Commissioners to consider funding for fentanyl awareness campaign

Hays County commissioners will consider allocating up to $20,000 to support ongoing efforts by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office to raise awareness on fentanyl.

In an item co-sponsored by Walt Smith and Mark Jones, commissioners will discuss and take possible action on Sheriff Gary Cutler’s request for additional education, outreach equipment, and materials related to the opioid crisis.

“Since July of 2021 we have [had] at least 10 deaths throughout the county to include four students in the Hays Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) due to fentanyl poisonings,” Culter wrote in his request letter. “We continue to see overdoses/poisonings occur in the county with a sharp increase in the middle and high schools. As a result, the sheriff’s office is putting an emphasis on the educational/outreach aspect of this issue.”

As outlined in the letter, the funding will be used for items such as:

• Create/purchase materials for multiple forms of PSAs.
• Purchase editing software for digital content.
• Purchase equipment to produce educational/informative digital content.
• Develop and produce a program similar to Shattered Dreams.
• Work with outside entities to develop peer to peer focus groups throughout the county.
• Work with elementary schools throughout the county to develop a drug addiction program.

Cutler concluded his request with the following statement.

“Due to the ever changing narcotic landscape, the Sheriff’s Office anticipates the synthetic opioid crisis will not only continue, it will grow,” he wrote.“The Sheriff’s Office is committed to keeping our community safe by taking narcotics off the streets, by educating our community, and arresting those that poison our community.”

At a September media briefing, Cutler, Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett, and DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tyson Hodges, announced the arrest of two suspected fentanyl distributors, 20-year-old Anthony Jean Perez Rios, who faces numerous charges, and a juvenile who was charged with Delivery of a Controlled Substance.

Grant application

Hays County Commissioners will discuss and take possible action on submitting an application for a $100,000 grant.

According to the agenda packet, Hays County is eligible to apply for another grant from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund (LATCF).

LATCF was a secondary grant program established by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to supplement existing federal programs that “augment and stabilize revenues” for revenue sharing counties and Tribal governments.

Funds may be used for any purpose other than lobbying, according to the agenda item description, and will be distributed in two disbursements, one in 2022 and another in early 2023.

Court presentations

Adurra will lead two presentations on Tuesday regarding the use of ARPA funds.

The first proposal qualifies three school districts for up to $200,000 to fund wraparound behavioral health services, including substance use treatment and behavioral therapy through the hiring of mental health professionals. Eligible schools include Wimberley ISD, Hays CISD, and Dripping Springs ISD.

The second proposal is to award Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Central Texas a $50,000 grant to recover decreased revenue.

CASA of Central Texas has a satellite location in San Marcos and coordinates recruiting, training, and supporting of volunteer advocates to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children in Hays, Caldwell, Comal, and Guadalupe counties, according to the agenda packet.

Other items

Commissioners will discuss and take possible action to award the contract RFP 2022-P11 Community Health Assessment to Initium Health and enter a Professional Services Agreement with Blair Wildlife Consulting, LLC, related to generation administration and implementation of the Hays County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan, according to the agenda packet.

Several proclamations are on the docket for this week’s meeting. Commissioners are set to adopt October as Domestic Violence Awareness month, National Manufacturing Month, and Czech Heritage Month and Oct. 16-22 as Native Plant Week. Commissioners will discuss and take possible action to adopt the Hays County FY 2023 Holiday Calendar.

The commissioners court meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Hays County Historic Courthouse located at 111 E. San Antonio St.

Those looking to participate in public comments can submit a public participation/witness form to the county clerk before 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

For those not attending the meeting but are still wishing to submit public comments to be read during commissioners court, visit the Hays County website to fill out and submit a PDF form to publiccomments@co.hays.tx.us no later than 5 p.m. the evening prior to a commissioners court meeting.

To view the full meeting agenda or watch the commissioner court livestream, visit https://hayscountytx.com/commissioners-court/court-video.