The San Marcos City Council passed a long-awaited ordinance outlawing commercial scooters from the city limits during Tuesday's Meeting.
The ordinance prohibits commercial scooter companies from placing or “dumping” motor-assisted scooters on public property, streets and sidewalks and prohibits residents from using them. However, the ordinance leaves room for future city-approved pilot programs with commercial scooter companies.
Residents can continue to own and operate their own scooters for personal use.
City Manager Bert Lumbreras wrote in a memo that the primary purpose of the resolution is, “to protect the public health, welfare and safety.”
Commercial scooter companies that violate the ordinance will face fines up to $2,000 and residents could face a fine up to $50 for using them. There is also a $50 per day fee for each scooter impounded.
The city is also set to open parks on Friday for active recreation, as many other cities throughout Texas continue to open.
Public Safety Director Chase Stapp said, “People love our parks and out rivers and they miss using the amenities of our cities. It’s becoming clear that if we keep our parks completely closed, we will be an outlier in the state of Texas.”
Stapp said case numbers continue to be on the rise, and at one point on Monday there was an active case count of 87. “There is no indication at this point that cases are going down.”
In other businesses, nursing homes are being tested for COVID-19 as mandated by the governor. Nursing homes in Dripping Springs and Wimberley have already been tested by the fire department and the rest of the county is next up.
The Women Infant and Children program received a grant for $9,805 related to COVID-19 relief.
Councilmember Joca Marquez proposed revision to the Code of Ethics to prevent it from being used as a political weapon or as a tactic to embarrass councilmembers or the city. She cited the fact that the city had to pay over $8,000 in attorney’s fees to advise on one of her three ethics complaint cases as a reason to revise the code.
The city’s attorney, Michael Cosentino is returning to council with potential amendments to accomplish this goal.
In zoning news, an area of 44.99 acres of land located at 4087 State Highway 21 was rezoned to a Manufactured Home District (MH) for some future affordable housing. A representative said renting manufactured homes costs 20-30% less than renting an apartment of a comparable size.
Some councilmembers were hesitant given that the area is near the airport, but they ultimately approved the rezoning, 4-3, saying they are running out of space in San Marcos proper and don’t want to get boxed in by suburbs.
There was no public comment related to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) but council did amend the 2015-2019 CDBG Consolidated Plan to add Economic Development as a funding category and add the Community Development Block Grant-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) allocation of $425,261.
Council also approved a contract with OpenGov, Inc. to make years of financial data accessible to citizens and staff through an online portal; the contract is worth $60,000.
