CITY & COUNTY
News from Buda, Kyle, San Marcos & Hays County
San Marcos City Council Meets June 21 and July 5 at 6 p.m. 630 E. Hopkins St., San Marcos. 512-393-8000 www.sanmarcostx.gov Kyle City Council Meets June 21 and July 5 at 7 p.m. 100 W. Center St., Kyle 512-262-1010 • www.cityofkyle.com Buda City Council Meets June 21 at 5:30 p.m. at 405 E. Loop St., Buda 512-312-0084 • www.ci.buda.tx.us Hays County Commissioners Court Meets June 21 and July 5 at 9 a.m. 111 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos 512-393-2205 • www.co.hays.tx.us MEETINGS WE COVER KYLE City Council approved a Chapter 380 performance agreement June 7 with Alliance Industrial Co., an industrial development and investment company, for a project that could be more than 1 million square feet. The project is called Kyle/35 Logistics Park, which will have five logistics facilities ranging from 140,000-475,000 square feet, and site work for it is already underway. CITY HIGHLIGHTS BUDA The city announced May 18 that City Council selected Frost Bank for the general obligation bond issuance of $42.3 million with a true interest rate of 3.65%. The funds will allow the Buda Bond Oversight Committee and WSB to begin organizing projects from the November bond election that focus on transportation, mobility, and parks and recreation projects. SAN MARCOS Leadership for the city held a ribbon cutting May 18 to celebrate the reopening of Rio Vista Falls, a recreation spot along the river. The portion of the river was closed since October and was slated to reopen in March but was delayed as a result of vandalism. “IT WOULD NOT SURPRISE ME IF WE HIT 750 THIS SUMMER.” LON SHELL, HAYS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, ON THE RISING JAIL POPULATION IN HAYS COUNTY QUOTE OF NOTE NUMBER TO KNOW is the current homestead exemption in Kyle for residents 65 and older. More could be added through upcoming budget workshop meetings. $30,000
Firm selected for county public defender’s office
BY ZARA FLORES
WHAT IS NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER SERVICE INC?
HAYS COUNTY Nine months after the Hays County Com- missioners Court voted to allocate $5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to establish a public defender’s office and after nearly an hour of discussion May 24, the dais selected Neighborhood Defender Service Inc. as the firm to create the office that will provide representation to those who cannot afford to retain legal counsel. The push to create a public defender’s office has been an uphill battle for years, especially as court backlogs and jail overcrowding that is costing the county thousands of dollars per day continue to strain the existing criminal justice system, as previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper . Judge Ruben Becerra said that he does not think the office will solve all of the county’s problems, but the burden is on the commissioners to do everything they can to address the issues as best as possible. “Those folks pushing for this have been raked over the
The San Antonio office opened in January to provide public defense representation and other related services through teams of civil attorneys, social workers, investigators and more.
The firm selected to head the new public defender’s office in Hays County has offices in • Harlem, New York • Detroit, Michigan • San Antonio, Texas
Its holistic approach aims to address the underlying issues that land a client in the criminal legal system.
SOURCE: NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER SERVICE INC./COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
coals to bring something that is so universal and fundamen- tal to our American way of life: freedom and justice for all,” Becerra said. “We pray about it, we pledge allegiance to it and now we can walk away saying, ‘We did our part.’” Contract negotiations will be brought at a later date.
Council approves services agreement to run bond campaign
La Cima adds more than 1,000 acres
CONTINUING TO GROW Since breaking ground in 2017 on an initial 128 homesites, La Cima has grown to more than 5,180 units.
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
Current
With expansion 2,553 acres 3,848.2 acres
SAN MARCOS City Council unanimously approved the latest proposed addition to the La Cima development May 17—an additional 1,295.2-acre parcel of land that would nearly double La Cima to a total of 3,848.2 acres. Of that new addition, 637 acres are proposed as a conservation or open space area along with 200 acres for a private park, 321 acres of single-fam- ily housing to be no denser than three units per acre and 137 acres for multifamily units, according to public hearing documents. The addition of the park increases the open acreage in the
Acreage
BY ZARA FLORES
KYLE At a meeting May 17, Kyle City Council approved a services agreement with Gap Strategies for $65,000 to help with the campaign for the potential road bond that could be upward of $100 million on the November ballot. “The firm specializes in innovative political consulting and in-depth public involvement with a particular focus on complex issues,” according to the presentation by the firm. The firm will coordinate voter outreach and other tasks to help educate the public.
Open space
2,800 units 4,200 units 792 acres 2,019 acres
0
Single-family units
Multifamily units
720 units 980 units
SOURCE: CITY OF SAN MARCOS/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
development from 792 acres to 2,019, according to city documents. Multifamily units will increase, and single-family housing units will nearly double.
Council moves forward on film studio agreement
CHAPTER 380 Below outlines the total in grants to Hill Country LLC if all requirements are met and projected tax collections. AFTER A 10-YEAR PERIOD:
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
Council Member Maxfield Baker provided the dissenting vote. The project is located over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Assistant City Manager Joe Pantalion said the design provides for 48% impervious cover—lower than the typical 80% rate for commercial
development.
SAN MARCOS City Council voted 6-1 on June 7 to proceed with a Chapter 380 agreement with Hill Country LLC to provide financial incentives to build an 820,000-square-foot film and video production facility at RR 12 and West Center Point Road.
“I don’t think any of my colleagues want to see the environment harmed in any way, shape or form. I think we’re probably not going to get any kind of a better outcome than this as far as 48% of impervious cover,” Council Member Mark Gleason said.
$11.4M in property taxes for the city $4.6M in grants to Hill Country LLC $31.3M in property taxes to San Marcos CISD
SOURCE: CITY OF SAN MARCOS/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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SAN MARCOS - BUDA - KYLE EDITION • JUNE 2022
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