New Braunfels Edition | November 2022

QUOTE OF NOTE

Future growth of New Braunfels discussed at 2022 State of the City

2022 RIVER SEASON RUNDOWN A large number of visitors using the river led to a high amount of trash pickup and an increase in revenue for the city of New Braunfels.

“THE BOND ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS WORKING WITH ABOUT $340 MILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS WITH THE LARGEST COMPONENT OF THE PROGRAM BEING TRANSPORTATION, AGAIN TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS THAT WE KNOW WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITY,”

BY SIERRA MARTIN

Disposable container ordinance enforcement citations: 375

Parking revenue collected: $547,630

from the pandemic.

NEW BRAUNFELS The 2022 State of the City event hosted by the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce took place Oct. 18, highlighting the growth in New Braunfels, results from the community survey and the investments being made. New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno gave the presentation for the event with GNBCC Presiding Chair Patrick Rose opening up the address by explaining the Confluence economic development plan. “Our successes have created a two-way disloca- tion. We need to work to bring people closer to employment [with] high-skilled, high-wage jobs here in New Braunfels, on the one hand,” Rose said. “And on the other, we need to bring more housing options to New Braunfels.” Camareno said the econ- omy is thriving as it recovers

“We are now at a point where [sales tax revenues] are better than we were pre-pandemic; in fact, many of our revenue sources have not only recovered, but actually it’s exceeded pre-pandemic levels,” Camareno said. Camareno discussed the tremendous growth taking place in New Braunfels and said he predicts the popula- tion of the city has surpassed 100,000 people. If the rate of growth continues, by 2034, nearly 87% of developable land will be used in the incorporated areas of the city, according to city projections. “The bond advisory committee is working with about $340 million worth of projects with the largest component of the program being transportation, again to address the needs that we know we have in our community,” Camareno said.

Litter collected from river: 32,000 pounds

River management fee: $469,360

SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS/COMMUNITY IMPACT

2022 River Report reveals profitable summer season

ROBERT CAMARENO, NEW BRAUNFELS CITY MANAGER

New Braunfels City Council Meets Nov. 14, 28 at 6 p.m. 550 Landa St., New Braunfels 830-221-4000 • www.nbtexas.org Comal County Commissioners Court Meets Nov. 3, 10, 17 at 8:30 a.m. 100 Main Plaza, New Braunfels 830-221-1100 • www.co.comal.tx.us MEETINGS WE COVER NUMBER TO KNOW in financial incentives will be provided to Detex Corporation by the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation to build a new facility in New Braunfels. $1.5M HIGHLIGHTS COMAL COUNTY The county announced, due to declining cases, as of Oct. 14 the county will no longer publish a weekly COVID-19 dashboard on their website. County officials said they will continue to provide relevant COVID-19 information at www.co.comal.tx.us/Health.htm.

BY SIERRA MARTIN

NEW BRAUNFELS City Council received the 2022 River Season Report during their Oct. 10 regular meeting, highlighting the busy and profitable summer months on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers. River Operations Manager Amy Niles said there had been improvements made this year to the river operations for the city. These improvements included resurfacing the parking lot at Prince Solms Park, expanding the River Operations Division to include a part-time employee and creating a new point of sales system at the river booths to allow shorter wait times for guests. Niles said some of the common themes for this year’s river season were the hot weather and lack of rain led to a long float on the slower-moving river. The department also experienced a high number of revenues and visitors through July. “I’ve never seen numbers as high as they were going into July, and I’ve never seen numbers as low as they were going through August,” Niles said. There were 375 citations issued by the New Braunfels Police Department for disposable con- tainer ordinance enforcement, which is 50% higher than last year. The River Operations Division also noted a total of 32,000 pounds of litter collected.

DEVELOPED LAND PROJECTIONS The city of New Braunfels projects nearly 86% of the developable land in the city’s incorporated area will be developed in 12 years.

66.8%

2020

73.5%

2025

80.2%

2029

86.8%

2034

SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS/ COMMUNITY IMPACT

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NEW BRAUNFELS EDITION • NOVEMBER 2022

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