Kerr County Commissioners' Court Session Summary — Monday, June 22, 2026

Disclaimer: The following summary is an unofficial transcript compiled from the Commissioners' Court session and related materials. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, figures, quotes, and details should be verified against official county records, meeting minutes, and public remarks. This summary is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an official county document.

Kerr County Commissioners' Court Session Summary

Session Date: Monday, June 22, 2026
Presiding Officer: Pro-Tem Chair, Commissioner Tom Jones (Presiding in the scheduled absence of County Judge Rob Kelly)

1. Public Input & Open Infrastructure Advocacy

Guadalupe River Resource Community Appeal: Juliet Weldon, representing flood survivors from the July 4th disaster, presented an emotional public appeal detailing ongoing recovery gaps.

Citizen Request / Question: Weldon asked the court to recognize that long-term recovery is still an ongoing battle for displaced residents and renters. She formally requested three actions from the county by June 29th:

• The creation of a centralized, bilingual (English/Spanish) flood recovery website and telephone hotline.
• Extended county advocacy for a 1-year continuation of local rental and utility assistance for displaced residents.
• Unified local government lobbying targeting the U.S. Congress to immediately pass HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) appropriations for 2025 and 2026 regional disasters.

Court Answer: The Pro-Tem Chair thanked Weldon for her comments but noted that under Texas open-meeting laws, the court is legally prohibited from responding to or acting upon items brought up during public input that are not explicitly listed on the day's agenda.

Note: Commissioner Paces called Ms. Weldon after court to see if any of her group had checked in with Kerr Together and received a case manager. He then contacted Kerr Together and later advised her to contact Kerr Together so that a case manager could be assigned, which she has done.

2. Proclamations & Public Hearings

America 250 Commemoration: The court unanimously approved a proclamation celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States of America. Ongoing local events and schedules are centered at kerr250.com.

Patriot Day 25th Anniversary: The court formally approved a proclamation designating September 11th as Patriot Day to honor the souls lost and those who served in the Global War on Terror. A public memorial observance is scheduled at the Schreiner University Beer Garden at 5:00 PM on September 11th.

Horizon Section One Plat Revision: The court opened a public hearing regarding the revision of a plat for Horizon Section One (Lots 8, 9R, and 10R) in Precinct 1. No citizens came forward to speak, and the public hearing was officially adjourned.

3. Voted Environmental & Utility Orders

Stringent On-Site Sewage Facilities (OSSF) Regulation: Environmental Health Director Ashley Batters announced that the TCEQ approved the county's proposed onsite septic facilities amended court order. The new draft order introduces "Section 9," which eliminates standard permitting exemptions for tracts larger than 10 acres, making the same rules apply to all properties.

Court Q&A / Clarification:

Question (From Court Liaison): To clarify for the common public, what exactly does this order entail and who will it impact?

Answer (Ashley Batters): This order focuses strictly on new development on tracts over 10 acres. Due to a previous change in district groundwater rules requiring larger tract sizes for wells, many developers were inadvertently bypassing the permitting safety process entirely. This order will only apply to new or upgraded septic facility installations and will not affect anyone who already has an existing, functioning septic system, nor will it alter smaller lot rules.

Approved Motions: The court voted 4-0 to authorize Environmental Health to publish a notice of a public meeting regarding these rules in the Hill Country Community Journal. They additionally voted 4-0 to schedule a formal public hearing prior to making a decision on whether to officially adopt the OSSF order on July 13, 2026.

4. Fiscal, Operations & Emergency Contracts

Property Insurance Renewal: Human Resources/Risk Management Liaison Sylvia Zapata presented the annual Texas Association of Counties (TAC) property insurance renewal. The premium rate increased by 13% due to regional inflation and structural risk. The renewal was approved by the court.

Emergency Alert System Overhaul: The court approved a multi-year contract with Everbridge Public Safety Communications to completely replace the county's legacy OnSolve "Code Red" system.

• System Benefits: Everbridge locks in fixed pricing for up to five years, yields significant immediate cost savings compared to Code Red, and features superior situational tools. These include instant text-keyword subscriptions (e.g., text keyword "screwworm" to a designated number for vector updates) and temporary QR-code subscriptions for regional RV parks.
• Transition Window: The county's Code Red coverage remains active until February 2027. Everbridge is providing the county with a free trial transition phase starting immediately through October 2026 to facilitate a marketing campaign and get residents migrated over.

Operation Stone Garden Grant: The court voted to accept $42,729 via the 2025 Operation Stone Garden Grant. Captain Gage confirmed the funds are designated strictly to cover overtime hours for active sheriff's deputies.

Solid Waste Office Disposition: The court debated the fate of a highly functional 20x10 portable brown office building located at 3600 Loop 534. To ensure the physical property remains unencumbered for potential real estate transactions, the court voted 3-1 to authorize paying a $500 fee to physically relocate the building to the West Kerr Annex for temporary office utilization.

Real Estate & Fire Marshal RFQs: The court accepted individual bid packets for part-time Contract County Fire Marshal qualifications (under review by a committee of Commissioner Harris, Noel Putnam, and Sylvia Zapata) alongside three competitive bids for local county real estate brokerage services (Jennifer Wang Brokerage, Brinkman Properties, and Fore Texas Hill Country Property Group).

5. Liaison Reports & Regional Infrastructure Updates

The Primary Runoff Hand Count Assessment: Coordinator Sharon Agold delivered the final metrics of the primary runoff election hand count. The total operational cost was just $1,548 for staff and $1,865 for supplies—drastically disproving widespread public rumors that a hand count would cost local taxpayers $400,000. Seventy-two volunteers successfully hand-counted 2,692 paper ballots in 5 hours and 7 minutes across four local precinct polling locations. An onsite Texas Secretary of State elections specialist praised the county's tracking systems, requesting to adapt Kerr County's custom templates for statewide training.

Public Comment / Support: Local citizens and election workers (Becky Belew, Christine Pughier, Robbie Pettitfils, and Barbara Ferguson) stepped forward during this agenda item to praise the hand count. They noted that the volunteer enthusiasm was incredibly high, the newly reintroduced "Chapter 65" method with a 2nd caller/marker echoing the name and number of votes received felt completely foolproof compared to standard machine audits or manual recounts, and even uninitiated voters left the booths feeling reassured and excited about election transparency. Commissioner Paces congratulated the team and stated that they had clearly proven that hand counting paper ballots was doable, transparent, accurate, and even fun.

BESS Public Utilities Commission Hearing: Commissioner Rich Paces announced that the Hill Country Energy Subregional Planning Commission filed detailed structural objections highlighting 21 key reasons why they oppose the PUC's proposed Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) regulations. A delegation is traveling to the PUC headquarters in Austin for a public hearing on Thursday, June 25th at 9:30 AM to protest the proposed rules that force utility ratepayers to bear the cost of guaranteed high rates of return for private battery developers who connect to the grid despite not generating a single MW of new electricity.

Aggregate Producers Best Practices: The Aggregate Producers Advisory Council met on June 16th to discuss the way forward. The council will shift its focus toward visible projects such as proactive river reclamation, abandoned mine reclamation, or low-cost flood mitigation utilizing abandoned mines. The county is arranging a public tour of a couple of local mines to help residents better understand mining operations.

New World Screwworm Emergency Alert: The court voted to extend the county's local State of Disaster Declaration regarding the spread of the New World Screwworm vector.

Court Q&A / Clarification:

Question (Rich Paces): What exactly does this disaster declaration get us today, and is it releasing immediate relief funds?

Answer (Court Pro-Tem): Currently, the governor's statewide declaration covers immediate needs, so there is no immediate financial payout to Kerr County today. However, keeping this local declaration active on the books is a vital preemptive paperwork move. If this epidemic escalates across our dense wildlife herds and forces county expenditures down the line, having this active declaration allows us to seamlessly qualify for emergency state and federal assistance.

Philanthropic Long-Term Disaster Recovery Summary: Austin Dixon of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country presented a data-driven 1-year roadmap detailing how the foundation has deployed $82 million out of $150 million in privately raised disaster relief funds. Over 100 households have returned to permanent housing. To completely avoid the deployment of FEMA trailers, the foundation currently funds 100% of the rent and utility costs for 138 households (310 individuals) staying in temporary apartments or Airbnbs. The foundation distributed $15 million directly into small business stabilization (via zero-interest LiftFund loans), paid off the 2025 property tax obligations for 108 qualified flood victims, funded specialized swift water rescue equipment for the Sheriff's Office, and completely underwrote local mental health care clinics and youth camp counselors dealing with post-disaster trauma.

6. Voted Court Agenda Outcomes Table

Agenda Item	Topic / Description	Action Taken	Court Vote
1.1	Election Integrity & Runoff Hand Count Metrics	Report Accepted	Non-Voting Report
1.2	Proclamation Commemorating America 250th Anniversary	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.3	Proclamation for 25th Anniversary Patriot Day Observance	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.4	1-Year Comprehensive Flood Recovery Update (Community Foundation)	Report Accepted	Non-Voting Report
1.5	Notice Authorization for Public Meeting on OSSF Septic Order Amendments	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.6	Setting Official OSSF Septic Order Public Hearing (July 13, 2026)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.7	Ratification of 2025 Operation Stone Garden Deputy Overtime Grant	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.8	RFQ Bids Acceptance for Part-Time Contract County Fire Marshal	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.9	TAC Annual County Property & Liability Insurance Renewal (+13%)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.10	Official Holiday Schedule Approvals for FY 2026-2027	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.11	Official County Payroll Schedule Approvals for FY 2026-2027	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.12	Public Hearing: Horizon Section One Lots 8, 9R, & 10R Plat Revision	Adjourned	No Public Comment
1.13	Amending Plat: Stone Lee Subdivision Tracks 17 & 18 (Precinct 2)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.14	Commissary Post Upgrade to Commissary & Detention Tech Coordinator	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.15	RFQ Bids Acceptance for County Real Estate Brokerage Services	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.16	Hill Country Energy Subregional Planning Commission Update	Report Accepted	Non-Voting Report
1.17	State of Disaster Declaration Extension (New World Screwworm)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.18	Relocation Disposition of Solid Waste Office Building to West Kerr Annex	Approved	Majority Pass (3-1)
1.19	Cash Donations Acceptance to Kerr County Animal Control ($70)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
1.21	Everbridge Public Safety Multi-Year Emergency Notification Contract	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
2.1	Line-Item Transfers & Revenue Budget Amendments	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)
2.2	General County Invoices & Bill Payments ($1,531,921.68)	Approved	Unanimous (4-0)