A new plan for county?

What started as a simple conversation about parking led to a commissioners court coup Monday morning as a couple of commissioners and the county judge decided a new administrative building would be a better addition to the county jail property rather than the year-long plan for a justice center.

More than a year ago when the Kendall County Commissioners rushed legislation through the Texas Legislature to establish a Kendall County Court at Law, conversations began about building a new justice center on county property near the Kendall County jail.

Officials at the time said the move was seen as a benefit because it would allow for easy and quick transport of inmates to the courtroom – rather than driving through Boerne – and it would free up parking at the Kendall County Courthouse. But now, county Judge Darrel Lux and a couple of commissioners have reneged on the process already underway in favor of building a new administrative building.

“I’m glad you asked,” Lux said after Precinct 3 Commissioner Richard Chapman initiated the discussion. “This is not a hasty opinion. This is something I’ve thought about for a long time. I think now is the time to bring it to discussion. I firmly believe this building here (existing courthouse) would be better served ‘quote, unquote’ as the justice center.

“We need an administrative complex that we can get – and here’s going to start people talking – that we can get a tax office out of here. We can get development out of here. We can get the auditor’s office out of here. We can get the treasurer’s office. Bill Ballard’s gone, it doesn’t’ matter. He doesn’t need anything. We can get – I’m missing people – human resources. All those could go very easily.”

Lux said he has looked for places to rent for the county tax office that includes a drive through, but the search came up empty, noting, “I’m sure there’s several people here that’ll tell me, ‘I’ve got a place you can rent.’”

While Precinct 2 Commissioner Richard Elkins, Chapman and Lux all seemed to strongly support the pivot of plans, the commissioners failed to note the growth of the justice system in the county as population booms or the benefit of defendant proximity created by a new justice center built on the same property as the jail.

However, Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Durden later in the meeting said he wasn’t sure how much space the justice system in the county currently required, but he warned the population of both Boerne and the rural areas of Kendall County expected to double within the next 30 or 40 years could lead to a growing number of courts operated in the county. This, he said, would drive facility needs of the justice system.

While he sensed the existing courthouse would be adequate if all the other county departments were moved offsite, he wanted to see some numbers to prove this.

Among the discussion for a new administrative building, Precinct 1 Commissioner Christina Bergmann said the county hired contracted services for a long-range planning study for the county’s properties. This was one of many topics she hoped would be more clearly understood once the second phase of the project was completed, should it be approved during the budgeting process over the next couple months.

“I wish that we could’ve done it years ago so we would be ending the phase to come forward with suggestions on how to grow and where to grow at, but I will be coming back during budget to ask to finish that out,” Bergmann said.

Lux had some strong opinions about the planning survey being conducted and announced he would not support funding the second phase during the budget process, leaving the county on the hook for a half-completed survey he voted in favor of last year.

“Well, I’ve made unpopular comments before and very seldomly do I regret a vote that I’ve made,” Lux said. “I regret the vote that I made to approve this study. It has always been in my opinion that it is the responsibility of the commissioners with guidance – and I know we’re getting some guidance – to know what we feel is best for Kendall County as far as facilities.

“My thought would be that we should have as a court (said) that, ‘This is what we want. This is what would serve the county best.’ Then, we find the person that specializes in that and says, ‘How do we build this thing, and when do we build it?’

“The water that’s running down the road, you’re not stopping the water. We bought into this. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to vote to continue on, but that doesn’t mean we won’t continue on based on upon the desires of the members of commissioners court.”