The San Marcos City Council met for their regular biweekly meeting June 2 to discuss the development of the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response fund allocation and pass various land ordinances.
The council approved the amendments to the CDBG program to add $425,261 in COVID-19-related funding, agreeing on the recommended allocations of the funds to the program’s applicants.
The applicants to the program included: City Economic Development, Main Street, Chamber of Commerce, requesting $200,000; City Office of Emergency Management, requesting $180,000; Court Appointed Special Advocates, requesting $55,600; and Texas State University, requesting $105,530.
In order for an applicant’s project to receive funding from the CDBG-CV program, the project must meet the CDBG national objective of service to low to moderate-income people, provide direct services to beneficiaries, and the services are cost-effective and directly related to impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City Economic Development, Main Street, Chamber of Commerce’s offer is a COVID-19 small business recovery project for providing technical assistance and funding for small businesses and microenterprises. The project met all of the requirements and was recommended to receive $200,000.
The City Office of Emergency Management’s offered project is payment to a COVID-19 Community Recovery Specialist Position, one full-time position for two years with the purpose of assisting the community in developing long term recovery planning strategies. This project did not meet a CDBG national objective and was recommended to receive no money.
The Court Appointed Special Advocates’ project aims to recruit and train volunteer caseworkers to advocate for children removed from their homes in an effort to combat child abuse during the pandemic and stay-at-home orders. This project met the requirements and was recommended to receive $55,600.
Finally, Texas State’s proposed project is a portable COVID-19 collection station and staffing from Sept. 2020 to May 2021. The station will conduct research and collect samples to send to labs for testing. The station aims to be strategically ventilated to prevent COVID-19 from infecting any employees inside. The project meets all requirements and is recommended to receive $105,530.
The remaining $64,131 will be allocated to administrators to provide technical assistance to funded programs and ensure the appropriate use and documentation of funds. A public comment period for the CBDG-CV program is set to occur from June 7-13. The University Star will provide additional information on this period as information is released.
The council passed several land ordinances, including a rezoning of approximately 5.217 acres of land generally located west of the intersection of Old Ranch Road 12 and Craddock Avenue from a Future Development District to a Single Family District.
About 9.61 acres of land were annexed into the city, generally located in the 400 Block of Centerpoint Road.
Approximately 7.959 acres of land generally located in the 400 Block of Centerpoint Road was rezoned from a Future Development District to a Heavy Commercial District.
Nearly 60 acres of land located at 4087 State Highway 21 was annexed into the city.
Approximately 14.90 acres of land located at 4087 State Highway 21 was rezoned from a Future Development District to a Light Industrial District.
Finally, about 44.99 acres of land located at 4087 State Highway 21 was rezoned from a Future Development District to a Manufactured Home District.
The City Council planned to host a discussion on Capes Dam and other Hays County park proposals but postponed due to the meeting’s runtime.
San Marcos City Council meets every first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. over Zoom and can be view on its website. The agenda can be accessed through the Agenda Center on the City of San Marcos website.