Most of the people involved are still living. 

In order to receive a grant from the Texas Historical Commission (THC), 

To participate in the THCPP and be eligible to receive grant funding, a project must meet the following criteria:

• A building that serves or has served as a county courthouse
• A building that is over 50 years old or is certified as worthy of preservation
• A building that has a current master plan approved by the THC. View approved master plans (PDF).

The master plan is where Andrew Kim comes in.  To be honest, not every renovation will require that the people putting the master plan together stay on during the renovation.  But it my case, Andrew's such a great character that I wanted to keep him on to give continuity throughout the series  I also loved the idea of having an outside expert fall in love with the town and its people.  So Andrew decided to just get a local job and become a local boy. 

The grant cycle runs for two years in most situations.  One notable exemption would be when a courthouse needs emergency repairs, due to natural disasters or vandalism. Sitting in the midst of the Texas Hill Country, Verde County has its share of obstacles that influcence their renovation timeline.  Some of those are man-made, some of them are based in nature, and some of them are just sheer dumb luck. 

Get the series here.