San Marcos Council Items to watch: Charter Review changes, Lions Club lease, COVID small business grant program

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

On Tuesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. the San Marcos City Council will be holding a virtual meeting and discuss important issues such as the Lions Club Lease, Revive SMTX small business grant program and amendments to the city charter. 

Lions Club Lease

San Marcos City Council will be voting on if they should increase the yearly lease of Lion’s Club Tube Rental. 

• This is the first time that city staff has NOT recommended a Parks & Rec Commission vote to the council. 
• The Parks & Rec Committee is recommending that the council raise the yearly lease from $12,000 to $120,000, which is a 1000% increase.
• If the Lions Club’s yearly lease payment is raised to $120,000 per year, the amount that the Lions Club would have for their donations would drop in half. Roughly from $300,000 to donate to $180,000 left for donations.

Revive SMTX small business grant program

Revive SMTX provides local businesses with federal funds to help them get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants will be eligible to receive up to $5,000 per business. The funds can be used for operation safety, sanitation training, PPE and digital redesign for social distancing.

As of March 19, 2021, 95 applications had been received and reviewed per program criteria. 54 are complete, 12 incomplete, and 29 were ineligible. If all 54 complete applications provide acceptable documentation of expenses, the funding needed will exceed 150% of the amount available.

Charter Review Commission

The Charter Review Commission is the entity appointed by the City Council to inquire into the operations of the city and review the city charter to determine whether it requires revision. Below is a list of some of the proposed amendments to the city charter that will be discussed during the April 6 meeting. 

• Changing the term of office for the position of mayor from 2 years to 4 years, effective at the regular election in November of 2024
• Placing a limit of two consecutive terms for the position of mayor.
• Retaining the three-year term of office for council members but imposing a limit of three consecutive terms
• Eliminate the requirement to obtain city council approval of appointments to the following positions: assistant city clerks (Section 4.02); assistant city managers (Section 4.01); municipal court clerk and assistants (Section 4.03); and assistant city attorneys (Section 4.04).

Persons wishing to participate (speak) during the Citizen Comment portion of the meeting must email citizencomment@sanmarcostx.gov prior to 12:00PM the day of the meeting. A call-in number to join by phone or link will be provided for participation on a mobile device, laptop or desktop computer.