By Andy Sevilla.
Tasked with doling out $5.68 million in CAMPO funding for road projects amongst Hays County’s local governments, the commissioners court decided last week to keep more than half of the monies and divert $2.6 million in total federal dollars to the county’s five largest cities.
Under Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley’s plan, San Marcos and Kyle would receive $750,000 each, Buda would be allocated $600,000, and Wimberley and Dripping Springs would each receive $250,000, for road projects that meet federal requirements within their cities.
At top: Hays County received the majority of CAMPO funds. CAMPO dispensed a combined total of $5.86 million for Hays County and area cities. |
Conley, who also chairs the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy board, suggested the county keep roughly $3.08 million for “an array of projects…in development stages.”
“This is just a suggestion…for us to consider,” Conley said at the commissioners Feb. 11 meeting. “Considering the amount of money that we’re talking about… at least for most of us, this is a significant amount of money, but we all know in the world of transportation development, this money comes nowhere close to fulfilling all the needs that we have throughout Hays County.”
He said if the pot was as large as $30 or $50 million, it would warrant a scoring criteria process, but considering the low-dollar allocation, the county would be lucky to fund two projects.
“This is a way to spread the dollars out, give everyone a little bit of relief, let (cities) apply those dollars ...within the federal restrictions, of course,” Conley said.
CAMPO identified about $104 million to fund road projects in its six-county area through fiscal year 2018; of that, Hays County would take $5.68 million.
Kyle was the lone municipality in Hays County to appeal for CAMPO funding at the Feb. 11 meeting.
Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson said the transportation dollars would help fund the city’s $36 million road bond, which voters passed in May 2012 to reconstruct Bunton, Burleson, Goforth and Lehman roads, as well as extend Marketplace Avenue.
Despite being told by former CAMPO director Maureen McCoy that none of Kyle’s five road bond projects qualify for federal funding, because they’re not categorized as arterials, Johnson said “all of these roads, and we’ve double-checked with our former engineer, are designed to meet federal requirements.”
Former Kyle City Engineer Steve Widacki, who served on CAMPO’s transportation advisory committee, told city officials the road bond projects would qualify for federal dollars, but in a Jan. 28 council meeting, McCoy told city officials those roadways would not meet federal requirements.
McCoy told officials that CAMPO staff would take another look to determine the roads’ eligibility, but cautioned that a Jan. 28 review showed those roads did not meet the requirements.
“We could use any help possible from CAMPO or the county to help mitigate the cost to our property taxpayers,” Johnson said.
Kyle is expected to reach a population of 40,000 residents by 2020, and reach 60,000 by 2025, according to Johnson, which is why the city sought the road bond package.
For the estimated $3.8 million the county is expected to keep, Conley suggested using those funds to complete improvements to Ranch Road 12.
“The court has worked with the state for almost a decade trying to bring a short-term and long-term solution to RR12, from the junction to Wonder World Drive here in San Marcos,” Conley said. “The last section of roadway, from Pioneer Trail to Hugo (Road), has not been improved and is not funded. Now, we’re environmentally cleared, the right-of-way is there; there is (just) no money for construction.”
Conley said estimates show the remaining unfunded portion of that roadway would cost about $2.5 million to complete. “That would be the last section of (RR) 12 to close the book on those improvements - those short-term improvements - for (RR) 12, for the county and for the state.”
Pct. 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant also has some ideas for the money, specifically turn lanes and safety-type projects in western Hays County, Conley said. Given the $135 million investment partnership between Hays and the state for improvements along I-35, Conley said the remaining federal dollars should go to projects in western Hays County.
Any federal CAMPO dollars expended through these funds require a local 20 percent match. Officials said if the improvements are made to a road in the state’s system, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) usually provides that match.
The county’s proposal for the $5.68 million is still in the early stages, and exact funding figures should be solidified in about a month, Conley said. For now, officials will request Hays County cities submit potential transportation projects that could qualify under federal requirements.
