San Marcos Moves to Sell $16.1 Million in Substation Assets to LCRA
San Marcos' council takes a final vote Tuesday on selling substation assets to LCRA's transmission arm, plus up to $15.36 million in regional water bonds.
San Marcos is set to take a final vote on Tuesday, Oct. 20, on selling part of its electric system to the Lower Colorado River Authority's transmission company. The item is on the city's final agenda for the 6 p.m. City Council meeting at 630 E. Hopkins St.
The substation sale
Ordinance 2026-50, on its second of two readings, would approve an asset purchase agreement selling "certain substation assets" to the LCRA Transmission Services Corporation for $16,119,263, subject to closing costs and adjustments. The item is on the consent agenda, which means it can pass with other items in one vote unless a council member pulls it for discussion.
The agenda does not say which substation is involved or why the city is selling. Residents should ask both questions. Selling utility assets is a business decision with long-term effects on customers, and it deserves a public explanation even if it ends up being a good deal.
Water bonds and other spending
Also on the agenda, as a separate item for discussion:
Resolution 2026-191R: approving the Alliance Regional Water Authority's issuance of contract revenue bonds for San Marcos, up to $15,360,000, for the Regional Water Supply Contract Project.
The consent agenda also includes:
A five-year, $902,260 change order with Enterprise Fleet Management to lease and maintain nine Fire and Police vehicles and buy equipment
A $380,000 one-year extension for water meters and registers from Thirkettle Corp.
A $374,538 contract with Silverblaze for a utility billing customer portal
A one-year, $46,860.80 extension of Axon digital evidence storage
Final readings on La Cima annexations of about 165.694 and 121.083 acres, and the conveyance of 611 W. Martin Luther King Drive to Austin Habitat for Humanity
How the first votes went
According to the city's Oct. 7 recap, the council approved the Habitat conveyance on first reading. The project is expected to be a duplex. The La Cima annexation and zoning items also passed, two of the rezonings by 4-2 with Councilmembers Rodriguez and Garza voting no. The council also renewed its agreement with the Hays Caldwell Economic Development Partnership, at $200,000 a year in city funding.
How to weigh in
The agenda says online sign-up for citizen comment opens at noon the Thursday before the meeting and closes at 5:30 p.m. the day of it. Remote speakers must sign up by noon on meeting day to get a Zoom link. The meeting can also be watched on Grande channel 16 or Spectrum channel 10.
Hero photo: Billy Hathorn / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (license).
