Council to consider $2M in parks bond funds for Purgatory Creek

The City of San Marcos is moving ahead with one of its priority parks and open space projects just in time for the new year.

On Tuesday, San Marcos City Council will consider approval of an Interlocal Agreement with Hays County, authorizing the city to use $2 million in parks bond funds toward the purchase of real property and preliminary work associated with the Purgatory Creek Improvements Project.

Resolution 2023-01R states the Phase 1 Area (Purgatory Creek from the San Marcos River to Johnson Avenue), funding will be used to acquire easements and right-of-ways identified for improvements including flood mitigation and multi-use trails. For the Phase 2 Area (Purgatory Creek from Johnson Avenue to Hunter Road), the acquired easements will be used for multi-use trails only.

Purgatory Creek was one of several areas recommended for improvements by the Parks and Outdoor Space Advisory Commission (POSAC), following Hays County voters’ approval of a $75 million Parks and Open Space Bond in Nov. 2020 to establish parks, open spaces, conservation lands, and other recreational opportunities, according to the agenda packet.

San Marcos City Council will also consider approval of Ordinance 2022-102 on the second reading, amending the city code to allow more room for citizen comments at public meetings.

If approved, Ordinance 2022-102 would amend Section 2.042 of the code by deleting the 30 minute limitation on Citizen Comments and adding Citizen Comments and Question and Answer Session with the Press and Public to all future Workshop and Work Session Agendas.

Also under the council’s consideration is Ordinance 2022-92, adding provisions to the San Marcos Code of Ethics requiring the Ethics Review Commission (ERC) to review city staff’s Annual Financial Disclosure statements and Campaign Finance Reports.

The ERC is a seven-member board created “to oversee the application of the City of San Marcos Code of Ethics concerning conflicts of interest, ethical conduct, and financial disclosures of city officials and employees,” according to the City of San Marcos website.

There are six staff presentations and six public hearings slated for Tuesday’s meeting.

The first two presentations are regarding the Cyrus Wickson Survey, generally located on East McCarty Lane south of the intersection of Rattler Road and East McCarty Lane.

The council will receive a staff presentation and hold a public hearing on Ordinance 2022-01, annexing into the city approximately 65.522 acres of land out of the Cyrus Wickson Survey.

The annexation hearing will be followed up with a presentation and hearing on Ordinance 2022-02, rezoning approximately 59.845 acres of the survey from “FD” Future Development District to “CD-4” Character District - 4.

Next up on the agenda is Ordinance 2022-03, amending regulations and standards applicable within the Trace Planned Development District (PDD) consisting of approximately 417.63 acres of land, generally located at 5818 South Old Bastrop Highway, to establish, among other things, the creation of a “PD-GC/MF-24” overlay allowing for multi-family residential use within approximately 19 acres of Planning Area 9, located approximately 700 feet northeast of the intersection between Van Horn Trace and El Rio Street.

The council will receive the final three staff presentations and hold public hearings regarding the following changes to Community Development Block Grant Funding:

•Substantial Amendment Number 6 to the 2019-2020 Community Development Block Grant-Entitlement (CDBG) Action Plan reallocating $188,443 to a new rental and utility assistance program to be administered by Blanco River Regional Recovery Team.

•Substantial Amendment Number 2 to the Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Action Plan designating one new project and re-allocating project funding.

•Substantial Amendment Number 13 to the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan canceling two activities and re-allocating project funding.

Under the Non-Consent Agenda, the council will also receive a staff presentation and hold discussion on policy and process recommendations for the Human Services Advisory Board (HSAB) and provide direction to the city manager.

This year, $500,000 has been set aside from the city’s general fund for Human Services grants.

HSAB recommended all 38 non-profit agencies that applied for funding receive awards and the city council raise the total grant amount by $158,854 to fully fund the programs that appealed.

At its Dec. 14 meeting, San Marcos City Council requested time be set aside on the Jan. 3 agenda for discussion to provide guidance to the HSAB on their 2023 allocation recommendation, according to the Jan. 3 agenda packet.

The city council will also receive the city clerk’s certification on the petition to repeal the Meet and Confer Agreement.

Grassroots organization Mano Amiga launched a petition to repeal the agreement in mid-September, stating that the city and the San Marcos Police Officers’ Association failed to take into account the “Hartman Reforms,” which call for an end to the 180-day statute of limitations to investigate police misconduct.

The petition received 1,294 signatures and was turned in on November 2. City Clerk Elizabeth Trevino certified the petition on Dec. 20.

City council can either pass the petition or choose to have voters decide to repeal the agreement during an election. The election must be at the next uniform election date authorized by law and at least 62 days after the council acts.

Those looking to participate in the meeting can send comments via email to citizencomment@sanmarcostx.gov prior to 12 p.m. on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s regular meeting takes place at city hall at 630 E. Hopkins St. Residents looking to watch the meeting can do so online beginning at 6 p.m. at http://sanmarcostx.gov/421/City-Council-Videos-Archives or on Grande channel 16 or Spectrum channel 10.

To view the full meeting and agenda, visit http://san-marcos-tx.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_i=9.