CITY & COUNTY
News from Comal County & New Braunfels
COMPILED BY SIERRA MARTIN
New Braunfels City Council will meet May 22 and June 12 at 6 p.m. at 550 Landa St., New Braunfels. 830-221-4000. www.newbraunfels.gov Comal County Commissioners Court will meet May 18 and 25 and June 1 and 8 at 8:30 a.m. at 100 Main Plaza, New Braunfels 830-221-1100. www.co.comal.tx.us MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS COMAL COUNTY A passport acceptance program will soon be available at the Comal County Tax Oce in New Braunfels after commissioners voted to approve the program during an April 20 meeting. The oce will be open by appointment only and oer photo services on-site and charge an execution fee of $35 per application and $15 per photo. NEW BRAUNFELS Pool owners who were previously prevented from doing so can ll up their swimming pools while Stage 3 drought conditions continue as of April 24. Previously the city’s drought management plan prohibited the construction, installation and lling of new swimming pools.
Regulations including license plates, headlights for golf carts, similar recreational vehicles enacted
Public speaking time remains unchanged for City Council NEW BRAUNFELS An amendment to an ordinance that would reduce public speaking time allotted per resident at council meetings from ve
NEW RULES TO INCREASE SAFETY
Braunfels residents, live in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction or are nonresidents. After hearing concerns about stating addresses during public meetings—with some residents citing harassment that resulted in stating their address—council determined it would be bene cial to remove the requirement. Council considered limiting the public speaking time from ve
minutes to three. The cumulative time for a group or organization to speak would have remained at 30 minutes for any one group or organization to speak on a speci c issue. Mayor Rusty Brockman cited increasing meeting eciency and being able to increase the number of public speakers as reasons. Ultimately the item was approved 6-1, with Mayor Brockman dissenting.
On April 10, New Braunfels City Council approved amendments to the city ordinance regarding driving golf carts and similar vehicles on designated city streets. Failure to follow these regulations can result in a citation. Recreational o-highway vehicles and utility task vehicles have been added to the list of allowed vehicles on certain city streets. Passengers on golf carts, neighborhood electric vehicles, ROVs and UTVs must be over the age of 4. Allowed vehicles can only drive 5 miles from the location where the vehicle is usually parked. An operational horn is required for all allowed vehicles. A valid state license is required of the driver of all allowed vehicles. Cost of Citation First o ense: $100 minimum ne $500 maximum ne Second o ense: $500 minimum ne
NEW BRAUNFELS Riding golf carts and similar recreational vehicles within city limits may be safer with additional nes, rules and regulations added to a city ordinance. New Braunfels City Council voted to approve the nal reading of an item during an April 10 meeting to make amendments to an ordinance allow- ing recreational o-highway vehicles, or ROVs, and utility task vehicles, or UTVs, on designated public streets. “In 2019, the Texas Legislature allowed other types of vehicles to be on public streets, but it’s at the discretion of the local government as to what they would allow,” said Greg Malatek, public works director for the city of New Braunfels. “So there were requests from residents to bring on some vehicles, so discus- sions with council and the trans- portation and trac advisory board [took place].”
All-terrain vehicles—or ATVs— and sand rails will be prohibited on public streets except when crossing certain streets outlined in the ordinance, as authorized by the Texas Transporta- tion Code. In the current ordinance, opera- tional headlamps, tail lamps, side reectors, parking brake and rearview mirrors are already required to drive within designated public streets. Nighttime driving will remain prohib- ited. Additional equipment include an operational horn and Texas license plate and registration. Malatek said the city will discuss oering a grace period for drivers of o-highway recreational vehicles to become aware of the changes to the city ordinance. “We can have that conversation with the police department and talk to Chief Lane as far as giving any kind of a grace period or warnings if they
stopped somebody to kind of let them know,” Malatek said. The current ordinance only allows recreational vehicles to travel 2 miles from where it is normally parked, but the amended ordinance would allow the o-highway vehicle to travel up to 5 miles from its origin. The ROVs or UTVs have to be driven by someone with a valid driver’s license and not on sidewalks or hiking trails. Higher penalties would also be put into place, increasing the minimum ne to $500 for a second oense instead of waiting for a third oense to be ned. If the violation is made of having a passenger under 4 years old on the recreational vehicle, the minimum ne would be $250 instead of $100. A communication plan will be carried out to inform residents of the new changes. According to Malatek, there were around nine violations that resulted in tickets in the past year.
to three minutes was voted down. What did change at the April 10 meeting was an amendment to the ordinance that will eliminate the need for citizens to provide their addresses when speaking publicly and instead only state if they are New
New Braunfels Utilities CEO Ian Taylor to retire, leave position in June
NEW BRAUNFELS CEO Ian Taylor announced he will retire from public service at the end of June, after 17 years with New Braunfels Utilities. Taylor has worked in public utilities for 22 years and was appointed CEO of NBU in 2016. According to NBU, Taylor will con- tinue in an advisory role and work with the board of trustees to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
“Years ago, I chose public service because I wanted my time away from family and friends to be spent in ser- vice to others,” Taylor said. “I never imagined I would get to serve with a team of professionals that would give of themselves in such extraordinary ways during extraordinary times to ensure the delivery of essential services to an entire community. This NBU team seems to have no end to
their capacity to give. No matter the situation— record growth,
Ian Taylor COVID-19, Winter Storm Uri or any other calamity— they perform out of a sense of duty and get the job done. I love them all and will miss them dearly.”
SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS COMMUNITY IMPACT
CREEKSIDE TOWN CENTER 263 Creekside Crossing (830) 608-1969
NEW BRAUNFELS 1671 IH-35 S (830) 629-0434
LIVE OAK 14623 IH-35 N (210) 651-1911
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