April 12, 2022 Hood County Commissioners' Court

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The Hood County Commissioners' Court met on April 12, 2022, to conduct routine business and address public concerns, opening with invocations and announcements including the county's receipt of 2021 Excellence in Safety and Floodplain Management Excellence Awards. The court heard citizen comments regarding Commissioner residency, library book content in Granbury ISD, and fire department funding before approving consent agenda items and multiple development projects including preliminary plats for Orchard 15A and 15B and variance approvals for 1862 Ranch. The court also approved several administrative actions including addition of Juneteenth as a county holiday, authorization of procurement bids, establishment of a burn ban extension, and initiation of a committee to develop public records request policies. Additionally, the court discussed public information procedures and fee schedules for records requests, approved community facility leasing, and voted on assignments of claims and fund deposits.

• Call to order and meeting proceduresThe court called the meeting to order and explained public comment procedures for at-large and agenda-item speakers.
• Invocation and opening remarksPastor Loyal Erkenbach of Hope Community Church delivered the invocation, emphasizing leaders' authority flowing from God and calling for vision and protection of county leadership.
• International Bible Reading announcementPastor Mike McMahon announced the upcoming International Bible Reading event, beginning two weeks from Friday, and encouraged participation with approximately 150 remaining slots available.
• Hood County 2021 Excellence in Safety AwardTAC representatives Todd Keisel and Isaac Garcia presented Hood County with the 2021 Excellence in Safety Award, the first time the county achieved this recognition.
• Texas Floodplain Management Excellence AwardStephanie Griffin and Senator Wes Birdwell presented Hood County with the County Floodplain Management Excellence Award for public outreach efforts and higher building standards.
• Citizens comments at large—Commissioner residency petitionDoug Moore presented a seven-page petition signed by eligible Hood County voters requesting investigation of Commissioner David Eagle's residency at 2615 Hillside Drive, Granbury, Texas 76048.
• Citizens comments—GISD library book content concernsKaren Lowry and Monica Brown raised concerns about sexually explicit and age-inappropriate books in Granbury ISD library collections, citing Governor Abbott's direction and Texas Penal Code 43.24.
• Citizens comments—Fire department fundingTina Brown urged guaranteed funding for the Hood County Fire Department rather than relying on fundraising and appealed to commissioners to address the staffing needs before declining.
• Consent agenda approvalThe court approved the consent agenda without pulling any items, with motion from Commissioner Andrews and second from Commissioner Eagle; motion carried 5-0.
• Roads—Stop sign installation at sunset acres and larson courtDuring a public hearing, Mr. Donald Lenny recommended placing a stop sign at the intersection of Sunset Acres Court and Larson Court, following TMUTCD rules and Texas Transportation Code.
• Development—Pecan Plantation Unit 7 public hearing dateThe court set a public hearing date of May 24, 2022 for the replat of Pecan Plantation Unit 7 Lot 146R, located in Precinct 2.
• Development—Orchard 15A preliminary plat approvalStaff recommended and the court approved the preliminary plat for Orchard 15A, a 53.749-acre development in the water quality district proposing 96 single-family lots served by MUD water and sewer.
• Development—Orchard 15B preliminary plat approvalStaff recommended and the court approved the preliminary plat for Orchard 15B, a 21.147-acre development proposing 32 single-family lots, adjacent to Orchard 15A.
• Development—Cameron Lane site development plan public hearing and approvalA public hearing was held and the court approved the site development plan for Cameron Lane Development, a 4.55-acre commercial and manufacturing project on Highway 100.
• Development—1862 Ranch variance requests public hearingA public hearing convened to discuss and consider variance requests for 1862 Ranch located in Precinct 1, involving right-of-way dedication and intersection spacing variances.
• 1862 Ranch variance approvalsThe court approved three variances for 1862 Ranch development related to right-of-way dedication, intersection spacing, and thoroughfare plan compliance.
• Invoice payments approvalCounty Treasurer requested approval of invoices totaling $1,302,957.80 for payment.
• July 12 meeting rescheduled to July 15Due to lack of quorum from judges and commissioners attending association conference in Denton, the second Tuesday meeting was moved to July 15, 2022.
• Precinct 3 Constable patrol rifle purchaseConstable Precinct 3 requested purchase of patrol rifle, rifle bags, and ammunition from Fund 55, not to exceed $1,600.
• 90-day burn ban extensionFire Marshal Jeff Young requested 90-day extension to current burn ban due to continued red flag warnings and high fire danger notices.
• Juneteenth federal holiday added to county scheduleCourt approved adding Juneteenth as a federal holiday to Hood County holiday schedule, to be observed on Friday, June 17 for 2022.
• RFB 2022-001 liquid asphalts and oils bid awardPurchasing and road operations recommended awarding liquid asphalts, oils, and emulsions contract to Cleveland Asphalt Products as primary vendor and Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions as alternate vendor.
• Above-ground fuel tank RFP authorizationPurchasing and Sheriff's Office requested authorization to seek bids for above-ground fuel tank, pump, and fuel management system for emergency fuel supply.
• Hood County Appraisal District contract amendmentsOne-year contract between Hood County and Hood County Appraisal District required corrections to dates and renewal procedures before approval.
• Certainty LLC non-disclosure agreement ratificationCounty Judge ratified execution of non-disclosure agreement signed with Certainty LLC for confidential project discussions.
• Rancho Brazos community center 99-year land leaseCounty approved 99-year lease of county-deeded property in Rancho Brazos to Rancho Brazos Community Centers 501(c)(3) charitable organization at $1 per year.
• Public information request policy and procedures discussionSheriff initiated committee formation to establish reasonable policies, guidelines, and web page for public records requests and open records procedures.
• Public information act and judicial office disclosuresJudge discussed legal framework for handling public records requests from judicial offices under the public information act and Rule 12.
• Anonymous records requests and Rule 12 protectionsJudge addressed policy on anonymous and non-real-person public records requests, distinguishing judicial office protections under Rule 12 from general county procedures.
• Fee schedule and cost recovery for records requestsJudge outlined plans to establish a published fee schedule for public records requests to recover costs from voluminous requests and work by county employees.
• County attorney mills clarifies email disclosure and process concernsCounty attorney Mills addressed specific concerns about an email involving constable shirley and explained that the email in question has not been released through public information act channels.
• Multi-official coordination challenges in records requestsCounty attorney Mills discussed hypothetical and practical problems with requiring all officials involved in an email chain to approve release before disclosure.
• Role of public information officer and web page utilityCounty attorney Mills and judge discussed the existing PIO structure for the county and utility of a web page for public records requests.
• Texas Attorney General fee calculation and existing resourcesCounty attorney Mills pointed to existing resources in the TAC book and attorney general calculator for charging policies.
• Public comment by grant wood on policy changesGrant Wood spoke against proposed changes to public records policies, characterizing them as a solution in search of a problem.
• Motion to appoint representatives to solid waste advisory groupThe court voted to appoint two representatives to the Western Region Solid Waste Capacity Policy Advisory Group coordinated by North Texas Council of Governments.
• Solid waste capacity challenges and landfill closureEnvironmental and development leadership discussed critical regional solid waste issues including landfill closures and capacity constraints.
• Assignment of claims to hospital district for jail inmate medical costsThe court voted to execute an assignment of claims to Hood County Hospital District for healthcare costs paid to Lake Granbury Medical Center for jail inmates.
• Deposit of miscellaneous revenue fundsThe court voted to place miscellaneous revenue funds into the general fund rather than a capital projects fund.