SMART acreage annexation plans to come before city council
San Marcos City Council is set to discuss the potential annexation–essentially the process of bringing property into the city limits–of approximately 588 acres of additional land that would become part of the San Marcos Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) terminal.
According to the city council agenda for Tuesday, this is part of an ongoing series of proposed changes to both the quantity of land under consideration and how it will be zoned. The city council will also consider proposed zoning changes that would take land from Future Development to Heavy Industrial zoning. The agenda and information provided by the city stated that the surrounding area land uses are as follows: vacant, agricultural, residential, cemetery, a job corps education/ training site and the airport. The land subject to annexation is northwest of FM 110 and SH 80 and is composed of five additional portions of land connected at various locations to what has already been approved for the SMART terminal.
The council will then discuss the possible rezoning of 27 acres of land next to the San Marcos High School. The existing zoning for the land is Future Development and the request is to change it to Character District-5 which allows for dense residential uses like multifamily and some commercial uses. CD-5 zoning promotes mixed use and pedestrian-oriented activities, townhouse, apartment, live and work mixed use shop front, and higher density commercial, residential and retail uses.
According to the agenda, council is set to discuss a change order to the Hopkins Street Improvements project with Jordan Foster, LLC. An additional $197,664, two percent of the total project value, is needed to make drainage improvements and transportation improvements on the portion of Hopkins from Bishop Street to Moore Street. Construction will include the replacement of water and wastewater utilities and the installation of curb inlets and stormwater mains to help with drainage issues. The project will include traffic calming measures and larger sidewalks and the addition of crosswalks.
The council is scheduled to discuss Center-Point Energy’s request to increase rates under the gas reliability infrastructure program. Rates will increase as follows, $3.72 monthly, per customer for residential use, $7.51 monthly per customer for general services small and $59.85 monthly, per customer for general service large volume. San Marcos is a member of the Alliance of CenterPoint Municipalities which was created to assist in reviewing applications to change rates for CenterPoint. For this reason, Centerpoint’s proposed effective date of May 1 must be suspended for 45 days to allow the city to evaluate whether rate adjustments were done correctly.
Up for discussion by the council is an increase in length to the contract between the animal shelter and Dragonfly Veterinary Services.
When the contract was originally made in June 2022, it was meant to be for one year to maintain the overall health of the shelter’s pet population and to aid in overpopulation.
The contract was meant to be phased out and an on staff veterinarian was meant to be hired. The lack of an on-site veterinarian coupled with an increase in the pet population has led to a request for an additional $50,000 to the contract for the current term and an optional two years added to the contract length.
The council will discuss vacancies on the Arts Commission and the Parks and Recreation board. The lack of an onsite veterinarian coupled with an increase in the pet population has led to a request for an additional $50,000 to the contract for the current term and an optional two years added to the contract length.
