so mean. For those of 5 you that want to learn more about Texas Rangers or this 6 part of Texas, Commissioner Letz pointed out S.C. 7 Gwynne's book. What's it called? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Empire of the Summer 9 Moon. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Empire of the Summer Moon. 11 It's probably one of the best accounts of what life was 12 really like in Texas with the Indians and with the 13 Rangers. And how the Rangers were formed. We learned a 14 lot about it. Just offer that for what it's worth. 15 So with that, we'll move on to the 16 Consideration Agenda. And warning, warning, Will 17 Rogers, we've got 38 items on the agenda. One is timed 18 at 1:00 o'clock. It's a busy day. So hope you brought 19 your lunch. 20 Item 1.1 consider, discuss and take 21 appropriate action on Proclamation declaring June as 22 Elder Abuse Awareness Month. Miss Senteno. 23 MS. WALSTON: She's not here. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 25 MS. WALSTON: I'm -- I'm here with Adult 15 1 Protective Services. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Please identify 3 yourself. 4 MS. WALSTON: My name is Jullya Walston with 5 Adult Protective Services. Good morning, Your Honor and 6 Commissioners. Let me first thank you for proclaiming 7 June as Elder Abuse Prevention Month here in Kerr 8 County. The U.S. Census Bureau has set 2034 as the 9 first time in U.S. history that older adults will 10 outnumber younger people. This fast-growing population 11 is expected to strongly impact our families and 12 communities. Older adults are vital, contributing 13 members of our society and everyone deserves the right 14 to live free from abuse. 15 National research has shown that as many as 16 one in ten older Americans are abused or neglected each 17 year. And for every known case, there are 24 cases that 18 are unknown. Kerr County has about 18,760 older Texans 19 and adults with disabilities. In 2022, APS in Kerr 20 County alone conceded 84 investigations of abuse, 21 neglect and exploitation. 22 In the society that values the treatment of 23 all people, Elder Abuse Awareness Month reminds us that 24 elder abuse has implications for us all. So that 25 implored us to find the right solution. Therefore, it 16 1 is critical that we continue to raise awareness and take 2 steps to prevent elder abuse in our communities, 3 educating the public on the issue, and what we do and 4 what they should do when they suspect neglect -- suspect 5 abuse and neglect upon the financial exploitation of an 6 older adult or individuals with disability is critical. 7 Adult Protective Services and the South 8 Texas APS community board will remain focused on raising 9 awareness of elder abuse. On behalf of the APS program 10 and the South Texas APS Community Board, I would like to 11 thank Kerr County, the City, County Joint Commission on 12 Elderly Affairs, Sheriff's Department, Probate Court, 13 District Attorney's Office for their continued support 14 in helping APS carry out their mission, which is to 15 protect older Americans and people with disabilities. 16 It is through these collaborative efforts to inform the 17 public and private partnerships to identify where 18 stronger supports are needed and where existing 19 connections must be reinforced as an essential first 20 step toward defending our community against elder abuse. 21 Thank you for your service and for your leadership in 22 helping us work toward directing the under-reported 23 issue of elder abuse. Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. And Ms. Walston 25 has appeared many times in my court. I served as the 17 1 probate and mental health judge. And I see these 2 situations and it's very difficult. I will move to 3 claim June as Elder Abuse Awareness Month. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second. 7 Any further discussion? 8 MRS. DOWDY: Who made the second? 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: All of us. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor say aye. 11 Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 12 Item 1.2 consider, discuss and take 13 appropriate action on a Proclamation celebrating 14 Community Action Month in June (sic) of 2023. Miss 15 Lacey and Miss LeMeilluer. 16 MS. LEMEILLUER: Good morning, everyone. My 17 name is Vicky LeMeilluer and I am here to talk about our 18 agency. It's Community Action across Central Texas. We 19 provide utility assistance, rental assistance, case 20 management to Kerr County residents. Our agency has 21 been serving the low income household for about 50 22 years. 23 So I would like to -- we -- the community 24 action is like to provide -- well, we provide assistance 25 to all 26 counties, but Kerr County is one of them. In 18 1 May, we would like to celebrate the -- or consider 2 basically the Community Action Month. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll move for approval. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 7 second to approve May as the Community Action Month. 8 Any other discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 9 Unanimous. Thank you. 10 Item 1.3 presentation regarding the Kerr 11 County Historical Commission Summer History Camp 2023 12 being held on Monday, June the 5th through Friday, June 13 the 9th, at the Union Church. Miss Bond. 14 MS. BOND: Good morning. My name is Bunny 15 Bond. I'm a resident of Precinct 4. And I'm appearing 16 before the Kerr County Commissioners' Court this morning 17 as the first Vice President, Vice Chair of the Kerr 18 County Historical Commission. The purpose of this 19 agenda item is to provide information on the Summer 20 History Camp sponsored by the Historical Commission. 21 This will be the third time in five years 22 for the camp. The first year was 2019, with COVID 23 preventing a camp in 2020 and 2021. We resumed offering 24 the history camp last summer in 2022. The fee remains 25 at $50.00 for five mornings. During the week of Monday, 19 1 June 5th through Friday, June 9th at the Union Church 2 Building, with a limit of 20 children who have completed 3 the third grade or the fourth grade as of June the 1st 4 this year. 5 The Historical Commission could not conduct 6 the camp without expert presentation is by volunteers. 7 Each day the camp has a different theme and the flier is 8 attached to the agenda item. Sorry it's not in color. 9 It looks great in color though. Monday will be the 10 Guadalupe River Valley UGRA staff and members of the 11 Historical Commission. 12 And we have learning stations so kids are 13 going to learn about the river valley, the bugs who live 14 in the river, water quality, first people in the valley, 15 arrowheads, Native American foods and tribes. 16 Tuesday will be the former Texas Rangers and 17 they're celebrating their 200th Anniversary in 2023. 18 With information on Ranger history, COVID conduct, guns, 19 gun safety, and practice on learning how to rope. 20 Wednesday is Daughters of the Republic of 21 Texas, the Joshua D. Brown Chapter, and they conduct 22 five learning stations. Pioneer clothing, quilting, 23 making butter -- very popular, matching animal skins to 24 photos of animals, and games played by pioneer children. 25 There will also be a presentation on Joshua D. Brown as 20 1 the founder of Kerr County. 2 Thursday begins with Riverside Nature Center 3 making a presentation on fossils and continues with 4 Julius Neunhoffer on ranching work and tools. 5 Now, Julius will also provide an opportunity 6 to sit in a 1924 Model T Roadster pickup. So 7 Commissioners, if you'd like an opportunity to sit, come 8 back down. Julius does great presentations for us. 9 Friday will be Clifton Fifer providing music 10 and stories with a dancing lesson. This is something 11 new this year, teaching children how to do a dance. And 12 he also is great with always talking about toys that 13 were invented with simple things, and he always brings a 14 craft for the children. And he is a really popular 15 figure. 16 The week ends Friday morning with Buzzie's 17 Barbecue providing lunch like he has every year for the 18 children. 19 The Historical Commission is grateful for 20 the support of the County, and especially the County 21 maintenance staff who come every day to clean the 22 building for us, as well as all the organizations and 23 individuals who participate, give up their time and 24 their energy, share their knowledge to bring history of 25 Texas in Kerr County to another generation of children. 21 1 Thank you, and we appreciate your support, 2 Commissioners, because you all are very supportive of 3 the Historical Commission. 4 If there's anybody in the room who wants to 5 register a child, I have some registration forms with me 6 this morning. Thank you. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Bunny, if you don't 8 mind leaving one for me, I'd appreciate it. 9 MRS. DOWDY: And me. 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: He missed out on the 11 Junior Texas Rangers. 12 COMMISSIONER PACES: Thank you. 13 MS. BOND: I'll leave them on Jody's desk. 14 And y'all, the Texas Rangers, everybody that comes. 15 These are wonderful people who are -- they really enjoy 16 giving up their time and being with children and we're 17 fortunate to have so many good people in the County 18 who's willing to do that. Thank you. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Bunny, thank you. And I 20 want to also encourage people to go. This is an 21 excellent camp. Very low cost. And those that haven't 22 been or don't know Julius Neunhoffer and Clifton Fifer, 23 it's worth going to the camp just to see those two 24 individuals. 25 MS. BOND: Thank you, Commissioner. And I 22 1 forgot to ask one thing. We do have scholarships 2 available. Because we don't want any child to be left 3 out who would like to come. Thank you. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. 5 Next item on the agenda is 1.4 consider, 6 discuss and take appropriate action on request to add a 7 left turn lane at Highway 27 East and Wilson Creek Road 8 North. Michael Jenschke. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Before we go ahead, I 10 want to say a couple of comments. This Court has for at 11 least ten years gone to TxDOT and passed resolutions 12 from -- basically from 1350 outside of Center Point all 13 the way to Comfort, suggesting they add a turn lane and 14 widen the road -- and/or widen the road, and reduce the 15 speed limit for that matter, where it goes up to 70. 16 This has been included in the Regional Transportation 17 Plan. 18 I know the last two times that was done, and 19 there are three really bad intersections, Wilson Creek 20 is one, Nicks Road is one, and Schladoer is one. Those 21 are the ones that ride in that stretch. There's other 22 ones, pretty much all of them are dangerous but those 23 two. 24 And Mike, I want to thank you, your 25 persistence, I think it does help if the Court passes 23 1 another resolution or sends a letter to TxDOT. But 2 keeping it on the front burner certainly doesn't hurt, 3 so I appreciate your continuing pushing on this issue. 4 MR. JENSCHKE: Good morning, Your Honor and 5 Commissioners' Court. My name is Michael Jenschke. And 6 thank you for allowing me to speak about this very 7 important and dangerous situation. The left turn lane 8 at Wilson Creek and Highway 27 East and Wilson Creek 9 Road, I've been working on this dangerous intersection 10 for the past four years with e-mails to back it up. 11 I started with a petition signed by 41 12 property owners that live along Wilson Creek Road, and 13 live in my subdivision, which is Ranches on Sunset 14 Ridge. I hand-delivered the petition to Precinct 2 15 Commissioner Tom Moser at that time. We are in Precinct 16 3 now. 17 We have increasing traffic every day with 18 the James Avery traffic going to and from Comfort, 19 18-wheelers hauling gravel and sand to San Antonio, and 20 heavy equipment trucks. This is a very busy highway. 21 I've been going back and forth between Commissioner 22 Moser, Charles Hastings, Marshall Heath from TxDOT, and 23 Commissioner Letz with no results. 24 I've written the Community Journal that 25 TxDOT had approved a left turn lane on Highway 173 for a 24 1 subdivision which the final plat hadn't been approved. 2 But in the last week's paper the Commissioners' Court 3 denied that plat approval, and I thank you for that, and 4 the people along that road thank you for that. And the 5 taxpayers of Kerr County thank you for that. 6 But getting back to the turn lanes, I don't 7 disagree with the turn lane on 173, but I think it 8 should be prioritized for an established area. This is 9 a two-lane highway with a shoulder on each side and a 10 speed limit at 70 miles an hour. The way the highway 11 curves to the right and goes slightly downhill, it is 12 approximately 150 yards before you see the car or truck 13 turning into Wilson Creek Road at 70 plus miles an hour. 14 If the driver's distracted or on a cell phone, that's 15 not much time to react. 16 We've had some -- a lot of near misses and 17 one accident that I'm aware of. It's just a matter of 18 time before someone gets critically injured or loses 19 their life. I'm asking that something be done before 20 it's too late. Thank you. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you, Mr. Jenschke. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: Obviously, this is a 23 TxDOT matter. The County has no real authority to get 24 TxDOT to do it, but we can certainly try to influence, 25 and I would suggest that we -- you know, I have my own 25 1 list of -- I think there's like ten different TxDOT 2 projects within Precinct 2 that I'm asking them to work 3 on. And I got a little pushback from Andres that, you 4 know, he can't just focus on Precinct 2. 5 And, you know, so I suggest that maybe we 6 get everybody's lists together or whatever you have that 7 you need TxDOT action on and combine it and at some 8 point maybe a workshop or whatever to set the County's 9 priorities, because no doubt there will be a much longer 10 list than what TxDOT will get around to. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's a good 12 idea. I think that the -- not only on this item but I 13 think, you know, prioritizing it is always different. 14 Though this is a -- I don't know if you look at traffic 15 counts or how we do it, because they're all dangerous. 16 And they all need to be done. And I know TxDOT has 17 limited funds. But all we can do is -- and it does help 18 them for us to continue to prioritize it. 19 Unfortunately, TxDOT's quick response is 20 when there's a serious accident and usually a fatality. 21 As soon as that happens, all of a sudden they'll have a 22 turn lane there and they -- and the reason that I've 23 been told that by TxDOT is that it comes under a 24 different funding mechanism then. But that's sad. 25 Wilson Creek, like I say, is probably the most dangerous 26 1 between, you know, Center Point and Comfort, and follows 2 right behind by Schladoer and Nicks Road in my mind, so 3 anyway -- 4 And there is -- the only turn lane there is 5 in that whole section is at Lane Valley and that's 6 because there was a fatality and a serious wreck there. 7 And, of course, then right after that fatality TxDOT 8 went ahead and put in a turn lane. Anyway, I know 9 there's another speaker, Judge. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Mr. Bohnert. 11 MR. BOHNERT: Good morning. My name is 12 Anthony Bohnert. I'm a rural carrier for the U.S. 13 Postal Service. I travel this same road and I'm here 14 just to support Mike in his efforts that he's going 15 through in getting people involved in this. I deliver 16 communications each and every day and I think we've got 17 a situation where the circle of communication is not 18 bridged. I always tell people we want to keep that 19 circle together, you know. 20 And so, I'm here to just ask in support of 21 the Court that it be once again brought forward to the 22 TxDOT people. I don't have the upper level management 23 contacts that maybe some of y'all do with the TxDOT 24 people, but I've been told some people that I do talk 25 with on a regular basis with the TxDOT and they're 27 1 saying that, yes, it's probably going to gain a lot more 2 traction if it's been presented again from the -- from 3 the Court itself than us as individuals. 4 But there's some other people that have come 5 to sit in the part of it as being part of the Wilson 6 Creek area. I concur and agree with Mr. Letz in saying 7 those other areas are needed. I spoke with a former 8 employee of the Road & Bridge who said yes, he cannot 9 exactly say when this took place but they're was some 10 engineering that took place with TxDOT from what had 11 gone through Center Point all the way to the county 12 line. And his response at that time was it was cut in 13 half because it was too large of a budget to do so. So 14 they stopped in Boerne -- I mean stopped in Center 15 Point. 16 And yes, you're very right in saying that 17 that the tragedy of a fatality then escalates things. I 18 shared with the gentlemen over here that is part of the 19 area and he recalls the accident itself. Eldon Edge, a 20 former superintendent of our public school system, had 21 an accident at what we reference as Government Crossing 22 off of 27 there. And two people were killed from -- 23 from Kerrville traveling towards Comfort. All of a 24 sudden we get escalated lighting and turn signals -- I 25 mean not turn signals per se but caution lighting like 28 1 they've put in at the Hermann Sons Road. 2 And so, yeah, just here to -- now as 3 communications have happened before, things I wanted to 4 say, Mike, as well as Commissioner Letz, I just want to 5 accelerate that and see if we can't bridge that circle. 6 If there's something -- we're asking that something be 7 done before a fatality happens again. And it's sad but 8 true. Probably very right it comes under different 9 fundings. So whatever the case may be, we're just 10 asking on behalf of more support of the Court if you 11 just, once again, revisit it and escalate this thing and 12 see if we can't get it done. 13 I understand there's other people that have 14 issues in other parts of the county. You know, 15 possibly, you know, group efforts can be done with a lot 16 of places. Thank you for your time. I won't try to 17 exceed that three minutes. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Before you leave -- 19 MR. BOHNERT: Sure. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: -- you know, you work 21 for the -- 22 MR. BOHNERT: I work for the Postal Service 23 and travel that road each and every day and the traffic 24 is crazy. I thank God almost on a daily basis when I 25 turn on Wilson Creek to get off of Highway 27. 29 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You know, something 2 from the U.S. Post Office along with us as well might 3 help things, you know. 4 MR. BOHNERT: I can -- I can see that that 5 could be done. 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 7 MR. BOHNERT: Be glad to. Direct it to 8 the -- directly to the Court? Direct that letter if 9 we -- if we can get something transposed? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I already said TxDOT. 11 MR. BOHNERT: TxDOT. Direct to TxDOT? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 13 MR. BOHNERT: Yeah. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, you can send us a 15 copy. 16 MR. BOHNERT: Yeah, I'd be glad to. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And, you know, the 18 post office -- several postmasters as well as TxDOT have 19 sat down recently in meetings talking about other issues 20 but, you know, there's some dialogue between them. 21 MR. BOHNERT: Okay. 22 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: So it wouldn't hurt. 23 MR. BOHNERT: All right. Thanks again for 24 your time. Appreciate it. 25 JUDGE KELLY: And finally, let me just add. 30 1 You mentioned the traffic from James Avery and the 2 aggregate producers there on that highway. Mr. Jenschke 3 did. We do have an aggregate producers advisory council 4 that we meet on a regular basis and that next meeting is 5 May the 23rd. It will be at 5:30 at the Youth Event 6 Center. And representatives from James Avery and all of 7 the aggregate producers attend. It's an opportunity for 8 you to be able to visit with them about your concerns. 9 MR. BOHNERT: Thank you. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that committee could 11 write a letter as well. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Be happy to. 13 MR. BOHNERT: Thanks for the point in 14 clarification. Appreciate it very much. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Anyone else on this topic? 16 Moving on to Item 1.5 consider, discuss and 17 take appropriate action to allow Texas Parks and 18 Wildlife Department contractors to fill water tanks at 19 the Hill Country Youth Event Center for the Healthy 20 Creeks Initiative program to manage giant cane. 21 Ms. Bushnoe. 22 MS. BUSHNOE: Good morning, Judge and 23 Commissioners. This is an annual item that we bring to 24 you all. Kerr County Wildlife has the Healthy Creeks 25 Initiative Program to manage giant cane throughout the 31 1 County and they -- they're contractors primarily fill up 2 their water tank at UGRA at our office, but if they're 3 on the eastern side of the County we'd like to give them 4 another option. And so the Hill Country Youth Event 5 Center has been that. And before they fill out there 6 the first time this year, they'll coordinate with Shane. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 10 approve using the Hill Country Youth Event Center for 11 water tank fill ups for the Texas Parks and Wildlife 12 partner contractors. Any discussion? 13 For those of you that don't know, Miss 14 Bushnoe also serves on that APO Advisory Council. 15 That's very instrumental in writing the best management 16 practices for the area. So, I mean, if you talk about 17 somebody that really knows her stuff -- 18 MS. BUSHNOE: Well, thank you, Judge. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 20 in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 21 MS. BUSHNOE: Thank you. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.6 consider, discuss and 23 take appropriate action to authorize Texas Parks and 24 Wildlife department contractors to spray -- is it Arundo 25 donax? 32 1 MS. BUSHNOE: Arundo donax. Yeah. Very 2 close. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Arundo donax on Kerr County 4 property. Miss Bushnoe. 5 MS. BUSHNOE: This is just the program 6 for -- I guess this one probably should have come first 7 before the other one. But just to work with your staff 8 again this year to treat Arundo on county-owned 9 property. So primarily we've worked with Shane Evans in 10 Flat Rock Park, and then we worked with Kelly overseeing 11 for spraying on right-of-ways that are new waterways. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second. 15 Any discussion? 16 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I have a question. 17 Tara, how are we doing on that? Are we keeping it in 18 check or is it -- 19 MS. BUSHNOE: You know, it's like eating an 20 elephant. Similar with the hogs. Better to do 21 something than nothing. But this program works through 22 voluntary landowner participation and so the areas that 23 are being treated I would say, yes, we're making 24 progress on those. But there's certainly -- it's 25 occurring, you know, throughout -- throughout the 33 1 County. But I think it's great to keep attention on it. 2 Keep pressure on it. So, happy to have the County's 3 participation. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor of having the 5 County properties sprayed say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 6 And your last one 1.7 consider, discuss and 7 take appropriate action regarding Interlocal Agreement 8 between UGRA and Kerr County regarding Guadalupe River 9 crossing patrols. 10 MS. BUSHNOE: This is another annual 11 agreement. We're going to switch to trash now. So we 12 have -- we work with licensed peace officers, primarily 13 Reagan Givens and his team, to patrol some areas in the 14 County during the summertime that are more prone to 15 littering. And we've identified those through our 16 in-house trash selection. 17 There's five individual crossings that 18 they're going to target, but certainly we can -- we can 19 add some more throughout the summer. 20 So just like permission to enter into that 21 Interlocal Agreement again so that we can work with the 22 County. Y'all provide -- they come in uniform and with 23 vehicles and then we pay an hourly rate for their time. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Move for approval. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 34 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 3 second to approve the Interlocal Agreement between UGRA 4 and Kerr County regarding the crossing patrols. Any 5 discussion? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a quick -- and so 7 the only cost to the County is use of the vehicle 8 basically? 9 MS. BUSHNOE: Yes. And if they have a 10 priority call, you know, while they're out there, 11 certainly they're going to defer to that. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And considering that 13 your taxpayers and our taxpayers are the same, it makes 14 it easy for us to work together. 15 MS. BUSHNOE: Of course. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Those in favor say aye. 17 Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 18 MS. BUSHNOE: Thank y'all very much. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.8 consider, discuss and 20 take appropriate action to reappoint Robert Neuman to 21 the Kerr 911 Board. Mark Del Toro. 22 MR. DEL TORO: Good morning. Mr. Neuman has 23 done a wonderful job serving on our Board since 2014 and 24 he has expressed his desire to continue serving, so we 25 ask for your reappointment. 35 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Move for approval. 2 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 3 JUDGE KELLY: A motion and a second to 4 approve the reappointment of Robert Neuman to the Kerr 5 911 Board. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 6 Opposed? Unanimous. Thanks, Mark. 7 MR. DEL TORO: Thank you. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.9 consider, discuss and 9 take appropriate action to allow Enterprise Leasing to 10 pick up and sell the 2012 Dodge truck assigned to 11 Precinct 4 Constable's Office. Brad Rider. 12 CONSTABLE RIDER: Gentleman, I think we've 13 asked and answered this a couple of times. But to save 14 the Court time and Jody's time, we've stopped looking 15 for it in the minutes so we came and put it back in here 16 to, just what you said, to allow Enterprise to pick the 17 truck up and sell it and move forward. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Move for approval. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 22 end the saga of the 2012 Dodge truck. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. Do we need to 24 surplus it for them to pick it up? 25 MRS. STEBBINS: Hasn't it been surplused? 36 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I would recommend that 2 we include the word "surplus" for that truck so they can 3 pick it up. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: Okay. 5 JUDGE KELLY: So we amend the motion? Is 6 that a second after we amend the motion? 7 COMMISSIONER PACES: Sure. To surplus the 8 truck. 9 JUDGE KELLY: And to allow them to pick it 10 up. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Right. 12 CONSTABLE RIDER: Thank you. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor say aye. 14 Opposed? Unanimous. 15 Moving on to Item 1.10 consider, discuss and 16 take appropriate action to end animal disposition 17 agreement with Kerrville Vet Clinic and allow 30 days 18 written notice to be given. Reagan Givens. 19 MR. GIVENS: Good morning. Some of you may 20 be familiar with this; some of you may not. This was an 21 agreement that we had which actually was, I guess, from 22 early -- from mid 2011. Basically what this was, was 23 Kerr County Animal Control at the time would do body 24 hauls for euthanized animals that were euthanized at the 25 vet clinic. Haul them to the land fill. And that was 37 1 in exchange for, I guess, a discount or a discounted 2 rate on assisting with animal cruelty investigations. 3 We don't really use this anymore. It's just 4 really not -- it's outdated. It's not really beneficial 5 for anything. And actually, you know, Animal Services 6 now -- it's -- it's really just not a good thing. I 7 want to get out of hauling deceased animals across town. 8 I think as we move forward I think this 9 thing could be looked at, just the whole idea, maybe in 10 a different way. Start it over. But the way it 11 currently is, it's just -- it's not beneficial for the 12 County or the staff or anything. We no longer do any of 13 these hauls for any other vet clinics in town. So 14 basically, I want to start over with something new. Get 15 rid of this. 16 And I actually don't even know if this 17 thing's still good. It's not signed by Judge Tinley at 18 the time. This was prior to whenever we were a part of 19 Animal Control. So I just don't know much about what -- 20 how it came to be. But we -- we need to give notice to 21 Kerrville Vet Clinic. I believe it's a 30-day notice is 22 the requirement on it. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move that we approve 24 the agenda item and cancel or terminate the agreement. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 38 1 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second for 2 a clean start on this; is that right? 3 MR. GIVENS: Yes, sir. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Those in favor say aye. 5 Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 6 Next item on the Agenda is 1.11 consider, 7 discuss and take appropriate action to accept donations 8 totaling $200.00 for the month of April 2023 to be added 9 to the Operating Expense line item budget for Animal 10 Control. Reagan Givens. 11 MR. GIVENS: Yes, sir. You guys will see 12 the April donations. A small breakdown there. Two 13 donations totaling $200.00 for the month of April. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move we accept the 15 donations. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 18 accept the donations as presented. Any discussion? 19 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 20 Item 1.12 consider, discuss and take 21 appropriate action to surplus the 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe 22 with a bad transmission to be sold by Enterprise Fleet. 23 Sheriff Leitha. 24 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yeah, I'm actually looking 25 for the court's approval to surplus this 2017 -- it must 39 1 have been a bad year, it's actually our third one with a 2 bad transmission. But we're looking to surplus it and 3 then put the funds in general funds. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Move for approval. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 7 approve the surplus of the 2017 Tahoe. Any discussion? 8 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 9 SHERIFF LEITHA: Thank you. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We're actually a little 11 ahead of time. Let's go ahead and move over to the 12 untimed items. We have a lot of untimed items on the 13 agenda today, and go to item 1.25, which is consider, 14 discuss and take appropriate action to approve estimated 15 fees related to the new Animal Control facility, 16 including but not limited to: City of Kerrville review, 17 FEMA review, Flood Plain analysis, FEMA ESA Compliance, 18 Endangered Species Act compliance, and Texas Antiquities 19 Permit review. Commissioner Letz. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There's a backup letter 21 there from the engineering firm that Peter Lewis has 22 contacted or contracted with. It goes through the fees 23 that will be required before we can do any construction 24 on the property. It's the joy of being a public entity. 25 We get to do a Texas Antiquities study, Endangered 40 1 Species study, floodplain analysis, FEMA review, and 2 City review. So the total amount of that is 68 -- the 3 total is around 58,000 I'd say, and I recommend that we 4 approve up to 60,000 in case there's a little bit of 5 difference. These are estimated fees. And then we'll 6 continue to keep the project marching forward. 7 So I'll make a motion that we approve up to 8 $60,000 for the listed fees. 9 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: The studies and permits and 11 everything? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 14 approve the estimated fees for the new Animal Control 15 facility. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 16 Opposed? Unanimous. 17 Moving on to Item 1.26 consider, discuss and 18 take appropriate action to authorize updated Interlocal 19 Agreements regarding the provision of court-ordered 20 mental health services with the following counties: 21 Bandera, Blanco, Comal, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, 22 Kendall, Kimble, Kinney, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, 23 Real, Schleicher, Sutton, Uvalde, and Val Verde. 24 That's 19 counties. And believe it or not, 25 I preside over 19 counties of mental health cases. 41 1 That's what we do. Miss Stebbins. 2 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. We have updated 3 the mental health services agreements for all of those 4 counties. And we haven't done that in several years. 5 This conforms to statutory changes with an updated bill 6 of cost, and I ask the Court to approve those so we can 7 send them out to the named counties. 8 JUDGE KELLY: I will so move. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 10 JUDGE KELLY: And a second. We got a motion 11 and a second. And let me say that when you look at all 12 those counties, the vast majority of mental health cases 13 come out of two counties. Hays and Comal. Because 14 Comal -- New Braunfels is the fastest growing city in 15 the United States of America. And San Antonio is the 16 fastest growing major city in America right now. I 17 mean, it's crazy the growth that's going on. Now the 18 good news is that Comal County is getting a new 16-bed 19 facility for observation. And Hays is talking about 20 building a whole new facility for themselves. So we may 21 get some relief on this yet. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, we're able to 23 bill -- or your -- you bill these counties for your 24 time, correct? 25 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 42 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So it's not -- Kerr 2 County's taxpayers aren't paying for Comal County's 3 mental health cases. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Not just my time. They also 5 pay for the patients. And we've billed out regular on a 6 monthly basis. And we don't have any problems with it, 7 we just need to renew the Interlocal Agreement. 8 Any other discussion? Those in favor say 9 aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 10 MRS. STEBBINS: Thank you. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Haven't got to the break and 12 we're still going. 1.27 consider, discuss and take 13 appropriate action to authorize the County Judge to sign 14 and submit the County's Request for Capital Credits from 15 the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Ms. Shelton. 16 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. This is an annual 17 report and so we fill it out and the Judge normally 18 signs it and we receive funds from the unclaimed credits 19 from the State. Our funds are spent to -- for our 20 economic development corporation fees that we pay in. 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Move for approval. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 24 approve the request for capital credits from the Texas 25 Comptroller of Public Accounts. Any discussion? 43 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just one more comment. 2 The funds and the reason we use them for economic 3 development is because these are designated. There's 4 only certain uses for these funds and that's one of 5 them. It keeps us from having to use general fund 6 dollars for economic development. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Those in favor say aye. 8 Opposed? Unanimous. 9 Item 1.28 consider, discuss and take 10 appropriate action for implementation of the burn ban. 11 We do this regularly. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 13 JUDGE KELLY: And what it is is to authorize 14 each of the Precinct Commissioners to determine when the 15 burn ban is on and off. 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 18 second to implement the burn ban. Those in favor say 19 aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Judge, if I can 21 interrupt you. I know on 1.29 Thomas Jeffers was 22 planning on coming in and looking at the agenda the 23 other day, I said why don't you wait until about 11:00. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We'll move on to -- 25 we'll pass that one and come back to it. 44 1 Item 1.30 update regarding the current and 2 future grant opportunities for Kerr County Sheriff's 3 Office. Scott Gaige and Jason Waldrip. 4 OFFICER GAIGE: Good morning. Just want to 5 give an update to the court. I referenced some of the 6 grants that the Sheriff's Office has been working on and 7 what the progress is. Number one, our Justice 8 Assistance Grant, that was through AACOG. The award was 9 $74,660. That was for the body worn camera program. 10 Body worn cameras are here at the Sheriff's Office. 11 We're talking about implementation will be 12 here beginning in June so that we field them out to all 13 the Constables as well as the Sheriff's Office and 14 Animal Services. 15 The second grant is our Ballistic Shield 16 Grant through the Governor's office as well. Shields 17 were ordered, 26 ballistic shields were ordered. We 18 received -- they're currently deployed on the streets 19 right now. And the invoice is about to be paid to the 20 vendor. And the reimbursement will be requested. 21 Third grant is Operation Lone Star. An 22 award of $660,180.00. Several items have been ordered. 23 We received communications equipment, hand-held x-ray 24 system, specialized computer software for digital 25 forensic unit, Pursuit Intervention Spikes. Those are 45 1 our stop sticks. We've got an OOG reimbursement for 2 those items in the amount of $139,288.00 and a little 3 bit of change. 4 The last grant is Operation Stonegarden. 5 The budget is awarded through there, that's our campaign 6 with the other counties. With Sutton County and Senora 7 PD. The budget hasn't been completely awarded to us 8 yet. We're hoping here in the next week or two. And 9 then we'll go forth with that process. So we're just 10 waiting on the approval for that amount. 11 Projected upcoming grant application and 12 openings. Operation Lone Star again. We're looking at 13 July and August window. So we'll come back to the Court 14 to renew that application as well. 15 And then Operation Stonegarden. Fiscal Year 16 '23, so we're currently with Operation Stonegarden it's 17 Fiscal Year '22. The federal government somehow is 18 behind a year. I don't know if it was COVID or whatever 19 the deal is, but we're behind a year. So we're looking 20 at October, November timeframe for this campaign. This 21 campaign is going to be offered by Kimble County 22 Sheriff's Office. Includes Kimble County, Menard 23 County, Kerr County, and Gillespie Counties. 24 So any questions about any of the grants? 25 JUDGE KELLY: Any questions? 46 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Good job. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you for your report. 3 OFFICER GAIGE: Appreciate that. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. I'm looking at the 5 Agenda here. Ms. Foraker is not here. 6 SHERIFF LEITHA: I'm giving that one, Judge. 7 JUDGE KELLY: You're doing that one? 8 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yes, sir. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We'll go ahead and call 10 1.31 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 11 submit the FY23 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 12 or SCAAP reimbursement grant from the Office of Justice 13 Programs (OJP) of the U.S. Department of Justice on 14 behalf of the Kerr County jail. Sheriff. 15 SHERIFF LEITHA: Yes. Basically, we're 16 looking for the Court's approval to apply for this 17 again. I kind of want to explain real quick to the 18 public and the court what this is. What they call SCAAP 19 grant. 20 I'll you read a quick little paragraph here. 21 Under statutory required State Criminal 22 Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), the Office of Justice 23 Program has made payments to eligible states and units 24 of local government that incur certain type of costs due 25 to incarceration on the undocumented criminal aliens 47 1 during a particular 12-month period. 2 So what we're doing, we're looking at 3 applying for this in 2023. These stats come from 4 July 1st of 2021 until June 30th of 2022. And it 5 depends on how many people you have incarcerated during 6 that -- that time frame. So, you know, we normally get 7 between 15 and $25,000. That's hard to predict. 8 But what I told you, and these are for only 9 illegal aliens that have been convicted. They have to 10 have a previous conviction of one felony or two 11 misdemeanors. As you know, with Title 42 ending, I look 12 for this to pick up and not go away for quite a while. 13 That's why we're looking for your approval to get this 14 next grant, which it can only be used towards these 15 inmates education and different types like that in the 16 jail. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: Move for approval. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 20 approve the SCAAP reimbursement grant. Any discussion? 21 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank 22 you, Sheriff. 23 SHERIFF LEITHA: Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Let's take a break and come 25 back at 10:00 o'clock and we'll take up Item 1.13. 48 1 (Recess) 2 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come back to order. 3 Next item on the agenda is a 10:00 o'clock timed item. 4 1.13 status of investigation of allegations against 5 Commissioner Belew. And I'm tapped out. Have y'all -- 6 for those of you who don't understand the Open Meetings 7 Act, I can't talk to Commissioner Belew because he's 8 talked to another Commissioner. So we haven't had a 9 chance to talk. 10 I have gotten literally dozens of calls 11 demanding that I fix this problem. And for those of you 12 that don't know, I don't have the power to fix this 13 problem. It is not a problem that sits on my desk. It 14 is an issue that's going to have to be decided, but it's 15 not decided by this Court nor is it decided by me. 16 And so, a lot of the questions have been 17 well, what happens? And I think Commissioner Belew has 18 already disclosed that he's retained counsel, which is 19 his legal right to do, and he'd be foolish if he didn't, 20 quite frankly. And the matter has been referred to the 21 198th District Attorney. And I don't know exactly 22 what -- where that is right now, but that's where the 23 matter sits. 24 Now, I've had people ask me who can do what? 25 Can I file something? Can you file something? Well, 49 1 there's been a couple avenues to go in this thing. One 2 has to do if he did something wrong while he was in 3 office, that's under Chapter 87. Or if there's a 4 disqualification before you took office, which is in 5 Civil Practice and Remedies Code. And that's called a 6 quo -- let me try to say this word, warranto. 7 Quo warranto. I call it warrant-o. You spell it 8 warrant and put an "o" at the end, that's what it is. 9 Quo warranto. That's an entirely separate type of 10 proceeding. 11 I'm not sure what the District Attorney is 12 doing about all of this and certainly want to respect 13 your rights, Commissioner Belew, but the people need to 14 know that one of those two routes will be taken. One is 15 a removal from office, which can be filed by any 16 resident of Kerr County that's lived here for six 17 months. Anybody can do that. And that's accusing him 18 of committing a wrongdoing of some sort. And there's a 19 list of what the County wants to do. Public 20 intoxication is one of them. I've never seen him 21 intoxicated in public. And I have heard him sing Johnny 22 Cash. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But I was not 24 intoxicated. 25 JUDGE KELLY: No, you were not. But the -- 50 1 whichever route the District Attorney decides to go, 2 that will be something that Commissioner Belew and his 3 attorney will handle and address at that time. 4 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 5 JUDGE KELLY: So I'm not here to put anybody 6 on the spot. I'm here to explain to the public the 7 route that this is going. And when it comes to -- I 8 said if there's official misconduct, anybody can file 9 that complaint. If you're going to do the quo warranto, 10 then there's only three people that can do that. Or 11 three -- three classes of people that can do that. And 12 they're all prosecutors. The County Attorney, the 13 District Attorneys, or the Attorney General are the only 14 ones that can file that. So it sits over with the 15 District -- one of the District Attorneys right now and 16 we'll see where that goes. 17 And I know the public wanted to speak on 18 this topic so it's on the agenda. And I know I've got 19 some people here that signed up to speak. So I don't 20 know who all wants to speak, but this is your 21 opportunity. And Glen, I think you had the first 22 request here. 23 MR. ANDREW: First point I'd make is I 24 certainly understand this is not the court of 25 adjudication, but I simply wanted to share some 51 1 thoughts. Judge Kelly, thank you for the opportunity to 2 address the Commissioners' Court, to offer my thoughts 3 on this pertinent, timely and critical issue. The 4 legality of Harley Belew holding place one in the County 5 Courts of Commissioner. 6 Commissioner Belew is a convicted felon who, 7 according to public available reclamation, has not been 8 pardoned nor has a felony expunged. The issue I focus 9 on is his signing of two election vouchers denying he is 10 a felon. It is my understanding that without legal 11 removal of his felony conviction, Mr. Belew is not and 12 was not eligible to serve on this Court. 13 The solution as outlined by you -- the 14 solutions as outlined by you, Judge Kelly, offer a legal 15 process to produce a correct resolution; however, should 16 Mr. Belew want to do the right, correct, ethical issue, 17 he'd resign and pay back the $350,000 salary that he has 18 incurred while serving and being paid by Kerr County 19 taxpayers. 20 It is my opinion Commissioner Belew should 21 not be a member of the Kerr County Commissioners' Court. 22 Commissioner Belew, please do the right, ethical and 23 best action. Resign and pay back the money. Should he 24 fail to do that, I support the expeditious removal of 25 him through the legal process that you have outlined. 52 1 Thank you. 2 COURT REPORTER: What is your name? 3 MR. ANDREW: Oh, I'm sorry. Glen Andrew. I 4 live in Kerr County, Kerrville. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Miss Canes. 6 MS. CAINES: Good morning, Judge. 7 Commissioners. My name is Nikki Caines and I live in 8 the City. I live in Precinct 1 and Commissioner Belew 9 represents me. He represents me and a lot of other 10 folks who applaud you. We appreciate you and we respect 11 you. The wheels of justice are supposed to proceed and 12 grind slowly for a very good reason, for undue justice 13 to be kept from happening. 14 I think of the lady justice with the scales 15 of balance in her hands, and she's got the blindfold of 16 justice around her eyes. I ask that whatever direction 17 this Court and any other of our citizens take, that you 18 would remember that. That there should always be a 19 balance, and that we should give due diligence to that 20 process. That blindfold on lady justice, I know that it 21 is supposed to represent, you know, we don't want to do 22 anything that would trespass against somebody's race, 23 religion, yada, yada, yada, and I agree. 24 But I also thought about it last night, and 25 that blindfold of justice should also remember that 53 1 personal opinions, personal motivations and everything 2 else should be kept out of the process, and let the 3 legal process continue as it is. So I'm here to just 4 say, let's all slow that process down. Give 5 Commissioner Belew the opportunity and the right to 6 prove what he has already stated. That he believed he 7 was not -- he had been absolved, whatever technical 8 legal word is to be used, he believed when he did his 9 probation, whatever it was, that he was clear of the 10 law. And that he has not acted illegally and he has not 11 acted against the people and the voters of this County. 12 And I thank you personally, sir. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Kitty Ocker. 14 MS. OCKER: Good morning, Your Honor and 15 Commissioners. My name is Kitty Ocker. I live in 16 Kerrville. I have known Harley Belew -- and I'm here to 17 speak in support of Harley Belew. I have known 18 Mr. Belew for at least ten years, maybe longer. I know 19 him to be a loving and devoted husband, father, and 20 grandfather. I also know him to be a man of God. 21 Scripture tells us that our enemy prowls 22 around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to 23 devour. It saddens me to know that the enemy is alive 24 and working in our wonderful Kerrville community. I 25 only wonder what is the motive? Whose agenda is this? 54 1 Is it just an act of malicious hatred or is it an evil 2 desire to destroy someone. 3 Whatever the enemy's motive, I urge you to 4 consider the Harley that we know today. He has been a 5 law abiding citizen for years and he's made many 6 important contributions to Kerr County and the 7 surrounding area. He was elected by the people that 8 serve Precinct 1 and he delivers on his 9 responsibilities. 10 The personal attacks he has experienced are 11 inexcusable and they are not representative of the 12 majority of the fine people who live in this County. I 13 urge you to let the legal process go forth and let the 14 courts determine the facts. Thank you. 15 UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: Thank you. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Fred Henneke. 17 MR. HENNEKE: Fred Henneke, 2595 Bandera 18 Highway, Precinct 2, Kerr County. First of all, Judge 19 Kelly, thank you for that succinct explanation of the 20 process that's unfolding. I think everyone needs to 21 know that. This is about a legal proceeding where, if 22 it proceeds with the district attorney, Mr. Belew will 23 have adequate opportunity to present his case and his 24 side of the controversy. 25 I'm here to talk about legitimacy. I 55 1 believe in institutions, and I believe in church. I 2 believe in public schools. I believe in the Sheriff's 3 office. I believe in the United States military. I 4 believe in the Commissioners' Court. And it was a 5 privilege to serve here for four years. For the people 6 to respect the institution, the institutions have to 7 have legitimacy. In the eyes of the public they must be 8 legitimate performing the duties as outlined by law, 9 tradition or candidates or whatever you want to say. 10 The situation involved with Commissioner 11 Belew at this time has brought into question the 12 legitimacy of this Court and any actions that it might 13 take or has taken. The people of Kerr County need to 14 know that they come before the Commissioners' Court as a 15 legitimate properly, legally constituted body and that 16 the decisions that the Commissioners' Court makes on 17 behalf of the citizens will be respected, honored and 18 correct. 19 The purpose of gaining the legitimacy of 20 Kerr County Commissioners' Court, they're happy that the 21 process is underway to come to a final resolution of the 22 controversy regarding Mr. Belew's eligibility to hold 23 the office of Commissioner Precinct 1. And I hope 24 everyone here will take a step back, relax, and let the 25 process work its way through to an end that's fair and 56 1 just for all of us. Thank you. 2 JUDGE KELLY: George Eychner. 3 MR. EYCHNER: Thank you, Judge Kelly. I'm 4 George Eychner, I live in Precinct 1. After listening 5 to your summation of the situation, I feel like the 6 comments I have here don't apply anymore. Thank you. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Is there anyone else that 8 wants to speak on this topic? Miss Summerlin. 9 MS. SUMMERLIN: Thank you, Commissioners, 10 for the opportunity to give my opinion in public. 11 Anyone who has observed the harshness of the public 12 judgment Harley Belew renders on other public servants 13 can be forgiven for being a little amused by his whining 14 position that he's being persecuted. 15 Anyone who has observed the lengths to which 16 he will go to incriminate political opponents has to 17 wonder how he can justify a clear obvious public 18 violation of integrity himself. Mr. Belew, you need to 19 resign for the sake of your own soul and for the sake of 20 the community and the Commissioners' Court. I thank 21 you, sir. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Anyone else want to speak? 23 Well, let me kind of conclude this by saying 24 that this is not an opinion poll. I don't even think 25 there's a fact question involved in this. I think it's 57 1 all going to probably be a law question. And the legal 2 question that -- for everybody to focus on is 50 years 3 ago, I mean, we've all got a past, Harley. My inside 4 joke is I was never arrested in Colorado County. 5 There's no record of it. The army told me so. 6 The conviction of a felony imposes certain 7 disabilities on the convicted felon. One of which is 8 voting. You can't vote. Another one is you can't hold 9 public office. And that's been Texas law from the 10 beginning. There is a system that we call deferred 11 adjudication, and we use that especially for youthful 12 offenders. Old enough to be an adult, but not a 13 juvenile. And that is what we call deferred 14 adjudication. 15 And I work with the County Attorney and do 16 this weekly, bi-weekly as a matter of fact. We get a 17 lot of them. And when you get a deferred adjudication, 18 it is not an adjudication. It is deferred. And a 19 deferred adjudication is at the end of the successful 20 completion of probation, there is no adjudication. The 21 adjudication is withdrawn. 22 And that is a process that I personally 23 watched implemented in the State of Texas. 1974 and 24 1975, I was a briefing attorney at the Texas Court of 25 Criminal Appeals for Truman Roberts. It was quite a 58 1 heady job. It didn't pay any money but it was quite a 2 lofty position. And one of the tools that the criminal 3 trial bar wanted in their toolbox was the deferred 4 adjudication. We did not have it in 1974 when I 5 graduated from law school or 1975 when I clerked at 6 school. It was enacted in the summer of 1975 and went 7 into effect. September 1, 1975, we have had a deferred 8 adjudication system. 9 Whether or not your conviction in '73 10 qualifies under that or not, it's a question of law for 11 the Court. They complained about some of the affidavits 12 that may have been signed. I understand there are 13 issues, legal issues with that, regarding whether or not 14 they're barred by limitations. There's all kinds of 15 legal issues out there. I don't envy the Judge that's 16 going to have to hear this case. But nonetheless, it is 17 in the judicial system, which is where it belongs, and 18 this Court does not weigh in with any opinion. 19 Is there anything else? 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yeah. I'd like to say 21 something. And I'm going to share something I told 22 Harley. I was out of town when this broke. I called 23 Harley and he filled me in what he knew and I was 24 convinced immediately that this took him by surprise. 25 And he thought it had been expunged years ago. And I 59 1 told Harley, I said, I didn't know you as a teenager, 2 but I know you as an adult. I know your morals and 3 integrity as an adult, and I support you a hundred 4 percent. We'll see where this goes in the legal system. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'm a Harley supporter. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Thank you. 8 JUDGE KELLY: And one other -- 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: It's a pleasure to know 10 you. 11 JUDGE KELLY: -- disclosure that -- that I 12 want to make. Is because Ms. Stebbins is our County 13 Attorney and she represents all five of us, she has a 14 conflict of interest and will not participate in this 15 part of it, this proceeding. So that's why it's sent to 16 the District Attorney. 17 MRS. STEBBINS: Thank you, Judge. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Harley and I have been 19 good friends for many years and I've known him a long 20 time. It will be rectified and good luck. 21 JUDGE KELLY: And all I'm saying, Harley, is 22 it's going to be a legal question. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. I know. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. With that, we'll move 25 on to the next timed item at 10:00 o'clock, which is 60 1 Item 1.14 consider, discuss and take appropriate action 2 on a variance request from 1605 Hunt Group, LLC 3 concerning building setbacks and water available study 4 requirements. Mr. Hastings. 5 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. 6 This item primarily is going to be presented 7 by the developer/owner, Larry Howard. Larry, are you 8 here in the room? 9 MR. HOWARD: Right here. 10 MR. HASTINGS: Here, come on up. And he has 11 a variance request for a setback requirement. Our 12 regulations require a 50-foot building setback. This is 13 over on Highway 39 in the Hunt area. And a 50-foot 14 setback would be problematic for them. As well as they 15 have had their engineer put together a water 16 availability study upon an existing water system. There 17 is already a water meter serving the site. There has 18 been buildings there before that were served by this 19 Hunt Water Group. And so that water availability study 20 goes as far as it can possibly go without drilling 21 additional wells to do additional studies. I'll let 22 Larry present the rest. 23 MR. HOWARD: Good morning. My name is Larry 24 Howard, I live at 1501 Water Street -- my office is 1501 25 Water Street, excuse me, and I am the applicant for the 61 1 1605 Hunt Group, LLC, that's doing some development out 2 in Hunt at Highway 39. And we're asking for the 3 variance of the setback requirements and the water 4 availability study of drilling new wells and testing an 5 existing public water system that's permitted by 6 Headwaters and the TCEQ. I'd be happy to answer any 7 questions that you have. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Well, this is the old taco 9 shack. It's where the Taco Wagon was. It's right 10 across from the rock building there in Hunt. It's on 11 the river side of the highway. And it's a very narrow 12 strip through there. Doesn't have river frontage. The 13 group has come to me and showed me the plans. And I 14 think they're trying to cut that setback, what, 25 feet? 15 MR. HOWARD: 25 feet, yes, sir. 16 JUDGE KELLY: And I promise you the Taco 17 Wagon was closer to the highway than that. 18 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I drove by there to 19 look at it and I already knew what I was going to see. 20 But, you know, they have no other options. But I'll 21 move for approval. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 24 approve the variance as requested. Any discussion? 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. I'd like to 62 1 understand, you know, it's one thing on the setback. 2 I'm okay with that. You know, in terms of the water 3 availability study, this is dictated by the Model 4 Subdivision Rules, is it not? 5 MR. HASTINGS: No, sir. 6 JUDGE KELLY: No. 7 COMMISSIONER PACES: It's not? 8 MR. HASTINGS: Not this particular one. 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: So this would not be an 10 exception to the present Model Subdivision Rules? 11 MR. HASTINGS: Correct. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: There's water there 13 now. 14 MR. HASTINGS: There's water there now. But 15 to be clear, the Model Subdivision Regulations apply to 16 a subdivision of two or more lots that are proposed five 17 acres or less. This is not a subdivision. It's a one 18 lot plat. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This is what we've been 20 talking about drilling a well when you already have 21 water available through a source. There's no real point 22 in it. 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: So it's not just -- 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This is -- it's got 25 water anyway. No, this doesn't qualify anyway. They're 63 1 just buying a piece of property, as Charlie said, you're 2 not subdividing it. But this is what we're dealing 3 with. 4 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. But I guess I'm 5 trying to understand who has authority over the water 6 availability study. Is it ourselves or Headwaters 7 Groundwater Conservation? 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: This does not trigger 9 that. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But then what's he want 11 the variance for? So it doesn't -- 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well -- 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Charlie, explain why 14 there's a variance needed on the water availability 15 requirement. 16 MR. HASTINGS: Our regulations, if you read 17 them and go straight through them without applying any 18 engineering background, requires a water availability 19 study, even if you're platting and you're not -- because 20 we have some exemptions and this one doesn't fall into 21 the category of one of the exemptions listed. So you're 22 still required to do a water availability study, but if 23 you go through and read the water availability study 24 regulations, you quickly start to understand they're 25 really intended for a new water system -- 64 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 2 MR. HASTINGS: -- that's being drilled, not 3 an existing one. And this doesn't qualify for the Model 4 Subdivision Regulations, of course, under the model 5 regulations for the reasons I cited before, but not only 6 that, it's -- this is a commercial -- is this a 7 commercial property? 8 MR. HOWARD: It will be residential. 9 MR. HASTINGS: It is residential? 10 MR. HOWARD: Yeah, it will be residential. 11 MR. HASTINGS: But it's not two or more lots 12 that are five acres or less, so it doesn't qualify for 13 the Model Subdivision Regulations. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We have somebody here 15 from Headwaters. Do you to want say anything about it, 16 Tom? 17 MR. JONES: No. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I couldn't resist that. 19 MR. JONES: Appreciate that. But I really 20 would check with my office and get clearance with the 21 specific language and how it's worded for that. 22 MR. HASTINGS: We had a discussion about 23 four or five, six weeks ago, where I said I know our 24 regulations state that an engineer needs to sign off on 25 a plat, but that's not the case for every single plat. 65 1 It just isn't. The same can be said for water 2 availability studies. It's not -- the intent behind 3 them is not for every single plat that comes through. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We're going to have more 5 and more of these. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes, we are. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I support this one. 8 But, you know, this is why I objected to the rules the 9 way we ended up writing them is because there's -- it 10 doesn't fit everything. Water availability requirements 11 cannot be done in situations. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Exactly. And it makes 13 it easier when you have somebody that you've watched 14 them do other projects in the County. It makes it a lot 15 easier. But if it's somebody that we don't know, it 16 could -- 17 JUDGE KELLY: Well, this gets back to 18 exactly what we were talking about. And we have to 19 handle those on a case-by-case basis. And this is first 20 case. 21 MR. HASTINGS: The study that was submitted 22 by his engineer, and it's titled Water Availability 23 Study, and the documentation in there does 24 overwhelmingly convince one that there's plenty of water 25 there. That's not the issue. And that's the intent of 66 1 a water availability study. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: So you're saying a 4 study was done? 5 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. Yes. But there are 6 parts of a water availability study that could not be 7 done for this. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So it was not done per 9 the -- 10 MR. HASTINGS: They didn't drill an 11 additional well and do pump tests on the existing well 12 while looking at the other monitor well to see what the 13 draw down would be. 14 JUDGE KELLY: But there's plenty of water. 15 MR. HASTINGS: And that -- that system is in 16 operation. I'm not real sure how you do that. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The water availability 18 study requires you to drill a well. He doesn't need to 19 drill a well; he's got water. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's really the 21 problem we have right now. You can't -- you can't -- in 22 some places you can't drill a well because you're in 23 somebody else's certified area and you can't -- you get 24 in a lawsuit if you drill a well. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: I get that you can't 67 1 drill a well, and that would require to have Headwaters 2 Groundwater Conservation District approval on that. 3 MR. JONES: And we don't -- we don't require 4 water availability studies within Headwaters. That's 5 the County. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? We've 7 got a motion and a second. In favor of the variance, 8 say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 9 MR. HOWARD: Thank y'all very much. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Next timed item is 1.15 11 consider, discuss and take appropriate action for the 12 Court to authorize the Judge, Commissioner Precinct 2, 13 Road & Bridge Administrator, and County Engineer to 14 negotiate an engineering scope and fee with Tetra Tech 15 Engineering for potential road improvements for the 16 first three miles of Eagle Ridge Road. Mr. Hastings. 17 MR. HASTINGS: Both the Judge and 18 Commissioner Paces asked that we place this item on the 19 agenda. I think it will require the Court to obviously 20 authorize what you just read so that we could begin 21 working on a scope and fee. We would bring that back to 22 the Court and, ultimately, the Court would need to fund 23 it somehow. 24 JUDGE KELLY: But this is just for the 25 engineering study? 68 1 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 2 JUDGE KELLY: And this is what I refer to as 3 value engineering of an existing road. 4 MR. HASTINGS: Yes, sir. 5 JUDGE KELLY: So -- 6 MR. HASTINGS: And come back and give you 7 several options. And something we all need to keep in 8 mind. Any development that happens in this County, or 9 in the City for that matter, it's been my experience for 10 the past 20 years being in this community as well as 11 years in other communities, it doesn't always happen 12 overnight. 13 More oftentimes than not, a subdivision goes 14 in, especially if it's large acreage, it takes years for 15 the traffic to follow. And so, there is time. But the 16 time to plan is today. The time to plan for the future 17 is today. And that's what this is about. I anticipate 18 that the engineer will come back with not only value 19 engineering that says this is what you need to do today, 20 but maybe five or ten years from now this is what -- you 21 need to be on a schedule and these are the things that 22 you need to be doing to make sure that this road can 23 handle traffic as the traffic increases over time. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Charlie -- or Judge, 25 whoever put this on the agenda. Is this to develop the 69 1 scope of work and then come back with an estimate of the 2 fee? 3 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. An engineering -- 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So no -- but just 5 knowing this is going to come back to us once we get -- 6 you have an estimate from an engineering firm as to what 7 it's going to cost to do the work. 8 MR. HASTINGS: I anticipate it would be four 9 to six weeks from now we'd come back to the Court and 10 it's right during budget season. So, in my mind it's -- 11 it's fitting, kind of, that kind of schedule. It would 12 be something that if you all wanted to move forward on, 13 you could adopt it into the new budget or you could 14 amend your existing budget to get started sooner. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But my question is, 16 where does the money to pay the engineering company come 17 from? 18 MR. HASTINGS: I don't know. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's what he's trying 20 to see. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's where I'm trying 22 to -- 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. So -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: This is a pretty big 25 precedent if we do this. 70 1 MR. HASTINGS: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, because that 3 means that anytime there's a situation that a road needs 4 improvement, like Wilson Creek, several roads need 5 improvement. That's a collector road and it's got 6 probably maybe a 30-foot right-of-way. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, I'm hoping we'll 8 address that soon and gain some policy. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I'm just wondering, 10 I mean, you know, if we -- this is one that makes sense, 11 but there's -- this is a countywide problem. It's not 12 an Eagle Ridge problem. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. This is the 14 immediate problem. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And -- well maybe. 16 JUDGE KELLY: It's one of -- one of the 17 items. This is the first development, proposed 18 development, off of a county road. All the rest of them 19 have been off state highways. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, there's one up by 21 me, that's a county road. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There's one by me on 23 Lane Valley. Wilson Creek. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But they've had 25 different access, some of them. Not where you are and 71 1 where I'm at. 2 MR. HASTINGS: And not as many lots. Not 3 this many lots. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: To this extreme, yes. 5 MR. HASTINGS: Right. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I guess my question 7 is, I'd like to get an estimate of what this is going to 8 cost by the engineer before we approve it. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it's unclear here. 11 We're approving the fee, it looks like, by the agenda 12 item. But if you're just going to get an estimate of 13 what it's going to cost for the engineer to do the 14 study, I'm okay with that. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: How about -- why don't 16 we authorize them up to a certain amount? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But not authorize the 18 actual engineer to work on it. I just want to know what 19 it's going to cost for the engineer to do it. 20 MR. HASTINGS: This -- there will not be a 21 cost associated with what we're asking you to do today. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. That's what I was 23 trying to solidify. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'll move for approval. 72 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 3 approve negotiating with the engineering scope and fee 4 with Tetra Tech Engineering for potential road 5 improvements on the first three miles of Eagle Ridge 6 Road. Any other discussion? Mr. McGuire? 7 MR. McGUIRE: Thank you, Judge and County 8 Commissioners. I am here to echo my neighbors' 9 sentiments at our last ten day meeting where you denied 10 the plat, and I applaud you for that. This is the 11 logical next step. I mean, I think this is -- this is a 12 good move. To see what -- what the requirements are to 13 improve Eagle Ridge Road as a collector road; however, 14 once again, it's a case of who is going to pay. The 15 developer from out of state came to Kerr County. He 16 didn't do his due diligence. 17 This was the kind of exercise that other 18 developers who came previously and didn't buy the 19 property, they walked away because they recognized the 20 problem. This should have been a condition of his 21 purchase. Any sophisticated developer would buy the 22 land, if you will, if -- based on certain contingencies. 23 And now, once again, he comes to the County. He did two 24 previous engineering studies, both of which were 25 deficient because he poor boyed(phonetic) the studies 73 1 and they didn't give proper instructions to the two 2 previous engineering studies. 3 We went, the neighbors, and hired a bona 4 fide engineer and paid him good money, and he did a 5 50-page report. I think this is kind of kicking this 6 can down the road again. So we would just, if you will, 7 hope that, if you will, the County going ahead consider 8 sharing with the neighbors the scope of the report that 9 he's going to do. 10 And that especially concerning the core 11 sampling of the road, which is inadequate, if you will, 12 40 percent of that road is deficient and I -- you know, 13 we are not -- I thought we got over the point of waiting 14 until 2030 as far as traffic is concerned. The traffic 15 has already started. The trail trucks, the construction 16 trucks, the cement trucks are not going to be coming in 17 2030. They're coming in 2023. They're right out there 18 now. They're coming in 2024. 19 So the study, if you will, needs to address 20 this tremendous traffic that's going to occur 21 immediately on Eagle Ridge Road. 2023. 2024. I don't 22 think that if you'll put stripes on or whatever, it's 23 going to remedy the fact that the road is 40 percent 24 deficient based on the Rock Engineering report. And 25 it's already deteriorating. I've had -- that road, if 74 1 it's going to be addressed, need to be rebuilt. And 2 that's what I hope the scope of this report is going to 3 address. I didn't hear that today. I just heard 4 something about, well, the real traffic isn't going to 5 occur until 2030. I -- I thought we covered that. 6 So anyway, we hope that this goes ahead. We 7 hope the Commissioners keep us, the neighbors, informed 8 through our County Commissioner of Precinct 2, and we 9 appreciate everything you're doing to protect the safety 10 of Eagle Ridge Road. Thank you. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Mr. McGuire, we don't -- we 12 don't know how much is going to have to be rebuilt. We 13 don't know the scope of work. We know that there's 14 insufficient base in places. We know that it's not wide 15 enough in places. We need to talk to professionals who 16 will tell us what is needed and that's what we're trying 17 to do. And we can't -- that can't be down the road any 18 longer. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: We have to get a good 20 solid cost estimate of what it will cost the County or 21 whoever is going to perform it. It's likely to be very 22 significant. 23 MR. McGUIRE: Okay. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 25 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 75 1 Moving on to Item 1.16 consider, discuss and 2 take appropriate action for the Court to approve a 3 reduction in Letter of Credit No. 154208 from Security 4 State Bank & Trust in Comfort, from $446,827.00 down to 5 $16,400.00 for associated construction improvements in 6 Comfort. Mr. Hastings. 7 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. This is 8 for the Hall Ranch subdivision. And I apologize for 9 leaving that part out of the title. I had intended that 10 to be in there and it just got left off. But this is 11 Hall Ranch Subdivision. The ranch has been under 12 construction now for several months. They're nearing 13 the end. They've got their road complete, their ditches 14 have been put in place. The drainage. 15 The final thing is to get some road signs 16 up, which it's my understanding those road signs have 17 just recently gone up and really all the flood's 18 receding and watering off their right-of-ways and 19 establishing vegetation. 20 They do have a letter of credit on file 21 right new in the amount of $446,827.00. That was so 22 that they could file their plat. And they're asking it 23 to be reduced to 16,400. I received this morning a new 24 estimate from them that because the signage has been 25 completed, it's actually 11,400. That is as of this 76 1 morning. 2 So on behalf of the developer, Jim Halley, I 3 don't know if he's here, he's asking for this letter of 4 credit to be reduced to $11,400.00. 5 County Engineer requests the Court consider, 6 discuss and take appropriate action for the Court to 7 approve a reduction in Letter of Credit No. 154208, from 8 Security State Bank & Trust in Comfort, Texas, from 9 $446,827.00 to $11,400.00 for associated construction 10 improvements in Hall Ranch Subdivision in Comfort, 11 Texas, Precinct 3. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 14 JUDGE KELLY: A motion and a second to 15 approve reducing the letter of credit for the Hall Ranch 16 subdivision as presented. Any discussion? Those in 17 favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 18 Moving on to Item 1.17 I move to convene a 19 public hearing for revision of plat for Hidden Valley 20 Ranch Section One, Tracts 5 and 6. 21 I'm convening the public meeting. Is there 22 anyone who would like to address the Court? Very well. 23 Then I'm concluding the public hearing and we'll move on 24 to Item 1.18, which is to consider, discuss and take 25 appropriate action regarding a revision of plat for 77 1 Hidden Valley Ranch Section One, Tracts 5 and 6. 2 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. We just 3 held a public hearing. This proposal revises Tracts 5 4 and 6. Tract 5R will be 5.19 acres, with 90 feet 5 frontage on Felix Drive, and Tract 6R will be 5.57 acres 6 with more than 300 feet fronting on Felix Drive. 7 The County Engineer requests the Court 8 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 9 a revision of plat for Hidden Valley Ranch Section One 10 Tracts 5 and 6, Volume 4, Page 33, Precinct 1. This is 11 one of the plats that is on the -- that has been vested 12 into the 2007 regulations. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I move for approval. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 16 approve the revision of plat for Hidden Valley Ranch 17 Section One Tracts 5 and 6. Any discussion? Those in 18 favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 19 Moving on to Item 1.19 consider, discuss, 20 and take appropriate action regarding a final plat for 21 Great Sky Ranch Phase II. Mr. Hastings. 22 MR. HASTINGS: This final plat proposes 23 seven lots, greater than five acres each. Access will 24 be from Great Sky Avenue. It's a newly constructed 25 private road. Lot 85 is partially within the floodplain 78 1 and must meet requirements for development in the 2 floodplain. 3 County Engineer requests the Court to 4 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 5 a final plat for Great Sky Ranch Phase II, Precinct 2. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: I move for approval. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 8 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 9 second to approve the final plat for Great Sky Ranch 10 Phase II. Discussion? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. Question that I 12 probably shouldn't even bring up, but I will. Judge 13 made a comment earlier that dealt with Eagle Ridge that 14 all the others have been state highways. What's the 15 difference from a safety standpoint? I'm just bringing 16 it up as a question. But I don't know that I'm going to 17 get an answer. And if we -- you know. I don't know the 18 situation exactly on this state highway. But if the 19 road is unsafe to handle the traffic that we're putting 20 onto it with a new subdivision, what difference does it 21 make if it's a county road or a state road? I mean, 22 obviously who -- who maintains the road. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. Who pays for it? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it's just a thought 25 that it seems inconsistent if we don't include the state 79 1 roads. 2 COMMISSIONER PACES: In this case, this 3 subdivision was already approved -- 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: -- and basically this 6 was a revision to combine two smaller lots that were -- 7 MR. HASTINGS: No, sir. This is -- the -- 8 the front part of Great Sky Ranch, they just didn't 9 plat. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: Oh, okay. 11 MR. HASTINGS: They only platted the road 12 going through. Because they weren't sure what they 13 wanted to do with that acreage out front. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: But now these -- these 15 lots are going to tie into their road? 16 MR. HASTINGS: Yes. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: Got it. Not the 18 highway then? 19 MR. HASTINGS: Yeah. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm not saying not to 21 approve this one. I'm in favor of this one. I'm just 22 bringing it up as an issue. It seems an inconsistency. 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: We do need to re-look 24 at our subdivision regulations, I'll agree with that. 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So do we have a motion 80 1 and a second? 2 JUDGE KELLY: I think we have a motion and a 3 second. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 6 in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 7 Item 1.20 consider, discuss and take 8 appropriate action regarding a final plat for Mirage 9 West. Mr. Hastings. 10 MR. HASTINGS: This proposal create a 11 one-lot subdivision off of FM 1340 in Hunt. Lot 1 will 12 be 5.2 acres fronting on FM 1340, and it will require 13 driveway permitting from TxDOT. 14 County Engineer requests the Court consider, 15 discuss and take appropriate action regarding a final 16 plat for Mirage West, Precinct 4. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 20 approve the final plat for Mirage West. Discussion? 21 Those in favor say aye. Those opposed? Unanimous. 22 MR. HASTINGS: Court, before I step away 23 from the podium, we have seven subdivisions left out 24 of -- I think it was 16 or 18 that were approved in -- 25 were vested into the 2007 regulations. We ought to see 81 1 those kind of close out in the coming months. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Good. Item 1.21 is a public 3 hearing I'm going to convene regarding the proposed 4 change of private road name of Cheryl Drive South to 5 Big Boot Hill South. Miss Hoffer. 6 MS. HOFFER: This is a public hearing. A 7 public hearing. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, a public hearing. 9 Anybody want to address the Court? There being none, 10 then I'll adjourn the public hearing and we'll move on 11 to Item 1.22, which is consider, discuss and take 12 appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court to 13 approve the proposed change of private road name Cheryl 14 Drive South to Big Boot Hill South. Miss Hoffer. 15 MS. HOFFER: Ashley Middleton applied to the 16 Kerr 911 office on January 5th, 2023 to change the 17 existing private road name of Cheryl Drive South to the 18 new name of Big Boot Hill South. A public hearing was 19 just held. 20 At this time I ask Commissioners' Court for 21 their approval regarding the change of private road name 22 of Cheryl Drive South to the new private road name of 23 Big Boot Hill South and this is in Precinct 4. 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I move for approval. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion. 82 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 3 approve the name change. What's the reason for the name 4 change? 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: This is -- gosh, it's 6 been three or four months ago when it first came up. 7 And I threw up a little bit of concern to Kelly and 911, 8 you know, a name of Cheryl, I thought, man, this could 9 be somebody's great-grandmother or something so -- and 10 we need to look into it. So that's the reason for the 11 public hearing and what have you. And obviously nobody 12 spoke up, but it -- it's a private road. 13 MS. HOFFER: Yes. 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Anyway. So -- 15 JUDGE KELLY: Well, where I'm coming from -- 16 and I talked with Mark Del Toro at 911. And I really 17 think that the presumption ought to be that we don't 18 change names unless there's good cause. For a good 19 cause shown, we can change names. It's a certain hassle 20 to do all that. But if people don't even bother to show 21 up and tell us why they want to change the name, why do 22 we do it? 23 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, they did. There 24 was a mixup before. It didn't get a public meeting -- 25 it didn't get advertised properly. The lady did come 83 1 before when she thought it should have been done and we 2 couldn't do it. So this got kicked down to where we did 3 get public notice in a timely manner and it came today. 4 I e-mailed her when we knew the exact time and she acted 5 as if she was going to come. But -- 6 JUDGE KELLY: Can anybody tell me what their 7 reason is? 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I can't remember 9 exactly. But Mark was in favor of it, I know, because 10 he was wondering why I -- you know, I'd had a little bit 11 of pushback. 12 MS. STEBBINS: He's right behind you. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Oh, there he is. 14 MR. DEL TORO: Sorry. I'll jump right in. 15 The -- the road's name -- 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You should go up to the 17 podium. 18 MR. DEL TORO: Absolutely. 19 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I'm curious what's in 20 the box, Kelly. Are we -- 21 MR. DEL TORO: The -- 22 JUDGE KELLY: This is Mark Del Toro. 23 MR. DEL TORO: Mark Del Toro, Executive 24 Director of Emergency Kerr 911 Network. The road name 25 changes requested met our standards for a road name. No 84 1 duplications. No sound alikes. So as far as our office 2 goes, it was fine. It's your decision on that. I 3 cannot remember the exact reason she wanted it. But 4 they're new property owners. They purchased this 5 property. The road is existing, it has the name Cheryl 6 Drive. They did not like it. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Mark, you understand where I'm 8 coming from? 9 MR. DEL TORO: Oh, absolutely. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Tell the public what all is 11 involved in a name change from 9-1-1's viewpoint. 12 MR. DEL TORO: Well, the citizen will come 13 to our office first. That's our agreement as the 14 addressing agents for Kerr County. They will come to us 15 with their request. We will review it and if it passes 16 our standard, no sound alike, no duplication, of moral 17 standing, then we will then proceed and present the 18 application on their behalf to Kerr County. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Now, once we do it what do you 20 have to do? 21 MR. DEL TORO: Then, once it gets approved, 22 we have to go in and update our GIF systems not only at 23 our office but at the law enforcement centers to make 24 sure that our mapping is accurate. Because first and 25 foremost, our reason for reviewing this is public 85 1 safety. That's job one. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think -- you know, I 3 don't disagree with you, Judge, at all, but we 4 adopted -- I have no idea how long ago it was, the road 5 name guidelines. If we want to change those guidelines, 6 it's up to us to change those guidelines. Now, we have 7 the ability to do it but there's no criteria, like, need 8 in our current guidelines. So if we want to change it, 9 I mean, I think we -- and I'm in favor probably of 10 changing it and probably need to relook at it again. 11 MR. DEL TORO: Correct. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Because they were -- the 13 guidelines were adopted when we were trying to get 14 private roads named originally, the addressing done. 15 And that's why we went down to reason we did the 16 guidelines. But I don't think this -- I mean, I'm 17 against making -- changing our policy on this particular 18 issue. I think we need to change our policy so the 19 public would be aware of it. 20 MR. DEL TORO: When you're looking at 21 platted subdivisions where the road names have been tied 22 to that legal document, then that makes it a nightmare. 23 In this case where it's a single property owner, that 24 road, that address, that name change impacts nobody else 25 but that requested property owner. Again, that's 86 1 another item we look at. I have no issue with that. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Well, and Mark, we have got 3 some of those coming up -- 4 MR. DEL TORO: We do. 5 JUDGE KELLY: -- that are going to be very 6 complicated for us to do. And all I'm saying is, I'd 7 like for the public to have a reason for wanting to 8 change the name of a street or a road. And just because 9 you have a whim, you don't like it -- I mean, I don't 10 like living on -- I think maybe it was Brookline. Well, 11 come on. Is that a reason to change the name of the 12 road? There has to be some purpose in that. 13 And I didn't realize that this was changing 14 the rules, but it's going to be my personal standard. 15 I'm not -- I'm not going to vote for name changes unless 16 there's good cause shown to me. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: We had one in 18 Precinct 1. It was sort of -- it was almost a circle, 19 wasn't it, Mark, that somebody wanted part of it named 20 one name and another part of it another name and -- 21 MR. DEL TORO: Yes. Uh-huh. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- and they were all 23 fighting over it. So everyone wanted their little strip 24 of the road. And basically it was a circle. Almost a 25 circle. You know, you go in and you come back out the 87 1 same way and everybody wanted their little strip a 2 different name. And it had been, unofficially, for many 3 years. It took a while for these guys to sort it out. 4 Get them to stop quibbling. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There's another reason 6 to redo our rules and make it a lot harder, in the case 7 of getting packages delivered nowadays. It takes years 8 for Google to update their maps sometimes. So your 9 packages goes to who knows where. And that's another 10 good reason the public shouldn't probably do it but -- 11 if you want to get your packages, I guess. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And you still -- like 13 my neighbor, you put that big tub out front and it says 14 Amazon in the tub. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion on the 16 name change? Okay. Then those in favor say aye. 17 Opposed? Aye. It passes. 18 MS. HOFFER: You know, you're talking about 19 the change though. The numbering for our address for 20 the Road & Bridge office is not correct and Mark had 21 told me well in advance so we've changed it. And when 22 the truck driver's come in with their GPS and that, we 23 give them the old address. Because if we don't, they 24 don't show up at our location in order to deliver. So 25 Commissioner Letz is absolutely right. It takes awhile. 88 1 MR. DEL TORO: We try to give our data to 2 Google and they tell us no, we get it from commercial 3 sources. 4 MS. HOFFER: We had that, uh-huh. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Moving on. Next timed 6 item is 1.23 consider, discuss and take appropriate 7 action to set a public hearing regarding the 8 installation of "no parking" signs on Kelly Street at FM 9 480 just west of FM 480. 10 MS. HOFFER: Commissioner Paces made a 11 request to Road & Bridge for "No Parking" signs to be 12 installed on Kelly Street just west of FM 480. There's 13 a business at this location that fronts FM 480 that has 14 made traveling on Kelly Street at this location 15 challenging because of how narrow the road is, the 16 right-of-way, and the cars parking on both sides of the 17 road at this location. 18 Center Point VFD also uses this location to 19 get their trucks out to go for a fire or any other 20 emergency services. We've included a map from the 21 engineering office for location of signs. 22 Commissioner Paces met with the Sheriff's 23 Department, Engineering, and Road & Bridge to discuss 24 the options on Thursday, April 27th, 2023. 25 At this time. I ask the Commissioners' 89 1 Court to set a public hearing for Monday, June 12th, 2 2023 at 10:00 a.m. regarding the installation of "No 3 Parking" signs on Kelly Street just west of FM 480. And 4 this is in Precinct 2. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: I move for setting a 6 public hearing. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 9 set a public hearing for "No Parking" signs on Kelly 10 Street in Center Point. 11 COMMISSIONER PACES: And I'll just add. I 12 mean, I've gotten a lot of complaints from various 13 people, residents in the area. It is a safety concern. 14 And especially difficult sometimes for residents who 15 live on Kelly Street to get out of there. And it's also 16 a safety concern because technically, when cars are 17 parked on both sides of the street, it becomes a one 18 lane road. Doors open and we got a lot of pedestrian 19 traffic. It becomes a safety issue for those folks, 20 too. 21 You know, it's -- it's a result of the added 22 commerce that we now have in Center Point, which is a 23 great thing, and there's not a lot of parking available, 24 which is another issue. But this is to preserve the 25 safety and to ensure that people who need to transit on 90 1 Kelly Street are able to do so safely. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commissioner, the -- the 3 residents right there have parking by their business, do 4 they not? 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: Some do. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I -- I guess my 7 question is, is there any -- are there any residents 8 that need that space to park? 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: I don't -- we'll find 10 out in the hearing. I don't think so. I think that, 11 you know, the main issue is when the new General 12 Provisions is open and that's when you find those cars 13 there. Unfortunately, they're only open on Thursdays, 14 Fridays, and Saturdays. But that's when the real issue 15 is. They do have parking right behind that store. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: So it's just not enough 18 for the public. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's a traveled area. 20 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 21 second to set a public hearing for, what was it, 22 June 12th? 23 MS. HOFFER: June 12th at 10:00 a.m. 24 JUDGE KELLY: At 10:00 a.m. Any other 25 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 91 1 Unanimous. 2 Item 1.24 consider, discuss and take 3 appropriate action for the Commissioners' Court 4 authorization to go out for a rebid for crushed paving 5 aggregate. Ms. Hoffer. 6 MS. HOFFER: We are asking the Court to give 7 us authorization for us to go out for a rebid on crushed 8 paving aggregate. We placed our order on February 23rd, 9 2023 with the lowest bidder for a portion of our crushed 10 paving aggregate and we gave them a completion date to 11 have that order delivered by May 1st. 12 And when we contacted them because nothing 13 had been delivered, we were told two things. One, a 14 temporary TCEQ permit had expired and that they were 15 having trouble with their rock crusher. Our next 16 question was when will you be up and going, and they 17 could not give us a date. We've already started our 18 sealcoat program. We feel that we have given that 19 vendor plenty of time to do our order. 20 The next lowest bidder we went to, we had 21 problems with the sizes of the rock. And it was only 22 two bidders for the crushed paving gravel. So we're 23 asking the Court to allow us to go back out and rebid 24 just the crushed paving aggregate. And we'll be 25 sending, you know, the bid forms to everyone, but we 92 1 don't have a whole lot of options. Sizing on the second 2 lowest bidder, we had problems with that. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 4 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 6 approve rebidding for crushed paving aggregate. Any 7 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 8 Unanimous. Thank you. 9 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Now, moving down to the one we 11 passed earlier, 1.29 consider, discuss and take 12 appropriate action to determine whether to allow the 13 retail fireworks permit holders to sell fireworks to the 14 public in celebration of Memorial Day, beginning on 15 May 24th and ending at midnight on May 29th. 16 And I know Mr. Jeffers is here. 17 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Good timing. Go 18 straight to the podium. 19 MR. JEFFERS: All right. I've been out 20 there relaxing. How do you want me to start this? 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, let me start it. 22 This is something we have to do to approve selling 23 fireworks for Memorial Day. And I checked the 24 Keetch-Byram report like I always do when we do this, 25 and Kerrville's between five and six hundred, which is 93 1 all right. And I thought -- I know Mr. Jeffers has a 2 fireworks stand for his church over in Ingram, and I'll 3 let you go. 4 MR. JEFFERS: Okay. 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: You'd like to sell 6 fireworks, right? 7 MR. JEFFERS: Well, I love selling them. I 8 like depositing the checks better though. I took it in 9 2010 and when I did, the people that own it actually 10 have a camp that I rent from them. And I do a free camp 11 for teenagers in the summertime. They don't have to be 12 from here. They can be from San Antone, Blanco, 13 wherever. If the parents hear about it and want them to 14 come, they can come. Oh, we had one from California 15 last year. So thought we'd turn the state around but we 16 didn't. 17 But we, like I say, we do a free camp for 18 kids. Doesn't cost them anything. They come out. I 19 was in here a few years back and I shared about the 20 little girl that was goth, if you all know what that 21 means. Coal black hair, rings all over her, black eyes. 22 I mean just -- and her aunt had called and asked if she 23 could come and I told her yes. She was from Blanco. 24 So she shows up Monday morning and she's 25 coming up the step and I speak to her and she growls at 94 1 me and throws her suitcase down and she doesn't speak to 2 anybody. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and had a couple 3 of girls in there that was just awesome young ladies. 4 And every day they would go to concession stand and get 5 her cokes and chips, cokes and candy and just give it to 6 her and say, thought you might like this. They would 7 never pester her at all. 8 So Thursday morning I was sitting there, had 9 breakfast out and ready and these three girls come up. 10 And one of them I did not recognize. And usually if 11 someone's going to bring a child out they will let me or 12 the camp coordinator know and so it's just like who is 13 this. 14 Well, when I get up there, it's that little 15 girl. She has borrowed clothes that weren't all black. 16 She had taken all the black off her face. Removed all 17 of her earrings and all the rings. And that night 18 during church service, we had service every night, she 19 gave her heart to the Lord. And she wanted to call her 20 mama and I said, yeah, and they talked I don't know how 21 long, an hour, hour and a half. Way up to about 22 midnight they talked on the phone. 23 When we came in Friday, and her momma was 24 already there, and she bailed out of that van and ran to 25 her mother bawling, yelling all the way to her mom, 95 1 "Momma, I am so sorry. I am so sorry." And they hugged 2 and cried, and I told my folks, you know, if it's just 3 one. It's worth it. If it's just one. And, of course, 4 we've reached a lot more. But that is what we do with 5 the money. 6 Wednesday nights, we have around 50 coming 7 to the Wednesday night children's program. We feed them 8 every Wednesday night. And that's where the money goes. 9 We did a lock-in two Saturdays ago for the teenagers. 10 Bigger kids. This Saturday we'll take them to 11 Mr. Gatti's in Fredericksburg. That's what we do with 12 the money. We reach children. We try to give them 13 something other than a street. You know. Let them know 14 that somebody does really love them. 15 UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: June third, fishing 16 tournament. 17 MR. JEFFERS: Oh, yeah. A fishing 18 tournament for the kids too. June 3rd, we'll be having 19 a fishing tournament and kids will be coming to that, 20 too. So, you know, we just -- we use it to reach kids. 21 That's why -- that's what it's for. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Mr. Jeffers, I love your 23 ministry. 24 MR. JEFFERS: Thank you, sir. 25 JUDGE KELLY: But I'm always concerned about 96 1 possible fires. 2 MR. JEFFERS: I understand. I really do. I 3 understand. I've researched it last year. They're so 4 rare. It's unbelievable. I mean there's -- shucks, I 5 think there's more started by cigarettes, you know. And 6 I gotta be honest, the folks that come in that store are 7 very cautious. 8 And I've got two witnesses right here that 9 I'll tell you that parents will come in, and a kid will 10 ask for that and they'll say no, we need to keep 11 something that stays in the driveway because it's dry. 12 I mean, they -- they're very -- I was surprised at how 13 conscious they are with them. You know. Like I say, I 14 understand the fire threat. No doubt. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Well, I move that we 16 approve selling fireworks for Memorial Day. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Without any -- we've got a 19 motion and a second. Without any restrictions on them? 20 On sticks and fins and all that stuff? 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: If that's a deal 22 breaker I'll put it in. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Do you understand what we're 24 talking about, Mr. Jeffers? 25 MR. JEFFERS: Sticks and fins? 97 1 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah. 2 MR. JEFFERS: Yes. Yeah, but actually the 3 wild ones gave the County Commissioner authority over it 4 years ago. Because they couldn't be in every county. 5 And so they sent letters to County Commissioners and 6 said, if you think it's too dry, you know, during the 7 Commissioners' Court, you all can ban sticks and fins. 8 So I mean, that's -- that was authority handed to you 9 from the fireworks sellers themselves. 10 JUDGE KELLY: But it's -- so my question to 11 you is, is that acceptable to you? 12 MR. JEFFERS: Yes, sir. 13 JUDGE KELLY: To make that restriction on 14 them? 15 MR. JEFFERS: Yes, sir. 16 JUDGE KELLY: To keep them out of the air. 17 MR. JEFFERS: Yeah. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So subject to that, I'm 19 good with that. 20 MR. JEFFERS: You know, one of the things 21 about sticks and fins. Most of those items is what the 22 children play with without supervision. So, like I say, 23 myself and the ones that own it, we have no problem when 24 it's dry, banning those. At all. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So we got a motion and 98 1 a second to allow the retail sale of fireworks but ban 2 sticks and fins. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: And hopefully we'll get 4 some of the weather that Commissioner Letz talked about. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. So those in favor say 6 aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thanks, Mr. Jeffers. 7 MR. JEFFERS: Can I ask one question? 8 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, sir. 9 MR. JEFFERS: If we do get this rain and 10 Fredericksburg don't get it all, on July the 4th will 11 that ban be lifted or will we still be a ban on sticks 12 and fins? 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: If they don't come 14 before court, the July 4th one -- 15 MR. JEFFERS: Oh, okay. Okay. 16 JUDGE KELLY: The July 4th one. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: Typically, it's pretty 18 dang dry at that point. 19 MR. JEFFERS: Yes, sir. 20 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: We'll see. 21 MR. JEFFERS: Yes, sir. We've been flooded 22 a few times. It's very rare. Thank you guys very much. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Is Miss Foraker out there? 24 MRS. STEBBINS: You already did that. 25 SHERIFF LEITHA: We already did it, Judge. 99 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Good. All right. 2 Item 1.32 consider, discuss, and take appropriate action 3 to add Sylvia Zapata to the OASys Access Agreement as an 4 administrator. Miss Hernandez. 5 MS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. Judge and 6 Commissioners, I am asking to add Sylvia to the OASys so 7 she will be able to input people into the system for the 8 medical and the dental. And that's all this agreement 9 is for. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 11 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 12 JUDGE KELLY: We have a motion and a second 13 to approve Sylvia Zapata to the OASys Access Agreement 14 as an administrator. Any discussion? All these in 15 favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 16 Item 1.33 consider, discuss and take 17 appropriate action to approve a job description for the 18 Part-Time Assistant Court Coordinator/Receptionist for 19 the District Court Administration. Miss Hernandez. 20 MS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. This one is coming 21 before you. We did not have a job description in the 22 file, so we did request for this to be given to us by 23 her supervisor. And they provided that to us. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll move for approval 25 with an addition to it slightly. That this is for -- 100 1 the employee -- this job description is only for her 2 work for 25 percent of her time working in the County. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does that make sense? 5 She gets paid by the State for her other 75 percent. 6 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion and a 7 second. Do we have a second? 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes, sir. 9 JUDGE KELLY: To accept the Part-Time 10 Assistant Court Coordinator/Receptionist for the 11 District Court Administration. Any discussion? Those 12 in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 13 Item 1.34 consider, discuss and take 14 appropriate action to authorize payment to Texas County 15 District Retirement System for $46,199.10 to correct 16 enrollment error by submitting an adjustment and to 17 submit appropriate adjustment to TCDRS for time credit 18 for Mary Frances Root's employment from January 2006 19 through March of 2023 and to acknowledge Mary Frances 20 Root's contribution of $14,800.63 for the same period of 21 time. Miss Hernandez. 22 MS. HERNANDEZ: Correct. So this is to give 23 her the time credit as well as to give the contribution 24 to TCDRS to correct the enrollment error for that time 25 period as well. 101 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval of 2 the agenda item. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Motion and second. We got a 5 motion and a second to approve this contribution to 6 TCDRS for Mary Frances Root's employment history. Mary 7 Frances. 8 MS. ROOT: Yes, sir. My name is Mary 9 Frances Root, I live at 335 Ranchland Drive. I've been 10 a devoted, loyal Kerr County employee for 22 years and 5 11 months. And I'm requesting that my years be vested into 12 that. TCDRS. They are vested years. And that none are 13 taken from me and that I do not have to start over as a 14 new employee in the TCDRS. Thank you. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: If y'all would like to go 16 into Executive Session to discuss some of those years. 17 These -- your approval of this agenda item for today 18 accounts for time credit adjustment for a portion of 19 them but not for the 22 and a half years, because that's 20 not what was authorized by law. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 2006 to 2023. 22 MRS. STEBBINS: Uh-huh. Yes, sir. 23 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second. 24 Any other discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 25 Unanimous, Mary Frances. 102 1 MS. ROOT: I do get my 22 years? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. That wasn't on the 3 agenda. It's not on the agenda for that. The agenda 4 item was only for 2006 through 2023. 5 MS. ROOT: Are those -- so I'm not counted 6 as a new employee -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We didn't address the 8 previous years. 9 MS. HERNANDEZ: It's not a -- you're not a 10 new employee. 11 COURT REPORTER: Excuse me, I can't hear 12 you. 13 MS. HERNANDEZ: She's not a new employee, 14 no. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But if it's not on the 16 agenda, we can't discuss it openly. 17 MS. HERNANDEZ: Okay. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And that was -- 19 MS. ROOT: But it's 16 years to serve. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: What was it, 2000 -- 21 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: January of 2006. 22 MS. ROOT: Was that -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: January 2006 through March of 24 2023. 25 MS. ROOT: So those are vested years? 103 1 JUDGE KELLY: That's what she said up there. 2 MS. ROOT: Thank you. 3 MRS. STEBBINS: And I just want to clarify 4 for Mary Frances that the time between December of 2000 5 and August of 2022, she was a full-time employee so 6 those years are also counted for your time credit for 7 service. 8 MS. ROOT: So it's -- we're getting close to 9 the 22 years? 10 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, ma'am. 11 MS. ROOT: Thank you. 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Time flies, doesn't it? 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Our TAC representative 14 is patiently waiting. Item 1.35 recognition of the 15 Healthy County Award of Iris Stagner Honorable Mention 16 award to Tracy Soldan. Miss Hernandez. Rosa. 17 MR. ZOLLITSCH All right. So my name is 18 Mark Zollitsch. I'm your wellness consultant for the 19 TAC Healthy Employee Benefits Pool. We host an annual 20 conference for all of the people in all of the counties 21 who are involved in the Healthy County program. And 22 every year we do this Iris Stagner Award, which 23 recognizes the top person or people who are boots on the 24 ground for the program in the County. 25 And so this year we recognized a winner and 104 1 then a couple of Honorable Mentions and we selected 2 Tracy as one of the Honorable Mentions. We recognized 3 her at this conference in front of 200 of her peers, but 4 we wanted to recognize her in front of all of you, her 5 local community, Commissioners' Court, etc. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Well, let's get her up at the 7 podium so we can see. 8 (Applause.) 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Without Tracy continuing 10 on pushing this program, it probably never would have 11 happened in Kerr County. So excellent job. 12 MRS. SOLDAN: Thank you. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Congratulations. Thank you. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good job, Tracy. Thank 15 you. 16 (Applause.) 17 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.36 "Kerr County Mid 18 Plan Year Review" presentation from TAC representatives 19 in regard to the Texas Association of Counties Health 20 and Employee Benefits Pool. 21 MR. MARTINEZ: Judge, may I approach? We 22 have some handouts. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Sure. 24 MR. MARTINEZ: Okay. Judge Kelly, 25 Commissioners, thank you for taking your time to -- for 105 1 us to come out here and do a brief presentation. We 2 wanted to come out here to give you a heads up. This is 3 your mid plan, your review on your health -- health and 4 dental with the Texas Association of Counties. 5 Kerr County has been a longtime member of 6 our pool, and we want to come out here and just go over 7 this mid year review really quick. And I know y'all 8 have a really busy agenda, but we just want to do this. 9 Because we do want to kind of give you a heads up of the 10 upcoming renewal that's coming up as well. 11 All right. So if you turn to that first 12 page, this is just our TAC fundamental that we live by. 13 Fundamental number three is deliver unbelievable 14 customer service. Y'all are very familiar with TAC, the 15 services that we provide at TAC and everything. That's 16 where we hold our hat is on customer service to provide 17 y'all, whenever y'all need answers, whenever you need 18 questions, we're here to help you to give you the 19 answers. 20 So Mark and I -- and I don't think I 21 introduced myself. I'm Ernesto Martinez, Employee 22 Benefits Consultant with TAC. Mark and I here are here 23 to serve not only Kerr County, but we serve all of our 24 County and County entities who are part of our pool. 25 Even if you're not part of the pool, we still serve you 106 1 whatever they need, questions asked. But that's the 2 value. 3 If you go to the second page, the value of 4 the TAC HEBP membership. This is where we stand alone. 5 This is a value that we bring compared to stand-alone 6 carriers. This is where Kerr County is able to take 7 advantage, and our goal is to provide long-term 8 stability rates. 9 And where that comes from, is that where we 10 -- we are different from anybody else, is our size, is 11 the pool. Okay. The partnerships is what we are a part 12 of. We have over 47,000 lives in our pool. And as you 13 know, size matters in Texas. Right? Or not even in 14 Texas, but everything's big here in Texas. But we have 15 a lot of say when it comes to adjusting fees with our 16 vendors, with our contracts. 17 If you were in a small pool, you may not 18 have that leverage to do those renegotiable fees. But 19 that's where our size are able to take advantage of that 20 at the benefit for our members. 21 And, of course, the pooling effect, the more 22 people we have, the more belly buttons we have in our 23 pool, we are able to spread that risk throughout the 24 pool. There's always years where a county's having a 25 high loss ratio or high cost claimants, and there's 107 1 counties that do not. That's where we are able to -- 2 that pooling effect where some of those contributions 3 that are coming from other counties that are doing well, 4 that helps the other counties with paying out their 5 claim. So that's the power of the pooling. 6 And the pool of the partnership, Blue Cross 7 Blue Shield on the medical side and the dental, and on 8 the pharmacy side we have Navitus Solutions. All right. 9 So real quick. I'm not going to go into detail. You 10 know your plan. Your plan has not changed. You have a 11 very wonderful benefit compared to the private market. 12 Your deductible alone is a $1,500 13 deductible. If you compared that, that's what's being 14 offered nationwide. The average is about three or four 15 thousand dollars deductible that is being offered out 16 there in the private market. All right. So you do 17 offer a very generous benefit here at Kerr County and we 18 want to help continue that, to provide that, and to help 19 make it affordable as much as possible. All right. So 20 what I do want to definitely get into, an amount because 21 of time, if you would look at the chart or the report 22 that says rolling 36 months, medical and RX claims. 23 As you can see, I have three years, 36 24 months of your loss ratio. And as far as loss ratio, 25 individually we want to see a County about 86, 88 108 1 percent loss ratio. That's where you're breaking even, 2 okay, as far as the collections of contributions we're 3 collecting in order to payout your claims. The pool 4 target ratio is at 94 percent. Okay. So we want you to 5 come under 94 but also under 88, 86 percent. 6 Right now, as you can see for this year, for 7 March going on back to April you're already at an 88 8 percent loss ratio which is very good. That's exactly 9 where we want you to be seen. And if you go back last 10 year, the year before, you were at 89, okay, 90 percent. 11 And then the year before that, 80 percent. So for the 12 past three years, you've been trending very well as far 13 as your claims. Okay. So that's exactly where we want 14 y'all to be and everything. Okay. You are a little bit 15 of a larger group. Your claims have a little more 16 credibility, okay, or predictability. So a lot of your 17 renewal increase does look upon on your -- on your 18 claims. We do take consideration on demographic factors 19 and your area factor as well. So there's different 20 factors and components that come to conclusion on 21 determining your yearly renewal. 22 All right. So this other chart here is your 23 12-month loss ratio. I already told you, you're running 24 at an 80 percent loss ratio. If you turn over to the 25 next page, it says that County history report. This is 109 1 an awesome report. It gives you your history where your 2 renewals have been compared to what the pool average 3 increases have been for the past five, six years as 4 well. 5 Okay. So Kerr County, if you take a look at 6 this real briefly, you have definitely benefited from 7 being part of the pool. There is a surplus distribution 8 column right down here. This surplus distribution, this 9 is the contribution that if there was an excess in what 10 we collected in contributions from the prior operating 11 year or plan year, if there's any surplus we give that 12 back to the County. Okay. We give back to our members. 13 So for the past six years, you've received 14 over $140,000 in surplus contribution. Okay. So not 15 only the pool has been operating pretty well, y'all have 16 been operating very well and we've been able to get some 17 of that money back to the County, which is your money 18 and you can do whatever you want with it. Okay. Do you 19 have any questions for me, just as far as your benefits 20 and the renewal? 21 The renewals are going to come out about the 22 23rd and 24th. The pool average, our Board has already 23 met, they met last Friday, and the pool average increase 24 is going to be at 6.2 percent this year. Last year it 25 was at 5.9. The year before was a 7 percent. So the 110 1 average entries for new members is starting at 6.2. 2 With your loss ratio, likely it's going to be something 3 below that 6.2, because of your loss ratio. I don't 4 have an exact number, but that will come out here in 5 about two weeks. 6 Any questions for me, Commissioners, Judge, 7 at all? 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I appreciate the 9 explanation. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you. 11 MR. MARTINEZ: I'm going to turn it over to 12 Mark and he's going to go over some of the program area. 13 MR. ZOLLITSCH: I'll keep it brief but I 14 just wanted to provide a little insight in terms of 15 overall patterns and trends within your employee 16 population, nothing specific to any person though. 17 So you can see on this page we have the top 18 three diagnostic categories, top three chronic 19 conditions, and top three prescription categories, just 20 to give you an idea of where you're at with the number 21 of claims and the costs. 22 And, of course, as a wellness consultant I'm 23 looking -- I'm always looking at which one of these, if 24 any, can be affected at all by lifestyle choices or by 25 changes or are there any programs we can implement or 111 1 programs that we already offer you that your employees 2 may not be aware of or are not utilizing that would help 3 control some of these costs. 4 So, obviously, circulatory issues is the 5 number one diagnostic category. That's often the case. 6 It's usually the case within the pool as a whole and 7 it's the case within your County so that is something 8 that -- that lifestyle can have an impact on. 9 Musculoskeletal as well. You know, this is neck, spine, 10 joint issues. Often driven by joint replacement costs. 11 Hip replacement, knee replacement, that sort of thing. 12 Two of the top three conditions can definitely be 13 affected by lifestyle as well. 14 Your prescription categories not as much. 15 If you flip to next page, this graph, again, gives you 16 more -- a deeper insight. The light blue is two years 17 ago -- excuse me, the medium blue is two years ago, the 18 light blue is one year ago and the dark blue is your 19 initial -- and this particular -- this is a different 20 reporting system than the prior slide, so the time frame 21 is a little different. The prior page was all based on 22 rolling 12 months. This is calendar year '22, '21 23 and -- and '20, looking backward. So you can see 24 there's a significant increase in circulatory and in 25 nervous system disorders are the two biggest increases. 112 1 And you have some decreases as well, with 2 injury and poisoning, that could be automobile 3 accidents, hard to know exactly what it is without 4 drilling down further. But also an increase in 5 neoplasms, which is cancer, so that's really good news. 6 Flip to next page. You can see both annual 7 physical and dental screenings. The number of claims 8 and the number of claimants. You're getting a really 9 good coverage with your -- a lot of people are using 10 their dental plan. That's great news. 11 I did a presentation at the County 12 Management Risk Conference about the correlation between 13 your dental and oral health and your physical health, 14 and it's a very surprising and large impact to both 15 health risk and financial in terms of driving claims. 16 So healthier teeth equal healthier people and y'all are 17 doing really well on that. 18 And your -- the wellness incentive program 19 that y'all have in place, I think is helping drive those 20 annual physicals, which is great. 21 If we skip to the final plan review page, 22 I'm going to just touch on the observations here on the 23 left. So as I said a few minutes ago, your 24 musculoskeletal category was the second highest 25 category, yet only four people participated in Airrosti. 113 1 So what I'm doing is drawing attention to you what can 2 be done or implemented or improved to help continue to 3 control claims in the future. So if there's not much of 4 the musculoskeletal but we have low participation in 5 Airrosti, that's an opportunity. Right? If more people 6 participate, it will help control claims, it will help 7 prevent surgeries because it's a non-invasive, 8 inexpensive way of dealing with musculoskeletal issues. 9 You have 200 members combined with both 10 diabetes and/or hypertension, high blood pressure. We 11 have a program for both of those. It's called Livongo, 12 but you only have 35 employees using that. So that -- 13 we could definitely work on increasing awareness and 14 participation in that program. Because when you control 15 your numbers closely with both of those conditions, that 16 helps control catastrophic events and also controls 17 cost. 18 And finally, with the -- not only those 19 conditions, but hypertension and hyperlipidemia, 20 participation in Omada and Wonder Health will be helpful 21 as well that helps prevent heart disease, lose weight, 22 etc. 23 So, in summary, those are three areas that I 24 will work with Tracy and your HR team on helping get 25 greater awareness and participation in those. Do y'all 114 1 have any questions? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Could you very 3 quickly -- 4 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yeah. Absolutely. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- tell us about 6 Airrosti, Livongo and Omada. 7 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Sure. Sure. I'll start 8 with Airrosti. So Airrosti is a specific way of 9 treating pain in the body, the majority of pain in 10 our -- aside from, like, GI issues, the majority of pain 11 in most people's body are -- is driven by the soft 12 tissue, the fascia, if you will. And so Airrosti is a 13 way of treating the soft tissue in the body that's 14 causing the pain. 15 So the practitioners rarely do they do an 16 MRI, it's actually functional testing, where they figure 17 out what's going on. Let's say it's a shoulder issue. 18 Well, which muscle is it? Which tendon? Is there 19 separation? What's going on? So they diagnose it and 20 then they treat it two ways. The first is they get in 21 there with pretty intense deep tissue to break up scar 22 tissue, release the fascia, bring blood flow to the 23 area, which brings nutrients and helps with the healing 24 process. 25 And then the second part of the treatment is 115 1 dealing -- that a separate person who's essentially a 2 physical therapist helps teach the patient, let's see, 3 teaches the patient strengthening and stretching 4 exercises for the affected body part. 5 And we've had Airrosti in place for about 6 five years now with the County and we have literally 7 saved dozens and dozens of surgeries. It's dramatically 8 reduced expenses where there have been significant 9 engagement. Because each treatment is essentially -- 10 the claims cost for the entire treatment is $200.00, 11 so -- 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Who -- who does the -- 13 who's the practitioner that does the -- 14 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yeah. So all of the 15 practitioners are actually chiropractors who've been 16 trained in the Airrosti method. So they actually do 17 very little traditional, like, crunching chiropractic 18 treatment but they focus on the soft tissue. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 20 MRS. SOLDAN: Commissioner, the closest one 21 is in Boerne, though. So we've had them come here. But 22 it's been a few years. Three or four years. We have to 23 have employee interest to have them come here and do 24 appointments. 25 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yeah, and typically they all 116 1 come to the health fair. The provider, right? 2 MRS. SOLDAN: Yes. Yes. 3 MR. MARTINEZ: And it's only an office 4 co-pay. 5 MR. ZOLLITSCH: The typical number of 6 treatments to completely resolve pain is three 7 treatments. So it's a total of $600 claims cost. Where 8 if you take, you know, low back surgery or neck surgery 9 or something like that, we're talking about tens of 10 thousands of dollars. So it's a very cost effective and 11 potentially zero risk because it's not invasive at all. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And what's Livongo? 13 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yeah. So Livongo is a 14 program where it's no cost to the employee. The 15 employee will get either a blood pressure cuff or a 16 blood sugar monitor that is digitally enabled. In other 17 words, communicates with -- to cell phone towers, they 18 get an app, they work with a coach to help put their 19 numbers or get their numbers in a place of tight 20 control. There's, like, emergency alarms where it's 21 optional, but certain family members can get 22 notifications if that person's blood sugar is too low or 23 too high and a coach will reach out the same with a 24 hypertension. So it's a way of helping an employee keep 25 those numbers under -- under tight control. It's 117 1 digitally enabled. It's free for the employee and any 2 employee or member because it's family members, too. 3 With diabetes, also gets free test strips 4 and lancets to use with the device for as long as 5 they're in the program. And no co-pay on those. 6 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That sounds good. But 7 if I'm in trouble, I want it to call 911. I don't -- 8 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yes. But here's one of the 9 neat things. For example, you know, super low blood 10 sugar can be a life-threatening issue with people with 11 diabetes. And it will actually -- can trigger an alarm 12 that can be sent to your primary care doctor and/or a 13 family member letting them know that you're in trouble. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Again, 911 is my 15 preferred number. 16 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Yeah. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Anything else? 18 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Any other questions? 19 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. 20 MR. ZOLLITSCH: Okay. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Next item on the agenda is 22 budget. I'm going to pass that for the time being. 23 We've got a timed item at 1:00 o'clock. So we'll move 24 over to the approval agenda, which is 2.1 budget 25 amendments. 118 1 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. You have before you 2 three budget amendments. The first two were line item 3 transfers. And the third one is recognition of the 4 stipend that was approved on the 25th. The budget from 5 that. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 7 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Second. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 9 approve the budget amendments as presented. Any 10 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 11 Unanimous. 12 2.2 pay bills. 13 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. Today's invoices for 14 consideration amount to $957,972.22. 15 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Move for approval. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 18 pay the bills as presented. Any discussion? Those in 19 favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 20 2.3 Late bills. 21 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 22 JUDGE KELLY: 2.4 Auditor reports. 23 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. You were presented with 24 three interim audits for the District Clerk's office, 25 the Treasurer's office, and the Animal Control Services. 119 1 We just ask that you accept the report. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 4 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 5 approve the Auditor's reports as presented. Any 6 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 7 Unanimous. 8 Monthly reports. 9 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Yes. For January, 10 2023 amended monthly report, District Clerk Dawn Lantz. 11 For March, 2023 amended monthly report, District Clerk 12 Dawn Lantz. Treasurer's monthly report, Tracy Soldan. 13 For April, 2023, Environmental Health, OSSF Director 14 Ashli Badders. Veteran Services Office, Jenna Sanchez. 15 Constable Precinct 1, Tommy Rodriguez, Precinct 2, Kyle 16 Schneider, Precinct 3, Paul Gonzales, Precinct 4, Brad 17 Rider. Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 J. R. Hoyne, 18 Precinct 3 Kathy Mitchell. District Clerk Dawn Lantz. 19 Treasurer's payroll report Tracy Soldan. I move for 20 approval. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 23 approve the monthly reports as presented. Any 24 discussions? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 25 Unanimous. 120 1 2.6 court orders. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. We have the court 3 orders from our April 24th meeting, 39933 through 39960. 4 And then court order 39961 from our special meeting on 5 April 28th. I did have one change on order 39938, which 6 is related to the fresh water mussels in the Guadalupe 7 River. It originally read -- I'm not going to read the 8 whole thing, but it originally read that we supported 9 the listing of fresh water mussels. I don't think we 10 supported the listing of the mussels. I think what we 11 did was support -- well, I changed it to read as, 12 Approve the support while the Blanco River Authority and 13 Upper Guadalupe River Authority is working on a habitat 14 conservation plan for the listed fresh water mussels per 15 the Indigenous Species Act. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I didn't want it on 18 record that we supported the listing of those mussels, 19 right. And with that, I move for approval. 20 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 21 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion and a second to 22 approve the court orders as corrected. Any discussion? 23 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? None? Unanimous. 24 Information agenda 3.1 status reports from 25 department heads. 121 1 3.2 status reports from Elected -- oh, 2 Ms. Hernandez. 3 MRS. HERNANDEZ: I wanted to let everybody 4 know that we went to the job fair at the YO Hilton on 5 Thursday, and we did have a pretty good turnout. And we 6 actually had applicants that came into the courthouse to 7 submit the applications. So we're going to continue to 8 do that, and try to be more out there with more job 9 fairs to try to bring in more applicants. To be more 10 visible. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good. 12 JUDGE KELLY: 3.2 status reports from 13 Elected Officials. Sheriff. 14 SHERIFF LEITHA: I know it's been a long day 15 and y'all want to get out of here, but a couple things I 16 wanted to talk to y'all about is I've been in contact 17 with Mark as far as at the Sheriff's Office. What I 18 mean it came up before right now, but we are looking at 19 implementing a wellness program. It hasn't been 20 received well. Okay. But, you know, I'm getting 21 some -- probably it's going to be a tough challenge but 22 that's what we're going to do. 23 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Can I ask you a 24 question? Does this have anything to do with donuts? 25 SHERIFF LEITHA: We don't eat those, sir. 122 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 2 SHERIFF LEITHA: But no, I mean Heather had 3 asked me to get some policies. That's what we're doing. 4 We're going to implement it very slowly, talking to 5 Mark. But we've had a lot of injuries. I personally 6 feel that it's -- going about it, so we're going to look 7 at what we can do to fix that. 8 But the main reason I came up here today, I 9 wanted to let y'all know I just came from the jail 10 conference last week in San Marcos. It was very good. 11 I'm in year three. I should have went the prior two 12 years when Chris went. But I'm glad I went because, you 13 know, y'all are going to be facing some pretty tough 14 decisions I know as this budget comes up. That's why I 15 just want to share just a little bit about what I was 16 able to obtain. 17 I tracked those leadership classes that I 18 could go, but I'm going to have to refer to my notes on 19 a few things. What I was told there through TAC is that 20 not only -- this is first responders, okay. This is for 21 first responders. Only two out of about 254 counties 22 were fully staffed. Those were some small departments, 23 like 10 or 15. Obviously, it comes down to hiring, you 24 know, that was the issue. And I was really amazed at 25 what I found out there. 123 1 Happened to attend the class from a Major 2 from Travis County. He's in charge of their hiring. 3 And of course, what he says they deal with is the Austin 4 metroplex, which is Travis, Hays and Williamson County. 5 A much bigger scale than what I refer to ours is Kerr, 6 Kendall and Gillespie. But, you know, like Travis 7 County has 242 positions. That's a lot of positions. 8 Their Sheriff is going in front of their Commissioners' 9 Court actually tomorrow for a 25 percent pay increase. 10 I'm not here to ask for that. 11 I'm just saying, just to make you aware, I'm 12 going to try to keep up with that. That's a mid-year 13 deal. That's crazy. But what he says they find out, 14 they have agencies, you know, that give a hundred 15 dollars, give $500, whatever they get. And this 16 employee, it's no more loyal to the job, they're just -- 17 they're going back and forth and around and around. And 18 what they said is pretty much -- and this was amazing 19 and it really -- really just shocked me. That when you 20 go to interview board that's our last process, is the 21 interview board. But what they're finding out there, is 22 that basically we're not interviewing the candidate, the 23 candidate is interviewing us. Okay. What do you have 24 to offer? Yes, money is always number one. 25 But they said money is kind of not the only 124 1 thing getting it nowadays. You know, it's tattoos, it's 2 your hair policy, it's beards, you know, it's man buns, 3 believe it or not. Travis County accepts man buns. You 4 know, I was just really disappointed. I really was 5 disappointed. The color of hair. The fingernails and 6 stuff. I mean, it was just like -- it was -- it was 7 really, really depressing to hear all that stuff. But, 8 you know, that's what it takes nowadays. And just kind 9 of want to update you. 10 I mean, this is a statewide challenge, it's 11 all over, it's not just here. It's everywhere. It's 12 just -- they get -- you know, people aren't wanting to 13 get in this field of business anymore. So, you know, 14 it's kind of like, you know, a dog fight to find good 15 employees. So that's kind of what I learned. I just 16 wanted to share that with you. 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So the man bun fits up 18 in the cowboy hat. 19 SHERIFF LEITHA: It sits out the back 20 actually they're telling me, I just -- of course, I know 21 it's Travis County but they -- all counties, you know, 22 are looking. You've got a lot of counties looking at 23 that. You know, they've kind of really gotten lax on 24 that. We don't plan on doing that. 25 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: There's bound to be a 125 1 niche out there of people that don't want to be 2 associated with that. 3 SHERIFF LEITHA: We need to find that out. 4 Yeah. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Any other reports from Elected 6 Officials? Liaison Commissioners. Any reports? 7 COMMISSIONER PACES: I did attend the KARFA 8 meeting last week. So they're anxious to see the first 9 pass of the budget, how that affects our volunteer fire 10 department. 11 Also, I did meet with Ashli and Duvall in 12 the environmental and truly discussed their proposed 13 revisions to the OSSF rules. And, of course, they've 14 also had input from various professionals in the OSSF 15 field. And I think now we're getting real close. 16 Basically I'm giving them my input and they'll be going 17 back to the other Commissioners and the Judge. And 18 we'll see if we can get this thing progressing and put 19 to bed and go ahead and amend our OSSF. 20 And last -- again, I attended the monthly 21 eclipse planning meetings and I am personally pleased 22 with the progress being made to help with planning the 23 management of this event. So I think good progress is 24 being made and the participation in all the -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I do have one 126 1 update. It's several months ago, we approved having 2 Peter Lewis look at moving -- switching Environmental 3 Health and Treasurer's Office. And that process was 4 that Tracy and Ashli have met with Peter and came up 5 with what they would like for offices. 6 Peter had a cost estimate done. And it was 7 extremely high. More than I think -- more than -- so 8 high that I would not bring that number to the Court. 9 So we're looking at that. I met with the Judge a little 10 bit about it. And didn't give them the updated dollar 11 amounts. Well, I'll tell you today, it was $250,000. 12 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Sounds like Austin. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, it's quite -- and 14 then there's things you have to do, lead paint analysis 15 and looking for mold and City permits. It's a lot to 16 do. So we're looking into exactly how we handle those 17 two departments right now. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Anybody else? The one thing 19 that I would report is that we had our final meeting of 20 the I-10 corridor study working group. And I-10 is 880 21 miles from state line to state line and we're in the 22 central section, it's from Guadalupe County through 23 Crockett County. And we made our final recommendations. 24 It now goes to the steering committee and 25 then it goes to commission. So TxDOT should have their 127 1 final reports out on this shortly. Probably within the 2 next few months. 3 Just to tell you, some of the things that we 4 recommend as priorities, is the goal is to get I-10 six 5 lanes, three each way, from border to border. Minimum. 6 And what that would do is have a non-truck for the 7 inside lane. Keep the trucks in the outside lane and 8 the middle lane so they can pass as needed. 9 And also recommend frontage roads. You 10 know, in west Texas we don't have a lot of frontage 11 roads out here. And they don't in the eastern part of 12 the State they don't think twice about it. 13 But in addition to that, we focused on areas 14 that need immediate attention, and the consensus was 15 Highway 46, from Bandera to Boerne to -- Boerne to 16 New Braunfels and on down to Seguin needs attention. It 17 is a very high priority. 18 Another one that we focused on is improving 19 all of U.S. Highway 290, all the way from where it 20 intersects out on I-10, and all the way back east. We 21 need to try to get 290 to be a somewhat parallel 22 corridor for I-10 to be able to move that traffic. 23 So it was just a pretty important 24 recommendation that we came up with. I think all of 25 which are pretty pertinent to us. So that's -- that's 128 1 what we did in the center section. And I'm glad to have 2 that over with. 3 So anything else to report? Okay. Let's 4 take a five minute break and break into Executive 5 Session and come back. 6 (Recess.) 7 (Executive Session.) 8 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come back to order. 9 It is 12:31, we're coming out of Executive Session. And 10 the next thing on the agenda is any action from 11 Executive Session discussions, 5.1. 12 I'll make a motion with regard to 4.2 (a), 13 which is consider, discuss and take appropriate action 14 to allow donation of sick time and/or PTO hours among 15 employees. Did you read my motion? 16 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, sir. A motion to 17 approve employee donations of sick leave and adopt the 18 donation form presented by Human Resources today on a 19 trial basis for a period of 90 days. 20 JUDGE KELLY: That's my motion. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 22 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 23 second. Any discussion? 24 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: I think it's 25 self-explanatory. 129 1 JUDGE KELLY: Yeah, I know. We're trying. 2 MRS. DOWDY: Who made the second? I 3 apologize. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: Harley. 5 MRS. DOWDY: Okay. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. All in favor say aye. 7 Opposed? Unanimous. 8 Okay. So we've got a little bit of time 9 before the 1:00 o'clock, so we will be adjourned until 10 1:00 o'clock -- or recess until 1:00 o'clock. 11 (Recess.) 12 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Court will come back to 13 order. Next thing on our agenda is a timed item, which 14 was timed at 1:00 o'clock, but it's 1.38 discuss and 15 take action on an order authorizing the issuance, sale 16 and delivery of Kerr County, Texas Limited Tax Bonds, 17 Series 2023; securing the payment thereof by authorizing 18 the levy of an annual Ad Valorem Tax, and approving and 19 authorizing the execution of a Paying Agent/Registrar 20 Agreement, a Purchase Contract, an Official Statement, 21 and all other instruments and procedures related 22 thereto. Dusty. 23 MR. TRAYLOR: I'm here, Judge. 24 Good afternoon, Judge and Commissioners. 25 Dusty Traylor. Managing Director with RBC Capital 130 1 Markets. We have the honor and privilege of 2 representing the County as financial advisor. Since 3 your election back in November, we have been in the 4 process of working towards the sale of the portion of 5 the bond, I believe it was Proposition C that passed in 6 November. The portion of the bonds for the animal 7 shelter. 8 And we were actually in the market today to 9 take competitive bids on the sale of those -- on the 10 sale of those bonds. We were -- before I get to the 11 actual results of the sale, here over the past several 12 weeks we've really been knee deep in the process of 13 getting these bonds sold, have probably driven Tanya and 14 the Judge a little bit crazy with various conference 15 calls with rating agencies and the like, and as part of 16 that we had a significant conference call with Standard 17 and Poor's, they're the rating agency that provides the 18 bond rating for the bond, which is the -- basically your 19 credit worthiness score on the bonds. 20 And the County's bond rating was affirmed at 21 the Double A level. That's a very good bond rating and 22 gives the County great access to the bond market and 23 investors are looking to invest in the County's bond. 24 And that was evident today by the sale that we had. We 25 placed the bonds into the market for, like I said, 131 1 competitive bids, and we received back 11 bids to 2 purchase all the bond. 3 And each one of those bidders, they weren't 4 bidding to buy just a partial portion of the bonds, each 5 of those 11 bidders were bidding to buy the full 6 effectively $5.75 million worth of the bonds. And so 7 the low bid that we received today came back from FHN, 8 Financial Capital Markets. Their bid, which is like a 9 NIC bid, is at 3.619 percent. Okay. And all of the 10 bids ranged -- so the 3.619 was the low bid. The high 11 bid was a 3.76. Okay. So they were all within about a 12 15 basis point bandwidth there. All really and truly 13 really good rates. 14 You know, if -- if we were to have been in 15 the market to sell these bonds on your election day back 16 in November, which we could have been but just using a 17 hypothetical date, the interest rate on these bonds 18 would have likely been about 50 to 75 basis points 19 higher than really where they are today. So the bond 20 market has actually -- I know we keep hearing about the 21 fed raising rates. And the feds has been doing that, 22 but when they're raising rates they're raising rates on 23 the short end of the yield. 24 You guys are selling today bonds that have a 25 20-year fine on maturity, so about 11 or 12 year average 132 1 life on those bonds, and those interest rates -- 2 interest rates from, say, year ten and out over the 3 course of the past five months have actually been 4 trending back down as folks believed that there may be 5 some possibility that we actually head into a recession. 6 And in terms of debt service, you know, on 7 this particular issuance, our annual debt service is 8 going to be somewhere between 415 and 420,000 per year, 9 over the course of the next -- over the 20-year period. 10 Had we been in the market five months ago, that 11 interest -- that annual debt payment would have likely 12 been over $450,000 per year. So saving about $30,000.00 13 or so in interest over what we estimated at the time the 14 election was held. 15 So all in all, we are pleased with the 16 results. We're going to be able to deposit the full 17 $5,750,000.00, which is the amount that was authorized, 18 we're going to be able to deposit that full amount into 19 the County's project fund and -- because of a premium 20 paid by the investors on the bonds. 21 Now the actual principal amount of this 22 issue is about 5.51 million. So a little over $400,000 23 in total premium paid on the transaction. So you'll get 24 the full -- you'll get the full dollar amount deposited 25 into your bank account once the attorneys work the 133 1 transaction through the Texas Attorney General's Office 2 for their approval, and we anticipate that delivery to 3 occur on June the 6th. That's the date at which the 4 money ought to get in the County's bank account. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Good. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: So, Dusty, what -- 7 what's the total interest that would be payable over 8 that 20-year term? 9 MR. TRAYLOR: Let me see what I've got here. 10 If the bonds -- if the bonds were to stay outstanding in 11 their current form over the 20-year term, meaning if we 12 didn't refinance them or pay off a portion early, the 13 total interest would be $2,780,000. 14 COMMISSIONER BELEW: And we're talking about 15 fixed rate? 16 MR. TRAYLOR: This is fixed for the life of 17 the bonds. The bonds -- 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So then -- so that's 19 just the first part to make sure that I ask the question 20 correctly. 21 MR. TRAYLOR: All right. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So if that's a fixed 23 rate, why does it fluctuate from year to year? 24 MR. TRAYLOR: What do you mean? 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You just said a minute 134 1 ago it would be this price one year and this price next 2 year and so on. 3 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: No, I think he gave a 4 ballpark. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You said -- 6 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: He said between 415 7 and 420. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You said -- 9 MR. TRAYLOR: The four -- 10 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah, that's your final 11 fixed rate you're talking about. I took you to mean 12 that one year it might be 415, one year it might be more 13 or less. The way you said that. 14 MR. TRAYLOR: I'm talking about the annual 15 debt service payment -- 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Uh-huh. 17 MR. TRAYLOR: -- would be between 415 and 18 420. When we sell municipal bonds, municipal bonds are 19 sold in $5,000 increments. So when you go and make your 20 payments, it's not quite like a home loan for us where 21 we get the exact same payment each and every month. 22 That payment each year -- that payment each year 23 fluctuates just slightly within a band of $5,000.00. 24 But the rates are fixed for the life of the issue. 25 Now, you also have the opportunity ten years 135 1 from now to refinance these bonds to a lower interest 2 rate if -- if the -- 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: If it comes. 4 MR. TRAYLOR: If it comes. Yes, sir. And 5 you also have the ability in that ten-year period to pay 6 off all or a portion of those last ten years earlier 7 than their stated maturity. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Which we usually do. 9 MR. TRAYLOR: Which you've done. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Well, sounds pretty good under 11 the circumstances. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Agreed. 13 JUDGE KELLY: It's not competitive with what 14 we did back in COVID but -- 15 MR. TRAYLOR: Well, listen. We would all 16 love to see interest rates that low again, at least for 17 certain things. Right? 18 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Heather, what's the 19 action item? 20 MRS. STEBBINS: I don't know. 21 JUDGE KELLY: It says discuss. I think 22 we're done with that. 23 MRS. STEBBINS: That's what I was just 24 reading. 25 MR. TRAYLOR: Yeah, he -- there's a vote. 136 1 Obviously you've got to take a vote to authorize the 2 issuance. Discuss and take action. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: So the -- the part of this 5 after the semicolon is probably it. Approving and 6 authorizing the execution of a Paying Agent/Registrar 7 Agreement, a Purchase Contract, an Official Statement, 8 and all other instruments and procedures related 9 thereto. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Then I'll make a motion. 11 MS. CAINES: Judge, there was supposed to be 12 some discussions about that. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Oh, yeah. There were some 14 speakers for before. I remember that. Nikki Caines. 15 MS. CAINES: Again, gentlemen, thank you. 16 Nikki Caines. I do live in the County. I am looking at 17 this. I agree with Mr. Traylor, the interest rate looks 18 good. But when you look at the overall interest rate, 19 we're talking taking out $5,750,000, but we're going to 20 end up paying an additional $2,780,000 just on interest. 21 That's where it kind of hits me. 22 And when we voted on it, at least, you know, 23 of all three of the bonds, this was the lowest bond that 24 was approved, and without more clarity in the bond 25 language, the voters did not maybe realize that the full 137 1 amount did not include this interest. They voted on a 2 specific amount and, okay, let's go with the specific 3 amount. 4 I've also heard that the County or the 5 Animal Shelter has land that they can sell and put 6 towards this debt. Is there nothing that can be done 7 before we go and by bonds where this land can be sold 8 and bring down the actual purchase amount in bonds? Or 9 because if -- if by chance these bonds get sold today at 10 this rate, and then the County or the Animal Shelter 11 sells that land and puts the money toward it, are we 12 going to save enough money on that $2,780,000 in 13 interest? I'm just looking at numbers and -- and it 14 sounds good, I agree with Mr. Traylor, I'd like to have 15 had our first house at that rate. But overall, it just 16 seems like the interest rate over 20 years is a big 17 chunk of money when the voters voted on a specific 18 amount. They didn't vote on a specific amount plus 19 whatever rate we can get, and maybe that wasn't in the 20 legal language. Maybe it wasn't required. 21 But for transparency sake, like I said, this 22 was the lowest bond that the voters agreed to, and 23 pocketbooks are being hurt right now. And this -- it's 24 being said now that this is going to raise our property 25 taxes yet again. 138 1 So is there nothing that we can do as far as 2 selling the land first and then bringing down the bond 3 amount? I'm just throwing out some issues because -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: Well, let me answer that 5 question. 6 MS. CAINES: Okay. 7 JUDGE KELLY: We've got to have someplace to 8 put the animals. We gotta build a new place to move the 9 animals to to be able to sell the old place. Pretty 10 basic. 11 MS. CAINES: Okay. So -- again, I think I 12 did say that if we went ahead with this, and the land 13 was sold and put toward the project. It wasn't 14 disbursed, it wasn't put in the general fund, it was put 15 towards this project, would we be paying down on the 16 principal and then cut back on the amount of interest 17 that's being agreed to as far as, you know -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: This is a standard bond 19 transaction. This is the way they work. And we can't 20 sell the property as long as we're running the animal 21 shelter on it. It's that simple. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But she's asking if it 23 pays for the principal and the interest if -- when we 24 sell. Which we will sell that land that the animal 25 shelter's on now. 139 1 JUDGE KELLY: It'll come back into the 2 general fund into the County is what it'll come back to. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: That's what she's 4 asking. 5 JUDGE KELLY: When we sell the land up there 6 for a convenience store or something, the proceeds of 7 that sale will come right back into the general fund and 8 be in the fund balance here. 9 MS. CAINES: But the voters that the 10 ad valorem property tax amount, would still stick with 11 us, even with the money coming back into the general 12 fund unless -- are y'all going to vote to decrease the 13 tax rate on us? I mean, we're trying to -- as a 14 taxpayer, I'm going, wow, how much more is that going to 15 get each household? And even if we do sell that land 16 and put it back into the general fund, it's not going to 17 pay this off. And would -- it's easy to take that money 18 into the general fund and disburse it to anything else, 19 rather than this particular project. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think I can probably 21 answer your question, Judge. We can't bond a certain 22 future course. Nothing we do today can bind that. 23 It'll go in the general fund and if the Court at that 24 time chooses to use a hundred percent or part of that 25 money to pay off some of those bonds, that -- the Court 140 1 will have that decision. So it's at that time that 2 decision has to be made. It can't be made today. 3 MS. CAINES: Okay. It's binding to the 4 voters. And it's binding to the taxpayers on our tax 5 bill and we're -- I'm just looking for another out. 6 Like I said, the language on the ballot itself did not 7 include $5,750,000 plus a possible percentage on top of 8 that. It just said that specific amount. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Well, the bond issue -- it's 10 clearly understood that we were going to issue bonds to 11 raise that money and build that improvement. It's that 12 simple. Dusty. 13 MR. TRAYLOR: Just the -- 14 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Go on back. You're 15 off camera, Dusty. 16 MR. TRAYLOR: Gotcha. The people looking at 17 the camera might prefer that. 18 Judge, whenever a bond election is called 19 for, the dollar amount in the proposition is -- is just 20 the principal amount of the bonds that would be issued. 21 That is standard. That is State Law. Everywhere. 22 There are required disclosure documents that are also 23 completed as part of the bond order. The bond order 24 that the County had prepared at the time that you called 25 the election, also had the appropriate disclosures in it 141 1 that indicated the estimated principal and interest and 2 repayment schedule for these bonds. That's required. 3 JUDGE KELLY: I have one other person who 4 wanted to address the Court. John Sheffield. 5 MR. SHEFFIELD: I have some documents here, 6 Your Honor. 7 My name is John Sheffield. I live at 204 8 Brady Park Boulevard in Center Point, Texas. I'm the 9 owner of the Ole Ingram Grocery. And if you'll just 10 kind of follow along with me here, let me back up. We 11 did have an issue on this election concerning the 12 wording on the ballot. And I did bring that to Bob 13 Reeves' attention on November 4th because I found out 14 about it late on November 3rd. I believe I mentioned 15 this to the Court before in November. But that being 16 said, let's go forward right now. And I left my glasses 17 over here. So hang on. 18 So the first page you see here is the August 19 15th, 2022 special meeting concerning the bond, voting 20 to put the bond on the ballot. And it says, Whereas, 21 through its election officials, the County will conduct 22 the election according to the Texas Election Code as 23 amended, the Code, and other applicable State and 24 Federal laws. Let's just keep that in the back of our 25 mind for a minute. 142 1 Let's go to the next page. In that same 2 document, Exhibit E, we have four against the left, kind 3 of see that in the pink, the issuance of $5,750,000 of 4 Kerr County, Texas, general obligation bonds for a new 5 animal shelter control -- Animal Control shelter, excuse 6 me, and the letting of a tax end payment thereof. 7 The order today, page three, down at the 8 bottom. Whereas, the bond hereinafter authorized and 9 designated in part to be issued and delivered pursuant 10 to the Constitution and the Laws of the State of Texas, 11 including Chapter 1201 and 1251, and Section 1473.101 of 12 Texas Government Code, as amended. 13 So we go to the next page. Page four, 14 gentlemen. We have Section 1251.052 of the Government 15 Code. And I will read: Form A. The ballot for a 16 measure seeking voter approval of the issuance of debt 17 obligation by a political subdivision shall specifically 18 state a plain language description of the single 19 specific purpose for which the debt obligations are to 20 be authorized; 21 Number 2. The total principal amount of the 22 debt obligations to be authorized; and 23 Number 3. That the taxes sufficient to pay 24 the principal of and interest on the debt obligations 25 will be imposed. 143 1 Let's go back to A. Shall specifically 2 state. And on the last page, I have the original here 3 of the sample ballot. You see the -- in the middle at 4 the top, The issuance of $5,750,000 to Kerr County, 5 Texas, general obligation bond for a new Animal Control 6 shelter and levying of a tax and payment thereof. 7 Gentlemen, we did not follow the law. 8 125.0-52 on the ballot. And so when all these documents 9 throughout, it states applicable Texas law. Now, we may 10 not have known that. But we know it today. We didn't 11 state on the ballot what was required by the State of 12 Texas. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, we did. 14 MR. SHEFFIELD: No. Well -- 15 JUDGE KELLY: Well, John, I know you've got 16 a law degree. Right? 17 MR. SHEFFIELD: No, I don't have a law 18 degree; I can read. I don't need a law degree. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Now, if you think that 20 something is incorrect about our election, that's 21 invalid, there are courthouses for you to file your 22 lawsuit and attest that. But I -- 23 MR. SHEFFIELD: Well, Your Honor, I 24 appreciate that. But you're not arguing with John 25 Sheffield, you're arguing with the law. 144 1 JUDGE KELLY: No, sir, I am not arguing with 2 the law. 3 MR. SHEFFIELD: That is House Bill 477 and 4 it's been the law since September of 2019, sir. It's on 5 there. And you can take it anyway you want. But -- 6 there it is. That's the law. 7 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Thank you, John. 8 MR. SHEFFIELD: Thank you. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Does anybody else want to 10 address the Court? If you want to challenge the 11 election, challenge the election. But the bonds were 12 issued. 13 So I want to make a motion. My motion is 14 that we approve an order authorizing the issuance, sale 15 and delivery of Kerr County, Texas, limited tax bonds, 16 Series 2023, securing the payment thereof by authorizing 17 the levy of an annual ad valorem tax approving and 18 authorizing the execution of a Paying Agent/Registrar 19 Agreement, a Purchase Contract, an Official Statement, 20 and all other instruments and procedures related 21 thereto. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any discussion? 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yes. I want to talk 25 about what Mr. Sheffield was saying. It's hard for me 145 1 to read this thing. The last sentence that we read 2 together. The taxes sufficient to pay the principal and 3 the interest. Seems to me to satisfy the last portion 4 of the bond statement. The issuance of $5,750,000 to 5 Kerr County, Texas, general obligation bond for animal 6 control shelter and the levying of a tax and the payment 7 thereof. 8 It cannot be specific for reasons we just 9 saw today. The rate changes. So it has to be stated 10 vaguely. It has to be stated that it's sufficient to 11 cover it. We could not have known going -- unless you 12 decide that you're going to -- you have to know what 13 you're project is going to cost, right, and then you 14 have to know -- you would have to know about the future. 15 You'd have to have a crystal ball about what the rates 16 going to become, whether it's going to go up or down. 17 And the reason why it's a little bit vague 18 here is because you have to allow for that. So you can 19 go and have a bond that you have plenty of wiggle room 20 in there for that or you can do it this way, which is 21 typical, which is you get the amount and then you have 22 that vague wiggle room statement at the end that says 23 it's going to be sufficient to cover the interest. And 24 that's really what we're looking at. And I'm not a 25 lawyer either or a Judge -- 146 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: I think John's point 2 here is, though, that it must -- it shall state an 3 interest on it. Even though it doesn't say what the 4 interest is and how much the interest would amount to, 5 because you're right, we can't know that at that time. 6 And there are, I'm sure, a lot of cases where they do 7 have that language on the bonds. In fact, I believe in 8 the recent Hunt ISD -- 9 MR. SHEFFIELD: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: -- used the correct 11 language, they said pay the principal of and interest on 12 the debt obligation. 13 MR. SHEFFIELD: Harris County. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: And -- yeah, so there's 15 lots of precedents where it's done correctly. But I 16 believe -- 17 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it's stated 18 correctly on the ballot. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: It's not on the ballot 20 is the problem. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I think it does say it, 22 it just doesn't -- 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: Well, no where that 24 I -- 25 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Have you dealt with 147 1 this before? I read it that way. But that doesn't mean 2 that -- 3 MR. TRAYLOR: So I'm your financial advisor. 4 I'm not an attorney. However, your bond election and 5 bond ballot and bond ballot language was prepared by the 6 county bond attorneys McCall Parkhurst & Horton. McCall 7 Parkhurst & Horton is, if not the most active, one of 8 the top two or three most active bond counsels in all of 9 the State of Texas. They've been expert in helping to 10 call and conduct these elections. 11 The information in their ballot and in their 12 election order I would -- is -- is correct. 13 JUDGE KELLY: It's tried and true. 14 MR. TRAYLOR: It's tried and true. And it 15 is tested not simply with the issuers, but it's also 16 tested with the Attorney General's Office. All right. 17 Whenever -- whenever a court approves the sale of these 18 bonds today, there is going to be a document packet 19 prepared that has been prepared by McCall Parkhurst & 20 Horton. That document packet is going to be submitted 21 to the AG for their review and approval. And I can 22 promise you, if there is a problem with the way that 23 that election language was drawn up or the election 24 order was drawn up, the AG's going to flag it and stop 25 the issuance. Their documents are absolutely tried and 148 1 true. 2 COMMISSIONER PACES: What's the process to 3 call the AG's Office and get a determination? I mean 4 just to be safe and make sure we don't get sued? 5 MR. SHEFFIELD: The public division of 6 finance. 7 MR. TRAYLOR: The public division of finance 8 -- they're going to -- these documents will be in the 9 public division of finance by the end of this week. 10 They've got to be in order for us to hit the estimated 11 delivery date that we have there. So that's -- 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: But let me read this to 13 you without the language about the interest. It would 14 have said on the ballot, The issuance of $5,750,000 to 15 Kerr County, Texas, general obligation bond for a new 16 Animal Control shelter. The end. That would have been 17 different. But it also says and the levying of a tax. 18 Now, it doesn't tell us how much that tax is 19 going to be. But the voters voted for it not knowing 20 what that was going to be. Maybe not understanding what 21 that said. It's vague. But you can't -- if you started 22 to build anything tomorrow, and you don't know what 23 you're interest rate is going to be to complete the 24 project, you can't build that into the price. And the 25 interest rate is going to change as you go, as you -- 149 1 maybe from the time you start talking about it with your 2 banker until the day you sign your paperwork that could 3 change. That's what that's about. Because it could put 4 you at a point where the voters wouldn't pass it or they 5 would pass it or it challenges the entire ballot 6 initiative. So that's really -- it may -- it is vague 7 and it has to be. It's not like we're being hoodwinked. 8 We don't know what the rate is going to be. 9 MR. TRAYLOR: Now, at the time that you call 10 your election, you have estimates. We -- we provided 11 estimates for the interest rate. Estimates for the 12 rate. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I remember. 14 MR. TRAYLOR: The County put out information 15 to the voters about the estimated tax rate impact. And 16 while that is an estimate for the -- on this particular 17 -- on this particular bond, I believe that that's on -- 18 just the Proposition C, I would think that we would be 19 talking about somewhere less than one cent per $100 20 valuation. 21 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Well, it's not the 22 money, it's the principal of it and whether we're doing 23 it legally. I can appreciate that. 24 MR. TRAYLOR: Yeah. And I can -- I can tell 25 you, you're doing it legally. Now, based on my -- 150 1 Listen, again, all these documents were 2 drafted by your bond attorney. You wouldn't want me 3 drafting them. Okay. I do the finance part. They were 4 drafted by your bond attorney and reviewed. I have full 5 confidence that this was done -- the election was done 6 legally, the sale of bond was done legally. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I don't like -- this is 8 like finding out that the price you negotiated with the 9 car dealer, you thought you had it all figured, now you 10 gotta pay your tax, title and license. Everybody's done 11 that, right? You go, well, that kicks it up another 12 thousand dollars and something. But that's how it 13 works. 14 MR. TRAYLOR: Now, I'll also tell you this. 15 Saturday was bond -- was election day, right? There 16 were hundreds of bond elections conducted across the 17 State of Texas on Saturday. The ballot language for all 18 of those bond elections on Saturday had the principal 19 amount of bonds that were going to be issued. The 20 ballot language did not have the estimated interest 21 amount. 22 Now, there are some other documents that 23 must be posted in public places that have those numbers, 24 but that does not go in the ballot. It does go in 25 required public disclosure documents. That was true for 151 1 every one of those elections that was called and 2 conducted just this past week. 3 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You couldn't possibly 4 put it in there not knowing what the rates going to be. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: I think you're right on 6 that part. But again, it's the -- the mention that the 7 interest is also included in the taxes that's going to 8 be levied. I just make -- I want it to be clear and 9 that's why you see it in a lot of these bond language on 10 the ballot. Most of them have that. 11 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So it makes sense that 12 the understanding of it is that the tax is going to be 13 levied to pay for the principal -- 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: And interest. 15 COMMISSIONER BELEW: -- but then it did not 16 say interest. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: That's the problem. 18 COMMISSIONER BELEW: I understand. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Believe it or not, we 21 have a lot of voters that don't understand. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? 23 MR. HOWARD: Can I add one thing? 24 JUDGE KELLY: Yes, sir. 25 MR. HOWARD: Hello, my name is Ray Howard. 152 1 I live in Ingram. I'm one of the City Council members 2 there. I just wanted to add to this lady's comment 3 about when the property, the dog shelter that we have 4 right now, is sold can that money be earmarked 5 specifically to pay on this principal? 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Not by this Court. 7 MR. HOWARD: Not by this Court. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We can't obligate -- 9 JUDGE KELLY: It will be the Court at that 10 time. When the sale occurs and the proceeds are 11 received, that Court will decide what to do, where to 12 put the proceeds. 13 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: It would probably be 14 the feeling of us right now to do something like that, 15 but we can't. 16 MR. HOWARD: Okay. All right. I just want 17 to get that clear. Thank you. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Any other discussion? 19 Those in favor of the order authorizing the issuance, 20 sale and delivery of the bond as presented? Those in 21 favor say aye. Opposed? 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: I abstain. 23 JUDGE KELLY: You're opposed? Four, one. 24 There being no other business before the 25 Court, we stand adjourned. 153 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 June, A.D. 2023. 10 11 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/30/2025 13 * * * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25