City Council to discuss Cape’s Dam during work session

The San Marcos City Council will discuss Cape’s Dam during Tuesday’s work session. 

The council will be given an update since its last discussion on Cape’s Dam during Oct. 15’s regular meeting, where it heard a presentation regarding the potential of partnering with Hays County for restoration of the dam and surrounding areas to create a recreational area for citizens of San Marcos and its neighboring communities.

According to the council’s work packet, the following has occurred since Oct.15’s meeting: 

• City staff has met with representatives of Hays County and the Hays County Historical Commission, where they reviewed a possible interlocal agreement to cost share in some aspects of the project, depending on which direction the council wishes to take. 

• A memo dated Dec. 2, 2019 was provided to council reporting on safety measures at Cape’s Camp/Thompson Island area. 

• Council provided consensus on Oct. 15’s to staff to seek what permissions and permits would be needed from state and federal agencies to remove or repair the dam. 

The city has four options it will discuss at Tuesday's meeting regarding action on the dam: 1. Removal. 2. Redesign & Rebuild. 3 Restoration or 4. Conduct another study. 

If council chooses to remove the dam, staff would begin the permitting process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state agencies to begin demolition. 

If council decides to redesign and rebuild the dam, city staff would begin working on an interlocal agreement partnering with Hays County on rehabilitation efforts that would be brought back to the council for consideration. The interlocal agreement would include possible cost sharing of an impact study, agreement on vision and design and other costs. 

If the council decided to restore the dam, staff would begin working with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Texas Historical Commission to determine what restoration would look like. According to council’s work packet, there is a “strong possibility that the steps needed to fully restore the dam would not be allowed under today’s federal and state statutes and the project would not be permitted.”

Should council choose to conduct a new study, staff would need direction on whether the study is to be comprehensive or have a specific focus. Additionally, city staff would reach out to Hays County and the Hays County Historical 4 Commission to determine if they would share costs to participate. Staff could then move forward to identify an unbiased third party to conduct analysis and bring the completed report back to the council and county.

There is currently $174,628 remaining of the $250,000 that was originally funded for the Cape’s Camp Improvement and Dam Project, according to the council’s work packet. 

Following the work session discussion, council is set to provide direction to the city manager regarding the dam. 

Tuesday’s work session is set for 3 p.m. at City Hall — 630 E. Hopkins St.