Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, June 8, 2010,
Item 8
8. Consider and take appropriate action on request from manos de cristo to use 5335 airport boulevard building for annual back-to-school program and waive all fees for the use of the facility from july 26, 2010 through august 16, 2010. The cost of this would be roughly $2,100 to the county and facilities has indicated that it would be able to absorb that cost, same as we did last year.
>> correct, judge, good morning.
>> good morning.
>> we would use the same license agreement that we used last year.
>> same license agreements. Last year we required insurance with the county as a listed covered party. That would be the same this year.
>> yes.
>> okay. We say same license, we would just have to update the --
>> yes.
>> okay. We have representatives here from the --
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> manos de cristo
>> good morning, i'm julie, i'm the executive director. Good morning, commissioners, good morning, judge.
>> good morning.
>> thank you again for allowing us to come before you and again request the use of your building. As you know, last year we were able to serve 2200 children. In the austin area. With helping school supplies, backpacks and everything they need for a successful beginning to the school year. Because of the space that we had at the airport building, the program ran pretty much as smooth as we could ask. The fact that, you know, the sheriff's office is next door made the crowd much calmer. We didn't have any problems. I don't think that any of the volunteers or anybody that was associated with the program had a negative thing to say about the program. So again, you know, we come before you and request the use of this building.
>> i guess from the county perspective we didn't have any issues last year either, did we?
>> no. Judge, commissioners, again, good morning, roger el khoury, director for the facilities management department. Last year it was a successful events and they did the cleanup and all and everything run perfect last year. So we do recommend from the facility management perspective we do recommend for the -- for the manos de cristo to use the whole chair king property for this year from august 16th -- i mean from july 16th -- i mean july 22nd, i don't remember the numbers, to august 16th.
>> and really i applaud what you are doing. I really think that it's a great outreach to the youth in this community and also the parents. I know that it was over what, 22 by 2200 children served last year.
>> yes, sir.
>> i mean that need to be echoed loudly to the public to let them know that this is a very significant event to -- to stay in touch and with the youth in this community and we need to continue to do that. So -- so even the neighborhood association leaders are -- in that area approve of what you are doing here. So it's a big plus.
>> [indiscernible]
>> right. You are doing, that's outstanding.
>> yes, sir.
>> that's outstanding.
>> thank you.
>> the sheriff is still on board and supporting you 100% as he's done in the past.
>> yes, sir.
>> okay.
>> basically you provide school supplies and clothing for children who need them.
>> yes, sir.
>> and some counseling and services for familys.
>> exactly.
>> so i guess parents of children.
>> judge, i have a couple of questions for staff that has relatively unrelated to manos de cristo but i will take a back seat to mr. Priest's questions.
>> sure.
>> commissioner eckhardt is recognized?
>> oh, okay. This is such a great program, so i want to make sure that y'all don't think these questions go to manos de cristo what an incredible program, what a huge success it was last year. My concernings with facilities that chair king won't always be with us. It does point up a need for public meeting spaces in our facilities planning as we do the airport boulevard masser mas master planning and cdb master planning, i wanted to check with mr. Roger el khoury, we have heard from the neighborhoods loud and clear, in and around the airport facility as well as those in the downtown area a need for public meeting spaces for the community to support such worthy programs. So i wanted to give you an opportunity to shine because i know that you have been thinking about this, roger.
>> thank you, commissioner. We have the -- the old chair king, it was approved by the commissioners court to be demolished this year. We put it on hold until we finish the master program, especially what happened here in the downtown area. So we put it a little bit on hold to move it forward early next year. And as far as the public meetings, you know, for -- it's available, it's available only on the front side not in the back. And there was some kind of consideration that we have to do in the facility to have the -- the community meet over there and then we will come all the time with any requests, for the commissioners court, for approval to indicate, you know, who is -- when i use
>> [indiscernible] until the time we demolish this. And again demolishing it will be probably early next year.
>> that would be great. I would make a request that moving forward as we look to build community -- as we look to build county facilities that can also accommodate community usage, particularly on weekends and in the evenings, that perhaps with ongoing requests like manos de cristo , although i'm not singling you all out, perhaps we would look for a higher degree of coordination, perhaps we could coordinate through health and human services to make it a more integrated part of our overall support system for youth and the k through 12 program. That's just a request of staff.
>> sure. Thank you.
>> any other comments from any of the other representatives?
>> judge, i have --
>> mr. Priest?
>> thank you, judge, commissioners, morris priest speaking on my own behalf. I did want to praise these people for doing the outstanding work that they are doing in the community. I understand, if i'm understanding this right, i know it was already mentioned that it helped over 2,000 children in the community. Also a thousand families that we are looking at the county waiving fees of about as many children as you help, a dollar per child basically is what we're talking about here. But as i understand it, if i'm correct, i was going to ask staff, this waiving of fees does not apply to utilities, correct? Or --
>> no, it does apply to utilities, too.
>> it's going to apply to all fees, custodial, utilities, everything?
>> right.
>> also, that was one of the requests that i was going to make to the court to -- if it was possible if there were any other outstanding fees, but also in addition to that is if there was -- if the county could contribute to this even though it is contributing by waiving the fees, if the county could contribute to this as well. But that's basically all that i have to add.
>> our contribution is the building and $2,100 to cover known fees.
>> correct. Utility fees.
>> and in exchange we will get a contract similar to the one that we used last year. With insurance being highlighted.
>> we also raised the rental fee for the facility, also.
>> okay. Commissioner davis.
>> thank you, judge. I just wanted to again applaud manos de cristo what you do for providing service. However, there are those that are listening to this today and may want to be a part of this process to receive the services that you offer to the community. My question to you is how would one go about hearing of what you do, be a part or be made a part of this process in the upcoming year, in this particular year? How could that happen?
>> so are you asking how could they bring their children to be -- sure.
>> exactly. In other words, they need assistance, they need help. How would they get to you to --
>> okay. I will explain the way the process works. We serve 200 children a day. And sometimes we have special programs like casa who obviously we don't want them to bring their children, you know, when everybody else is in the line. We make special time arrangements for them to bring those children. But the process is usually it's a first come, first serve. We serve the first 200 children in the line.
>> first come first serve.
>> first come, first serve. Let me tell you, i tell this story over and over again. Last year we had people that were lined up at 11:00 the night before to -- so, you know, i always tell everybody, you know, i was a single parent and had great need at one time and, you know, we always still do, but -- but thankfully i never had to, you know, go to that extreme to get what my children needed to enable them to be ready for school. So this is just to give you an idea of -- and every day. I get there and my staff is -- they laugh at me, but i'm the early bird, i'm there at 6:45. I try to get through the line as quickly as i can so that people aren't standing there and then say well i've been standing here and now you are turning me away. So, you know, by 7:15 or so, everybody has their number, they know they are going to be able to be served that day. Otherwise we tell them we're going to be doing the exact same thing for 10 days, come back tomorrow. But -- but yes we do make exceptions for special populations.
>> so it appears as you are saying there, there's definitely an overload on this particular service, meaning that there are people out there that need -- need another monte de cristo
>> [sic] it's something that we need to look at to make sure that we don't turn anybody away as possible. Maybe go beyond what we are doing here today with the collaboration of others, i think we can do that. That's something we can do to help those particular families and also their children. To -- to receive the kind of service that's you offer. So i think that's a challenge that we need to take and put on our plate.
>> yes, sir, yes, sir. We appreciate all of the support that we, you know, can receive from the communities and from the court. And any ideas that you have we are willing to collaborate with other agencies as well.
>> that sounds real -- thank you, thank you for that.
>> what do you get the school supplies and clothing?
>> a lot of them are donated through the austin area presbyterian churches, some come, we have a supplier that donates some school supplies and we have several other people that just do drives, capital one bank actually is one that this year is interested in doing a drive.
>> other persons and entities that assist?
>> we do have other businesses that help us as well.
>> yes.
>> we do -- we accept a lot of cash donations, we have some grants and individuals who donate. We have a wholesaler that we go through so we can purchase the clothing at a very discounted rate because it's a significant portion of the budget.
>> we invite you all. Please do come. Last year i was so happy that martha gomez -- margaret gomez was able to come by. Please try to make it. It's a wonderful program and amazing to see in person. It sounds like an amazing event because it is. When you see and experience it, it's something else entirely. If you can participate and help that child that would be great. If you can just come by even after the program if downtown have time in the morning, to just see how wonderful the space is for this program that would be wonderful as well. Thank you.
>> we also had a -- last year we did contemplate, we didn't get our act together quickly enough. But we often have a tremendous number of used binders which are usually white vinyl binders with the clear sleeves which high school and middle school students are usually required to have for school supplies. Maybe we can bring a ton of them over there and people can pick them up if they need it.
>> thank you.
>> what time is the coffee normally ready?
>>
>> 8:00 a.m.
>> we get there for you at 8:00 a.m.
>> move approval of the request including the contract with the insurance.
>> second.
>> mccracken: mr. Roger el khoury.
>> i just want to mention that the executive director did sign the license agreement which is the same license agreement like we have last year. Also we did receive the certificate of insurance.
>> so everything is in order except our action.
>> yes.
>> okay. Anything else? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. Thank you all very much.
>> thank you.
>> keep up the good work.
>> thank you.
>> thank you. Let's quickly go to 9, then we will go back and pick up the cdbg item.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 1:45 PM
