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At the recent Hays County Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners received brief presentations regarding funding allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.
According to the meeting held Feb. 28, the programs and institutions that will possibly receive ARPA funding are the Southside Community Center, The KZSM, San Marcos Community Radio Association, the Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation, the Hays County Livestock Exposition, the Wimberley Village Library Foundation and the Hays County Office of Emergency Services First-Net.
The Hays County Local Health Department Mobile Vaccine Facility and multiple Hays County independent school districts were approved to receive ARPA funding. The American Rescue Plan Act, according to the White House ARPA Fact Sheet, provides emergency grants, lending, and investment to hard-hit small businesses so they can access recovery assistance for direct or indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Southside Community Center is under consideration for a potential allocation of $103,629. Deborah Villalpando, the director of operations for Southside, present at the meeting, said, “We are the only ones that have the emergency shelter during winter as well as during the heat when it is over a hundred degrees. We … offer a lot of amenities to the homeless in need.” The center amenities also include ministries to the homeless of Hays County, safe and affordable housing for low- and moderate- income families, transitional housing, rent and utilities assistance and free meals every day at 4 p.m. among other services.
Hays County Auditor Marisol Villarreal-Alonzo made clarifications after a public comment of concern regarding potential mismanagement of the funds was brought before the court. Villarreal-Alonzo clarified that if the community center does receive the funds, they will receive 50% of the allotment up front and then will receive the rest following an audit and review to be completed for the proposed expenditures.
The KZSM, San Marcos Community Radio Association, is potentially receiving $50,000 from an ARPA Subrecipient Agreement, meaning that the award would be received by a non-federal agency who would then administer those funds to the program. KZSM would receive this funding to carry out the testing, transfer and set up of the emergency radio broadcast system. This falls under the ARPA qualification of emergency response equipment eligibility since KZSM is taking over the state emergency radio license KZOS.
The Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation could receive $50,000 as well to partially make up for the $197,283 decrease in gross revenue it sustained due to pandemic-related decreases in fundraising, according to the foundation’s Form-990s for the years 2019 and 2020.
The LSC Foundation raises funds for Future Farmers of America and 4H Project Awards. The LSC original founder Trey Powers was present for the presentation, and he clarified that the money is “a straight donation to the kids… [and] we spend money on every 4H and FFA chapter in the county. It is not specific to any one area of the county.” A similar program that started 70 years ago, the Hays County Livestock Exposition, is potentially receiving $33,372.14 and also raises funds for FFA and 4H project awards and scholarships. The exposition includes categories such as livestock skills, home skills and agricultural mechanics, which in years prior had over $75,000 to use for funding. Precinct 4 Hays County Commissioner Walt Smith advocated for these programs in his comments to the court.
“These two organizations have operated here in Hays County for a very long time. They directly benefit the youth of Hays County. … They are truly a far, far-reaching organization in our community. They touch every community in Hays County … [and] have stepped up and been there for our youth since the inception of the livestock show,” Smith said.
The Wimberley Village Library Foundation recently suffered revenue losses related to fundraising and increased construction costs due to the pandemic. To rectify this, the court proposed offering a grant award of $150,000. The foundation normally receives the majority of their funding from a governmental unit, grants, or donations and is dedicated to continually providing advancement of learning opportunities at the Wimberley Village Library. In September of 2022, construction to expand the library building by 8,800 square feet began and will add new larger meeting rooms, restrooms and a parking lot. This was originally projected to cost $1,712,685 in 2018 but in 2022 the library received an invoice from Marksmen General Contractors, LLC., documenting an increase raising the cost to $5,710,000. The court report further states that the material increase did not occur until well into the pandemic which is likely why citizens may be just starting to see the ARPA funding allocations now.
The Hays County Office of Emergency Services FirstNet is the last program to be considered for funding. The court proposed an $85,000 grant to aid the Office of Emergency Services, which includes the offices of Emergency Management, the Fire Marshal, and Emergency Preparedness, in setting up the First Responder Network Authority. FirstNet Authority is a nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform specifically for America’s first responders and the public safety community. The representative from the Ardurra Group, Inc. giving the presentation warned that “there might be a slight change in the value related to an increased service on the broadband,” but would address that issue at a future time.
Two actionable items on the agenda during the same meeting were unanimously approved for funding, and these were related to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. The first was the Hays County Local Health Department Mobile Vaccine Facility, which allows the county’s health department to go into communities where people are most vulnerable and provide vaccinations for the flu, COVID-19 and other illnesses. The second approved funding goes to Dripping Springs and Wimberley ISDs and San Marcos and Hays CISDs. Each school district will receive up to $200,000 to help implement behavioral and mental health programs as they see fit.
Smith said, “[We] really looked at what the individual needs were for behavioral health and spoke to the ISDs about what their specific needs were. And what we found was that while behavioral health is absolutely a top priority, giving those ISDs the flexibility to use those funds, also on substance abuse counseling, was key.”
Fentanyl abuse is an issue that ISDs have been facing more frequently since the beginning of the pandemic, so the hope with this funding is that it allows students suffering with behavior and mental problems to quickly get the support they need. For more information regarding these agenda items, visit the Hays County Commissioners Court website at hayscountytx.com/commissioners- court.
