WIMBERLEY — The Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted the State of the City on Sept. 18, where Mayor Jim Chiles spoke to community members about ongoing projects and goals the city has.
Beginning the presentation, Chiles stated that although there are approximately 2,800 individuals who live within Wimberley city limits, there are nearly 10,000 in the valley that call Wimberley home. There are also 500 members in the local chamber and 50 nonprofits in the city limits.
Completed projects
He announced that several projects have been underway in the city. The first is a $210,000 repaving done at the Square. This was done because city officials recognized that, during the day, when cars were parked along the sidewalks, emergency vehicles had a difficult time navigating the roadways. The repaving also included restriping, which has allowed for a wider pathway on the road for cars.
Dangerous areas were a common theme in the projects the city prioritized; a total of $25,000 worth of road repairs were done on County Road 1492, following an accident, with hopes to do more in the future.
Although the work was done by the Texas Department of Transportation, Chiles still mentioned the $2.1 million spent upgrading the intersection of FM 3237 and Ranch Road 12. The addition of turn lanes was an improvement for traffic in the area, explained the mayor.
General city improvements, including a crosswalk that was added at Old Kyle Road, amount to $48,000.
To bring more art into the city, the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance will be painting the crosswalk to look like a flowing river, with painted rocks along the edges, koi fish and lily pads. The group also has several other beautification projects planned throughout the city, such as Deer Creek.
Finally, after acquiring a new Welcome Center last year, said Chiles, the city has been diligently working on remodeling it. With only a few more steps to go, it has plans to open within the coming months.
Upcoming projects
Wimberley has received two grants for upcoming projects. The first is a sidewalk project, which will begin at the intersection of Old Kyle Road and Ranch Road 12 in the square and will extend to the light at FM 3237. According to Chiles, the engineering study has just been approved and the contract to begin the sidewalk should be done by May 2025.
“That’s going to be a huge improvement for tourists and visitors and just regular Wimberley folks to be able to walk up and down Ranch Road 12 safely on that part of the road,” said Chiles.
A $300,000 grant from the General Land Office will be used to update the city’s general comprehensive master plan, which hasn’t been updated since 2008: “They’re about halfway through that project and in that plan, they’re going to do a hazard and risk assessment; they’re going to do a population study now and for a 20-year projection. They’ll be doing a housing study, a land-use study, a capital improvement plan and we’ll ask them to do a water plan. I know that water is a big issue here in the Hill Country,” Chiles emphasized.
The team working on the plan will also be looking at zoning ordinances to ensure that they are up to date.
Regarding Old Kyle Road, Chiles also noted that, if the $440 million road bond the county is placing on the November ballot passes, $4 million will go toward making this a one-way road with bike lanes.
Parks
Yet another grant has been awarded to Wimberley to complete a parks master plan. It was completed a couple of months ago, said Chiles, and had multiple community outreach projects included, where 75% of the respondents stated that they were satisfied with the current parks.
The responses stressed that community members wanted the focus of the parks to continue to be the trails and trail connectivity, as well as a desire for a swimming pool.
“That’s going to be kind of a tough thing for us to do because of the cost and liability issues for us to have a pool, but it’s something that the folks here in town [want.] We hear lots of complaints about how there’s no water access and we would do something if we could, but right now, we’re not sure what we can do on that,” the mayor explained.
For projects, there have been $311,000 toward hike and bike trail projects, $15,000 toward the Martha Kneis Community Park and work done for interpretive and trail wayfinding signs.
Future plans
The mayor stated that the city has multiple goals for the near future:
• Working on water conservation partnerships
• Creating a youth advisory council
• Increasing the number of residents on the alert system, as they most recently only had 475
• Increasing training opportunities for city staff
• Improving technology at city facilities
• Updating the frequently asked questions on the website
• Inputting vehicle charging stations, push button crosswalks and interactive kiosks
• Upgrading lighting, such as adding dark sky compliant lighting at Oak Park parking lot and downtown As the city continues to grow, Chiles also said that roughly 50 volunteers are needed for the seven boards, committees and commissions.
Exciting news, Chiles said, is that 2025 will be the 25th anniversary of Wimberley becoming a city; previously, it was only labeled as a village: “I don’t know what kind of party we’re having, but we’re going to do a little something to commemorate and celebrate 25 years of Wimberley being a city.”
Next year is also the 10-year anniversary of the 2015 flood that claimed the lives of several community members. Chiles explained that he has been in contact with the families and they are hoping to create a way to honor those who were lost, as well as raise money for the Texas Search and Rescue, since the organization spent days out in Wimberley looking for lost victims.
Other upcoming events include: Boo! Hole from 4-10 p.m. on Oct. 19 at Blue Hole Regional Park; a city-wide clean up and shred day on Oct. 26; and The Polar Bear Plunge & 5K at 9 a.m. at Blue Hole Regional Park on Jan. 1, 2025.
The last announcement was that for the first time the city of Wimberley will be hosting a Christmas Tree Lighting on Nov. 30. The 26-foot-tall tree will be nestled downtown and will hopefully add festivity, said the mayor.
“Just like a lot of you, we love Wimberley. It’s a great place,” stressed Chiles. “We want to keep it special and that’s what our council and staff and we are all striving to do — just keep Wimberley, Wimberley.”
For more information on The Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce, visit www.wimberley.org.
