San Marcos City Council Approves Resolution Opposing Kinder Morgan Permian Highway Pipeline

Staff Reports

The San Marcos City Council chamber was full of members of the community on Tuesday, March 5, as the council considered a resolution opposing the proposed route of the Kinder Morgan Permian Highway Pipeline through Hays County.

Council heard from two speakers during their discussion of a formal resolution of opposition to the Permian Hwy Pipeline.

Greg Neil spoke in favor of the pipeline citing the extensive process and review of environmental impacts and other factors, which went into the development of the pipeline’s proposed route.

Neil stated he was not a representative of Kinder Morgan, but he was working with the company, who had reviewed his comment before Tuesday’s meeting.  Neil said he was a consultant with the company.

Neil asked council members to reject the resolution opposing the pipeline and encouraged the community to engage Kinder Morgan instead of attempting to “sanction the company.”

“If we have challenges, let’s find a way; if we have questions, let’s discover answers, and if we run into real difficulties, let’s work together,” Neil said.

Ashley Waymouth, Managing Director of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, gave a 10-minute presentation on the concerns and threats the pipeline could pose to Hays County.

The $2 billion project is expected to impact 82 properties in Hays County and will cross several environmentally sensitive areas in the hill country with its proposed route.

Waymouth discussed recent studies done by local scientists to determine exactly how water flows through the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers and how the pipeline could impact the water in the area.

The Permian Hwy Pipeline’s proposed route currently runs through the center of Hays County between Wimberley and Dripping Springs and Kyle. The route will cross the Edwards Aquifer Recharge zone but also cross the Blanco River at least twice.

“The Wimberley Valley Watershed Association is not against the energy company,” Waymouth said. “We are not against the employees of Kinder Morgan.”

Waymouth said the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association have been working in the valley for the past 23 years with “hydrogeologists across the area to develop the science and understanding of our aquifer and the way that our water flows to our springs that we all readily rely on and depend on…”

Waymouth said there were 72 thousand miles of pipeline in Texas; none of them come through the hill country the way Kinder Morgan’s does.

Council members expressed concerns on why the project was proposed for such a densely populated area.

There were no representatives of Kinder Morgan present at the meeting to answer council members’ questions regarding the project. San Marcos’s resolution opposing the Permian Hwy Pipeline proposed route can be read on page 165 of the agenda packet.

San Marcos joins Kyle and Hays County in unanimously approving a resolution of opposition to the Pipeline’s proposed route through the hilly country. 

In other news, council members approved the award of contracts to Ultimate Roofing Systems of Cedar Park to replace the roof on the Price Center and the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter.

Ultimate Roofing System of Cedar Park received a contract award in the amount of $108,904.04 to install a Durolast roof on the animal shelter; the company also received the award a contract in the amount of $89,938.35 for a new roof on the Price Center. 

Council also approved an interlocal cooperation agreement between the City of San Marcos and Hays County establishing the Hays County Unmanned Robotics Team.

The Hays County Sheriff’s Office and the San Marcos Police Department are in the early stages of forming unmanned robotics teams to make use of both unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ground-based robots.

The unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ground-based robots will allow for greater capacity to document crime scenes, conduct area searches and ensure the safety of personnel on the ground during tactical operations.

Accompanying the interlocal agreement was an item to amend the city’s 2018-2019 Fiscal Year Budget to allocate a total amount not to exceed of $65,000.00 from State Seized Asset Funds to provide funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle drone equipment and supporting hardware to support the capabilities of the Police Department’s unmanned robotics team. 

Council member Lisa Prewitt and Council Member Jocabed Marquez expressed concerns on privacy.

Council member Prewitt asked that the police department is continuously looking at other communities with similar capabilities that experience issues with breaches in privacy and make sure that the San Marcos residents and surrounding communities are always protected.

Council passed the budget amendment on the first of two readings and the Interlocal agreement with a 7-0 vote.