Victoria County approves amended grant for 60-bed mental health facility
Published 3:30 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Victoria County officials approved a major amendment Tuesday tied to the construction of the county’s new mental and behavioral health facility, a move county leaders said will help expand the project to its full 60-bed capacity without using local tax dollars.
During the meeting Tuesday morning, the Victoria County Commissioners Court approved Amendment No. 1 to the county’s Health and Human Services Commission grant agreement connected to the mental health facility project.
Interim Victoria County Engineer Avery Flessner said the amendment will help close the remaining funding gap between the project’s original bid and the expanded scope of the facility.
“This is a wonderful amendment to our original agreement for construction of our mental and behavioral health facility,” Flessner told commissioners. “This is going to allow us to bridge the gap between our base bid that we had received with SpawGlass and the change order number one to add 20 additional beds of capacity for a final capacity for the entire facility of 60 beds.”
Flessner said the amendment includes several major provisions, including updating all references in the original agreement from “up to 60 beds” to a guaranteed 60-bed facility.
He also said the county will receive a $16 million advance payment upon execution of the amendment, moving funding previously tied to a 50% construction completion milestone to the front end of the project.
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“That is a significant amount of interest money to bridge that gap,” Flessner said.
In addition, the state added another $1.5 million directly to the contract, which county officials said, combined with interest earned from the advance payment, should fully close the project’s remaining funding gap.
Judge Pro Tem Kenneth Sexton said the county had originally been allocated $40 million from the state to construct the facility, but construction estimates for the 60-bed project came in closer to $42 million.
“We asked Senator Kolkhorst if they’d be willing to let a little bit of money go, and the state agreed to let us have $1.5 million and to pay us our $16 million other balance up front so we can draw interest on it,” Sexton said. “So we’re going to be able to have a 60-bed facility.”
Commissioners also approved receiving several construction-related documents from SpawGlass, including performance bonds, payment bonds and builder’s risk insurance tied to the project.
Flessner said the bonds are required for public works projects exceeding $100,000 and help protect the county throughout construction.
The Victoria County Mental & Behavioral Health Facility is one of the county’s largest ongoing capital projects and is intended to expand regional access to mental health treatment and services.
Jakob Gurley is a multimedia journalist with the Victoria Advocate. He can be reached at jakob.gurley@vicad.com.