HAM operators, or amateur radio operators, are licensed individuals that can aid local agencies in emergency disasters through radio frequency communication, explained club repeater Brian Barker. The radio type has a rich history, he noted, stating that it was used in World War II, when military scientists sent information to operatives, where it was much clearer, after decoding, and more difficult to intercept, rather than voice communication. This type of work is what inspired the origin of the club in 2018, he continued.

“We provide education; we provide information; we provide training and we connect and co-op with other club organizations to provide licensure [training],” said Barker. “Once they pass their exams, we will help them get established in amateur radio by advising them on what kinds of communications equipment to buy, based on what they want to do and how far they want to go.”

These federal licenses have several variations, ranging from the lowest rank at technician to general and then, amateur extra, all of which provide individual privileges to communicate within certain radio bands, shared Barker. The tests demand a lot of practice, as they consist of a 35 question test, pulled from 500 questions, requiring a passing grade of 70% or more. So, studying and ensuring the material is learned can be quite challenging, said the club member. Though, after deciding what license to strive for, the club helps its members study for tests through testing materials and providing equipment free of charge.

The real effort begins once licensed, said Barker, as this is when members can begin aiding law enforcement and other entities during a time of crisis.

“A lot of today’s world is based on the internet and if the internet goes down, somebody cuts a fiber optic cable, [communication is limited], which actually happened in Southeast Texas on the Gulf Coast day before yesterday. [So,] the club activated their people and they went to their stations and they provided emergency communication across certain districts, so that police, fire and emergency services could at least get some minimal information,” Barker shared.

The information transferred is not individualized, he said, as it is more organization to organization, rather than to specific officers or firemen. For instance, if the Kyle Fire Department needed mutual aid, the radio club could request and send this to another fire station in the area.

“If we have an internet breakage or outage between here and Austin and between here and San Antonio, we can actually communicate by radio transmission to Austin to the state emergency operations center and also to the south, toward San Antonio through Seguin … We have the capability to go north and south and east and west,” he said.

This ability to help is why those that feel drawn to contributing to their community should consider HAM, Baker offered.

“We’re not limited to being in a county. We are called the Hays-Caldwell [Radio Club] and have people in Hays County and Caldwell County. The reason it was designed for Hays-Caldwell is because when they put the repeater up, they had to pick a name and they engineered the information and figured they can cover most of Hays County and most of Caldwell County … That also promotes that the individual — or we encourage that individual — to work in their own area, their own county or part of the county, to also service some of these locations that we have with our radio in emergency times.”

Currently, the organization provides emergency backup communication for emergency management departments in Hays County, such as the Kyle Police Department, Ascension Seton Hays Hospital, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Buda and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital. It is working on beginning services in Wimberley and in Dripping Springs, as well.

Community members are not required to have any skills or equipment prior to joining as an associate and will be upgraded to a member after earning a license and paying a $20 fee to keep up with equipment for the emergency radio services. They can also be paired up with a mentor, titled Elmers, who can aid new members on HAM radio.

To learn more about the Hays-Caldwell Radio Club, visit www.hchams.com or attend a monthly meeting, held at the Kyle Public Safety Center, 1700 Kohlers Crossing, at 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month.

Jason Lutz, interim director of planning, began the presentation by noting that the ordinance draft is a result of council direction to look at water quality and riparians, or land bordering water sources, for the Edwards Aquifer recharge zones.

So, staff began by looking at several cities and the Save Our Springs Ordinance and reviewed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regulations.

“We were looking at San Antonio and Dripping Springs, as those will be the best templates for us, mostly because of the way they were laid out. They had good definitions, good processes [and] good penalties,” said Lutz. “We did want to take a base ordinance, so we didn’t have to recreate the will. We started adding regulations to address Kyle’s specific needs.”

These regulations include additions regarding Plum Creek and the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. Initially, staff was also going to consider the requirements to be within the city limits, but Lutz stated that it would not make sense to be pollution cognizant within the city, only to have it come in the city from upstream.

“If you’re a citizen in the [extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)], you generally don’t have a lot of conversations with the city of Kyle, unless you’re subdividing your land. Now, we would be asking you to submit a site plan outlining your water quality measures,” he explained.

Next, he discussed repairing the city’s corridor and stream buffers, where the changes would be based on stream type — major, intermediate and minor — and zones — managed, transition and protected; labels will be determined by the watershed. The protected zone would have no improvements, Lutz said. Additionally, utility crossings would be allowed, but may increase costs for city projects and developments.

The interim director stated that the city would include a no adverse impact demonstration, which means that there would be no increase in erosion potential, degradation of water quality and riparian habitat function, all of which would align with Kyle’s existing floodplain management framework.

Buffers would be around critical environment features, such as karst features, springs, sinkholes, caves, significant fractures, recharge features and wetlands. Because recreation areas are often in these locations, council member Marc McKinney requested flexibility or reviewing development on a case-by-case basis, to which Lutz stated that staff would suggest only allowing city parks, so council could review.

The interim director then shared that San Antonio had the “best practical model” when it came to aquifer protection and recharge features. Therefore, staff is looking into feasible language to implement into Kyle’s ordinance, including impervious cover limits of 40% for single-family homes, 55% for multi-family buildings and 65% for commercial facilities.

“We are [also] looking at water quality treatment for the first 1.5 inches [and] spill containment for fuel storage. Hazardous management plans would be something that would be submitted and then, there would be recurring inspections per the city stormwater maintenance program. Now, again, the reason I bring this up is because, originally, we were looking at just the city, but we felt that it’d be important to extend this to the ETJ. So, we have two staff in that department that may get a little cumbersome with yearly inspections; I just wanted to throw all of the issues out there,” he said.

Council member Lauralee Harris emphasized that she would like to include as much of the ETJ as possible, since “sometimes developers or businesses prefer to be in the ETJ because some of the regulations don’t apply and our ETJ areas are our most sensitive areas right now.”

“The people who don’t want to follow the city rules or engage in a development agreement, they can just be asked to be annexed out of the ETJ. That’s where I would see somebody who has a problem going is … they would just disengage altogether and asked to be taken out of the ETJ,” said Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale. “I’m afraid if we do [include the ETJ] then people are going to just leave and then, they’re going to have to use the county … As far as buffers and the regulations, I believe we don’t have very stringent regulations and theirs are less restrictive.”

Continuing on the topic of water quality, San Antonio and Dripping Springs have approaches consistent with the best management practices and low impact development standards using bioswales, sand filters, constructed wetlands, bioretention and more, according to the presentation. They also incentivize developments to use these, Lutz noted, adding that Kyle could do this, as well.

Council member Courtney Goza asked whether there would be availability of a waiver for property owners developing land. In response, Lutz stated that because the ordinance is still being drafted, a waiver could be added for specific criteria.

“I definitely do not want to impose anything that is so restrictive that there is no way around it, where pieces of property become unusable to the person who owns it because that is not being friendly to property owners. So, that is a concern to me,” she said, adding that she is in favor of having caps for impervious cover and requests can be considered.

“I have seen this ordinance in action, actually, in Dripping Springs, and it can become a little burdensome to council if y’all are having to review site plan variances once a meeting. I’m not sure that y’all want to do that. So, that was going to be my next question: Would you like the variance to come to you guys or are you okay with Planning and Zoning calling that and then, appeals go to you,” asked Lutz.

Goza stated that if it’s done in Dripping Springs and it’s working, then it’s a good process to follow.

A question regarding the water quality review fee came from council member Melisa Medina, who asked whether it will be a flat fee or based on acreage. According to the interim director, the fee already required for site development would be increased and then, additional fees for each acre. But he did state that a different fee or exception may need to be made for single-family homes, due to the possibly high cost.

“The goal is to protect our water, but the single-family, individual home is not the one that’s deteriorating the water quality, so we do want to keep that in mind,” said Lutz.

Next steps include: redlining the existing water quality ordinance template and modifying it to match Kyle needs and council direction; implement ing a fee for water quality review and amending fee schedule; and adding workflows, application checklists and processing procedures into the city’s plan review software process. The full drafted ordinance will appear in front of council in August.

To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/4f2JgUw.

The club started two years ago as a branch off the already-established Kyle Youth Football Association, also known as the Kyle Invaders, that focuses on providing an affordable sports program for the youth in the community, which is a continuation of the values that were set by founder Nolan Speir.

The program offers both tackle and flag football, along with cheerleading, but now, under the direction of Oscar Silguero, the Kyle Youth Track and Field Club was also created to “get kids active, give them opportunities to learn about track and field and give them opportunities to be able to compete in the sport,” he said.

Competitions look a little different than those of traditional programs in school districts. The club — which is currently made up of 40 kids ages six to 18 years — competes under AAU-licensed events, such as the district and regional meets, hosted by other track clubs in surrounding areas, including Austin, San Marcos and Seguin.

The largest event, however, is the AAU Junior Olympics that will take place July 29-Aug. 8 in Des Moines, Iowa. Four athletes from the Kyle Youth Track and Field Club will be competing in the 4x100-meter relay and, while another will compete in the 80-meter hurdle, after earning their seats in the top 16 at regionals.

This marks the second season of the club being in operation, but the first season of it qualifying for the Junior Olympics and for some of the kids, it’s their first year running track and field, Silguero said.

“Of those five kids, four of them, it's their first year running track and field, as well as being their first year with our club, so it's a big deal for them to come in first year, learn the sport, condition for it and make it all the way to the Junior Olympics, as young as they are, which they are 11 and 12 years of age,” he explained.

Team member Hunter Lewison shared that he joined the club last year, where he was one spot from qualifying for the national meet. Through his determination and hard work, he will be competing in the hurdles event at the Junior Olympics this year.

“I thought [hurdles] would be something new to do and I thought it would be fun to do,” Hunter said.

Brothers Alpha Lyra-Carr and Omega Lyra-Carr are in their first season with the Kyle Youth Track and Field Club, as well, and they will be competing on the relay team in the Junior Olympics.

“I felt excited and grateful that we get to run in the Junior Olympics this year,” Omega said.

They knew they wanted to join the club, so that they could “run together,” the two said, adding that they enjoy being able to conquer their goals as a team.

Josh Duron, who is also on the relay team, joined the track and field club this year in a pursuit to condition and prepare for his football season. According to him, what he loves most about being on the team is making friends and being a good sport to everyone.

Through prayer and practice, he said, Duron was able to help his relay team qualify for the next level.

“It feels really good. It was really surprising because my whole relay team was just football players,” Duron said. “They are dedicated to conditioning, so it feels really good to be able to go to the Junior Olympics.”

The coach expressed how proud he is of the team’s accomplishments this year: “To have that kind of achievement as young as they are, I would just tell them how proud I am of them. Seeing their growth and their improvement all season long is just encouraging for me as the director of the club and I hope that their opportunity now will encourage other kids to take a step in the track and field world and try to go for the same thing.”

Following the Junior Olympics, the club will enter into its off season to prepare the athletes — who all stated they will be returning — for the next outdoor season, which is held early March through July.

This update follows a recommendation made as part of the adoption of the 2025 Water Master Plan, according to agenda documents. Since 2024, staff has worked with STV Engineering to provide updates to both the city’s Water Conservation — last adopted in 2024 — and Drought Contingency — last adopted in 2009 — plans, resulting in significant changes being recommended.

“The proposed Water Conservation Plan updates the city’s long-term strategy for promoting efficient water use, reducing water loss and ensuring sustainable water supplies to support continued growth. The plan has been developed in accordance with Texas Water Development Board and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements and reflects current utility operations, conservation programs and projected water demands,” read the documents. “To address future water demands, the plan establishes five-year and ten-year conservation goals, including municipal water use targets of 100 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) by 2030 and 95 GPCD by 2035, while maintaining water loss below 15% annually.”

The updated Drought Contingency Plan establishes procedures for managing the city’s water during emergencies affecting the water system and is designed to ensure reliable water service, while protecting public health, safety and welfare, read the documents. It also creates enforcement provisions, such as fines for violations, and a process for customers to request variances when compliance would create hardship or other conservation methods would achieve equivalent water savings.

Currently, there are three defined stages, but the proposed plan offers five, with a trigger threshold for each one — something that is not available in the present plan. The stages are triggered when any of the following criteria are met:

Voluntary Stage 1: Water consumption reaches 60% of daily maximum production capacity; Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) declares Stage 1; Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) declares Stage 1; Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) declares Stage 1; or emergency as determined by city manager. Automatic irrigation would be two days a week.

Mandatory Stage 2: Water consumption reaches 70% of daily maximum production capacity; GBRA declares Stage 2; EAA declares Stage 2; BSEACD declares Stage 1; or emergency as determined by city manager. Automatic irrigation would be two days a week.

Mandatory Stage 3: Water consumption reaches 75% of daily maximum production capacity; GBRA declares Stage 3; EAA declares Stage 3; BSEACD declares Stage 2; or emergency as determined by city manager. Automatic irrigation would be one day a week.

Mandatory Stage 4: Water consumption reaches 80% of daily maximum production capacity; GBRA declares Stage 4; EAA declares Stage 4; BSEACD declares Stage 3; or emergency as determined by city manager. Automatic irrigation would be one day every other week.

Mandatory Stage 5: Water consumption reaches 85% of daily maximum production capacity; GBRA declares Stage 5; EAA declares Stage 5; BSEACD declares Stage 4; or emergency as determined by city manager. Automatic irrigation and all nonessential water use is prohibited.

Mike Van Winkle, division manager of treatment operations, confirmed that Alliance Regional Water Authority was considered when determining the production capacity. Additionally, he stated that any concerns regarding watering can be submitted through Kyle 311.

“I’ll go ahead and answer a question that may be on someone’s mind: If we were to operate under this Drought Contingency Plan today, where would we be? Staff did evaluate that internally and we would currently recommend under current conditions to operate in Stage 3,” said Van Winkle. “That being said, it sounds a little more restrictive than where we’re at now because we’re in an amended Stage 2, but because of those expanded drought stages, if you look at the reductions, it would actually be a little bit more lenient on that outdoor automatic irritation.”

If adopted, the plan will apply to all city of Kyle water customers, including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and governmental.

Regarding this, Tim Sanford, assistant director for Utilities, discussed the processes that would go into finding individuals who violate terms. First, he noted that the initial conversations are always an opportunity for education.

“That is first and foremost what our approach is: very soft-handed. Now, if you’re a repeat offender, this plan does have some monetary value to it, if we need to penalize you,” explained Sanford. “Before we take that type of action, we would have conversations with the city manager. I assume the conversation would also be had with city council. The values of what that would look like is first offense [is] $100-$500 and $500-$2,000 for subsequent offenses thereafter.”

The decision to have fees is the result of diligent patrols to have regulations met in 2023, he shared.

Council member Courtney Goza asked how the tiers will work for commercial businesses, to which Sanford suggested council come up with examples for staff to explain at a later meeting, since it is more complex.

“What I would like to see is as people log in to pay their bill or log in to look at their [advanced metering infrastructure] dashboard — hopefully, eventually, one day that’ll be one login — that it would populate what stage we’re at,” said council member Marc McKinney. “I think for the most part, everybody wants to be a willing participant in our water consideration; they just don’t understand, more often than not, exactly what the requirements are. I mean, I’m a city councilman [and], sometimes, I have a hard time remembering and I have to look it up … So, I think if we can simplify that a little bit, it would help with participation on a voluntary basis.”

He also suggested having a reward for those who are extremely conservative and using less than a certain amount.

After Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale questioned whether or not construction sites are using potable water, Sanford stated that they are not, unless it is a capital improvement project, due to demands on the city’s system. However, he did note that there is flexibility within the Drought Contingency Plan that allows staff and city leadership to determine whether or not to sell potable water for construction purposes.

“I just want to say thank you because this is much needed information not just for the council, but for the residents because I think there was this kind of confusion, like, ‘Where are we at and how do we know we’re going to change?’ So, I wanted to say thank you to your team, whoever brought this forward, because this is such important information that we should have had years ago,” said Flores-Cale.

There was no action taken, as this was a presentation item, though, the plans will have a reading come to council in August, followed by a second reading at a later date.

Unforgettable Families and Friends partnered with the Kyle Area Senior Zone and the Nu Sigma Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho San Marcos for CeCe’s Treasure Chest, an opportunity for local nonprofits to gather items, free of charge, for its clients.

The nonprofits were able to visit the Krug Activity Center Thursday, June 25, to receive items. The clothes and items for the fourth annual event were donated by Walmart, Kohl’s and community members.

Prior to the vote, Chief Financial Officer Deborah Ottmers presented the item at the June 22 meeting, first beginning by noting the demographics of the district. Currently, there are 25,400 students enrolled in 28 campuses, with more than 3,000 employees across 221 miles.

The three budgets required to be adopted by the board, which will reflect the $12.2 million cuts, as previously reported by the Hays Free Press, are:

• General fund:

- Revenue: $281,575,000

- Expenditures: $275,423,724

• School nutrition fund:

- Revenue: $$13,727,900

- Expenditures: $13,727,000

• Debt service fund:

- Revenue: $112,100,000

- Expenditures: $112,100,000

These total to $407,402,900 in revenue and $401,253,724 in expenditures.

“Even though the [general fund] budget has changed — revenues increased, expenditures increased — the anticipation is still that we’re going to keep that $25 million fund balance. When actuals happen, after we go through the audit, it’s going to change some because those are real numbers that are going to be hitting all the accounts, but it looks like it's on track to be very close to keeping that fund balance, which is ultra important,” said Ottmers.

This balance — which will rise to $37,387,051, due to the $12.2 million in cuts — she continued, is recommended to sit at 90 days worth of operating expenses, but is instead only at 33 days. The full 90-day amount would be estimated at $68 million, Ottmers said.

She also noted that at the end of the year, approximately 10 days will be added, potentially more, getting the district to its goal of reaching the 90-day balance in three to five years.

Regarding the funding amount provided by the state, the CFO stated that, if the district was able to be funded based on student enrollment of 25,400, it would receive more money: “The revenue and the expenditures per enrolled [student are] about $60 per student per day and so, when a student doesn’t come to school, we don’t get the $60, but we [still] spend the $60. So, for a financial standpoint, that's important. That’s why we would prefer to be paid on enrollment, not on attendance.”

The proposed 2026-27 tax rate is the same as 2025-26 at $1.1546 per $100 valuation, consisting of $0.6669 for maintenance and operations and $0.4877 in interest and sinking.

Trustee Raul Vela Jr. asked whether homestead exemptions affect the district when it comes to receiving these taxes, since they lower the amount of taxable property. “Yes and no,” responded Ottmers, explaining that the general fund nearly makes up the differences, but it could slightly affect the debt service fund.

“One of our largest challenges that we’ve been having the last several years [is] one of the changes in the law was refunds that are made to taxpayers and when those are made. So, they used to make them only at certain times of the year and those would be the times when cash flow was up, but, now, it’s whenever they have to make that refund. The tax office doesn’t have enough cash, [so] we actually send them money to make those refunds. That’s a time where our cash flow is lowest,” she shared.

Prior to the vote, trustee Byron Severance stated, "I know this is not the budget we'd like to do, but I think it's the one we have to do, based on our circumstances. I think we're all just committed to making it work to keep our focus on the true education of kids."

Severance motioned to adopt the general, debt service and school nutrition funds at the June 29 meeting, with trustee Esperanza Orosco seconding. The item passed 7-0.

The Hays CISD Board of Trustees will meet next Monday, July 27.

Beginning with the history of the Public Transportation Program, senior planner Kaela Sharp noted that the Uber Kyle $3.14 Voucher Program was established in October 2020, with the intention to replace an underutilized bus service and expand transportation options in the area. An expansion to include airport and Veterans Affairs (VA) vouchers occurred in October 2021, followed by Maruti Transportation (MT) Connect for wheelchair accessible rides in 2022.

The program runs by issuing three voucher types monthly, which are downloaded by users from the City of Kyle mobile app and linked to the Uber account. The first is Uber Kyle — valid on rides within the city’s boundaries and some areas of the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) — which has 2,000 sets of vouchers, each valid for 10 rides per month. When a ride that meets the criteria is requested, a base cost of $3.14 is charged; Kyle then covers the next $10, leaving the residents to pay any remainder cost above $13.14.

Other vouchers are as follows:

Uber VA

• 400 sets of vouchers, each set for two rides per month

• Valid on rides to and from the Austin VA clinic

• Base cost is $3.14

• City covers the remainder, up to $60

Uber Kyle Airport

• 1,000 sets of vouchers, each set valid for two rides per month

• Valid on rides to and from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

• Cost-share is 50% of the total cost; though, previously, it was 31.4% for the resident and 68.6% to the city, until September 2025

• City’s maximum contribution is $50

MT Connect

• Same boundaries as those in the aforementioned vouchers

• Cost to rider is $3.14

• The city pays a monthly fixed rate of $14,500, plus $25 per ride

Although the program was in budget the initial two years, since fiscal year 2022-23, it has consistently gone over budget, in amounts ranging from $99,000 to $430,000 per year. Staff estimates that by the end of the current fiscal year, it will be over $324,868.

Sharp stated that staff is looking into a resident verification process, along with grant opportunities and other wheelchair accessible options. Despite this, recommendations to modify the locations served, to raise the base price to $7, reduce service hours or eliminate the airport vouchers, which would save approximately $200,000 annually, were presented.

Council member Claudia Zapata requested that staff provide information on unique riders, the times the services and specific vouchers are used and where, as this would aid the council in determining what direction to move forward with for public transportation.

Sharing concerns with the price increases was council member Lauralee Harris, who stated that older adults may use the service to receive a $6 lunch at KASZ, but that by potentially raising the prices to $7, they could be priced out.

“I share council member Harris’ concern that $7 might price people out of the ability to use it, especially our most income-restricted residents. I know there’s a lot of fixed-income seniors that use this program, a lot of disabled people that use this program [and] a lot of youth that don’t have significant income that use this program to get back and forth to work,” said council member Marc McKinney. “In my mind, I wish there was a way we could have some sort of income-based tiered structure, but implementing that would cost us more than what we would end up saving in the long run. I have a hard time agreeing to go all the way to $7.”

McKinney also stated that he feels as though those who can afford to fly can afford to find transportation to get to the airport, so he was in favor of eliminating these vouchers.

“Five for the ride” was what council member Michael Tobias suggested.

All three noted that cutting the hours is concerning, whether that be for older adults, preventing drunk-driving or students using it for extracurricular activities.

“I think we just need to do a better job [of] how we monitor these accounts because it does seem kind of fishy that you have all these vouchers that are going out and we could have somebody that’s applying for multiple accounts just to get those vouchers,” said Tobias.

Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale agreed with an idea that Zapata brought forward about setting a limit each month, such as $50,000, and stopping the services once the city pays this amount.

Near the end of the discussion, council member Courtney Goza shared that she discovered that the VA covers and reimburses ride shares for veterans anyway, so the city does not need to pay for these vouchers.

“I don’t want to touch the VA program because I think it just provides such essential services and, if anything, I’m trying to find ways to beef it up,” said Zapata.

The following motions were approved unanimously by council:

• Updating the service area to only Kyle city limits

• Changing the base cost to $5

• Eliminating the airport vouchers

Council voted 6-1, with McKinney dissenting, on reducing the hours to 6 a.m. to midnight.

Moving onto the public events portion of the presentation, assistant city manager Jesse Elizondo noted that there are 43 events and series hosted annually, with programming designed for all ages. These serve 35,000 participants and more than 850 vendors, with a current annual operation budget of $795,500.

The behind the scenes of these events have varying timeliness, according to the presentation — with smaller gatherings taking three to six months to plan, while large and destination experiences are from eight months to a year — and budget, ranging from $8,000 for Center Street Trick-or-Treat to $25,000 for City Fest. However, some events, like Kyle Fair, do have a stream of revenue. For example, although there was a direct cost of $310,000 for the Kyle Fair, it generated $22,000.

After reviewing the many events, council was asked to determine the future of them moving forward.

Goza stated that she was in favor of reducing the number of Market Days. She has also gotten feedback from visitors that the music is so loud that it is difficult to communicate with others or for vendors to do business. This could be remedied by removing the large band stage, said Goza, for something more acoustic, which Harris agreed.

“If we go from eight to four, I think it’ll be better attended because they’re more sparse, and then, also the vendors will get more out of them because there’s more people there,” said Elizondo.

With the recent decision to remove the Hispanic Heritage Market Day, Zapata requested staff look into having an international market day to celebrate various cultures, perhaps aligned with Hays CISD’s designated heritage days throughout the year.

The Pride event was also cancelled: “I will firmly say that Pride is exceptionally important,” said Zapata. “I remember the first time I was called a dyke; I was 11 years old and that does not leave you — ever. So, if it costs $3,500 a month for the city to put on an event that would help a child feel welcomed and loved and appreciated and not feel so alone, it is more than worth it.”

Harris agreed with Zapata, but opted to advocate for six dates, instead of four. A spring and fall event, said Tobias, would be better, as this would allow more vendors to sign up, with a bigger turnout.

“I think keeping it simple is the way it should be. Not to say that I don’t support the cultural aspect of what we were trying to merge, but I don’t think a market day is necessarily the right venue for those things,” said McKinney.

Although Flores-Cale stated that she supports the representation and the educational aspect, she agreed with McKinney about keeping the market days simple. Organizations that provide support and services can be at any event, not just specific themes, she said.

“Regardless of what my personal opinion is and that is, I do support the [LGBTQIA+] community … I represent a city of 60,000 people and I have to take everybody into consideration,” said the mayor. “I cannot sit up here and make votes based on what I want because I have 60,000 people I have to think about and as much as I do support the community in other ways, I also have to think about other people.”

Flores-Cale made a motion to hold market days twice a year in the spring and fall, with a second from Tobias. The item passed 5-2, with Harris and Zapata dissenting. Elizondo clarified that this included removing the large stage and, instead, looking for a smaller musical aspect and finding new ways to incorporate cultural events.

Regarding other events, council voted 7-0 to:

• July 4th: reduce to just fireworks

• Kyle Fair: reduce to a day-an- a-half event, with a 6 p.m. start time on Friday

• Center Street Trick-or-Treat: restructure

• City Fest: eliminate and have further conversations of how to provide residents with a State of the City address at a later date

• 25 Days of Christmas: reduce the number of events and number of parks with lights

• Santa’s Arrival: remove and merge with Santa Rides

• Santa Rides: restructure and combine with Santa’s Arrival for tree lighting

• Jams on the Green: reducing to four times a year and move the event to Saturday instead of Thursday

• Movie in the Parks: reducing from 11 to four events a year

• Texas Recreation and Park Society Unplug: eliminate the event

Originally, staff shared that Grinch on the Green is a growing, successful event, so no changes were recommended, but Goza stated that with the other Christmas event and the load it puts on employees, she recommended removing it.

Zapata considered an option for reducing the five-hour event, as she feels as though the Grinch having a full day to himself is “very Grinch-like.” Though, staff shared that this was to ensure as many community members were able to meet him as much as possible, since last year, some were turned away, due to time constraints.

“I think it is a super unique event,” said Harris. “I think that it has become a part of Kyle; it’s looked forward to and people from all around come for that. I love the lighting [and] turning La Verde green just makes sense. It’s beautiful. I would suggest leaving it how it is.”

Both McKinney and Tobias agreed, stating that it’s a “Kyle original” and well-attended and well-received.

Ultimately, council chose to continue with the event, but shorten it from five hours to three hours. It passed 5-1, with Goza dissenting. Zapata was not in the room for the vote.

The following events were unchanged: National First Responders Day, Easter Eggstravaganza, Founders’ Day Parade, Veterans Day Parade, Memorial Day, 9/11 Ceremony, Flag Day and Storytime in the Park.

To listen to the discussions, visit bit.ly/4oVmna0.

Community members were invited to a luncheon and educational opportunities inside the Krug Activity Center afterwards. Boards depicting Juneteenth traditions and information were placed throughout the facility for residents to read. Additionally, free books were offered to attendees.

The city has three splash pads, located at Steeplechase, Gregg-Clarke and La Verde parks, that are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with the typical season occurring in early June through early September. However, several members of the community expressed their disappointment when the season came around and none of the splash pads were open.

“There has been understandable concern from our community about the splash pads not yet being open, especially as temperatures rise and families are eager for places their kids can cool off and play,” said assistant communications director Alison Kelly.

Now, as of Thursday, June 18, the splash pads at Steeplechase and La Verde have opened. The one at La Verde is open following extensive damage that was caused by flooding in May 2025, in which repairs and restoration efforts were required to ensure that the facility could operate safely.

While there was some maintenance that hindered the Gregg-Clarke Park splash pad from opening at the same time, it is now available for use as of Saturday, June 20.

The opening schedule for the splash pads, Kelly explained, was also impacted by a previous hiring freeze and staffing challenges associated with a vacant aquatics technician position responsible for the operations.

“While that position remains unfilled, our Parks Maintenance team is adjusting operations and redistributing responsibilities to prepare the splash pads for operation,” the assistant communications director stated.

“We understand and share the community’s disappointment, as we work to get the splash pads open. Our top priority is ensuring all splash pads are safe, properly functioning and ready to provide a positive experience for residents,” she continued.

Steeplechase Park is located at 295 Hailie Drive, La Verde Park is located at 3901 Burnham and Gregg-Clarke Park is located at 1231 W. Center St. More information on the splash pads, as well as other aquatic amenities, can be found at www.cityofkyle.gov/living-here/parks-and-recreation/pool-and-aquatics.

The development began after the district was on the hunt for more housing opportunities for its staff, following incentivized apartment rentals at several apartment complexes in Kyle, said Chief Human Resources Officer Christina Courson. It was then that Upward Communities approached the district in December 2024 to create a development entirely for staff members.

“It was the perfect fit because, now, we were looking at — instead of apartments — mostly single-family homes with their own yard, a neighborhood designed just for Hays CISD employees,” said Courson.

The community comes at no cost to the district and is retained through a 55-year housing agreement, designed to provide Hays CISD with a long-term recruitment and retention advantage, according to the district.

As the idea has begun taking shape, a location was needed. The chief officer stated that initially, Kyle was considered for the site, but, ultimately, a site north of Uhland Elementary School was chosen. The sale is set to be finalized in June 2026.

“We know from the demographer’s report that any growth occurring over the next 10 years … is going to occur moving eastward. So, we want to have a neighborhood that’s situated, first of all where all that growth is predicted, [but] also we want to help incentivize staff to work on our eastern side of the school district, where it’s somewhat harder to recruit,” she explained.

The location is not only going to benefit the district, but residents in Uhland, as well. The development is set to have a small retail area in the center, which Courson noted has been in the talks of including a grocery store and other small businesses.

The community, which sits on more than 100 acres, was designed by DPZ CoDesign, according to the district, and provides four housing choices for staff. The first are the Cottages, which are available in one and two bedrooms and bathrooms, with a private courtyard. These are similar to a duplex, due to having a shared wall, but separate spaces. Then, there is the Blanco, which is a standalone home, with two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a one-car garage and a front and back patio. The Clover and Daytona are similar to the Blanco, but have three bedrooms and a two car garage. Finally, the Fourstar and Cypress have four bedrooms.

The buildings, which Courson noted take inspiration from Kyle’s Plum Creek and Seaside, Florida — a community which was initially built for teachers — were built by Clark Wilson, with interior details by Vida Design.

Broken up into segments, the community will have four “pocket” parks that aim to meet different needs. The “relax” park has a fire pit, hammock grove, barbecue pits, a picnic area and chaise lounges, while the “garden” has a community garden, pollinator plants, herb garden and a picnic area. Those with families may find the “play” park enticing, as it will encompass a playfield, trike track, playground and picnic area. Then, similar to “relax,” the “backyard fun” park will have a fire pit, yard games, soccer field, Adirondack chairs, barbecue pits and a picnic area.

Currently, the first phase of rental housing is set to open for the 2027-28 school year and a list of more than 600 staff is already hoping to be chosen for the site.

This will be the most rewarding part — being able to help those that contribute to the education of the students, as some of those on the list have family members with special needs or are living with family and haven’t had the financial opportunity to move, she continued.

Because of this, she emphasized that when considering the community, the district wanted to do its best to be considerate of staff pay. So, the district is working on creating a tiered system that would allow those that are on the auxiliary and paraprofessional scales, for example, to have a deeper discount than those on the academic or business professional scales.

The projected average monthly rent is as follows:

• One bedroom: $795-$1,195

• Two bedroom: $995-$1,450

• Three bedroom: $1,350-$1,825

• Four bedroom: $1,575-$1,995

To further lessen these costs, the chief officer stated that she is excited for the prospect of staff having the ability to become roommates with each other.

“There’s actually going to be a service where individuals can find roommates to share housing, kind of like dorms,” Courson explained.

The district is currently working on creating a process to select the families and individuals that will move into the development. She stated that they are hoping to do a combination of current staff and those working in hard-to-fill positions, such as special education or bilingual roles, while having space to recruit staff in the future.

“In Hays CISD, when we are faced with challenges like teacher and school staff shortages, as well as funding concerns; we don’t shy away. Instead, that’s when we get to work to create solutions for our parents, students and the entire school district family. This program is an example of what we can do when we all work together and leverage the partnerships that are available to us,” said Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright.

Considering the district has more than 3,000 employees and only 362 units for the affordable housing community, Courson stated that, “depending on the success of this, we would love to see additional opportunities, maybe in Kyle or Buda. That’s for us to think of in the future, but the waitlist right now already shows interest beyond our capacity.”

The district will continue to share updates and information as it becomes available at www.hayscisd.net/hayshomes.

This item was initially brought forward at the June 2 meeting, but was tabled after council directed the interim city manager to seek legal advice from outside counsel. The proposed payment was for $204,492.56, consisting of the maximum payment of 720 vacation hours and 305.43 hours of sick leave.

In line with this request, Frank Garza of Davidson Troilo Ream and Garza was present at the meeting to share his findings.

He first began by recapping the agreement with Langley, which began in April 2023 and provided him with 80 hours of vacation leave and 40 hours of sick leave. This is common, said Garza, when employing an individual from another city.

“Section 17 of the agreement states that if the manager was terminated without clause, he would receive a severance of 12 months of base salary and the value of all leave accrued. On June 20 of 2025, Gov. [Greg] Abbott signed Senate Bill 2237,” continued Garza. “It limits severance pay to executives of political subdivisions to no more than 20 weeks — five months — excluding paid time off for accrued vacation leave. On July 16, 2025, council had a city council meeting with an executive session and this was used to discuss legal issues related to the contracts between the city manager and the city attorney, including discussions of potential amendments.”

This session was followed by then-Mayor Travis Mitchell making a motion to amend severance provisions in the contracts based on the changes in state law, effective Sept. 1, 2025, which was done by reducing severance to 20 weeks, as required, but council opted to remedy this by increasing the vacation payout to 2,000 hours. Then, a second amendment was made Aug. 1, which increased the base salary of Langley from $298,000 to $330,095 and his vacation from 80 hours to 1,360. It also allowed the city manager to accrue unlimited vacation leave, with a maximum payout of $2,000, if terminated. Furthermore, language was added that Langley would be paid up to 720 hours of vacation leave or the maximum allowed, whichever is greater, if he resigned.

Langley’s last day with the city of Kyle was May 15, 2026, leaving Garza with the following questions to answer:

• Is the city obligated to pay the proposed calculations of $204,492.56 and payout the vacation and sick leave balances and still comply with the Senate bill?

• Should Langley receive a payout of vacation leave in excess of his earned or accrued balance upon resignation, when the city intended that excess amount to be provided only as a severance benefit?

Garza first noted that the city did comply with state law by reducing the severance agreement from 12 months to 20 weeks, but that the issue that its facing is not dealing with severance, it is a resignation. Regarding the sick leave, there is no maximum cap on sick leave payout in the contract; therefore, the 305.43 hours of accrued sick leave earned by Langley should be paid out, he said.

Vacation leave, he continued, should be handled differently. The contract states that “the city will not be obligated to pay the severance payment (including payment of leave over the maximum hours for pay out caps pursuant to the city’s personnel policies)” if the city manager voluntarily resigns, said Garza. In light of a resignation, the contract language states that the city is required to pay “accrued leave.” This would mean that the initial suggested payment brought to council, consisting of 720 vacation hours would not be paid, only the 63.55 he accrued.

“It is clear, in my opinion, that it was the city’s intent to only pay for the accrued leave,” said the lawyer. “Therefore, in my opinion, the city is only legally required to pay for the accrued vacation and sick leave and nothing more.”

He also noted that the city did comply with the Open Meetings Act when it voted to approve the manager’s amendment.

Council member Courtney Goza asked about an additional 40 hours of sick leave, which she believed should be deducted from the amount, as it was added per contract. Garza agreed, stating that they have an argument for this, as it was accredited, not accrued, which is the keyword. This means the final sick leave payout would be 265.43 hours, instead of 305.43.

In response to this, council member Marc McKinney stated that the addition was because Langley’s initial contract was 120 hours of sick leave and was lessened to 80, so they added 40 to bring it back up. Because of this, he felt that the 40 should be included. Council member Claudia Zapata agreed, stating that there was an error in the description.

Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale said that her “hands are tied” because so much of the discussion happened in executive session, with the only witnesses being McKinney and council member Lauralee Harris, and she has to look out for the best interest of the residents. Additionally, the contract itself states that the 40 hours were credited, she said.

Garza echoed this same note, reiterating that the required payout is for accrued hours only.

The next step is most likely mediation, said the lawyer, as the contract states that Langley’s attorney can call for this, if there is a dispute.

“My suggestion is going to be to pay him what we think he has earned — the accrued [hours],” said Flores-Cale. “We’re not denying the payment out-flat-right. What we’re doing is evaluating what we believe through the resolution, which describes the intent through the motion, and through watching the meeting .. I do become a little torn when we pay an $8,000 mediator, which we’re probably going to be required to pay half of, and then, if he sues the city, it goes up into these bigger bills, too. Part of this is going to be important because I feel like moving forward, we have to learn a lesson somehow.”

Medina motioned to pay Langley only the accrued hours of 63.55 vacation leave and 265.43 sick leave. The item passed 6-0. Council member Michael Tobias was absent.

“Thank you guys for talking our way through this. We’re handling some really tough stuff and so, I appreciate the teamwork,” concluded the mayor.

The final payout, after the adjusted leave total, was not disclosed at the meeting, but, according to Goza, the change will save taxpayers approximately $140,000.

To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/4uJQS3S.

His love for educating people dates back to when he was a first grade student and, because his teacher knew that he was already an avid reader, was asked to help his classmates learn how to read. Wright shared that it was through that joy that he discovered from a young age that he knew he wanted to have a career in education.

Wright started his career as a student teacher in 1988 and then, became a full-time teacher in the classroom and coach in 1989, serving across several school districts in Texas, including Terrell, Channelview, West Hardin, Hardin, Marshall and Lufkin ISDs.

After learning what he could as an instructor, he entered into the following advanced leadership positions: assistant elementary school principal for Lufkin ISD in 1996; principal of an elementary school in Huntington ISD in 1997; principal of Huntington High School for the 2000-2001 school year; assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Huntington ISD in 2001-2004; named the superintendent for Woodville ISD in 2004; superintendent for Huntington ISD in 2006-2014; and superintendent for Fredericksburg ISD in 2014-2017.

The Hays CISD Board of Trustees hired him in December 2017 to serve as superintendent, thus beginning Wright’s leadership of the district Jan. 1, 2018. Since then, he has watched the district continue to evolve. At the time, there were approximately 19,000 students, Wright said, but now, the district has more than 25,000 students in the fast-growing area.

“Just watching the dynamic growth and trying to keep pace with that growth, so that all students have a nice place to learn has been crucial. Thanks to our community and our taxpayers, we've been able to pass several bonds in order to provide facilities that allow our students to have great spaces in which to learn and then, in fine arts and athletics [to] showcase their talents,” he shared.

Hays CISD is unique in that it serves multiple cities, including Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, Niederwald, Hays, Driftwood, Uhland and parts of Austin, Wright continued. Taking all of the different communities and listening to the various needs they have to give the students the best educational experience has been challenging, but rewarding at the same time, he said.

“I see public education as being the vehicle that can raise all boats and if a student is educated, then it provides opportunities for them,” the superintendent said. “It opens the doors and I think we are able to provide those opportunities, so they can be successful in whatever field that they want to move into later on in life.”

Over the years, there have been several accolades and accomplishments throughout Wright’s tenure.

Knowing that “if you can read, you can do anything,” Wright implemented a reading program during the beginning of his stint at Hays CISD. This emphasized the importance of teaching students how to read on grade level using phonics as a base, as, when he first started, reading scores in the district were in a deficit, but they now exceed state and regional averages.

He also shared that he is proud of the increased number of students taking advanced placement, dual credit and OnRamps courses, as well as the Career and Technology Education Department being able to partner with local business owners to help secure their future employees.

However, his favorite time of the month is meeting with the Student Advisory Panel and having the direct interaction with the students, as he is able to hear from those that are impacted the most from decisions made by the district.

“[It’s] made up of high school kids from all four of our high schools. We bring them in and we run policy decisions and building decisions because we always want to know how it impacts the end user, which always is our kids,” Wright said. “Anything that's curriculum in nature or that deals with the school district, we always want the student voice and so, monthly, I get to have student input and so, that's that's my biggest takeaway and it's probably one of the groups that I will miss the most is having the direct interaction with our students.”

After a nearly 40-year career in public education, Wright has decided that it’s time for him to step away to be able to spend more time with his wife and family, including his young grandchildren.

“I've been doing this work for almost four decades now and so, I just feel like it's time for me to make a change and enjoy my family. I love this job, but it is also all-consuming in volume with 25,000 students and over 3,500 employees. It never stops. It's like I'm on duty 365 [days a year], 24/7,” he said. “I'm ready to do something different. I love our team; I love our kids. I'm not walking away because of any dissatisfaction. I just want to do something different with my life and actually be there for my family moving forward.”

Wright will be retiring in February of next year. According to him, the best time for a superintendent to step down is in the middle of the school year because the budget is already set and “all of the manuals” are provided, leaving his replacement with the opportunity to have two to three months to learn about the district before most of the crucial decisions are made.

Looking ahead to the future of Hays CISD — as Wright vowed he will remain the number one fan and biggest cheerleader — he wants to continue to see the student enrollment and facilities grow, as well as whoever takes over his position to leave it better than they found it.

“I'm just eternally grateful for the original board that gave me the opportunity to work here and I've been blessed to have great trustees to work with … My executive cabinet is by far the best in the state; we've had a great continuity and everything that has been accomplished has been a team effort. I'm so proud of our outstanding teachers and our outstanding students,” Wright concluded. “Hays CISD is a destination district [and] I just want to thank them for all their support throughout all these years.”
 

Earlier this year, the Hays County Commissioners Court authorized the issuance of Certificates of Obligation (COs) not to exceed $100 million for county offices/administrative buildings and facilities, which includes the Eastside Campus.

“This project represents an opportunity to thoughtfully plan for the needs of our growing community. By participating in these open houses, residents can help shape a campus that reflects our shared priorities and supports families across eastern Hays County for years to come,” said Hays County Precinct 1 commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe. “Investing in Hays County’s core infrastructure is essential to keeping our county working efficiently and responsibly as our population continues to grow. This project is about ensuring that our residents can access services in spaces that are safe, modern and equipped to meet today’s demands.”

The open house will feature an interactive, come-and-go format with opportunities to engage with county staff about services to be offered at the Eastside Campus.

“Community participation is essential as we plan for the future of the eastside. This format is designed to give residents direct access to the experts shaping this project and to ensure that the voices of our community remain at the center of the process,” said Hays County Precinct 2 commissioner Dr. Michelle Cohen. “This project represents an important step in making sure Hays County keeps pace with the needs of the people who live here.”

“As our county grows, so does the demand for our facilities and it’s important that our spaces reflect the level of service our community expects,” Cohen continued. “Investing in the Eastside Campus allows us to support our staff, strengthen our operations and create welcoming, functional environments for residents.”

Residents are encouraged to attend, ask questions, and provide feedback that will guide the county as the project moves forward.

For more information, contact Hays County Communications Manager Natalie Frels at natalie.frels@hayscountytx.gov.

BPCAAA has been active for eight years and provides a bridge between the agency and local community. The organization — entirely made up of volunteers — does this by supporting the endeavors of the Buda Police Department, offering a community touch through raising money for school supplies, educating different organizations about the agency and more.

“We present the officers with things that are of value to them, like last year, we gave them all Guardian Angel devices that are a safety device for them to wear on their vests and it basically has the same kind of LED lighting that their cars have, so they're more visible at night when they're doing a traffic stop,” the association president explained. “Those devices are lifesaving and we had raised enough funds and had enough community touch to provide one for all 29 of them.”

A large component of the association’s mission is education, especially through the 12-week Citizens Police Academy that was established to provide the public with the opportunity to learn more about the BPD and develop a working knowledge of its day-to-day functions and operations.

Wilson noted that they have also assisted BPD in hosting recent community classes about active shooters, as well as one called Stop the Bleed — for which they also partnered with the fire department — that focuses on trauma care in the field.

The valued relationship between law enforcement and the community also extends to other parts of Hays County, with the Kyle Law Enforcement Association (KLEA), which has been in effect for more than 10 years under its current name.

“Our main focus is centered on cultivating relationships between our officers and the community that we serve. Our main goal is to pretty much nurture a positive relationship and make sure that the community knows who we are and we feel that the familiarity with us tends to put the public at ease,” said Mark Spencer, KLEA president.

KLEA hosts several events throughout the year, including the Blue Santa program, which helps provide Christmas presents and food boxes for children and families — an effort BCPAAA also participates in— and Shotgun for Charity Golf Tournament.

Spencer added that KLEA also acts as an advocate when it comes to fair wages and benefits, as well as works with various organizations to ensure the safety of officers when they are off-duty to protect their families and themselves in a time where many have been doxxed, which is when private, personal information is revealed.

“Healthy officers [and] fulfilled officers are the ones that provide the highest level of service to the public,” Spencer said.

Officers often spend their time on duty working and it can be difficult to have meaningful connections with the community, but KLEA has been working for the last several years to change that, especially with the youth, Spencer said.

“We believe it's very important for us to get in the community, have our positive interactions, be positive role models [and] a positive adult figure in the community,” he explained. “We believe it sets our youth up for success and from time to time, we can help out families that are in need and make sure they have more of a personal connection with their police department because more often than not, we interact with the public on the worst possible day. So, this is kind of an opportunity for us to interact with them in a more positive manner, rather than when they're in the middle of a crisis.”

Being able to bridge the relationship between law enforcement and the community is important because a lot of times, there is some misunderstanding on what the badge represents, Wilson added.

“Buda is a pretty nice little tight-knit community, so we don't have a lot of dissension, but on the national level, there is. I believe this is a great tool to help the police department community police to engage people,” she said, adding that her neighborhood has had a recent issue of kids riding electric bikes in drainage areas, raising safety concerns, but she stepped forward to encourage them to contact BPD for help.

Currently, BPCAAA is actively seeking new membership to increase from its current 12 in order to continue “protecting our protectors,” Wilson said. In addition, she said that the association would also like to see some other goals come to fruition: a kids camp and explorer program; continuing education scholarships for officers; and expanding the school supply drive to a higher level in Buda.

As for KLEA, Spencer shared that one of the goals for this year is to be more available to the community as an open resource, so they have begun the process of contacting more of the local homeowners associations.

The Buda Citizens Police Academy will start March 29, 2027, and run through June 18, 2027, on Thursday nights from 6:30-9 p.m.  Class is limited to 20 students, so those interested should submit their application when open enrollment begins Wednesday, Jan. 6, at www.budatx.gov/839/Citizens-Police-Academy-2027.

Additionally, there is a 10-week Citizens Police Academy in Kyle, which is separate from KLEA, but does help the association with its events. Information can be found at bit.ly/4xBvXmo.

To learn more about the various associations, and find out how to support their causes, visit www.budapolicefoundation.org and www.kylelea.org.

Assistant manager Jesse Elizondo recapped the previous meetings, detailing that the committee has completed the tasks asked of it from council by determining recommendations for compensation and expenses, the latter of which was an additional request from council.

“For tonight, it’s just wide open for discussion,” he said.

Prior to any additional changes or conversation, the presentation laid out the current recommendation draft:

Category 51: Personnel Services (pay/wages)

• Base wage amounts remain the same

• Remove $500 stipend and add to base wage amount, increasing to $1,500 for council and $1,800 for mayor

Category 52/53 Services & Commodities (expenses/ reimburse/budgets)

• Keep the expense reimbursement budget as presented: $6,700 for contractual services and $3,340 for commodities

• Council members to stay within specific budget categories without overages

• Reimbursements must be submitted within 30 days, with the Finance director able to approve extraordinary circumstances

Additional recommendations

• Remove legal expenses from allowable expenses in policy

• Update reference in policy from the Internal Revenue Service rate for travel to the General Services Administration rate

• Require a report summarizing any out of town travel

Chairman Diane Hervol asked committee member Howard Connell if there were any suggestions he had, as he was absent for the May 28 meeting.

“I agree with category 51, except for one thing: I’m going to try one more time for the [consumer price index (CPI) raise],” began Connell. “The last time those were approved was back in 2022 when this committee met. Going down the road in 2029, those folks are going to be compensated based on seven year old numbers. I don’t feel it’s a stretch to ask for a CPI, as we had discussed before. If the interest of being fair is something we’re concerned about, the city staff is going to continue to get theirs, as far as I know.”

Additionally, he suggested cutting $48,000 from the budget, which is a number he found after taking the average of leftover compensation budget from 2025.

“What’s in the presentation was just a snapshot to show the budget itself, not an end of year budget like committee member Connell is talking about,” said Elizondo. “The other thing to keep in mind is that the council members do not individually budget their budget. These based numbers are across all council members. So, whereas departments have the ability to sit down through the budget process and look at every single expense in several years … this [presentation] is a three year average … that might be why you have that overage.”

He also stated that although there may be money leftover, it will all be directed into the city’s general fund.

Committee member Melissa Spence was concerned about the potential cut, as traveling alone could then make a council member go over budget. Furthermore, the removal of credit cards earlier this year has lessened the anxiety of whether council members would go over budget or not, she said.

Hervol added that she didn’t want to cut the budget because this allows council members the opportunities to fund town halls or other creative ways to connect with their constituents.

“I think right now with what we’re doing is we are putting up guardrails. This thing is not a runaway train. We made changes to category 52 and 53, that’s one and then, we took away the stipend and added it to their pay. I think now we have more guardrails in place versus how they operated previously,” concluded committee member Michael McDonald.

Hervol motioned to pass the draft, with the amendment of removing the dry cleaning services — with a budget of $0.00 — from the mayor’s budget.

The item passed unanimously.

The next steps include talking with staff to choose an upcoming meeting to present the recommendations to council, explained Elizondo.

Following the presentation of several animals and traits about them, children were given the opportunity to meet each new friend up close and personal. The event is part of the library’s summer reading challenge, “Dig into Reading: A Summer of Discovery at KPL.” The initiative encourages 45 days of reading, which library card holders can fill out in their reading log — available at KPL. Turn in a completed log by Friday, Aug. 7, for a chance to win a prize.

To learn more about the summer reading challenge and other events at KPL, visit bit.ly/4vOMaD3. 

The event will highlight leadership, workforce development, economic growth and community impact through a panel discussion, featuring women leaders from across the region.

Featured panelists include:

• Amber Schmeits, Deputy City Manager, City of Kyle
• Dr. Giao Phan, Dean, Austin Community College
• Chris Myers, Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area
• Ginny Tipton, Executive Director, Thistlewood Manor & Gardens

Panelists will share their professional journeys, discuss opportunities and challenges facing one of the fastest-growing regions in Texas and offer perspectives on building stronger businesses, organizations and communities.

"As our region continues to grow, strong leadership and meaningful collaboration are essential to ensuring long-term success," said Becca Hancock, president and CEO of the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce. She Means Business provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding women leaders, while fostering conversations that inspire future generations and strengthen our community."

The luncheon serves as both a celebration of women's achievements and a forum for discussing the issues and opportunities shaping the future of the region. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with fellow professionals, community stakeholders and local leaders while gaining insights from the panel discussion.

Event Details:

She Means Business
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Texas Old Town
1205 Roland Lane
Kyle, Texas 78640

Registration remains open and a limited number of sponsorship opportunities are still available.

For additional information or to register, contact the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce at (512) 268-4220 or visit the chamber's website.

The city’s current approved CIP spending plan sits at $1.27 billion, which consists of 125 proposed projects, spanning from fiscal year 2026 to 2030. This number is further broken down into two categories: $490.1 million of tax-supported CIPs and $781 million non-tax supported CIPs, according to the presentation, though this is not feasible, so staff has proposed an estimated $400 million decrease for FY 2027-2031. This would reduce the CIP total to $838.3 million, comprised of $409.3 million tax-supported and $449.1 million non-tax supported projects.

This new 5-year spending plan would remove several projects, as previously decided by council, including the Old Stagecoach Heritage Tree Pocket Park, Transportation and Public Works and Kyle Water Utilities headquarters, downtown revitalization and roundabout beautification. Despite this cut, multiple projects are still planned to be funded:

Parks and Recreation projects

• Plum Creek east Vybe Trail

• Kyle recreational fields

• Gregg-Clarke Skatepark

• Mary Kyle Hartson City Square Park bathroom

Transportation and Public Works projects

• 2022 Road Bond program

• Street maintenance/rehabilitation and micro surfacing

• Intersections and traffic safety improvements

• Sunflower Circle improvements

• Residential streets maintenance and rehabilitation program

• Sidewalk Master Plan implementation

• Post Oak subdivision improvements

Kyle water utility projects

• Wastewater treatment plant expansion

• Indirect/direct potable reuse project

• Lehman booster pump station expansion

• Wastewater interceptor upgrades

• Pressure plane 3 pump station

• Stormwater/drainage projects

Tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZ) projects

• Kohlers Crossing roundabouts at Sanders and Benner (TIRZ #2)

• Cromwell extension

The presentation also detailed that despite the long list of ongoing projects, there are still numerous amounts that are now unfunded, such as: County Road 158 and IH-35 improvements; Kohlers overpass project and Marketplace intersection improvements — waiting on grant funding; Kyle Senior Community Center driveway; Steeplechase Park phase 1; Gregg-Clarke Park upgrades; splash pad renovation; Lake Kensington Park; the Kyle animal shelter and more.

“Things didn’t change between October and now. We were broke then; we’re broke now. So, the question is: How did city staff get this far out in the forefront and commit the city, knowing that we didn’t have money? That’s the question y’all should be asking,” said interim city manager Perwez Moheet.

Assistant director of Finance Holly Holt-Torres discussed the CIP financial forecast.

“The purpose of this section is to provide a clear understanding of the following: the city’s current outstanding debt obligations, the annual debt service associated with that debt, the amount of additional debt that would be required if the preliminary FY 2027 through FY 2031 CIP spending plan were fully implemented and the policy decisions that will ultimately be required from council, regarding unfunded projects,” explained Holt-Torres.

Currently, the city has approximately $385.3 million in outstanding principal debt obligations, but with interest, that number rises to $611.3 million, she said.

“Each dollar of principal issued today creates repayment obligations that extend many years into the future,” emphasized the assistant director, adding that these debts are paid through various avenues, such as property tax, water rates, wastewater rates and TIRZ #4.

She also stated that $816.1 million in new debt issuance over the course of the next five years — if every CIP project moved forward — would mean that the debt obligations would exceed $1 billion.

Moheet explained that the bond market is also playing a role in the impending debt, as investors are "impatient" these days and looking for five- and 10-year maturities, rather than the previous 25- and 30-year maturities. This makes it more difficult for the city to backfill, so instead, it has to use money from the general fund.

“I don’t want to leave any false impressions on y’all that we can have this CIP program and not have an impact on the tax rates or on the water and wastewater rates,” said Moheet.

Regarding these projects, Holt-Torres noted that there are two options for council to consider when moving forward with CIPs. The first is general election bonds (GO), which requires voter approval through a public ballot, and the second is council-approved certificates of obligation bonds (CO).

Prior to discussion, council member Claudia Zapata shared that she was informed through an anonymous email of a 10% pay cut for staff members earning more than $90,000 to add to savings. Council member Melisa Medina stated that this was news to her, to which Moheet confirmed that there was never an official announcement, as it was purely internal discussion.

He stated that “65% of our budget is personnel, so I don’t see how I can get around that,” in response to Zapata asking to find other options that would not affect their staff. Furthermore, Moheet said that it is unclear whether he will propose a 5%, 10% or 15% pay cut, as he has to exempt sworn officers from the reduction.

“It’s important to note that today we’re talking about CIP budget. We’re not talking about operating budget. I brought that up, so everybody on council is clear. I brought that up with the department heads as an idea concept to get their feedback,” explained the interim city manager. “I really, honestly don’t know until I put the budget together and that won’t happen until mid-July … So, be patient. If you hear something, don’t run off with it. That is the gospel truth. Wait until I formally hand you a proposed budget for next fiscal year and then, you can shred it to pieces.”

Council member Lauralee Harris countered this, stating that it’s important to know these decisions as these are not in the future; they’re happening now. Despite this, Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale expressed that in the past, she never questioned the city manager’s decision to hire or fire someone, even if the situation was bad.

“At the end of the day, it is not our say. If there’s a policy or procedure that we’d like to form, we can bring that to the council and we can have a conversation and we can direct our city manager from there. But what we cannot do is question him one by one and give our personal opinion as if it comes from the dais,” said Flores-Cale.

Moving back to the discussion on unfunded projects, the mayor emphasized that there is “no way” she will approve each of the projects, as it would result in a 0.85% tax rate.

One item she was in favor for was the County Road 158 deceleration lane improvements for $500,000, with hopefully county participation. However, Medina, who lives in the area, stated that she would prefer to delay the project until they have money to fund it without taking CO bonds “only because if you’re coming up the IH-35 access road, where they built Waterstone [Crossing], they have that ingress thing to go onto Waterstone, which takes you the same direction as you’re going to go if you’re going on 158. So, I use that now to safely get on Old Post Road to go home the back way. So, we have that option right now.”

Council voted 7-0 to defer the item.

The following items were also delayed with a 7-0 vote:

• Kyle Mobility Plan — since information has not yet been presented to council: $1 million

• Kohlers overpass project — until grant information is available: $35 million

• Chevo Pastrano Senior Parkway extension — due to the large amount of money, the mayor advocated for a GO bond for the extension, but noted that there needs to be firm plans in place, so that the residents are aware of what they will be voting on in the 2028 GO bond: $100 million

• Gregg-Clarke Park splash pad: $1.25 million

• Gregg-Clarke Park playground parking area — delayed until the Park Master Plan can be brought back, but under the assumption that $900,000 will be spent for the parking lot: $2.15 million

• Lake Kensington Park — defer to get a phased plan: $14 million

• Animal shelter — delayed until legal land usage is confirmed at the July 21 council meeting: $10 million

These items will be moving forward unanimously:

• Intersection improvements at Veterans Drive and Jack C Hays Trail — due to nearing 100% engineering designs: $6.25 million

• Kohlers Crossing intersection improvements at Kyle Crossing and Marketplace Avenue — using funding from TIRZ #1: $4 million

• Steeplechase Park improvements — CO bond to match the grant received: $750,000

• Modular buildings for city office space — expansion at city hall and removing administrative staff from the Public Safety Center: $3 million

“As we look at these projects and scrub them a little bit more, if we find some savings, we can just take that as, ‘Yes, we would go back and see if there’s money that we could allocate to other projects,’” said Transportation and Public Works director Mike Trimble.

The timeline for these bonds, he explained, would begin in October 2026, when council would approve a resolution to initiate bond development processes, continue with meetings and clarifications in 2027 and conclude in August 2028 when council sets the ballot for the November 2028 election.

More discussion covering the Public Transportation Program, including Uber 3.14, and special events will continue at the Saturday, June 27, meeting, said Moheet. Then, he will present the proposed budget Aug. 1, followed by proposed property tax rates and water and wastewater rates Aug. 15. Public hearings will be held during the first and second readings of the budget at the Sept. 5 and Sept. 15 council meetings.

For more information on the city’s budget, visit www.cityofkyle.gov/city-hall/financial-services. To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/4uz54N1.

“This fair is one of our most important outreach events of the year,” said Mike Jones, Hays County Office of Emergency Services director. “Our goal is to give residents the tools, skills and confidence to handle emergencies of all kinds. Prepared communities are resilient communities.”

This free, family-friendly event brings together emergency responders, community partners and local vendors to help residents prepare for natural or man-made disasters. Attendees can enjoy hands-on training, safety demonstrations, preparedness resources, food, raffles, live entertainment and the popular Top Dawg Chili Cook-Off.

Jones underscored the value of connecting residents with the people who serve them.

“It’s not just about learning preparedness skills — it’s about meeting the first responders who work every day to keep our county safe,” he said. “This fair gives families a chance to interact with the teams, equipment and resources that support our community during critical moments.”

Safety demonstrations at the event will include:

• Stop the Bleed

• Hands-only CPR

• Fire extinguisher training

• Recognizing heat stroke and exhaustion

• How to build a personalized emergency go-kit

Emergency vehicles and equipment will be on display throughout the day, allowing guests to explore fire engines and rescue units and speak directly with first responders.

The fair will also highlight participation from numerous preparedness partners, including the Kyle Police Department, San Marcos-Hays County EMS, Community Emergency Response Team and others.

The Top Dawg Chili Cook-Off returns for its fourth year and is open to the public. For a $20 donation, wristband holders can sample chili from competing teams and vote for their favorite. Proceeds benefit the Hays County Fire Chiefs Association, supporting firefighter training and replacing equipment lost during wildfire responses.

“Come enjoy great chili, while helping fund critical tools and training for our fire departments,” Jones said. “This year’s fair is bigger, more interactive and designed for the whole community.”

For more information, visit www.haysinformed.com/preparednessfair or follow the event on Facebook at bit.ly/4aauR6T.

The initial idea stems back years, said — now K9 — officer Benton McClaran, but there were other priorities the department needed to focus on before implementing this. After securing funding for the fiscal year 2025-26 budget, Atlas officially joined the organization in June.

KPD leaned on local agencies that have their own K9 units, specifically the Austin Police Department, when beginning the program. McClaran noted that they took the advice to stay local when looking for a training organization to allow easy access, if any questions or help was needed in the future.

The decision to be a K9 officer was easy for McClaran: “I’ve always loved K9 officers and jobs. It’s a very proactive policing style and it’s a Jack-of-all-trades because it’s not just being a proactive police officer, you’ve got to do community outreach, [too].”

So, when the opportunity came to sign up, he was quick to reach out to K9 colleagues in other agencies to gain insight on the position and begin his training at Pacesetter K9 LLC.

According to the officer, Atlas is actually from another country — and speaks a different language to ensure others cannot command him — where several puppies are chosen based on their tenacity and intelligence to travel back to the United States and be trained for the police force. Each puppy is given a specialty that it is trained in, such as bombs, drugs, missing individuals and more. Atlas was trained in narcotics searches and search operations.

McClaran stated that a Kong toy was, and still currently is, used in his training. So, Atlas was originally searching for the Kong toy, until it was replaced with several drugs that KPD wanted him to be able to find in a search.

The K9 can also differentiate between residual odors and the physical drug itself, making his alerts appear only when the actual substance is found.

Regarding missing persons, McClaran explained that he can both do article tracking — which is when an item with an individual’s scent is used — and human scent. The latter is more difficult, said the officer, but it’s important because it teaches the dog to pick up the strongest scent and follow it, without getting distracted. For example, if a child wanders out of a house and heads into the woods and then, to a busy store, he stated that Atlas would be able to start at the house and pick up the strongest scent — the child — and track it through the woods and inside the store, despite all of the other human scents around him.

This training is meticulous and requires immense patience, said McClaran, joking that whatever patience a person may think they have will surely be tested when working with a dog.

He and Atlas have had to form a strong bond based on trust to ensure they can work together accurately and efficiently.

“It’s important that you take that extra time out [to bond]. So, I would take him out on walks, I’d get him out early [and] just go sit with him. I want him to be comfortable with me … Bonding is very important for you to understand your dog and vice versa for him to understand you,” he emphasized.

Additionally, he stated that, “It’s one of those jobs where it’s just baptism by fire. You can’t learn it in a room; You’ve got to be able to see the dog, smell the dog, watch his movements, see how he’s doing things.”

Their training officially lasted six weeks beginning in April, but will be continuous, said McClaran, as dogs need consistency to sharpen the tools they’ve learned. Just like humans, they have bad days, he shared, but more training means fewer mistakes.

KPD chose Atlas, due to his breed — Belgian shepherd — which is a combination of malinois and German shepherd, said McClaran. This is because they want the temperament and intelligence of a German shepherd, with the drive of a Malinois.

Similar to the distinct reasoning behind his breed, the officer thought long and hard about his name, as well.

“I love tradition. I love trying to make something. The Kyle Police Department has been really good to me and I want to try to set this program up as best as I can. My thought was eventually we have to get more dogs … So, I figured we’d start with the letter A and move our way down [the alphabet],” explained McClaran. “With the name Atlas, just the mythology, the fable of Atlas the Titan. He had the world on his shoulders; he held the world up and I think it’s symbolic for Atlas. He’s the first K9 we’ve got. He’s holding the city up and it’s important for him to make a good mark here.”

Continuing on the sentiment of Atlas’ impact, McClaran stated that he is going to make Kyle a safer community for both residents and officers. Atlas can use his human scent training to track offenders, as well. This means that officers on the scene can follow Atlas, rather than splitting up in a large area and decreasing their numbers, which in turn makes them more susceptible to being hurt.

Furthermore, the K9 can also further bridge the gap between the KPD and residents. McClaran hopes to do school visits to educate students on general safety for younger students and harder subjects, such as drug use, for those in high school.

Atlas hasn’t formally had his first day on the job, he said, as he wants to ensure the dog is fully ready. But when he begins his duties, his days will begin with a few hours of training and then, doing daily tasks with McClaran until they’re needed.

“It’s a force multiplier, so now officers can rely on us for narcotic searches. We’ve had trouble getting K9s available to our city. There’s so many people out there, so many agencies [that] getting somebody in here for a last minute search is hard. So, now we’re able to really cut down on time,” said the officer.

Although training Atlas has been intense, he revealed that he has never been happier: “All my friends are jealous because I got a new best friend.”

They even have a routine to wind down after a hard day's work: playing fetch for 30 minutes and then, sitting in a rocking chair — Atlas on McClaran — while they relax before having dinner and going to bed.

“It is difficult. It’s not easy. I don’t know that everyone can do it. You have to have that level of commitment to the city, to your job. You have to love what you do in order for you to love something else about it … but it’s been amazing,” McClaran concluded.

According to KPD Chief Jeff Barnett, the department will evaluate operational needs in the future when it comes to expanding the program.

To keep up with K9 officer McClaran and Atlas, follow KPD on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kylepolicedepartment.

The item — sponsored by council members Melisa Medina and Courtney Goza and Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale — detailed that the audit would include review of potential fraud, misuse of taxpayer funds, transactions related to credit card expenditures and more.

“I know this was something as a resident that I was in favor of having before I came on council myself. So, tonight we’re bringing this item forward because we do believe it is our responsibility as elected officials to ensure that our taxpayer dollars are being managed appropriately, transparently and in accordance with all applicable policies and laws,” explained Medina. “This agenda item does not presume wrongdoing, nor does it reach any conclusions. Rather, it … provides the council with information regarding the scope, the costs and the timelines.”

She did note that she’s aware that this will cost money admist the revelation that the city is $14 million in debt, but council needs to understand why they are in so much debt, as “this process is to verify that appropriate safeguards are in place, identify any weaknesses that may exist and provide recommendations for improvement.”

Flores-Cale continued with this sentiment, stating that even if the audit came back without concern, it would at least “strengthen public confidence.”

An audit is something residents asked for after the debt was revealed, said Goza. Additionally, she stated that in 2024-25, there were many charges that were unaccounted for by council at the time. When asked to provide explanation, Goza continued, council members chose to not do so: “When you see these things happening, it makes you question what other processes may have been put by the wayside or not followed.”

Questioning the reason for a forensic audit was council member Lauralee Harris. She stated that these types of audits are usually used in a specific crime or misappropriation of funds and she “is not aware of any legal actions that have been filed that necessitate a forensic audit.” She added that requesting this indicates a lack of faith in the Finance director.

Council member Claudia Zapata echoed this statement, sharing that interim city manager and former Finance director Perwez Moheet has been serving the city for 16 years and has never filed a report with the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy regarding suspected fraud or financial misconduct. Zapata stated that the council members presenting this item want “to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going on a goose hunt that our own Finance director is not even giving credence to,” so she is asking what the trigger to this request is.

“We are $14 million in debt,” replied council member Michael Tobias. “We have a hell of a lot of people we’ve got to answer to. For many years, there has been the rumors, the speculations of under the table contracts, things like that, credit cards that have missing receipts from former council members … I have no problem going back all the way to 2016 all the way to now.”

This decline in revenue — which is what contributed to the $14 million debt — didn’t happen overnight, said Zapata. She stated that she asked staff, “How long has Finance known this information?” The response detailed that the department regularly reported the decline to the former city manager during monthly briefings since FY 2023-24, which was then shared with council in weekly reports.

Zapata continued her argument, stating that Goza and Flores-Cale have spent years accusing the former mayor and council “of committing crimes on social media,” which Medina has “decided to join in on.” They campaigned on these premises, she alleged, adding that they are using “their newly elected position to manufacture evidence of criminal conduct from decisions they simply disagreed with.”

She compared the item to the Trump administration, which uses its “investigative authority, its resources [and] its capacity to expose and punish, to go after the people its political base believes wants punished. This is the DOGE-ing of Kyle.”

Flores-Cale then asked Moheet to describe his history with reporting to the former city manager.

He explained that at first, it was weekly, then his reporting got reorganized to be to the assistant city manager and it became infrequent. Additionally, items that were previously the Finance Department’s responsibility, such as credit card function and utility billing, were transferred into a new department called Administrative Services Department. In September 2025, this department was eliminated and some of the responsibilities came back to Finance, though others were spread out into other departments. All this to say, Flores-Cale asked whether he was able to see every procurement, credit card charge and more, to which Moheet stated, “No. That is impossible for any Finance director.”

She then motioned to approve the item, with a second from Goza. A 5-2 vote passed the item, with Zapata and Harris dissenting.

Council member Marc McKinney noted that he “hopes this is a colossal waste of our limited resources, but I am all in favor of transparency and more importantly, I have a lot of constituents who do feel like this is necessary.”

To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/4v0JlyQ. For related story regarding the budget deficit, visit: 

Kyle City Council will meet next at 10 am. Saturday, June 13.

KPD responded to the report of a stolen vehicle June 2 and, as officers arrived, the suspect, Rabago, attempted to flee, driving approximately 60 miles per hour through a nearby parking lot before making a U-turn and colliding head-on with the patrol vehicle, placing officers and members of the public in danger, stated a news release.

Rabago was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and reckless driving.  

During the investigation, officers discovered more than 80 documents containing the identifying information of another individual inside the stolen vehicle. Investigators also recovered a credit card that had reportedly been used to make fraudulent purchases the day before the arrest.  

KPD encourages residents to take simple precautions to protect themselves from theft by locking vehicle doors, removing valuables and avoiding leaving personal or financial documents inside their vehicles. Taking these steps can help reduce opportunities for theft, identity fraud and other criminal activity in the community, the department noted.

Valenzuela began Muay Thai three years ago when he discovered the sport on YouTube after wanting to find a competitive sport that he could “take a step further.” From there, he began practicing at American Vintage Society in Buda.

“People call it the art of eight limbs. So, all your weapons are: your knees, elbows, kicks and punches, obviously. It’s similar to kickboxing, but now you’re just adding knees and elbows,” he explained.

From the first day, he knew he had found a passion, sharing that, “It was exactly where I wanted to be.”

The fighter eventually developed his own style, earning him the name “Suaytae,” which he noted means “beautiful kick” in Thai, since he focuses on kicking.

As Valenzuela’s enthusiasm for Muay Thai continued to grow, he began considering competing and entered his first Muay Thai Development League (MDL) match.

“It’s like a tiny little scrimmage. It’s just a good way to practice and there will be events around Texas that do it. It’s a way to gain experience, if you really want to fight and then, you’ll go on to do actual sanctioned fights that appear on your record,” said Valenzuela.

After competing in several of these, he put in an application to be on Team USA. He explained that, although there is no formal match to determine who is on the team, the Muay Thai community in the United States is quite small, so those deciding have been to the MDLs and will “know if you’re actually good enough because, majority of the time, they’ve seen you fight.”

He stressed that being able to represent his country is no small feat, as this is a huge accomplishment for the 15 year old.

Valenzuela competed at the USA Muay Thai Grand Nationals in Delaware — placing second — and the Southern Regional Tournament in Louisiana prior to taking the stage at the WBC Muay Thai World Festival in Bangkok.

The tournaments span across several days, where the competitors fight in a bracket to move up until the final winner is crowned.

“I took home a bronze medal that time around [in Louisana]. It was really fun, though,” recalled Valenzeula. “I got a really good fight in and really good experience, so I’m actually really proud of that … I think [these other fights are] preparing me really good, mostly because in Thailand, it’s going to be high-paced, so very touch-and-go type of style … There’s a difference between regular Muay Thai, where you have all the people watching you in a stadium and then, there’s tournament style, where it’s very fast-paced and you have power behind your shots, but you’re more looking to score for the judges.”

Despite wanting to do well in competitions, Valenzuela emphasized that his favorite part of the sport isn’t the recognition: “[It’s] the community. I met a lot of good people throughout it and it’s a good way to socialize and workout with friends at the same time. So, it’s really enjoyable.”

Valenzuela shared that he hopes to compete professionally in the future, but for now, he’s hoping to have more opportunities to compete, which is difficult, due to the lack of competitions in Texas. Because of this, his mother, Leila Valenzuela, shared that they are consistently looking for sponsors. Those looking to aid him in his Muay Thai career can email teamusa.suaytae@gmail.com. Additionally, a GoFundMe can be found at https://gofund.me/11b289992.

Although nervous for his upcoming performance in Thailand on June 25, Valenzuela emphasized that this is normal. So, he’s simply looking to do his best and if he does, then he can be proud of himself, no matter the outcome.

“As long as I’ve gained experience and gained something from that fight, I’m pretty much satisfied,” he concluded.

Prior to discussion, members recapped the decisions made at the end of the April 17 meeting, noting that they opted to recommend removing the stipend title all together and instead, consolidating the stipend — $500 — and monthly compensation — $1,000 — to $1,500, with regular cost of living increases.

“It sounds like you guys are pretty much centered around what you want to go with general comp[ensation], but the full charge is take a look at everything, so that includes the reimbursements, the receipts [and more],” said assistant city manager Jesse Elizondo. “That’s what we’ll take a look at today.”

Currently, travel, training, transportation, memberships, subscriptions, supplies and legal expenses are available for reimbursement, while entertainment, recreational and personal expenses, expenses without itemized receipts, incomplete reimbursement requests and more are not.

Elizondo noted that the only real limitations are budget constraints. The budget, which has been decided based on usage trends for staff, includes the following:

• Personnel services: $19,377

• Contractual services: $6,700

• Commodities: $3,340

Due to the budget being the only limitation, committee member Melissa Spence recommended setting a maximum or requiring council pre-approval for certain items, such as travel, as this is a system that is set up in many jobs.

Although they chose to not change the budgets, the committee also wanted to have a report after traveling and ensure that the lodging and meals are done through U.S. General Services Administration, rather than the Internal Revenue Service rate.

There is also a category for “extraordinary expenses,” which states that “there may be isolated occasions when extraordinary expenses beyond ordinary costs can be justified as having a direct bearing upon city programs or which otherwise could be of benefit to the city.” This term is very broad, said Elizondo, and he couldn’t think of examples where it has been used in recent years, but chairwoman Diane Hervol shared that perhaps the time council members used their own funding to aid residents in Steeplechase Park — who experienced Hurricane Harvey flooding — could qualify as extraordinary.

Although there are the aforementioned categories, committee member Julianne Orgish shared that she felt there should be more guardrails, so that council isn’t questioning what could qualify and what wouldn’t, “just for transparency for them and for the city.” Spence would like these guardrails to include who was at events, such as lunch meetings, to ensure that taxpayers are not funding lunches for family members.

Continuing on the topic of guardrails was chairman Jake Webb, who suggested that each category must stay within itself, but that money within line items could be flexible. For example, category 52 — contractual services totals $6,700, but specifically, mileage reimbursement is limited to $300. If a council member needs to surpass the $300 by using some of the funding for subscription and books, this would be okay, so long as they do not go over the total $6,700 budget for contractual services, since they are within the same category.

The committee also chose to add a 30-day time limit for council members to put in requests for reimbursement, to both create more ease administratively and to prevent requesting money from events months prior.

“I think we have the framework for a very solid recommendation,” said Elizondo. “Our final meeting probably doesn’t even necessarily need to be too long, but we could — as a staff — bring all of this together as salient points and everything. Then, put it before the committee and say, ‘This is generally what we heard consensus on. Did we miss anything? Do we want to tweak anything?’ I think that would be a great final discussion for our recommendation.”

The Compensation Committee will meet next at 7 p.m. Monday, June 8.

KPD subsequently arrested Shymkiw and charged him with purchase/sell human remains. He posted a $5,000 bail the next day.

The case remains under investigation.

The task order to Tetra Tech, Inc. was initially on the consent agenda, but council members Michael Tobias and Claudia Zapata pulled the item for future discussion.

According to agenda documents, these projects, located at the intersections of Veterans Drive and Gregg Drive, FM 2770 and Jack Ryan and Dacy Lane at Chapa Middle School, are “to facilitate pedestrian mobility, minimize pedestrian-vehicle conflict and prioritize pedestrian safety.”

The crossings will vary, depending on what is needed at the intersection, said Transportation assistant director Ravali Kosaraju. The first is the hybrid beacon system, or PHB, which residents may be familiar with through their commonality in Austin.

“Austin tends to use them quite often at different locations because they’re relatively quick to deploy and they’re only activated if there’s a pedestrian that pushes a button, otherwise they stay blank,” explained Kosaraju.

The other option is popular south of Kyle, in San Antonio, where they use overhead flashers or O/H. These installations are typically used when the locations do not have the specific criteria needed to install PHBs.

“With that said, Veterans Drive and Gregg Drive … this location currently does have a flasher system. It’s somewhat like a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) and the challenge with this location that we’ve observed during site visits and following traffic studies is that the flashers are just not as visible as they could be,” said Kosaraju.

Additionally, she stated that there is no illumination at this location and pedestrians are having to wait a long time for vehicles to yield.

The proposed improvement for this intersection is to add PHB, while adding light fixtures.

PHB is also proposed for the crossroad at Dacy Lane toward CMS, since the CMS property entrance is requiring students to have to walk along Dacy Lane. Currently, there is an RRFB, with “shoddy” lighting, as it is solar powered, Rosaraju shared. So, with a new style of crosswalk and lighting, this would provide a safe location for students leaving to and from 3700 Dacy Apartments to the middle school. Furthermore, there is no sidewalk on the east side of Dacy Lane, along the school’s property.

The PHB would either have a push-to-walk mechanism or thermal detection sensing, which is to be finalized after further discussion with Hays CISD.

“I pulled this agenda item because with the PHBs [and] the timing of that is there a way in which we can elongate that timing? I’m thinking especially where our younger children are; they take a little bit longer to cross the street sometimes,” noted Zapata, also asking whether there will be audio at the crosswalks.

The assistant director confirmed that the timing will be determined based on the individuals that will be primarily utilizing the systems and that there will be audible elements, as that is the standard for new infrastructure, due to federal and state level disability requirements.

There is also a plan to create flashers for drivers further away from the new crosswalk, so that they have an advanced notice that they’re approaching it.

Tobias shared a story regarding the end of 2025, where the principal at CMS called him several times to let him know that a little boy got hit by a car and was rushed to the hospital after pushing his sister out of the way to save her.

“It was just very dark there and I saw the video; I saw that child’s flying ear. So, that really stressed me out a lot that day,” he recalled. “I’m just glad [that] now, we are finally getting to this phase.”

Lighting and a sidewalk design would come at a later date based on an engineer’s analysis, said Kosaraju.

“Sidewalk is another thing that we’re looking at to make sure that we are having connectivity, both on east and west side, so we’re not just dumping [these crosswalks] into an area that doesn’t have sidewalks on either side,” she stressed.

The only crosswalk to have a solution of O/H is at FM 2700 and Jack Ryan. Kosaraju noted that this is a common drop-off location for Hays High School students, though there are no crosswalks in the vicinity for them. There is also zero illumination or sidewalks on either side of the road, forcing students to walk either on the pavement itself or in the grass.

So, the city is proposing O/H, as this location does not meet the necessary criteria to be able to install PHB, with thermal detection zones for pedestrian sensing. The “Z” crosswalk would have an at least eight-foot median island at an optimal location, based on engineer analysis and stakeholder input.

“The reason that we were asked to do a ‘Z’ crossing with [the Texas Department of Transportation] is they’ve got data across the state that shows that sometimes a two stage crossing gives drivers and pedestrians time to take it in steps as opposed to having to rush across the street, especially given that this is a pretty wide cross section that they would have to cross,” said the assistant director.

There will also be lighting added and a sidewalk design from Jack Ryan to Carmello, which require a site investigation and feasibility study, said Kosaraju.

“When you’re doing that survey, would [you] be able to see how well it would be lit at night, so that way you could have a deputy that does a crossing guard to where they press the button [during football games] and then, they go across on that end? I was hoping it would be a PHB, but if it’s not, then something to look at are those factors of day, night and especially evening to see how well it would illuminate,” requested Tobias.

Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale added that she sees students walking throughout the whole area each day, so she would like the crosswalk to be further south.

“I [also] wanted to say: I brought the same exact item to council in 2023 and it was, at the time, called the Beacon Hawk and it went across and I was so bummed that, for some reason, they didn’t go with it. But this is literally everything I could have dreamed of, so thank you,” continued the mayor.

Also praising the project was council member Melisa Medina, but she was concerned that a crosswalk in the Post Oak neighborhood isn’t on this list. She noted that despite reaching out to several school officials, Wallace Middle School is still having students dropped off in the Tobias Elementary School parking lot. So, students are crossing in the dusk hours to come home to Post Oak, without a crossing guard.

In response, Kosaraju stated that these residents can reach out to Kyle 3-1-1 or email any city staff member in Public Works: “That’s how some of these started was literally just a 3-1-1 request. It may take us a while to get there, of course, because, again, FM 150 is a TxDOT roadway. So, probably looking at a long lead time there, but certainly something that we can look at.”

The item was approved unanimously. The timeline for these projects is 18-24 months, according to agenda documents.

Kyle City Council will meet next at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.