Commissioners consider COVID-19 grants

Gonzales County commissioners continue to consider grants that can help people with expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a recent meeting, County Judge Pat Davis and commissioners discussed different options currently available. Davis said there are several grants available right now that they can apply for, one in particular being through the Texas Department of Emergency Management as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“What I wanted to do was at least apply for it, so we have our foot in the door,” he said. “I’m not saying that we’re actually going to submit any payments to be reimbursed for at this time, but it is an option. But I don’t want to miss a deadline where we have money we could get from them that we could get somewhere else. I wanted us to be able to cover all our bases.”

Davis added that as of this point, the county has invested around $10,000 in COVID-19 assistance. He also reiterated the county recently submitted an application for Golden Crescent Regional Planning for Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) for fiscal year 2020 through the state’s Golden Crescent Council of Governments (COG).

Davis said the state has provided COG with $346,000 to share with local counties within the local Golden Crescent Region. Gonzales County shares the central region with 18 other counties including Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Grimes, Guadalupe, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca, Lee, Madison, Milam, Victoria and Washington.

“The grant is designed to assist with any counties (in the Golden Crescent Region) that have had expenses (related to) Covid,” Davis said.

Davis explained that portions of these monies, if approved, will go toward reimbursement of Gonzales County for any Covid-19 related expenses that have that have incurred since the disease’s recent arrival in the area.