Cemetery growth prompts special council meeting

The city is looking for — and may have found — land to purchase to expand the San Marcos Cemetery.

At a special meeting this evening, the San Marcos City Council will vote on a resolution approving a contract for the purchase of a little more than 4 acres of land along Old Ranch Road 12 adjacent to the current cemetery. Under the contract, the city will buy the land for $2.25 million plus closing costs from current owners Jerry D. and Linda G. Fields. Council had met in executive session last week to discuss the acquisition of land for cemetery purposes. 

The land in question is made up of six lots at 1401 through 1419 Old Ranch Road 12 — property stretching from roughly across the street from Chepo’s restaurant to across the street from the gas pumps at Valero. 

According to the council agenda, the city cemetery currently has room for about 800 additional plots. The city sells an average of about 80 plots per year, meaning the cemetery has eight to 10 years’ worth of available plots. State laws do not allow new cemetery land within a municipality’s city limits unless it is adjacent to an existing cemetery — a restriction that has limited the areas that could be available for purchase. 

The acreage the city is considering would provide another 1,575 to 2,275 cemetery plots, extending the useful life of the cemetery by another 40 years. The revenue from the sale of those plots would be somewhere between $2.9 million and $3.7 million., the council agenda states. City staff intends to do a master plan layout study for the cemetery shortly after the land purchase.

Council will meet at 5:15 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 630 E. Hopkins St. City council meetings are also televised live on Spectrum Ch. 10 and Grande Ch. 16 or 123-16 and streamed online.