Comal Springs goes dry for first time since 1950s
Page 4 — THE DAILY RECORD, San Marcos, TX., Wednesday, August 21, 2013
By ANITA MILLER
News Editor
For all its power, the San
Marcos Springs system has always been little sister to the
formation just down the road,
Comal Springs.
But there’s a difference
that’s even greater than the
flow. The San Marcos system
that feeds Spring Lake and the
San Marcos River have been
more constant, continuing to
flow even in the deepest
drought of the 1950s.
Comal Springs dried up
during that time. Now, it appears it is happening again.
Officially flowing at 132 cfs
(cubic feet per second) as of
this morning, the springs in
reality have stopped. New
Braunfels’’ KGNB 1420 was
reporting on Monday that
“what is normally a bubbling
spring coming from the rocks
is now just...rocks.”
The station reported there’s
still “plenty of water in the
spring-fed pool and there’s
plenty of water in Landa
Lake,” but urged residents to
observe conservation measures.
The city of New Braunfels,
like San Marcos and the Edwards Aquifer Association
(EAA) is currently under Stage
3 restrictions. For San Marcos
residents, that means landscapes can be watered only
every other week and only
during designated times of
designated days.
Individuals and municipalities that pump from the Edwards Aquifer that are subject
to EAA rules are currently
forced to pump 35 percent
less.
Restrictions are even stricter
to the west. Pumpers from
what is known as the Uvalde
Pool of the Edwards are under
Stage 5, meaning they must
curtail their water use by 44
percent.
The San Marcos Springs are
now flowing at a rate of 109,
with a 10-day average the
same. The 10-day average is
important because it is used
as a trigger mechanism for
varying stages of water conservation measures.
The bellwether of aquifer
health, the J-17 Index Well at
Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, now stands at 633.1
feet above mean sea level
(msl), with a 10-day average of
634.4.
Should the average fall
below 630 feet msl, the EAA
and the city of San Marcos
would declare Stage 4. For the
EAA, that means reducing
pumping by 40 percent. For
San Marcos residents, the future is less clear, because the
city has never actually had to
curtail water usage beyond
Stage 3.
Jan Klein, the city’s conservation specialist, said Stage 4
would include whatever steps
are necessary, and would
likely result in police issuing
fewer warnings to violators, issuing citations instead.
The only real relief forecasters say is possible is a tropical
storm or depression. Currently
none are on the horizon.
Kyle issues health alert
after finding rabid bat
By ANITA MILLER
News Editor
SMCISD trustees honor Bagley
SMCISD Photo
The San Marcos CISD School Board recognized Crockett Elementary teacher Connie Bagley at its recent school
board meeting. Bagley is the Region 13 Elementary Teacher of the Year, one of 40 regional teachers who now
advance to the finals for Texas Teacher of the Year. Region 13 includes 60 school districts, 18 charter schools,
19 private schools, and eight institutes of higher education in 16 Central Texas counties. Bagley is a veteran educator of 40 years, and was instrumental in starting the dyslexia program at all SMCISD schools. She has been
a Dyslexia Specialist for K-5th grades at Crockett Elementary since 1993. Pictured from left are David Castillo,
Lupe Costilla, Kathy Hansen, Margie Villalpando, Bagley, SMCISD Superintendent Mark Eads, Judy Allen, Paul
Mayhew and John Crowley.
Council…
(From Page 1)
issue.
"We have an opportunity here to take a step
forward in the community," Central Texas
Medical Center
President/CEO Sam
Huenergardt told the
council during the public comment period. He
said making San
Marcos a smoke-free
city could make the city
more attractive to businesses looking to relocate.
Such a designation
would present "our city
and our citizens as dedicated, committed to
better health, which will
allow us to be a better
community going forward," Huenergardt
said.
San Marcos' current
ordinance went into
effect in 1995.
It allows smoking in
designated areas with
proper signage and ventilation and "some
degree of separation
between smoking and
non-smoking areas,"
Jamison said. It
exempts private social
events and businesses,
if compliance would
require "significant
expenditure."
Enforcement is by the
Environmental Health
Department and, unless
there is a complaint,
occurs only during
required annual inspections.
"We've had a high
level of compliance,"
Jamison said, explaining that only one citation has been written
since 1995 for someone
smoking in the
Children's Park.
The city held two
forums on second-hand
smoke and the possibility of stricter regulations in 2011 that were
attended by around 90
people.
"We did have conversations to see if we
might put this to the
voters. At that point it
did not receive the votes
to go," Guerrero said.
Some of the questions
put to residents then
included whether second-hand smoke is a
problem in San Marcos
(65 percent said yes, 42
percent said no) and
whether the city should
further restrict smoking
(51 percent said yes, 48
percent said no).
Council member Jude
Prather noted that "you
always want local control over local issues"
but said, "basically it
boils down to whose
rights do you want to
infringe on, those that
want to light up (or)
those that want clean
air?"
Council members
agreed they have many
decisions yet to make,
including whether
smoking should be
allowed on outdoor
patios and at other outside venues, sports
facilities and cigar
shops.
"The University is
tobacco free. The hospital is tobacco free, the
schools are," council
member Kim Porterfield
said.
The public hearing
will be sometime in
September.
“We fully intend to
comply with all environmental requirements. We
have from the start and
will continue to do so,”
Bryant said. “All I can
say is we’ve got a great
team of professionals
studying the issues.”
Proponents believe the
development would bring
in more jobs, increase
sales tax revenues and
bring more high-level,
property tax households
to San Marcos.
Bryant said that Lazy
Oaks LLP chose San
Marcos for this new subdivision because of the
need for something like
this in the community.
“San Marcos is a wonderful place with tremendous opportunity. It has
all of the building blocks
to be one of Texas’ premier cities,” Bryant said.
“I think this type of
housing project is an important next step. (Lazy
Oaks LLP) saw it as an
opportunity that had yet
to be met and we
thought the time was
right.”
Mayor Daniel Guerrero
echoed that idea at the
ribbon cutting this morning. He primarily
thanked those in attendance, especially those
who served on the subcommittee that worked
with the Lazy Oaks
agreement. He said the
Lazy Oaks subdivision “is
going to fill a gap in the
San Marcos community.”
The subdivision agreement allows for approximately 371 acres with up
to three homes per acre,
while another 282 acres
would have a maximum
of two homes per acre,
followed by 213 acres
allow one home per acre
and 60 acres would require minimum lot sizes
of 10 acres.
But the sizes and price
ranges of the homes have
yet to be determined by
Lazy Oaks LLP.
“We want to react
properly to market demands and what the
needs of the community
are,” Bryant said. “Ultimately, we’re going to
seek guidance from the
community and area Realtors to what they see as
the area demand and
we’ll certainly take that
into account. But we
think it will be a firstclass residential community.”
Lazy Oaks is billed as
first-class community
that will not include student housing, and will
have a few spots of possible commercial space.
The plan also calls for a
100-foot “buffer zone”
separating the project
from the Academy and
other nearby neighborhoods.
Once ground breaks,
different stages of the
Lazy Oaks…
(From Page 1)
within 12 months as
Lazy Oaks LLP is still
studying development issues that will affect “the
exact timing of when we
break ground.”
These issues are “typical” next-tier, development issues, including
studying the most efficient way to provide utilities, subdivision layout
and second-tier development stages of the road
leading to the subdivision and the Academy.
Lazy Oaks is working
closely with the Academy
on the project.
“We have a very positive relationship with the
Academy,” Bryant said.
“We feel like what we accomplished with this initial entrance way was a
win-win. We think this
community that we’re
going to develop will be a
source of enrollment
support for the Academy
and the presence of this
campus will be a selling
point for the future residents of Lazy Oaks.”
When the plans were
proposed to the City
Council in February, it
was met with some opposition. Most were concerned about the
environment as the land
sits on the Edwards
Aquifer recharge zone.
The planning agreement
calls for about 400 acres
of permanent conservation space.
The city of Kyle issued a public health
alert Monday afternoon
concerning a dead bat
found in Kyle.
The alert referenced
the finding of the bat
almost a week ago, on
Aug. 14, on the sidewalk on the east side of
the building at 100 W.
Center Street in Kyle.
The bag was tested by
the Department of State
Health Services and
found to be positive for
rabies, a contagious
and potentially fatal
disease.
Kyle authorities said
they were alerted to the
bat at 9 a.m. that
morning, and urge any-
one who thinks they
might have come in
contact with it to call
Kyle Animal Control at
(512) 268-8800 or the
Department of State
Health Services Zoonosis Control at (254)
778-6744.
Central Texas is
home to millions of
Mexican free-tail bats
during the summer
months.
Mostly, they spend
their winters farther
south and begin their
migration in October.
Skunks, possums,
raccoons and any other
mammal can carry the
rabies virus. It is
against Texas law to
keep a dog or cat for a
pet that has not been
vaccinated against rabies.
Democrats plan LBJ bash
From Staff Reports
The Hays County
Democratic Party hosts
its annual LBJ Birthday
Bash and Fundraiser
from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday at Kyle’s Texas Old
Town.
Admission is free,
though donations are encouraged. The event features a potluck supper
and democrat memorabilia collection, as well as
several speakers vital to
the Democratic Party in
Central Texas.
Keynote speakers include United States Congressman Lloyd Doggett,
State Senator Judith Zaffirini, Chairman of the
Texas Democratic Party
Gilberto Hinojosa and
Megan Klein of Battleground Texas.
Rep. Doggett serves on
committees with jurisdiction over Social Security,
Medicare, budget issues,
and other programs that
assist struggling families.
Sen. Zaffirini, Chair of
the Higher Education
Committee, is the highest-ranking woman and
Hispanic in the Texas
project will be developed
out over a number of
years.
“We hope to be good
neighbors and an asset
to this community,”
Bryant said. “We hope to
continue to add to this
wonderful community.”
Senate, and has been a
tireless advocate for
Texas State University.
This year’s LBJ event
also commemorates the
50th anniversary of the
historic March on Washington, where the Rev.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
inspired our nation with
his “I Have a Dream”
speech. The partnership
between Dr. King and
President Lyndon B.
Johnson resulted in the
Civil Rights Act and the
Voting Rights Act — two
landmark pieces of American legislation.
“Tragically, over the
last year, we’ve seen that
we cannot take this
progress for granted,”
said Jon Leonard, secretary of the Hays County
Democratic Party. “We’ve
seen the clock turned
back on the hopes and
dreams of generations.
We’ve seen new barriers
to voting and an erosion
of the rights of women.
This will not stand. The
Democratic Party here in
Hays County, and
throughout the nation, is
at the forefront of the
fight to restore these
rights to all Americans.”