46 COVID Deaths in Kendall County

hillcountryweekly.com

Thursday, January 28

46 COVID deaths in Kendall County

JANUARY 25 MEETING Commissioners Court

Christina Ryrholm - Hill Country Weekly

Kendall County Commissioners held the second meeting of the month on January 25. Attending via zoom were Christina Bergmann, Richard Elkins, Richard Chapman and Don Durden. County Judge Darrrel Lux and General Counsel Bill Ballard were in the courtroom. Participants ranged from 25 to 37 depending on the topic being discussed.

Jeff Fincke, Emergency Management Coordinator, gave his COVID-19 update and Elkins gave a report on the County Survey for the 87th Legislature.

COVID-19

The main aspect of concern is now the vaccination process. The bottom line remains that appointments/ reservations cannot be made until delivery dates are known. Lux stated that “it is the availability that is unknown. We can distribute as many as we get”. He also acknowledged that the process of trying to register can be frustrating.

It was explained that the state allocates the vaccine based on the population of each county - with all counties receiving roughly the same percentage. Certain other factors may play a small part but this means all 254 counties receive an equitable amount.

Fincke commented on the ongoing problem of conflicting numbers that come from different sources. One example is the number of deaths in Kendall County that has been reported at being six. He believes the number from DSHS (Texas Department of State Health Services) state dashboard are more accurate than those reported from Region 8. This means there are closer to 46 deaths than six.

At the end of the meeting Fincke announced that according to the latest allocation, Kendall County will not receive any vaccine doses this week.

Survey - 87th State Legislature

Elkins reported on the eight question survey that was posted on the Kendall County website on January 13. The purpose of the survey is to get residents of the county involved in the ongoing attempts to get legislation passed at the state level that will give county officials stronger tools for managing growth, density, water sources and the type of development.

With 37,000 adult residents a sample size of 674 was needed and that has already been surpassed. Over 90% of the responses have been yes; all were yes/no questions. The results have been sent to Kendall County’s state representative Kyle Biedermann’s office and Elkins requested a copy of the legislation that is expected to be submitted.

Lux commented that he had concerns that the actions of Biedermann [in wanting Texas to secede from the Union] would compromise his efforts in getting legislation passed that would help rural counties.

Durden went even further. He stated that the only statue in the state that honors the Union (the Treue Der Union Monument in Comfort) in the Civil War is in his precinct and many of his constituents “find it offensive” that Biedermann is a proponent of secession. While Durden is struggling with what course of action he should take personally, he believes “his [Biedermann’s] position on secession may effect his actions on what Kendall County has wanted for so long”.

In other business

*Kendall County Historical Commission (KCHC) received, again, the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Historical Commission for 2019. The Judge read the names of the current members of the KCHC and of the proposed new members.

*The creation of a Parks Advisory Board and its bylaws were approved. There will be nine members - one to represent Precincts 1, 2, 3 and two from Precinct 4 plus four at large members.

*Criminal District Attorney Nicole Bishop was given permission to apply for a grant that will allow the office to hire another prosecutor.

The next commissioners court will be February 8.