San Marcos City Council addresses concerns over flooding, drainage

The San Marcos City Council held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss last week’s floods and address concerns residents had over drainage issues in certain areas. Over 40 homes reported major flood damage and the San Marcos Fire Department reported 60 water rescues were made. Photo: Elizabeth Parrish

The San Marcos City Council addressed concerns over last week’s flooding and drainage issues at the meeting Tuesday night.

After heavy rains caused flooding in multiple parts of San Marcos, citizens were concerned about the effectiveness of current drainage systems. The Engineering and Capital Improvements Program is currently working on a number of programs that would provide long-term solutions to flooding.

“We’re completing a drainage masterplan. We’ll use all of the information that we gather from this rainfall event and look at projects that we’ve already identified and see if they would address the problems we saw,” said Laurie Moyer, director of Engineering and CIP. “If not, do they need to be expanded? Do they need to be tweaked? Do we need to look at other projects?”

The city council will be hosting a workshop at 5:30 p.m. Monday to discuss possible long-term solutions to flooding. The workshop will be open to the public.

Students at Texas State University also expressed concern that the university did not cancel classes until 2 p.m. despite the fact that flooding began around 12:30 p.m.

Residents wait for the city council meeting to begin. They were allowed three minutes per person to voice concerns and express opinions over a number of issues, including several proposed ordinances. Photo: Elizabeth Parrish

“As an educator, I wish we had more outreach with Texas State University and they would be a little more proactive shutting down those classes,” said Lisa-Marie Coppoletta, a communications professor at Austin Community College.

Moyer said that more direct communication between students and the city is one solution to bringing awareness of flood dangers to students.

“We try to always work closely with the university, so maybe that’s something we can strive to do better, to get word out to students too so they’re protected,” said Moyer.

A video of two Texas State students surfing through floodwaters circulated on social media days following the floods. The City Council also showed several photos at the meeting of students attempting to wade through floodwaters to reach their vehicles or homes.

The San Marcos Fire Department reported approximately 60 flood rescues were made last week, most of which were stranded drivers. No deaths or major injuries were reported.

The San Marcos City Council reminds citizens to follow “turn around, don't drown” when driving through heavy rains. They also advise against attempts to walk through flood waters due to visibility dangers.

The San Marcos library experienced major flood damage, mainly to their computers, and over 35 residents reported major damages to their homes. Approximately seven businesses were damaged by floods.

The council asks residents to please report any flood damage to their website. For anyone in need of major debris removal, contact TDS Bulky Waste at 1-800-375-8375, extension two, for one free pick-up.

At the meeting, city council members also discussed a petition to incorporate a Parking Permit Program. A decision on the program has been postponed until the next meeting to give residents more time to be educated on what the program would mean for their neighborhood.

A number of ordinances were also up for consideration, including an ordinance that eliminates the requirement of a verbal warning for display and consumption of alcohol in public parks. The ordinance passed 7-0.