During a regular session Monday the Lytle City Council voted 4-0 to approve a proposed tax rate of $0.446405 per $100 valuation for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The tax rate will be subject to public hearings before a final vote on passage. City Administrator Zachary Meadows said the proposed rate is slightly below the calculated maximum rate allowed by law without requiring voter approval.
However, the proposed rate does exceed the “no new revenue rate,” the amount that would produce the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year. The proposed rate was approved on a motion by District 3 Alderman David Emery, seconded by District 1 Alderwoman Anna Carrillo. District 5 Alderman Matthew Martinez was absent for the vote.
Category: Lytle City Council Meetings
Water line installation to serve Lytle data center expectedin mid-August
Work to install water lines to service construction of a massive $500 million “hyperscaler” data center near Lytle’s Coal Mine neighborhood is expected to start in mid-August, East Medina County Special Utility District field manager Ronnie Lemmons told the EMCSUD board July 22.
The contractor is “anticipating starting around mid-August and actually installing lines on the eastern end of the district, starting where the plant is going to be,” Lemmons said.
The 440-acre plant site owned by Rowan Digital Infrastructure is located in Lytle’s extra territorial jurisdiction, referring to an area surrounding a city’s corporate limits where it has powers related to land development and annexation, but not full municipal services.
Dubbed “Project Cinco,” the data center is expected to bring nearly 600 construction jobs to the community.
Lemmons said the initial water lines will cross CR 679 and CR 6712 to reach the Project Cinco property. Later phases of the construction will involve running a water line from FM 471 to CR 570 by way of FM 463.
Projected cost on the water lines alone is $7.5 million, Lemmons said.
By comparison to the $1.4 billion Microsoft data center project located along U.S. 90 W and FM 1957 near Castroville, Project Cinco is farther ahead with regard to water line development, Lemmons said. Both projects are…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle council moves forward with improving Coal Mine access
By Anton Riecher
A task order for engineering work to extend Juarez Street to FM 683 and grant Lytle’s Coal Mine neighborhood a second entrance and exit was approved by the Lytle City Council Monday night.
“You are taking a vote that is solving an issue that the city has had for 130 years plus,” said Mayor Ruben Gonzalez. “We are finally going to be able to take care of our Coal Mine residents by providing them a secondary entrance and exit for emergencies.”
At present, the only entrance and exit for Coal Mine is a railroad crossing that is frequently blocked by passing trains.
The extension is part of a development agreement with Rowan Digital Infrastructure in connection with a massive $500 million “hyperscaler” data center dubbed “Project Cinco” that is expected to begin construction near Coal Mine in mid-August.
Under the development deal, the cost of the engineering work will be reimbursed to the city, Gonzalez said.
On a motion by District 3 Alderman Dick Emery, the council approved the task order with TRC Engineers by a vote of 4-0. District 2 Alderman Richard Hughes was absent from the meeting.
Much of the Monday night meeting was taken up with considering applications for zoning variances. City Attorney Austin Beck said that since Lytle has no board of adjustment to consider such variances the chores falls to the city council.
On a variance request at 19942 John Wayne Road in the Saddleridge Estates subdivision, the council split two-to-two on an application to allow placement of an above ground swimming pool three and a half feet from the rear property line. The setback requirement is 15 feet, already half of the requirement for most of Lytle, City Administrator Zachary Meadows explained.
Property owner Linda Atwood said that the present 15-foot setback “would put the pool in our living room.” She explained that a deeper pool was needed for physical therapy. The requested variance had been recommended by the city planning and zoning commission.
However…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle council tables action on closing portion of public street to provide parking
By Anton Riecher
Action to close a portion of Davis Street to provide parking for a local sports bar was tabled by the Lytle City Council Monday pending further negotiations with the bar owners.
Meanwhile, the bar, 702 Tejas, was granted a temporary waiver to the city noise ordinance to accommodate live entertainment planned for Aug. 30 ending at midnight.
The bar recently lost access to much of the local parking when a nearby doughnut shop chose to fence its property, City Administrator Zachary Meadows. The small portion of Davis Street under consideration is unusual in that it is divided by a tree in the right-of-way.
Asked for his opinion by Mayor Pro Tem David Emery, Police Chief Richard Priest said that the tree limits much of the access the street provides for emergency response vehicles.
“I’m not normally in favor of cities getting rid of roads but if there ever was a case for it this would probably be it,” Priest said.
With Mayor Ruben Gonzalez and District 2 Alderman Richard Hughes absent, the quorum of three opted to postpone any final decision on the sale pending an appraisal paid for by the bar owners.
With regard to the ordinance waiver, Meadows said the action is similar to requests made by various local organizations for special occasions.
Leaders spend 50 minutes in Executive Session on water issue
Following more than 50 minutes in closed executive session, the council voted 3-0 to authorize Meadows to enter into negotiations with the Edwards Aquifer Authority to reach a settlement in some undisclosed dispute. He is also authorized to negotiate the possible purchase of additional water rights.
The council also reviewed several points with regard to a…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle council re-evaluates priorities for fiscal year 25-2026
By Anton Riecher
During a regular meeting of the Lytle City Council Monday, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez asked members to re-evaluate the current ranking of council priorities for consideration during fiscal year 2025-2026.
“Some of these have actually been on here for years,” Gonzalez said. “Some have already been worked on, maybe taken care of, but they are still priorities based on the rankings. We’ve got to look at them individually.”
The current priorities, as officially ranked by the council, include:
Stormwater and drainage,
Water infrastructure repairs and replacement,
Replacement or maintenance of water valves around the city,
Comprehensive plan (the current plan expires this year) and code updates completion,
Wastewater treatment plant,
New water well.
Miscellaneous street paving.
Each alderman listed their priority rankings…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle council faces tough decisions on wastewater rate hike in next five years
Matthew Garrett, managing director of client relations for NewGen, offered the council rate projections for the future.
By Anton Riecher
With the number of water and sewer customers expected to grow by 700 connections in the next five years, the Lytle City Council reviewed a presentation on recommended rate projections offered by a consulting firm specializing in public sector finances.
Based on the June 16 presentation by NewGen Strategies and Solutions, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said the council will most likely keep water rates at their present levels. However, wastewater and sewer rates may see a percentage increase in collection fees in order to fund more than $15.3 million in infrastructure expansion.
Gonzalez said the presentation drove home two important points. The first involves water.
“Basically our city is on track and where we need to be in the sense that we already had some of the major projects funded,” Gonzalez said.
Unfortunately, the second point, expansion of wastewater infrastructure, needs to be a focus of concern, he said.
“That one needed to be targeted,” Gonzalez said. “With this presentation we’re getting it down in black and white what we need to do in the near future.”
Matthew Garrett, managing director of client relations for NewGen, offered the council rate projections for the future, recommendations and “thoughts to be considered taking action in the future based on our input.”
“Obviously, the utility fund is an enterprise fund,” Garrett said. “We’d like it to be self-sufficent.”
Garrett’s entire presentation and 2025-2026 budget proposals by several city department is included in video coverage posted by the Devine News’ YouTube channel.
Lytle council reviews local water restrictions in place
Catherine Vaughn, new president of the Greater Lytle Area Chamber of Commerce, delivered an update on chamber activities to the Lytle City Council during a regular session meeting Monday.
By Anton Riecher
Meeting in regular session Monday, the Lytle City Council discussed the need to remind residents of the different restrictions that take effect at the various levels of water restriction invoked by the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
Meadows said the issue was brought home recently when EAA rescinded Stage 5 water restrictions only days after putting them in place.
“Since we are having this kind of back and forth we just wanted to again bring forth those measures that we have provided, making sure we are speaking about them and being transparent about the items listed,” he said.
For example, residential swimming pools require a permit from the city. At Stage 5, a request made to permit a swimming pool is automatically rejected, Meadows said. However, at Stage 4, a residential pool is allowed to operate but water must come from a source separate from the city water system, i.e., a private well.
After more than a year at Stage 4 in Lytle, city residents sometimes tend to…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Executive session…Lytle secures deal for future water needs for city
By Anton Riecher
Following a executive session, the Lytle City Council approved an agreement with the Nueces River Authority for the purchase of future water needs for the city. Travis Pruski, chief operating officer with NRA, said the sale is part of a project to provide nearly 40 million gallons to small water districts south of San Antonio.
“This is extremely important to us and to the region,” Pruski said. “We call it internally our South Texas moonshot.”
Other communities expected to be included in the project include Castroville, Hondo and Jourdanton, he said…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle approves development agreement for hyperscaler project
By Anton Riecher
At a May 28 special meeting, the Lytle City Council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement with Rowan Digital Infrastructure as the latest step in the planned construction of a $500 million large scale build-to-suit data center slated to bring nearly 600 construction jobs to the community this summer.
“Obviously we’ve been working really closely for the last few months on multiple phases of the development that’s going to occur for the data center,” said City Administrator Zachary Meadows. “This is the next step, an actual development agreement laying out certain terms.”
The agreement lays out a schedule for annexation of the 440-acre project site located in the city’s extra territorial jurisdiction near the Coal Mine neighborhood. ETJ refers to an area surrounding the city’s corporate limits where it has powers related to land development and annexation, but not full municipal services.
According to Meadows, the agreement would impose a “carbon copy” of Lytle’s zoning regulations for industrial districts on the project. The agreement also…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Lytle pressures AT&T for credit due; goes into executive session to discuss water billing and acquisition/condemnation proceeding
By Anton Riecher
An ongoing struggle with AT&T regarding credit due following the cancellation of internet communication services with the city of Lytle may require legal intervention in the future, the Lytle City Council learned Monday.
Frontera Concepts president John Garza told the council that AT&T has not been forthcoming with billing credit due after the city opted to move internet communication to Rise Broadband last July. Frontera handles IT support for the city.
“We’ve made no progress up to this point other than we have submitted every piece of documentation we can possibility submit to them,” Garza said.…
LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!