Splash pad doesn’t work, Floresville talks ‘water park’

Floresville city councilmen (top row, from left) Marissa Ximenez and Terry Rolland, Mayor Cissy Gonzalez-Dippel, and councilmen Jessica Rodriguez-Green, Donald Scee, and Beatrice Ximenez-Marroquin congratulate those selected as the city’s employees of the month. Christopher Rivas of the streets department (July), Charlotte Ximenez-Nelson of the Floresville Economic Development Corp. (October), Shivon Rodriguez of the Floresville Police Department (August) and Canon Duby of the wastewater department (September, not pictured). They are joined by city Development Clerk Ashley Trejo.
WILLIAM J. GIBBS JR./Wilson County News

Wilson County News
William J. Gibbs Jr., Wilson County News
October 31, 2023

Floresville kids could have a new way to cool off during the dog days of summer.

The Floresville City Council, at an Oct. 25 special meeting, discussed the possible addition of what officials are referring to as a “water park.” City Manager Andy Joslin referred to the recent completion of a water park in Poteet and suggested that Floresville could have something similar. Financing for such a project could come from the city’s capital improvement program fund.

Mayor Cissy Gonzalez- Dippel said the sports complex behind the Lauro G. De Leon III Floresville Event Center includes a splash pad but that it does not function.

“We still need to look into why the one that was constructed is not working,” she said.

Gonzalez-Dippel said the likely location for a new water park would be behind the event center, where it would be easier to connect to waterlines and it possibly could be an expansion of the current splash pad. Councilman Jessica Rodriguez- Green disagreed, stating that many of Floresville’s children come from lower income families, lies, most of whom live too far from the event center at the edge of the city limits on S.H. 97 West.

Attorney Bryce Cox of the law firm of Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech gives a presentation Oct. 25 to the Floresville City Council about how impact fees can help to cover costs associated with expansion and development.
WILLIAM J. GIBBS JR./Wilson County News

“How would they get there?” she asked.

Councilman Beatrice Ximenez-Marroquin suggested that the city should hold a town hall meeting to gauge citizen input.

Future development

Also during the meeting, the council discussed industrial development land uses with attorney Bryce Cox of the firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech. He said there currently exists no property in the city that is zoned for industrial use. An area of town that would be best suited for this, Cox said, would be near where Trail Street and F.M. 536 split; however, almost the entirety of this land is within the floodplain.

“The best plan with the floodplain is not to build there and let the water do what it does,” he said.

The council discussed other possible areas of town, but Cox reminded them that the ideal industrial development exists where it affords easy access to highways. One such area is on the north side of town along U.S. 181, near American Precast Concrete.

But with any development, whether it is industrial or residential, comes expenses, which is why the city is researching ways to expand its impact fee structure. Cox said these fees, which would be charged to developers working on new projects, would help the developers to finance the expansion of systems such as water, wastewater, and roadways.

“Every five years, you have to update your capital improvement plan and land use assumptions, and adjust your impact fees,” Cox said. “ … If the city is interested in doing impact fees, I suggest the city go out and find a consultant.”

In other business, the council:

•Added Friday, July 5, to its list of 2024 city holidays

•Named the following employees of the month — Christopher Rivas, street department, July; Shivon Rodriguez, police department, August; Canon Duby, wastewater department, September; Charlotte Ximenez-Nelson, Floresville Economic Development Corp., October.

wgibbs@wcn-online.com