08092004 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

136. Regular Meeting August 9, 2004 Page 5 it will make a change in our skyline and in our traffic. 2) The headwaters of San Marcos is the heart and soul of this City and this area. He stated whenever a development takes place above the headwaters, he feels the citizens should have a vote. 3) From an economic standpoint, this is a large amount of money the City is going to invest in this project. 4) The public should make the decision, so when it does pass, there will be support from the majority of the public because they were involved in voting for it. Mr. Diaz stated he feels if the Council puts this project to a vote, which takes additional time, Mr. Hammons will not wait and will take his project somewhere else. He stated he feels this project can attract additional projects in the future. He stated he is impressed with Mr. Hammons and his project, and the fact that Mr. Hammons thinks it can work and has shown the Council that it will work. Mr. Guerrero stated he attended a meeting where the keynote speaker spoke about "There are those that are in the game¡ there are those that are sitting on the bench¡ and there are those that are getting ready to get cut". He stated he feels San Marcos is ready to stay in this game. He also stated San Marcos does not need to sit on the bench any more or get cut. Mr. Thomaides stated he feels there are a number of projects with Mr. Hammons across the country which have held Bond Elections for his projects where some have passed and some of them have not. He stated he did not remember being told by Mr. Hammons that if this goes to a Bond Election, that he would pullout of the project. He also stated in May of 2005, the citizens will go to the polls and vote on a list of about thirty different projects that our Blue Ribbon Bond Committee is going to be discussing. He stated for the sake of consistency, these are important transportation projects, which will raise our taxes. Mayor Narvaiz stated she feels the reason the Council wants to put those projects on a ballot is because they will require raising property tax and this project does not. She stated this project has the opportunity to bring more jobs. She stated she asked the Economic Development Council to provide some statistics for Hays County. She stated Hays County's entry wage is $15,290.00 and the median wage is $25,785.00. She stated she feels with these jobs being $25,000.00 with benefits is going to have the opportunity to impact some people's lives. Mayor Narvaiz stated for about forty-five days this project's potential site was discussed at the Outlet Malls. She stated during that time Mr. Hammons had taken an option on some property near the Outlet Malls and then Mr. Hammons chose not to extend that option. She stated the landowner took the property off the market and earned several thousand dollars, even though she did not ultimately sell the property. She stated she fe~ls San Marcos has the form of government where people elect their leadership to make decisions. She stated she recognizes and accepts her responsibilities to serve the 40,000 plus residents and additional 26,000 students in our community. Mayor Narvaiz stated she believes the Council should make the decision to sell the C.O.s, because taxes are not being raised for this project. Mayor Narvaiz stated the Council needs to make a decision on Item B, how to make up the budget shortfalls as projected. She stated the Council was provided a list of options recently. Mr.