City council to consider term limits

The City of San Marcos Charter Review Commission presented an interim report to the councilmembers at their regular meeting Tuesday night, making some considerations including term limits.

The report was presented prior to a final report that will come out before Memorial Day; at that point the councilmembers will discuss and decide what items to put out to voters. 

The commission suggested changing the term of mayor from two years to four years, with a limit of two consecutive terms; however, several councilmembers said they thought four years was too long.

The commission also suggested imposing term limits for councilmembers of three consecutive years, although a councilmember could sit out one year and run again. 

They also suggested requiring four councilmember votes instead of the currently required five to remove a city manager. Among other suggestions was eliminating council approval for appointments to assistant city clerk, assistant city manager, municipal court clerk and assistants and assistant city attorneys.

The annual audit report was also presented and the city received a clean opinion, the highest opinion that can be received from an independent auditing firm. 

In the Quarterly Investments Report, the only major discrepancy was in pooled cash, which decreased by nearly $5 million as a result of high accounts payables with Capital Improvement Projects that were paid and a $2 million land purchase made from the Downtown TIRZ fund.

Staff shared that the city was in a good place with their Quarterly Financial Report and that staff has been spending conservatively.

The councilmembers approved an amendment to the San Marcos City Code to continue the residential home improvement exemption from fees. Another amendment allows homeowners to perform construction on the home of an immediate family member without a contractor’s license, unless a license is required by State Law. 

The councilmembers postponed voting on awarding an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract to Haulbrooke, Inc. for demolition services that would have been funded through the Community Development Block Grant program up to $125,000. 

City staff will review the contract to consider adding a required development agreement or restrictive covenant and to consider options for contracting to remove reusable items from the homes.

The councilmembers also authorized the conveyance, or transfer of ownership, of city-owned lots located at 404 Broadway, 300 Herndon, 318 Shady Lane and 207 South Comanche to qualified buyers under applicable Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Grant Programs for the purpose of constructing affordable single-family homes. 

The construction of the single family homes will replace the loss of homes in the 2015 floods, staff said these homeowners are anxiously awaiting their new homes.  

The councilmembers later approved an amendment to the CDBG-DR Action Plan, reallocating $1 million from the planning category to the Blanco Vista infrastructure project and revising a $196,000 cap on housing cost.

The amendment will allow the city to pay market price as necessary to obtain lots for the program, and construct homes at reasonable costs, moving projects along faster.