Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, May 11, 2010,
Executive Session
>> there is one executive session item that we need to discuss this morning if possible, let's announce two of them. those are the ones that involve lawsuits and i think this will be fairly quick, 27 is to receive briefing from retained outside counsel and take appropriate action regarding a09-ca-280ly. 27. receive briefing from retained outside counsel and take appropriate action regarding cause no. a-09-ca-280-ly; j.adan ballesteros vs. travis county, texas and bob vann; in the united states district court for the western district of texas, austin division, including designation of representative(s) for trial or hearing and responding to any offers to compromise consultation with the open meetings act. 28. receive briefing from county attorney, authorize county attorney to hire expert(s), and take appropriate action in mary ann ward, individually and on behalf of the estate of james oliver ward, jr. (deceased) v. travis county, texas and greg hamilton, in his official capacity as sheriff of travis count texas, consultation with the attorney also. i am only mentioning 27 and 28, if we can get those done before twelve noon, we will done a lot. we will discuss these in executive session but return to open court before taking any action.
>> we have returned from executive session, we will make motions on them this afternoon. And i make a motion we recess until 1:30.
>> second.
>> all those in favor? This passes by unanimous vote.
>> we asked staff whether or not we could delay the other items on the agenda. We were told that will -- that there's nothing important to discuss on 24. But they do need our attention on 25 and 26. Therefore, at this time we will convene in executive session to discuss 25, consider and take appropriate action regarding the potential purchase of real estate from travis realty corp. For property located at 700 lavaca street, this is a consultation with attorney and real property exceptions. And 26, discuss and take appropriate action on economic development project in precinct 1. That's the economic development negotiations. We will also take motions on 27 and 28, when we come back. Those are the two items that ...(captions missing)
>> we have returned from executive session where we discussed the -- the following items. 24 we did not announce and did not discuss.
25 the matter involving real property located at 700 lavaca street, move that we authorize our broker, keith zimmerman, to explore and negotiate the options with -- with the tenants regarding various issues.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
the other thing about item -- item 25 is we have been given a change to the amendment that we passed last week.
I move that we treat that change as a -- as a counter offer.
>> second.
>> and that we approve it.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
26 involves the economic development project proposal in precinct 1.
it did get -- we did get updated.
>> I was just trying to bring back additional information from those updates.
>> if it's on the agenda for Friday, a follow-up discussion.
fine.
if not, we will have a follow-up discussion on the 25th of may.
>> more suitable, right.
>> okay.
>> 27 is a matter involving the lawsuit by j.
adan ballesteros vs.
Travis County, Texas and bob vann; we do have before us an offer.
from -- from mr. Ballesteros and his attorney, move to reject that offer.
>> second.
>> they also have asked us to -- to designate a representative to appear in court as necessary and one alternate.
Commissioner Eckhardt if you will be that representative, I will be the alternate.
>> all right.
>> and so that's a two part motion.
basically.
>> second.
to reject the counter offer and for Commissioner Eckhardt to serve as a representative and then judge Biscoe as the alternate.
seconded by Commissioner Davis.
discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
number 28, the matter involving the lawsuit by maryanne ward individually and on behalf of the state of james oliver ward against Travis County and the county sheriff.
move that we authorize the county attorney's office to hire appropriate experts necessary to prosecute -- to defend this matter.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
the other issue that was raised was whether or not we would want to approve, one is that there is an offer to settle, which I nuevo laredo we reject, the other recommendation was an offer of judgment.
in an amount that we thought would represent a reasonable settlement offer.
>> uh-huh.
>> and in my view -- in view of the -- supporting reasons for a -- for a -- for an offer of judgment, let's take that up separately.
let's just move that we authorize the hiring of appropriate experts, first.
>> second.
>> that was -- was that seconded.
>> second.
>> you haven't made a motion.
>> we voted it.
>> you already made the motion.
>> we voted.
>> to hire experts, we did?
we voted it.
>> I second your motion to reject the offer.
how about that?
>> is that --
>> the offer of judgment, do we want to address that.
>> yes.
>> so to reject their offer to settle but to counter with an offer of judgment in an amount of -- it's the amount of that's blank.
in my view, $25,000.
>> second.
>> seconded by Commissioner Davis.
discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
we will communicate that to the -- to the county attorney's office.
mr. Hilly, two outstanding litigators known to you?
>> I will talk to them, those outstanding litigators.
>> ms. Porter I am happy to join you in concluding that there is no further business today.
>> move adjourn.
>> second.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
5:45 p.m.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 6:23 PM
