Kyle leaders talk past, present, future at State of the City

This article has been updated to reflect a change from Alliance Industrial to Alliance Regional Water Authority.

KYLE — At the State of the City luncheon held on Tuesday, Aug. 22, hosted by the Kyle Chamber of Commerce, city leaders provided updates to constituents about the progress that has occurred in the past year, as well as showcased what the future holds.

Recap of the past year

Kyle City Council member Michael Tobias provided a recap for the audience by highlighting the most important events from the September of 2022 to now.

The first was the unveiling of Heroes Memorial Park on Sept. 11, 2022, to honor local heroes for their sacrifice. A procession of honor guards, the singing of the national anthem, moment of silence and flyover by the Commemorative Air Force Central Texas wing filled the event, along with tears from residents who attended. The marker was the beginning phase of the up-and-coming Brick and Mortar District and serves as a valuable landmark in the city.

The city was also chosen to host The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in May 2023.

Shortly after, ribbon cuttings for city facilities were held. The wastewater treatment plant expansion was opened on July 13 as a solution to the overwhelming growth that has occurred in Kyle over the past few years. Council approved and funded a 1.1-million-gallon expansion to the system, bringing the total to 4.5 million gallons for the city. According to Tobias, the expansion allows for the flexibility to repair and upgrade old treatment units.

On July 28, the long-awaited Public Safety Center, located at 1700 Kohlers Crossing, was revealed to the public and first responders. The 64,000-square-foot, two-story building, which includes administrative office spaces, training, briefing and locker room facilities, was a part of the 2020 Proposition A bond and serves as the new home of the Kyle Police Department.

Kyle also hosted the Kyle Fair A Tex-Travaganza, attracting more than 10,000 visitors from all over the globe. Tobias noted that he met a person named Kyle from Ireland as he participated in the world record attempt for the gathering of the most Kyles.

Regarding the outdoors, the city also hosted a groundbreaking for the Post Oak Community Garden, which includes 35 gardens and ADA compliant plots. It aims to serve 300 individuals and it, along with the new Kyle Public Library’s Seed Library, hopes to improve the consumption of fruits and vegetables and support the environment. There will also be a new inclusive playground at Lake Kyle Park, with phase one estimated to be complete in September 2023, that has flower-shaped musical bells, swings, a merry-go-round and more. The park is intended to benefit children with special needs and disabilities.

The playgrounds continue with two splash pads, which will open in late September or early October and consist of a water tower, buckets, a mushroom, toadstool and more. The splashpads will be located at Gregg Clarke Park and Steeplechase Park.

Finally, La Verde Park is slated for a ribbon cutting on Nov. 18 and will have fall-themed activities, such as a cornhole tournament, a chili cook-off and football.

“The progress our city has made — we can see it, we can hear it and we can touch it every day. So, to all of you out there and those of you who are watching, if you’re a small business owner, a hardworking resident that has been putting in long hours, a teacher or even a nurse, you make this possible,” said Tobias. “I’m proud to say [that] our small, little town with a little infamous Dairy Queen on the hill is growing up in a very big way. This, ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning.”

Employment

City manager Bryan Langley expressed similar sentiments by stating that the city has experienced explosive growth, with no signs of slowing down. To adapt to this expansion, the city has created nearly 60 new staff positions in the past year and is currently budgeting for another 38; among those are chief development officer and director of water utilities. These two positions will “assist with managing increasingly complex infrastructure and development projects that are coming to the city,” he said. In the past two years, the city has continued to expand its employment by 30%, bringing the total to 400 employees.

“Our goal is to be, quite simply, the employer of choice in this region. We want to have a great culture, great pay, great benefits and, most importantly, a great community. We believe we’re well on our way to doing all [of] those things,” said Langley.

The upcoming budget, to be adopted on Sept. 19, is focused on two priorities, according to Langley: public safety and street maintenance. Along with providing more than $500,000 for upgrades to public safety equipment, such as radios, bulletproof vests and software, the city is investing in multiple new positions for the public safety staff, such as a narcotics investigator, mental health officer, animal control officer and more in the upcoming fiscal year.

Moveability

The Vybe trail — an 84-mile, 10-foot-wide concrete sidewalk that will help create a walkable city — is underway. Currently, there are 6.6 miles constructed, 2.4 miles under construction, 14.8 miles in review and 10.4 miles planned for the new roads. There is also $4 million allocated to help create a nicer natural trail on the east side of Kyle.

Continuing projects from the $294 million bond include Goforth Road Heidenreich Lane, Bebee Road and multiple roads downtown will be reconstructed, as well as starting the design for a road to connect RM 150 to the new Limestone Creek developments. Other roads to expand movability in the city and expansions to Windy Hill Road and Kyle Parkway are also planned. Lastly, the street maintenance budget will be increasing from $750,000 to $1 million.

Another partnership that Kyle has created to help with transportation is with Uber. The Uber Kyle 314 program is a 24/7, 365-day voucher system that allows residents to get rides for $3.14 in the city. They do so by downloading a voucher online and applying it to the app. The city pays $10 for each voucher. The program has been successful since its launch in October 2020 and has been averaging more than 50% growth each year.

A look into the future

Mayor Travis Mitchell began his portion of the presentation by explaining his frustration with the term “bedroom town.” A bedroom town essentially means that everyone who lives in it works and does everything outside of the city, except sleep. Mitchell stated that it didn’t feel right that many residents identified with other communities rather than their own, whether it be Austin or San Marcos, so it was his goal to discontinue the view that Kyle was only a place to sleep.

“If we don't have our eyes very focused on what we are trying to achieve as a city, I think it's possible for the market to sort of pigeonhole the city of Kyle into being just a bedroom community or maybe a very large bedroom community. That has never been my vision, has never been the vision of the city,” said Mitchell. “What we want to do is create a thriving, robust, balanced economy in our city for folks who work here and earn primary jobs where they can have breakfast, lunch and dinner options. And they can have fitness classes and yoga classes and opportunities to volunteer at their PTA or with a school district. Those are the things that we care about a lot. So, what I'm about to show you represents what I think is a combination of harmony, hopefully, between the external forces that are trying to make an impact on our community and the internal forces, our own community itself and the leadership who are trying to harness that and shape something meaningful.”

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is something that Kyle has not fallen short of in the past year. Many businesses are making Kyle their home due to things like “the Costco effect,” cited Mitchell. The Costco effect is the result of many companies moving to be next to the business as credibility is built for the town it operates in. Some of these include Via 313 Pizza, Willie’s Grill & Icehouse, Torchy’s Tacos, Denny’s, P. Terry’s Burger Stand, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Hobby Lobby and more.

But, to continue the growth, Kyle must prepare for water usage, explained Mitchell.

Alliance Regional Water Authority, formerly known as the Hays Caldwell Public Utility Authority, is a partnership that was established in 2007 to bring more than 60 million gallons of water per day from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Gonzales County, approximately 60 miles east of Kyle, which has more water available in the 10% of drawable water than the combination of every surface lake in Texas, according to Mitchell.

The project is expected to nearly double the current water supply and is expected to have direct water funneling to Kyle by early 2025.

Other projects to come in the future include:

• Multistory buildings in downtown to create a place for small businesses on the bottom floor and office space above

• A sportsplex containing soccer fields, pickleball courts, bleachers and more

• Restaurants such as CAVA, Crumbl Cookie, Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, Spoon + Fork, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Mudbugs and Texas Roadhouse

• More businesses such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Michaels, Marshalls, Ulta Beauty and a gym facility

• Word Place, a mixed-use project that has retail and residential areas and a 13.5 acre park

• 600,000 square feet of retail space in a plaza setting

During his presentation, Mitchell made two big announcements that will have great effects on the city: the construction of St. David’s hospital to be built on the west side of town and the arrival of Tesla’s headquarters near Yarrington Road. Not only will these increase the credibility that the city will have in terms of potential projects, but they will create multiple jobs, according to Mitchell. St. David’s is expected to bring at least 200 jobs.

The mayor concluded by stating that Kyle is, indeed, in the beginning of its success and will continue to thrive by applying three key components.

“The vision for the city of Kyle to move past being a bedroom community into being a thriving community is: number one, robust expansion and planning of infrastructure; number two, the expansion and cultivation of great retail in the city for people to have things to do and spend the money here; and number three is the workforce in the city of Kyle. We need to have primary jobs where folks can live here, work here, play here, shop here and all the things that you know, to be true to what everyone seems to want for their community,” said Mitchell. “That is what we are laser focused on. That's what the city council has been pursuing now for years … This is a labor of love.”