Cost breakdown
The council gave direction to staff at its council work session on May 2 to allocate funding to the following projects:
- $500,000: Public Service Center Emergency Operations Center upgrade
- $30,000: Downtown events
- $480,731: City parks improvements (City Park and Mill Street Park)
- $1.32 million: Uhland Road Quiet Zone improvements
- $200,000: Hays County Food Bank new facility
- $445,000: Generator for San Marcos High School
- $125,000: Support for Parent Liaison Program at San Marcos CISD
- $128,339: Caregiver Support
Those opposed
Council Member Alyssa Garza was the single dissenting vote.
“I am going to be supportive of—not all of this,” Garza said. “City parks, and availability of paths and walking trails were rated excellent or good by seven out of 10 of our residents so they’re already fine with that. What did rate poorly was overall economic health and economic development with just 4/10 positive ratings, which is below the national average.”
Garza motioned to amend and add $300,000 for community violence prevention programs, and remove the funding for the Uhland Road Quiet Zone improvements, but the motion died without a second.
Those in favor
Council Member Mark Gleason noted staff had done a good job of working with city partners to identify community needs and noted there was "somewhat of a time crunch" to receive these funds.
"We need to get this money spent just in case. I mean that's the reality of it; it could disappear, and this is a project that has been on the radar for a very long time," Gleason said, referring to the Uhland Road Quiet Zone improvements project. "I'm in support of just moving forward with what we have here, and let's get it done."
What’s next
According to City Manager Hayden Migl, all the ARPA funds have to be obligated through an approved contract with another organization by December 2024, and all funding must be spent by December 2026.
