Item 27: We zoned this piece of land during the August 8th meeting:
Now it’s back and we’re giving it tax credits.
If you turn that orange square so that it lays flat, it breaks down like this:
The light blue section is “Light Industrial”. Council is voting on a giant package of tax breaks for a developer to build a bunch of light-but-industrial buildings there.
There’s so much that happens in top-secret Executive Session. As far as we plebes know, this land was just zoned during this very meeting, and now there’s a near-instantaneous agreement with someone calling themselves Majestic Reality Co. The project was code-named “Project Thin Mint,” in case you like code names, and thin mints.
Basically, they’ll get a bunch of tax breaks for a while, and then we’ll start to collect taxes on the buildings and businesses that eventually move in. That’s the plan.
Is this good for San Marcos? I have no idea! It depends what gets built and what businesses move in. Ultimately, we lose a ton of control when we approve things like this, and we have very little information about how it will go. (And this is standard, for Texas at least. Texas is set up to let private developers shape cities, instead of elected officials, all the time, because we value their profit so much.)
Max Baker does grill the developer a bit, and comments on how secretive the Chapter 380 process is.
The vote:
Yes: Mayor Hughson, Shane Scott, Alyssa Garza, Mark Gleason, Saul Gonzalez
No: Max Baker
Absent: Jude Prather
….
Item 28: Blanco Riverine Flood Mitigation Project
Today they’re awarding some contract to some builder, and it is given all of 15 seconds during the meeting. However, I wanted to give some background to this, because it’s interesting.
In 2015, we had the deadly Memorial Day floods, of course. (More detail here, if you’re new to town.) The Blanco Riverine Flood Mitigation project is supposed to create some extra channels for flood waters to go, instead of running into Blanco Gardens.
Here’s where it will be:
I don’t really know what’s involved, but this picture comes up a lot:
So I picture a massive drainage ditch through that periwinkle-colored rectangle, designed to catch the flood water, and then also, a long earthen hill that makes a wall between the ditch and the neighborhood. So that’s coming.
Presumably when it’s not flooding, this should have trails and green space on it.
…
Item 29: We need a new downtown firestation.
Firestation 1 is this one, downtown:
It’s not big enough and there are problems with that street. So we’re moving it.
The new one will someday be here, in this building:
That is the old Diaz Martial Arts center, right across from Toma Taco. Industry is to the left of that photo, and in the background is the old Golden Chick. You’re on LBJ, heading west towards the town square.
The San Marxist 