Copperas Cove city council approves reimbursements to Noon Exchange Club, chamber of commerce

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

During Tuesday evening’s Copperas Cove city council meeting, the council voted to approve reimbursements to two local organizations. 

The Noon Exchange Club presented its report for the annual Feast of Sharing held Nov. 17, 2022, and the council approved payment of $4,420. The event, held at the civic center, typically serves a catered Thanksgiving meal to anywhere from 450-650 individuals.

Nancy Nelson, interim president of the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce, presented the quarterly report for the Copperas Cove chamber’s tourism activities for January through March of 2022. Her organization requested $18,589.67 in pre-earmarked expenses that were approved by the council back during the 2021-2022 budget season. 

The expenses include $1,232 of “tourism promotion expenses for advertising” and a total of $17,850.25 toward the chamber’s “staff, operations and maintenance expenses” for that quarter, according to the report.

The chamber is in the process of playing catchup on its reporting for the past 2021-2022 fiscal year, and this is the second such report. 

The council approved a payment in October 2022 of $15,378.64 for October-December 2021 tourism expenses, the first quarter of the 2021-2022 fiscal year. At that point, the chamber had been absent in its tourism expense reporting for one full year. 

After Tuesday’s disbursement, there is $53,152.69 still waiting from the 2021-2022 fiscal year HOT funds for which the chamber can submit reports to the council for additional reimbursement.

The council also approved an agreement with the Hill Country Community Action Association, to take over operations of the Copperas Cove Senior Center. The HCCAA also operates senior centers in the cities of Killeen, Belton, Mason, Llano, Lampasas, San Saba, and Goldthwaite.

The council also approved an appointments two vacancies on the Quality of Life Advisory Board, appointing Angela May to the voting vacancy and Krystal Burnes to the non-voting vacancy.

It also appointed six individuals to the city’s Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee. This committee will hold several meetings, during which it will discuss proposed changes to the city charter, which would be brought back to the city council for their approval, prior to any of the proposals being placed on the November 2023 ballot.
Changes to the city’s current capital improvement were approved by the council, namely foundation repair and sewer pipe replacement at city’s municipal court building, totaling a little more than $45,000. These changes were also added to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2023-2027.

The Animal Shelter construction project is moving forward again, with the council approving a contract with Paragon Construction, to be the construction manager at risk (CMAR) for the project. The project should be ready to go out for bid in approximately one month.

Discussion of unexpended American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CLFRF) was on the agenda, but City Manager Ryan Haverlah requested the item be pulled. 

The city has $691,034 in unexpended funds at this point that have not been allocated by the city council. Several of the possible projects proposed for consideration are a $475,000 request to expand Cove House Emergency Homeless Shelter, $175,000 for phase 2 expansion of the Boys & Girls Club in Copperas Cove, and a small-business grant project to help small businesses facing closure and loss of revenue, as well as some public safety projects, all of which together total more than the unexpended funds.