Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

It is 8.30. We will call this regular session of Commissioner's Court to order and let the record reflect that all members of the court are present and there is a quorum. We will begin with action agenda item number one to approve claims.

Judge, I move to approve the claims as presented for July the 9th, 2026. EFT is $1,214,170.54. Regular claims $1,252,891.85 for a total of $2,467,062.39. Second.

There's a motion to approve claims by Commissioner Hogg with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any questions or discussion? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item two is a proclamation recognizing the Camel County Historical Commission with the Texas Historical Commission 2025 Distinguished Service Award.

Whereas the Camel County Historical Commission has accomplished substantial preservation work that celebrates the role of history in our lives and acknowledges with thanksgiving the outstanding contributions made by those who came before us while emphasizing stewardship of our cultural and historical resources, encouraging economic development, and generating interest in the history and character of our county. And whereas the Camel County Historical Commission has participated in effective partnerships with the Camel County Commissioner's Court, Texas Historical Commission, City of New Braunfels Comprehensive Planning Department, City of New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Department, City of New Braunfels Historic Landmark Commission, New Braunfels Conservation Society, Heritage Society of New Braunfels, Headwaters at the Comal, in the Sofianburg Museum and Archives. And whereas the Camel County Historical Commission served as the point of contact for the Texas Historical Commission Marker Program by assisting with designations, marker research, and marker dedications for the Mission Hill, Kinder Mask and Ball, Benedict Catterly Family, Market Plaza, Dillinger Village La Calera, Lursen House, Freeholtz Medical Building, Freeholtz House, Franz Heimer, Stephen F. Austin Booker T. Washington School, and Carl and Adolph Hoss families, and awarded the 12th Annual Frederick Freeholtz Preservation Award to Marvin and Ann Gimbinardi, Whereas, the Comow County Historical Commission volunteered numerous hours in 2025 for certified local government grant projects for National Register of Historic Places nominations of the Central New Braunfels Historic District and the Dittlinger Family Residential Historic District. The survey project for Mill Street and Comow Avenue New Braunfels conducting site visits to monitor the physical condition of Texas and Secretary of the Interior designated properties. participating in the Sophienberg Museum and Archives Fiesta Patria event, submitting nominations for Texas Treasurer Business Awards, and completing Section 106 project reviews. And whereas the education of current and future generations will continue to be enhanced through the identification and preservation of the county's historic resources with relevant information in the media and other communication avenues available to the Historical Commission. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Camel County Commissioner's Court hereby gratefully honor and congratulate the Camel County Historical Commission for receiving the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Historical Commission and invites all residents of Camel County to recognize the members of this commission for their extraordinary accomplishments. Judge, I move to approve the proclamation as read.

We have a motion to approve the proclamation by Commissioner Webb with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any discussion, questions, comments? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Y'all please join us.

Thank you. Okay, I'm going to take a few of these. One, two, three.

So I think that there's a lot of sentiment around to keep things small, right? And I tell you what, when I go and do one of the events with y'all, it is so small town. And it harkens back, of course it does, because we're talking about history, to a time when things were simpler and better And I just want to tell you all how much we appreciate the work that you do and how much I enjoy going out and doing these market presentations and all that kind of stuff. This last one that we did down at Sofianburg with La Calera was just a pleasure. It's just classic small town America, just so great. So I just want to express our gratitude for what you all do. And this is well-deserved, of course. So thank you.

Each year, the Distinguished Service Award is given by the Texas Historical Commission, and it's based on our annual reports that we have to submit. And the THC Outreach Program evaluates all those reports, and then they select those historical commissions who have exceeded those expectations compared to others statewide. In 2025, The CHCs contributed an impressive over 266,000 volunteer hours, which translate to an in-kind donation of over $9 million given back to the state. So that's a lot of volunteer hours from across the state from the county historical commissions. In 2025, Comal County Historical Commission had 2,500 volunteer hours that we contributed to that. So out of 191 historical commissions that reported in 2025, there were only 62 that were given this award, and we were one of them. We have received the award consecutively for the last 14 years, which is great. And I think I speak for all of us that we really appreciate the support of the Commissioner's Court. Without them, we wouldn't be able to accomplish all the great projects that we do. We thank you for the proclamation. And to be recognized by the Texas Historical Commission is really special. So we really just appreciate everything. Thank you.

We will move into our workshop agenda now. We'll begin with item one, which is citizens' comments. Is there anyone here this morning to address the court?

OK.

Yes.

Good morning. Good morning. Judge Hoyt and our commissioners of Comal County. My name is Mary Fox. I am a resident of Comal County. I've lived here since 1982. Had the blessings of getting to be in the rivers and in the lakes and then in the beautiful Hill Country. I've raised a family here. I'm here today because I am also running for House District 73. And while I understand that this is not a time to campaign and that is not my intent, I do want to tell you I understand the position that you are in. As a retired school principal, I was often caught between the people I want to serve and the rules of the state. I know that you were in the same predicament as I have attended meetings and talked with science experts and water advocates and community advocates. I understand that often your hands are tied. and the things that you are able to do are not necessarily what you want to do because you don't have that authority. I hope that as we move forward, I am able to support your endeavors in serving this community. I understand that water is not political, but the people who control it are, unfortunately. And the more we have conversations, even when we disagree, the more that we are willing to work together, the better that we can serve our communities. Thank you for your time today and for your service.

Thank you. Any other comments? Public comment? OK. Move on to item number two, which is reports by county staff and elected officials on items of community interest.

Good morning, Judging Commissioners. I want to give a couple updates this morning on our road department. Right now, we are still in the middle of paving season. We've accomplished 33 miles, and by the end of August, we should be at 51 miles. We have another 10 miles we're going to be doing before the end of our season there, and so that'll be a new record for us, 62 miles that will be accomplished this summer. Again, that's dependent on weather, equipment, manpower, but that's the schedule right now. Also, I wanted to bring to you, just remind everyone, we have a road work tab on our website that you can go to. This is updated every single day, and it shows, like this is today's screenshot showing where our crews are working today. It's interactive. You can click on those and see what the specific job they're working on there. But that's a great resource for the public to be able to see what's happening within the county with regards to road work. So I wanted to bring that to your attention. So thank you all.

Thank you. And thanks to your road crews out in the hot. I have a report I would like to introduce. Sammy Sykes, he's going to stand up and wave. He is our new emergency management coordinator. He started on Tuesday, and we are really lucky to have him. He is a local that spent a lot of time and years in public health and emergency services, and so we're really glad to have him as a member of our county family now. Thanks, Amy. Any other reports? OK. We'll move back into our action agenda with item three, discuss and consider approval of the amendment to plat of Kings Cove, block one, combining lots three and four, establishing lot 3R, and authorizing the county judge to sign. Good morning.

Good morning, Judge, commissioners. This is one of our typical popular amendment to plats. Property owner does have a good application, recommend approval.

Move to approve action agenda item number three. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number three by Commissioner Laycock with a second by Commissioner Hogg. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item four is discuss and consider accepting the general surety rider for construction bond number EACX4051369 as a one-year extension of the surety term for construction of roads and other improvements within the subdivision of Pearl Song Unit 1.

Camel County is still seeing quite a bit of construction out there. This is right next to our office. You can see the little star there. Pearl Song is under construction. They just recently, if you've been out 46, just paved the entrance. They're still waiting on some TxDOT improvements to come in. So we're getting close to the bond expiring, so they want to extend this thing to continue construction, and I recommend the extension.

Move to approve action. Agenda item number four. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number four by Commissioner Hogg with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item five, discuss and consider approval of the street names Green Cypress Parkway, Green Edge Drive, and Cypress River Drive for private roads located in the 2000 block of FM 306 in Comal County.

We've seen a lot of this recently, a lot of compound situations. I kind of wanted to flesh this one out a little bit more. Back in 2024, we had a request to do some exempt activity down along the river. That was approved, you can see there, in April of 25. It took some time to get all that together. That led into a site partition which they used to further their development with respect to septic permits. So we did have two applications came in. They were for condominiums. There's 14 and two permits down there, 14 condominiums and 13 condominiums. So they're developing along the river. The environmental staff did approve those, and they're under construction at this point. So that's now leading into the need to, I guess they're going to slowly have some houses built in there, of course, to have access. And I wanted to use this exhibit just to show what's going on. So we have 306. We've got a long, green Cypress Parkway leading to another basically 90-degree turn, which requires us, by our order, to have another name, and then along parallel with the river, we have another name. So I just kind of wanted to flesh that out. Avery did process all this through 911 and Bear Mitt, and I would recommend accepting these roads. Or the names, thank you.

Move to approve action agenda item number five.

Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number five by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thanks, David. Item six is authorize the county engineer to waive permitting fees for the homes for our troops projects located at A, 411 Oak Haven within Mystic Shores Unit 14, and B, 431 Oak Haven within Mystic Shores Unit 14.

Morning, judges and commissioners. We get these requests from time to time from homes for our troops who are building these homes for people coming home with disabilities, typically. And so we have two locations here in Mystic Shores, and we would recommend approval.

Move to approve action agenda item number six.

Second.

Here's a motion to approve action agenda item number six by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 7, discuss and consider acceptance of the Texas Water Supply Water Availability Report.

Judge and Commissioners, this is a water availability report received and the key thing I want to mention is that this is Texas Water Supply, not Texas Water Company. So this is a different water company we have serving the county. This year we've got a third-party reviewer, so this gives a little timeline of the first time we received this water availability report and the review provided by our third-party engineer. The comments letter Comments went back and forth and then finalized in May. Texas Water Supply has all 17 groundwater wells located in Bexar County outside of just on the other side of the Cibolo Creek. There are 17 water wells that produced 8,365 acre feet per year is what they provided in their water availability report as far as their capacity. Their current demand is 110 acre feet that they provide. Texas Water Supply is a wholesaler, so they're providing this water to water companies or to muds that are in the area. And so what we require in our rules is that we treat them like a large public water system. They're required to show that they have adequate water over the next 20 years. And so you can see here that they have 8,365 acre feet of water. And in 2045, they're forecasting that their demand is going to be 321, well below their current capacity. And so we've reviewed this report. Our third-party engineers reviewed this report. And we would recommend acceptance of this water availability report.

Move to approve action agenda item number seven. Second.

There's a motion to accept the Texas water supply availability report by Commissioner Hogg with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions?

So the water is coming from Bexar County and the Comal County?

That's correct.

That's interesting. And then we'll see this again. They'll have to come forward again in three years or so. And we would expect those numbers to change as they sell more water.

That's correct. Every three years they would come forward and show the exact same summary of their capacity and the demand. And then their demand forecasted over the next 20 years. And so that's the balance of a 20-year forecast that's reported every three years.

Thank you.

Any other comments? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you. Item 8 is discuss and consider approval of the Texas Gang Intelligence Index, TX Gang, user agreement and designate Martin Bautista as the criminal district attorney agency administrator for the agreement. Good morning.

Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. Martin will be our new updated individual to control the text gang database that we utilize.

We do approve action agenda item number eight.

Second. There's a motion to approve action agenda item number eight by Commissioner Webb with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any discussion, questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 9, Salary Grievance Committee Public Member Selection Pursuant to Local Government Code Section 152.015. We will be selecting 10 names. We need three members from the public, and our county clerk, Bobby Koepp, has provided these names. So we will draw 10, enough for three members and three alternates.

You want me to read it out? You want me to read it out?

The first name is Mary Claire Gerwells. The second name is Charles Elliot Olson. The third name is Deirdre Marie Tarter. The fourth name is Kimberly Fowler. Number five is Mauro Alvizo Jr. Number six is Colton DeKaiser. Number seven is Gerald Spencer. Number eight is Sarah Uribe. Uribe? Number nine is Lori Melton. Tenth name is Destiny Villarreal.

Okay.

All good? All right. We'll move into item number 10, which is discuss and consider amendment of the 2027 Como County budget calendar. Commissioners, you remember we approved this calendar earlier in the year. In the process of developing that budget calendar, we recognize that moving the notification of elected officials' salaries to later in the year better aligns with statute. So that will not be happening today. And we'll just make that adjustment to the budget calendar for later in the process.

Move to approve action agenda item number 10.

Second. A motion to approve action agenda item number 10 by Commissioner Webb with a second by Commissioner Cronover. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you all. Item 11 is discuss and consider approval of a line item transfer and administrative costs from contingency to office equipment maintenance to provide funds for the replacement of microphones in district courtrooms number 2, number 3, and number 4.

Good morning, Judge and Commissioners. We have an outstanding maintenance agreement with Bloom of Texas, who is the original installer of the AV equipment in these courtrooms. They came out here recently and did an inspection on our equipment and determined that a couple of microphones in those courtrooms that need to be replaced. So this is the budget amendment to take it out of contingency as no department budgets any of these funding for these kind of things. So again, we're taking it out of contingency and moving it into the right line items so we can go ahead and pay for the service. Move to approve action agenda item number 11.

Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number 11 by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Hogg. Any questions or discussion? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Thank you. Motion carries. Thank you. So item 12 is executive session. We will be entering executive session under agenda item number 12C, which is in accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, Subchapter D, Commissioner's Court may convene in a closed session to discuss any of the following items. Any final action or vote taken will be in public. Under C is deliberate, pending, contemplated litigation, settlement offers, and matters concerning privileged and unprivileged client information. deemed confidential by Rule 1.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in accordance with Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code. We're going into executive session at 8.54, and we will need our legal counsel.

Yeah, for sure. That's when I remember all the things I forgot to leave.

We are out of executive session at 9-12. What is the pleasure of the court?

Judge, pursuant to agenda item number 12C, I move to approve the release agreement between Larry and Michelle Rucker in Comal County, Texas, and authorize the county judge to sign. Second.

There's a motion by Commissioner Hogg with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you. We have no further business on the agenda for this regular meeting. We will have a 10-minute recess here for our budget workshop that will begin at 9.23.

We are out of session at 9.13.

Thank you.