Would like to call to order this meeting, this regularly scheduled meeting of the ellis county commissioners court. We do have a quorum present. This meeting has been posted.
legally posted pursuant to the texas open meetings act, which is found at texas government
code, chapter 551. Unless there is an objection, I will go ahead and officially declare
the meeting open. All right. And at this time, I would like to call on commissioner
precinct three, lewis ponder, to lead us in the invocation and pledge of allegiance.
please stand. Pray with me, please. Heavenly father, as we gather here today, we want to
thank you for your love and your grace. Father, we ask you to guide us in the decisions
that we make today. Help us, lord, to make those decisions in a way that protects all
parties and honors your glory. Lord, we ask that you defend and protect those that defend
and protect us both home and abroad. We ask this in your holy name. Amen. Amen. I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it
stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the
texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, texas. One state, under god, one and indivisible.
okay. Thank you all and welcome again. And today is saint patrick's day. So happy saint
patrick's day. I see a few of you out there who aren't wearing green, but that's okay
because I'm not wearing green either. So I'm right there with you. But anyway, welcome. I
want to remind everyone that we do have a process for public comments. We have a form that
is available out in the foyer. It's behind the doors to my right, which would be to your
left. And we would ask that if you want to comment on on an agenda item that you please
fill out the form. And then if you deliver it to our county clerk, crystal valdez, she will
get it to me and we will be sure to call upon you when your agenda item is up for
consideration. And we will now move into our proclamations, recognitions, and resolutions.
the first is r one, which is recognition of ellis county office of emergency management,
storm ready certification. And we have alex ming from the office of emergency management.
alex, if you want to come up, I will read this resolution. First off, do you have anything
you'd like to share with us about the certification? It just it's to prepare the and
save lives. For extreme weather events. Yeah. Very good. And those are seem to occur more
frequently. And we appreciate that you're prepared on behalf of all the citizens for the
county. So thank you. Thank you alex. I'll now read the resolution. The ellis county
commissioner's court proudly recognizes and commends ellis county for its achievement in
becoming storm ready certified through the national weather service fort worth office. This
designation reflects ellis county's ongoing commitment to severe weather preparedness,
public safety, and resilient emergency response operations. The storm ready program,
administered by the national weather service, establishes rigorous standards for for
hazard monitoring, emergency communications, public outreach, and coordinated response to
hazardous weather events. Through meeting these standards, ellis county has demonstrated
its dedication to strengthening local readiness, improving warning dissemination and
ensuring the safety of residents and visitors during severe weather. While the ellis
county office of emergency management served as the coordinating agency for this
effort, this accomplishment represents a truly collaborative effort across multiple public safety partners. The success of this initiative would not have been possible
without the strong partnership and operational support of the ellis county sheriff's office
and the ellis county fire marshal's office. These agencies play a critical role
in warning dissemination, field response, and the protection of lives and property during
hazardous weather events. Their professionalism, preparedness and commitment to service
continue to enhance the safety and resilience of ellis county. The ellis county commissioners
court proudly recognizes this important milestone and extends its appreciation to all
agencies and personnel whose dedication made this achievement possible. So thank
you, alex, on behalf of your department and thank you to the fire marshal's office and the
sheriff's office as well. And we're glad that you're looking out for our safety during
hazardous weather events. And commissioners, I don't know if you have anything to add, but
alex is going to pose with us for a picture. But we'll first take up the other resolution
and then we'll take a two group pictures. Thanks, alex. Thank you, I appreciate you. Okay. We
will now take up r two, which is a resolution supporting child abuse prevention month,
paint the town blue initiative. And I think we have a couple of community volunteers who serve
in the children's advocacy center and other groups that look out for our children's
welfare. If you ladies want to come on up, that would be great. I don't know if anyone has
anything you want to kind of share with us about the paint the town blue initiative, but
you're welcome to do that. Leslie's not here. Okay. Yes. How was it prepared? Yeah. Go
ahead. Yeah. Got it, got it. Yes. I'm sure leslie was held up doing something important,
but we'll we'll please tell her we're sorry we missed her. I'll go ahead and read the
resolution and then we'll we'll grab a picture to bring more awareness to the paint the town
blue initiative. Whereas child abuse and neglect remain serious issues affecting
thousands of children and families each year. And every child deserves to grow up in a safe, stable and nurturing environment. And whereas the ellis county children's
advocacy center provides critical services to children who have experienced abuse,
offering coordinated investigations, advocacy and support to help children begin
the healing process. And whereas april is nationally recognized as child abuse
prevention month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and encouraging communities to
take action to protect children. And whereas, during the month of april, the ellis county
children's advocacy center leads the community initiative known as paint the town blue, a
visual movement designed to raise awareness for the thousands of children impacted
by abuse. And whereas, community awareness and involvement are essential in
preventing child abuse and ensuring that families have access to resources and support.
now, therefore, be it resolved that the ellis county commissioners court hereby supports and recognizes april as child abuse prevention month and encourages all residents,
businesses, schools and community organizations to participate in paint the town
blue by displaying blue ribbons, pinwheels and blue lights to serve as powerful reminders
that every child deserves to feel safe, protected, and loved throughout april. Thank you.
thank you all know she has a whole month of activities the cac does, so y'all will be
hearing lots about all the things that are coming up right. Support the kids during the
month of april. And I do believe several of the county buildings and departments are participating in paint the town blue. And I do think we are in fact, lighting the courthouse
lights in blue, at least for a portion of the month. So we're certainly proud and happy to
support that effort. Absolutely. We are representing the child welfare board who works with
them and supports the agency and other workers. Very good. We appreciate your efforts. I
know it couldn't happen without you. And if if you'll just hang on a minute, we'll take a
picture with you. And then alex, if you want to come back up, we'll get a picture with you as
well. Oh. Could you tell her? I'll let you go first. I'll squeeze you. I'll squeeze your.
do you even have to move for me? Okay. Thank you everyone, and we appreciate our visitors
today and the opportunity to recognize their good work in our community. And we'll now
move to our consent agenda, which is which consists of item items a1 through a19 and f-1
through f3. Items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted by
one motion. However, any commissioner may ask to have any item on the consent agenda
pulled and discussed and considered separately. If there is no such request, I would
entertain a motion to approve items a1 through a19 and f1 through f3 motion to approve
consent as presented. We have a motion to approve the consent agenda from commissioner
greyson and a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say I I is
anyone opposed hearing no opposition. The consent agenda items a1 through a19 and f1
through f3 passes unanimously. Okay, we'll now move to our regular agenda. We'll first
take up items from the department of development. And I would ask our director of
development, alberto morris, to come up and give us comments on these items. The first is item
1.1, which is discussion, consideration and action on a replat of toledo addition lots
14 r1 and 14 r2 block a. This is an approximately 10.29 acre site that is located
approximately five point. I'm sorry, approximately 595ft southwest of the intersection
of hunsaker road and palmyra road in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city of red
oak road and bridge precinct number one alberto. Judge and commissioners. This is a
request to create an additional lot out of a previously planned property. The original plot was
approved back on november 18th of 1983. The city of roanoke has already approved this plot.
on february 4th, they are showing the right of dedication for. Hunsaker road has met all
the legal notice requirements. Ten certified notices were sent out. Staff does recommend
approval subject to two conditions. Okay. Motion to accept with conditions. Okay.
we have a we have a motion to approve item 1.1 with conditions from commissioner
stinson. We have a second from commissioner greyson. All those in favor, please say I. I. Is
anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition. The motion passes unanimously. We'll now take up
agenda item 1.2, which is discussion, consideration and action on a replat of summit
estates. Phase one lots 49 r and 50 r block two. This is an approximately 3.216 acre site
that is located at the intersection of val lane and denali way, loxahatchee road
and bridge. Precinct number four. Alberto. Yes, this is the. The initial plot was approved
back on november 24th of 2014. It has since been removed from the waxahachie etj about six
weeks ago on february 2nd. The request is to adjust the property lines between lots 49
and 50. Once again, the legal notices were sent out in this paper on the website. We did
send out 55 notices within the subdivision. Staff does recommend approval subject to
five conditions. Most of them are technical in nature. Okay, commissioners, any questions or
comments? I'll make a motion under the. Yeah. Conditions. We have a motion. I'll second. We
have a motion to approve agenda item 1.2, subject to staff conditions from commissioner
butler and a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.
is anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition, the motion on item 1.2 passes. We'll now take up
and consider item 1.3, which is discussion, consideration and action to release supplemental
deposit for springside estates phase two. This is an approximately 106.68687 acre
site that is located approximately 3929 25ft west of the intersection of blackfoot
parkway and gibson road in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city of waxahachie road
and bridge. Precinct number four, alberto. Yes. The applicant is requesting to
release the $15,000 supplemental deposit for the for the subdivision back on
september 30th. The court did release two bonds for this property. There's there was a
minor drainage deficiency that hadn't been corrected. So they decided to do a supplemental
bond for that. Since then, that has been corrected and staff recommends approval to release
that $15,000. So moved. Second, we have a motion to approve agenda item 1.3 from
commissioner butler and a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say I. I. Is anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition. Item 1.3 passes unanimously. All right.
thank you. Thank you alberto. Thank you. Thank you alberto. Okay. We'll now move on to the
purchasing portion of our agenda. And we will ask our director of purchasing, ajay harbin, to come offer comments on these items. The first is item 2.1, which is discussion,
consideration and action to award. Rfp 2020 6-005 grounds maintenance and landscape
services to harris sons quality lawn care, llc and authorization for the county
judge to execute the contract. Upon legal review. Ej good afternoon, judge commissioners.
rfp 2026 005 was released january 13th and advertised twice in the newspapers
required. In addition, pershing sent copies of the request for bid to our existing vendor
currently being used. The bids were opened on february 19th. We received eight responses
from companies that were interested in taking over our landscaping at. The county.
staff recommends award to harrison sons quality lawn care, llc of midlothian. Okay
commissioners, any questions or comments on on this item? Motion to approve. Thank you.
we have a motion to approve item 2.1 from commissioner greyson. Is there a second?
second, we have a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye.
anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition. Item 2.1 passes unanimously. We will now take
up item 2.2, which is discussion, consideration and action to engage barry dunn for
the next phase. That being implementation services for the court management system, jury
management system and land and vital records management system, and the amount of $904,775 ej.
the future capability of the court case management system, jury selection system and land
and vital record system hinges on how well the implementation goes and how much time
implementation takes. Total implementation costs, as judge read out, is expected to be
$904,775, which includes all travel and incidentals. So it's ours. Installation plus travel
staff requests approval to engage barry dunn for implementation of the systems.
I did want to say dave wasson with barry dunn is here to provide some background on the
scheduling and kind of what to expect and to answer any questions that you may have.
come on up. Dave. Yeah. And dave, just to confirm, you're you're with barry dunn. You're
one of our. Yes, sir. Points of contact with barry dunn. Yeah. Please share with us whatever
you would like. Yes. Thank you judge commissioners good to see you all. Dave watson from barry
dunn here. We're here at a very critical point in this project. We as you know we've moved
through a couple of vendors so far. But in order to get the district court and county clerk
or district clerk and county clerk in the courts exactly what they need, we're right where we need to be. And it's taking a little bit, but we're here and we're ready to push
this next phase here. So the we just essentially wrapped up negotiations with tyler
yesterday. We had a big meeting. Everyone was involved on both sides to hash out the last
minute items. We're happy to report that barry dunn, along with with your staff, were able
to negotiate very favorable terms from tyler, which is not easy to do. We've got reduction
in price. We've got enhanced services from tyler to helpfully fill in some of the
issues we had with other vendors, and basically everything went well, and we're
about ready to sign the contract. It should be coming to you any moment now, because I believe you gave us you gave permission to negotiate and sign. So it's a 16 month
project plan starting april 1st, no later than april 1st, going for 16 months. And barry dunn
will be engaged as assisting the clerk's offices with configuration data services,
validation services, things that take a lot of time and detail to do that. It's very
difficult for a full time staff for both offices to do that. So that's why you brought us in
not only to negotiate good deals for you, but also to help with the implementations because of our experience. So as I said, happy to report, we're in a good position. We're
confident that tyler can pull off the time frame. And with barry dunn by your side, we
will get this project finished. Finally. Thank god, that's great and I appreciate your
commenting on the timeline. I know the county clerk is probably going to want me to ask that if you didn't volunteer that bit of information, but that that's
really good. And we're I know we're anxious to, to get there, get to the goal line. So that's
that's good to hear. Yes, commissioner. Anyone have any questions? Yes, sir. One thing
that gives me heartburn most of the time, sir, is when we end up with a migration challenge.
is we all in at 904? No. No migration concerns that whatever is existing. I know
there was a start stop. Yes. My concern would be, is there any is there any open here that
could could trip us up at a later date? Because this is a large sum of money. We. And by
the way, let me just interject. This crystal has been on point to get us righted in the right
direction, and I want to just publicly say thank you for that. You you came to us early and we
are here today to back you up and support you with this. And I'm very thankful for what you
had the time to spend to do. But that being said, yes, sir, I want to make sure that we
don't have a migration issue we have in the past because when somebody else starts something,
they have some sort of control and some sort of hanging over our head. Do you feel confident
that we're we're all in and we can do the full. That's a great point. Data migration is is a
pain point. As you know, this was one of the issues we just had. Yes, we're in great
position right now. And this will cover all those expenses. I'm buried on site. And also
we've incorporated more work from tyler on data migration in their price that you're paying.
so there shouldn't be any surprises with data migration. Tyler. As you know, as many
clients in texas, they've done this migration from lg's to tyler many times before. So
we're very confident this will be successful. And the advantage of tyler's experience,
not unlike not like what we had with the last vendor. So it wasn't our fault, but it was a
it was a question that we were surprised that ended up on our plate, that that migration
wasn't even included. And we ended up feeling like we paid a price for that. So that's the
reason I'm asking again today to make sure that we there's you feel confident that we're ready and we're all in it. 904 yeah, very confident and okay. And I think it's worth noting
that tyler is a texas based, in fact, dallas fort worth, yes. Company that we expect would
have much more familiar familiarity with texas records and systems. And to back up
what he said, that was our assumption in the past from the beginning. So we we kind of
thought, well, you know, that's what you're getting paid for was and it wasn't the case. So
just yes, we made sure believe me, we made sure this time that they understood we've had we
had several meetings directly to them. And I agree with the judge tyler is a well respected
in this state. I don't anticipate a problem there. We just needed to say it. Yes, sir.
yes, sir. Thank you, thank you. That's only happened like every time. I don't know why he would
ask that, but I appreciate you. Okay. So you're comfortable with this? You go with the move.
we're ready to get started. I make a motion second. All right, we have a motion to approve
item two from commissioner ponder. We have a second from commissioner greyson. All those
in favor, please say I, I does anyone opposed hearing? No. Opposition. Item 2.2 passes
unanimously. You being here. Thank you dave. Appreciate your time today. Thanks, jeff. Thank
you. We'll now take up item 2.3, which is discussion, consideration and action to
purchase a 2026 dura patcher, p3 truck mounted pothole patcher for road and bridge
precinct number four in the amount of $134,885 from texas patcher, llc. Ej using the
source. Using the sourcewell cooperative contract to purchase a similar truck
mounted der patcher provides a discount of $14,565 off of the standard price. Total price
includes mounting on the chassis for the precinct and then includes optional hocl
nozzle heater. I tell you, I'm tongue tied today. I know I'm. I'm commissioner butler, would
you like to talk about this one? I know I was going to say it's a doozy. Now this this is
actually the the unit, the pothole unit that's going to go in the truck that we purchased
last quarter. Right? That'll make a complete unit and it'll replace our old one. We'll be
ready to sell that one. Perfect. The other one did us justice. It was about 13, 14 years in
the works. So we'll be ready to patch some potholes. You ready to patch some potholes? I'll
make a motion to accept the patcher. I'll second that motion. Okay. We have a motion
to approve item 2.3 from commissioner butler and a second from commissioner ponder.
all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition. Item 2.3
passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. We'll now move to the
administrative portion of our agenda. We'll take up first item 3.1, which is discussion,
consideration and action on a lease agreement for the rental of an ada express vote marking
device for mountain peak special utility utility district to use in conducting
the general election on april 25th, 2026. We have our elections administrator, jana
onion to speak with us about this item. Good afternoon. This is our standard lease agreement.
when an entity holds their own election, they need to be compliant to the election code.
and having an ada compliant machine out there will help them do that. And so they've
asked us to rent out a machine. So that's what we're doing today. Okay. Thank you. We have
a we have a motion to approve agenda item 3.1 from commissioner greyson and a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Does anyone opposed
hearing? No. Opposition? Item 3.1 passes unanimously. We'll now take up item 3.2, which is
discussion, consideration and action on a lease agreement for the rental of an ada express
vote marking device for mansfield isd to use in conducting the general election
on may 2nd, 2026. And we'll hear again from our administrator, jana onion. This
kind of sounds suspiciously similar to similar. Yes, exactly. Similar. Yes. They've
requested us to to rent an ada machine as well. So moved. Okay, we have a motion to approve
item 3.2 from commissioner greyson and a second from commissioner stinson. All those
in favor, please say I, I I. Is anyone opposed? Hearing? No. Opposition. Item 3.2 passes
unanimously. And lastly from jana, we'll hear from her on item 3.3 which will take up at
this time. That's discussion, consideration and action on an agreement for elect task
software for the elections office team to track and manage tasks for each election. Funds
would come from budget line 001-0210-508880. Jana, this is a vendor that we've actually
been using since 2023. And so this is a software that has been helping our office plan
for each election and be able to conduct things. So this is just it's already budgeted this
amount in our budget. It's just a renewal of their contract. And legal has already reviewed
it and approved it. And that our our line item doesn't tell us the total. Would you tell us
that? Sure. It's $5,269. So moved. Okay, we have a motion to approve agenda item 3.3 from
commissioner greyson and a second from commissioner ponder. All those in favor, please say
aye. Anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition. Item 3.3 passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank
you. Okay. We'll now move on to agenda item 3.4, which is discussion, consideration and
action to revise the rules of procedure, conduct and decorum of the ellis county
commissioners court meetings. Commissioners, this is there's nothing really substantive
going on here. There's two main things that are happening. One is just some some typographical
errors that are being fixed that. Leah martinec, our public information officer, picked up
on. So she's correcting a few typographical errors. And then secondarily, there was a
reference in the current policy about the posting of the agenda notices being 72 hours prior to
the meeting and of course, due to the change in the law that the legislature enacted last
session, we now post the agenda item three business days prior to the to the meeting. So that
changes is in here as well. Other than that, that's it. I don't know if anyone has any
questions. No questions. Okay. We have a motion to approve agenda item 3.4 from
commissioner greyson and a second, second from I think we got one from commissioner
butler earlier. Sorry you were so loud. I won't I won't buttons here. Oh. Are you am I
deaf today? I'm sorry if I'm missing some of your. Yeah. Clear your throat or something
if you'd like to. Anyway, we have a motion to approve agenda item 3.4 from commissioner
greyson and a second from commissioner butler. All those in favor, please say aye, I
does anyone opposed hearing? No. Opposition? Item 3.4 passes unanimously. We next have item
3.5, which is discussion, consideration and possible action on the purchase of
property located at 1305 west jefferson and waxahatchee. I would like I would suggest
commissioners that we hold that item until after the executive session, which we will now.
I'll now read the executive session item, which is item 4.1 pursuant to texas government
code, section 551.072 to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease or value of
real property where the deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect
on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third party,
specifically, the property located at 1305 west jefferson and waxahatchee. So
commissioners, if you'll take some time to deliberate that in executive session, we can then
recall item 3.5 as necessary. And at this time, I would like to take a motion to enter the
executive session on 4.1. We have a motion, a very loud motion from commissioner
stinson to enter the executive session, and I believe we had a second from commissioner ponder.
I think I was first, but I'll let him have it. Okay? Okay. All those in favor of entering
the executive session, please say I I. Is anyone opposed? Hearing no opposition, the
ellis county commissioners court will now stand in executive session. The time is d
himself for the contract that we were looking at today because of a conflict. So I
need at this time, it is now. 331, and I would like to reconvene after executive. Do I
have a motion to reconvene? A motion made by butler, seconded by ponder. All those in favor,
say aye. Last item for today is item. Three, item 3.5. And there will be no action taken
at this time. So with nothing else, unless there's any questions, if there's nothing else, do I have a motion to to end today's session? So moved by commissioner ponder and
seconded by commissioner butler. All those in favor, say aye. I we