Spring Lake has the qualifications to meet World Heritage Site criteria, according to some Texas State faculty, students and community members.

Spring Lake meets the qualifications to become a World Heritage Site. The area is the second largest artesian spring in the western United States.

There are a total of 936 World Heritage Sites, 21 of which are located in the United States. Examples include the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization developed World Heritage Site status in an effort to encourage the identification, preservation and protection of cultural and natural locations considered to be outstanding.

The City of San Marcos held an open house Wednesday to engage the public in a variety of issues, including the controversial proposed alcohol ban.

The ordinance, which was approved by city councilmembers on its first reading in late March, would ban the public display and consumption of alcohol in city parks. Councilmembers tabled the initiative to gain public opinion.

At the open house, police Chief Howard Williams was surrounded by residents asking how the ordinance would impact city-owned parks.

Williams said the ordinance would not fully ban alcohol, and merely aims to prevent people from acting obnoxious and out of line.

“You understand you can’t word an ordinance that says you can’t have a beer if you are going to be annoying,” Williams said. “You have to word an ordinance to regulate certain behaviors. Admittedly, we are only concerned about extremes.”

More than 100 people attended an open house hosted Wednesday by the City of San Macros to address issues regarding zoning strategies and the Land Development Code.

The all-day event featured stations providing specific information for each topic and offered people 3x5 note cards for suggestions and comments.

“It has been a very consistent turnout,” said Jim Nuse, city manager. “People may come in for one subject and end up giving their opinion on other ones, which is great.”

City staff such as Mayor Daniel Guerrero, Linda Huff, capital improvements and engineering director, Rodney Cobb, director of community services, Matthew Lewis, development services director and Sabas Avila, assistant director of public services, were present. They kept busy answering questions from the event’s attendees.

When describing her son, Miriam Quiz takes a breath and laughs.

Sipper Bonner, Pam Danford, and Shauna Sadoskie recieve roses in memory of Nicole Danford, a student that has passed away. Bobcat Pause pays tribute to faculty, staff and students that have died within the last year.

“He was a handful,” Quiz said. “He had a smile and personality as big as Texas.”

Quiz’s daughter, psychology senior Alyssa Quiz, shares the same sentiment. A smile spreads across her face as she remembers the many moments shared with her little brother, Fernando Gabriel Quiz, better known as F.G., who died at 21 years old.

City of San Marcos residents are in favor of paying more for higher quality services, according the city’s level-of-service review results.

City staff invited San Marcos residents to seven different meetings from mid-January to mid-February and asked citizens to appraise six core levels of service. The core service areas include parks and recreation, police and fire protection, library services, street infrastructure and future water supply.

At last week’s council meeting, Jim Nuse, city manager, said 358 people completed an advice scorecard with questions regarding the amount residents would pay for the six core services.

He said 63.2 percent of those people chose to increase spending, 22.4 percent chose no change in spending and 14.5 percent chose to decrease spending.

See also: University population affects poverty demographics and San Marcos poverty rate surpasses Buda, Kyle.

Lupe Cua’s most dear possession is her small electric skillet. Without it, she would not be able to make those much-loved tortillas for her husband and two daughters. Not only is the skillet one of the few possessions Cua owns, it is the closest thing she has to a stove.

See also: San Marcos poverty rate surpasses Buda, Kyle and San Marcos family shares their struggles.

For some people, the thought of San Marcos conjures an image of a tourist-attracting river city, home to Texas State. A 36.9 percent poverty rate, more than twice the rate for the state of Texas, may come as a surprise to both residents and visitors. 

However, with an enrollment of more than 34,000 students, Texas State has an impact on the city’s demographics, possibly skewing this poverty data. 

“I think being in a university town makes us look a little worse than we actually might be,” said Janis Hendrix, community initiatives coordinator for the city of San Marcos. “I think if you look at the demographics of families as opposed to individuals, that gives you a truer picture.”

After months of anticipation, the Municipal Solid Waste Task Force provided a recommendation to the City Council at last week’s meeting regarding the ban of single-use bags.

The task force encouraged councilmembers to consider a program rewarding good behavior before taking action to enforce an actual ban.

Amy Kirwin, municipal solid waste task force chair, said the program would require the city to ask local retailers to offer an incentive program where consumers would be rewarded for using reusable bags.

Layne Duesterhaus, geography resource and environmental studies senior, has actively supported a ban on single-use bags and talked with city council about the initiative during the summer and fall semesters. 

The San Marcos City Council voted Tuesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance banning the consumption and display of alcohol in city parks.

Along with 10 changes to the city’s park code, the alcohol ban passed 6-1.

Jessica Austin, Texas State alumna, Robert Hernandez, aquatic science senior and Dana Lynn, international business senior enjoy beers by the San Marcos River in Rio Vista Park. San Marcos City Council passed the first reading to prohibit alcoholic beverages in city parks.

Councilmember Ryan Thomason, Place 5, said he is behind banning alcohol at parks, but knows some members of the public will not be happy about the decision, particularly those who enjoy going to Rio Vista Park.

An ordinance rezoning the construction of Hillside Ranch Phase 2 on N. LBJ from single-family residential to multi-family was passed by a 4-3 vote at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Many smiles and hugs were seen from those who proved victorious after more than three weeks of debate of the issue, but the small celebration could not drown out the sounds of sighs and mutterings of disappointed words by the residents deflated by the final verdict.

“This is just disgusting,” said Jim Garber, San Marcos resident opposed to the rezoning. Repeating the phrase over and over, Garber’s fellow colleagues gathered into a group expressing similar dissatisfaction.

“I think (the council) was evaluating false information and disregarding traffic issues which will be in injunction,” said Jaimy Breihan, San Marcos resident who actively opposed the rezoning.

The vote for the city was not an easy one, however.