Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

Before we get started this morning, I would like to introduce our former county judge, Danny Shale, who is with us this morning. Please stand, Danny.

Good morning.

Thank you, Judge Shale. I will call this commissioner's court meeting to order for June the 4th at approximately 8.31 a.m. For the record, Judge Hoyt is absent and the rest of the court is present this morning. We will start with our action agenda item number one, approve the claims.

I'm going to approve the claims as presented. EFTs, $165,453.44. Regular claims, $990,419.75. For a total of $1,155,873.19. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Webb and a second by Commissioner Crownover. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. Any opposed, same sign. The motion does pass. Agenda item number two is proclamation recognizing June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in Comal County.

Whereas older adults and people with disabilities of diverse backgrounds contribute to the well-being of this county by working, caregiving, volunteering, and actively preserving customs, rituals, and traditions. And whereas as we age, we build momentum by accumulating knowledge, experience, insight, and wisdom that can be shared to enrich our community. And whereas abuse of older adults and people with disabilities is a common concern affecting thousands of people across Texas. And whereas abuse affected more than 125,382 older adults and people with disabilities in Texas in 2025. And whereas abuse against older adults and people with disabilities is grossly underreported because of social stigma, embarrassment, and fear. And whereas older abuse affects men and women of all income ability levels, all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and in all communities. And whereas it is important to strengthen our efforts to prevent, report, and address elder abuse. Now therefore it be proclaimed by Commissioner's Court of Como County, that June 2026 is hereby recognized as Elder Abuse Awareness Month, and all residents are encouraged to work together to help reduce abuse and neglect of people who are elderly or have disabilities. I move to approve the proclamation just read.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Leacock and a second by Commissioner Crownover. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor please raise your right hand. The motion does pass. Do we have anybody here for this proclamation this morning? Thank you. Come on up, please, and we'll get you the proclamation, get a picture.

I'm going to scoot down a little bit this way, and then we'll look up. If you don't mind scooting down a little bit more, and we'll look up here for the photo. Are you ready? We'll take a couple of breaths. One, two, and three. And please just keep smiling. We're good. Thank you.

come around this side and speak to the crowd

Good morning, Your Honor, Commissioners, and distinguished guests. Thank you for designating June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in Comel County. Abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of older adults remains a serious concern both nationally and within our community. In 2025, Comel County Adult Protective Services received 769 intakes and completed 533 investigations of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation. Every person deserves to age with dignity, safety, independence, and respect. Through our partnering to protect incentive, Adult Protective Services, the South Texas Community Board, and community partners continue working together to strengthen awareness, expand resources, and support safe and independent aging in place. We are grateful to the Comel County Sheriff's Office, the New Bronzeville Police Department, Probate Courts and District Attorney's Office for their continued collaboration and commitment to protecting older adults and vulnerable individuals. Strong partnerships are essential to building safer, more connected communities for all generations. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to the well-being of our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

We will move on to item number three, which is a proclamation recognizing Carl and Adolph Haas families with the Texas Historical Commission subject marker.

Whereas the Carl and Adolph Haas families have been awarded a Texas Historical Commission subject marker designating the history of the subject to be a significant part of Texas history. And whereas in the spring of 1861, Carl and Katharina Haas and their three children departed Germany with a planned destination of Texas. During their voyage, the first shots of the Civil War were fired, and they were rerouted to New Orleans. in may 1861 for an extended stay the family eventually arrived in indianola texas then made the trek inland arriving in comal county by the spring of 1862 and whereas in 1865 the carl haas family settled in the sparsely populated area of north north comal county and by 1866 received a deed for 160 acres of land that later extended their family farm by an additional 160 acres, where they lived and farmed until Katharina died in 1887. After Katharina's death, Carl moved in with his son, Adolph, and later died in 1899. Carl and Katharina are buried in the Carl Haas Cemetery that was designated as a historic Texas cemetery in 2018. And whereas Adolph Haas and Wilhelmine Crookmire Haas who met and married in 1872, had ten sons and five daughters, and by 1872 acquired almost 1,500 acres of land near their parents, Carl and Katharina Haas, and by 1906 owned over 3,600 acres of land where they constructed a large home with an upstairs bunk room for their 15 children. And whereas, the Adolf Haas family corralled and trained wild horses and mules, which they sold and traded throughout the region. They lived off the land, raising cattle, hogs, turkeys, and chickens that provided meat, milk, butter, and eggs, and they canned and dried fruits and vegetables from their orchards and gardens. And whereas Adolph Haas died in 1917 and Wilhelmine Haas died in 1938, they were descended by 57 grandchildren and 109 great-grandchildren, many of whom have served Texas communities as school board members, city and county government officials, and employees, and as soldiers and officers in the U.S. military. And whereas Paula Reeker authored the narrative for... This marker, based on research for her book, The Heritage Lands of the 7-Eleven Ranch, and is the sponsor for this marker. And whereas a marker dedication will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 6th at 86 Daughter Lane, Spring Branch, Texas, 78070. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Comal County Commissioner's Court and the Comal County Historical Commission hereby wish to commend Paula Reeker on your work toward receiving this marker and your dedication to historical preservation and recording the history of Comal County. I move to approve the proclamation just read.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crownover, a second by Commissioner Webb. Do we have any discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor, please raise your right hand. And the motion does pass. Thank you. I know we have a big group of people here for that. If you all would like to come up, we'll get a picture.

Now let's go up top. I don't know which one, but I'm a descendant of one of these.

Good morning. It is such an honor to be here today and to receive this proclamation. Being up here with the Haas family just really touches me so dearly because they have been such an integral part of pulling their story together in years and years of history, and I could not have done it without all of these people up here, so we thank them. Twenty-five years ago, my husband and I moved to Comal County, and we were fortunate to land as early settlers up in the area known as Mystic Shore Subdivision. And we were fortunate to purchase the 711 Ranch home place there, which just led us into a very deep passion for the area, as well as a... deep curiosity as who used to live here. And that landed us on a 20-year journey, as many of you know, to research the lands and to publish this book, The Heritage Lands of the 7-Eleven Ranch. And it holds the story of the Haas family that was contributed by so many people. And it is a remarkable story for this family. It's the story of great tragedy and great triumph. When you read their stories that have been contributed, you will have tears of laughter and joy, and then you will have tears of sadness over the things that they endured in their 70 years on the lands of what we now know as Mystic Shores. And one of the remarkable things is as Adolph expanded his ranch to the over 3,600 acres, that is really now the entire north side of Mystic Shores. So many homes and so many residents there have their property tied to the Haas family. And now they're going to understand that. And we thank so many people for this historical marker. I do thank the Mystic Shores Property Owners Association because they granted us the right to place this marker at one of the swimming pools where so many young families are going to come and enjoy their summers, and they're going to read that marker and understand who came before them and the long history that they have shared. thanks to our commissioner, Jim Crownover, who is always so supportive of everything that we do, and the dear Comal County Historical Commission that is just behind the scenes and in front of the scenes in everything that happens in this county from a historical perspective. So we thank them all. I also thank my very dear husband for enduring all of the long years of research and his deep involvement in editing and every aspect of this project. So thank you. It's been a great privilege.

I want to thank Paula Reker. This is the fourth marker for Comal County that she has been behind and has been the sponsor for and written the narratives. And she's just a dream to work with. And we've really enjoyed it. The whole historical commission has. And congratulations to the Haas family. What an honor for their family to have this marker. And as always, we appreciate the commissioner's court. Thank you.

I just also want to thank Paula for the privilege of this. I feel honored because last year, I believe it was, she did this for the Catterly family, which was also my grandparents. So, Paula, one of these days, I expect one of these from me, okay? But we're so honored for what she's doing. And then I'll tell you one quick story. It was my great-grandfather, Adolph Haas, who had my grandmother, Helena. And my grandfather, Louie, lived right down the hill, Louie Catterly. And Opal Louie used to go out. He was a musician. He had an accordion. He'd go out at night and play the accordion for my Helena to hear right up the hill. And my story I got from my aunts all the time was that her dad didn't like my Opelui, so he'd come out on the porch with a big frying pan and beat against it. Those are the stories I grew up with. Thank you all so much.

Okay, we will move into our workshop agenda and item number one is citizens' comments. Public comments may address items of public interest and concern or a specific agenda item and are limited to three minutes per person. Please be respectful in your comments. Pursuant to the Texas Open Meetings Act, the court will use this opportunity to receive your comments but is limited in its ability to respond to the comments. Do we have anybody that would like to come during this time and make comments? Please come forward.

Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Kate Off, and I am here today on behalf of many residents in the Summit Estates at Fisher regarding the proposed cancellation of lots 277 and 278. I understand that this item is currently scheduled for consideration on the Court's June 11th agenda. I'm not asking the court to take any action today. Rather, I am here to ensure that the concerns of our community are heard, placed on public record, and considered as part of the review process before next week's meeting. First, I want to thank the court and the county staff for the time and effort that has gone into reviewing this matter. I do appreciate the work required to evaluate these requests and the responsibility the court has in balancing property rights, legal requirements, and community interests. I'm here today because I believe this request deserves careful consideration and should not be viewed as routine administrative action. The application submitted to the county states that the proposed cancellation does not interfere with the established rights of property owners within the subdivision. However, we currently have 173 property owners who disagree with that conclusion and have expressed concerns that their rights and protections may be affected. That fact alone should warrant a thorough review. Property owners in some of the states at Fisher purchased property within a recorded subdivision. We relied upon the recorded plat, deed restrictions, easements, and the overall development scheme of the community when making significant investments in our home and our property. Our concern is not simply that the two lots are being removed from the subdivision. Our concerns are what follows. The court is aware that these lots are not being removed simply to remain vacant land. The intended future use of these properties is what has generated significant concerns throughout the community and is the reason that so many property owners have become engaged in the process. We have requested information regarding any studies or analysis relied upon in determining that no property owner rights have been affected. If such studies conclude that there is no interference with established property rights, I respectfully question how that conclusion was reached when 173 property owners are formally stating that they believe otherwise. At a minimum, that demonstrates that there is legitimate question that deserves careful consideration. I would ask that the court to consider the precedent that may be established by this decision. If a property owner can submit an application to remove land from a recorded subdivision, Despite substantial opposition from neighboring property owners who may believe that their rights have been impacted, what standard would this apply to future requests? That question extends far beyond some of the states at Fisher. Property owners throughout Como County rely on recorded plats, subdivision layouts, deed restrictions, and established development patterns when purchasing property and making long-term investments. They deserve confidence that those interests will receive meaningful consideration whenever a cancellation request is presented. I'm not here today to ask for a particular outcome. I am simply asking for transparency diligence, and a full evaluation of whether this cancellation truly interferes with the established rights of property owners as required by law.

Ma'am, if you could wrap it up, please.

You're over your three minutes. Yes. 173 property owners have come forward to say they believe their rights are affected. I believe those concerns deserve to be heard, placed on record, and carefully examined before any final decision is made. Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration.

Thank you, ma'am. I'm going to allow more people up, but we're not going to have applause afterwards. We're going to hear the comments and we're going to go forward. Will you please come forward, sir?

Good morning, Commissioners. My name is William Conrad. I live at 706 Stars and Stripes in Fisher. I'm a member of some of the states at Fisher as well. I'm also going to speak on the same subject, and my neighbor, John Law, he lives at 546 Stars and Stripes. He's asking me to speak on his behalf as well. I'm also speaking regarding the application by Mr. Anderson regarding lots 277 and 278. His assertion under Local Government Code 232.009 is inaccurate because he does have effect on the rights of others. He's seeking this application on behalf of Texas Water Company, the potential buyer of his lots. His assertion is in order to remove the easements, assessments, and restrictions on those lots that we set up in 2025 and recorded in order to allow the construction of a 1 million gallon per day water treatment plant. This violates the restriction that only allows the construction of single-family homes in our subdivision. When he joined the association with the rest of us, he knowingly and willingly agreed to the restrictions on our subdivision. This created a property of right that created the understanding that we would only have a residential community without industrial development on our properties. This action being initiated now by Mr. Anderson is now violating that property right he created with us. However, he's not just violating our property rights. This plant is being built, is proposed to be built on the only road in and out of our subdivision at the entrance to our subdivision. It will become a threat to public safety. It will be the place where our schoolchildren walk through the middle of an industrial plant, going to and from the school bus, or rather, bicycles to and from the school bus every day. When we go to church or work, we'll have to navigate through this big water treatment plant, a million gallons a day. When the fire department or EMS comes to our community to rescue somebody, they'll have to navigate through a water treatment plant. I ask you, how will this affect response times for the emergency services to us? It will also affect our property values. The entrance to our community will be decorated by a large major industrial complex. one of the largest water treatment plants in the Canyon Lake area. Construction of the plant will likely cause significant harm to roads in our subdivision as well as Fisher Store Road.

Sir, if you could wrap it up, your three minutes are up.

Okay. Your county engineer talked recently about how construction affects roads and suggested road bonds. We can't put a road bond on our roads. Because this is inaccurate, I'm asking you to exercise your discretion and authority to deny this application. I'm going to leave you by asking, Why did you become County Commissioner? To support the interests of a million dollar, billion dollar corporation from Connecticut, the parent company of Texas Water Company. They have $153 million in cash on hand. To put that in perspective, they have more money to wrap it up police in cash on hand than we have in total wealth in our subdivision so please deny this application support the rights and interests of your neighbors not a connecticut corporation thank you for your courtesy thank you sir yes ma'am in the back please

Commissioners, good morning. My name is Carolyn Andrews, and now I'm going to make this short because the other folks have pretty much hit on all the points. But my husband and I moved on stars and stripes in Summit Estate at Fisher in 2021. At our age, we considered this to be our forever home, and we hoped to go out feet first. But when we bought our home, it was abundantly clear to us at closing there was an HOA, an HOA fee, and regulations. We understood that. We could not know differently. We love our home. We love our lot and our neighborhood. Mr. Anderson has submitted an application, as you know, to remove lots 277 and 278 from our subdivision. In essence, he's asking you to grant him a divorce from our subdivision. Texas Water Company wishes to build and expand a bigger well with our private well that was built for our subdivision. And as Willie mentioned, large infrastructure, it's going to be an industrial park at the entrance of our subdivision. So when we try to sell our home, we'll just say, well, just close your eyes for about five seconds till you get through that part, and you won't see all that, never mind the man behind the curtain. Selling these lots will allow Texas Water Company to provide water to a proposed development on 484. That alone is frightening because the way that that developer treats their wastewater is not in the best. They don't use purple pipe. They don't reuse. It goes into Pipers Creek and heads on down to Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake was built primarily as a reservoir, not flood control. That's where we get a great deal of our drinking water. That's a real concern to me. I'm asking you as the commissioners to not play the role of divorce attorney and deny the release of lots 277 and 278 from some of the states at Fisher. Thank you for your time.

Thank you ma'am. Do we have anybody else?

Please come up.

Thank you for having me. Appreciate your time. My name is Sarah Garza and I'm the president of the Summit Estates at Fisher. I want to just share with you really quickly a basically a quick history of what's been happening in our subdivision when it's concerning lots 277 and 278. In November of 2025, TWC came to our community and they basically asked for a blanket approval to do as they wished with those two lots at the front of our subdivision. They currently have a 30 by 80 area that they are allowed to do stuff in with their easement. They expressed to us at that time that they had enough room in the easement that they currently have on both sides of the road to do what they needed to do. We asked for more information. So in December of 2025, the homeowner filed for a blanket utility easement over those lots. That blanket utility easement is not legal. It was filed illegally. Our deed restrictions clearly state that in order to make any changes to our deed restrictions or easements within our subdivision, you have to have two-thirds approval from our subdivision in order to do such. That homeowner took it upon himself to file that single piece of paper and create a blanket easement over two lots in our subdivision. This in itself is illegal and the council for both sides have been made very aware of this. In March, the application to cancel these lots was filed by that homeowner. In April, TWC came back to us and asked for another meeting. We took that meeting. At that time, they made it very, very clear to us their intentions were to take our wells and to create a regional well. They said to us that they would increase the well production by 10 times what it was producing now. Right now, our subdivision is producing about 100,000 gallons a day. They want to be producing a million gallons a day. They have not yet explained to us any other actions that have been taken to to prevent having to do such massive improvements on these lots. So the next thing that they did, they filed for this application for cancellation. So it seems to me as if this landowner is going every which direction to do this in a legal way, but the same results will apply. This landowner stands to make monetary gain at the expense of our community. And we ask you to consider Texas Property Code number 232.008 that states that if this court has affected property owners that object to this and they will be substantially affected, and the residential nature of our community will certainly be affected by this result. then you, as county commissioners, you have the right to make your decision on your own. It becomes no longer just an administration situation. This becomes your choice to protect our community, to protect our water supply, and to protect the communities that are around us. I ask you to consider the precedence that this would set, not only for our community, but the HOAs around us. If this is such an easy process for people to divorce themselves from their community, then we have a real issue with our other communities that rely on deed restrictions to protect their communities. Please, I ask you to take careful consideration when you're making this decision next Thursday. Thank you for your time. We appreciate you.

Thank you, ma'am. Next person, please. Do we have anybody else that wants to come up and speak? Thank you.

Lisa Breger, I'm a resident of Fisher, Texas, but not a resident of Summit Estates at Fisher. A landowner tried giving TWC a blanket easement on his two lots at the entrance to Summit Fisher, but he had to violate HOA easement restrictions to do it. In response, the HOA retained legal counsel to oppose the blanket easement, and discussions are ongoing between TWC and the HOA about plans for expansion onto those two lots. After the HOA opposition, the landowner applied to this court to cancel his lots in the subdivision. Has the court asked the landowner, who's not a resident in Summit Fisher, why after 19 years he is seeking to cancel his part of the subdivision? Is the intent that by canceling his property in the subdivision, he can clear a path to getting around the HOA easement restrictions? The question matters because there is an obligation to determine, not merely defer to a checked box on a form, whether the cancellation or revision will interfere with the established rights of any owner in the subdivision. I have printed sections 232.008 and 009 that I will pass around, and I've highlighted the text that gives conditions under which the commissioners are prescribed to allow the cancellation. Failing those conditions being met, the commissioners must indeed not allow the cancellation. Now, why all this fuss over a blanket easement on those two lots? Because that's what allows TWC's Summit Fisher project, the expansion of water treatment facilities to across the road at the subdivision's entrance, and allowing TWC to pursue its target production capacity of a million gallons a day, as presented to the HOA in April. And those are the subject of the slides that I sent you guys last night. So this increase in current production capacity at Summit Fisher is a 1,000% increase, that is a tenfold increase, coming from increased water treatment capacity, not increased well pumping. A million gallons a day is enough to provision 2,500 homes, that is to say nine times more than a total build-out at Summit Fisher. And it would allow the facilities at Summit Fisher to actually treat all the water for all four existing subdivisions in that area and still have a surplus enough for 854 homes. Where did the target a million gallons a day come from? It has been suggested that original capacity at Summit Fisher may have been a million gallons a day. But that has not been verified. And I specifically asked that of TWC yesterday. It was not verified. Without a reason for such an extravagant amount of production capacity treatment production capacity and without an explanation for the target it's difficult to see why a more modest plan couldn't improve service in the area and avoid the need for the proposed expansion onto the two lots perhaps the residents of summit fisher don't need a water treatment utility sitting astride their front door after all, and could still have good service, as could the other subdivisions. Commissioners, you can say no to this cancellation. Indeed, I implore you to do so.

Thank you, ma'am. Thanks. Anybody else? Seeing no one else, we will move on to workshop agenda. Item number two is reports by county staff and elected officials on items of community interest. Do we have anybody that would like to say something? Ms. Flores?

Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for allowing us to have a few moments today. I would like to take this opportunity to share information about a community initiative that all four Colombo County Constable Offices are participating in, the second annual Constable's Camp Food Drive, which began June 1st and will continue through July 1st. We have partnered with CRRC and their food pantry to help provide hunger relief to families throughout Colombo County. My office had the opportunity to tour the CRRC facility and learn more about the essential services they provide to the Canyon Lake area and surrounding communities. What we discovered was truly impressive. In addition to providing food assistance, CRRC offers access to basic medical care, medical equipment, temporary housing assistance, and numerous other resources designed to help individuals and families facing difficult circumstances. As constables, our primary responsibility is to execute the lawful orders of the courts and to serve the citizens of our precincts. However, during the course of our duties, particularly while executing evictions and other civil process, we sometimes encounter individuals and families who are experiencing some of the most challenging moments in their lives. Because of our partnership and familiarity with CRRC, we are better equipped to direct those individuals to resources that may help them get them back on their feet. Sometimes people simply do not know where to turn for help, and having that information can make a significant difference. This canned food drive is a modest effort, but it has the potential to make a meaningful impact on families throughout our community. The CRRC Food Pantry has identified several items that are currently in high demand, including canned fruit, canned vegetables, especially green beans, and other non-perishable canned food items. Donations can be dropped off during normal business hours at Como County Constable's offices throughout the month of June. I would like to thank CRRC for the incredible work they do every day, for opening their doors to us, and for their continued commitment to serving our residents. I would also like to thank Commissioners Court and the citizens of Claremont County for your continued support of community partnerships that help improve the lives of those we serve.

We appreciate the partnership. We can't do what we do without this great community. And knowing that we have the constables together with us makes it even better. Thank you.

Thank you, Constable Forrest. Do we have anybody else that would like to make comments?

Morning, Commissioners. As you know, we've signed a contract with HNTB to develop a road improvement program for Comal County. We're going to have a series of public meetings starting two weeks from tonight, so the 18th, 23rd, June 25th, and then after the 4th of July, we have two the week after that. The locations of those are shown on this map. The first one will be here at the courthouse on the third floor. And then we'll have it throughout the county on other dates. And this is for the public to come in and see what staff and elected officials have come up with as far as potential projects to get input from them and also look at other projects that might be suggested by the public. If you can't make it in person, there's a QR code on the flyer. And if you follow that, Tom's going to bring up our website here. And it'll take it to our county engineer's office website. And we have a banner there with a road improvements open house. And you can read more about that. and look at the projects that have been developed and presented to the court. And then we'll have, again, to get input from the public. And so we invite the public to come to those meetings and to provide input on the road improvement program. So thank you all very much.

Thank you, Mr. Boyd. Anybody else? OK, we will move back into our action agenda item. We will go to item number four. Discuss and consider approval of the amendment to plat of the Cordova Bend at Canyon Lake, Unit 2, combining lots 116 and 117, and establishing lot 116R, an authorized county judge to sign.

Good morning, Commissioners. Ms. Santamaria has some large lots out there in Cordova. We'd like to combine them. We do have a clean application, and I recommend approval.

Move to approve action agenda item number four.

I have a motion by Commissioner Leacock, a second by Commissioner Webb. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. The motion does pass. Moving on to item number five, discuss and consider approval of the amendment to plat of Cypress Lake Gardens, Big Sky Ranches, block 200, combining lots 5, 6, and 7, and establishing lot 5R, an authorized county judge to sign.

Commissioners, property owners have three lots they'd like to combine. Ashley's processed the application and everything's great, so we'd like to have this approved.

Move to approve action agenda item number five. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crownover and a second by Commissioner Webb. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. The motion does pass. Item number six, discuss and consider approval of the amendment to Platte of the Legends at Rancho Del Lago, Unit 2, combining lots 197, 198, and 199, establishing lot 197R, and authorize county judge to sign.

Gonzales family has three large lots. They would like to combine three. We recommend approval.

Move to approve. Action denied. Item number six. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crownover and a second by Commissioner Webb. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor please raise your right hand. The motion does pass. Thank you. Item number seven discuss and consider approval of resolution number 2026-13 authorizing the county judge to submit a grant application under the railroad crossing elimination Crossing Safety Program through the Federal Railroad Administration to support the Orion Drive and House Street Railroad Safety Upgrades Project.

Good morning, Commissioners. This is a grant application. It's actually due on June 8th. But we're considering this resolution for Orion Drive and Howe Street. I want to go through a couple of slides on that. So Orion Drive and Howe Street are crossing Indian Pacific Railroad. These are the final two public crossings that do not have safety arms in the county. Orion Drive is located, here's a picture in the area, and you can see from 2018 to 2026 the amount of developments happened in the area and the amount of increased traffic that's going over this railroad in the last several years. Orion Drive does not have any safety arms. We've actually enhanced it recently by putting some additional LED lights around the stop sign to bring more attention to it so people are aware of the railroad crossing. At La Crosse, we've had some accidents there. And these are the accident reports that have been provided by DPS. And we actually had a fatality there last July. And so our office, in coordination with the MPO, has a Comal County railroad crossing study that was going on at the time. And so CONSOR has been hired by the MPO to develop this. And they actually saw, based on public comment and stakeholder input, Orion Drive was the number one ranked project to be addressed through the railroad crossing report. As far as House Street, it's not as much development, but we wanted to go after both of these at the same time because neither of these crossings had safety arms. House Street is the northern part of the county, just south of Hayes County. And it's an area that you can see we have a similar type situation. We have stop signs and crossbucks there, but no safety arms. House Street was ranked as the number four ranked project by CONSOR when they did their study as well based on stakeholder input. and public input as well. We have letters of support. The city of New Braunfels, you can see on the Orion Drive one, is right there at the border of the city of New Braunfels. We also have letters of support from the MPO and also the constables in Precinct 4 for Orion Drive and Precinct 3 for Howe Street. The cost of the two projects together is just over $3 million. That's an 80-20 split. And so the county's portion would be just over $633,000. This is not budgeted at this time because it's a grant application. So if the county were awarded this, we'd bring a contract before the court to consider. And at that time, they'd have to fund this project in full and then get reimbursed the 80%. I think a good question that comes up of this is that this is a Union Pacific Railroad. Why is the county considering this? Will Union Pacific eventually get to it? And our experience is that the answer is yes, but we're not aware of any projects that Union Pacific has out for this site, and we don't know what the timing could be as far as getting safety arms installed by Union Pacific. And so by applying for this grant, it allows the opportunity to potentially have safety arms installed in short order versus waiting on Union Pacific in the future, which we don't know when that could be. And so that is what we're considering here as far as the resolution and the application for Orion Drive and House Street as far as the safety arms.

Move to approve action agenda item number seven. Second.

We have a motion by Commissioner Webb, a second by Commissioner Crownover. Do we have any discussion or questions?

Yes, sir. I've got a few. So if we went forward with this, what do you think the timeline would be? You said we could do it more rapidly. So what do you think that would look like?

I think this would be shortly into the new year in 2027. And so this is a federal program. It's through the Federal Rail Administration. So there's several million dollars that are out there. And so the applications would be considered. We'd have a process of that. And so the actual construction, if we were selected, would probably be sometime in 2027. Okay.

And then you showed pictures of both of these crossings, and neither one of them have safety arms. That's correct. How many crossings like that and public roads are there in the county?

Those are the only two left in Comah County.

All the rest of the county crossings have safety arms?

Yes, sir. That's correct.

Okay, and then you said also that this is due on June the 7th. June 8th. June, excuse me, June 8th. Will we have time to have a judge sign this, or do we need to authorize Commissioner Hogg to sign this, I guess? Do you think we'll be able to?

I mean, that would be Monday, and so we could authorize Commissioner Hogg to do that just to be safe.

You can, in the motion, authorize the presiding officer to submit and approve. And if that is at the time, Commissioner Hogg, he can do it. If not, then Judge Hoyt when she returns.

But we think she'll be back to sign it on Monday.

That's my understanding. Yes, sir.

All right. And then these, so I guess these crossings themselves cost about a million and a half dollars each. Like if we went out and did one on our own, we'd probably.

Yes, sir. And as part of this, we're also looking at putting quiet zones in. which puts a barrier in place. And so that prevents people from going around the arms when they're down. And so that would be included in these two projects as well.

potentially for each one of these, we could get that whole thing done for $300,000. Yes, sir, for each one. Because in the past, we've not taken action on kind of trying to do quiet zones everywhere because we, you know, you start doing that and then everybody wants one. But in this case, we'd be heavily subsidized. I mean, we're only paying 20% of it. So that distinguishes what we're doing here in putting quiet zones.

Yes, sir. Yeah, the opportunity here is to add safety arms, and while we're doing that, while we're on site, the contractor would install the quiet zone as well. And so it would be a matter of we had the opportunity and we took that. Yes, sir.

Okay. I've got a question. So dealing with the rail lines is a beast in and of itself. Who would be managing the project if we were to get the grant?

Well, Federal Rail Administration would fund the project. As far as the county, my office would be managing the project from that standpoint. And then, like I said, it's a reimbursement program. And so then we would work with the auditor's office to submit any types of contracts or invoices that we pay to the Federal Rail Administration and get reimbursed in an 80-20 split.

So the Federal Railroad Association actually does the work to build these crossings?

No, like I said, it's a reimbursement program. So we would be tasked with doing that and then they would fund the 80%.

So Union Pacific, they do have plans to fix these crossings, put in railroad arms, but they just can't tell you when?

I'm not aware of any plans they have in place right now. But our experience has been they've done this on previous ones that didn't have safety arms. And I just don't have any insight as to their schedule for these two locations.

So you're talking about adding two quiet zones. What's the cost of adding a quiet zone?

In this situation, it's about $100,000 additional cost to add a quiet zone because we're doing the work of adding the safety arms. Normally, a quiet zone by itself, just set aside, is probably... $300,000 to $400,000 each with all the design, construction, and coordination with Union Pacific.

So does adding the quiet zone make any difference to the crossing as far as safety or efficiency?

From a safety standpoint, those barriers that are in place are required for a quiet zone. The reason they're able to have quiet zones is it prevents people from driving around the arms. So if you just had safety arms down,

doesn't qualify as a safe as a quiet zone because people can drive around the arms and that's why the trains continue to honk their horns all the way through i just have a real problem with us paying this money because if you if you put quiet zones out there your phone's going to start ringing for the people that don't have quiet zones say we'll come do it to our crossing also how are we going to treat those people

I think that's the point that Commissioner Webb brought up, is that we are addressing quiet zones here because the opportunity presents itself while we're doing the safety arms. We've brought quiet zone opportunities before the court before, and we know where that landed. And so I think it would be a matter of we can investigate it and we can look into it, but it's a separate animal from what we're looking at here because of the nature of the safety arms we're trying to get installed.

What we're trying to do is get ahead of this of Union Pacific not doing what they're supposed to do and do it for them, and we're going to pay for it? We're going to pay 20% of the cost. 20%, which is still $600,000. Yes, sir. Do you think that if we had an improvement of a road or an intersection close to one of these crossings, do you think Union Pacific would give us any money to help improve their intersection at all? Based on my experience in Union Pacific, I don't believe so, no, sir. I bet they won't. Yes, sir. I bet it will be a big no. And Union Pacific is a private entity. They're on the U.S. stock market. Should we be using our property tax dollars to fund a crossing improvements on their tracks? I don't think we should. It's a valid question. Yes, sir. Do we have any other questions? Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Webb and a second by Commissioner Crownover. We've already had discussion and questions. All in favor, please raise your right hand. All opposed, same sign. The motion does pass. Thank you. Moving on to number eight. Discuss and consider award of bid 2026-1111, mulching of green waste and authorize Comal County Purchasing Agent to execute all related documents.

Good morning, Commissioners. We had two responses to bid 2026-1111, and we recommend award to Trees R Us.

Move to approve action agenda item number eight.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crownover, a second by Commissioner Leacock to award the bids to... Can you go back one slide?

Streets R Us Incorporated. Thank you.

Any other discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor please raise your right hand. All opposed, same sign. The motion does pass. Thank you. Item number nine. Discuss and consider approval of an order granting a discretionary exemption pursuant to local government code number 262.024 for the purchase of milk product. Excuse me.

Good morning, Commissioners. So in this order, we're requesting to exempt the milk we purchased from Oak Farms or Dairy Farms of America. Reason being is our current food provider only delivers food or milk products to the jail once a week, and that was leading to spoilage issues where we were having complaints from the inmates and or we had waste. Oak Farm actually delivers twice a week, so it reduces the amount of waste and any spoilage problems. So again, it's a benefit to the jail and to the county as a whole. So I respectfully request approval of this agenda item.

Move to approve agenda item number nine. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Webb, a second by Commissioner Leacock. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. The motion does carry. Thank you. Item number 10, discuss and consider approval of a memorandum of understanding between Comalc County Sheriff's Office and the American Humane Society and authorized sheriff to sign.

Good morning, commissioners. This is an agreement between the American Humane Society. So as the county's grown, we've gotten to larger animal seizure operations. And this is a national organization based out of Washington, DC, that can give us any assistance for that. They provide financial and manpower support anytime we will have these operations. This is just going to be an agreement, so whenever we need it, we can call on them.

I don't think she was asking a question. I think she was making a motion.

Yeah, I just thought I was interrupting you. I'm so sorry. Move to approve extension item number 10.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crown over a second by Commissioner Leacock. Do we have any discussion or questions? Seeing none, all in favor, please raise your right hand. The motion does pass.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Thank you. Item number 11, discuss and consider acceptance of the 2025 annual audit report for Comal County Emergency Services Districts 1 through 7. Do I need to list all those individually or are we all right with?

No, Commissioner, 1 through 7. Okay, very good.

Move to approve action agenda item number 11.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Crownover, a second by Commissioner Leacock. Do we have any... Discussion or questions? All in favor please raise your right hand. Motion does pass. Item number 12. Discuss and consider approval for the purchase of four alternative light source ALS lights with accessories out of the Sheriff's Office line item 5614, non-capital, no budget amendment necessary.

Morning, commissioners. If I could give you all just a little back story on this. So we currently have one ALS system that is shared between our four inquest forensic personnel. This is not just about, actually, it's about the technology. So that one piece of equipment, is a very large piece of equipment that requires two people to carry it. And we're trying to share that one piece of equipment between four people. This technology, 10 years later, now it would go to each individual forensic inquest investigator. And they're handheld. It's very, very portable. So we do have the money in non-capital. But we are coming before you to ask if we can go ahead and make this purchase.

Move to approve action agenda number 12.

Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Leacock and a second by Commissioner Crownover. Do we have any discussion or questions? Tell me exactly what this thing does. I'm just curious.

It almost kind of looks very similar to a flashlight. But each one of the operators, you'll have different colored glasses that you'll look through. And then on the actual piece of equipment, you can put different colored lenses on it, and it will help you find evidence.

and that's what it's for thank you very good yes sir all in favor please raise your right hand and the motion does pass item number 13 discuss and consider approval of the line item transfer administrative cross from contingency to sheriff livestock astray to provide additional funds for the remainder of 2026.

Commissioners, we have several operations that have taken place and that will be taking place, and these funds are to cover the cost of those large operations.

Move to approve action agenda item number 13. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Leacock, a second by Commissioner Webb. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. The motion does pass. Thank you. Item number 14, discuss and consider approval of a line item transfer and administrative costs from contingency capital and non-capital equipment to Constable Precinct 1 non-capital equipment to provide additional funds for the purchase of budgeted computers and laptops due to increased costs. Good morning, Constable Motz.

Good morning, Commissioners. This request is in connection to the increase of costs by Dell in order to cover the computers they were budgeted for.

Move to approve action agenda item 14. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Leacock and a second by Commissioner Crownover. Do we have any discussion or questions? All in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion does pass. Thank you. We have no need for executive session today, so we are in recess. Thank you.