Boerne City Council accepted nearly $100,000 in donations to its parks and animal shelter Tuesday and began preliminary discussions on road projects that include rebuilding two miles of School Street and 1.5 miles of Old San Antonio Road.
The most-watched item on the Jan. 23 agenda, however, occurred behind closed doors, as the council spent an hour in executive session discussing the city’s interlocal agreement with Kendall County dealing with regulation of subdivisions in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The city ETJ, a one-mile-wide swath of land surrounding its city boundaries, has been a haven for growth. Housing projects within the ETJ are not held to the strict permitting and building codes that exist within the city.
In an attempt to harness and develop some restraint, members of the Kendall County Commissioners Court Jan. 22 gave its unanimous stamp of approval to the interlocal agreement.
One of two key provisions of the agreement would forbid the city from enforcing its subdivision regulations, including the regulation of subdivision plats within the ETJ. Another holds that lines shown in the Boerne Thoroughfare Plan “for potential future connectivity outside city limits will not be applicable in the ETJ.”
City Council emerged from its closed door discussion and adjourned without taking any action on the ETJ agreement.
"On Tuesday evening, the Boerne City Council met in executive session with our city attorney to discuss legal matters as it relates to state regulations regarding interlocal agreements and historical background,” Chris Shadrock, Boerne director of communication, said. “As there has never been a set timeline related to this matter, we would not characterize this as a slowdown.
“Our City Council will continue discussions and our current interlocal agreement remains in place and is working effectively,” Shadrock said.
Prior to the one-hour executive session, the council voted to accept two large donations. One, for $48,038, goes to the city’s Parks and Rec Department by Make Kids Smile, Inc. in memory of Michael Gabaourie, and is to be used for construction of a new playground located behind the Library.
Parks will contract with the Play Well Group Inc., a locally owned playground company, to purchase and install this playground.
An anonymous donor made the second donation of $50,000, earmarked for the city’s Animal Care Services. Those funds will be moved into the city’s fund balance and held for future improvements at the animal control facility on Esser Road, near the Boerne ISD transportation station.
Jeff Carroll, director of engineering and mobility, informed council of two “conceptual corridor” infrastructure studies of major thoroughfares in the city — School Street and Old San Antonio Road.
The council agreed to pay $150,000 to Halff Associates for the conceptual studies, which are non-binding and are designed to present the council with options, scopes of work, and cost estimates should it decide to proceed with wither of the projects.
Carroll said the city has projects currently in the design phase on both ends of Old San Antonio Road, improvements at Cascade Caverns and its Menger bridge project at Herff Road on the north end of the 1.5 mile stretch.
“What we would like to do is study the corridor in between, for future thoughts and plans on what we could do in that corridor area,” Carroll said.
A Road Enhancement Project Ranking in the city’s March 2023 Mobility Master Plan listed Old San Antonio Road as its top priority, with an estimated price tag of $6.75 million.
The corridor study would investigate improvements such as widening of the road, adding center turn lanes, sidewalks and replacing existing cross drainage structures.
Old San Antonio Road was included in both the City’s Mobility Master Plan and the Kendall County Boerne Fair Oaks Transportation Committee’s final report.
“The master plan actually called for an entire project. All we’re doing today is (proposing) a study to see if it’s feasible, and what we should be doing,” Carroll said.
“We’re trying to get things further along so we know hard-dollar amounts, so we know what the issues are,” he said. “If we find an opportunity for state funds or federal funds, or MPO funds, that we can get the project moving very quickly.”
The Old San Antonio Road corridor study was for $60,000 to Halff Associates, while the School Street corridor study would go for $90,000. Carroll said the work would stretch from School Street’s Interstate 10 exchange to Main Street, a nearly two-mile stretch of road.
Like the Old San Antonio Road study, Halff ’s work would look at widening of the road, adding center turn lanes, sidewalks, and replacing existing cross drainage structures, as well as bridge improvements, to bring bridges above and out of the 100-year flood plain.
Comment
Comments