The City of Lytle will be hosting a townhall style meeting soon to ask citizens their opinion on the establishment of a Drainage or Stormwater Utility, and if taxes or a fee should be used as the funding source.
It is a viable strategy for local governments to respond to the challenge of generating reliable revenue to support stormwater management activities. Setting up a drainage utility allows a community to establish a user fee based on the demands property owners place on the drainage system. Fees
The council voted to go to the public to ask their opinion on how to proceed at their April 22 council meeting.
Category: City & County Politics
Information you need to know about the City of Devine, Medina County Commissioner’s Court, City of Natalia, City of Lytle, and our local Emergency Service Districts.
Devine council approves preliminary deal to lease airport hangar in return for capital improvements
By Anton Riecher
By a vote of 4 to1 the Devine City Council approved drafting a contract to lease Hangar 10 at the city-owned airport to a construction contractor offering to supplement a modest monthly rent of $500 with an estimated $120,000 in capital improvements within two years.
“My purpose is to beautify the facility and make it look like we know what we’re doing because we are going to try to sell services to the aviation community,” Devine resident Dallas Collins told the council at its April 16th regular session.
City Administrator David Jordan agreed to work with City Attorney Thomas Cate to draft a five-year lease agreement for presentation to the council for final approval.
District 5 Council Member Debbie Randall was alone in opposing…
Interviews for EMS director for ESD4 revamp underway, some tensions
By Anton Riecher
A lack of director-level experience in applicants to head the revamped EMS/ambulance program proposed for Medina County Emergency Services District No. 4 led to an unscheduled executive session during the district board’s April 2 meeting, but the board decided to proceed with the committee interview process as planned. As of press time April 23 several applicants of the nine that applied for EMS Director have been interviewed by the 3 member committee already. And two doctors have been interviewed for the Medical Director position.
Another meeting was conducted by the ESD4 last week. Minutes are not available yet.
The following information if from the April 2, 2024 meeting:
MCESD No. 4 treasurer Juan Zamora, participating in the meeting via internet connection on April 2, brought his concerns about attracting experienced leadership before the board.
“We’re starting…
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Voters face a mammoth $290 million bond issue in Medina Valley ISD
MVISD enrollment was at 3,870 just a little over 10 years ago, and is expected to explode to more than 18,000 within the next 10 years.
By Anton Riecher
In the Devine-Natalia-Lytle region, Medina County voters will decide on more than $54.4 million in bond issue proposals for their respective school districts this May. While certainly significant, that burden pales by comparison to what Medina Valley ISD alone is asking on its May ballot — $290 million.
MVISD board member Jason Bonney attributes the need to phenomenal expansion in enrollment experienced by the district.
“For the past few years we’ve had a crazy amount of enrollment and growth,” Bonney said. “We rank as the fifth fastest growing school district in Texas.”
The $290 million request comes only about a year after voters approved a $376 million bond issue for construction of a second high school and other district improvements, district superintendent Scott Caloss said in a video posted to the district’s website.
“In last year’s bonds we addressed the overcapacity at our high school,” Caloss said. “In this bond, we are having to address the capacities of our middle schools and elementaries.”
If approved, the new bond issue would cover the addition of a middle school and two elementary campuses, among other district improvements.
Medina Valley ISD covers 296 square miles of Medina and Bexar counties including the communities of Castroville, La Coste, Rio Medina, Dunlay and Mico. The district boasts more than 8,700 students distributed across eight campuses – five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.
Despite the trumpeting of development along the Austin-San Antonio corridor, a generous amount of San Antonio’s metropolitan growth is moving west into Medina County. The county subdivision map displays an explosion of housing projects west of Loop 1604 bearing names such as Potranco West, Alsatian Oaks, Megan’s Landing and Hunter Ranch.
That expansion shows no sign of letting up. Only last March plans for a new $700 million subdivision between Castroville and San Antonio was announced. Add to this Microsoft’s new $1 billion data center just outside of Castroville and the result is a school district swamped by incoming families.
“Because the growth in the San Antonio-Bexar County area is so overwhelming the current middle schools and high school just cannot facilitate the number of students projected,” Bonney said. “We are projected to be at our maximum in our current middle schools and elementary schools by next year.”
As of 2023 district enrollment stood at 8,727 students, of which slightly more than 5,225 attend elementary schools. Even with a new elementary opening this fall, that attendance is expected to be over the district’s capacity by 2025-26. By 2028-29, elementary attendance is projected to reach 7,000 students.
The district’s middle schools, with slightly over 2,000 students in attendance, are also expected to be overcapacity by 2025-26. Middle school attendance is expected to hit 3,000 students by 2028-29.
Within a decade, total district enrollment is projected to swell by at least 1,000 new students, projections posted on the district’s website state.
While Texans continue to struggle with high property taxes, a key point in winning support for the MVISD bond issue is that no tax rate increase is tied to the latest bond proposal. Each new home sold increases the appraised value of the property it stands on, Bonney said.
The projection on population growth in the next few years stands at between 10 and 12 percent. That represents 14,000 new homes either…
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Medina commissioners approve legal agreement to protect historic courthouse
By Anton Riecher
Medina County Judge Keith Lutz cast the tie-breaking vote Monday on whether the county would grant the Texas Historical Commission a “preservation easement” as a condition of receiving a courthouse preservation grant.
“In my opinion we are putting another person at the table with us when it is time to make decisions about the courthouse,” Lutz said.
In March Medina County commissioners unanimously approved the intermediate step in a three-phase program to qualify for a potential $10 million in state funding to renovate the county courthouse in Hondo. That application was submitted to the THC April 5.
As part of that application the THC is asking the commissioners to grant…
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City of Devine elections underway
By Victoria Arredondo
Staff Writer
The City of Devine will hold its General Election on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at City Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additional early voting hours will be held Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and April 29 and 30 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting will take place in Devine Municipal Building, 303 S. Teel Drive Devine, TX 78016.
The District 3 race will be between the incumbent Stacy Pyron and candidate Jeff Miller. The District 1 race will be between the incumbent Rufino Vega and candidate Ray Gonzales.
Jeff Miller
Ray Gonzales
Stacy Pyron
Ruffino Vega
Sales Tax Holiday for Emergency Supplies, April 27-29
(AUSTIN) — As we enter the severe weather season, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds Texans they can purchase certain items tax free during the state’s sales tax holiday for emergency preparation supplies, which begins at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, and ends at midnight on Monday, April 29.
“Fires, tornadoes and other severe weather conditions can strike at any time, so it is important that families, homes and businesses have the supplies they need to face these and other emergencies,” Hegar said. “There is no sense in waiting for disaster to strike. I’m encouraging Texans to take advantage of this tax holiday to save money while stocking up for emergency situations.”
Continue reading “Sales Tax Holiday for Emergency Supplies, April 27-29”
HANK and SJRC connection
By Anton Reicher and Kayleen Holder
In business discussed at Medina County Commissioner’s Court, it was announced that St. Jude’s Ranch for Children (SJRC Texas) will take the reins of property owned by HANK, Inc., a charity established 14 years ago by John and Debbie Southwell to provide food, clothing and shelter for hundreds of local foster children.
Workshop: Devine’s unique factors and value drivers discussed
By Anton Riecher
Historical buildings being allowed to decay by owners with no incentive to invest in their upkeep is significantly hindering downtown redevelopment in Devine, a couple of participants in an economic development workshop agreed.
John Gamble, a business professor with Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, said he has heard the same complaint in various small town communities across the state.
“What some communities have said is ‘We have codes in place to prevent this but we don’t have the enforcement capabilities,” Gamble said.
The workshop program, organized with the help of Texas A&M, consists of six 75-minute workshops schedule every three- or four-weeks to identify community…
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Zoning amendment triggers continued friction over Lytle mobile home park
By Anton Riecher
By a vote of 4-1 the Lytle City Council approved an amendment to local zoning ordinances March 6 establishing a separate designation for mobile home parks previously classified as “secondary businesses” under municipal regulations.
Molly Solis, serving as city attorney during a special session of the council, stressed that the change would not affect the Harris MH Park project underway north of the Interstate 35 access road which is effectively grandfathered under state law.
“You can’t change the game in the middle of the game,” Solis said.
District 5 Alderman Charles Cate was alone is voting against the amendment.
“I do not believe we have provided proper notice to everybody involved in…
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