Commissioners Court continues salary and road work discussions
The Hays County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. today at the Hays County Courthouse with an agenda that includes more salary discussions, construction projects and COVID-19-related fund issues.
According to the published agenda, the court is once again set to discuss the Management Advisory Group salary study results and advise on how to implement its recommendations to improve retention/ recruitment among county employees. MAG recommended amending the process by which a department head makes requests for positions and salary increases directly to the court, implementation of an updated financial management system that has a module for human resources information, simplification of the process for annual increases by using a baseline adjustment for all employees, implementation of a lump sum longevity incentive based on hire dates instead of annual performance reviews and technological upgrades to assist communication across departments.
The court will discuss the advancement of $701,000 that will later be refunded with $2,284,625 from district safety and construction funding identified by the Texas Department of Transportation Austin District for improvements at the intersections of RM12 at Skyline and Mountain Crest which are said to be unsafe to drivers. According to the agenda, Hays County officials plan to design improvements including environmental clearance, engineering, utility relocation and right-of-way acquisition.
Also on tap for the court to discuss the execution of the design phase of the previously approved RM 2325 sidewalk project by Burgess & Niple, Inc. for $454,914. The cost of the project is capped at $545,000. The court has before it a change order to the construction contract with Jordan Foster Construction, LLC. for the Dacy Lane project in Kyle. Requested is an additional $764,627 to add sidewalk and pedestrian lighting.This will make the adjusted total cost of the contract $20,255,997.
The court is next set to discuss the authorization of $50,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding for the Tommy Dodd Memorial Buyers Group. The group’s form-990 shows a decrease of $83,325 in gross revenue due to a decrease in pandemic- related contributions. The court is set to discuss authorization of the use of $85,000 in ARPA funding so that the county’s Office of Emergency Services may purchase a FirstNet Compact Rapid Deployable which are independent cellular towers that provide internet and cellular connectivity for use during outages or when service is unreliable or unavailable.
The court is set to consider authorization for grant acceptance of $429,194, with no match required, from the Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure Grant to go to the Department of Health Services. This grant supports hiring, training and retaining a registered nurse to provide vaccines for the Hays County Local Health Department and for equipment and supplies needed for that position.
The court will consider the expense of $600 for consumables for 30 Hays County employees to take a Mental Health First Aid course. The course will help personnel to identify mental health and substance use challenges among adults.
