1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Regular Session 5 Tuesday, October 10, 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 RICH PACES, Commissioner Precinct 2 24 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Precinct 3 25 2 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 *** Commissioner's Comments. 5 4 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 7 action to approve Resolution to enable 5 Dietert Center to apply for a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture to support 6 the Meals on Wheels Program in Kerr County. 7 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 11 action to clarify the responsibilities and 8 duties of the appointed magistrate under Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal 9 Procedure. 10 1.3 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 22 action on request to put signage on 11 courthouse lawn and at Flat Rock Lake Park promoting Christian Concert being held on 12 October 14th at Flat Rock Park. Approval to use the park was granted on April 10, 2023. 13 1.4 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 26 14 action to allow use of the Hill Country Youth Event Center(HCYEC) on November 15, 15 2023 at 2:00 p.m. for a Federal Highway Department presentation on road safety. 16 1.5 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 27 17 action regarding the 198th District Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Budget. 18 1.6 Recognize Tracy Soldan for receiving the 28 19 Outstanding Texas County Treasurer of the Year Award from the County Treasurer's 20 Association of Texas. 21 1.7 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 29 action to approve the Interlocal Agreement 22 between Kerrville Independent School District (KISD) and Kerr County to allow KISD to use 23 the Hill Country Youth Event Center(HCYEC) as an emergency evacuation site for FY 23-24, 24 October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. 25 3 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.8 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 31 action regarding the 2023 Kerr County 4 Resolution in support of the grant application for the FY 2024 Indigent Defense 5 Formula Grant Program offered by the Texas Indigent Defense Commission(TIDC), and 6 authorize County Judge to sign said Resolution. 7 1.9 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 33 8 action to accept the OOG (Office of the Governor) Grant Award, Grant Number 2781408, 9 for the Kerr County Victims' Services Department. 10 1.10 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 33 11 action to surplus office furniture from the Treasurer's Office. 12 1.14 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 35 13 action regarding Interlocal Agreement with the City of Kerrville concerning Al Mooney 14 Road. 15 1.15 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 35 action to accept re-appointment of Tanya 16 Shelton as the Kerr County Auditor. 17 1.16 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 36 action regarding Official Bond of Tanya 18 Shelton for the position of Kerr County Auditor. 19 1.17 Discuss and take action on an Order 36 20 Expressing Official Intent to Reimburse with Tax-Exempt Obligation Proceeds for 21 costs associated with various capital expenditures. 22 1.18 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 38 23 action to approve the Texas Association of Counties(TAC) Worker's Compensation Renewal. 24 25 4 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.19 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 39 action to update the General Provisions 4 for FY 2023-2024 to reflect the change in Road & Bridge starting step. 5 1.20 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 40 6 action to approve the FY 2023-2024 Position Schedule. 7 1.21 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 42 8 action to appoint committee to review Grade and Step system. 9 1.11 Public Hearing for a revision of plat for 46 10 Treasure Hills Ranch, Tracts 17R, 19A, 19B, Volume 5, Page 397 and Plat File #21-04603. 11 1.12 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 46 12 action regarding a final plat for Story Subdivision. 13 1.13 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 48 14 action for the Commissioners' Court to remove the private road name of "Arunachala 15 Pl. NW" and not rename this private road. 16 2.2 Pay Bills. 51 17 2.4 Auditor Reports. 52 18 2.5 Accept Monthly Reports. 52 19 2.6 Court Orders. 53 20 3.1 Status reports from Elected Officials. 54 21 3.2 Status reports from Department Heads. 55 22 *** Adjournment. 56 23 *** Reporter's Certificate. 57 24 * * * * * * 25 5 1 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come to order. It 2 is Tuesday, October the 10th, 2023. It's 9:00 o'clock 3 in the morning and the Kerr County Commissioners' Court 4 is now in session. If you would, please stand for the 5 prayer and the pledge, which I will lead. 6 (Prayer and Pledge.) 7 JUDGE KELLY: This is a regular 8 Commissioners' Court meeting and as such, we have public 9 input. I want to ask everyone to please turn off your 10 phones before we do that so we don't have any 11 interruptions in the proceedings. And anybody that 12 wants to address the public can address the Court on any 13 item that is not on the agenda. If it is on the agenda, 14 we ask that you wait until the agenda item is called. 15 Is there anyone who would like to address the Court at 16 this time? There being none, we'll move on to 17 Commissioners' comments. 18 As you can see, we are few and far between 19 today. There's three of us. So we'll go with 20 Commissioner 2. 21 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. Well, in 22 addition to all the wonderful things that Judge Kelly 23 lead us in the prayer, I call for everyone to pray for 24 the people of Israel. I was appalled at what's happened 25 over there over the weekend. 6 1 On to Kerr County business, the burn ban has 2 been lifted for all precincts and we are grateful for 3 the recent gifts of rain. But please remember that we 4 remain in drought Stage 4 and we look to Headwaters 5 Groundwater Conversation District for updates on that 6 and that responsibility is theirs to manage. 7 Reminder to the public, the annular eclipse 8 is Saturday. The full annularity starts at 11:50 and 9 lasts for about four minutes, but it starts before then 10 so please remember to wear your eye protection. You can 11 do some serious damage to your eyes if you don't. But 12 the key from this event is it's going to give us a much 13 better idea of the issues that we need to plan for for 14 the big one in April. So I've been heavily involved in 15 the eclipse planning. In fact, we've got another 16 meeting this afternoon. But so far everything looks 17 good for that. 18 And just a reminder that the water 19 availability workshop is tomorrow at 10:00 o'clock. 20 Same place as you are right now. That's it. 21 JUDGE KELLY: There it is. Precinct 3. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I really don't have 23 anything in addition to what Commissioner Precinct 2 24 said. So that's it. 25 JUDGE KELLY: The only thing that I would 7 1 add is you will note there are only three of us here 2 today. Commissioner Harris is out of town. And for 3 those of you that are unaware, Commissioner Belew has 4 been removed from office as of September the 29th. I 5 don't know if that is going up on appeal or not but 6 that's the reason he is not here today and we will 7 proceed accordingly. Anything else we need to add? 8 MRS. STEBBINS: No, sir. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. And as people -- 10 members of the public asked me where he was, he's been 11 removed from office at this time and it's effective as 12 of the 29th. 13 So with that, we'll move on to the 14 consideration agenda. Item 1.1, which is to consider, 15 discuss and take appropriate action to approve a 16 Resolution to enable Dietert Center to apply for a grant 17 from the Texas Department of Agriculture to support the 18 Meals on Wheels program in Kerr County. Ms. Thompson. 19 MS. THOMPSON: Good morning. How are y'all 20 this morning? Well, here we are again. It is time to 21 renew our grant for this upcoming year. And I 22 respectfully request our matching grant which, as you 23 know, TDA requires us to have a matching grant from our 24 County. And the $4,624.50, and that's based on the 25 number of seniors from the last census that are in Kerr 8 1 County. And so I'm working on that grant. 2 Meals on Wheels is running strong. We're 3 delivering about 300 meals every day in Kerr County and 4 we -- with over 200 volunteers that help us. And -- and 5 then we have -- our numbers in our Friendship Cafe have 6 gone up. We're about 70 to a hundred, depending on what 7 the menu item is. They like meatloaf so they've asked 8 for more meatloaf the other day. And so it's really 9 good to see our seniors getting back out and about and 10 coming in and participating in all the programs at 11 Dietert. 12 Just to give you a quick little rundown, 13 last year the volunteers in our Meals on Wheels program 14 provided 21,782 hours of service and then in our 15 Friendship Cafe, 2,315, and all of our other programs, 16 8,037 hours of service to our community. That's 32,134 17 hours of volunteer service. Over 65,600 meals were 18 delivered last year at our homebound seniors, including 19 friendly visits to check on them and get back and make 20 sure that they know they're not isolated and living in 21 their homes. 22 We had over -- we provided over 20,100 meals 23 in our Friendship Cafe, so we're back to pre-COVID 24 numbers. And this year is even going to be better. 25 We've loaned out 1388 pieces of medical 9 1 equipment and provided 2203 community service inquiries 2 that people come in, seniors need help, and we give them 3 all kinds of information of what to do and we either do 4 it for them or we help them find the resources that they 5 need. 6 And we took 6,024 call reassurance calls for 7 those seniors that live alone. They call us in the 8 morning and tell us they're out having their coffee and 9 everything's good. And if we don't hear from them by 10 9:30, we're calling them. And if we don't hear from 11 them by 10:30, we're going to their house or we're 12 calling for a welfare check. And sometimes they just 13 forget to call us and tell us that they had a doctor's 14 appointment and sometimes it's not so fortunate for 15 them. But at least they knew the we were calling to 16 check on them, so they know that they weren't going to 17 be there alone by themselves. 18 So anyway, we appreciate everything that the 19 County does to help us provide the services. Last year 20 we got $23,000 from the Texas Department of Agriculture, 21 and that helps provide meals -- helps provide 22 reimbursement for us for meals that aren't paid for 23 through our Title 3 funding or our Title 20 funding. So 24 it helps us provide services for those seniors that 25 live -- are homebound and need that food, so -- anyway. 10 1 That's -- that's it. Y'all have any questions? 2 JUDGE KELLY: And for those of you on 3 YouTube that don't understand our relationship with 4 Dietert and Meals on Wheels, but for our matching grant 5 with the Dietert Center on Meals on Wheels program, 6 there would be no federal government or state government 7 support. So this is something that is vital for us to 8 do to protect the elderly here in the community. So 9 that's why we're doing it. 10 And with that, I will make a motion that we 11 approve the Resolution to accept the grant from the 12 Texas Department of Agriculture to support Meals on 13 Wheels. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: And I second. 15 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second. 16 Is there any discussion? It's always a pleasure to have 17 you with us, Brenda. 18 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. 19 JUDGE KELLY: So I'll call for a vote. I 20 made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Paces. Those 21 in favor say aye. Opposed. Unanimous. Thank you. 22 MS. THOMPSON: Thank you. Thank you so 23 much. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: Thank you, Brenda. And 25 thanks to all the volunteers. It's just a wonderful 11 1 program and a blessing to the County. 2 JUDGE KELLY: The next item on the agenda is 3 1.2 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to 4 clarify the responsibilities and duties of the appointed 5 magistrate under Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal 6 Procedure. And we've got J.P.'s from 1, 2, 3 and 4. 7 All present and accounted for. Judge Ragsdale. 8 JUDGE RAGSDALE: Yes. Thank you. I wanted 9 to mention one thing about Dietert Claim. Y'all can be 10 thankful I didn't sign up for their belly dancing 11 course. They had one. 12 (Laughter.) 13 JUDGE KELLY: Small blessings. Small 14 blessings. 15 JUDGE RAGSDALE: I was astounded. But 16 anyway. Thank you for allowing us to address this 17 issue. We -- for anyone if they are here and don't 18 know, we petitioned the Court for, and you all were very 19 gracious to assist us, in securing a position for a 20 magistrate to -- a special magistrate, to do 8:00 to 21 5:00, Monday through Friday, magistration at the jail, 22 and other magistrate duties that may occur during Monday 23 through Friday, 8:00 to 5:00. There was an act that was 24 passed by legislature. It's -- I think it's codified as 25 Chapter 54 of the Government Code, Subchapter MM. I have 12 1 a copy of it here. 2 And all the discussions we have been able to 3 acquire transcripts from all your discussions in 4 formulating this act, but apparently something has 5 happened in the interim. This position was -- the main 6 scope of this position was to relieve the J.P.'s, again, 7 like I said Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 5:00, with 8 the understanding would be the morning magistration, 9 especially was the emphasis. 10 Well, now I've been informed that -- by the 11 new magistrate, that the position does not include doing 12 magistration at the jail in the mornings. That if 13 there's going to be any magistration at all by this 14 magistrate that it would be in the afternoon in case 15 somebody else had been arrested during the day, but that 16 the J.P.'s would continue to do the morning 17 magistration. 18 It was explained to me, what I heard, okay, 19 what I heard was this new magistrate felt that the 20 duties being assigned other than the jail duties were so 21 much so that she didn't have time to do the morning 22 magistration, that she had too many other duties for the 23 District Courts and for the County Court at Law. 24 So basically the position, as we understood 25 it and I think as the Legislature intended -- the 13 1 Commissioners' Court and the Legislature intended, has 2 been -- I don't know if circumvented is the right word, 3 but it -- it certainly isn't what we had anticipated or 4 I think as you had anticipated. 5 Also, I was informed by the new magistrate 6 that if they were going to be compelled to do morning 7 magistration that they would need a clerk -- Hi. That 8 they would need a clerk assigned to them because those 9 duties would just go way over the top and be way too 10 much more than they could assume. 11 I personally have done this magistration 12 work in addition to a criminal court, a civil court, 13 coroner duties, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 14 days a year for 34 years and it's never been too much 15 for me to do. 16 And also, up until very recently, my clerk 17 had nothing to do with the magistrate duties. Now they 18 do have -- if I -- I could do it myself, but I have 19 other duties to do as well as to having a criminal court 20 and civil court and stuff, my clerk does enter data into 21 the Office of Court Administration data base, and 22 distributes copies of protective orders. That really 23 doesn't take much time at all. 24 I see some very -- I understand -- I 25 comprehend from the statute that the District Judges 14 1 hire and fire the -- are the only ones, the District 2 Judges and the County Court at Law judges are the only 3 ones that can hire or fire this special magistrate. I 4 think it was extremely clear from the job description 5 that the Human Resources gave the new magistrate. 6 I think that how it was advertised 7 everything was extremely clear that the main emphasis of 8 that job was to do morning magistration because in the 9 week that -- and I've talked to the other judges. We're 10 all on the same page on this. The week that we have 11 magistrate call down at the jail, we don't schedule 12 court because too many different things can happen that 13 could detain us or -- or keep us away from our 14 constitutional duties. 15 Magistration at the jail is not one of our 16 constitutional duties. It's not one of our statutory 17 duties. It's something we have done because we are 18 magistrates. The District Court Judges don't do it. 19 The County Court at Law Judge I don't think ever does 20 it. We do it. Because we have always done it. And not 21 because we're required by law to do it. 22 Excuse me. But anyway, I see several 23 possible solutions, and that's what I like to come to 24 the Court with is a solution; not a problem. One 25 solution is to re-emphasize to the supervisory people, 15 1 the District Judges and the County Court at Law Judges, 2 that this was the intent, really the primary intent, of 3 the position of the statute, the enabling statute, was 4 that this job would be taken care of by the special 5 magistrate. If that doesn't succeed, then our consensus 6 among all four of us is eliminate the position. 7 The statute says an authorized magistrate 8 position may be eliminated on the majority vote of the 9 Commissioners' Court of Kerr County. We've done it 10 forever. We can do it again. It's just a problem. But 11 if we can't solve the problem by reorienting the compass 12 on this thing, then I really thoroughly recommend you 13 dissolve the position. 14 Because my comprehension, which may be 15 limited, is that we can't tell the District Court Judges 16 or the County Court at Law Judge what to do in regard to 17 this employee of Kerr County. But we can eliminate -- 18 you can eliminate the position and we'll just take care 19 of it. The position can be part-time, if the -- if the 20 person is so overwhelmed by other duties then, fine, cut 21 out half the time, take care of what was supposed to be, 22 and be done with it. 23 JUDGE KELLY: Allow me to interrupt, Bill. 24 JUDGE RAGSDALE: Yes, sir. 25 JUDGE KELLY: I went back and read the 16 1 transcripts of the Commissioners' Court meetings we had 2 on this position, and it was crystal clear that the 3 intent was that this magistrate work 8:00 to 5:00, 4 Monday through Friday, with particular emphasis on 5 morning magistrations, because that's where the real rub 6 is in this whole thing. 7 This is an unfunded mandate from the State, 8 as I understand it, and we have funded it. I'm 9 disinclined to do away with the position because the 10 legislature has told us we need to have it. We believe 11 we need to have it. And we believe it needs to be -- 12 needs to provide the magistration as we discussed, as we 13 advertised, and as we authorized the District Judges and 14 County Court at Law Judge to hire that and fill that 15 position. 16 So with that, I make a motion that we 17 clarify that the duties and responsibilities of the 18 magistrate are full-time, 8:00 to 5:00, Monday through 19 Friday. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 21 JUDGE KELLY: We got a motion and a second. 22 Any discussion? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Comment that I have. I 24 just want to make it clear on the record. To read these 25 responsibilities and powers in the act under 17 1 Section 54.2106D says, The magistrate shall give 2 preference to perform duties of a magistrate. It's 3 point blank. I mean that's -- the law says that's their 4 job. They can do other things if they have time. 5 That's the job. 6 And I totally agree with the motion, which 7 we will vote on in a moment. But I'm also -- even 8 though I wouldn't like to, we can't -- the judges that 9 do have the authority to set the responsibilities, it'll 10 be on the next agenda to eliminate the position. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I'm disinclined to 12 eliminate the position at this time. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. At this time, I 14 am going to -- 15 JUDGE KELLY: I want to try -- I want to try 16 to fix the problem rather than eliminate it. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I just want it to be 18 clear where I stand on this moving forward. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: I guess I -- 20 JUDGE KELLY: I'm looking at our County 21 Attorney. She's dying to say something. 22 MRS. STEBBINS: The position is an exempt 23 position. So there may be times where that -- that 24 person isn't physically in the building from 8:00 to 25 5:00 and that's okay by -- by law. But I just wanted to 18 1 point that out to you guys. I know that the motion that 2 was just made but -- 3 JUDGE KELLY: Well, I'm just trying to get 4 it back on track. 5 MRS. STEBBINS: Yeah. 6 JUDGE KELLY: We know what it was supposed 7 to do. We're all in agreement what it was supposed to 8 do. And so we're going to affirm that that's what needs 9 to be done. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: I guess I'd like to 11 understand, you know, when we talk about an unfunded 12 mandate, as I'm reading Section 54.2101, which is the 13 authorization, appointment and elimination, it says the 14 Commissioners' Court of Kerr County may authorize the 15 judges of the district and statutory county courts in 16 Kerr County to appoint one or more, blah, blah, blah. 17 So -- so as soon as it says "may," where is the mandate? 18 Is there other legislation somewhere that requires us to 19 do this? 20 MRS. STEBBINS: No, there is not other 21 legislation that requires the Court to do this, but 22 there were additional duties and responsibilities added 23 to the J.P.'s, the District Judges, and the County Court 24 at Law Judges two years ago. Is that right, y'all? 25 Okay. And so that -- those duties were discussed a lot 19 1 during the Courts' consideration of approving this 2 position. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. Okay. 4 MRS. STEBBINS: But those were additional. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: You know, I'm hearing 6 from one of our judges, who is saying he speaks on 7 behalf of all four who's saying we don't need it, and I 8 want an option -- no? 9 JUDGE RAGSDALE: No, I didn't say that. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. 11 JUDGE RAGSDALE: What we don't need is to 12 have someone in that position who's not going to do the 13 job. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. 15 JUDGE RAGSDALE: And if they refuse to do 16 the job and there is no requirement by their supervisors 17 to do the job that it was intended for, then -- then the 18 position should be eliminated. That was what I -- I 19 believe. And plus -- 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Correct me if I'm 21 wrong, but I think I heard you say that you're more than 22 willing, and you spoke on behalf of all the J.P.'s, to 23 go back to doing it yourself if need to be. 24 JUDGE MITCHELL: We're doing it anyway. 25 We're still doing it. 20 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Commissioner, I think 3 the issue's going to come back next -- if it's 4 eliminated, because I've talked to my J.P. quite a bit 5 on this topic, if we eliminate the magistrate, I'm quite 6 certain we will be hit with four new employees for each 7 of these courts in the next year's budget. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: And the last thing we 9 need is a new clerk to support a new magistrate. So I 10 want to be real clear on that. I will not support that. 11 JUDGE KELLY: I agree. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. All right. 13 JUDGE KELLY: I think we're all in agreement 14 on this. We just need to get it cleared -- cleared up. 15 So I made the motion and seconded by Commissioner Letz. 16 COMMISSIONER PACES: Could you repeat the 17 motion, please? 18 JUDGE KELLY: Repeat the motion. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: What exactly is -- 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It was to -- 21 JUDGE KELLY: I want to clarify -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- clarify the -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: -- duties and responsibilities 24 of the special magistrate that we've hired is to provide 25 magistrates from 8:00 to 5:00 on a regular basis Monday 21 1 through Friday. That was the position that was -- they 2 were hired to fill. That -- we want to clarify it. So 3 with that -- 4 COMMISSIONER PACES: And -- and this 5 position is based in the jail, correct? 6 JUDGE KELLY: It works at the jail, yes. 7 JUDGE FRENCH: It is the Article 1517 8 hearing under the Code of Criminal Procedures that we're 9 referencing. 10 JUDGE KELLY: Correct. And that was Judge 11 French that said that, by the way. 12 JUDGE RAGSDALE: And this has so many 13 tentacles as -- you know, if this job isn't done in the 14 morning as it's supposed -- we all have agreed it should 15 be, then the Sheriff is saddled with extra food bills, 16 could be medical bills. They can't -- believe it or 17 not, they can't release somebody at night. If it gets 18 dark before they can get out, they have to keep them and 19 feed them and everything. 20 So it -- it is essential, it's not just a 21 preferential thing. It is essential really to the 22 County that we have this thing done in the morning, as 23 the motion suggested. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 22 1 in favor say aye. Opposed. Unanimous. Thank you. 2 JUDGE RAGSDALE: Thank you. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Next item on the agenda is 1.3 4 consider, discuss and take appropriate action on a 5 request to put signage on the courthouse lawn and at 6 Flat Rock Lake Park promoting the Christian Concert 7 being held October 14th at Flat Rock Park. Approval to 8 use the park was granted on April 10, 2023. 9 And for those of you that don't know, this 10 is my son, Daniel Kelly. 11 MR. KELLY: Good morning. Thank you for 12 making some time. We appreciate it. We appreciate the 13 use of the park for Flat Rock on Saturday. We were 14 asked upon the initial approval to circle back with the 15 Court like sort of before the event so that we can kind 16 of update it. We gave kind of outlines and timelines 17 and some of the plans for the event to the 18 Commissioners. 19 Basically, we've got the port-a-potties, the 20 handwash stations, generators, lights, stage, sound. I 21 feel like bounce houses for the kids, we've got a 22 security team. We've got children's ministry team. We 23 call it a concert. Overall, it's a ministry event. 24 The purpose today is twofold, to give you 25 all the updates you've asked right before the event, so 23 1 I hope that the information we've provided covers that. 2 And then the second thing is we've -- we've 3 got two big banners for the event and we wanted to ask 4 permission if we could set one in front of Flat Rock 5 Park today, if possible, and the other hope -- I 6 understand if it doesn't work, but the other hope would 7 be to put one out here in front of the courthouse. I 8 don't know what the rules are and how y'all feel about 9 that. 10 They -- I think we've included a picture of 11 the banner. It basically talks about spiritual recovery 12 and the artists that will be there. They are 6 by 12. 13 So they're not little tiny banners. Full disclosure on 14 that. And thought we would -- we would at least ask. I 15 can find something to do with them if it doesn't meet 16 with the Court's approval, but if it does we would be 17 forever grateful. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I see no problem with 19 putting one at Flat Rock. That's just advertising an 20 event. As of on the courthouse square, I don't think it 21 meets our policies that we have adopted and I would like 22 to see it here, but because of the event -- 23 JUDGE KELLY: It's too big. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's too big and it's 25 against our policy as I understand it. But at Flat 24 1 Rock, I see no problem. And we normally -- or 2 frequently there are signs up there for events that are 3 going to be held out at that facility so I don't see any 4 problem with that. 5 COMMISSIONER PACES: Maybe put the second 6 banner a little more visible along 27 in front of the 7 Youth Event Center? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I mean, it can be 9 anywhere out there -- I mean, I'd coordinate it with 10 Jake Williamson -- 11 MR. KELLY: Yes, sir. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- just on placement of 13 them, to make sure that they're in good locations. 14 COMMISSIONER PACES: Both -- both of them. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They can both go up out 16 there. 17 MR. KELLY: Okay. 18 COMMISSIONER PACES: That's kind of my 19 point. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I'll make a 21 motion that banners can be put up at the Hill Country 22 Youth Event Center/Flat Rock Park as soon as you can. 23 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second it. 24 JUDGE KELLY: The motion has been made by 25 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to 25 1 approve putting the banners up at the Youth Event Center 2 at Flat Rock Park. Any discussion? Those in favor -- 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: It's -- I know this 4 thing starts at 2:00, right? 5 MR. KELLY: Yes, sir. Correct. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: So, again, because the 7 eclipse is on the same day and I'm sure you'll have 8 people out there earlier and probably a lot of crowd is 9 going to gather early, but if you have any ability to 10 make public announcements and so forth, just again 11 remind people that they need eye protection if they're 12 going to look at all up in the skies during this whole 13 eclipse event. 14 MR. KELLY: Yes, sir. We will. 15 COMMISSIONER PACES: Just a safety 16 precaution that you might not otherwise think of. 17 MR. KELLY: Thank you very much. 18 JUDGE KELLY: So we've got a motion and a 19 second. Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 20 Thank you. 21 MR. KELLY: Thank you. 22 MRS. KELLY: Thank you, guys. 23 JUDGE KELLY: And this is his wife, 24 Jennifer. 25 Item 1.4 consider, discuss and take 26 1 appropriate action to allow use of the Hill Country 2 Youth Event Center on November 15, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. for 3 a Federal Highway Department presentation on road 4 safety. 5 Is Mr. McGuire here? 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: No, he's not. 7 JUDGE KELLY: I don't see him. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: And I reached out to 9 him last night and he didn't answer his phone so I'm 10 going to assume he's not going to attend so I'll try to 11 speak on his behalf. 12 He -- he made this request through myself a 13 month or so back. And you know, as much concern as 14 there's been on traffic safety, road safety, 15 particularly, you know, he's a resident of Eagle Ridge 16 Road -- 17 JUDGE KELLY: Uh-huh. 18 COMMISSIONER PACES: -- and well, I wasn't 19 even going to mention that, but you know a lot of 20 concern about road safety. And -- and rest assured that 21 it's not just Eagle Ridge Road. We have a lot of roads 22 that have serious concerns with respect to safety. So I 23 think it's probably a very good thing. 24 I'm not real familiar with what exactly the 25 Federal Highway Department is going to present, but I'm 27 1 told they have a very comprehensive presentation on road 2 safety so I think it behooves the citizens of the County 3 if we go ahead and make this available through the use 4 of the Hill Country Youth Event Center on November 15th. 5 JUDGE KELLY: And that's the motion. 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: And I will make the 7 motion to make the Hill Country Youth Event Center 8 available on November 15th for the Federal Highway 9 Department presentation on road safety. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 11 JUDGE KELLY: Motion made by Commissioner 12 Paces, second by Commissioner Letz to approve the 13 Federal Highway Department road safety presentation on 14 November 15 at the Youth Event Center. Any discussion? 15 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 16 Item 1.5 consider, discuss and take 17 appropriate action regarding the 198th District 18 Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Budget. I don't see Todd. 19 SHERIFF LEITHA: (Shakes head no.) 20 JUDGE KELLY: But we approve it every year 21 anyway. So I make a motion that we approve their 22 forfeiture budget. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Seconded by Commissioner Letz. 25 Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 28 1 Unanimous. 2 1.6 recognize Tracy Soldan for receiving the 3 Outstanding Texas County Treasurer of the Year Award 4 from the County Treasurer's Association of Texas. 5 Ms. Hernandez. 6 We have a celebrity in our midst. 7 MS. HERNANDEZ: Good morning. Okay. So we 8 would like to recognize Tracy Soldan. Our own Kerr 9 County Treasurer, Tracy Soldan, was named Outstanding 10 Texas County Treasurer of the Year by the County 11 Treasurers Association of Texas out of 245 County 12 Treasurers. Each of the 12 regions in Texas nominated a 13 Treasurer from their region for this award. The 14 committee selected Tracy and two others from 12 15 nominations as a final count for the Association's body 16 to vote. Excuse me. 17 She received this award after all the 18 Treasurers in Texas submitted their votes. Tracy was 19 given this award for her leadership, her service and her 20 let-me-show-you-this position. She is recognized by the 21 Association for her advice, comments and direction. We 22 are proud that she serves Kerr County. 23 So with that, I would like to have the Judge 24 present the award to Tracy. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. We'll hold it up here 29 1 and shake your hand. Congratulations. 2 MRS. SOLDAN: Thank you. 3 JUDGE KELLY: We're very proud of you. 4 MRS. SOLDAN: Thank you. 5 (Photographs.) 6 JUDGE KELLY: Next item on the agenda is a 7 timed item at 9:30, which is Item 1.7 consider, discuss 8 and take appropriate action to approve the Interlocal 9 Agreement between Kerrville Independent School District 10 and Kerr County to allow KISD to use the Hill Country 11 Youth Event Center as an emergency evacuation site for 12 FY 23-24, and Dr. Ringo is not here, but this is 13 something we do every year. 14 MS. BALSER: Okay. I'm representing him. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Would you like to address the 16 Court? 17 MS. BALSER: Oh, no, sir. I think we do 18 this every year. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Oh, come on, Shelby, go 20 up there. 21 MS. BALSER: I'm just here to say we do this 22 every year. And we hope we never have to use it. 23 JUDGE KELLY: And we're happy to do it. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll make a motion that 25 we go ahead and approve the Interlocal Agreement between 30 1 KISD and Kerr County to allow KISD to use the Hill 2 Country Youth Event Center as an emergency evacuation 3 site for Fiscal Year 23-24. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Paces made the 6 motion, seconded by Commissioner Letz to approve the 7 Interlocal Agreement with KISD for use of the Youth 8 Event Center for emergency evacuations. 9 We'll remind everyone that the Youth Event 10 Center here in Kerr County is the epicenter of all 11 Emergency Management in the County. And this is 12 something we do not only for KISD but the other school 13 districts as well. And anything that goes on with this 14 upcoming eclipse, we're hoping this weekend is going to 15 be relatively uneventful. We're not sure what next 16 April is going to look like. But the Youth Event Center 17 will be the emergency management center for that as 18 well. And that's a service that the County provides for 19 the public. 20 So with that, we have a motion and a second. 21 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank 22 you. 23 MS. BALSER: Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: And ask Dr. Ringo to come 25 visit us so that everybody can meet him. 31 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: Great presentation. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Most of you know that 3 Shelby is the newly appointed deputy superintendant -- 4 MS. BALSER: Assistant superintendant. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- assistant 6 superintendant. Congratulations. 7 MS. BALSER: Thanks. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Thank you. 9 COMMISSIONER PACES: Thank you. 10 COURT REPORTER: What is your name? 11 MS. BALSER: Shelby Balser, B-A-L-S-E-R. 12 COURT REPORTER: Thank you. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Next item on the agenda is 1.8 14 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 15 the 2023 Kerr County Resolution in support of the grant 16 application for the FY 2024 Indigent Defense Formula 17 Grant Program offered by the Texas Indigent Defense 18 Commission, and authorize the County Judge to sign said 19 Resolution. Miss Putnam. 20 MS. PUTNAM: This is the same as we have 21 done every year. It's a reimbursement for our indigent 22 defense. We do not know the amount for this year, but I 23 can say that last year -- and it tends to be around the 24 same -- was $47,127.00. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move for approval. 32 1 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Motion made by Commissioner 3 Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to approve the 4 Texas Indigent Defense Formula Grant Program as 5 presented. 6 And for those of you that don't know, we do 7 have another grant from the Texas Indigent Defense 8 Commission which helps fund our public defenders office 9 and our five county public defenders office. This is a 10 formula grant that they've been doing for years and it's 11 much smaller. I think our actual grant with TIDC right 12 now is somewhere in the neighborhood of, what, two 13 million dollars? Two or three million dollars. 14 MS. PUTNAM: I'm not sure. 15 JUDGE KELLY: It's been a lot. And it's 16 been a very successful program. So this is something 17 that we want the State to help us pay for the indigent 18 defense lawyers that we pay to represent the indigent 19 defendants in the County. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now it's the State's 21 responsibility. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. It's the State's 23 responsibility, but we have to do it. So I'll make a 24 motion -- no, we have a motion? 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah, I made it and he 33 1 seconded it. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Good. So we've got a motion 3 and a second. Any other discussion? Those in favor say 4 aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 5 Item 1.9 consider, discuss and take 6 appropriate action to accept the OOG, Office of the 7 Governor, Grant Award for the Kerr County Victims' 8 Services Department. 9 Are you going to handle that, Ms. Peter. 10 MS. PETER: I am. They are in the process 11 of preparing for trial. So they were awarded this year 12 again for their grant funding. The awarded amount is 13 $98,673.00. And I do ask that you go ahead and allow us 14 to accept this grant. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion that 16 we accept the grant. 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 19 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to 20 approve acceptance of the Kerr County Victims' Services 21 grant from the Office of the Governor. Any discussion? 22 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 23 MS. PETER: Thank you. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.10 consider, discuss 25 and take appropriate action to surplus office furniture 34 1 from the Treasurer's Office. 2 MS. MENDOZA: Good morning. We have various 3 furniture from the Treasurer's office. There's two 4 desks, three filing cabinets, and one shelf. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll make a motion to 6 surplus the items. But I do have a comment. 7 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second the motion. 8 JUDGE KELLY: So we have a motion by 9 Commissioner Letz, second by Commissioner Paces to 10 approve the surplus of furniture from the Treasurer's 11 office. Any discussion? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. If it hasn't been 13 done already, I'd recommend that we circulate this to 14 other departments because some of that furniture is in 15 pretty good shape. 16 MS. SOLDAN: I did. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They've already been? 18 MS. SOLDAN: I've sent pictures in an e-mail 19 and -- yeah, I've had a couple departments look and only 20 one taker. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. All I needed. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Any other discussion? Those 23 in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 24 We have some timed items at 10:00 o'clock 25 that we have to skip until we can get -- until it's 35 1 10:00 o'clock. So let's move down to Item 1.14, which 2 is consider, discuss and take appropriate action 3 regarding an Interlocal Agreement with the City of 4 Kerrville concerning the Al Mooney Road. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, I think this 6 needs to be discussed and taken up after Executive 7 Session. And we can talk about -- 8 JUDGE KELLY: So we'll pass that until 9 Executive Session? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 11 JUDGE KELLY: So let's move on to Item 1.15 12 consider, discuss and take appropriate action to accept 13 the reappointment of Tanya Shelton as Kerr County 14 Auditor. 15 And I make the motion that we do that. It's 16 desperately needed. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 18 JUDGE KELLY: So I made the motion, 19 Commissioner Letz seconded to appoint Miss Tanya Shelton 20 as the Kerr County Auditor -- re-appoint as the Kerr 21 County Auditor. Any discussion? 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That we accept the 23 re-appointment. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Accept the re-appointment. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We don't appoint. 36 1 JUDGE KELLY: Well, that's true. The 2 District Judges do the appointing and we do the 3 accepting. So this is to accept the appointment. Any 4 other discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 5 Unanimous. 6 Item 1.16 consider, discuss and take 7 appropriate action regarding the official bond of Tanya 8 Shelton for the position of Kerr County Auditor. 9 I've got Mr. Collum on here. Do you want to 10 address this, or do you want us to do it? 11 MR. COLLUM: So I'm -- 12 JUDGE KELLY: We've gotta do it. 13 MR. COLLUM: Yes. 14 JUDGE KELLY: I'll make a motion that we 15 approve the official bond -- 16 MR. COLLUM: Thank you. 17 JUDGE KELLY: -- of Tanya Shelton as Kerr 18 County Auditor. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 20 JUDGE KELLY: I made the motion, seconded by 21 Commissioner Paces. Any discussion? Those in favor say 22 aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 23 Item 1.17 discuss and take action on an 24 order expressing official intent to reimburse with tax 25 exempt obligation proceeds for costs associated with 37 1 various capital expenditures. Miss Shelton. 2 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. The order in front of 3 you has been prepared by our bond counsel. And this is 4 just saying that we can go ahead and start buying like 5 the Road & Bridge equipment. Anything that's in there 6 with the intent that we will finance the debt at a later 7 date, but they can go ahead and start buying. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: When will we do the 9 actual debt instrument for it, do we know? 10 MRS. SHELTON: Basically we generally do it 11 sometime around February-ish, I guess March. Part of 12 that is we'll have to have our financials ready and the 13 audit -- they've gone through audit about that time 14 also. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I'll make a 16 motion we approve the tax -- the intent to reimburse 17 with tax exempt obligation proceeds for the costs 18 associated with various capital expenditures. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second that. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Letz made the 21 motion, seconded by Commissioner Paces to approve the 22 tax exempt obligation -- the official intent to 23 reimburse with tax exempt obligation proceeds as 24 presented. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 25 Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. 38 1 Item 1.18 consider, discuss and take 2 appropriate action to approve the Texas Association of 3 Counties Worker's Compensation Renewal. Miss Hernandez. 4 MS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. This is a regular 5 renewal for the TAC worker's compensation renewal that 6 is in place. We are required by law to have a worker's 7 compensation plan or I believe we're supposed to join -- 8 have a self-insured or be insured with the State, so we 9 have our self-insured through TAC and this is just a 10 renewal. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is the premium the same 12 or about? 13 MS. HERNANDEZ: The worker's comp, I 14 believe, is going to be lowered based on the rates that 15 we had chosen. I don't know. I'm sorry. We don't have 16 that in yet. It was submitted Friday -- no, the 30th. 17 And she hasn't come back to me with the plan yet, but 18 this is basically stating that anything that we had 19 prior to is not changing. And this is just to move it 20 forward in that process. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I make a motion 22 that we approve the worker's compensation renewal with 23 Texas Association of Counties. 24 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 25 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 39 1 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to 2 approve the Texas worker's compensation renewal with TAC 3 as presented. Any discussion? Those in favor say aye. 4 Opposed? Unanimous. 5 Item 1.19 consider, discuss and take 6 appropriate action to update the General Provisions for 7 the FY 2023-2024 to reflect the change in the Road & 8 Bridge starting step. Miss Hernandez. 9 MS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. So the General 10 Provisions we had stated that it was going to be 11 starting at a Step 4 based on the different positions 12 from the last Court. It was stated that we were going 13 to do two steps down, two steps over, which would bring 14 it to a Step 3. 15 So instead of someone starting like at a 16 15.1, they were going to start at a 15.4. Now it's 17 moving to a 16 -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: Three. 19 MS. HERNANDEZ: -- yes. And Step 3. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. Move for 21 approval. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 23 JUDGE KELLY: We've got a motion and a 24 second to approve the change in starting step at Road & 25 Bridge to a Grade 16, Step 3, as presented. Any 40 1 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 2 Unanimous. 3 Item 1.20 consider, discuss and take 4 appropriate action to approve the FY 2023-2024 Position 5 Schedule. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Let me start with this a 7 little bit. I think the Court was given the terms of 8 this position schedule, and the only questions I have is 9 historically we've adopted this as part of the budget. 10 And the more I've looked at it, my -- my concern is -- 11 or I have two questions, one is to the Treasurer. Does 12 the Court need to adopt this from a payroll standpoint? 13 I mean, do you need this for -- to run payroll annually? 14 Or -- I guess my question is, we adopt it, and as soon 15 as an employee leaves or we hire someone, it's no longer 16 accurate. So I'm trying to figure out what the purpose 17 of adopting this is. It needs to be correct and 18 accurate. 19 MRS. SOLDAN: And it's put into the payroll 20 system whenever it's on that for each employee. So 21 there needs to be a calculation made in order for it to 22 be in the system so that I can pay them. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So -- so the purpose -- 24 the reason we adopt it is for payroll? 25 JUDGE KELLY: It is instructed to the County 41 1 Treasurer for payroll. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: For payroll. 3 MRS. SOLDAN: We do verify that everything 4 is correct before paying anybody their salary using that 5 position schedule. 6 JUDGE KELLY: But this is the instruction 7 that we give you on payroll? 8 MRS. SOLDAN: Yes, sir. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I've gone through 10 it. There -- recently or last week, I guess, I think 11 they've all gone out by now, HR sent out the individual 12 payroll adjustment forms. And they were hopefully 13 coming back. So it is possible there could be a few -- 14 you know, a future change on this or a mistake or 15 something. So I'll make a motion that we adopt this as 16 the official position schedule as of this date. And 17 also cancel Court Order -- or rescind Court Order 40209, 18 which adopted a previous position schedule. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: With the understanding 20 that it's subject to change. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 22 MS. HERNANDEZ: It is a live document. So 23 we have a couple people that are terminating based on 24 a -- like the 10/27 date, by the end of this month. 25 So -- 42 1 JUDGE KELLY: But it is important that you 2 know and you know what our position schedules is as of 3 today. 4 MRS. SOLDAN: (Nodding head in affirmative 5 manner.) 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: So I'll second the 7 motion. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion by Commissioner 9 Letz, second by Commissioner Paces to approve the 10 position schedule as presented as of this date. Any 11 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 12 Unanimous. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And Judge, let me 14 clarify. That motion cancels the previous one adopted 15 on 9-11 -- 16 JUDGE KELLY: Yes. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- which is Court Order 18 40209. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: We'll need to put that 21 in the order. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Item 1.21 consider, discuss 23 and take appropriate action to appoint a committee to 24 review the grade and step system. Commissioner Letz. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. I've talked to the 43 1 Judge a little bit about this. I've talked to the 2 Auditor. Probably County Attorney. Several others. 3 HR. We really need to look at our position schedule. 4 I'm trying to figure out the best way to 5 accomplish this. And my thought is that we almost need 6 two committees. We need kind of a steering committee, 7 which is a pretty small group. Treasurer, HR Director, 8 County Attorney, Auditor, and members of the Court, to 9 kinda put together something to work with. 10 Then there needs to be another committee, 11 which is pretty much every elected official and 12 department head, to give input to the small committee as 13 to what the needs, deficiencies, and you know let them 14 look at it and have input into the process. 15 I know the Sheriff has reached out and said 16 that he would like to have input. I know I've talked 17 with, not specifically if they wanted input, but talked 18 with Kelly at Road & Bridge, who is a super large 19 department. And I think it's important that, you know, 20 we just have buy-in from all the elected officials and 21 department heads as to what we're doing so that it's 22 very open to them. If they don't want to attend some of 23 those meetings, it's fine. But that's kind of the way I 24 see it. And it's -- 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: If they don't attend, 44 1 don't complain. 2 JUDGE KELLY: Well, and as I understand it, 3 one of the primary objectives of the committee would be 4 to give a salary range. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 6 JUDGE KELLY: So that we're not locked into 7 a specific grade and step and we have some flexibility 8 for being able to be competitive in the marketplace. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And eliminate the creep 10 that's in our current schedule that's been there 11 forever. 12 JUDGE KELLY: And with regard to creep -- 13 I've heard creep. I do not understand it. So I'd like 14 the committee to explain it to me. But I -- but I do 15 understand it exists and it's something that needs to be 16 addressed with this review process. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So anyway, that was -- 18 my recommendation would be that that would be the two 19 committees. One would be -- and I -- at our last Court 20 meeting I kind of volunteered Commissioner Paces to 21 serve on the committee and I would -- 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah, you did. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- serve as well, which 24 I'm pretty familiar with. But somebody else on the 25 Court really needs to get up to speed other than just 45 1 the Judge on -- on how this works. And think it's going 2 to be a long process. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: I hope not. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. I mean by the 5 time we get it all done and look at it and have -- 6 everyone's really looked at it and make sure that we're 7 doing something that's better. By the time we make 8 changes and look at the consequences, I think we really 9 need to look at it and I think -- I think the Auditor, 10 Treasurer, HR Director, and County Attorney will 11 understand and keep us on track that we're doing a good 12 thing. 13 And I think the committee, with the Court 14 group, other than myself and Commissioner Paces, would 15 maybe pull in other people as necessary to get some 16 input and then have a larger committee of all elected 17 officials and department heads, and that is the motion 18 on that. 19 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 20 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion by Commissioner 21 Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to appoint a grade 22 and step review committee, court committee as well as 23 expanded committee -- 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. 25 JUDGE KELLY: -- as presented. Any 46 1 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 2 Unanimous. 3 Okay. We're ahead of ourselves. We've got 4 three items at 10:00 o'clock. Let's take a break and 5 come back at 10:00 o'clock and we'll take up those items 6 and finish out the approval and information agenda, and 7 Executive Session. 8 (Recess) 9 JUDGE KELLY: Court will come back to order. 10 We have some timed items at 10:00 o'clock. The first 11 one is 1.11, which is a public hearing for a revision of 12 plat for Treasure Hills Ranch, Tracts 17R, 19A, and 19B. 13 This is a public hearing that I'm convening. 14 Is there anyone that would like to address the Court? 15 There being none, we will adjourn the public 16 meeting and we'll move on to Item 1.12. This is 17 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 18 a final plat for Story Subdivision. Mr. Hastings. 19 MR. HASTINGS: Thank you, Judge. This 20 proposal creates two nonresidential lots in Center 21 Point. Lot 1 will be 0.285 acres fronting on FM 480. 22 Lot 2 will be 0.304 acres fronting on FM 480 and Wyatt 23 Avenue. 24 The County Engineer requests the Court to 25 consider, discuss and take appropriate action regarding 47 1 the final plat for Story Subdivision, Precinct 2. 2 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll make a motion to 3 approve the final plat for the Story Subdivision, 4 Precinct 2. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 6 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion by Commissioner 7 Paces, second by Commissioner Letz to approve the final 8 plat application for Story Subdivision in Precinct 2. 9 Any discussion? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. What is the 11 configuration of it right now? 12 MR. HASTINGS: There's three. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There's three? 14 MR. HASTINGS: There's actually three tracts 15 right now. It's never been platted so we don't have a 16 plat. It shows that to be -- have a -- they've 17 submitted metes and bounds to show where those were. 18 And one of them is not -- it's an island. It doesn't 19 have frontage on a road. Very, very small. So this -- 20 this corrects that and gives them two clean lots. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. And I'm good with 22 it. It brings up -- I'm just going to tell you while 23 I'm thinking about it. This brings up an issue in the 24 whole Center Point area that it's sort of a subdivision 25 and it's sort of a non-subdivision. So -- and Comfort 48 1 has the same thing, Kendall County dealt with it by 2 adopting the old plat as a subdivision. 3 COMMISSIONER PACES: But in this case there 4 wasn't a plat, so -- 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, but there's a -- 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: Survey. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Center Point has been 8 laid out. There's something that lays out all of Center 9 Point. And that's why we call it a subdivision. But 10 anyway. We can talk about that later. 11 COMMISSIONER PACES: Okay. 12 JUDGE KELLY: Center Point is an anomaly. 13 Okay. So we got a motion and -- you made the motion? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No, he made the motion. 15 COMMISSIONER PACES: He seconded it. 16 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Paces made the 17 motion, Commissioner Letz seconded the motion to approve 18 the final plat application for Story Subdivision. Any 19 other discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 20 Unanimous. 21 Item 1.13 consider, discuss and take 22 appropriate action for the Commissioners Court to remove 23 the private road name of Arunachala -- I think that's 24 how you say it, Arunachala Place Northwest, and not 25 rename this private road. Miss Hoffer. 49 1 MS. HOFFER: Mr. Brian Hill applied through 2 the Kerr 911 office on 9-20 of 2023 to remove the 3 private road name of Arunachala Place Northwest, and not 4 rename this road at this time. 5 We also had the County Engineer look this 6 over just to see if there was going to be any issues 7 with the easement, because it was on a plat and now made 8 clear that everything is done, so that it should be 9 okay. 10 So at this time, I ask the Commissioners' 11 Court to drop the private road name of Arunachala Place 12 Northwest, and this is in Precinct 4. 13 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll move that the 14 Court remove the private road name of Arunachala PL 15 Northwest and not rename this private road. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 17 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Commissioner Paces made 18 the motion, seconded by Commissioner Letz to approve 19 removing the private road name of -- 20 COMMISSIONER PACES: Arunachala. 21 JUDGE KELLY: -- however you say it. 22 COMMISSIONER PACES: I lived in India for 23 ten years. That's an Indian name. Yeah. 24 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. I'll defer to you on 25 how to pronounce it. 50 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question. Does 911 2 assign a number, an arbitrated number to this thing? I 3 mean, it just seems that from a public safety standpoint 4 it should have some sort of designation. And I think 5 that they probably -- 6 COMMISSIONER PACES: I understand that this 7 road now is totally enclosed within private land, so it 8 no longer is a road per se. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER PACES: The guy -- the owner no 11 longer intends to use it as a road other than for 12 personal use. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So it's on his own 14 property. Okay. 15 COMMISSIONER PACES: Yeah. 16 MS. HOFFER: Well, and -- 17 COMMISSIONER PACES: Is that correct? 18 MS. HOFFER: -- we've been through this 19 before, I think, Commissioner Letz. I know that you've 20 had concerns when we've had a name and then they've 21 unnamed it, left it unnamed. And I don't know the 22 technical end of it, but Mark, I think, came to 23 Commissioners' Court to explain the type of system that 24 they have that there should be no problem in trying to 25 locate this property. 51 1 Again, I don't know the technical end of it, 2 but I know we went through a period that you got very, 3 very concerned about not renaming something. And -- 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 5 MS. HOFFER: -- but Mark said that we should 6 not worry about that. 7 JUDGE KELLY: I heard his explanation. I 8 didn't understand it then, I don't understand it now, 9 but I'm okay with it. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 11 JUDGE KELLY: So, any other discussion? 12 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 13 MS. HOFFER: Thank you. 14 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. Let's move over to the 15 Approval Agenda. 2.1 budget amendments. 16 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 17 JUDGE KELLY: 2.2 pay bills. 18 MRS. SHELTON: Invoices for today's 19 consideration $577,918.59. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 21 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 22 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 23 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to pay 24 the bills as presented. Any discussion? Those in favor 25 say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 52 1 2.3 late bills. 2 MRS. SHELTON: There are not any. 3 JUDGE KELLY: 2.4 Auditor reports. 4 MRS. SHELTON: Yes. There is one internal 5 Auditor report for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4. 6 We're asking that you accept it. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Move for approval. 8 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 9 JUDGE KELLY: Commissioner Letz moved for 10 approval of the Auditor reports as presented. Seconded 11 by Commissioner Paces. Any discussion? Those in favor 12 say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 13 2.5 monthly reports. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have monthly reports 15 from Constable Precinct 1, Tommy Rodriguez, Precinct 2, 16 Kyle Schneider, Precinct 3, Paul Gonzales, and 17 Precinct 4, Brad Rider. And from Justice of the Peace, 18 Precinct 1, Mitzi French, Precinct 2, J. R. Hoyne, 19 Precinct 3, Kathy Mitchell, and Precinct 4, an amended 20 report from Judge Ragsdale. I also have report from the 21 District Clerk, Dawn K. Lantz, audit for Tanya Shelton, 22 Treasurer's report from Tracy Soldan, and quarterly 23 report from Tracy Soldan and the Treasurer's office. I 24 move to accept all the reports. 25 COMMISSIONER PACES: I'll second. 53 1 JUDGE KELLY: Motion's been made by 2 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to 3 accept the monthly reports as presented. Any 4 discussion? Those in favor say aye. Opposed? 5 Unanimous. 6 2.6 court Orders. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We have a lot of Court 8 Orders. We have court orders from our October second 9 meeting, item -- or Court Orders 40257 and 40258. Both 10 of those are in order. 11 We have court orders from our September 11th 12 meeting, and those are Court Orders 40200 through 40230. 13 And in that group I did suggest -- or I do suggest a 14 change on 40217, which is related to the Veterans 15 Pathway park -- pathway project and the -- it currently 16 reads, Obligate the remaining America Rescue Plan Act 17 (ARPA) funds for construction and completion of the 18 Veterans Pathway Project. To me, we're not obligating 19 all of the ARPA funds, so I changed it to read, Obligate 20 the -- obligate the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 21 funds for the construction of the remaining -- or for 22 the remaining construction and completion of the 23 Veterans' Pathway Project. I moved it around to cover 24 all the uses for that project. And that was the only 25 one out of that group. 54 1 And then on Court Order -- from our 2 September 25th meeting, Court Orders 40231 through 3 40256, on 40236 I corrected the spelling of Jack Burch, 4 B-U-R-C-H, not B-I-R-C-H. 40238 currently reads, 5 Approve seven County Clerk job descriptions, new and 6 revised, and software names as presented. I don't 7 understand the word "names" being in there. So I 8 recommend we delete the word "names." I've checked with 9 Ian and Jody, and that's the way it was originally 10 written, but it doesn't make sense. So delete the word 11 "names." 12 And then on -- there's just a typo on 40246. 13 Instead of saying Precinct 1, it says Precinct L. 14 COURT REPORTER: Precinct what? 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: L. 16 And with those suggested changes, I'll make 17 a motion to approve all three groups of court orders. 18 COMMISSIONER PACES: Second. 19 JUDGE KELLY: Got a motion by Commissioner 20 Letz, seconded by Commissioner Paces to approve the 21 Court Orders as presented and revised. Any discussion? 22 Those in favor say aye. Opposed? Unanimous. 23 Moving on to the Information Agenda 3.1 24 status reports from Department Heads. Ms. Hoffer. 25 MS. HOFFER: I know I had sent some pictures 55 1 of our equipment that was out front at the Hill Country 2 Youth Exhibit Center, but I wanted to thank Ilda and 3 Tanya for helping us get through that process of getting 4 equipment surplused. That was probably -- I don't know, 5 probably three or four Commissioners' Court dates. 6 So the auction will be October 21st. And I 7 think it's like 8:00 to noon or 9:00 to noon. Don't 8 quote me on that. But it's on a Saturday. And you can 9 pre-register online and you can do bidding online. But 10 when it comes to that date, there's bids on pieces of 11 equipment, I think Trey Garrett will start at that 12 amount and they'll do the final bidding there. 13 But there's been a lot of people stopping 14 and looking at the equipment. Our shop was the ones 15 that got everything over there. Parked it. I think 16 they did a really great job. I've heard a lot of 17 comments on it. So -- but thanks to Tanya's office for 18 helping us get all of that surplused. I think it's 19 about 38 or 39 pieces of equipment, so -- 20 JUDGE KELLY: Good. Any other department 21 heads? 22 Moving on to 3.2 status reports from elected 23 officials. Miss Soldan. 24 MRS. SOLDAN: I just want to remind everyone 25 that Thursday this week on October 12th is our County 56 1 Health Fair and flu shot clinic, so come on out and get 2 your flu shot. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Very good. Any other elected 4 officials? 5 Moving on to 3.3 status reports from Liaison 6 Commissioners. 7 Okay. There being none, we're going to have 8 a brief break while we go into Executive Session to 9 address Items 1.14, which is the Interlocal Agreement on 10 the Al Mooney Road. And then we also have a 4.2(a), 11 which is consider, discuss and take appropriate action 12 regarding an Ag Extension Office personnel issue. 13 Those are the items that are discussed in 14 Executive Session. With that, we'll take a brief break, 15 let's say two or three minutes, and we'll be back in 16 session. 17 (Recess) 18 (Executive Session.) 19 JUDGE KELLY: Okay. It is 11:00 o'clock 20 and the Court has come out of Executive Order, and there 21 is no action to be taken so the Court is adjourned. 22 * * * * * * 23 24 25 57 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 20th day of October, A.D. 10 2023. 11 12 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/30/2025 14 * * * * * * 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25