The Hays County Commissioners Court heard a presentation from the Wimberley Village Library regarding the potential expansion of the facility and approved temporary positions to the Hays County COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program at its March 23 meeting.
Wimberley Village Library presented an expansion plan and provided information on funding needed to execute the new property. Dell Hood, board of trustees president of the Wimberley Village Library, says the library needs remodeling to obtain the rapid growth of the community.
“The original building for the Village Library in Wimberley was built in 1978,” Hood says. “There were expansion projects in 1984, 2000 and 2008. Each one of these expansions was an attempt to keep up with the growth, not only of the population of the Wimberley area but of the programs and offerings that the staff was able to present. We are faced with continuing and unstoppable growth in the western half of Hays County.”
Hood says the library needs the commissioner’s support to add 13,800 square feet to the now 8,400 square foot building.
“To do this, we need your support through the certificates of obligation which the county can issue,” Hood says. “You will issue the certificate, but we are responsible for the debt. For repaying every penny of it through the sales tax income which the library receives and we fully intend to meet that obligation.”
The commissioners will make a decision after a final draft is made laying out a full plan. If the expansion is approved, Hood says the library will begin building as soon as it can.
The Hays County COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program was authorized to hire three temporary positions to the program. The positions will be in the Hays County Auditor Department, to assist with the processing of the payments and review of program applications, the Hays County Treasurer Department, to review all expenditures before being dispersed and the Hays County Veteran Services Office, which requires a full-time individual to assist with applications relating to veterans.
Hays County Emergency Services Office Director Mike Jones assures the county continues to receive over 4,600 vaccines. Jones says emergency services estimates it will distribute 2,000 vaccines a day during its clinic next week at the Wimberley Baptist Church and will meet with Texas State to discuss vaccine disbursement plans.
“We are to meet with them sometime this week to facilitate a plan, that’s gonna make sense where we can use all the resources available and hopefully can be of some really good news as far as what we can do for making a vaccine clinic on a regular basis each week out there at Texas State,” Jones says.
The commissioners also informed citizens that if they have registered to receive a vaccination in Hays County but end up receiving it elsewhere, they need to take their name off the vaccine registration list to prevent wait-list complications.
Clarifications were discussed regarding the 2021 cost of living allocation. The 2% allocation will be based on the salary of what citizens make as of now, not in 2020, and only new hires will be included in the 2% increase, not elected officials.
The commissioners approved the usage of the Sheriff’s Office Continuing Education Funds for Deputy Herman Adair to travel out of state and attend the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators Conference in August. Captain of the Hays County Police Department’s Support Services Bureau Mark Cumberland says allowing Adair to attend the conference will benefit the department with experience.
“[Adair] is the individual that’s assigned to auto theft. This is training, advanced training for the most part and because it’s an evolving criminal element,” Cumberland says. “If we just stay in our own little world, we don’t learn what’s going on and what we will see coming to our county.”
The authorization of payment to NorthStar Fire Protection of Texas in the amount of $810 was approved to the Hays County Jail. The money will repair emergency sprinklers at the facility.
The commissioners also approved the plat for the H-E-B at the site of Nutty Brown Cafe and amphitheater near Dripping Springs.
At the end of the meeting, a workshop was conducted focusing on the study of employee compensation and benefits in Hays County. The study consisted of salary data collected from Hays County compared to other counties within Texas. The commissioners then discussed the results of the study, how more jobs can be filled and ways new individuals could be hired.
The Hays County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. For more information visit its website.