Frank Campos

San Marcos City Council cut funding to the Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP) Tuesday with plans to use the remaining money for a city-led economic development team.

Council members voted 4-3 in favor of splitting the funding from $360,000 to $120,000 and using the rest to put together a staff to focus on city development. Five citizens spoke in favor of continued funding at the current rate at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Citizens asked the council members to consider how much work GSMP has done for the city.

The San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District board held an executive session during the Jan. 26 meeting to discuss the possibility of selling 2.5 acres of land the current administration building sits on.

The property will be surveyed and appraised to better understand the land’s value. A decision will be made at a later meeting. No one has determined what will happen to Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos (El Centro), a non-profit organization currently leasing the building adjacent to the SMCISD administration building.

El Centro is a “community beacon for the preservation, development, promotion and celebration of the Hispanic arts, culture, heritage and values,” according to the organization’s website.

The Hays County Commissioner’s Court approved a resolution Feb. 3 establishing local regulation for commercial and non-exempt groundwater production in aquifer areas currently outside of the district.

The resolution is a direct outcome of a contract fulfilled by Electro Purification, LLC. The treatment and supply company based out of Houston plans to pump 5.4 million gallons of groundwater a day from the Trinity Aquifer for its clients.

Commissioner Will Conley, Precinct 3, represents the portion of the county most affected by the Electro Purification contract and presented the resolution to the court.

Hays County Commissioners Court approved a new contract with Bastrop County Jan. 6 to transport prisoners due to overcrowding.

Gary Cutler, sherriff,  and Eric Batch, jail operator, presented the contract to the commissioners court for approval and emphasized the need for a backup plan to their current contract with Guadalupe County.

The maximum male capacity for Hays County Jail is 256 inmates. Sixteen prisoners have already been transported to Guadalupe County this year. The trend will likely continue, Batch said.

Mayor Daniel Guerrero has big plans for the city of San Marcos in 2015 for his third term in office.

Multiple changes and increased construction marked a new chapter for San Marcos during 2014, and they will play a major role in the city’s growth this year. San Martians can expect to see a focus on public safety in the future.

Guerrero is looking confidently into 2015 and expects big things for San Marcos, especially after hiring Jared Miller as the new city manager last year, he said.

“Our biggest accomplishment of 2014 as a city was hiring Jared Miller,” Guerrero said. “He has created a great environment for our city employees and is everything we could have asked for and more.”