Laserfiche WebLink
City Council Meeting Minutes October 20, 2020 <br />have relief in utility payments and use their limited cash to pay for rent and <br />food. <br />Council Member Derrick suggested that staff send flyers at Apartment <br />Complexes in order maximize outreach of this program. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Mihalkanin agrees with we need more outreach and he extend <br />the outreach to churches and various social welfare organizations within the <br />community. <br />Mayor Hughson asked if there is a maximum number of times citizens can <br />utilize Community Action funding. Ernest Cavazos, Utility Customer Service <br />& Information System Manager, stated citizens can utilize funds as often as <br />needed as long as they qualify. Mr. Cavazos stated there are other funding <br />options as well through the City. Mr. Cavazos will provide the numbers for the <br />Community Action funding. <br />Council Member Baker noted his experience with cutoffs including issues at <br />times with the online portal not accepting payment. <br />Council Member Gonzales asked if customers are being informed of the utility <br />billing assistance. Mr. Cavazos stated customers are being informed of the <br />city's assistance and other programs that can help, but they still require an <br />application to go through the process. There is a waiting period to get the <br />application processed. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Mihalkanin stated the City government places money into the <br />assistance program.He would like to see a quicker turnaround time of these <br />monies andprocessing should not be held up. Mr. Cavazos stated the criteria <br />was much stricter until the guidelines were revised in March, so they are <br />working on ways to release these funds more quickly. Dr. Mihalkanin wants to <br />ensure assistance is received quicker if the city staff recognizes the need of the <br />customer was directly caused by COVID.. Mr. Lumbreras Stated that staff <br />would work on this. He also noted that winter is not a good time for <br />disconnects. <br />Hughson noted that January 2 is likely to be problematic for those with <br />children whose bills for Christmas gifts will arrive in January. She would like <br />to see a later deadline. Even once the pandemic is over, some people will have <br />been out of work for a while and will need help to recover. <br />City of San Marcos page 22 <br />