By Megan Wehring
[email protected]
HAYS COUNTY – As the area continues to see exponential population growth, the Hays County Food Bank (HCFB) is in the preliminary stages of acquiring a new facility.
On Dec. 6, Eric Boehning of Ardurra presented to the Hays County Commissioners Court about the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds to go toward the HCFB.
If later approved by the court, the county would assist the food bank with its capital expenditure and consulting services through a sub-recipient agreement. The award would be $1.18 million with $88,000 earmarked for the professional services/feasibility study and $1.10 million for construction.
The HCFB has been housed in its current 2,200-square-foot facility since the ‘90s, according to HCFB Executive Director Eleanor Owen. Because there is no loading dock at the facility, the staff can only accept and store so many donations.
“We have outgrown it. We are not able to hold very much food there,” Owen said. “We have needed a building for, I would say, 20 years.”
Commissioner Mark Jones, who also sits on the HCFB board of directors, explained what they are looking at in terms of location.
“The plan is to get more services out at the Village [off Reimer in San Marcos], where it can be kind of a one-stop,” Jones explained. “We have a lot there that we have already gotten the site, we just need a building there … The current location is owned by the county so the county would receive that property back to do with how they see fit.”
Jamie Lee Case, president of the HCFB board, said that they are not going to stop doing their mobile food distributions.
“This facility that we are currently out of is like a 2,200-square-foot building,” Case said. “That includes office space. We do not have the capacity to accept large donations. Our staff really works with the current footprint the best they can.”
Judge Ruben Becerra laid out his concerns about how the chosen location will serve the growing population.
“The need [and]the utility, I’m 100% behind you,” Becerra said. “We have this 300,000 population. This is the county seat, this is my hometown. But I’m not sure about the location and that’s probably amongst the most expensive real estate. I just was hoping you guys would at least not consider it a done deal for the location, that’s the only part. The need, footprint, capacity, instruments [and]refrigeration, I’m 100% behind all of it. I’m just asking you to measure twice on location.”
Owen said that they do realize that the location they are looking at is in the southern part of Hays County, but they believe they can serve more people in different capacities.
“We feel it is a strong location because of the Village,” Owen said. “[There] are other social services related that will be next door where we can help individuals, food insecurity is usually not the only thing they are confronting.”
Owen said that they would be open to looking at other places but felt like the location served a good purpose.
Commissioner Walt Smith said that he would like for the HCFB to work with other agencies and groups to serve all of Hays County, including Dripping Springs.
“We have 22 to 26 partner agencies throughout the county,” Owen responded. “We can help to look at their capacity and how we can assist them to be better able to extend their reach.”
Becerra clarified that even though they are making suggestions and asking questions, the court fully supports this project.
“We just want to suggest trajectories that would be long-range. With that end in mind, I’d also like to incorporate renewable energy and all of the instruments we can use for capturing and being most responsible with water,” Becerra said. “Not with today’s plans, but 20 years from now, how will this facility work? Will this be sustaining? How much self-sustaining in a disaster when things are frozen out, how can we keep operating? … The more sustainable we move as a county with our efforts, the better we will be for everyone.”
The commissioners court has yet to vote on the ARPA agreement for the HCFB.
