Brittany Kelley
SAN MARCOS — The Hays County Commissioners Court awarded a construction manager at risk contract to Joeris General Contractors at its May 12 meeting for the upcoming Eastside Campus facility.
The Eastside Campus project began in 2025 after Hays County commissioners Michelle Cohen and Debbie Ingalsbe recognized that there has been a disparity between services available for residents on the east versus the west side of IH-35. The facility is planned to have three floors and house several county departments, such as Human Resources, County services, County Clerk, Elections and more, bringing services to the historically underserved communities.
The request for proposals process yielded 10 submissions. After an initial scoring criteria, the top three companies were selected to do interviews — Joeris was ranked number one.
“The construction manager at risk is the same delivery method that we’ve used on the government center. The construction manager works with the county during the design phase and then, takes the responsibility for delivering the project within the guaranteed maximum price,” said Ingalsbe. “The at risk portion means that the construction manager assumes financial responsibility for completing the project within the agreed maximum price, unless the project scope changes.”
Staff added that it allows the construction manager to work with the design team throughout the process, allowing for the most economically sound choices to be made.
Sharing concerns was Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, who disclosed that, allegedly, Kyle City Council member Michael Tobias, who represents the proposed location of the facility, wasn’t looped in on the discussion. He also stated that Kyle Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale reached out to note that there has been an internal dispute with the city regarding the zoning use of the property.
This was discussed at the May 5 Kyle City Council meeting, where Flores-Cale noted that the land, located off of Dacy Lane, may have initially been donated for park use.
Becerra continued, stating that Kyle City Council member Courtney Goza and Flores-Cale have an item on council's May 19 meeting agenda to discuss the history of the land.
He emphasized that the idea of the facility is “perfect” with the construction manager at risk, but that he wanted to note the alleged lack of communication and the need for new Kyle council members to understand the history of the item.
“If [this location] does not work out, it doesn’t mean that our project’s going to stop. We voted on a CIP for this; we want the Eastside Campus to happen. If it doesn’t happen there, it’s going to happen somewhere,” said Cohen. “We’re really hoping to develop this partnership with this new council, [so] they can see the benefit of this in this area and what resources it brings to a historically underserved area … Whatever questions they need to answer, they need to answer internally, but as far as us as a court, this is the building that we committed to and we’re going to continue to move forward.”
There was a previous meeting held with Kyle, said Ingalsbe, where action had been taken regarding changing the parkland dedication. Additionally, she said that they are “happy” to loop in Tobias. There will also be a public meeting held for community members in the future.
“If he felt that he was not included in those meetings, that is not on us; that is on his staff by not including him,” stressed Cohen.
“I believe some of these questions are coming up, specifically, because we have asked [Hays County administrator] Kandice [Boutte] for weeks now to give us an itemized, or some general breakdown, of what this county has paid for that building and we’ve yet to get an answer,” Becerra said. “I support the building, but it has come to light that the process is leaving much to be desired. I’m trying to find the most peaceful way to say, ‘I want to let those elected officials reaching out to me feel heard’ … Commissioner Cohen, I get it — It’s their problem, it’s their fault, it’s their staff’s fault — but at the end of the day, this is our building.”
Commissioner Walt Smith stated that he disagreed with the fact that cost breakdowns have been asked for, as he shared it has never been done publicly in the court. Furthermore, he felt saddened at the way “this was presented today, instead of a real inquiry into, ‘How could we make this project move forward to benefit not only all of Hays County, but, specifically, those residents on the east side?”
After asking the budget officer for rough numbers on what contracts are confirmed, Becerra stated that it feels as though the court is racing toward this project — with approximately $62 million for the building, $4.25 million to HDR and $1.34 million to Kitchell already confirmed — without even having a land agreement in place with the city: “That’s $70 million on a project that we don’t even have dirt on. What’s the roadmap if this doesn’t pan out?”
Ingalsbe stated that staff is identifying other locations, in the event that the court is unable to move forward with the city of Kyle.
The item to award the contract to Joreis passed 4-1, with Becerra dissenting, as he was “asked to create a pause.”
The Hays County Commissioners Court will meet next June 9.
