From city halls to county commissioners, catch up on what's happening in local governments throughout Hays County.

 🏫 TXST Regents OK hotel for San Marcos campus: Regents voted to authorize Texas State University to enter into a development agreement to build a 3-acre, $70 million hotel with 130 guest rooms on its San Marcos campus.

💧 Kyle greenlights $30M wastewater expansion: Kyle City Council approved a multimillion-dollar expansion for wastewater treatment to keep up with the city’s growth.

💰 $100M Hays County bond makes headway: Commissioners approved the publication of an intent to issue certificates of obligation not to exceed $100 million to fund county offices, administrative buildings and animal shelter facilities. A tax rate of $0.0102 per $100 valuation will be levied to pay the debt service of the COs.

⚠️ $4.78M bid aims to bolster San Marcos flood defenses: San Marcos City Council approved pursuing up to $4.78 million in Texas Water Development Board flood defense project funding.

San Marcos residents Tyler and Laci Gescheidle opened the city's first indoor golf simulator venue in early November.

In a nutshell: Swing Station offers more than 85 Professional Golfers' Association-licensed courses and multi-sport games for all ages and levels of experience. 

Why it matters: "We wanted to bring something new to San Marcos—a place where you can swing real clubs and balls on 85-plus PGA-licensed courses, enjoy multi-sport games and hang out with friends in a laid-back local atmosphere," Tyler Gescheidle said.

• 1900 I-35 N., Ste. 104

Austin’s light rail project, known as Project Connect, hit a major federal milestone that positions the multibillion-dollar initiative for on-time construction.

The details: The Federal Transit Administration awarded the project a “Medium-High” rating in its FY 2026-27 funding recommendations—the highest given in this year’s large-project review.

ATP CEO Greg Canally said the rating is a “key step,” signaling strong viability as the project seeks $4.1 billion in federal funding, or roughly half its total cost.

A closer look: The federal ranking criteria include an assessment of the project’s plans for land use and economic development.

ATP has partnered with the city to advance land use policies that support transit-oriented development.

Recent local changes, including eliminating parking minimums and creating new TOD zoning overlays, are helping shape mixed-use, walkable districts along the future line.

Of note: ATP and the city are also overhauling the permitting process to reduce delays, aiming to cut review times from years to months.

Utility agreements, risk planning and preconstruction work are underway as ATP targets a 2027 construction start and 2033 opening.

City and state officials gathered Dec. 12 to mark Southwest Airlines' planned expansion at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a day after City Council signed off on a $5.5 million economic incentive deal with the airline.

What's happening: Southwest will add 2,000 local jobs and establish a new crew base at the airport by mid-2027 through the expansion that's also expected to support thousands more related jobs throughout the community.

Some context: The initiative comes amid ABIA's own facility expansion project, including a second concourse, where Southwest is expected to lease a majority of the new gates to be added.

What else? In addition to Austin's local incentive deal approved Dec. 11, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas will be contributing $14 million to the project at ABIA.