TXST Regents OK hotel for San Marcos campus
On Nov. 20, the Texas State University System Board of Regents voted to authorize Texas State University to enter into a development agreement with Midway—a private Houston-based developer—to build a 3-acre, $70 million hotel with 130 guest rooms on its San Marcos campus.
Learn more about the plan here.
Kyle greenlights $30M wastewater expansion
Kyle City Council approved a multimillion-dollar expansion for wastewater treatment on Nov. 18 to keep up with the city’s growth.
The vote adds $12.3 million to the city’s existing contract with STV Engineering, the architectural firm responsible for managing the facility expansion, bringing the total to $30.1 million and authorizing the start of Phase 2 expansion.
According to Mike Murphy, director of water utilities, this will double the plant's daily treatment capacity from 4.5 million gallons per day to 6 million gallons per day by November 2026 and to 9 million gallons by September 2028.
“As the city of Kyle grows, it's critically important that we bring this 6 million gallons per day [online] as soon as possible,” Murphy said.
Get the rest of the details here.
$100M Hays County bond makes headway
Hays County residents may soon see new and updated county facilities.
Hays County Commissioners Court on Nov. 18 approved the publication of an intent to issue certificates of obligation not to exceed $100 million. The COs will fund county offices, administrative buildings and animal shelter facilities.
County officials estimate that a tax rate of $0.0102 per $100 valuation will be levied to pay the debt service of the COs.
Get the full story here.
$4.78M bid aims to bolster San Marcos flood defenses
On Nov. 18, San Marcos City Council approved pursuing up to $4.78 million in Texas Water Development Board flood defense project funding.
Three applications were submitted, including:
- New flood modeling: The first application seeks $1.9 million to develop new hydrologic and hydraulic models using Atlas 14 rainfall data, considered the de facto standard for designing infrastructure to withstand heavy rain and flooding, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Gauges and warning systems: The second application requests $2.5 million to install 14 additional stream and rain gauges and to develop an early warning flood warning system.
- Dam safety evaluations: The third application seeks $380,000 to evaluate Upper San Marcos dams No. 4 and No. 5 on the San Marcos River, which are operated in partnership by the city, Hays County and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
