Commissioners Court - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. It is 10.03 a.m. on this Tuesday, the 21st day of July 2026. And we are having a special call meeting. I'm going to begin by calling roll. Commissioner McCall? Present. Commissioner Wieschen? Present. And I'm present. We have three of the five members present. Commissioner Chapman and Commissioner Carpenter are absent. So we have a short agenda today. First up, we're going to be considering and possible action regarding Resolution R-20. 20260721-1 authorizing the county judge to execute a grant application seeking financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board Flood Infrastructure Fund to offset the cost of Kendall County Financial Match required for the Kendall County Drainage Master Plan Flood Mitigation Assistant Project Grant in an amount up to $337,000. $500 and further authorize the county judge and staff to prepare and execute all necessary documents. Good morning, Christina.

Good morning. Good morning. I'd like to introduce, for those that don't know, this is Eric Scheibe with Scheibe Engineering. Good morning. He has assisted us on a couple of grants related to this item today, so he's here to answer any questions if need be. As the judge stated, we are here to seek approval to apply for the Texas Water Development Board FIF flood infrastructure fund. Last court, we brought in front of you the four phases for the drainage master plan. We express that there is a large match on that grant. If you choose to approve this application today, this is for a grant to use for the match for the drainage master plan. Just to recap from last court, is this is the 4 phases of the drainage master plan. The total for that project is 3,370,712.32. The county's match is 692,678.08. If we apply for this match through the FIF, we are able to receive up to 337,500 dollars. which if that amount is received, it would reduce the county's match for the Drainage Master Plan project to $355,178. Again, this is a no-match grant for us to accept funds for the match for the Drainage Master Plan. So I know it's a little confusing, but essentially Eric Scheibe has been with us from the inception of these grant applications from, I believe it was 2013, 23, 24 fiscal year when these grants were applied for, and we're just now seeing movement on them and acceptance. So since the drainage master plan was accepted and approved, we're now going out hopefully for the FIF to help save the funds for the County.

Okay.

Does anyone have any questions for Christine at this time?

I just have a couple, just the wording. Um, I was looking back at some of the other grants and normally County staff will apply for the grant application and, um, and work with the necessary documents. And this says that the judge will execute the application and execute the documents. I just want to make sure that if the funding is received, that this will come back through court.

Yes, all of your acceptance come back to court.

Okay, I didn't know if it, I just was making sure that being executed, I didn't know if the judge executed everything and we don't see it back again, or if we do actually.

So the documentation for this grant, there is a resolution in your backup that states who the authorized official is, which is the judge, and then Corinne is the financial officer for the grant application. As with all other grants, if they are awarded, they do come back to court. You do approve if you choose the resolution to accept that. On behalf of the judge, he is the authorized official. If y'all approve this resolution and the documents today, the documents for this application are signed by the authorized representative, which is the judge.

Right. And I know every grant's a little different. The other thing I wanted to ask is in the flood management evaluation affidavit, it says that... That it is applies to eligible political subdivisions, which would be Kerr County and the city of Bernie. Can you give us a little more description on why Kerr County and the city of Bernie would be part of this or how they fit into this?

So, Eric, I'll go ahead and let you. We've had this discussion, but he'll explain it to you.

Yeah. So the four phases of the project are primarily focused on Kendall County. All the hydraulics, which is where we're estimating water surface elevations, is all in Kendall County. But because the watershed of the Guadalupe goes out into Kerr County, we have to do some studying in Kerr County.

I see.

And then, you know, obviously, Bernie's in Kendall County. So we are going to be doing some watershed modeling through on the main channels through

Thank you. I just wanted a little more explanation for those constituents who may have seen that wording just to give a little more clarification.

So it's a clarification also that we as Kendall County are in communication with those two entities about what our plan is and our study that we're doing.

And I can also add to it. So what has happened in the past with the water development? What the Water Development Board does not want is they don't want Bernie to apply for money from the state to study a channel through the Guadalupe River through Bernie, for example, and then also pay Kendall County for it. So they're saying, hey, we're putting the onus on you guys as a local community to communicate and make sure everybody's talking so that there's not this duplication. I think that's the premise behind that whole form. Okay.

So does your study incorporate the watershed in Bernie, the Cibolo, and different tributaries, so it's like all one system? Yes. Okay.

Basically a full comprehensive study of Kendall County is what we're getting.

Okay. All the water flows of Kendall County through those four phases that you all have already accepted.

Okay. All right. Any other questions? No. All right. Well, I move to authorize the county judge to execute a grant application seeking financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board, Flood Infrastructure Fund to offset the cost of Kennel County Financial Match required for the Kennel County Drainage Master Plan Flood Mitigation Assistance Project Grant in an amount up to $337,500 and further authorize the county judge and staff to prepare and execute all necessary documents consistent with Resolution No. R-20260721-1. Do I have a second? Second. Motion made by the judge. Seconded by Commissioner Wieschen. Any further discussion? If not, please call the vote.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. to assist with the preparation and submission of the grant application to the Texas Water Development Board Flood Infrastructure Fund to request funding for the county's financial match required for the Kendall County Drainage Master Plan Flood Mitigation Assistance Project grant. Christina?

Thank you. Yes, so as you all heard in the previous one, Eric Scheibe and Scheibe Engineering is assisting on these applications. This is just for clarification, stating and making the public as well as the court aware that Eric Scheibe will be working on this application for us.

And do we have any fees associated with?

There are no fees associated. That is why it is a work order instead of a purchase order, because he is doing this at no cost. And this was previously discussed back when the applications were going in. This is just to reiterate, once we approve the application for the FIF, that we do agree that HIV engineering will work on behalf of Kendall County.

I want to clarify that it's anticipated that the company will be doing engineering work associated with this project, so he will be paid fees associated with that work, just not with the work associated with the application.

Okay.

Well, thank you for your help.

Well, I move to issue a work order to Scheibe Consulting, LLC, pursuant to RFQ 2024-05 and the May 28, 2024 Commissioner's Court approval of the firm. To provide grant service and engineering for Shibe Consulting LLC to assist with the preparation and submission of the grant application to the Texas Water Development Board Flood Infrastructure Fund to request funding for the county's financial match required for the Kennel County Drainage Master Plan Flood Mitigation Assistant Project. Do I have a second?

Second.

Motion by the judge, seconded by Commissioner McCall. Any further discussion?

I just have one more question, and there was a time-sensitive deadline on this, and that's why this couldn't wait until next regular court. Correct.

The deadline for us to apply for the FIF is tomorrow.

So, yes, that's why we slid under the wire, didn't we? Yes, ma'am.

All right. Paula, you're up.

Commissioner McCall? Aye. Commissioner Meacham? Aye. Judge Salarza?

Aye. Motion carries 3-0. All right. Thank you both. Thank you. Lastly, we have a few public comments, and that'll conclude today's session. We'll start with Mary Anderson. Oh, if you come up to the mic, your choice, just please announce who you are, where you live in the county. And then if you look to your right, you're going to see a little timer up on that clock back there. Once you begin speaking, that'll be your countdown and you'll have three minutes. So once the alarm goes off, kind of wrap up your comment. Thank you, ma'am.

My name is Mary Anderson. I live in the River Trail subdivision out 474 near the Guadalupe Bridge. And that's why I'm here today, because of the concerns that we were seeing. after this last flood. During the flood, as you probably already know, the Guadalupe River rose more than 50 feet and it breached the riverbank. There's some of the burning pit that's out there. So we now have a swimming pool out there, but I'm sure it'll eventually go back. This event raises important questions about the long-term safety of the site and the potential risk it poses during future flooding. I respectfully ask the Commissioner Court to evaluate what measures can be taken to ensure this does not happen again, including investigating the riverbank failure, considering protective measures, and determining whether an independent engineering review is warranted. In addition to the flooding concerns, The Bernie pit continues to present a hazard for the neighborhood. The existing fencing is really not, does not appear to be adequate to prevent children or livestock or people just getting on the property. People were all over that property during the flooding. So the fence doesn't keep the people, the animals, any out of any, anybody out of there. It's it's, It's not adequate to keep our neighbors safe. I'm requesting that the county work with the property owner and appropriate agencies to improve fencing and security, post warning signs, conduct regular inspections, and keep residents informed about plans to address both flood-related issues and ongoing public safety concerns. Also, I respectfully request that this manner be placed on the future commissioner's court agenda for public discussion and that the county provide residents with information regarding the investigation, safety measures, and planned corrective actions. Just as residents of our county, we just deserve to keep everybody safe, to protect our neighbors, and reduce the risk associated with this site. And I just want to thank you for your attention to these concerns. and for your service to Kendall County. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Mr. Anderson?

Good morning. Good morning, sir. Obviously, the other half of the Anderson duo. I'm here to talk to you about a little bit different subject. Mary was here to talk to you about the pit. I'm here to talk to you about future of what we do to prevent the catastrophes that happened along the river with this most recent flood. Now, we've been here 32 years. This is like the fourth flood, third really bad flood in that amount of time. These are not 100-year floods. They happen all the time. In our subdivision, we have vacant lots because it's a floodplain. Nobody can build in it. Because it's a floodplain. I doubt if they would get any kind of, if anybody did build, they'd get a septic permit. They definitely wouldn't get a well permit. And we had RVs parked on the bank and had them out there for a couple years now right next to the river. The POA has been trying to get those removed. Our engineer said she didn't know anything about it. although our commissioner did. What is the address that this is? Do you have an address? I don't have a specific address. It's that if you just come out to River Trail, there's a huge, probably 50 acres that is bottom land. It's meadow. People who own those lots and don't live in the subdivision, they live in San Antonio, park their RVs. And there aren't too many. Maybe there were three of them down there. parked them on the river and they shouldn't. And so anyway, what I'm here to talk to you about is our rules are inadequate. Nobody should be given a 90-day permit to park an unattended RV on the riverbank. It's totally inappropriate. And I'd like to see that change. And I'll be more than happy to volunteer my time to write up a statute to get that changed. But it's totally inappropriate. Those RVs now are at the bottom of the Guadalupe. They'll have propane tanks leaching into the water. This is water that people drink out of. I can't even begin to tell you the toxic crap that's in those RVs in the bottom of the river because we didn't force those people to remove them. I mean, they basically abandoned them and then would come like on the 4th of July or Memorial Day or Labor Day, party and then leave. So I'm expressing my complete dissatisfaction. And when the engineer claimed that she didn't know anything about it, you know, I can only point to my commissioner who's not here because I've talked to him multiple times about this. Maybe next time I need to put it on a certified letter if that's required. But what can you do about it? I mean, I'm going to give you my time and help you fix this problem if you will address it. Okay. Thank you for your time, sir. Thank you.

I would like to make one comment. If anyone has complaints about property issues, if you will report your concerns to the development at CoKendall.Texas.US, the engineer's office does handle investigation of complaints. So if you see something like that happening, please make your complaint to engineering so they can send someone out and figure out if any of our rules are being violated. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. And last but not least, Ms. Weaver.

I also live in River Trail subdivision and I'm on the board of, um, of the subdivision. We recently had an issue with these people that had the trailers on there and they sued us because we told them they had to remove their trailers. I gave them the Kendall County court order that was in 22 about flood damage and that they could not leave things down there, especially unattended. It's not safe. for security reasons. They refused. They sued us. We won, but it cost our neighborhood over $15,000. Okay, so then they came back, and they put more trailers on there. They had a port-a-potty on there. They had lots of trash down there, and then the flood happened. They have never seen a flood like this. I've lived out there 44 years. I knew it was going to eventually come again. They've lost everything. We also had another neighbor that put a Codex cargo container down on his property that actually hit the bridge. That's concern. Um, It also did a lot of tree damage all the way down our property. We have riverfront property. We live out there. Some people live out there. Most people don't live out there that have river property. It's great for them to come out and enjoy it and then take their trailers home. There's also electricity lines that they've put in on this. And this is floodway. This is really not flood zone. We live in flood zone. But floodway is when, I mean, the river was rushing. down through that area. So my concern is what we can do to communicate with y'all because we've asked for help before. They're not going to listen to us. Is there any way we can call, I guess, maybe the engineer and say, okay, these people have this out on their property and it can be addressed by the county because we don't seem to have any power or authority over this.

So those are my concerns. All right. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thanks for coming this morning. All right. Oh, it is 1022.

It is officially 1022 a.m., and this concludes today's special call meeting. And with that, we're adjourned.