At their regular meeting June 12, Hays County Commissioners heard from HNTB Engineer Jeff Watson on progress of the pass-through finance road projects under way in the county.
Watson said that both the FM 150 realignment work and work on the frontage roads near FM 150 in Kyle are set to begin later this month.
The Texas Department of Transportation received the bids for both projects. The lowest bid on the FM 150 realignment came from Capital Excavation Co. in Buda; the low bidder on the frontage roads project came from Hunter Industries in San Marcos.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe asked how far under the original estimate each bid was.
"It's roughly 20 percent under the engineer's estimate. So it's all good news," Watson said.
Updates on other projects included:
FM 1626 from FM 2270 to FM 967: "We continue to be at about 60 percent. We just got final schematic approval, so we will start to advance that design further. We have a coordination meeting today to discuss [the] schedule, and the environmental document has been submitted, and we're waiting on the next step on that," Watson said.
FM 1626 from FM 967 to Brodie Lane: "We're still coordinating on our letter of authority. Once we have that, we can advertise and [accept bids for] the project. We expect to have that this week. Our letting date is July 17, and that's when we will open bids and essentially announce the contractor on that project," he said.
He also reminded the court that the project has its own website that is updated regularly, https://improve1626.com.
Yarrington Road bridge: "Design has started. We're about 30 percent [complete]. The environmental process is complete on this one, and our schematic is also complete. We've held some coordination meetings between the City of Kyle and the City of San Marcos," Watson said.
FM 110: "We've submitted the final package to TxDOT. We anticipate letting this project in July," he said.
CR 210: "The project is complete, and we're working on invoice No. 2 for TxDOT reimbursement," he said.
Through the pass-through financing program, Hays County and TxDOT work together on construction and improvement of roadways. The county incurs the initial cost of surveying, construction and other work, and TxDOT reimburses the county over a set period of time for each project.
Hays County Judge Dr. Bert Cobb thanked the commissioners for their work on the projects.
"Thanks to all the commissioners for bird-dogging the projects in their precincts, [and] getting them in in a timely manner," Cobb said.
Other business
In other business, the court discussed the possibility of creating a workout space at the Hays County Government Center.
Commissioners emphasized that the room should not require additional security or time from sheriff's deputies, meaning the facility would be closed for use on the weekends and other times when the government center is closed.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant expressed his desire that the facility be "at no expense to the county other than the space."
"Additional security I'm not in favor of. That's the reason I feel like this RFP [request for projects] gives us a goal we can understand," he said.
Whisenant suggested that the space be for employees only, not for the public or families of employees, and that the county explore the idea of partnering with an existing fitness business.
Ingalsbe supported the county moving forward to receive proposals from business owners, and said she agreed that the facility should be at minimal cost to the county.
"We certainly are very cautious about the money being spent on the government center," Ingalsbe said. "It was never our intent to spend a lot of money. I do believe this is a great program, that we can ultimately get our employees more healthy. We'd like to try to provide that with the least cost that we can come up with."
The court voted unanimously to accept proposals for the rental and/or outfitting of the space.
