ETJ dispute sees ‘movement’

Progress toward an agreement appears to be afoot in the San Marcos-Martindale extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) dispute. 

At the Martindale City Council meeting held last week, Mayor Rob Deviney noted, “There has been some movement concerning the SMART Terminal.”

Deviney said Martindale will hold a special meeting on Monday to discuss the matter in executive session. 

At its meeting last Tuesday, the San Marcos City Council discussed the ETJ issue in executive session as well. 

The two cities have been in negotiations over land that lies within the Martindale ETJ that was slated for inclusion in the SMART (San Marcos Air, Rail and Truck) Terminal industrial rail park and annexation by San Marcos. Initially, San Marcos city staff thought the land was within the San Marcos ETJ, but it turns out to have been in Martindale’s. Last month, SMART Terminal developer Mike Schroeder spoke to the Martindale City Council about the ETJ issue.

“We’ve got 550 jobs on the line here,” he said. “... There’s plenty of benefit to go around. So I hope we can come to some kind of agreement with San Marcos. I’m in the middle of this.”