CITY& COUNTY
News from San Marcos, Buda, Kyle & Hays County
COMPILED BY ZARA FLORES
QUOTEOFNOTE “I FORONE AMREALLY EXCITED. THIS IS OUR FIRST OFFICIAL MIXED USE PROJECT, AND THIS IS GOING TO BE AGAME CHANGER FOR THE CITY.” ASHLEE BRADSHAW, KYLE CITY CITY HIGHLIGHTS BUDA&SANMARCOS Both cities’ libraries were awarded grants Feb. 15 from the St. David’s Foundation under the Libraries for Health pilot program to address mental health needs of the communities. The program will provide funding and other assets to improve access to mental health resources and support to citizens in need. San Marcos will receive $40,000 annually for a total of $120,000; Buda will receive six payments of $12,500 over three years for a total of $75,000. SANMARCOS City Council unanimously approved a 2% base COUNCIL MEMBER, ON NEW MIXED USE DEVELOPMENTS salary increase for re ghters beginning Oct. 1. The agreement between the city and the San Marcos Professional Fire ghters Association- Local 3963 is good for one scal year, or through September 2023. “I really appreciate the re ghters association stepping up and working with sta to accept this 2%,” Council Member Max eld Baker said. BUDA The city has begun the implementation of the November bonds. The Buda Bond Oversight Committee, appointed by City Council, held its rst meeting Feb. 28 to start tackling the $89.66 million bond package approved by voters late last year. The committee is composed of 16 Buda citizens as well as ve alternates. San Marcos City Council Meets March 23, April 5 at 6 p.m. 630 E. Hopkins St., San Marcos 512-393-8000 www.sanmarcostx.gov Kyle City Council Meets March 22, April 5 at 7 p.m. 100 W. Center St., Kyle 512-262-1010 • www.cityo yle.com Buda City Council Meets March 15, April 5 at 5:30 p.m. 405 E. Loop St., Buda 512-312-0084 • www.ci.buda.tx.us Hays County Commissioners Court Meets March 22, 29 at 9 a.m. 111 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos 512-393-2205 • www.co.hays.tx.us MEETINGSWE COVER
County creates sexual assault response team HAYS COUNTY O cials announced Feb. 26 the creation of a sexual assault response team, or SART, that will bring together law enforcement, the criminal prosecutor’s o ce, a sexual assault nurse examiner and a mental health provider. The e ort, led by Commis- sioner Walt Smith, is part of a larger issue tackled by the 87th Texas Legislature with the passing of Senate Bill 476, which requires counties to establish SARTs. The SART is tasked with adjusting protocols to include those who choose not to make a police report and how to help them, distributing protocols to local law enforcement, and collecting and maintaining data on sexual assaults reported to local law enforcement. “Our response team will work to make sure that o enders are held accountable while also helping heal survivors. The indi- viduals appointed will be tasked with creating a protocol that establishes local and regional processes for investigating and prosecuting sexual assaults, identifying and obtaining med- ical and forensic care, mental health care and advocacy resources for survivors,” Smith said in the release.
Construction of The Vybe trails
COMING TOKYLE With approval from City Council, Central Southwest Texas will be building on almost 30 acres of land, bringing a variety of o erings to the city’s residents. A Will include: Multifamily residential and multifamily residential with commercial or retail on the ground oor, amenity center B Will include: Commercial or retail buildings, a large courtyard C Will include: Some residential-only buildings, mixed-use residential buildings with commercial or retail on the ground oor, park There will also be construction of The Vybe hike and bike trail along the developments
KYLE
B
1626
A
KYLE CENTRE DR.
KYLE PARKWAY
C
35
N
Kyle’s first mixed-use project, trail network move forward SOURCES: CENTRAL SOUTHWEST TEXAS DEVELOPMENT LLC, CITY OF KYLE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
KYLE City Council approved the second ordinance reading to rezone two plots of land along Marketplace Avenue and Kyle Parkway totaling approximately 27.8 acres from retail services to mixed use at a regular meeting March 1. The new devel- opments will feature mixed-use buildings—a rst for the city—of retail or commercial with residential above, some full residential units, a courtyard and other amenities. The council also approved the development agreement with Central Southwest Texas Development LLC for development of the project and an additional 16.78 acres that will remain commercial. In addition to the mixed-use developments, CSTD will also be tasked with the construction portions of The Vybe, the city’s sprawling trail network that is in the works.
CSTD will construct paths along the developments that will provide pedestrian access to The Vybe. The journey for this project has been arduous as many developers have dropped out of the project in the past couple of years. As previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper , a memorandum of understanding, or MOU—a written agreement between two parties—was reached in October between the city of Kyle and developer CSTD. How- ever, it “does not constitute a binding obligation on either party,” according to the MOU. The developer is expected to break ground “in the next few weeks” with the rst retail buildings to be completed by the end of 2022, according to Kevin Hunter, chief operating o cer and chief nancial o cer of CSTD.
March 1 primaries garner low voter turnout
ONTOTHENEXT ELECTION All primary and primary runo winners will be on the November general election ballot to vie for their seat. Race Texas House District 45 Hays County judge Erin Zwiener Ruben Becerra Michelle Lopez Mark Jones D R
HAYS COUNTY Just over 10% of Republican and 8.39% of Dem- ocratic registered Hays County voters hit the polls for the March 1 primary election. Incumbent Erin Zwiener won the Democratic nomination for Texas House District 45 with 80.34% of the vote. The Republican nominee, Michelle Lopez, ran unopposed. For Hays County judge, incum- bent Ruben Becerra won the Democratic nomination at 68.12% of the vote.
Mark Jones ran unopposed for the Republican nominee for county judge. Mike Gonzalez ended with the upper hand at 61.04% of the vote in the Republican Precinct 2 commis- sioner race. In the Democratic race for Precinct 2 commissioner, Michelle Gutierrez Cohen will face Linda Aguilar Hawkins in a runo May 24. In the race for Precinct 4 commis- sioner, Walt Smith ran unopposed.
Precinct 4 commissioner Precinct 2 commissioner
Runo May 24
Mike Gonzalez
No candidate
Walt Smith
SOURCE: HAYS COUNTY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION • MARCH 2022
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