Monday Morning
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Let us know at council@thecorridor.org if you find a bad link or have ideas for additional links or format changes. UPCOMING FACILITY TOUR - The Economic Development Committee is planning a target market tour of the Continental Automotive Plant in Seguin, Texas on 3/21 starting at 10:00 am. Members of the Corridor Council will be escorted on a very informative tour and presentation of the facility (former Motorola Plant). Interested in attending please contact Jeff Webb at 512-558-7360 or jeffwebb@thecorridor.org Following a request by the Corridor Council, Cibolo last month joined about 20 other local political jurisdictions in the Austin-San Antonio Corridor by passing a resolution supporting financing the Texas Rail Relocation And Improvement fund with a $200 million appropriation during the current Legislative session. |
Infrastructure |
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In a flurry of bill filings at the end of last week, State Representative Ruth McClendon (San Antonio) has proposed various funding mechanisms for the Texas Rail Relocation And Improvement Fund, including a rider for the appropriations bill that would authorize $150 million out of the General Revenue Fund for rail relocation projects. Carlos Guerra, columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, recaps how and why we got into the current toll road controversy and suggests more mass transit and higher fuel taxes as the solution. Click for more details. The city limits of Lockhart will expand later this year to take in the Lockhart State Park. The 640-acre annexation is referred to as the Southwest Annexation, and stretches from the city limits on FM20 west to the property line of the Lockhart State Park, and from FM20 to Cunningham Drive. More details. San Marcos has hired a consultant to set up a citywide wireless system that could provide free or low-cost public Internet access. The $180,000 contract will develop a proposal request for providers of a Wi-Fi system, help the city chose a provider and negotiate a contract — ideally for private funding of most or all capital expenses — and serve as project manager for installing the system. More details. The state's retail gasoline prices surged for the fifth straight week, according to AAA's weekly gas price survey. Austin-area gas went up from $2.08 a month ago for regular-grade to the current price of $2.38. San Antonio's regular -grade gas is selling for $2.34. Most of the Texas Senate and a third of the Texas House members have signed on to bills that would establish a moratorium on toll projects across the state. Impacts on the construction schedules for Segments 5 & 6 of SH 130 from Lockhart to Seguin are unclear at this time, and there is still a lot of room for Legislative wrangling. For more analysis go here. Legendary San Antonio businessman Red McCombs is weighing in on the State's transportation needs with an opinion piece being circulated to newspapers across Texas. In typically blunt McCombs style, he says the idea of a slowdown on building toll roads (see above item) is flawed: "A moratorium or to do nothing is absolutely senseless. Courage. Keep Texas moving. Courage." McComb’s Editorial San Marcos city council members head to Washington D.C. this week to seek just under $10 million for improvements to the city's airport - rumored to be in the running as site for a major new economic development prospect. The airport boasts three runways over 6000 feet and 20,000 gallons of fuel capacity. A new terminal and other infrastructure improvements would be built with the Federal dollars. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) introduced, earlier this month, the ‘Program for Real Energy Security’ or the ‘PROGRESS Act’ (H.R. 1300), which would authorize millions of dollars for freight- and commuter-rail infrastructure improvements. Read more here. State Senator Kirk Watson has filed a bill - SB 669 - to keep State Highway 71 through the Hill Country one of Texas' scenic gems. But the road is under enormous pressure from development and Watson's measure would forbid future billboards on Highway 71 between Austin's city limits and SH 16 through Llano. Read More. |
Economic Development |
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A 203,819-sq ft new Wal-Mart Super Center is set to open in Pflugerville on 3/14. Located on FM 685, it is near the new toll highways of SH 130 and SH 45. Gary S. Farmer, President of Heritage Title Company of Austin, has received the highest honor awarded by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce as Austinite of the Year for 2006. Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc., San Antonio largest engineering firm, has bought Overby Descamps Engineers Inc. Overby Descamps' staff and local operations have been integrated with Pape-Dawson's headquarters at 555 E. Ramsey. The recent flap over the quality of medical care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington could prove to have some positive financial impacts on Central Texas military medical facilities as increased scrutiny leads to more funding. An analysis of Temple-area impacts here. Bargas Medical Manufacturing Inc. will formally break ground on its new headquarters facility in the Bastrop Business and Industrial Park. There will be a ceremony on 3/15 at the new building’s site. |
Communities Section |
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Citing the oft-used 'need to take the city in a different direction,' Helotes officials terminated city administrator Marie Gelles late last week, according to mayor Jon Allan. More details. Seguin lost distinguished citizen Elizabeth Erskine “Budgie” Hollamon last week, a local historian who was a descendant of six pioneer Guadalupe County families. She had maintained a family residence that an ancestor had moved by ox-cart to Seguin from Prairie Lea in the 1850s. |
Thought for the Week |