City works to organize more COVID-19 testing

The City of San Marcos is working to prepare for another wave of COVID-19 cases in November.

Preparation plans were discussed at a special called San Marcos City Council meeting on Thursday. The city is looking to partner with local clinics to set up more regular testing, potentially once a week on a recurring date. 

Rachel Ingle, the city’s emergency management coordinator, is working on finding locations for hospital patients in the event that hospital capacity is overwhelmed. She said currently the local hospitals have all the supplies they need 6-24 hours after requesting and they have been following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for stocking up on personal protective equipment in preparation for a second wave. 

Other COVID-19 related updates announced efforts to bring Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) back to Hays County for more testing from July 12-15. The Bonham Pre-Kindergarten School testing site tested 701 residents on Sunday, June 14 and was the number one attended test site in the state of Texas. Simon Middle School in Kyle tested more than 200 on June 17, and Uhland hosted a site on June 18 that tested 427 people and Bowie Elementary School hosted one on June 20. 

Hays County has so far provided 180 free tests for the underinsured and uninsured at the Live Oak Health Partners Community Clinic. This testing is free but requires an appointment and COVID-19 symptoms. 

In other business, the council approved a grant from the United States Department of Justice for $51,345 to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for the City’s Police, Fire, and EMS Departments. 

The council also gave the green light to partnering with the San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) to submit an application to Lyda Philanthropies for the Lone Star Prize Competition. The project proposal would fund the construction of 4.8 miles of trails and amenities and 5 years of city operating budget for the trails. 

Council approved the ordinance reducing the city’s contribution rate of the tax increment to the Downtown TIRZ from 70% to 25% for one year.

The council approved a resolution nudging the county to create and implement a cite and divert program. They also approved a resolution urging the United States Congress to adopt Criminal Justice Reform Legislation requiring local law enforcement agencies to report and investigate all deaths of citizens while in police custody to the United States Department of Justice

Council also voted to approve a joint letter calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to take action to alleviate the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latinx Texans and people of color.

The letter calls for the governor to expand medicaid; for the attorney general to drop the lawsuit that is blocking paid sick leave policies in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio; for the governor to “use the Economic Stabilization Fund (a.k.a. Rainy Day Fund) to provide immediate and continued financial relief to working class families, regardless of immigration status; for the governor to nullify (Senate Bill 4), which allows police to ask a detainee or arrestee about their immigration status, including drivers and passengers who have been pulled over; and lastly for the governor to support Texas municipalities’ efforts to manage the (COVID-19) crisis."

The discussion of Capes Dam will be up at an upcoming worksession, where staff will return with more reports. Council expressed dedication to examining all available scientific information, but also indicated fatigue from debate and a need to resolve the public safety issue as soon as possible.

They also will extend the waiving of utility late fees but discuss in detail at the July 7 meeting when the city might return to normal payment operations. The city has been working out payment plans and waiving late fees since early on in the pandemic.