In what city council member Travis Mitchell called "a home run for the city," the council unanimously approved a tax incentive agreement with a developer last night that paves the way for what is being called the Kyle Gateway, a retail development that will include an anchor store of at least 50,000 square feet, a hotel, additional retail outlets and "non-drive-through restaurants" to be located on 47.74 acres that many feared two years ago would become a massive truck stop.
According to the agreement, Kyle Gateway, located on the northwest corner of I35 and Yarrington Road, will include a 50,000-square-foot "department/grocery store anchor" that must open for business by the end of 2025. It will also be the site of "a national flag chain hotel having a minimum of 81 rooms" and "additional retail and non-residential facilities (i.e., office space) having an aggregate square footage totaling approximately 300,000 square feet." The agreement also specifies "front pad sites will be reserved for sales tax generating retail and non-drive through restaurants." The developer is required to have enough of these retail outlets open and in operation by the beginning of 2025 to be able to employ at least 100 full-time equivalent employees.
Except for the aforementioned deadlines, there is no construction timetable for the project although Economic Development Director Diana Blank Torres said she expects work to begin on the project "almost immediately." Mayor Todd Webster wasn’t so sure, however. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if PGI Investment, the company Kyle entered into this agreement with, flips the property.
"This is what we’ve been saying all along with go on this property," Webster said, "We have now simply put sone numbers around it. It’s about $5,2 million in roads, wastewater and water."
The agreement calls for the developer to initially bear that $5.2 million cost. However, it would be reimbursed to PGI over the next 10 years by the city rebating 50 percent of the city sales taxes generated by the outlets on the property., with the option of extending that another five years if the $5.2 million is not completely reimbursed. The initial 10-ear period begins Jan. 1, 2020.
"The folks that we’re dealing with build convenience stores and truck stops," Webster said. "What took so long is we’re working this thing out with people who don’t have experience doing large scale developments. The agreement is transferable if the city approves. I don’t know what their plans are, but I suspect it could be something that could be flipped to somebody that has experience in developing that kind of real estate. That would be my expectation."
The $5.2 million would cover the costs of a 3,500-linear-foot spine and cross road from Yarrington to Post Road, a traffic signal, a 2,400-linear-foot eight-inch water line, a 400-linear-foot 12-inch water line, 10 fire hydrants, a 2,300-linear-foot 12-inch wastewater line and 10 manholes.
‘They’re gonna have a lot of work ahead of them as far as infrastructure down there," Torres said, "because it’s a big dip down."
"I thought I would have this thing done in three months and it took two years," Webster said.
When PGI first announced its plans to locate a truck stop on the property in 2015, citizens, the overwhelming majority of which lived on the south side of Yarrington in San Marcos, overflowed City Council Chambers Jan. 26, 2016 during a Planning & Zoning Commission hearing to consider a change in the zoning that would allow for the truck stop. Although the commission voted 5-2 against, the vote was deemed illegal because many of the commissioners said expressly they were voting against the truck stop instead of deciding a zoning issue. As a result, it appeared the truck stop idea would move forward. The announcement of the illegality of the P&Z vote resulted in former San Marcos Mayor Daniel Guerrero threatening retaliation in the form of a condemnation resolution against Kyle if the truck stop wasn’t halted. Webster responded by saying he had tried to meet with Guerrero a number of times to resolve the issue, "and I each time I got blown off." Webster added defiantly "People of action don’t write resolutions."
That exchange led almost immediately to Guerrero seeking an audience with Webster to resolve the issue which ended with the announcement of a development that was, for all practical purposes, identical to the one provided in the agreement approved last night except that San Marcos is no longer providing previously agreed-to wastewater services. San Marcos has since claimed wastewater could not flow via gravity from the site to its wastewater treatment facilities.
"We will collect 100 percent of the property taxes from this substantial development," Mitchell said, "and 50 percent of the sales tax from that development for 10 years. That other 50 percent would go to rebate them for the construction of this public infrastructure that the city would otherwise have to pay. So it’s a very, very good project."
Mitchell, joined by council member Becky Selbera, then thanked Mayor Webster and others who Mitchell claimed worked tirelessly to get the deal done. "We had a situation where there was a land use proposed that wasn’t very desirable and we are absolutely turning the corner on that into a project that we can all be really proud of. Absolutely, from a financial standpoint, a home run for the city."
In other action last night:
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The council heard assistant city manager James Earp refute all the claims made by the 11 persons, seven of whom spoke longer than the three minutes allotted to them, trying to prevent a bridge over the Blanco River from being a part of the city’s Transportation Master Plan, and then voted unanimously to incorporate the bridge and four other changes to the plan.
- Voted unanimously to add Office/Institutional to the city’s list of zoning categories .It is expected another new category that will allow for mixed-used developments, will appear on the council’s agenda next month.
- Voted unanimously to nominate Community Impact publisher Rick Koch as a member of the 2018-19 Hays Central Appraisal District board of trustees. Interestingly, the council had not settled on a nominee when the item came up on the agenda, but readily agreed Koch would be the perfect choice after council member Shane Arabie pointed Koch out in the City Hall foyer.
- The council unanimously voted to reappoint three the persons mentioned in this story to the Planning & Zoning Commission as well as the three cited in that same story to the Economic Development & Tourism Board.
- The council reaffirmed the correctness of the minutes of its Aug. 1 meeting before approving them and three other sets of minutes. Council member Daphne Tenorio questioned the validity of the Aug. 1 minutes because it recorded one vote was 6-0, yet all seven council members were present. It turned out the 6-0 vote was correct because Tenorio herself had abstained from voting on that item and that abstention wasn’t duly recorded because Tenorio failed to complete and submit the required abstention forms. Tenorio did not attend last night’s meeting and thus perhaps saved herself from some embarrassment on this matter.
The two most senior members of the Kyle City Council – District 2 mainstay Becky Selbera, the longest-serving council member in the 21st Century, and District 4 stalwart David Wilson – individually revealed Tuesday they would not seek re-election.
Selbera’s decision caps a council career of more than 15 years that began when she was first elected in May of 2002 to represent the area of Kyle where she was born and raised.. Wilson joined her on the council in 2007. Wilson made his revelation before Tuesday’s council meeting and Selbera made public her decision immediately after the meeting adjourned.
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| Becky Selbera |
"After a great deal of thought and prayer, and with a great deal of regret, I have decided not to seek re-election this November," Selbera said in statement she apparently composed during the council’s session. "It was incredibly difficult choice, but one that I feel comfortable about. I love my city and I look forward to our great future."
In public, during council meetings, Selbera came across as the quietest, gentlest person on the dais. But many of her colleagues have told me that in closed, executive sessions, there was no one more lucid, more clear-headed or as influential as the District 2 councilperson. "People generally don’t get to test what their convictions are," Selbera said in her statement. "I did get to test mine and I am proud of how I handled it. And I think that we have changed our city in a positive way."
It could also be argued that no one suffered, yet withstood, the slings and arrows of criticism from a small cadre of vocal citizens more than Selbera, something she alluded to in her statement. "As a city council woman I have taken a few blows over the years, but I have bounced back. I have come to accept the triumphs and pains that come with the grind of politics."
She said she was proud of many of the accomplishments she "and my colleagues" achieved during her years on the council including Kyle’s very first swimming pool, the construction of City Hall, the south and east side fire stations, the H-E-B, the Seton complex and all the new infrastructure that has finally come to the historically neglected south side of town.
"I leave knowing that the city is headed in the right direction and is ready to embrace the exciting changes ahead," she said.
At the same time, however, she indicated she will not retreat completely from public life.
"I leave knowing that my relationship with the city staff and that my work on behalf of the city is far from over," she said. "I have no doubt that I will continue to serve my community as a private citizen, and influence the next generation of leaders. I have found service to my district and all the city’s residents to be the most satisfying and richest experience if my life and I will always be appreciative of my constituents and the City of Kyle for the opportunity to serve."
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| David Wilson |
Wilson said that during his tenure on the council, Kyle has "evolved from a sleepy little railroad and ranching community into a community with robust medical services, educational opportunity and quality retail services."
He also predicted even more dynamic changes are close at hand. "The future is very bright for Kyle," he said., "We have laid the groundwork for Kyle to be a destination and grow the business community. Jobs and business opportunities for our citizens are coming in the near future."
Wilson also added that "there will always be challenges which need to continue to be addressed" and that he wanted "to encourage Kyle citizens to serve the City of Kyle on the City Council" to meet those challenges, adding "we need to continue the forward thinking and planning we now enjoy."
"I am invested in the community," Wilson concluded, "and will enjoy watching as a new City Council continues to move the city forward in a positive direction."
Wilson will be especially remembered for his tireless efforts to make sure Kyle has an ample water supply as well as his unending efforts to honor fellow veterans.
Three city council positions were up for grabs in the Nov. 7 elections and Wilson’s and Selbera’s announcements guarantee that all three will have new occupants. Mayor Todd Webster announced back on July 8 that he would not seek a second term.
A spokesperson for IDEA Public Schools announced at last night’s City Council meeting it plans to open a charter school on Goforth Road, just a few hundred yards from I-35, in the fall of 2018 for students in kindergarten and first, second and sixth grades.
However, in conversations I had last night and again today with IDEA Executive Director Lankin Tackett, he insisted I can take the word "plans" out of the above sentence. He told me during both conversations the school will definitely open next year.
He also said students can begin registering to attend the school this fall simply by going to IDEA’s web site.
"It’s part of our mission to serve students who will be the first in their families to graduate from college," Tackett told the council. "Our mission is college for all. We just believe deeply in the possibility and the potential of every child. Regardless of their background, regardless of their ability level, we think they can go to college so that’s what we focus on."
This, of course, is in sharp contrast to what’s currently being offered in terms of college prep in Kyle. Lehman High School’s college readiness score, for example, is 21.9 out of 100, according to research conducted by U.S. News and World Report. The IDEA charter school in Brownsville, on the other hand, has a college readiness score of 90.8 and is ranked the 55th best high school in the entire country, according to that same research.
That’s the reason the idea of a college prep charter school poses such a threat to council member Daphne Tenorio, a staunch defender of Lehman High School here and whose husband is a member of the Hays CISD board. Tenorio’s hands were tied at last night’s meeting, however, because to oppose the school outright would, in effect, place her in position of advocating for a reduced public educational product for her constituents. So she tried to attack the idea by questioning Mayor Todd’s Webster objectivity and the fact that the public hearing on the bond sale was held in downtown Austin and not Kyle. Neither argument gained any traction: Webster made public all his work as a pro-educational lobbyist in the Texas Legislature Tuesday immediately prior to the IDEA announcement, thus making his objectivity irrelevant to the discussion at hand, and the school’s bond representative explained the reason the meeting was held in Austin was that the majority of the proceeds from the sale of the bonds will be used for projects in Travis County. She told Tenorio a notice of the meeting was published, as required, in the Austin American-Statesman, which forced a frustrated Tenorio to make the startling admission that she never reads the daily newspaper that is the principle in-depth source of legislative, national and international news for persons in this area who wish to be informed on those subjects (and taxpayers should hope their council members would wish to remain informed on them). In the end that left Tenorio sputtering that the fact she chose not to read the publication that was required to carry the notice of the public hearing amounted to "a lack of transparency." Go figure.
Council member Shane Arabie, on the other hand, held a completely different view.
"My son is a product of a charter school education," he told Tackett. "I believe in the charter school system and I advocate for it highly. I’m extremely excited to have this in the area. I’m only saddened that my child won’t be able to participate in it, I welcome you with open arms and I want to thank you for bringing this opportunity to our area."
Tackett said the school has already purchased the land for the school and construction will be completed on the first of what will eventually become two buildings on the campus in time for the start of the 2018-19 school year. He said that building will house approximately 116 students in each of the grades with an eventual total enrollment of around 1,400. A lottery will be held if the total number of applicants exceeds that 116-per-grade figure and Tackett told me today there’s never been an instance in the nearly 17-year history of IDEA schools that a lottery wasn’t required when a new school opened.
Beginning with the 2019-20 school year, a third and seventh grade will be added and two new grades will be added each school year until ultimately the Kyle IDEA school serves pre-kindergarten through 12th grades. The school will have two principals — on supervising the elementary grades and the other overseeing what Tackett called "the college prep" academy which includes grades 6-12.
Tackett said a second building will be constructed on the campus that will be exclusively for the college prep academy and it should be open by the 2020-21 school year.
In response to a question from council member Becky Selbera, Tackett said IDEA strives to hire teachers from the local area. "We want educators who know the community in which they’re working," he said. "We do a lot of training of our instructional leaders and principals. We have something called the Principals in Residence program where an IDEA principal has gone through a fellowship over a two-year period to get ready."
Not only was no council action required on the matter, there was really no reason for the item to even be on the council’s agenda except for Mayor Todd Webster desire to avoid any questions of impropriety because of his role as an educational advocate at the state government level. The IRS requires the mayor of each municipality directly affected by the proceeds from charter school bond sales sign a letter acknowledging that a public meeting was held to announce the intention to sell said bonds. Webster decided to use the formal setting of a council meeting to make public the fact that he had complied with this IRS regulation.
In addition last night:
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High-tech police equipment. The council decided the question was not whether the city manager should enter into negotiations to purchase new high-tech tools for the Kyle Police Department, but when those negotiations should take place. Police Chief Jeff Barnett wanted the negotiations to begin immediately, claiming the tools the police are currently using too time consuming even in those rare instances when they actually work as they as designed to do. Many city council members questioned whether this discussion is going to be seen as something related to the planned co-location of many police activities with other law-enforcement agencies in Hays County and whether the entire conversation should be postponed until discussions begin on the Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget. The contract would be for the purchase of tasers as well as body cameras and in-car video cameras along with the software needed to label, store and share the videos recorded on those cameras. But whether the negotiations are held now or during the budget discussion, there is really nothing at issue here until the city has a formal contract offer. The devil, as they say, are in the contract details. Here, according to The Motley Fool, is what Axom is trying to pull off: It provides up-front bargains in order to entice municipalities into what eventually become expensive long-term deals the cities can’t get out of. In an article just published Monday, The Motley Fool reported: "On April 5, Axon announced an offer for free body cameras for every police officer in the U.S. Even accounting for the fact that it was effectively an offer for officers who didn't already have an Axon body camera, it still amounts to a promise for a free product for around 1 million officers across the country. Not only will officers who accept this offer get a body camera, they'll also get a year of the unlimited pro licence to store data on Evidence.com, two mounts, a docking station, and access to the Axon online training library. To understand why Axon would offer a free body camera in the first place, we have to look at where the company makes its money. Axon is trying to get customers to buy a subscription to a suite of services that include the Evidence.com evidence management system and a body camera upgrade every two and a half years, and future add-ons like artificial intelligence and improved wireless services. … The beauty of the entire platform is that once a law enforcement agency and prosecutors begin using Axon's products, they'll likely be locked in. Video from body cameras can be used by prosecutors, while new technology allows officers to reduce paperwork by using body camera software. It would not be feasible to switch systems every year, because training costs would be high, so customers would renew their Axon subscriptions year after year." I have queried the city to learn whether it, or the police department, has a formal, written policy on the use of tasers and body cameras, but I don’t expect to receive a reply by the time I publish this article. If and when I do receive a reply, I will publish an update.
- Road bond updates. City Engineer Leon Barba told the council 85 percent of the work has been completed on the Goforth Road bond project and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month; that a traffic signal "should begin flashing in two weeks or less" at the Goforth/Bunton intersection; "71 percent of the work has been completed" on the Bunton project between I-35 and Lehman and that it should be completely done by the end of September; a 150-foot segment of the Lehman Road Project that extends from the intersection with Bunton has been fast-tracked so that it will be completed by the time school starts Aug. 21; for the rest of the Lehman project, two easements still need to be acquired and utilities can’t be moved until those acquisitions are completed and that construction should begin, hopefully, the last quarter of this year with a 15-month construction schedule; four more parcels still need to be acquired before work can begin on Burleson and that an 18-month construction schedule will commence some time next year.
- Rail House wants its own water tower. Community Development Director Howard Koontz told the council that the new owners of the downtown Rail House restaurant want to install "a reasonably large and not in any way code compliant sign in front of their property." Koontz said the owners deliberately want the sign to be "conspicuous." He added "On the surface, we don’t have any means possible to permit it. It would be a large water tower and would have some writing on it that would basically advertise their property a little bit closer to the main intersection." The surprise in all of this to me was when Koontz revealed "The staff is actually supportive of the idea that they be able to put this sign up for the sake of it being an attraction downtown much like the signage in front of the Pie Company or anything else that can be talked about." Koontz said the only way to allow the sign, however, would be a text amendment "which would allow for staff to enable language to create a conditional use process for wayfinding and other types of landmark signage." Here’s the rub: this agenda item was listed as a presentation with no action scheduled to be taken. Yet Koontz asked the council to approve directing the staff to come up with such an amendment. The Rail House owners apparently want to use available city grant money to fund the project, an idea that did not seem to be well received by the mayor. "If the council agrees to do something like this, it needs to be things that actually contribute to the ROI of the property. In time it generates increased property values and increased property taxes. Things like signs and volleyball courts (which the Rail House also wants to install) I don’t think accomplish that." He also said making a sign exception for the Rail House could alienate other area business owners who would also like to see changes in the types of signs that are allowed. Council member Travis Mitchell said he definitely did not want to see a Cabella’s-type water tower in Kyle similar to the one that looms over Buda.
- Special council meeting scheduled. City Manager Scott Sellers announced a brief special City Council agenda meeting will need to be called for Wednesday, June 28, most likely at 8 a.m., to consider at least two items: An item that was postponed from last night’s agenda to accept the Woodlands Park, Phase 3 subdivision improvements and another involving a multi-family project scheduled for construction in Plum Creek that needed to be delayed months ago because of a required relocation of a wastewater line but must be approved before the end of the month in order for the developer to close financing on the deal.
