Okay, here we go. Yep. Okay.
I'd like to welcome everyone this morning to our regular commissioner's court meeting
here november the 19th. We're
grateful for all our guests that's here today, but we're going to begin with invocation
be offered by commissioner moore. Then our pledges are gonna be led by commissioner hunt,
if you'd stand with us, please.
hello, spring. Dear honey, father lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for
all the rain that we received and the cooler weather. And lord, we also thank
you for all your blessings that you give us each and every day. We pray
for wisdom today. Lord, we pray for understanding. Lord, be with us as we make
decisions for the county, lord, that to be your will, not ours, lord, we wanna be
grateful for our employees and all the military and, uh, first responders
serving abroad. Lord, we just give you all the praise and your son's holy name. Amen.
amen. Amen. I pledge all 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 on honor the texas flag, I pledge allegiance
to the texas one state under god, one individual.
thank you. You're welcome. Alright, do we have anyone
have any routine correspondence or announcements this morning?
no. Yes. Uh, yeah. At, uh, two o'clock today at the terrell
uh, police department. Um, we're going to have the official pending for
our new chief, uh, arley sanson. Okay. This'll be a real nice event if
anybody wants to attend that. Good. Okay.
alright. Nothing else. We move on to the consent agenda. We have three items
there. Number a is discuss, consider accepting the commissioner's
court meetings for november the 12th. B, discuss. Consider accepting
the auditor's report for the month of october and c, discuss.
consider the appointment of rhonda huey to the children's shelter for a three year term, beginning
september 24th. The late on that one. . Any
comments or questions? Not need a motion to approve. I'll make a
motion for you. Mr. Phelps makes the motion. Do I have a second? I'll
second. Mr. Barr makes the second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.
next up, mr. Chuck, discuss, consider and present the coffee county
treasurer's monthly report for october of 24. Morning, judge. Good
morning, judge. Commissioners, excuse me. Uh,
we ended up the, uh, month of october with $7,948,000
in the fund to 10. Our interest earned was $825
in american national bank and 394,420
int pool and texas class. We had, uh, 15.9 million
invested intex pool, 69.4 million invested in texas class.
we are earning, uh, average yield of 4.9902%
in text pool and 5.042% in texas
class. Total funds in american national
bank, 26.69 million. Uh, value of
the collateral at the end of the month, 44.6 million. So we were collateralized by
the bank at 167%, which is very good.
we had 76.19% of our, uh, cash
invested during the month. Wrote 112 receipts for
$2.2 million during the month. Any questions?
looks very good and we're very well collateralized. Yes, we
are interest. Hopefully it stays up. Yeah. Come down just a tad. Yeah,
it's down a little bit. Not a whole lot though, but that's okay. It ebb and flow
still practically 5%, so yes. Yes. Any
questions for chuck? Comments? Nothing. I need a motion to accept.
commissioner hunt makes the motion to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Phillips makes
a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you, chuck. Thank
you,
robert. Come on up. We can give just a minute to sign all these papers and we'll be ready.
good morning, mr. Ray. Whoop.
no, you done, sir.
thank you.
mr. Robert hunter. Discussed considering approved the donation of a vietnam era.
ah, one cober helicopter to the kaka county veterans memorial park
for mr. Ken waterson of terrell. Good morning. Good morning, gentlemen. Good
to see y'all this morning. So this morning I have with me mr. Ray, raymond, which you guys know very
well. Yep. Uh, he is on the park board with me, and I also have the pleasure of
introducing to you if you don't already know him, mr. Ken waterson. He is a tarot resident
and he is also the, uh, director of the homeless
veterans services, uh, which is located, uh, just next to the dallas
va on lancaster. Okay. Um, it is actually where the helicopter
in question has sat for, uh, a great period of time until they started
doing construction. Um, so without any
further ado, um, it was about, uh, probably two weeks ago when mr.
waterson called and asked if the park would be interested
in, uh, basically homing, uh, the, the helicopter
that he has. Uh, currently it's on a trailer. They've used it in a few,
uh, parades and, uh, there's not a real home because the
location that it was in, as I said, is under construction. It was nearly struck by some
construction vehicles. They don't want it damaged. And so, um, he had
considered maybe putting it over at the terrell airport, but he decided that that really wasn't
going to be, uh, the proper venue for it. And so
he called and talked to me and, and I discussed it with him. And, and
so, uh, he came up, uh, with a, with a letter, uh, that he's asked
me to read. Um, and it says, dear commissioners, I am ken waterson, president
of the veterans resource center in dallas, texas. I am from terrell and it is my
honor to have served in vietnam in the us marine corps. And as a member of the
veterans committee that brought the vietnam wall to the kaufman in 2008.
it is my pleasure and desire to donate the ah, one cobra helicopter
estimated at approximately $10,000 that we depended on
so much in vietnam to the kaufman county veterans memorial park.
it is my understanding in that, in doing so, the county will maintain and care
for the helicopter and that it will be placed on a concrete slab with proper,
proper lighting illuminating it at night, as are the rest of the
monuments in the park. He further asks that if for any reason
the park were to disband, disassemble or no longer be, or
that we no longer desire to use the helicopter in the park, that
rather than selling or destroying or taking it off, that we would call him so that
he might find a new location so that it can be properly honored.
I think that's a great idea and we certainly appreciate your donation and your service to the
country. Uh, we need something like that out there. Mm-hmm, , it's
very, very welcome and we appreciate it. It's a beautiful park. It's
a good place for it. Yes it is. And we'll do, we'll take all the proper care
that we can to make sure it's maintained in the condition it's in. Yes, sir.
any other comments? Bloody helicopter mechanic in here on yeah.
to work on those simple fire marine work on. Yeah. So, uh, commissioner
moore was a marine, I was actually helicopter mechanic in the cobra is
one of our gun ships that we worked on. So she actually flew, was
flew in vietnam or afghanistan, iraq. I'm not sure. She has bullet holes in her.
uh, she was stationed in georgia for a while before we got it.
okay, good. I had grabbed some interesting information because
I spent, uh, as y'all know, this is project mr.
raymond's been working on for 15 or 20 years, and I've been working on
for about the last eight years. Um, but I don't know very much about,
I didn't know very much about the cobra because I was medevac, so my platforms
were typically utility style. Uh, and so, um,
I, I did do some research on this and it was impressive that during the
gulf war, uh, 78 marine super cobras flew 1,273
sorties in iraq. The, uh, they destroyed 97 tanks,
104 armored personnel carriers and two anti-aircraft artillery
sites. So, I mean, even as recently as just the, the gulf war, these,
these helicopters were, uh, utilized and, and in service.
and, uh, they're, they're almost all but phased out now. The marines were the last group
to hold onto 'em, and, and I think even the marines have phased them out now and started moving
to a different platform. So, uh, it's pretty neat to have one of these.
I did provide a picture in, uh, in the, um, uh, request
to appear before commissioner's court picture is, uh, a few years old. Uh, I
have seen recent photos still looks very similar to that. So, um,
it will be just the olive drab with the, uh, shark's mouth on
the front, which was so common during the vietnam era especially. So any
questions with the united states marine corps on the side of it? Yes, sir. ?
yeah, that was, we didn't change the army really. It
actually got the marine corps on one side and the army on the other side. So interesting fact, the,
the cobra was actually a, an army helicopter first. Right. And
the army moved on to something else and the marines made very good use of it. So, oh,
you're saying you got hand me downs, is that what you're saying? No, they did.
okay. He's in the army. Yeah. Yeah. You the marines got the hand me down. Oh.
is that an insult? You know, that's what, that's what we always give, we always give our helpers the
handy down . Oh my god. Alright, we've gone too far here.
, did you have anything you wanted to add? I just like thank the judge and the
court for accepting this. Yes sir. I think it's gonna be a great
addition to our, our part. It is. We look forward to having it there.
and did you have anything you wanted to say additionally? Yeah. Um,
how many veterans do we have on the court? Three. Three. Awesome.
I'd like to give you my challenge coin. Alright, we luck those. I was a
national 2007 during the year and also I spent,
uh, 1965 to 68 in vietnam and was
wounded in no shaw valley in 68 on 21st birthday,
according to the build phi simplifi marine.
thank you very, very much. Appreciate it. I like that.
thank you sir. Alright. Thank
you. We certainly appreciate
all the work and the effort. Mr. Waterson, we thank you again for your
service and for your dedication and for your honor, giving us the honor
to display the helicopter here for us, for people to enjoy and realize what
happened in the past. History seems to be eluding us. Mm-hmm.
quickly. Yes. Right. You're kinda
speechless today, . I I
quit that long time ago. . Well, let's get a picture if y'all will
come up here. Ashley, if you get a picture, come on up and
just get y'all come on here. I appreciate the continuous
support. Yes, sir. Our veterans. Yes sir. See, lot
of time today. Wait, he's got a toy. It's on the chair. Where's
the toy? Laura's on the chair. The chair. I'll give him the toy. So
that's robert's toy. I'm sorry. And it doesn't
look like the one that we're this display , I
want everybody to see. It does not look like that.
oh, where'd it go? Here, there it is. He's got it. That's it. That's
a good looking bird. I, if I can get
it's hold steel hold. Well here brad, you hold this.
we're back to see it. There you go.
so I hope they don't come out and expect to see that silver monster there. Yeah,
. Well, if we paint it silver, we won't
have to have the marines on it. Oh no.
might that thank
y'all very much and I'd like, you know me to make a motion on it. You bet. Y'all have a great day.
you can make a motion on it and speak and second it. I'll make a motion to accept it.
thank you gentlemen. I'll second we have a, a, uh, motion by
commissioner moore and a second by commissioner phelps to accept it. All in favor
say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you gentlemen. Very, very much.
number four. Oh, there's ya yasma. Come on.
we're going to discuss, consider, and approve the kaufman county library except a 2024
lad in catherine hatcher foundation grant in the amount of $5,282.
yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Good morning, judge. Good morning. Good morning commissioners.
I would first like to say thank you to commissioner hunt and to commissioner
barber for your service on the court in case I don't get to come back to court
again before the end of the year. I know the court sessions are winding down and
just to say thank you for everything you've done for kauffman county, especially for the kauffman
county library. So I just wanted to say that and thank you. Really respect you guys.
um, this ladin hatcher grant, it was written to add
two additional story times to our programs.
so we added another story time in september, um, for our preschoolers,
which serves ages zero to five. Those pre story times
average like 50 kids every session every week.
so this grant was written to kind of break that down to add two more.
one for elapse it for ages zero to 18 months, and
then another one for ages 18 months to three year olds so that we can kind
of disperse the population in that. So, um, this will
buy felt board seat cushions, sensory toys and tables,
um, additional books and things that we would need to conduct these story times.
so I just ask for your approval to accept that grant. Yeah.
thank you for looking for all these grants. Mm-hmm. And taking care of 'em and our children
definitely benefit from it. Yes sir. No doubt. Yes. Thank you. You're welcome.
gentlemen, what's your pleasure? Make a motion. Mr. Hunt makes the motion.
I second. Mr. Barr makes a second. All the favors say aye. Aye. Motion carrie.
thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
ms. Tandy smith.
discuss, consider approved canvasing the election results for the november 5th, 2024
general election. Good morning, ms. Tandy. Good morning.
how are y'all today, ms. Grace? Fine. So I provided you guys with a copy
of the official canvas that's submitted to the secretary of state's office,
um, for this election. After limited ballots were counted
and provisional ballots were processed, we end up with 69,772
votes cast in the november 5th election. How'd that compare
with the general election before? Uh, about 5% more.
okay. As far as turnout goes, uh, we really thought
it was gonna super boom. Uh, early voting was hot and heavy. As a matter of fact,
almost 60,000 of these votes were early voting. Wow. Uh, polls
came out, uh, day before election day. So election day was a lot less of a
turnout than, than early voting for sure.
um, but we've kept pace did a little better than, you know, 2020.
that's always a good thing. I think that's good. And with all the early votes, it
did relieve a lot of pressure on that soup on that tuesday. It did. And the additional
equipment we placed out during early voting really did help keep things flowing.
those were a, there were a lot of people being processed. I mean, when you break
5,000, almost 6,000 in a day, that's a lot of people
when you consider six locations. Um, and something to
consider is the fact that, you know, the forney isds oc was a brand
new election, early voting location used in
november, hadn't been used in a november election for this kind of
election before. And most of those times when you add something that new, you
don't see a giant turnout. You see a little bit, but not a lot.
and they were right up there and that was a big year.
it was a big year, but that I, I mean, com compared to what
the forney sub courthouse, just across the way they, that whole area
just exploded. Yeah. And it didn't hurt that, you
know, forney had a tell me an issue on the ballot . Yeah, they did have an issue on
the ballot. That's good. That's good. It gets a hold out. Uh, but yeah, no, a lot. We've processed
593 provisionals
for this election. We processed those within three days. So dps
had time to review before we brought the ballot board back in on the 12th.
um, we had 539 limited ballots.
so these are people who moved to our county that had not registered
yet, but were registered in their previous county in texas. So they get to vote
on the state federal issues that are in common with those. So our registered voter
count has boomed , we're
well over 111,000 now and quickly
approaching 102 by the time we're finished. There you go. Processing everything from this
election. Okay. Any comments or questions for ms. Sandy?
well, this the challenge to handle the growth. You know, I the county's exploding and
stuff and more people are moving in. It's just gonna do nothing but get
bigger. I I can tell you, I'm, I'm proud of every person
that worked in this election, whether it was in the field or in my office because you
gentlemen know we have a very tiny office. Yeah. And to process the volume of
calls and questions and pia requests during an election
while the state was still sending voter registration applications that were valid.
well, we certainly appreciate your work. , you put in lots of long hours.
I have a lot less hair. You were texting me back and forth at all hours of the night.
so we, we do try to keep you informed. Yes. Um, it was a little more
challenging to send updates like I would normally do with the workflow that we
had coming in there, but I, I'm very proud of everybody that performed in this
selection. Okay. Any comments or questions? If not,
entertain a motion to accept and approve. I'll make a motion. Mr. Phillips makes
the motion to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Moore makes a second. All in favor, say aye.
aye. Motion carries. Thank you tandy. And number seven, jurors again
to approve and discuss, consider attendance to attend the
election staff to the t-a-c-e-o, texas association
of county election officials midwinter conference in south
po island on january five through 10 of 2025
fy 25 budgeted item. And this, uh, associated
closure of the elections office during this timeframe. Correct. This was an
ffy 25 budgeted item. We've been very blessed, um, that
taio, the texas association of county elections officials
has extended grants to people serving in elections in an effort
to keep, um, from having so much turnover. We're
losing three good eas this year. And so all conference
registration has been waived and paid by a grant. They've offered us
the course fees associated that my staff will be able to take, have been
waived and paid for and associated with this grant as well. Um, so
the only thing we're gonna be out is our travel to there and our stay. Okay.
so that's a cost savings of $4,700. Okay.
any questions? Need a motion? I'll make the motion. Mr. Moore makes
the motion to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Hunt makes a second. All in favor of ci
aye. Motion carries. Thank you, tan. Thank you general. I appreciate it very much.
okay, ms. Shannon, we're going to discuss
and consider and approve or deny the variance requested by nextera
kaufman solar llc for screening standards pursuant to
section 12.04 of the subdivision and land development
regulations originally denied by the development support committee. Good morning. Good morning.
so the development support committee met to review the variance requested by nextera.
they're also known as kaufman solar, llc, uh, for those screening requirements,
the committee ultimately denied that request per section 13 of our regs.
they have the option to appeal to commissioner's court for the final decision.
senior project manager, uh, tracy johnson and her team are here today and they brought
some items to distribute to you guys and they'd like to speak to the court. Sure. Come, come forward
please.
and if you would state your name and, uh, where you live
and what your job title is, please. Sure. I'm tracy johnson. Okay.
come up to the podium please. Good morning. Good morning. I'm
tracy johnson. I work for next year energy resources representing kauffman
solar within the county. Uh, I, I'm,
I live in juno beach, florida. So I'm just here to represent the interests
of the project in front of the commissioners and yourself. Judge. Yes.
hi, my name is, uh, travis wykoff. I'm an environmental manager for, uh, nextera
energy, uh, for here in texas in the ercot region. I'm based outta austin,
texas. Okay.
my name is brendan jack. I work for nextera energy. I oversee the engineering and
construction for texas, currently live in lag vista, texas, but born on dia air
force base, um, in abilene, texas. Okay.
howdy. Good morning. Yes, my name's ryan blankenship. I'm with environmental consulting and
technology. We're the environmental firm that was procured by the developer to assist with some of
the site plans and, uh, visual, uh, renderings
that you'll see today. And I'm out of dallas. Okay.
so who's making the presentation of, what do you intend to do or
want to do that the committee has denied? So we are seeking,
um, a variance exception for compliance with
12.04. Um, the screening requirement,
um, that is part of the 12.06 requires,
um, compliance with. So, uh,
we propose this limited vegetative buffer, um,
because we think that, um, it follows the spirit
of the ordinance. Um, it fits in with the, um,
the aesthetic of the local surroundings. And we also
believe that it will have a longer lifespan than the wooden fence that's
proposed in 12.04. So, um,
I looked at that.
yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, so if I can explain a little bit about the
materials that y'all are, y'all are looking at. So what we did to kind of arrive at, at these
plan sets are, um, we took the proposed infrastructure
for the facility and then identified all the sensitive
receptors, so residences, uh, surrounding the area. Uh, we then traveled to
the site, took photos, uh, from the vantage points of the adjacent
residences to the proposed facility and did architectural
renderings of what that facility would look like, uh, after
construction and then overlaid, uh, uh, vegetative screening.
um, so a combination of evergreen plantings that
would accommodate, um, the, the ordinance in that it would
provide, uh, visual screening buffer from the adjacent
residences to the solar arrays. Um, and we projected that over
a one a five and a 10 year, uh, build out as that vegetation
grows and develops. Um, and so that is the
proposition that you see in front of you. Those green lines, I believe on the, um, site plan
would be those, those vegetative buffers, uh, in place between
the nearby, uh, adjacent residences and the proposed facility.
okay. So when you put these plants in there, what size? Six,
I know evergreens grow very, very slow. They're gonna be six foot after
six foot of planting. And what about the other plants you have here? I believe it specifies
in the ordinance for two or three feet for the trucks. And what kind
of shrubs are they? Is the
there? I think it's on, I don't think the species was determined.
I apologize. Um, yes, when the development support committee met, the data that
was given to us is they were two foot at planting. Our regs require six footer
planting, so that was one of the denials. Okay. I just wanna clarify that. Okay. On the structures or the trees?
on the, uh, trees. On the trees. Okay, perfect. So we can make
a modification, um, six foot in accordance with, uh, the ordinance
and then clear that sheet two. So the, the second sheet that you're seeing
with the design specifications is, is what we're discussing. So we've got evergreen
trees and then we've also got deciduous evergreen shrubs.
and so the trees are gonna be six foot and the shrubs are going to be,
what is it? Two foot? There's not
really a requirement for the trucking as far as they're six feet apart and six
foot at the time of planting even for trucks. Okay. So we need six foot trucks as
well. Okay. Okay. Now what happens when they, because we know they,
they're all gonna lift. So how often do you gonna come by and replace the dead ones?
on the maintenance? Yes. Annually. Annually? Yes sir.
okay. And our ordinance caused for a wood fence, is that what you're saying? Wood steel,
wood iron. That would be a solid iron.
is that what you're saying? Or, or was it, what about the chain link fence with
the slats in it? I mean, six foot tall, is that not an option? Yeah,
because we're looking at wood, fences are gonna rot. Yeah, exactly.
you look at shrubs gonna die. I mean, the, the trees might not
take to that soil type. So it's like, instead of wasting money and time
with I, I, I would suggest doing a six foot fence with slats in
it. I mean, but six in one fence is the standard for code compliance, um, for solar
farms. We do have a photo of chain fence
with slats. Do you? We're happy to accommodate. Do you have one with you? Yes, we do.
I know a lot of issues too is a lot of these fence companies will only put the
post in about 18 inches. That won't work. We won't be building that
way. We'll make sure that they're grounded, um, because the wind's gonna catch it, it's
all black dirt, it's gonna move and it's on the ground. Well, it'll have to be a commercial type
fence. Yes, sir. I mean, it'll have to be, you know, your, your line post and everything
else have to be commercial grade and probably even closer spacing
because you're gonna have a lot of wind. I mean, I do agree with the,
what tommy said. I might have a fence company for 32 years. The wood,
the wood will hold up for a long time. It's just the abuse of the wind and
the soil and the shifting, you know? So I, I
just think that's kind of a, I guess maintenance one would be unreal.
yes, sir. Uh, as far as the shrubs and stuff, I, the pictures
that I saw, the big trees were just too far apart.
and, and, and I know it takes time for all that stuff to grow. I
personally, I, I would, I would 20 inches prefer that it be
vegetation over a fence as far as the aesthetics to me.
but there's just too much gap and too much view to accomplish what you
want to accomplish or what the, the guidelines are requesting.
so there is an issue with, uh, procurement of that many
trees for 18 mile fence. Uh, yeah. So
that's, it's part of the reason we had 15. Well, now if you had native cedar
trees, like well we've got here, you can probably find 'em everywhere.
. That's true. But, uh, you know, it's just, they're a nuisance for
the most part for us. But, well, I agree the, the fence would probably last longer, but it,
if I live there and I look at that other fence every day, I, I would not
be excited about them. Yeah. If you had trees in
front of the fence, give it some little character
or break the monotony of just a chain link fence like you see
around here, of course with, uh, long star, you know, the gas plants. That's
such a look. Not even big as this room with the chain link like this, eh. Okay.
but that much is really, I would not
want to see. Well, I know the, the one we have currently now at warsaw,
I, oh, I drove through there a few months ago. It is just an eyesore.
it's like driving through west texas. Yeah. Caman county's
too pretty for that. I, I think, and it's a shame that this got by
and I mean, y'all looking at it, well, you know, they saved some money.
I don't understand that. But you know, they were the first one. So before
we saw what we got, and it's just an eye storm when you drive by
and you but it, I just think that as
part of the clarification, what we would like to specify, we're, we're hoping to entertaining,
um, you know, planting the trees and the shrubs, um, trying to understand if we need to do
the entire perimeter. Um, or if the court would like us to do
the slats as well. We're, we're happy to accommodate the eight foot privacy. Um,
and then also the, you know, one foot three strand barbed wire on top. Um,
but just looking for clarity on the . Let me ask you, do, do you really need the security to have the barbed
wire on top? We do for code compliance. Oh, you do? Okay. Okay. Unless
you know you really have jurisdiction. Uh, we'll allow us, um, as long
as allows us to remove the barb wire, but it come back with a
county. Okay. Not you guys would allow us to the, I would like,
I would like to slide it fence, but like shrubs in front of it. That's just me.
where, where is this located? It's in there off 1895 uhhuh.
it's, uh, the attorney's property, uh, calabria place to
go property. So it's on your precinct? Mm-hmm. Got this sign. Some of it goes into yours just
a tiny bit. Yeah, I but most of it's mike's and I just wanna explain, explain what the
committee looked at to make a decision. So what we got was two foot
plantings, which we were like, okay, that's gonna take, and then we saw a 10 year rendering
where they weren't very tall after 10 years. So it was not really providing screening
according to the committee. The, um, second concern was
they don't want to screen the entire perimeter. So because they want to
screen where there are already residential homes. The committee said that as
fast as kaufman is growing and the amount of development we have, there will be homes there in
three months. And so what are we supposed to do? Call them and tell them you need to go out and screen it.
you need to go out and screen it. So the committee did not want to take on that, um,
for lack of a better word, babysitting as homes go in.
so the committee was not in favor of not screening the property in
its entirety. So I just wanted to give you why the committee denied. We as the committee
do not give suggestions on that. That would be up to you, you guys, whether you
want to make alternate suggestions when they come for the variance, we can't provide any
feedback on sure. What other options would be, um, you know,
good for the project. We leave that for them to come here, we're gonna go strictly buy this
and this does say mason, uh, that you can use shrubbery and stuff. So it's just
a matter of, um, the committee didn't see, they saw the two foot plantings. Yeah. And
it just seemed like it would take too long to provide necessary screening. I just wanna
give you the committee's overall conversation. Is this the purchased or leased
by? Purchased? I just purchased. Yeah.
well, I've given you my recommendation or suggestion, whatever you wanna call it.
so what's your feelings? Well, you know, if you have to have the security. Security,
so you gotta have a fence. Yes sir. Yeah. And then, uh, between the two fences
types, the chain link with the slats I think would probably serve y'alls purpose
better economically or, you know. Yes sir. Physically prudent
more than the wood. Oh yeah. And then I breaking it up with shrubbery
and stuff, you know, do you want to hide the whole fence or you just want something
to kind of break it up? Like what they have the rendering here. Yeah. I don't think you'd
want to bear one like this. Yeah, no, because it's one
thing too. And start looking down after the evergreens will break
some of the wind. Get the fence out there. 'cause I mean
we have a lot of wind comes up. We have the six foot privacy fence. We're hitting
the spirit of the ordinance and then we add the shrubbery to
that. Also have to be six feet or can that be at a different height being that we've already met
the six foot requirement? You talking about initially? Or they'll grow eventually
they'll grow. This what he's talking about. Yes. Initially I think if fence is in
place, my personal opinion, they, they've met that requirement. If it's a six foot
fence with latch, I, to me destroy wouldn't matter at that point. Now if it was
just gonna be shrubbery only, no offense, then I'd have issue that, but
then that's my opinion. It's whatever you guys think on that. But I mean, they're meeting the
statue on that. But, well, we gotta remember the residents that we support
and who, who we take care of. They have to see it every day.
we we're not gonna get to see it every day. They are.
so I would like, like, I like some shrubbery depending on how far and how
tall is negotiable. But just the bear ugly
slanted chain link fence. I would not, yeah. I get, I I would not vote for that. I get the bear ugly
if somebody's already there. Yeah. If somebody's already there. I I get
that. You know, you don't want something like, you know, we're making
a decision. Put something in somebody's backyard. Yeah. We put the solar
plant there, . Yep. We already made that decision. Well, we didn't get this
approved. That's somebody in colorado. You're not allowed to.
you'd have to cover it up every, you know, they don't even let a cell cell tower be seen up there.
you know, they mm-hmm. . It's build 'em like a tree. So let's come to a consensus.
yeah. I think their question is, is if we do a six foot fence,
are you going to cross put six foot foot fence foot trees or can we put a two foot tree that'll
eventually grow six foot? Is that the correct? And if you, that you're asking really clear
so that we know how to direct them . Yeah. We can need to, the
stru y'all are recommending you planted at four foot, was
it, did you say four foot? So on the shrubs, and there might have been some miscommunication, so we
apologize on that. Our intent was the trees were gonna be at six foot for the
ordinance. Yeah. Um, as you alluded to, our preference would be the 80 foot fence,
the privacy fence without the shrub were around. Um, but if we do have
to do shrubs and the eight foot fence, um, we can definitely accommodate,
um, the clarity that we need is at time of planting, do we
have to do trees and shrubs or can we go in with shrubs that will grow up to
six foot? Um, because there's and you plan 'em and you plan 'em at four foot.
yes. Correct. Um, there's the question of spacing as you alluded to on the
visual sense. Um, over time, depending on spacing, depending
on the type of plant that we put in place, it may not provide
the shading that the county is looking for. Yeah. So your
recommendation would be what we're, I think we're all together on the,
the fencing, the sink with slats. The fencing meets the code. The fencing is fine. Yes. Now
what about the shrubbery? The shrubbery is, um, in some of the, if
they were doing wrought iron or masonry, they would require the shrubbery, but they're doing the fencing
so they don't, so it would be a courtesy that they were providing any kind of growing
or, or, or I like make it like wrigley field put
vy on it. . Well, I think,
I think it'd be they can come get it off my house. It just be a confuses to get off. It'd be neighbor
if, if if they did some kind of landscaping around the fence. Yeah. There's no question
about it. I don't know that you have to put a six foot tree in there. You put a
two or four foot. It wouldn't matter to me. It was going grow obviously. But some native
vegetation. But especially where there's houses that are already there,
you know, where there's not something there. Right. You're building and you know what you're looking at.
you shouldn't complain about it. It's like people that build around the airport and then grip about the noise.
come on. You know, that's I agree. Yeah. And the vegetation, I mean, that's
where I am. You know, if I've lived somewhere 40 years and you all of a sudden you stick something behind
me, that's just awful. That's not right. So, I mean, I,
I think, I think some kind of beautification for, uh, where
there's houses should be established. I would, I would system
residents. I would recommend that
we take the evergreens down to forefoot and the other plants to forefoot. Yep. And
then let them grow. 'cause that's gonna save a lot of money on buying something that tall because
you buy it by the diameter. Uh,
I don't think the, I'm looking out also where we can make you doing
what we can't make you do. Okay. So the statue clearly says
one to the other and we done have the fence. Or especially with
security and the wires. 'cause there's lithium there as well. The batteries and all that
stuff for the solar plant. So the security there is very important to me on that part.
and the beautification would be just an addition that you guys would be
saying, you know what, for goodwill, we're going to do this. My next question gonna be is right
now they're, they're saying yes, that'd be something they might look at doing, but just for what
they're proposed. So, which is just the fencing that's facing houses right now.
so it'll require them to go all the way around to beautify it towards where
there's no residence right now. I think that's something that we ought to be fair to you about
as well. So. Well that's true. But there has to be a timeline and is it one
house or is it 10 houses? Yeah. Before they continue to decide that. Yeah.
so they will know, hey, we've gotta go out and
do whatever we need to do. Yeah. I just said around where the houses are. I'm
not, I'm, you know, where it's vacant land that's not bothering me. I'm sorry.
the green lines indicates every adjoining property owner that is a
resident, how many miles does that you think? Currently? Yep. Cool. Um, I
see the green lines. I don't know the exact linear footage. Okay. It's drastically less than
the 18 miles. Oh yeah. On the entire oh yeah. Yeah. But we focus on
the existing. Okay. I think, but I think I understand. What,
are you gonna do the fence all the way around the beginning or sir. Alright. I would think so. They're putting the fence
all the way around. They're just saying now to address what skeets saying.
they ought be good neighbors to people there. But when the developer comes in and develops property and
they see this eyesore just like they do with developments
in, they got, they gotta cover up. They'll build a, a brick wall, concrete wall or
whatever to that's right off the roadways. But you know, if you're, if you're there, I
mean, I've been a victim of that stuff coming in after you've already been there for 15, 20
years and it's not pretty. But we have no way to control that
unfortunately. You know, the only way we could do it is upfront at the beginning
so that both parties know what to expect. Yeah. Yeah. But if it's
for all land, it's for all land and, and you know, the next person comes in
has to, you know, you, you are buying what you know is there.
you know, my dad always just say, you don't want a neighbor, you better buy the land next to you.
right. I mean that's just the way it is. Alright, let's get to a decision so we can
move on. You. Okay. I wanna chain link. Yep.
fence. No problem. The slats. The slats with the slats. Eight foot.
eight foot and with the three strands of barb wire on top, you have to do okay.
as far as the shrubbery, sir? Yes. I think where the,
yes. I just wanted to make sure by following the statute that that fencing is all the
way, way around. They are. It is. They are, yes. Yeah, they are
miles. Yes. Yes. Yeah. They're doing that for security. I just wanna make sure that
that's in our record. And I think y'all required to do that anyway. Yes. Yes.
they're required for the panels around the arrays. It won't be in the easement
off of county roads or state roads. It'll be around the arrays
on the property boundary. Right. And as far as shrubbery, I think where they have the green
lines here to begin with, they need to be greenery there.
uh, and I would go with the four
foot on both of those to the specs that they had in their original drawings.
if it's possible not to have a footed restriction, that'll give us more options
with the vegetation, I'd say no less than three feet.
okay. That'll help you with, with the cost in finding plants. Yes
sir. And, and one thing, this is just to ask, there's no way,
but put yourself in the people that live in these homes
that this is coming in behind 'em. If they had no control over what you wanna look
at outta your back door sitting on your patio or sitting at the pool.
yes sir. It's just a courtesy. A courtesy that I'm asking.
yeah. Okay. Everyone
good with that? Y'all okay with that? Mm-hmm. . Now
at some point in time when developments do come in around it, we would expect the
same type of greenery to be planted in those areas. Yeah. No less than three foot.
well I, I I can't, we won't be here.
I'm with skied on that. I, I the developer that deal with that. Well it's something
that I don't wanna make a point of. So, 'cause I'm trying to be fair to you guys too. Okay.
the statute says one or the other, all the greenery is them doing good.
I understand. Understand. So it's not right. That's why I'm not as particular on as
long as it's nice, you know what I mean? It's actually, well they could build
a fence and walk away and not do it. Then there's something we could do about it because they could pertain. So I
wanna make sure it's a goodwill though, that we're being fair to them as so in,
in the green areas. Okay. Well I just to clarify, there is no chain link in
our wrecks. We would have to
variance, let, let me clarify. There is no chain link in our regs.
we, the variance, it says rock iron fencing the variance, brickstone variance. So I wanna make sure
you know that that is a variance as well. I wanna make sure we're clear saying that's why they're
volunteering the trees. Correct. So I just wanted to make sure. Sure. We were all on the same page. Okay.
we would make 'em stick to the correct. I mean that's,
I mean brick wall around 18 miles. That should be your answer. That's too right? As you're talking about, I mean
we're alright, we good? Is everybody good? Is everyone clear? Mm-hmm. Good.
perfectly clear. Yes. Sorry, I just wanna make sure we're all
okay. I'm not beating anybody up that they're building in a pasture and there's
nothing around them. Right? Right. But if there's a house there and there's people there, then
for land's sake, let's be good neighbors. That's, that's what this is about.
that's, that's the end of the story. It's not that, you know, it's wrote in stone somewhere,
but it it should be that way. Yeah. You, you're just being fair to them.
okay, so to be perfectly clear, ,
last time, last time, last time, it's on record recording. We have
slatted fencing ballbar on top, which is required.
we have shrubbery where the green line is on
your map that you did. Mm-hmm. With three to four foot plants.
the trees plus whatever the evergreen shrub is. Mm-hmm.
and those green areas. Mm-hmm. . Okay. Anything further?
that's a lot of green areas on there. A lot of and the spirit
of being good neighbors. We did uh, try to employ the best that we've done. Okay. Um,
throughout texas and other states. Um, to be cognizant of the neighbors, we do take
that to heart. Sure. And we appreciate that. Yes sir. Alright. And we'll, we'll follow
it up, right? Yes. Okay. Then once a year come in and
replace what trees or shrubs are dead to like you would before. Okay.
and just so you know, the enforcement on that is if they don't maintain the screening.
mm-hmm then when they go for their annual co with the fire marshal, it will not be
renewed. Okay. That is the enforcement. Okay. Good deal. Okay. Okay.
we have a motion. I made a motion. We have a second. I'll second. There you go. Mr. Moore
second. All favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you gentlemen. Thank you guys lady,
thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
number nine. That's mine. Consider and
approve the county motor fuel exemption tax resolution from kauffman
county. Have y'all seen this in the uh,
countywide news uh, magazine? A lot of counties have
already sent this resolution to the representatives. I made
a copy of it. It's in your folder. Yep. There's no thing
how much money it would save the county if we were able to
use the same fuel exemption. 'cause right now it's
federal agencies, volunteer fire departments, nonprofits,
ambulance service, electric cooperatives and schools.
so they left counties out. So that would definitely help our budget if we could
get this exempted. I talked to keith, he was in the office yesterday.
he said uh, send it to him along with all the representatives
are put putting theirs in to get this done. So any
questions? Is this something y'all are interested in? Absolutely. I think it'll
save the county money. So I need a motion to approve this.
I'll make that motion. Mr. Barber makes the motion to have a second. I'll second
mr. Hunt. Make a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries.
sign this. And y'all sign it
ms. Lorena, you're up. Next. Discuss considering
approve ordering one concrete box cover for road bridge precinct four,
utilizing crawford county bid. 24 dash 14 annual contract
concrete box covers and miscellaneous concrete work. Yes ma'am. Good morning judge commissioners
the box covert specif specifications aligned with bid 24 14
and it meets all procurement requirements. The total price is 99,120.
I recommend to purchase commissioner moore. This is gonna be, we're
having texas bit redo 40 37 right now. They're going to asphalt it. That
culvert system that's there now is pushing out. So this will be the best benefit long term.
mm-hmm. Plus we're billing it a little bit bigger for future growth there. So, uh,
good. I'd like to make a motion to approve that. Have a motion. Commissioner moore to have a second.
I'll second. Mr.
second here. Seconded it mean come on. You didn't need to see my
name fellas. Okay. Excuse philip.
second. All in favor say a aye. Motion carried. Thank you. Thank you lorena.
ms. Auditor. Good morning.
good morning. We're going to discuss line item and budget transfers.
we have one this week. Um, wow. , that's good. Yes.
uh, we ask for your approval. Okay. Any questions? No.
any comments? Not need a motion to approve. I'll make a motion.
mr. Phillips makes a motion to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Moore
makes a second. All all in favor say aye. A motion carries number 12
in honor to once again claims for payment or financial information is
needed. So this week we have accounts payable
invoices totaling $2,115,231
and 88 cents. Most of that is made up of your road bond, um, expenditures.
we also have jury checks of $8,220 and we have
a payroll of $2,135,504
and 68 cents for a total payout of $4,258,956
and 56 cents. And we ask for your approval to pay any questions?
need a motion to approve? I'll make a motion. Mr. Barb
makes a motion to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Hunt makes a second. All in favor say aye.
aye. Motion carried. I will say one thing about the jury checks.
this yesterday was one of the biggest days I've seen at the courthouse
with jurors showing up. They were packed. .
oh man it was something else. And it's good to see that so many of our citizens are showing up
to serve, which is really encouraging. It definitely has increased over the past
year. The amount. Mm-hmm. . And we have another court. Yes. So keeps
you going. Okay. Number 13, discuss considered exit
regular meeting and enter to an executive session pursuant to government code 5 5 1 0.071
the commissioner's court will meet and closed sessions to consult with counsel regarding kaman county's
contemplated litigation arising from the construction of the kauffman
county pet adoption center, the kaman county justice center
and the kalin county justice center. Expansion buildings against but
not limited to the following entities. And there's a bunch right there.
so at this time I need a motion to exit, break the meeting and enter
into an executive session. I'll make motion. Mr. Phis makes the motion to have
a second. I second. Mr. Bar makes a second. All in favors say aye. Aye.
motion carried. Thank you.
oh o. Okay, we'll enter back. I need a motion. Enter back
into regular meeting. I'll make that motion for mr. Phelps. Makes motion enter back to regular meeting.
do I have a second? I second. Mr. Barber. Thank a second.
all in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. As a result of our executive session,
I need to know if is there a motion for the county to proceed with litigation
arising from the construction of the kaufman county pet adoption center,
the kaufman county justice center and the kaman county justice center
expansion buildings against these companies.
helmuth, oda and ca bomb. Hok architect,
m-e-p-c-e-h-o-k sub consultant for the mechanical, electric
and plumbing scopes. Jq
hks sub-consultant for the structural and civil engineering texas
general mechanical prime contractor for mep and hvac.
supervisor systems. Tgm subcontractor for supervisors
proprietary plumbing system, liberty mutual insurance company,
the surety for the bond for the tmg. Tgm.
I'm sorry, gallagher. Construction services construction management
agent. Quorum architects quorum architect for the pet adoption
center. Baird, hampton and brown quorum. Subcontractor
for mep scopes. Kimley-horn associates quorum subcontractor
for civil engineering. Frank and neil associates inc.
quorum subcontractor for structural engineering and any other
and all other potential responsibility entities. They might
be involved in construction of these three properties. Do I have
a motion? I'll make a motion for you. Motion
for commissioner phipps to have a second. I'll second. Mr. Bar makes second. All
in favor say aye. A. Aye. Aye. Motion carries.
uh, I need a motion to adjourn the meeting. I'll make a motion. Adjourn the meeting. May
mr. Phillips makes the motion to have a second. I'll second mr. Barber,
make a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carrie. Thank you. Thank.