Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

Good morning again. The regular session of Commissioner's Court for Comal County, Thursday, July 30th, is called to order at 8.30 a.m. I'll let the record reflect that Commissioner Hogg is absent, but the rest of the commissioners are here, and we do have a quorum. We will begin with our action agenda. Item number one, approve claims.

Judge, I move to approve the claims as presented. EFTs, $1,008,898.71. Regular claims, $1,094,480.58 for a total of $2,103,379.29. Second.

It's a motion by Commissioner Crownover and a second by Commissioner Webb to approve claims. Any questions or discussion? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. We move into our workshop agenda with item number one, which 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. Do we have anybody here that wishes to address the comments?

Pull the microphone up. There you go.

Good morning, commissioners. For those who don't know me, my name is Jonathan Marquez. I'm a Christian. I'm a disabled vet, a father, husband, YMCA coach, safety commissioner, and board member for the city of Shirts. I like to be involved in the things I can change. I'm a dad fighting the good. I'm a concerned parent who spent countless hours showing up to meetings to protect our children at Danville and Comal Creek when Comal ISD board didn't guarantee them a safe way. A project which is now in the engineering stages but green-lit sidewalks on both sides. I'm the commissioner asking why our traffic department's not fully staffed. That's the person I am. What I am not is a thug, a gangster, illegal, or pushover. I'm American and I deserve answers to exactly what happened to me July 15th because my recollection still to this day sends chills down my spine. While under the custody of the Comal Sheriff's Office, I sustained multiple injuries. And from what I recollect happened was I got out the City of New Braunfels PD. I was met by members of the Sheriff's Department, accompanied by two members of the Fire Department. What can explain the Fire Department being there and assisting? Is Comal County that short in staff, or was it the good old boys there to teach me a lesson? Two or three Comal sheriffs, two members of the FD escorted me to a cell. According to my recollection of the incidents, placed a pillowcase over my head, threw me down and attempted to remove my pants. That exact moment in time when I resisted, I will not allow anyone to easily rape me. Thanks to our good Lord, my wrist started bleeding uncontrollably and was rushed to the ER. Talk about over my dead body. But in all seriousness, I cannot adequately describe the level of fear, humiliation, helplessness I experienced. No person in government custody should ever be placed in a situation where they feel they're about to be sexually assaulted. I've been in situations where danger was real, where my life and the lives of others around me were at risk. Yet even during my time in Iraq, I never felt as terrified as I did in that cell. That is not a statement I make lightly. I know what fear feels like. So for me to say I felt more in danger in the custody of Comal County Sheriff's than I did while serving in Iraq should demonstrate the seriousness of what I experienced. I deserve answers to why these government officials held me down, why my head was covered, why officers attempted to remove my pants, and why the treatment was so different the second time I came to jail after receiving emergency ER treatment. I deserve a complete accounting of how each injury happened, when it occurred, who was present, and whether the acts of law enforcement, detention personnel caused or contributed to those injuries. These are not minor complaints. These are serious allegations involving physical force, humility. over and i know you guys got my email just as well as the city's got my email the sheriffs the county the chief of police new brownfields did a great job addressing and easing my tensions and i hope comal county sheriffs will do the same thank you is there anyone else here wishes to address the court okay seeing no one we'll move into item number two reports by county staff and elected officials on items of community interest

Good morning, Judge Commissioners. With your permission, I would like to ask that Tracy Gibbons come up and give you an update about our K-9 statute.

Okay. This picture was from 2023. This is when this whole thing started. And I can't believe it's actually going to happen this year. The artist is in this picture there in the back next to me. She's the one who's doing the statue. And this is the location that we're planning on putting it in front of the sheriff's office. So if you can show the next one. Okay, the one on the left is, that's how the statue started. She started with like a little clay model. And then on the right is when they put all her piece into foam pieces. And so that's what that is. And then the next photo is when she puts it all together. So... That's where she took all those pieces and put them together, and then the next photo is the completed one. Now that is just the clay version. It's in Stephenville, Texas right now getting to be bronzed. So that was the front of it, and that's the back of it. It's taken a long time, but of course there's K-9 King. That's who the statue is modeled after. And at this point, all we're looking at, it is in the Omega Foundry in Stephenville, Texas. And they haven't started the bronzing process yet, but they're close to doing that. So we're looking at an October 10th unveiling and dedication. in front of the sheriff's office, so that's what we're shooting for at this point. We're waiting for the base. It's going to be on a concrete foundation, a granite base, which has already been ordered and paid for, and the concrete base will be paid for as well. Everything that's going into the statue is donated by the community, so it's not costing the county anything. So right now everything is set to go, and she said that they said, the foundry said that everything should be ready by October 10th. Well, October 8th, she's coming down. She'll go to Stephenville and finish the patina and stuff on the statue. They'll deliver it here on the 9th and put it in the base in front of the sheriff's office, and then we'll unveil it on that Saturday. So that's where we are right now. So if anybody has any questions, I want to thank Commissioners Crownover and Leacock for getting this pushed through because it's been a long time. Because in 2023, at that point, we had already started talking about the statue. And so from that point forward, it was just trying to get the county permission to get it placed because we couldn't order it until we got permission from the county to put it there. So it's been a long time coming.

It's exciting. Thank you for y'all's efforts on that.

It's going to be worth it. I know it's going to be worth it seeing Jake cry that morning. He knows he will. Thank you.

Thank you, Tracy.

Thank you. I'm sorry.

I just wanted to let the court know that we suffered a tragic loss this past weekend. I had a seven-year court clerk who passed away on Sunday. And she was the most wittiest, funniest person you've ever wanted to meet. She could come back at you with anything. I was always reminded when I was talking to her about my years of service here, she told me, oh, I wasn't born yet. So she tried to make me feel old. But her service is tomorrow, and I'm allowing county court at law to close at noon because they are having a public viewing, a rosary, and a service all afternoon. And then my OPR and vitals will close at 2.30 so that we can attend the service. And I'm sorry, her name was Anissa Rico. We called her Nissa or Nis. So she'll be greatly missed, but not forgotten.

All right. Well, I've got one. I hate to follow that. She's a real sweetheart of a lady. But Ms. Hendon and then Commissioner Hogg's not here today. He was going to do this, but he asked me to go ahead and do it. The sheriff picked up some hardware recently. He got the President's Award from the Sheriff's Association of Texas. It says, Sheriffs from all over the great state of Texas attended the annual conference where Sheriff Reynolds was recognized for his dedication and commitment to the Sheriff's Association of Texas and its members with the President's Award. Congratulations, Sheriff. And then I've got one more. Mr. Miller brought, we have a local engineer I think most of you all know, Jeff. He brought a young engineer, hopefully an engineer one day, to see what goes on at Commissioner's Court. Unfortunately, a couple of our engineers are missing today, so you'll have to just see what Tom does there, and hopefully one day you'll be sitting in here helping us.

So thank you for being here. It's Mr. Sammy Shaw.

Any other reports? OK. Move back into our action agenda with item number two, discuss and consider final plat approval of the amending plat of Canyon Lake Hills, Unit 3, amending lots 1509 and 1510, establishing lots 1509AP and 1510AP, and authorize the county judge to sign.

Judge, commissioners, I'm going to present the engineers' items today. David Volbrick is on vacation, and the county engineer, Boyd, he has been subpoenaed for a court activity, so they're tied up. So I'll see if I can do it again. This is an amending plat, and I'll probably provide some additional color since I have the floor here. The amending plat process is a simplified platting process that allows you to make corrections. You know, normally we do these amendments to plat, but an amending plat is different. They're actually modifying the lot lines, so they prepare... An amending plat that shows how the lot lines are being modified. This is a simple amending, probably to avoid a building or improvement on the ground. Shifting it from one lot to another, our recommendation is to approve. Move to approve action agenda item number two. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number two by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item three, discuss and consider approval of the amendment to plat of the Summit North phase two, combining lots 97 and 98, establishing lots 97R, and authorize a county judge to sign.

This is a typical amendment to plat. There are two adjoining lots in one subdivision that the owner wants to join. Again, I'll provide a little background on the amendment to plat process. Used to be we used to do vacate and replats, a very expensive process. And many years ago, we developed this process that if you're just simply joining two existing lots together, it can be done by the owner and not involve a surveyor or an engineer, and the process is much quicker and cheaper. And this has been real successful. A lot of counties and cities have copied this process, and our recommendation is to approve this amendment to Palat.

Move to approve action agenda item number three.

Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number three by Commissioner Crownover, with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 4, discuss and consider approval of the amendment to Platt of the Summit North Phase 4 and 5, combining lots 202 and 285, establishing lot 202R and authorize county judge to sign.

This is a typical amendment to Platt. It involves two subdivisions, but they're adjacent to one another. Our recommendation is to approve this amendment to Platt.

Move to approve action agenda item number 4.

Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number four by Commissioner Crownover, with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item five, discuss and consider approval of a street named Culver Court for a private road located in the 800 block of Rock Street in the city of New Braunfels in Comal County.

We received a request to address some properties. And as you remember, when we have multiple structures on a single driveway, our policies require that we name that driveway. So in this particular instance, we have three properties off of a single driveway. comes off of Rock Street. This is actually within the city limits of New Braunfels. As you know, we do the addressing within the city limits. Our recommendation is to approve naming this private driveway Culver Court.

Move to approve action agenda item number five. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number five by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 6, discuss and consider final plot approval of the vacate and replat of Ty Preston Memorial Library subdivision, establishing lot 2R, and authorize the county judge to sign.

This is a location map, an aerial photograph of the Ty Preston area. Most of you are probably familiar with this. The library also owns these four lots, that front on South Access Road, and they, several years ago, divided that up into separate tracks. They have now decided that they want to basically undo that, so now they're just combining all five of their lots into one lot, creating lot 2R, and our recommendation is to approve this replat.

Move to approve action agenda item number six. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number six by Commissioner Leacock, with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions?

Briefly, just everybody should watch their calendar, look for news regarding the groundbreaking that's going to take place later this month.

Excellent. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 7, discuss and consider approval of a street name, Hartwood Way, for a private road located north of Spangenberg Road in the 15500 block of FM 32 in Comal County.

This is a situation where, again, a private road is serving multiple lots, and it requires naming. I will go through a little bit on this. This is a relatively large tract. I think it's in the 270-acre size or so up in the northern part of the county. And due to a recent change in some legislation, if you create large lots that are exempt from subdivision flatting, you can allow them to take access to a private drive like this without preparing a subdivision plat. So that's exactly what they're doing. They have developed a private road, and they're creating tracks that are over 10 acres and not being required to do a subdivision plat. But since we have multiple properties accessing off of the same road, our recommendation or our requirement is to rename this road, and they have chosen to name this road Hartwood Way. Our recommendation is to approve naming this driveway. Okay.

Move to approve action agenda item number seven. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number seven by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any questions or discussion? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item eight, discuss and consider granting a variance to the Comal County Road naming and address assigning order for three homes using the driveway serving 1090 Pfeiffer Ranch Road.

Commissioners, this agenda item says three homes. It's actually two homes. So if there is a motion to approve this matter, it would be good to point out that it will be for two homes. And I'm going to go through what's going on here. Earlier, we passed these street naming requirements when we had multiple homes off of a single driveway. And we actually passed an order some time ago to set up those regulations. And there are good benefits for that. One is when we have multiple homes on a driveway, the homes may be way off the road and hard to locate. And as emergency vehicles are trying to locate an address, oftentimes if it's not signed or posted properly, they will go past the driveway and look for it further up the road because of the numbering sequence. So it's real important that we have good addressing and good street naming, and it's a really good practice to name these private driveways so that emergency services, fire, and EMS can get to these people quickly. So there are a couple good reasons for that. Well, I mentioned it also reduces the response time in some cases. But we do have situations where long-term residents have used a driveway for a long time. They allow one of their family members, typically, to add a home to the property and utilize that same driveway. And they don't want to go through the inconvenience of readdressing the original homestead. So they come to us seeking a variance to this regulation. We did receive a document from them asking for an address. they did come forward asking for a variance to this rule. And I'll go through this, and here's their email requesting the variance. This is how this is set up. This is off of Pfeiffer Ranch Road, which is a private road over off of FM 306 on the, I guess, the northeast side of the city. And there is two, there's an existing home that's address 1090 Pfeiffer Ranch Road. And there is a proposed home going in up there on that new branch being proposed to be 198 Pfeiffer Ranch Road. So like I said, if you can imagine being an EMS driver trying to find these places, you're going to drive down Pfeiffer Ranch Road, you're going to see 1090, and then you're going to continue on Pfeiffer Ranch Road looking for 1098. Uh, so in order to grant this variance, if we do grant this variance, we add conditions to this and we, I'm going to go through these. The conditions would be that the property owners must install and maintain six inch or larger reflective address numerals at the driveway entrance. So both addresses will be shown on Pfeiffer Ranch Road at that driveway. So it serves both of those numbers. Property owners must install and maintain six inch or larger reflective address numerals along the driveway. where it branches off at each residence. So there's wayfinding signs along the driveway. So when the EMS driver reaches that turning point there, he sees that this number is that way, this number is that way. And then if they do not maintain this system, we have the right to go back and revoke the variance and require them to name the driveways. And this is how it would be set up there would be an entry sign on five four ranch road saying that there are two addresses Back there and then as you traverse your way back to one of the two houses you'll be directed which way to go So we're proposing this to the commissioners court for your consideration to grant this variance to our addressing or street naming requirements That's it. We don't necessarily have a recommendation because this is a variance to our rules, and it's really up to your consideration.

Move to approve action agenda item number eight. Second. As corrected for the two homes.

Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number eight with a correction to two homes by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Second.

Judge, just a point of clarification, Commissioner Crownover, do you wish in your motion to include the conditions? Yes. That they've proposed?

Yes, sir.

OK. Second as well.

OK. There is a motion by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb to approve action agenda item number eight for two homes and given the conditions.

And with the proposed conditions, correct.

Okay, any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 9, discuss and consider acceptance of Amendment No. 2 to Irrevocable Standby Letter of Credit No. FTF-C24726 as a one-year extension of the surety for construction of roads and stormwater drainage improvements within Simmons Valley South Entry Road. An authorized county judge to sign the associated surety agreement between the developer in Comal County.

Judge, Commissioners, this is a situation where we've approved a subdivision plat, or several subdivision plats in this case, and collected sureties for the construction of the roads. This was broken up into three subdivisions, and this is the entrance road to the subdivision. The developer needs additional time to complete the project, and they're asking for an extension to their surety, and our recommendation is to approve this extension.

I have to approve action agenda item number nine. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number nine by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions?

You did pretty good for a first day, man. A little wordy, but pretty good stand-in.

All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 10, discuss and consider acceptance of the proposed renovation options for the Comal County Tax Assessor Collector's Office prepared by Park Hill and take appropriate action, including A, selection of the preferred renovation option, and B, authorization for the purchasing agent and the county administrator's office to initiate contract negotiations with Park Hill for the selected renovation option. Good morning.

Thank you. I want to thank the court, commissioners, judge, and staff. Park Hill appreciates the opportunity to be here in our continued relationship to work with you all on this.

Next. I'm going to go ahead and introduce this thing. We didn't actually rehearse this very well. So I'm going to present these first few slides to kind of set this up. And then they can finish with what they have recently accomplished. But we did a previous study to look at the needs for a tax assessor building. And there was a lot of work went into this. Park Hill did the work. And they did assess all the needs of the tax office and presented this report. This is fairly old. We did this quite a while ago. And as you may recall, we actually contemplated building two possible buildings that would house other entities, IT as well as elections and voting and tax office. Neither of those have moved forward. So now what we're looking at is an interim modification to the existing building. to see what we can do to the existing building to expand or extend the life of that building for the tax office purposes. And we hired Park Hill to do that work. And this is what they're going to present today.

Thank you, Tom. I'm Chris Casey, by the way, architect, principal, practice leader for Park Hill. So the first thing that we did, again, like when we did the previous study, is really kind of look at the facility and make an assessment of the flow of it, some of the safety, security things.

Not sure what happened to the slide, but we'll walk through it.

Access for public to restrooms, restrooms that are accessible. A lobby that's large enough to handle the crowds that we see over there. And then also some other things that we looked at outside of the site. potentially reconfiguring the flow of the traffic, especially if we were to consider adding a drive-through there as well. But work with Stuart and Jackie and staff on really trying to see what we can do within the four walls of the existing facility to maximize space, make it more efficient, make it more secure, and then give some of the things like restrooms, bring those up towards the front of the facility as well.

Next.

The first option that we have is what we call the minor renovation. And all of these, we have associated costs with them. What's in red is what we would preserve in those areas. So again, enlarging the lobby in the upper right-hand corner, getting public restrooms up there, because right now there's none off of the backside of the building, off of Lobby 1 there. A little bit larger break room for staff, some of the amenities for them as well. Next. Then the associated costs. With that, again, we've created all-in project total cost as well, and this is 1.985 million for the minor renovations. Next. and then as i mentioned a moment ago in the the next option the medium option we looked at adding potentially a drive-through there to add that level of service to the community and then reconfiguring the the traffic flow in there right now the the back side of the building is right up against the the curb so if somebody was to walk out the building There's no sort of grace period before they get into the mix of traffic, but try to reconfigure the flow, properly stripe it so there's safe areas to walk and navigate through the back parking lot layer area. And when we looked at this option of adding the drive-through, we actually didn't lose any parking spaces, just able to reconfigure it and make it a little bit more efficient and safe. Next, please, Tom. The moderate option here, again, we try to look at trying to preserve as much as we can, so all the areas up in the upper left there we would preserve where the attorneys are, the conference room, and so on. This, you see, has a small addition where we expand the lobby a little bit more to give the proper queuing area in that area, and then also looks at adding a drive-through three offices over there in the passport area there on the left, but really making it more open, a little bit more inviting as well. Next, please, Tom. And then this one all-in total project cost would be $2.8 million. Okay. And then we also looked at some potential enhancements of getting a little bit more daylight into the space, making the back of the building maybe a little bit more warm and welcoming. And then you'll see up there on the roof line screening some of the mechanical equipment that's up on that side of the building as well. Next. Interior view of what that little bit larger lobby would look like. And those of you that have been there, again, making it a little bit more inviting, accessible, warm, and welcoming. Next. And then this would be the kind of major renovation where staff would definitely have to move out. It's a full gut and demolish renovation of the interior that really kind of looks at reconfiguring all the spaces that are there today. um in in all the schemes we've accounted for the a ramp in there have a nice flow because there is a a separation in the floor level in the in the facility as well next and then the cost for that would be 4.8 million for this major renovation stuart

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. First, I want to thank Chris and his team for coming over and spending the day with us and looking at the facility, seeing how we operate. We kind of approached you with those three different plans, if you want to bring some of the plans up.

Moderate one.

Yeah. Well, the first option was kind of, I guess the ultimate goal was we needed restrooms, we needed to address some security issues, and just an increased experience for our customers and taxpayers. The first option is – and all of these projects, our constraint was the exterior of the building, so we tried to stay within that footprint. In this first version, we got the additional restroom, which was one of the goals out of the deal. But it was what you would call lipstick on a pig, I guess. Just a quick fix-up. Didn't really get us a long way down the road except for a new restroom. The second plan – The second plan really gives us a lot of marginal benefit. When we get into just the fact of adding on the drive-thru, I think that changes our office dramatically, adds just a whole new dimension to what services we can provide over there. We got the larger lobby and they added the restrooms. We managed to kind of separate. It's hard to tell if you're over there now, but with this plan, the staff is largely behind a secure area, a little bit separate from the public. That was another thing we were trying to achieve. So we like this plan. On the major renovation, we were able to What we're trying to do here is utilize the front entrance and the back entrance and try to promote some kind of connectivity between the two lobbies. That would be nice. I don't know that if it's worth the extra money to get there. I think probably the medium version, getting that Adding on the drive-thru, I think, is a huge, big deal to us. Increasing the lobby. If we could get that, I think we'd be in good shape.

So your recommendation is a moderate option? Yes. Or a medium one there? Yeah.

Can you clarify on the moderate option with the staff? Would we have to find another location to house the staff?

For all the renovations being done?

On the moderate.

It is potential that staff could stay there. It would be disruptive and noisy, especially the initial component of putting in the restroom and having to do some modifications to the concrete slab that's there. We did. I think it's still something we need to explore. Is this a phased approach where the contractor can work in certain areas? Maybe they work after hours on the weekends. But we also did look into... um some of the costs for contemporary trailers if those needed to be brought on site you know as a potential option as well to move some of this the staff out of there stuart how many people do you typically have come through the office on a day and how would that shoot that's good that's a good question i know the most recent number i i heard was bulverde and there was 3 300 people come through there in a month so um

I don't have the exact count of what's coming through here now, but it's a lot. We've got a lot of traffic.

And if you've ever been over there, the lobby is small. Most of the time, people are standing. Either they're standing in line or they're waiting for their number to be called. And it's certainly not a pleasant experience if you're having to wait in line.

I think that's the intent, right, is making it more customer-focused and moving people through the facility and the drive-through to help facilitate that as well as, I guess, communication like doing online stuff and things of that nature.

All of the above and just a better customer experience for sure.

Move to approve action agenda item number 10A and B, selecting the moderate option, and on B, moving forward with the purchasing director. Second. Second.

I think we would like to actually consider item 10 individually. If we could take up item 10A and then item 10B.

All right. Well, I'll withdraw that motion then. Thank you. All right. So on item 10A, we're going to move forward with the moderate option. Is that OK?

Second. OK. We have a motion to approve item 10A for the moderate option by Commissioner Webb with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

I move to approve action agenda item number 10B, authorizing for the purchasing agent and the county administrator's office to initiate contract negotiations with PARCO for option number two, the moderate option. Second.

We have a motion to approve item 10B, authorizing the purchasing agent in the county administrator's office to initiate contract negotiation with Park Hill for the moderate renovation option. That was motioned by Commissioner Leacock, with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions?

I mean, I guess other than elections and county clerk, I mean, this is our main interface with our taxpayers. And the fact that it's one of our oldest facilities and it serves the most taxpayers, it makes good sense to take care of this building. We have security problems going on. I mean, it's literally an old converted gas station that was a lawyer's office and all that stuff. So it's worthy of investment. I hope that we can turn this into something where people And also, you know, as far as not building a whole new facility, there's an understanding that the technology involved in your office is changing rapidly. And so we don't really know at this point if, like all our other offices, your office is going to grow, or as technology advances, it could actually shrink. And so it makes sense to do an interim project rather than moving forward with a big old project. So thanks for your work on this, and thanks for your leadership here.

I appreciate the effort made by both of you and Stuart with your perception, coming in new, taking a look, and how to make that more efficient. It has been a long time coming. I appreciate the court in years past and the leadership from Judge Krause on getting this design and this study funded. And so I appreciate the work you all have done. And I am excited to see what we can do, where it is not just a Band-Aid approach. It is something that could be sustainable for a long time. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion approved. 10A is approved. 10B.

Good job.

Item 11, discuss and consider treasurer's monthly report for June 2026. Good morning.

This is a typical treasurer's report, or monthly report. There are the balances for our investments. And I just wanted to just break it down. I don't usually do this, but in our investments, we can see it's a little bit higher than normal, but we've been taking advantage of the bigger yields. With those investments, 22% of it is made up of government agencies, 42% of it is broker certificates of deposits, and then 36% of it is local government municipal bonds. So that's what's making up that $60 million worth of investments. And then, of course, there's our money market balance and then our cash on hand at the end of June. We were properly collateralized, and so that's good. And then finally, year to date, our interest income is $3.8 million, a little over $3.8 million.

Move to approve action agenda item number 11.

Second.

The motion to approve action agenda item number 11 by Commissioner Leacock, with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any questions, discussion?

All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you. Item 12, discuss and consider the submission of approval and support for the Crisis Center of Comal County to apply for a 2026 Emergency Solutions Grant from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and ratify the county judge's signature. Commissioners, this was an item submitted by the Crisis Center of Comal County. It was a grant application. There was a tight deadline, and so with legal issues, Support went ahead and signed that. So I'm asking for that signature to be ratified. This is for the crisis center to be able to support individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness. It gives them access to some funds to help their population at the crisis center.

Move to approve action agenda item number 12.

Second. Motion by Commissioner Webb and a second by Commissioner Crownover to approve action agenda item number 12. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Item 13, discuss and consider an offer of exchange for county-owned property located at 1345 Sattler Road and authorize the publication of notice pursuant to Texas Local Government Code Section 263.006B.

Commissioners, we've been working on this project for quite some time. As you know, we acquired some property, 1345 Sattler Road in Sattler, and the intent for that property was to build an annex building up in Sattler. When we purchased the property, there was an existing grocery store on the property, and we entered into a lease agreement to give them time to build a new grocery store someplace else. and vacate the property so then we could start with our construction. Over time, the grocery store has changed their planning and how they move forward, and they do not have an intent to build a new store, and they are desiring to continue leasing the space. They did buy a piece of property in the nearby area in Sattler for this new grocery store. And we entered into a conversation with them about the possibility of us selling them the existing property in exchange for the vacant property that they had purchased for their future store. There has been some indication that that could go forward, and we're in the process now of negotiating that deal to possibly trade those two properties. And as part of Local Government Code 263, there's a requirement that if we do move forward with an exchange like this, we have to put it out for the public so that competing offers could be presented to us. So that's what this item is today, is to start this notification publication process to get this notice out that we have this intention to do an exchange.

Move to approve action agenda item number 13.

Second.

Judge and commissioners, I just want to make sure that everyone is clear. This action today is not obligating the court to move forward with the proposed exchange. It's simply posting notice for the public.

If I heard correctly, we have a motion to approve action agenda item number 13 by Commissioner Crownover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions?

I just think it's an exciting opportunity for the community and for the county. So I'm anxious to see how it comes out.

All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 14, discuss and consider approval of an amendment to the Comal County Retiree Health Insurance Policy to increase county retiree assistance, supplement benefit from maximum of $100 per month to maximum of $200 per month for all eligible current and future retirees effective October 1st, 2026, subject to proof of payment documenting continuous coverage for the reimbursable period and to authorize any necessary policy revisions and administrative actions to implement the change.

Good morning. Good morning, Judge. Good morning, Commissioners. The Como County Retiree Health Insurance Policy currently provides an assistance supplement benefit of up to $100 per month for eligible retirees with eight or more years of continuous TCVRS credible service. Reimbursement requires proof of payment documenting the continuous coverage for the reimbursable period. The proposed amendment is to increase the maximum assistance supplement benefit from $100 to $200 per month effective October 1, 2026, for all eligible, which means current and future retirees. The existing proof of payment and continuous coverage requirements will remain in effect and all other policy provisions will remain unchanged. So the physical impact will depend on the number of eligible retirees receiving the benefit up to the revised maximum of $200 per month. So I respectfully request to approve the amendment to increase the maximum retiree assistance supplement benefit from $100 to $200 per month effective October 1, 2026, while maintaining the existing reimbursement requirements.

Move to approve action agenda item number 14.

Second. Motion to approve action agenda item number 14 by Commissioner Webb, with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any discussion or questions?

Senator, can you just do an example, like what this would mean to somebody?

Well, I will let you know, let's go back in time about 20 years when we first started this in 2007. The cost to insure an employee pre-'65 or post-'65, well, post-'65, it's Medicare, but pre-'65, it was $408.29. So we've carried that through until 2026. The current cost to insure an employee is a little over $1,000, $1,031.66 to be exact. So that's over a 200% increase in the past 20 years. And just reflecting on health insurance premiums, they usually never go down. They continue to go up.

Right. So we have a retiree and they're working here and they're 62 years old and they're going to have to have health insurance for three more years before they reach Medicare age. And so this would supplement their payment on their health insurance during that period.

That is correct. It would supplement them during that time. And then again, if you have somebody that's post 65 and they have elected an Advantage plan or a Part C plan, they would just need to bring in proof of that payment in order to receive the $200 supplement. Same thing for pre-65. If they're coming in and they're making that payment towards our health insurance, they will receive that $200 retiree supplement. But they only qualify three ways under TCDRS, age 60, rule of 75, or 30 years of service.

How many county employees do we have currently submitting receipts for reimbursement?

It's currently under $40,000 as far as retirees. So you're looking at an estimated cost because you have people coming on and coming off of $40,000 a year.

Any other discussion or questions for Ms. Headinger? There is a motion by Commissioner Webb and a second by Commissioner Cronover. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you. Item 15, discuss and consider approval of the reclassification of the assistant emergency management coordinator position from pay grade E5 to pay grade E9, including approval of the revised job description and corresponding salary adjustment effective upon approval. No budget amendment necessary. Good morning.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. This is a request to reclassify the Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator position from E5 to an E9. The request is really based on the responsibility of this position as we continue to grow and the responsibilities of the department continue to grow. Reclassifying the position to an E9 more accurately reflects the responsibilities that this position is going to hold, their level of expertise, leadership, and it's also going to help us be able to recruit and retain an individual that's suitable for this position.

Move to approve action agenda item number 15.

Second. There's a motion to approve action agenda item number 15 by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Cronover. Any discussion or questions?

I assume you're, I'm sorry. Oh.

You'll be posting this job later today?

Yes, ma'am. That's the goal. I assume you support this move?

Yes, I do support this. We had kudos to Sammy, our new emergency management coordinator, on day seven, I believe, of his time with Comal County. He activated the EOC with, a couple weeks ago, our weather events, and it was certainly demonstrated at that time that The emphasis really is on having a deputy emergency management coordinator so that person could be there on shift and covering the EOC 24-7 and be prepared to make those immediate decisions. So I respectfully request approval of this. Okay, so we have a motion and a second in place. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 16, discuss and consider approval of the appointment of Gary Reeves as a full-time deputy constable for Precinct 4. Good morning.

Good morning, Judge, Commissioners. Here I have Mr. Gary Reeves, and he has earned his Masterpiece Officer license and brings over 12 years of law enforcement experience to our agency. Throughout his career, he has served in a variety of law enforcement roles, including chief of police, patrol officer, investigator, and detention officer. Gary holds two associate degrees and has completed more than 4,700 hours of T. Cole accredited law enforcement training and professional training hours. including leadership programs through the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, otherwise known as LEMIT. We are excited to welcome Gary to our agency and are confident that his extensive experience, leadership, and dedication to public service will make him a tremendous asset to both our team and the community we proudly serve.

Move to approve. Action agenda item number 16. Second.

We have a motion to approve action agenda item number 16 by Commissioner Cronover with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions?

Just thank you for providing the necessary paperwork. Yes, ma'am, of course.

Congratulations. Welcome. We're not usually here this long. You were here at 8 o'clock this morning.

All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Item 17, discuss and consider a resolution authorizing and approving publication of notice of intention to issue certificates of obligation complying with the requirements contained in Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 15C2-12 and providing an effective date. So we'll have our bond counsel come on up. Good morning.

Good morning, Judge, members of the court. I'm Dwayne Westerman with Samco Capital Markets, a financial advisor to the county.

Good morning. Matt Lee with the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. We serve as bond counsel to the county.

Who do you want us to call? Yeah, he could give us a highlight.

Okay, so the item you're considering today is an action to issue certificates of obligation, which is a method that counties have to fund the needs of the county as you go forward to finance and fund those projects. So with your action today, you would be giving notice of intention to issue these certificates of obligation. After today's action, that notice would be published and posted as legally required, and we would come back to the Commissioner's Court at least 46 days to authorize the issuance of the certificates of obligation. At that time, then we would be able to issue those certificates and fund and provide the proceeds from the issuance of the certificates so that you could move forward with the projects that you're considering. With that, I'll let Matt address any of the timing needs.

Sure, and happy to answer any questions that you all may have about this process. You guys are familiar with it. This is how you guys finance the library system projects, the Boulevardi Area Library District and the Canyon Lake Library District. So as Duane mentioned, we have 46 days that we have to wait once this notice gets published. So the first publication date is tomorrow. The staff has already teed this up with the local newspapers. So once it's first published tomorrow, we have to wait 46 days until we can actually go out and issue these certificates of obligation. So I believe we're looking at the September Commissioner's Court meeting to do so. And so in that interim period, Duane and I will be working on putting together the documents and everything that we'll need for that sale at the September meeting. And I think that's all for the timing. But everything's teed up to go out, posted, and published tomorrow.

So this item is here today, Commissioners, to address the need of our jail expansion We have accepted the jail proposal here recently in court. You know, public safety is my number one concern, and I feel like it's our number one duty as commissioners in the court. for our public, for our taxpayers. And so I see this as a necessity. I think that a lot of folks recognize this was a need once the first jail renovation was constructed. And so we see this as a path forward to support the needs that we have today, while also looking very much into the future and hopefully choosing an option that would sustain us. There's certainly a cost involved. I appreciate all the work you all have done, Tom and some other folks, our attorneys, the legal team, to sort of get this in motion, if it could be approved. This would impact our budget that I will be proposing next week, and so you would see that reflected. In the rate, you all probably have these numbers as well from the sheriff's office this morning. We're currently at $179,000 on shipping inmates out of the county. That does not include the cost or inconvenience or frustration of putting our deputies on the road. and traveling and getting those inmates to places. Something else worth noting is, and I don't have the numbers on me, but we do know that once the jail was built this last go, we were able to recoup some of the costs on that space, the cost of construction, by allowing inmates from out of county to come in, in the interim. And so I support this. I think that's something we need to do as the local government code states. We're required to do this. We're required to provide or shall provide safe and suitable jails.

Move to approve action agenda item number 17. Second.

We have a motion by Commissioner Webb to approve item 17 with a second by Commissioner Cronover. Any discussion or questions?

Yes, I've got a couple of things.

Yeah, the local government code chapter. I don't think I have any questions for you guys. I don't want to make you stand there while I'm blabbing. If you want to sit down, that's fine. But I mean, local government code chapter 351 says counties shall provide safe and suitable jails. And this isn't something, if I had my druthers about how the county was going to spend money, it wouldn't be on jails. We have a lot of other projects that we'd rather be working on, but this is one we have to do. There's no question about that. I was here when we built the last jail, and we didn't do enough. We didn't build it big enough. When we built that thing, we put people in there, and it was half full already. And, you know, hindsight's 20-20. But I think that we've learned some stuff, and this time we're going to try to build this thing to where it will get us to 2046. In 2042, some other folks sitting here, I don't know, maybe you'll be here, but some other folks sitting here are going to have to work on the same project. But I don't want this group to have to do that again. You guys may be able to get to do some fun projects. I will say building jails is like getting socks for Christmas. It's just something you need. It's something we have to do. So it will take us a few years to build this, but it should last us until early 2040s or mid-2040s, 2046. And so we've learned from what we did last time, and I'm excited about this. And I also have to say to this group, you know, this is the kind of vision and leadership it takes to run county government. You know, you really haven't even started your first term, but you're taking the bull by the horns on a bunch of these projects, and you're taking plans that we've had in the pipeline for a long time and putting them to work. And so good on you. And I know, you know, you're working through a budget process right now, and this is going to complicate that. And I know the commitment that you've made to try to do these things within – lower tax rates. And so good on you. This is going to be a great big project, but it's going to be good for us. And you guys that are having to move prisoners around right now, I know that that's a mess. And so as soon as we can alleviate that, we will. And we should have done this earlier.

What he said. I don't want to have this conversation again in a couple of years. So, yeah, let's go big.

Okay. We do have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you for being here today. Thank you. Item 18, discuss and consider amendment of the 2027 Comal County budget calendar. Oops. So we have a couple of amendments here. This amendment would simply take into account what we just approved in item 17. Is there anything else?

Yeah. Judge and commissioners, I think moving forward with item 17 now, amending the budget calendar aligns some of those budget process dates and statutory dates with the statutory requirements for the certificates of obligation.

Move to do, sorry. Move to approve action agenda item number 18. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number 18 by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Webb. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 19, discuss and consider approval of a line item transfer and justice of the piece two, precinct two, from office supplies to copier lease management to provide funds for the increase in copier costs for the remainder of 2026.

Good morning, commissioners and judge. This is moving $200 from copier lease management to office supplies for the increase in copier costs for the remainder of 2026.

Move to approve action agenda item number 19. Second.

There's a motion to approve action agenda item number 19 by Commissioner Webb, with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 20, discuss and consider approval of a line item transfer in the road department from contract services to capital equipment to provide funds for the purchase of a replacement controller for the Comal County Engineer's Office Generator.

Judge, Commissioners, this budget amendment moves some money, line item transfer, to allow the engineer's office to purchase a replacement controller for their generator. As you know, that whole facility out there, including our maintenance facilities, are 100% behind the generator, which is very useful to us. Our recommendation is to approve this line item transfer.

Move to approve action, Jenna. Item number 20.

Second. There's a motion to approve action agenda item number 20 by Commissioner Leacock with a second by Commissioner Crownover. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Item 21, discuss and consider approval of line item transfer in Sheriff from non-capital equipment to uniforms to provide funds for uniforms for the remainder of 2026.

Morning, Judge, Commissioners. In 2046, I hope to get us through this project. But in 2046, I'm going to be on the porch at home, hopefully with some of my neighbors, drinking coffee, watching the day go by. But thank you all for that. I'm respectfully asking to transfer this money. We've had some unexpected expenses come up with body armor and some increased costs. And, of course, when we have officers that leave in the uniforms and we're going through it. So I apologize that we have to do this. But we have the money in non-capital and we could transfer it to uniforms.

Move to approve action agenda item number 21. Second.

Second.

Motion to approve action agenda item number 21 by Commissioner Cronover with a second by Commissioner Leacock. Any discussion or questions? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Motion carries. Thank you, Sheriff. Okay. There is no need for executive session today, so with no further business on the agenda, we'll conclude this July session of Commissioner's Court. We are adjourned at 9.32 a.m.