San Marcos City Council members approved two projects that will receive funding from the Community Development Block Grant for Coronavirus Response at a June 16 meeting; members also approved to hold $105,530 of the CDBG-CV funds to provide more testing for COVID-19 in the community.
With $425,261 in CDBG-CV funding coming through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city awarded grants to the COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Program and a program proposed by the Court Appointed Special Advocates.
Both projects will account for $255,600 of the CDBG-CV funding, which was previously recommended by staff at a June 2 meeting.
The COVID-19 Small Business Recovery program was submitted by the San Marcos Economic Development Department, the Main Street Program and the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, requesting $200,000 in funding to aid local businesses and organizations affected by COVID-19 through:
- technical assistance and employee retention;
- grants of up to $5,000 to redesign physical space to ensure safety and social distancing, sanitation training, personal protective equipment, and digital redesign for social distancing including contactless payment methods and online ordering; and
- the capacity to assist 32 local small businesses, organizations and microenterprises.
The second project approved by City Council was submitted by CASA, requesting $55,600 in funds. The CDBG-CV grant will help fund the expansion of the organization’s services to an additional 30 children who experience abuse and neglect.
In addition, $64,131 of the CDBG-CV funds will be allocated for the city administration to provide technical assistance to the funded programs, ensure the appropriate use of documents and funds, and monitor and report the progress to HUD.
Previously city staff had recommended awarding Texas State University $105,530 in funding to create a COVID-19 collection station in partnership with Katerra—a California-based manufacturing firm. That recommendation was challenged by Council Member Melissa Derrick, who suggested that the money be allocated to provide “more immediate” COVID-19 testing in the community in a possible partnership with Hays County, instead of awarding the grant to the university.
With a majority vote, with Mayor Jane Hughson opposing and Council Member Ed Mihalkanin abstaining, City Council members directed staff to begin the application process to allocate $105,530 of CDBG-CV funds to provide more efficient COVID-19 testing in the community, aiming to join the county’s testing efforts.
Details and allocation of these funds will return to City Council in August, according to staff.
