Month: May 2021

This week there are two agendas to preview:

• Work Session on May 4th, mid-afternoon
• Council meeting on May 4th, that evening

Work Session:

1. First a Staff Presentation on Cape’s Dam. Interesting. What’s up?

Proposed Interlocal Local Agreement/MOU with Hays County regarding Cape’s Dam

• Looks like this is since August 18th of last year
• Essential items for inclusion: Environment, history, recreation, hydrology, endangered species impact. Maybe: financial, operations, maintenance, project planning, design, permitting, construction.
• Cape’s Dam, Mill Race, water to the waterfall at Stoke’s Park. Owned by TP&W, managed by City.
• Funding on a case-by-case basis, everyone try to get outside funding if you can.
• Timeline: Both should have it approved by mid-June? and then it ends in September 2025 or earlier?
• The last slide is “Questions”, and mine is “what are we talking about?!” I guess the presentation is entirely the logistics. Zero content of the ILA/MOU.

Executive Session: This seems to have two parts:

2. Legal Counsel about an application to discharge wastewater into…? The San Marcos River, I assume?

The company is “Fleming Farms Wastewater Treatment Facility” and it’s not yet built. Proposed to be down 123, on the corner of FM 1978 and 123, in Guadalupe County. This is super rural – old saloon, junkyard. This may have been where the plane was at in this photo! And then 1.2 miles east of this?

Why does San Marcos CC have any say in this whatsoever? Not that I want an unsupervised company, either.

3. And I quote: “deliberations regarding the possible acquisition of property for parks purposes and the possible lease of existing park property to a third party”

HMM. Maybe good! Maybe neoliberal infatuation with doling out contract work! who knows.

City Council Session

Bleagh, so long.

Consent Agenda:

• Two items on a 62 acre tract, at the intersection of Gregson’s Bend and Commercial Loop. (Gregson as in the recent councilmember Gregson?) I think Commercial Loop is across 35 from the Outlet Mall.
  • Annex it
  • Rezone as Planning Area District
• Contract with Utility company for some renovations
• 5 year extension of the Holt Tract PDD
• Cares act money details
• Oooh, #7 is interesting:

“[T]emporarily changing the method for calculating residential Wastewater Rates established by Ordinance No. 2007-54 by excluding the month of February 2021 from the months used to calculate average water consumption upon which Wastewater Rates are based due to the higher than average water consumption resulting from Winter Storm Uri during the week of February 15; including procedural provisions; and providing an effective date.”

First, it was called Winter Storm Uri? Who knew?

Second, this is good! Burst pipes will not be considered typical for water usage. But I have a lot of questions. What about electric? And does this affect what people were actually charged this past February, or is it just a formula for the future? And who is then picking up the tab, if it’s for this past February?

…

Holy shitballs, there’s 34 agenda items and I’m on #7. Good lord.