Government
BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN & ERIC WEILBACHER
SMFD receives best practices designation For the rst time, the San Marcos Fire Depart- ment has received the stamp of excellence from a statewide accreditation association. The gist According to the city of San Marcos, re depart- ments must demonstrate evidence that they excel in all aspects of re service operations. After three years of gathering data on train- ing, records keeping practices, re operations, emergency medical service and other aspects of running a re department, the Texas Fire Chiefs Association awarded the department with its Best Practices designation. “While most communities believe their local re department is an excellent re department, elected o cials, city managers, re chiefs and citizens can verify this belief by their re depart- ment attaining the best practices designation,”
New hearing to be set for city-visioning plan San Marcos o cials will take some more time for public outreach before a nal vote on updates to the city’s comprehensive plan. That’s according to a unanimous vote by City Council Dec. 19 to postpone consider- ation of the plan, titled Vision SMTX++. Looking ahead The plan was postponed so council could form an outreach committee, with plans to bring it back before council on Jan. 16. That committee met in December and decided to plan more outreach, according to city documents. A new public hearing and nal reading of any changes or amendments to the plan will come at a later date.
Fire Chief Les Stephens (center) and San Marcos Fire Department sta received the award on Dec. 5.
ERIC WEILBACHER COMMUNITY IMPACT
said Seguin Fire Chief Dale Skinner, who is also the south region director for the TFCA. “This is accomplished through an independent third- party review to determine if an organization functions at a de ned level of excellence.” Just 33 re departments in the state have been recognized with the accreditation since 2012, according to San Marcos city sta . San Marcos Fire Chief Les Stephens said the department will now have to demonstrate compliance every few years.
$7.6M Kyle re station to cut down response times The Kyle Fire Department held a groundbreak- ing ceremony for its fourth re station, located at 110 High Road Nov. 27. The background
Expanding to the Northeast
Cost: $7.6M
quickly,” Taylor said. Andy Womble, the department’s community outreach specialist, said the new station will serve the northeast area of Kyle, which is one of the city’s busiest areas. “Right now it takes us about 10-12 minutes to get to a call out there and with this station we’re hoping to drop it down to 2-3 minutes,” Womble said.
Space: 9,385 sq. ft. Timeline: January 2023-Fall 2024
Fire Chief Kyle Taylor said the department had been planning to add an additional station due to the city’s growth. “The demand and our call volume is going up
Funding source: American Rescue Plan Act, city of Kyle
KYLE FIRE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT
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SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION
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