ARPA to award $472K to county orgs

School districts, mobile vaccine clinic also receiving funds

HAYS COUNTY — Local organizations across Hays County are set to receive a helping hand through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

On Feb. 28, the commissioners court received a presentation from Ardurra Senior Project Manager Eric Boehning on where — and how much — some of the county’s ARPA funds are set to go, including the county’s school districts and a mobile vaccine clinic.

Ardurra serves as the program manager for the Hays County ARPA program, assisting the commissioners and other county staff in the planning, development and execution of projects with the $44 million ARPA funds provided to the county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Boehning, Ardurra is proposing nearly $500,000 worth of funds to be awarded to the following organizations:

• $103,629 for the Southside Community Center; Southside provides housing, meals and more to low-income or unhoused individuals and suffered a revenue loss during COVID-19.

• $50,000 for KZSM (San Marcos Texas Community Radio Association); KZSM is taking over the emergency radio license held by KZOS and funds would allow it to test, transfer and set up the emergency radio system.

• $50,000 for the Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation and $33,372.41 for the Hays County Livestock Exposition; both raise funds for FFA and 4-H project awards and suffered a revenue loss during COVID-19.

• $150,000 for the Wimberley Village Library Foundation; the library experienced revenue loss during COVID-19 related to fundraising and increases in its construction budget.

• $85,000 for the Hays County Office of Emergency Services FirstNet, an emergency communications system; funds would allow Hays County to set up an impromptu broadband service to respond to emergencies.

Following the presentation, representatives from some of the awarded organizations were invited to share with the court what they do and how the funds will assist them.

“I just can’t thank y’all enough for the way that y’all are choosing to spend these federal funds,” said Trey Powers, Lone Star Cattlemen Foundation board member.

Boehning also discussed providing grant funds to purchase a mobile vaccine unit for the county, with final details to be brought up at a future court meeting.

“We’re past the point of mass vaccination centers and to better serve the communities and those most vulnerable, a mobile vaccine facility would allow the county’s health department to go into the communities and provide whatever vaccinations might be necessary,” Boehning explained.

The court again discussed the use of $800,000 worth of ARPA funds for Dripping Springs ISD, Hays CISD, San Marcos CISD and Wimberley ISD to be used for mental health services and substance abuse counselors. Pct. 4 commissioner Walt Smith said that the county had initially looked at using Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds to provide these services but was unable to secure a grant.

“We re-looked at that. I sat down with Ardurra and really looked at what those individual needs were for behavioral health and spoke to the ISDs about what their specific needs were,” Smith said. “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 … Specific to fentanyl and other illicit drugs, what we found is we have students who are actually coming forward and are self-identifying, their families are self-identifying, saying, ‘Look, we have a problem. We need help in this situation.’ The answer can’t be, ‘Well, we can get you into substance abuse counseling in three months’ … Identifying the individual needs that those families have and how they can be addressed is hopefully the gist and the push behind that portion of flexibility in this funding.”

The commissioners unanimously approved to adopt the agenda items providing funds for the school districts and mobile vaccine clinic, but another agenda item will be brought forward at a future court date for the commissioners to officially vote on the dispersal of the $470K funds for the other organizations.