Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Finance Committee
January 24, 2001
Commission Hearing RoomTexas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
1 7 BE IT REMEMBERED that heretofore on the 8 24th day of January 2001, there came on to be 9 heard matters under the regulatory authority of 10 the Parks and Wildlife Commission of Texas, in 11 the commission hearing room of the Texas Parks and 12 Wildlife Headquarters complex, Austin, Travis 13 County, Texas, beginning at 9:32 a.m., to wit: 14 15 16 APPEARANCES: 17 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION: Chair: Dick W. Heath, Carrollton, Texas 18 Lee M. Bass, Fort Worth, Texas Nolan Ryan, Alvin, Texas (Absent) 19 Ernest Angelo, Jr., Midland, Texas John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas 20 Carol E. Dinkins, Houston, Texas Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas 21 Katharine Armstrong Idsal, San Antonio, Texas Mark E. Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas 22 23 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT: Andrew H. Sansom, Executive Director, and other 24 personnel of the Parks and Wildlife Department. 25 . 2 1 JANUARY 24, 2001 2 *-*-*-*-* 3 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING 4 *-*-*-*-* 5 COMMISSIONER HEATH: This is a 6 meeting of the Finance Committee of the Texas 7 Parks and Wildlife Commission, and the committee 8 will come to order. And may I have approval of 9 the committee minutes from the previous meeting? 10 CHAIRMAN BASS: Move. 11 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Second. 12 COMMISSIONER HEATH: All in favor? 13 (Motion passed unanimously.) 14 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Thank you. 15 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: BRIEFING - CHAIRMAN'S 16 CHARGES. 17 COMMISSIONER HEATH: We'll begin 18 with a briefing of the Chairman's charges. Suzy? 19 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman? 20 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Andy? 21 MR. SANSOM: Thank you. The second 22 charge that Mr. Bass has directed this committee 23 to address is the uninterrupted installation of 24 Texas outdoor connection with a new partner in our 25 automated licensing system. . 3 1 One of the things that I need to 2 tell you is that the pilot for this new issuance 3 system will be rolled out in five phases starting 4 in February and will continue through April. This 5 puts us about one month behind the schedule that 6 we had initially set. 7 But the contractor, WorldComm, plans 8 to compress the schedule later on for training 9 deputies and other purposes and equipment roll-out 10 and so we still plan to meet the implementation 11 schedule at the end of June. 12 One change that you may hear about, 13 as you travel around, is that we're going to 14 require a little deposit from these license 15 deputies because we've got millions of dollars 16 worth of equipment out there in these stores, and 17 we haven't always had a good response from them in 18 terms of taking care of that stuff and getting it 19 back so we are going to require a deposit, and 20 you'll hear about that. 21 Jayna Burgdorf, who has left the 22 room, is about to have a child. And she has done 23 an incredible job in that this thing has pretty 24 much so far run flawlessly under her leadership. 25 And I want to particularly commend her for that. . 4 1 Mr. Chairman, the second item that I 2 would like to call your attention to is our 3 license plate program which you've all been very 4 interested in and, by the way, was a topic with 5 the Senate Finance Committee yesterday. 6 Our Texas Horned Lizard plate is now 7 the third most popular specialty plate in Texas. 8 We've sold about 9,000 of them and have gross 9 revenues of around $180,000. And just to give you 10 a reference point, the number one plate is the 11 State of the Arts plate, which has sold about 12 20,000. The number two is the Animal Friendly 13 plate, which has sold about 12,000. 14 You've asked us to move forward and 15 test a license plate which would be used for the 16 support of state parks. And we've tested six 17 images both at Expo and in the parks themselves. 18 We've tested an armadillo, and we've tested a 19 falcon. We've tested the Texas conservation 20 passport logo around the star. We've used the 21 Republic of Texas flag and a bluebonnet and a 22 buffalo. 23 We've surveyed it on the Web, in the 24 parks, through -- throughout the months of 25 December, through the middle of this month. We . 5 1 talked to about 2,000 people and 500 on the Web 2 and about 550 at state parks. The survey results 3 basically determined that the number one choice, 4 you know, by a large margin was the bluebonnet. 5 And this plate pretty much gives you 6 the product that we've tested. It is -- the 7 design is circumscribed by TxDOT, so that the 8 image or the icon has to appear in this portion of 9 the plate. So we're designing within a parameter 10 that they had given us. But it was the top 11 selection of 33 percent of all the state park 12 visitors, 31 percent of the Web visitors. And it 13 was very, very strong among the state park users 14 themselves. So we're going to immediately take 15 steps to put this out, and you'll start to see it. 16 The renewals -- those of you who 17 have Horned Toad plates, those renewals are 18 coming. And Lydia pointed out to me yesterday 19 that when you get your renewal in the mail, you 20 have to go down to the courthouse if you want to 21 change. You have two choices. You can either 22 renew the plate you've got or you can get up and 23 go down to the courthouse and renew it, so I think 24 that bodes well for the renewal business, which is 25 where these things really start to pay off. . 6 1 Darcy Hamburg, our marketing 2 director, and Lydia have spearheaded this project. 3 And I'm pretty excited. We're doing well. I 4 mean, we -- the -- particularly, against these 5 other plates. 6 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Are we going to 7 end up with just that one plate? Is that how 8 that -- 9 MR. SANSOM: Actually, what we're 10 going to do, Commissioner Idsal, is we debated in 11 the beginning whether or not to issue a whole 12 suite of plates at once, to, address, you know, 13 various constituencies. And we decided it would 14 be more prudent of us, since we've never done it 15 before, to try one and then see how we did. And 16 we have done very well. This will be the second 17 one. 18 And I've kind of urged Lydia and her 19 crew to speed up the process because I think 20 there's probably no -- there are people who want a 21 license plate that has a large-mouth bass on it so 22 they can contribute to the hatchery system. There 23 are people who would like to have a license plate 24 with a white-tailed deer on it, you know, the 25 money of which would go into the wildlife program. . 7 1 So we're going to move quickly to develop some 2 additional plates that meet specific constituency 3 desires and target funds to specific fish and 4 wildlife programs. So you'll see -- I believe the 5 next two you'll see will be a white-tail deer and 6 largemouth bass. 7 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: I was a little 8 bit concerned. As pretty as that is -- and it 9 really is -- I like the graphics a lot -- that 10 some males may resist having something that is 11 that pretty. 12 MR. SANSOM: It's kind of 13 interesting. 14 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Well, you 15 know -- 16 MR. SANSOM: The male response was 17 very strong. Commissioner, that was the same 18 question that all of us asked. And it's 19 interesting that the male response to this was 20 very strong. 21 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: What were the 22 next two in popularity? 23 MR. SANSOM: Armadillo was number 24 two. 25 MS. SALDANA: Those two were so far . 8 1 above the others that -- 2 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: The armadillo 3 and the bluebonnet? 4 MS. SALDANA: The armadillo and the 5 bluebonnet. 6 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Where did the 7 horned lizard come in? 8 MR. SANSOM: It's what the males 9 all went for. 10 MS. SALDANA: Well, the question we 11 asked on the survey, was for those who chose the 12 Bluebonnet, how many would choose that over the 13 Horned Toad? And it was low. We didn't want 14 that -- we were concerned about cannibalization of 15 the sales of the Horny Toad plate. So that was 16 the reason we went with the Horny Toad plate. 17 But your question about the male and 18 female, on the Web survey, 70 percent of the 19 people who were surveyed on the Web were male, and 20 yet it still came out on top. 21 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: I'm prejudiced. 22 MS. SALDANA: We were surprised. I 23 know I was surprised. 24 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: One more thing, 25 and I want to be sure get this straight. We will . 9 1 have -- and I think I would agree with this, that 2 you have one main plate, and that you will be able 3 to get the other ones by special order type of 4 thing? 5 MR. SANSOM: You get them all the 6 same way. 7 CHAIRMAN BASS: You get to choose. 8 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: You get to 9 choose. So we'll have the white-tailed, the 10 buck, the armadillo -- is that it? 11 MR. SANSOM: No, the bass. 12 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: The bass and 13 the bluebonnet. Okay. Sounds great. 14 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman, that 15 concludes my comments on the charges, save one 16 comment. We did appear yesterday before the 17 Senate Finance Committee for our first hearing. 18 In my mind, it went extremely well thanks to the 19 fact that Commissioner Henry had a number of 20 questions planted before we arrived. 21 But both Commissioner Henry and 22 Commissioner Watson were there all day with me and 23 the staff, and I appreciate that very much. It 24 provides us with a shield that we otherwise 25 wouldn't be able to have. . 10 1 And it was -- and a number of 2 members of the committee commented on the fact 3 that they were there. And I noticed that in 4 several instances members of the committee who had 5 sort of decided they would leave did not leave, 6 but stayed, you know, in order to make sure that 7 they acknowledged the presence of these two 8 members of our board. And I appreciate that. 9 CHAIRMAN BASS: Before we move on, 10 I'd just like to note that to the best of my 11 knowledge, the initial concept for the bluebonnet 12 came from John Avila at this table at some point 13 over a year ago. So I guess at least informally 14 it will be the John Avila plate. 15 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: He'll like 16 that. 17 MR. SANSOM: I would look forward to 18 seeing them on all the vehicles at the Thos. 19 S. Byrne Company. 20 AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: BRIEFING - FINANCIAL 21 REVIEW. 22 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Okay. We're 23 going to move on from this subject before it just 24 starts really going downhill. The second item is 25 a briefing item, a financial review from Suzy . 11 1 Whittenton. Suzy? 2 MS. WHITTENTON: Thank you. I'll 3 keep this pretty brief today. I'm just going to 4 update you on where we are on the revenue status 5 year to date and then briefly update you on the 6 appropriations process and what to expect next. 7 In the state parks' account revenue 8 is down 18 percent, when you compare it to the 9 previous year for the period September through 10 December. It was particularly off in November. 11 We were down 30 percent in November. We think 12 that's largely due to the cold weather, cold, wet 13 weather that we had across the state. 14 We're not all that concerned about 15 being off on our -- from previous years at this 16 point because the fall and winter are not the big 17 revenue generators in the parks' account, anyway. 18 So we could easily make up this lost ground in the 19 spring and summer. 20 And as it turns out, our original 21 estimate for the year still looks reasonable in 22 this account. Last year's revenue came in higher 23 than usual. And we had made our current year's 24 projections before we knew the final results of 25 last year's revenues. So we're still on target . 12 1 with the estimate, and we don't need to make any 2 kind of revenue adjustment there. 3 Now, looking at Account 9, revenue 4 for boat registrations and titling fees and 5 license sales, boat fees are coming in at a slower 6 rate than expected, but again, this is not the 7 period of the year when most boat purchases occur. 8 So we think that an adjustment in the estimate 9 would be premature at this time. We'll know a lot 10 more, of course, in the spring and summer how 11 those fees are going to come in. 12 And the good news is that total 13 license revenue is up by $1.3 million over last 14 year's. And when you look at the total number of 15 licenses sold, super combo sales are up 19 percent 16 while combo sales are down 12 percent. And then 17 overall combo sales are up 5 percent. 18 Both resident and nonresident 19 hunting sales are up. But the total primary 20 hunting sales are down around 3 percent. Special 21 resident sales are down, which is what causes the 22 overall number to be down. 23 Fishing license sales are down. 24 CHAIRMAN BASS: Suzy? 25 MS. WHITTENTON: I'm sorry? . 13 1 CHAIRMAN BASS: Before, you go on, 2 if you aggregate all hunting licenses of any type, 3 resident, nonresident, et cetera, what does that 4 come out versus last year? 5 MS. WHITTENTON: They're down 3 6 percent, approximately. 7 CHAIRMAN BASS: That's that 2.8. 8 MS. WHITTENTON: Uh-huh. And in 9 looking at all the different types of hunting 10 licenses, the only one that is really -- where you 11 see a big difference is the special resident 12 hunting license numbers which were down. And this 13 is not a big -- it's not a big number, 3 percent 14 difference. I'm not sure what that's attributed 15 to. And the revenue was up because of -- I guess 16 it's the fee increase. 17 CHAIRMAN BASS: I'm sorry. Does 18 that figure include sales that were made in August 19 for this hunting season? 20 MS. WHITTENTON: Yes, it does. It's 21 the license. 22 CHAIRMAN BASS: Last year we sold a 23 million hunting licenses. And this says down 24 2.82, 472,000. 25 MS. WHITTENTON: Let's see. . 14 1 CHAIRMAN BASS: What I'm asking is 2 the total, total everything. 3 MS. WHITTENTON: That's the total 4 number sold so far, is 400 and -- that can't be 5 right. No. That's not right. 6 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Not at 2.8 7 percent. 8 MS. WHITTENTON: Okay. Those are 9 just the primary license sales. 10 MR. SANSOM: That's just the 11 $19 dollar license. 12 CHAIRMAN BASS: My question is 13 everything, all hunting licenses of all types 14 aggregated, where are we versus last year? 15 MS. WHITTENTON: I'll have to pull 16 that separately. They come in a whole list, so 17 I'll just pull them out. We'll get that for you 18 later. 19 CHAIRMAN BASS: So you can aggregate 20 that for us. Thank you. 21 MS. WHITTENTON: On the fish -- 22 CHAIRMAN BASS: And while you're 23 doing it, do the same for fishing. Thanks. 24 MS. WHITTENTON: Fishing sales are 25 down approximately 15 percent at this point in the . 15 1 year. And again, I think we sell most of our 2 fishing licenses later in the year. But in terms 3 of number of resident fishing licenses, number of 4 saltwater stamps and in total primary fishing 5 licenses, sales were down about 15 percent. 6 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Suzy, just for 7 everybody's knowledge, when you say down, down 8 relative to -- 9 MS. WHITTENTON: Down relative to 10 the previous year. 11 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Previous year 12 at this date? 13 MS. WHITTENTON: Yes. When you look 14 at year to date comparing as of -- and these are 15 January 10th. As of January 10th of 2000, we were 16 off -- 17 COMMISSIONER HEATH: What then is 18 the difference between last year and this year 19 that leads us to be comfortable with being down 20 15 percent. 21 MR. SANSOM: They are moving to 22 super combo. 23 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Okay. So 24 again, the aggregate that the Chairman is asking 25 for will give us the picture that we're looking . 16 1 for. 2 MR. SANSOM: Right. I think you'll 3 see in a moment that she's reflecting here is a 4 really strong migration to super combo. 5 COMMISSIONER HEATH: And I think 6 that's my point. My point is for everybody to 7 understand and the public to understand that these 8 numbers in and of themselves can be misleading 9 numbers. 10 MS. WHITTENTON: Right. 11 COMMISSIONER HEATH: And so we will 12 come back to those numbers. 13 MS. WHITTENTON: And when you look 14 at total revenue from license sales, all license 15 sales were up $1.3 million, which is about 16 5 percent. Is that 5 percent? I didn't bring my 17 backup sheets. Well -- 18 COMMISSIONER HEATH: By the end of 19 the day today, if we could -- however the Chairman 20 wants to handle it, just reconvene this committee 21 or whatever to identify this, just so, again, the 22 public is not misled as we go through what appear 23 to be down numbers, down numbers, down numbers, 24 it's because there's been an adjustment in what we 25 are selling. . 17 1 MS. WHITTENTON: Right. 2 COMMISSIONER HEATH: But overall 3 sales up $1.3 million? 4 MS. WHITTENTON: Right. Super combo 5 sales were up by 19 percent, which is a 6 significant number. 7 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Right. Okay. 8 MS. WHITTENTON: And at this point, 9 we've collected about 80 percent of what we 10 originally estimated in our revenue from all of 11 these licenses through the outdoor connection. 12 It looks like our original estimate 13 will be a little bit low. But again, we're not 14 asking for a revenue adjustment. And that's all 15 we have on revenue at this time. And we'll get 16 back with you on the additional information. 17 I just wanted to let you know that 18 we requested our last installment on the revenue 19 bonds, on the original $60 million of revenue 20 bonds, and we expect it to be issued next month. 21 You'll remember that we had $60 million, and now 22 with the interest that's been accumulated, we'll 23 actually get a total of $63 and a half. The other 24 three and a half is added into this last 25 installment. And I think Scott Boruff will be . 18 1 briefing you on where we are on the projects and 2 in spending those revenue bonds and the 3 infrastructure. 4 CHAIRMAN BASS: We get to keep the 5 interest and spend it? 6 MS. WHITTENTON: We do. And lastly, 7 I just wanted to update you on our appropriations 8 request for the next biennium. Since we last met, 9 the Legislative Budget Board released their 10 recommendations on our budget request, and those 11 recommendations were then forwarded to the 12 Appropriations Committee and the Finance Committee 13 for consideration. And of course, as you know, 14 the hearings have begun. 15 The Legislative Budget Board focused 16 their recommendations primarily on base level 17 funding. They didn't address exceptional items in 18 most cases. And what they recommended for Texas 19 Parks and Wildlife was a cut in the base level 20 funding due to what they deemed were one-time 21 project expenditures. Those total $2.8 million in 22 the first year and $2.5 million in the second 23 year. 24 And those special projects were 25 conservation projects and the Texas Tech study . 19 1 that they considered one-time only projects. And 2 as I said, they didn't make any recommendations on 3 our exceptional items. 4 The Governor's budget office also 5 puts out a budget proposal, and Governor Perry's 6 budget included a recommendation for 7 $15 million in general obligation bonds for Parks 8 and Wildlife. These would look much like the 9 revenue bonds that we currently have, that we're 10 currently using to reduce the backlog in critical 11 repairs. 12 You remember the Infrastructure task 13 force report that identified the $75 million in 14 needed repairs. We got the $60 million in '98, 15 and now, the Governor's office is recommending 16 that we get the other $15 million as part of a 17 general obligation bond package that would have to 18 be voted on by the public, if it passes the 19 Legislature. 20 Items that they didn't include in 21 our recommendation, they didn't include from our 22 request were the two and a half million in 23 conservation and education projects, the 24 entrepreneurial rider that we had asked for that 25 would allow us to spend -- give us authority to . 20 1 spend funds that we earned throughout the year, 2 the 300,000 from the tech study. And they also 3 made a change in the funding source for some 4 in-house -- they think that we should charge some 5 of our Infrastructure staff costs to the bonds, 6 which actually result in a net decrease in funding. 7 And they didn't make the requested 8 changes to the riders that we had asked for. 9 These were the exceptional items they didn't 10 address or the operations and maintenance 11 enhancements to repairs for scheduled facility 12 repairs and enhancements to the parks services, 13 nor did they address the commercial fishing 14 license buyback authority that we had asked for. 15 The committees, of course, have the 16 authority to make the decisions. And as Andy 17 mentioned, we had a good hearing yesterday, and 18 we'll be sending additional information to the 19 committee in response to their questions that they 20 had. 21 We're scheduled now for a House 22 Appropriations hearing on February 1st, and then 23 we don't expect to go back to the Senate until 24 they do their markup hearing, where they will come 25 out with what they recommended. And then we'll, . 21 1 I'm sure, see the appropriations side a couple of 2 times, as well. And we'll just keep you informed 3 as we go through that process on what happens. 4 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Well, Suzy, I 5 don't know what your take was yesterday, but I 6 believe that Senator Lucio is going to draft 7 numerous bills, and one of them, I think, is going 8 to suggest that we go to annual licenses. And I 9 would think that we ought to get ready to respond 10 to that and see what sort of an impact, you know, 11 that's going to have. 12 But I got the distinct impression 13 that that's not an if or a maybe, but that he's 14 going to -- right, he's going to do that. And I 15 don't know how that impacts on -- you know, on our 16 revenue strength, but I think we'd better get 17 ready. 18 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: What would be 19 the impact of that? 20 COMMISSIONER WATSON: I don't know. 21 COMMISSIONER AVILA: What is he 22 talking about? 23 COMMISSIONER WATSON: I mean, if you 24 bought a license March 1st, it would be good until 25 the next March 1st. . 22 1 MR. SANSOM: It would have a 2 significant impact on revenue, and you couldn't do 3 it with a current tagging system, I think, would 4 be the two principles. 5 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: I guess I'm 6 wondering -- what I meant to ask was why would he 7 want to do that. 8 MS. WHITTENTON: I think he probably 9 doesn't realize that it would come out with a 10 negative fiscal impact, I'm assuming. We are 11 going to address that in our response to him on 12 all the questions that came up during the hearing. 13 I know we have already prepared some estimates on 14 what that would do to our revenue. 15 CHAIRMAN BASS: My guess is it's 16 probably driven more by the fishing 17 constituencies. 18 MS. WHITTENTON: That's what it 19 sounded like. 20 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: I don't know 21 how you could do it practically. You are going to 22 have a change in regulations during period, and 23 would that be reflected in the license? 24 CHAIRMAN BASS: I think where some 25 people feel impinged upon is in the middle of July . 23 1 they buy a fishing license, and it's really only 2 good for six weeks. That's -- that's the place, I 3 think, that the complaints might be driving -- 4 COMMISSIONER HENRY: That's the kind 5 of example he used. 6 CHAIRMAN BASS: -- are originated. 7 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Well, it's 8 going to happen. So I think the more information 9 we can get to him, maybe we can discourage him, 10 sap some of his enthusiasm for that idea. 11 MS. WHITTENTON: Okay. On your 12 question about the hunting licenses, we've got 13 some numbers. When you look at the primary 14 hunting license purchases and the combos, last 15 year in fiscal year 2000 we -- or in license year 16 2000, we sold 978,000. In the current license 17 year, we've already sold 989,000 -- oh, I'm sorry. 18 That's for the same time of year. That's when you 19 pulled numbers as of January 10th. You look at 20 during the same time period. We've sold 11,000, 21 nearly 12,000 more licenses than we did last year. 22 CHAIRMAN BASS: And that's including 23 all types of hunting license, both resident and 24 nonresident, combo? 25 MS. WHITTENTON: That's including . 24 1 the resident hunting, the special resident 2 hunting, general nonresident, nonresident five-day 3 and then the combinations. 4 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Overall is -- 5 MS. WHITTENTON: So that's primary 6 hunting licenses and the combinations. There are 7 some other small ones, but that's the vast 8 majority. 9 COMMISSIONER WATSON: So we are up 10 slightly? 11 MS. WHITTENTON: We are up. 12 CHAIRMAN BASS: There are other 13 types than the six you named? 14 MS. WHITTENTON: Small ones. I'd 15 have to find -- we don't look at them a whole lot 16 because they're not very big numbers, and they're 17 not much revenue. 18 On the anglers, on the fishing 19 licenses, this time last year we had sold just 20 over a million, 1,003,155. For this current 21 license year we've sold 948,000. Fishing was up 22 last year over the previous license year quite a 23 bit at this time of the year, if you'll remember. 24 CHAIRMAN BASS: That could also be 25 somewhat due to cold weather. . 25 1 MS. WHITTENTON: Yeah. It's been 2 bad for parks. And then the revenue is -- we're 3 basically up on both the hunting license revenue 4 and the fishing license revenue. The hunting 5 licenses were up about $2 million or just under 6 $2 million. And then in the fishing, it looks 7 like we're pretty close to even. It's up maybe 8 $300,000 because of the increase to the saltwater 9 stamp fee. 10 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you very much. 11 MS. WHITTENTON: That was all for my 12 presentation unless you had any other questions. 13 COMMISSIONER HEATH: No further 14 questions. Thank you very much, Suzy. 15 AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: ACTION - HISTORICALLY 16 UNDERUTILIZED BUSINESS (HUB) PROGRAM RULES. 17 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Item Number 3 18 is an action item. Debra Pendley will talk to us 19 about the historically underutilized business 20 program rules. Hi. 21 MS. PENDLEY: Good morning. I'm 22 here to present for your consideration the 23 proposed adoption of General Services Commission's 24 historically underutilized business program rules. 25 Senate Bill 178 of the 76th . 26 1 Legislature codified the HUB program under the 2 Government Code Chapter 2161. The bill mandated 3 the GSC develop and adopt new rules under the 4 Texas Administrative Code. 5 Section 2161.003 requires state 6 agencies to adopt GSC rules as their own agency 7 rules. They proposed new Section 51.171, 8 concerning the HUB programs necessary to comply 9 with this requirement. The proposed rule adoption 10 was published with no comment in the December 1st 11 issue of the Texas Register. Current procedures 12 adhere to GSC rules, and there's -- adopting the 13 rules wouldn't change any of our current 14 practices. 15 Staff recommends that the Texas 16 Parks and Wildlife Commission authorize adoption 17 by reference the rules of the General Services 18 Commission contained in Title 1 of the Texas 19 Administrative Code, Sections 111.11-111.28. This 20 item is eligible for the consent agenda if no 21 comments are received. 22 That concludes my presentation. 23 I'll be happy to answer any questions. 24 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Any questions, 25 Commissioners? If there's no questions, then this . 27 1 requires a motion, and I'd suggest this be a 2 motion for the consent agenda tomorrow. Have a 3 motion? 4 COMMISSIONER WATSON: So moved. 5 (Motion passed unanimously.) 6 AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: ACTION - LOCAL PARK FUNDING 7 AND INDOOR RECREATION GRANTS. 8 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Agenda Item 9 Number 4, local park funding and indoor recreation 10 grants, Tim Hogsett. Tim? 11 MR. HOGSETT: Good morning, 12 Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. For 13 the record, I'm Tim Hogsett, Director of 14 Recreation Grants Program in the State Parks 15 Division. 16 We're tomorrow going to present to 17 you recommendations for funding for the indoor and 18 outdoor recreation programs. In brief, for the 19 outdoor recreation grants programs, for all 20 applications received as of July 31st of 2000. We 21 had 46 applications requesting $17,322,833. 22 We have ranked -- scored and ranked 23 ordered all of those projects, and you can find 24 those in Exhibit A of Item number 2 in the public 25 hearing item. We are recommending, with the . 28 1 available funding of $5.5 million the approval of 2 the top 12 projects. You will notice that the 3 last project is recommended for partial funding, 4 since we don't have enough money to fully fund it. 5 We've contacted the sponsor, and they are 6 satisfied with that recommendation or are willing 7 to take that amount of money. 8 So with that, tomorrow our 9 recommendation will be for the funding of the 10 projects as listed in Exhibit A in the amount of 11 $5,511,794, and the individual project 12 descriptions can be found at Exhibit B. Would you 13 like me to go ahead with the next one and take all 14 of it together? 15 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Let's go to the 16 second one, and then we'll ask any questions. 17 MR. HOGSETT: Indoor recreation 18 applications. We take these applications only 19 once a year. These are all the applications which 20 were received by the July 31st deadline. We had a 21 total request of $7,088,373. Those 14 22 applications were again all scored and rank 23 ordered. And you can find your rank ordering in 24 Exhibit B in Item number 3 of the public hearing 25 agenda. We did site visits on all of those. And . 29 1 we're recommending funding for the top six 2 projects. 3 Again, the lowest project is 4 recommended for partial funding, and the sponsor 5 has been contacted and is pleased to take that 6 recommended amount. So the recommendation for 7 indoor recreation grants tomorrow will be the 8 funding for projects listed in Exhibit A in the 9 amount of $3,325,000 is approved, as described for 10 individual projects in Exhibit B. I believe these 11 are eligible for consent item, but typically we 12 have public comment. 13 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I think we'll 14 probably leave this for public comment. I've just 15 got a couple of questions, Tim, if I might. How 16 are communities informed that this money is 17 available to them? 18 MR. HOGSETT: Through numerous 19 public hearings that we do when we do rule making. 20 We did a total of 12 public hearings over the 21 period of about a year a couple of years ago, 22 through the councils of governments, through mass 23 mail-outs of brochures. 24 As you can probably tell, we're not 25 lacking for business. . 30 1 MR. SANSOM: Texas Municipal League? 2 MR. HOGSETT: Texas Recreation Parks 3 Society published an article recently about the 4 program in the Society's magazine. Typically, 5 we'll do outreach presentations through a 6 contractual organization in their annual 7 conference. 8 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: And in that 9 same vein, I was curious about how the volume of 10 applications has fired from year to year in terms 11 of numbers of applications and the dollar amount, 12 both. 13 MR. HOGSETT: There continues to be 14 a slight increase in both of the programs and the 15 numbers of applications and the amount that we're 16 receiving. Part of that is probably due to the 17 economy and increased expense. 18 But what we are finding, 19 interestingly, particularly in the last two 20 reviews and particularly in the outdoor program, 21 is that competition is much, much more keen than 22 it has been in the past. The top three projects 23 in the outdoor recommendations are the highest 24 scores in history. 25 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Do you have . 31 1 any feel for the percentage of those that don't 2 receive approval that come back for subsequent 3 years? 4 MR. HOGSETT: More than half of them 5 are coming back and resubmitting, in some cases 6 more than one resubmission, and most of them 7 eventually being funded. 8 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Would you 9 judge from that that they are reasonably satisfied 10 with the process, then? 11 MR. HOGSETT: I think so. We found 12 that in the public hearings. We think there was a 13 lot of satisfaction. The problem is just the 14 amount of resource available doesn't meet the 15 need. 16 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Has it ever 17 been higher than 46, Tim, the sponsored requests? 18 MR. HOGSETT: We've had as many as 19 60 projects in years past. But it's been pretty 20 consistent, between 45 and 50, in the last several 21 years in the outdoor program. 22 COMMISSIONER HEATH: So you're 23 pretty confident. Andy, I assume you're confident 24 that we're communicating with the necessary people 25 in local communities that they know this is . 32 1 something they can apply for? 2 MR. SANSOM: Yes, sir. The one 3 concern that I have -- and Tim is going to speak 4 to that -- is that because of the overall lack of 5 resource and because of the increased ability of 6 the larger communities to compete, that we're 7 seeing a concentration at the top of the scale. 8 So ergot, my concern is that you're 9 seeing a potential drop-off in smaller communities 10 who may, in fact, be sort of giving up. So Tim 11 has got a proposal for you that would address 12 that. 13 MR. HOGSETT: The thing that we 14 heard most -- 15 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Boy, we're 16 smart. We're just right on it, I'm telling you. 17 MR. HOGSETT: The thing that we 18 heard most commonly in the public hearings that we 19 did a year and a half or so ago to revise the 20 rules of the program that we have not addressed as 21 of yet is that small communities and communities 22 who simply wanted one or two facilities, someone 23 who just wants to build a ball field and don't 24 want to do a half million dollar project, they 25 didn't feel that they were able to be competitive . 33 1 in the -- particularly in the outdoor recreation 2 program. 3 So to address that we're asking your 4 permission to try a pilot project which would set 5 aside an amount of money for a pilot in the amount 6 of $500,000 total, which is equivalent to one of 7 our full-sized outdoor recreation grants that we 8 currently give, and pilot that program for 9 projects of communities of 50,000 or less in 10 population and applications of no more than 11 $50,000 in matching funds, or, in other words, a 12 $100,000 development project. We hope to make it 13 a very simple application process. 14 We've just completed a draft of an 15 application manual that's less than 20 pages long 16 and, hopefully, is easy to read and doesn't take 17 a -- you know, an expensive consulting firm to put 18 the application together. And we will go through 19 a pilot. With your permission, we will take 20 applications through requests for proposals 21 beginning next month and probably bring a group of 22 applications back to you in this pilot program for 23 approval consideration in August. 24 And if it's found to be popular and 25 to be needed and the response is good, then we . 34 1 will probably come forward with some draft formal 2 rules to adopt this as a formal program. 3 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I certainly 4 like that concept. May I suggest that if the 5 Commission agrees to do that, that we set up the 6 criteria in advance of what success means, so that 7 we -- 8 MR. HOGSETT: We intend to have in 9 this pilot a scoring system that is somewhat 10 similar to what we've had in the outdoor and 11 indoor programs. 12 COMMISSIONER HEATH: But the 13 objective being clearly to do what? 14 MR. HOGSETT: To make available 15 through a simple and easy process grant funds to 16 small communities who have either a multipurpose 17 project that is relatively inexpensive or a single 18 purpose project, things that they need to do 19 locally which they don't have the resources to do 20 locally but cannot be competitive in our current 21 outdoor recreation program. 22 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I personally 23 think that's an extremely good idea, and would 24 like, frankly, to see, assuming that we set up the 25 criteria, we meet the objectives, that the amount . 35 1 expands. I've always felt that we're -- when I 2 look at 46, frankly, applications, I think it's a 3 surprisingly small number. And I've always 4 thought that number has been kind of a small 5 number. I'd like to really see us broadening. 6 And I think part of the answer to my 7 question is, is that maybe it's not that people 8 don't know that it's there, but people don't think 9 it -- communities don't think it's achievable. 10 And I find that bothersome, and I'm delighted to 11 see that you've got a proposal for this. 12 MR. HOGSETT: We would agree with 13 that. 14 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Commissioner 15 Henry? 16 COMMISSIONER HENRY: When we say 17 small communities, specifically what do we have in 18 mind, numbers of population? 19 MR. HOGSETT: Numbers of population. 20 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Any particular 21 figure we have in mind? 22 MR. HOGSETT: 50,000 or less. 23 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Secondly, when 24 we communicate with a city, for example, that's 25 requested a grant and you say, the recommendation . 36 1 does not support recommendation of grant funds, is 2 that specifically what we call that requester? 3 MR. HOGSETT: At this point in time, 4 prior to the Commission's action on the projects, 5 that's what we tell them. We also tell them that 6 they are eligible to resubmit that application. 7 We give them a month in which to do that, make 8 whatever changes that they would like to make. We 9 offer to meet with them and go over point by point 10 how their project was evaluated, and scoring 11 system, and offer suggestions on where they can 12 make changes, and then place them back in the next 13 review. And that's where we have those typically 14 successful resubmissions coming back to us. 15 MR. SANSOM: Tim, I would like to 16 ask you to look real strongly, as you go through 17 this pilot, at that population figure. There's 18 many parts of Texas, in which 50,000 is a really 19 big city. 20 MR. HOGSETT: You're right. 21 CHAIRMAN BASS: I was thinking 22 similarly. I think we're on the right track, and 23 I think we would be getting ahead of ourselves by 24 overcomplicating it at this point. But I wouldn't 25 be surprised if the logical conclusion of this . 37 1 process is having three or four categories that 2 may be based on things other than just population. 3 It could be just, you know, the nature of the 4 request, being from a larger place, that it is a 5 more simple single purpose or grant we're looking 6 for rather than a big, half a million dollar 7 complex one. 8 You know, I think we've really 9 almost driven people to apply for full half 10 million dollar grants by our process. 11 Secondly, this is something that I 12 may be suffering from a bad memory on. But I note 13 in this round Keller comes in at 13th, and we've 14 run out of money, and they have a score of 101 15 points. It seems to me that in the not too 16 distance past we've had rounds where scores in the 17 mid to low 80s received funds. 18 MR. HOGSETT: You're absolutely 19 correct. 20 CHAIRMAN BASS: And it's -- a lot of 21 this is almost luck of the draw of when they 22 apply, what cycle they're in, to where -- you 23 know, we're trying to get this money out on an 24 expeditious basis, doing it twice a year. You do 25 let people come back and reapply. But if Keller . 38 1 had applied -- you know, gotten their application 2 in just a few months earlier or a few months 3 later, they may have been at the top of the heap. 4 And I don't know what kind of a leveling process 5 we might be able to bring to this. 6 MR. HOGSETT: We're concerned about 7 that. We're thinking about -- 8 CHAIRMAN BASS: But at the end of 9 the biennium we need to have gotten the money out 10 there into the communities or at least granted to 11 them, committed to them. But if you come in -- if 12 you happen to come in, you know, with a weak field 13 and, therefore, a weak score relative to what 14 might be in another cycle, I don't -- I don't 15 quite know the approach, but I think you 16 understand what I'm saying. 17 MR. HOGSETT: Yes, I do. Thank you 18 very much. 19 CHAIRMAN BASS: There might be a 20 concern that some of the better applicants are not 21 getting funded simply because they had the bad 22 luck, you know, of getting in the heat with a 23 bunch of fast runners. 24 MR. HOGSETT: There are a couple of 25 projects that were in the high 90s that were . 39 1 resubmissions. Lago Vista is one that comes to 2 mind that was in the last review in the 60s. They 3 came in and improved their score remarkably, and, 4 unfortunately, we don't have enough money to reach 5 them. So that's of a concern to me as well. 6 CHAIRMAN BASS: Do we have grade 7 inflation going on here? 8 MR. HOGSETT: I don't know. 9 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: One question. 10 Population of 50,000, would that be an 11 incorporated city or a county? 12 MR. HOGSETT: Cities or counties, 13 municipal governments of 50,000 or less. The only 14 thing we're thinking about not doing in that arena 15 would be municipal utility districts because those 16 are typically in the urban areas -- 17 CHAIRMAN BASS: It would be the 18 inclined entity -- 19 MR. HOGSETT: Correct. That is 20 correct, yes. So if a county's entire population 21 was 50,000 or less and the county submitted an 22 application, they would be eligible. There are a 23 few of those counties in the state. 24 CHAIRMAN BASS: Oh, yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER AVILA: The 5-million-5 . 40 1 that we're giving, how is that fairing over the 2 last few years? 3 MR. HOGSETT: That is a little less 4 than we gave in the past reviews predominantly 5 because due to the legislative mandate we were 6 required to put $500,000 into the Odessa meteor 7 crater this last year, and where we had to take it 8 was from the local park fund. 9 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Tim, speaking 10 of that, how did you improve the World Birding 11 Center in Harlingen and turned down the one in 12 Edinburg? 13 MR. HOGSETT: That application will 14 be coming back to us in the next review. 15 Mr. Sansom and I have already discussed that. 16 Hopefully, the city will be able to put a better 17 foot forward in their next application. 18 COMMISSIONER AVILA: The Chairman 19 alluded to it forced people to almost go to 20 $500,000. How does that happen? 21 MR. HOGSETT: One of the criteria 22 that is very highly ranked in the scoring system 23 is diversity, the numbers of the -- the numbers of 24 types of facilities that they ask for, different 25 types of recreation opportunities. . 41 1 And also another highly ranking 2 criteria is whether or not they have a local 3 master plan and if they ask for the highest needs 4 in that master plan. And typically in a local 5 community, particularly the larger communities, 6 their high needs and their master plans are 7 expensive, things like swimming pools and ball 8 field complexes or large conservation 9 acquisitions, that sort of thing. 10 MR. SANSOM: And members, it's worth 11 pointing out here, an aspect of this program at 12 the other end of the spectrum that you're not 13 seeing today but you saw in the last cycle was the 14 regional park program which does provide a new 15 opportunity for the larger metropolitan areas, but 16 it also provides for a stronger kind of 17 conservation component to those grants. So this 18 particular series of applications doesn't 19 represent the full spectrum of what this program 20 represents now. 21 And I would, frankly, like to see 22 more migration at the top of the scale toward 23 those kind of projects as the legislature has 24 directed us. 25 COMMISSIONER AVILA: That's a . 42 1 different pot of money. 2 MR. SANSOM: Right. Well, it's this 3 money, but we've got it in a different category. 4 COMMISSIONER AVILA: They gave us 5 that additional money. 6 COMMISSIONER HEATH: And you'd like 7 to see what, Andy? 8 MR. SANSOM: Well, what -- what the 9 Legislature did in the last session was to allow 10 us to use some accumulated interest in this 11 program to fund large regional park projects which 12 involve multiple partners, where two cities would 13 get together that encompassed the large 14 conservation areas, one that we funded as a -- 15 like a 22-mile bio preservation project in 16 Houston. One of them is a river -- large river 17 park in El Paso. 18 So it -- so I think we're improving 19 at the top of the scale, as well, in terms of 20 what, I believe, the intent of our board and the 21 Legislature and the constituents want to see this 22 program go. 23 COMMISSIONER AVILA: It's fair to 24 say it's providing greenbelts in cities. 25 MR. SANSOM: Exactly. . 43 1 COMMISSIONER AVILA: As opposed to 2 ball parks in a small community. 3 MR. SANSOM: Right. 4 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Have we ever 5 surveyed the potential recipients to see what 6 their thinking about the process is? 7 MR. SANSOM: We do it almost 8 continuously. Tim has an excellent program. As 9 he mentioned, he had 12 public hearings with 10 principal constituents in the last 18 months. So 11 we talked to them -- in fact, Commissioner Watson 12 and I met with that group of constituents this 13 morning. Walt and Tim and I were there. So we 14 have a pretty much constant dialogue with them. 15 And right now I'd say they're pretty enthusiastic. 16 MR. HOGSETT: The inclusion of the 17 indoor recreation program was as a result of that, 18 the regional park grant program and now this small 19 community's initiative. It's coming straight from 20 the constituents. That's what they're telling us 21 they want. 22 MR. SANSOM: And the outreach 23 program. 24 MR. HOGSETT: Yes, and the outreach. 25 COMMISSIONER AVILA: Well, I think . 44 1 the program has been wonderful. All this 2 discusses is just how you stretch the dollar. 3 MR. SANSOM: Which is forming up, as 4 Chairman Bass has commented, in that it's becoming 5 more diverse. There's more ways to iterate. 6 COMMISSIONER AVILA: Well, and as I 7 say, maybe we're not matching 50 percent. Maybe 8 you could get a formula where that diversity 9 doesn't carry as much or causes you to give 10 $500,000, or another way to do it just is we are 11 only going to give 30 percent. 12 CHAIRMAN BASS: Or if they only 13 ask -- if they bring a bigger match, then that 14 gives them bonus points or something. 15 COMMISSIONER AVILA: Right. And 16 that way it would stretch that list of however 17 they got in there. 18 MR. HOGSETT: That's what we've done 19 in a way, in the past as well when we've lowered 20 the ceiling on what people can ask for. We've, at 21 one time or another, had a higher ceiling than 22 $500,000 in the indoor -- I mean, the outdoor 23 program. 24 CHAIRMAN BASS: I know we need to 25 move along. But one thing that I would like to . 45 1 note that I sincerely appreciate is the way this 2 program has been run for the last 12 years is, 3 it's been a completely nonpolitical program. Very 4 rarely have local or state political issues 5 impinged and put pressure on the Department or for 6 the Commission to deviate from the standard system 7 that deems to be fair rules by all parties and 8 they're willing to participate in. 9 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Remarkable. 10 COMMISSIONER AVILA: It is 11 remarkable. 12 CHAIRMAN BASS: I think that's a 13 reflection -- a very positive reflection on how 14 the system has been run in terms of how Department 15 personnel have dealt with the applicants. Because 16 they all seem to obviously feel like they get a 17 fair hearing and fair treatment and have recourse 18 other than running to their elected officials to 19 try to do an end run. So thank you. It makes it 20 much easier for us sitting up here to deal with 21 these vast sums of money that we pour out the 22 front door here twice a year. 23 MR. SANSOM: The final note, 24 Mr. Chairman, is that we will also have about four 25 and a half million dollars of land and water . 46 1 conservation fund money from Congress, and it's 2 our intent right now to target as much as half of 3 that toward this program. 4 COMMISSIONER HEATH: One further 5 question. Matching funds, when I've read through 6 these and look at how funds are matched and they 7 take about private donations, et cetera, how do we 8 know the matching funds are, in fact, in place? 9 When do they need to be in place? 10 MR. HOGSETT: At the time they 11 submit an application to us, they certify in that 12 application that those monies are either available 13 or that the firm commitment of those resources is 14 available. And if it's things such as a land 15 donation, we will require them to submit a letter 16 from the landowner saying that they are a willing 17 donor of that property. 18 If it's a donation of materials or 19 labor, the same sort of thing will be asked for. 20 We are very concerned about having projects 21 getting underway and then suddenly they tell us, 22 oh, we don't have our match. That rarely happens, 23 but it does on occasion happen. So we're very 24 sensitive to that. 25 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Good. One . 47 1 final suggestion, then, Tim, from the number of 2 questions that have arisen here from the 3 Commission, of which I've got six or seven listed 4 here, I would propose that -- Andy, that there be 5 briefings throughout the year on what we are going 6 to look for in the overall system to make sure 7 that the needs that we were looking at in the past 8 are the same needs that we have today. We tend to 9 hear from Tim once a year, is kind of my 10 recollection. I have lost a little memory here 11 along the way. But that tends to be my 12 recollection. So great job, Tim. 13 MR. HOGSETT: Thank you. 14 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I second what 15 the Chairman said about how this has been 16 operated. Thank you. 17 This requires a motion for approval 18 for consideration in the full Commission agenda. 19 May I have a motion? 20 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Move approval. 21 COMMISSIONER AVILA: Second. 22 COMMISSIONER HEATH: All in favor? 23 (Motion passed unanimously.) 24 AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: BRIEFING - AUDIT STATUS 25 REPORT. . 48 1 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Item 5 is the 2 briefing on the audit status report, Dennis 3 O'Neal. Welcome Dennis. 4 MR. O'NEAL: Thank you, Commissioner 5 Heath. Yes, I am Dennis O'Neal. I'm the Internal 6 Audit Director. The first audit I'm going to talk 7 about is the audit by the State Auditor's Office 8 of our commercial fisheries program. I think 9 Commissioner Watson and Henry heard some comments 10 about that audit yesterday in Senate Finance. 11 That audit has been completed, and a 12 report has been issued. I know that Hal Osburn 13 has prepared a detailed action plan to address the 14 recommendations in the auditor's report. I don't 15 know if y'all want to talk about any of those 16 issues today or not. If you all received a copy 17 of the report? 18 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I think let's 19 just receive a copy of the report and stay away 20 from the questions. We have a limited amount of 21 time today. 22 MR. O'NEAL: Yes, a limited amount 23 of time. 24 Okay. The second item I'm going to 25 discuss is an audit that was requested by . 49 1 Representative Junell. He asked the State 2 Auditor's Office to determine if agencies were 3 reporting their ending fund balances correctly. 4 And again, Commissioners, y'all heard about that 5 yesterday also in your Senate Finance meeting. 6 And we were included in that audit. And that 7 project is almost complete. And we should be 8 getting the results of that work in the next two 9 to three weeks. 10 I have talked to the auditors, and 11 it appears -- and I can't say -- nothing is final 12 in an audit report until it's published. But it 13 appears they are going to report that our fund 14 balances were reported correctly at the end of 15 fiscal year 2000. So I think that's some great 16 news. 17 The third audit I'm going to discuss 18 is the audit of our Administrative Resources 19 Division. We told you during the last meeting we 20 would probably have a report this month, but 21 that's going to be pushed back now because the 22 auditors had to work on this Junell request, the 23 same auditors that were out here. So now I'd say 24 it will probably be April or May before we get a 25 final report from them on that work. . 50 1 The fourth audit from the State 2 Auditor's Office -- and it looks like we're 3 keeping them in business pretty well -- is an 4 audit of our Sportfish and Wildlife Restoration 5 federal funds. That audit is almost complete. 6 They have tested all the requirements except for 7 one, and so far there's not any issues. And we 8 should have, you know, the final results pretty 9 quickly on that. 10 Finally, within Internal Audit 11 itself, we're right now conducting some audits at 12 state parks. And we're also doing an audit of our 13 Information Resources Division. We're looking at 14 our security policies to make sure those are 15 adequate over our information and data. And 16 that's all I have unless y'all have any questions. 17 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Questions of 18 Dennis? Thank for you that briefing. Appreciate 19 it. 20 MR. O'NEAL: Thank you. 21 AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: ACTION - MEMORANDUM OF 22 UNDERSTANDING - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF 23 TRANSPORTATION, TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE 24 DEPARTMENT, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC 25 DEVELOPMENT, TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS, AND . 51 1 TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION. 2 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Item Number 6, 3 it's an action item, Memorandum of Understanding, 4 and Lydia Saldana will give us a presentation on 5 that. 6 MS. SALDANA: Hi, I'm Lydia Saldana, 7 Director of Communication. I also represent the 8 agency on the Tourism Advisory Committee, and in 9 that role, I've been involved in the development 10 of the Tourism Memorandum of Understanding -- 11 let's see if this is going to work for me today. 12 There we go -- Tourism Memorandum of 13 Understanding which calls for the agencies to do a 14 better job of cooperating and coordinating efforts 15 in marketing and promoting Texas. The agencies 16 involved are the Texas Department of Economic 17 Development, the Texas Department of 18 Transportation, our agency, of course, the Texas 19 Commission on the Arts, and the Texas Historical 20 Commission. A few highlights of the MOU. 21 Again, it's just to have all the 22 agencies do a better job of coordinating our 23 efforts. A big part of that is just facilitating 24 better communication among the key people of the 25 agencies involved in promoting and marketing. . 52 1 We'll also be developing a unified annual tourism 2 marketing overview. It's been a rather casual 3 thing up until now. And what will be a product of 4 this MOU will be an actual marketing overview that 5 includes all the agencies. 6 There is an increased emphasis on 7 the Web site for promoting marketing and tourism, 8 and we'll be doing a better job of making sure 9 that the sites link to each other well, and that 10 we're just doing the best job we possibly can of 11 promoting Texas and Texas sites. 12 One of our concerns and one of the 13 things that we brought to the table, is that we 14 needed to have an increased emphasis across the 15 board on state-operated sites. A lot of the 16 marketing efforts for TDED are involved in all 17 sites. But again, the state sites, particularly 18 state parks, wildlife management areas, historic 19 sites, that will be receiving increased emphasis 20 through this MOU. 21 We recommend adoption of the MOU, 22 and I believe this item is also eligible for the 23 consent agenda. Do you have any questions? 24 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Questions for 25 Lydia? This is an action item. As she said, . 53 1 requires motion for approval and it's a candidate 2 for the consent agenda. So I'd ask for a motion 3 to approve for the consent agenda, please. 4 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: So moved. 5 (Motion passed unanimously.) 6 AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: ACTION - AMENDMENT TO 7 ARTWORK APPROVAL. 8 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Item Number 6 9 is an action item -- Thank you very much, Lydia -- 10 Amendment to the Artwork Approval, and Frances 11 Stiles. Number 7. Excuse me. 12 MS. STILES: Good morning. My name 13 is Frances Stiles, and I'm with the Administrative 14 Resources Division. This item, the Amendment to 15 Artwork Approval, should be a brief housekeeping 16 item. At the November Commission meeting, there 17 were four pieces of artwork presented for approval 18 from Collectors Covey. Shortly thereafter, 19 Mr. Quinn encountered a conflict with the use of 20 the nongame artwork. The nongame artwork had been 21 offered to a Canadian publishing company to 22 Collectors Covey at about the same time. 23 The publishing firm did purchase 24 that artwork, and that created a conflict with the 25 copyright use for Collectors Covey. To . 54 1 accommodate Collectors Covey, the artist did offer 2 three additional prints to Collectors Covey as a 3 substitute. 4 And out of the three items this item 5 here is the Loggerhead Shrike was accepted by 6 Collectors Covey as the substitute for the nongame 7 artwork. The previous nongame artwork was the 8 Loggerheaded -- not the Loggerheaded -- it was the 9 Long-Billed Curlew. And if the Commission 10 approves the substitution, the print artwork from 11 Collectors Covey would consist of the four items 12 that are up on the screen. That's about it. If 13 all have any questions... 14 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Comments or 15 questions from the Commission? 16 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: I move 17 approval of the change. 18 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Second. 19 COMMISSIONER HEATH: I have a motion 20 and a second, and I would ask that those be for 21 the consent agenda. 22 CHAIRMAN BASS: Consent agenda. 23 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Thank you. All 24 in favor? All opposed? 25 (Motion passed unanimously.) . 55 1 COMMISSIONER HEATH: And that's our 2 last item. Item number 8 is just other business. 3 Is there any other business to come before this 4 committee? If not, the Finance Committee adjourns 5 and Mr. Chairman? 6 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you. 7 *-*-*-*-* 8 (MEETING ADJOURNED.) 9 *-*-*-*-* 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 . 56 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 STATE OF TEXAS ) 3 COUNTY OF TRAVIS ) 4 I, MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, a Certified 5 Court Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do 6 hereby certify that the above and foregoing 55 7 pages constitute a full, true and correct 8 transcript of the minutes of the Texas Parks & 9 Wildlife Commission on JANUARY 24, 2001, in the 10 commission hearing room of the Texas Parks & 11 Wildlife Headquarters Complex, Austin, Travis 12 County, Texas. 13 I FURTHER CERTIFY that a stenographic 14 record was made by me at the time of the public 15 meeting and said stenographic notes were 16 thereafter reduced to computerized transcription 17 under my supervision and control. 18 WITNESS MY HAND this the 24th day of 19 February, 2001. 20 21 MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, RPR, CSR NO. 3226 22 Expiration Date: 12-31-02 3101 Bee Caves Road 23 Centre II, Suite 220 Austin, Texas 78746 24 (512) 328-5557 25 EBS NO.