City programs receive more than $60K in funding

Twenty-one programs in the city will receive a total of $63,750 in funding from the city for contributing to the city’s Youth Master Plan.

At its meeting last week, the San Marcos City Council approved recommendations from the San Marcos Commission on Children and Youth to allocate funds for the programs from Fiscal Year 2018-2019 funds. 

“The San Marcos Commission on Children and Youth is pleased with the variety of programs that applied and feel comfortable approving funds for them, as they continue to help us build a stronger future for our youth,” the agenda stated.

The programs that will receive funding are the Boys and Girls Club of south Central Texas’ teen center; the Community Action Inc. Texas Home Visiting Program and Fatherhood Initiative; the Community Action Inc. YouthFest; the Girls Empowerment Network Girl Connect; the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce’s LEGIT Summer Internship Program; the San Marcos Housing Authority’s Kids Against Drugs, PODER Learning Center and Self-Sufficiency for Families and Youth programs; and a variety of programs from Texas State University including summer camps, College Access Program, Families Learning Together and educational and family programs at Spring Lake. 

Council member Joca Marquez noted that many of the programs are Texas State-based and asked if San Marcos CISD students are given the opportunity to enroll in those programs.

“They are typically all open to the public,” said Jessica Ramos, youth services manager with the city. “We also have a local youth resource guide that includes all these programs that’s available on the city website.”

Marquez asked Ramos if the city could do more outreach in English and Spanish.

“I would love that,” Marquez said. 

“That’s a great idea,” Ramos responded. 

Mayor Jane Hughson also suggested reaching out to private schools, and Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Prewitt recommended reaching out to churches for students who are not in the public school system.

Council also approved the purchase of more animal-resistant waste containers for the city’s parks. Prewitt asked about the frequency with which the containers are emptied.

“While I’m excited to see us adding more … the more we have, the more they have to be emptied,” she said.

Bert Stratemann, parks operations manager, said the trashcans in the river parks are emptied several times a day on the weekends and at least once a day during weekdays.

“The neighborhood parks, they’re emptied two to three times a week,” he said. “... We also place trash trailers in our busiest parks — Rio Vista and City Park. We also have bagged trash bins.”

Stratemann said there are “plenty of people out there that notify us when things are overfull.”

As for the animal-resistant containers, Stratemann said they have definitely had benefits.

“We no longer have buzzards and raccoons rifling through the trash and spreading it along the riverbanks,” he said.