Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Ad Hoc Infrastructure Committee

Jan. 16, 2002

Commission Hearing Room
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
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          5       BE IT REMEMBERED that heretofore on the 16th day

          6   of January 2002, there came on to be heard matters

          7   under the regulatory authority of the Parks and

          8   Wildlife Commission of Texas, in the Commission

          9   Hearing Room of the Texas Parks and Wildlife

         10   Headquarters Complex, Austin, Texas, beginning at 9:00

         11   a.m. to wit:

         12   
              APPEARANCES:
         13   THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION:
              AD HOC INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE:
         14   
              CHAIR:   Katharine Armstrong Idsal, San Antonio, Texas
         15            Donato D. Ramos, Laredo, Texas
                       Philip Montgomery, III, Dallas, Texas
         16            Ernest Angelo, Jr., Midland, Texas
                       John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas (Absent)
         17            Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas (Absent)
                       Mark Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas (Absent)
         18            Joseph Fitzsimmons, San Antonio, Texas

         19   THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT:
              Robert L. Cook, Interim Executive Director, and other
         20   personnel of the Parks and Wildlife Department

         21   

         22   

         23   

         24   

         25   


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          1                      JANUARY 16, 2002

          2                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  I will convene the

          3   Ad Hoc Infrastructure Committee.

          4                 CHAIRMAN IDSAL:  Hold on.  Donato Ramos

          5   will chair the Ad Hoc Infrastructure Committee today.

          6   Mr. Avila will be arriving after the meeting today.

          7                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  I call the -- I

          8   convene Ad Hoc Infrastructure Committee meeting to

          9   order.  And the first order of business is the

         10   approval of the committee minutes from the previous

         11   meeting, and I'll entertain a motion regarding that.

         12                 COMMISSIONER FITZSIMONS:  Approved.

         13                 COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY:  Second.

         14                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  All in favor, say

         15   Aye.

         16                 ALL COMMISSIONERS:  Aye.

         17                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  None opposed.

         18                 (No Response.)

         19                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  Okay.  The second

         20   item of business are the Chairman's Charges.

         21   Mr. Cook?

         22                 MR. COOK:  Thank you very much.  Ad Hoc

         23   Infrastructure Committee, one of our charges was to

         24   prepare for and execute the upcoming bond issue.  And

         25   Mr. Scott Boruff is going address that very topic with


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          1   us as our single agenda item.

          2                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  Okay.  Go ahead,

          3   Mr. Boruff.

          4                 MR. BORUFF:  Madam Chair and

          5   Commissioners.  My name is Scott Boruff, Director of

          6   the infrastructure division.  I want talk to you today

          7   about Proposition 8 a little bit and let you know

          8   where we are.

          9                 Briefly to set the stage historically

         10   here, as you probably are aware, back in 1996 in light

         11   of about a decade of virtual total neglect of our

         12   facilities there was a task force assembled.  That

         13   task force identified $75 million in critical backlog

         14   capital repairs that were necessary to bring the

         15   facilities of the parks and wildlife management areas

         16   and fisheries up to par.

         17                 The 75th Legislature authorized issuance

         18   of $60 million of those bonds over four years.  The

         19   last of those were just issued in January.  So we're

         20   using up the last of that $60 million, which, of

         21   course, left a $15 million balance relative to that

         22   particular Infrastructure Task Force report.  And as

         23   you know, we were lucky enough on November the 6th to

         24   have the voters approve a constitutional amendment

         25   authorizing General Obligation bonds.  And out of that


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          1   particular GO bond we will receive $101.5 million.

          2                 There really are two sets good news here

          3   as far as I'm concerned.  Of course, the first is that

          4   we have $101 million to continue the critical repairs

          5   and to try to address the major capital issues that

          6   are facing us here.  And as you see here, the

          7   Legislature did fund the remaining $15 million.  It

          8   also gave us an additional $54 million for ongoing

          9   scheduled repairs that have accumulated since 1996.

         10                 I think there's a particular interesting

         11   point here.  And that is, I think, particularly in the

         12   last session, but in both the last two sessions we've

         13   been trying to aggressively educate the legislature to

         14   the scope of our capital needs within the agency.  And

         15   the number that we've been using down there is about

         16   $10 million a year is the infrastructure division's

         17   estimate as to what it would take to maintain the more

         18   than half a billion dollars in assets that are sitting

         19   on 120 state parks, and 52 wildlife management areas,

         20   and eight or nine fisheries.  And so I think there was

         21   some pretty good recognition there; we must have made

         22   a dent, because that $54 million represents a

         23   five-and-a-half-year time span, which they recognized

         24   about a $10 million a year accumulation of additional

         25   capital needs.


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          1                 So we got the $15 million to wrap up the

          2   old $75 million; we got $54 million to address the

          3   repairs that have grown up in the last five years; and

          4   then they also gave us $32.5 million for specific

          5   parks that they identified, and those parks you'll see

          6   on this slide.  There are five of them.  Probably, the

          7   two largest in terms of the dollars that were

          8   forwarded to us through Proposition 8 are the

          9   Battleship $12.5 million; the San Jacinto Monument

         10   $12.25 million roughly; Lake Sheldon $2.5 million;

         11   Admiral Nimitz $1.1 million; and the Levi Jordan

         12   Plantation $4.1 million.

         13                 This money will come to Parks and

         14   Wildlife in three different traunches, if you will, or

         15   three different issues.  The first would be this

         16   coming September.  And you can see the breakdown

         17   there.  They are giving us the $15 million for the

         18   critical backlog immediately this September.  You'll

         19   notice in there, again, reflected in the scheduled

         20   repair line -- and we've broken this down, as you can

         21   see, by biennium.  And so they essentially gave us

         22   $8 million a year in the first biennium, that's 16

         23   that you see; the second biennium they gave us

         24   $9 million a year; and then the third biennium they

         25   gave us $10 million a year.  There again, I think this


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          1   is good news for us in, at least, somebody heard us

          2   talking down there in terms of about a $10 million a

          3   year need.

          4                 And then you can see the way the money

          5   for those five specific project falls out.  And I

          6   won't take time to identify that; that's in your

          7   packet there.  But the bottom line is, we should this

          8   September get about $36.5 million; the following

          9   September $34.2 million; two Septembers after that in

         10   '05 we'll get the remaining $30 million.

         11                 As for process, this April in a couple

         12   months here the final -- we are -- we have currently

         13   received the list from all the divisions for their

         14   capital wish list, if you will.  Those lists are being

         15   prioritized at this point and will be finalized in

         16   April and forwarded to Mr. Cook in the executive

         17   office for approval.  The following month at the May

         18   Commission Meeting that list will be coming to you for

         19   approval.

         20                 We then in June go to TPFA and the bond

         21   review board to make sure that they give final

         22   approval on those projects.  Then we will come back to

         23   you in August for your final endorsement on that, and

         24   then the first traunch of money will be released in

         25   September.  That's it.  How's that for a briefing?


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          1                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  Very impressive to

          2   have those funds available.  Any comments?

          3   Questions?

          4                 COMMISSIONER FITZSIMONS:  What a

          5   difference a bond makes.

          6                 CHAIRMAN IDSAL:  Any questions?

          7                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  Any questions from

          8   anyone?

          9                 (No Response.)

         10                 COMMISSIONER RAMOS:  Okay.  That was a

         11   briefing item, so that concludes the Committee

         12   report.

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ESQUIRE DEPOSITION SERVICES, INC.
7800 IH-10 WEST, SUITE 100, SAN ANTONIO, TX 78230
(210)377-3027    (800)969-3027    FAX (210)344-6016


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          1   THE STATE OF TEXAS    )
              COUNTY OF BEXAR       )
          2   

          3                      I, DICIE LEE EYTCHESON, a Certified

          4   Court Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do

          5   hereby certify that the above and foregoing 7 pages

          6   constitute a full, true, and correct transcript of the

          7   minutes of the TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION on

          8   JANUARY 16, 2002, in the Commission Hearing Room of

          9   the Texas Parks and Wildlife Headquarters Complex,

         10   Austin, Travis County, Texas.

         11                      I FURTHER CERTIFY that a

         12   stenographic record was made by me at the time of the

         13   public meeting and said stenographic notes were

         14   thereafter reduced to computerized transcription under

         15   my supervision and control.

         16       WITNESS MY HAND this the      day of

         17                   , 2002.

         18   

         19   

         20                 DICIE LEE EYTCHESON, Texas CSR 5392
                            Expiration Date:  12/2002
         21                 7800 IH-10 West, Suite 100
                            San Antonio, Texas 78230
         22                 (210) 377-3027

         23   

         24   

         25   


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7800 IH-10 WEST, SUITE 100, SAN ANTONIO, TX 78230
(210)377-3027    (800)969-3027    FAX (210)344-6016


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          1                      _______________________
                                 DONATO D. RAMOS, CHAIR
          2   

          3                      ______________________
                                 JOSEPH FITZSIMONS
          4   

          5                      ______________________
                                 ERNEST ANGELO, JR.
          6   

          7   
                                 ______________________
          8                      PHILLIP MONTGOMERY, III

          9   
                                 ______________________
         10                      KATHARINE ARMSTRONG IDSAL

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ESQUIRE DEPOSITION SERVICES, INC.
7800 IH-10 WEST, SUITE 100, SAN ANTONIO, TX 78230
(210)377-3027    (800)969-3027    FAX (210)344-6016


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