The San Marcos City Council met for their regular meeting May 5 to discuss a temporary downtown parklet program and amend the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget for mental health services for public safety employees.
City Council passed a temporary program allowing businesses to convert on-street parking spaces into outdoor seating. The program’s goal is to revitalize downtown business engagement by expanding businesses’ visible surface area. This new program authorizes short-term parklet installations and waives the application fee.
Businesses interested in participating must meet location and design criteria and are required to follow all guidelines specified by Gov. Abbott’s report to open Texas. Additionally, parklets cannot be larger than two parking spaces.
The council also amended the city’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget to allocate $50,000 from the asset forfeiture fund to provide wellness resources for San Marcos Police Department and San Marcos Fire Department employees. This fund is money determined to be proceeds from felonious activity seized for the use of public safety, in this case mental health services for public safety employees. For more information on asset forfeiture funds, visit the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure website. 
Council passed an emergency ordinance temporarily allowing alternative arrangements for the payment of food establishment permit fees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Jane Hughson noted an application must be submitted by food establishments to set up alternatives for paying the fees.
San Marcos City Council meets every first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. over Zoom and can be view on its website. The agenda can be accessed through the Agenda Center on the City of San Marcos website.