HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_SPCS_07.06.2017Minutes of the Meeting of the
Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Advisory Board
City of Georgetown, Texas
May 18, 2017
The Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Advisory Board of the City of Georgetown, Texas,
met on Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 4:30 p.m.
Members Present: Suzy Pukys, Michael Douglas, Jaquita Wilson, Alexia Griffin, and George Porter
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Shirley J. Rinn, Executive Assistant to the City Manager
Guest Present:
MINUTES
Legislative Regular Agenda
A Call to Order --Suzy Pukys, SPCS Advisory Board Chair
B Roll Call --Suzy Pukys, SPCS Advisory Board Chair
Consideration and possible action to approve the Minutes from the March 2, 2017 SPCS Advisory Board
Meeting—Suzy Pukys, Advisory Board Chair
Pukys and Rinn let the Board know that she caught a couple of revisions to the minutes as follows on
Page 2 of the Minutes:
Georgetown Healthcare* Foundation, Chisholm Trail Community Foundation and Greater Round
Rock Community Foundation)*as Amended
There was discussion about the comprehensiveness of the Minutes from March 2, 2017 and Rinn told
the Board that there was just a lot of discussion that she felt was important to get in the written
minutes about the history of the Strategic Partnerships for Community Services Grant Program.
Pukys mentioned that one of the non -profits who had received funding in the past, Georgetown
Citizens Cultural Memorial Association decided not to apply for a grant this cycle because of the rigor of
the new process. Pukys mentioned possibly helping to get them some guidance writing their grants in
the future if they wanted to apply. There was discussion whether they were a fit for this particular
grant program and Rinn explained that in the past the grant was utilized for tutoring. Rinn also
mentioned they may also get funding from the Arts & Culture Advisory Board and that if they had a
program that fit our criteria, then they would be eligible to apply.
Motion by Griffin, second by Wilson to approve the Minutes as amended from the March 2, 2017 SPCS
Advisory Board Meeting. (Approved 5-0)
SPCS Advisory Board Minutes
May 18, 2017
Page 1 of 3
D Discussion and possible action regarding any revisions and/or updates to the City of Georgetown
Evaluation Tool for use during the FY 2017-18 Strategic Partnerships for Community Grant Application
Cycle. --Suzy Pukys, Board Chair
Pukys and Rinn provided an overview of the evaluation process for the new Board Members and
answered questions from the board members related to the how the formula for the weighted score
was developed and how it works on the Evaluation Tool. It was clarified that the only thing the board
members need to do is score the sections and that the weighted score will be automatically calculated.
The ranking scores were also broken down; 5 meaning an agency is doing very well and a score of 1
means they aren't.
The Board discussed making some revisions to the Evaluation Tool for the FY 2017-18 grant cycle.
Sections 3 & 4 were combined and replaced with the following language:
Does this proposal meet a critical need in the City of Georgetown (i.e. do other resources
that already meet this need?) Is there a critical mass of community members needing
these services to justify the funding?
There was discussion whether or not to also combine Sections 4 & 5. After a discussion about the
relevance of measurable outcomes and what those looked like, the Board determined that they felt that
have both of these sections were relevant to the evaluation of the grants. The revised Evaluation Tool is
attached as Exhibit A to these Minutes.
There was additional discussion regarding the smaller agencies not having a formal audit and that it was
okay for them to provide an informal report instead.
There was also a brief discussion about Veteran Services category. After going through several grant
cycles with that criteria Rinn noted that a lot of the Veteran Service Organizations are not necessarily
501(c)(3) organizations. They are non -profits; 501(**)(**) but not 501(c)(3). The Board will bring this
topic back at future to discuss whether to change the criteria so that more veteran organizations would
be eligible.
The Board also discussed whether they could/should visit the organizations to observe their operations.
Rinn told them that she would be happy to get the contact information for the agencies to any board
members who wanted to take a tour of their facilities. She did let them know if any tour was done with
the whole Board attending, it would need to be posted. It was also clarified that the only thing that the
Board is reviewing and scoring is the actual grant application. However, they also determined that the
knowledge the individual board members was also important to the overall discussion and evaluation of
the grant applications, and that it was important that when the final recommendations went to the City
Council that they understood the recommendations were unanimous from the Board and that the board
members fully vetted, debated and discussed each grant applications as they were making those final
recommendations.
SPCS Advisory Board Minutes
May 18, 2017
Page 2 of 3
Rinn told the Board that they would be able to discuss the Annual Reports and the format/standardization
for those reports at a future meeting. It was mentioned that the Board would for the FY 2017-18 grant cycle
would not be able to determine whether the agencies who had restricted FY 2016-17 funding (Lone Star
Circle of Care and Habitat for Humanity) met the criteria of those grants because those Annual Reports
aren't due until later in the year. The Board mentioned that quite a few of the Annual Reports for FY 2015-
16 were turned in late. She also told them that the Annual Reports for FY 2016-17 are due on October 31,
2017 and that she would send a reminder letter out to them prior to the due date to remind them to turn
them in and that if the agencies don't get them turned in on time they would risk losing their funding in
future years.
There was additional discussion regarding the number of agencies that applied last year compared to this
year, as well as additional discussion about the types of agencies that can apply for the funding, It was
reiterated that the Board can discuss whether they want to change the criteria for the types of agencies
that can apply at future meeting.
The Board did a quick review of the applications that were received for the FY 2017-18 grant cycle for
completeness. It was noted that Opportunities for Williamson and Burnet Counties, Inc. (OWBC)'s
application was missing its 501(c)(3) determination letter. There was a discussion about criteria for
disqualification and Pukys reminded the Board that an agency was disqualified last year for not having its
IRS Determination letter and that consistency in the way the Board reviews and makes its
recommendations to the City Council was critical.
Rinn told the Board that it would need to wait until the next meeting to officially determine which
applications were disqualified because this meeting was not posted to take that action at this meeting.
E Consideration and possible action to set any future dates and times for Strategic Partnerships for
Community Services Advisory Board Meetings --Suzy Pukys Board Chair
The next meeting will be on Thursday, July 6, 2017 at 9:00 a.m.
F Adjourn
Motion by Griffin, second by Douglas to Adjourn.
Meeti . was adjourned at 5:19 p.m.
Attest:
George Porter, Board Secretary
SPCS Advisory Board Minutes
May 18, 2017
Page 3 of 3
Suzy Pukys, Bo d Chair