Posted on: January 6, 2021
City Facilities Remain Closed to Public Until Feb. 1
Due to continued rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations within San Marcos and Hays County, City facilities will remain closed to the public through the end of January 2021. Facilities are scheduled to reopen to the public on Monday, Feb. 1 and this timeline will be reevaluated later in January.
“Each day as we evaluate the current pandemic trends for San Marcos, we are seeing daily new case rates that rival what we saw in June and July,” said Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp. “Additionally, December has seen more Hays County residents die from complications related to COVID-19 than any other month so we want to be extra cautious for our residents and staff.”
Furthermore, the hospital capacity in Trauma Service Area (TSA) O in which San Marcos resides reached the 15% mark occupied by COVID patients as of Monday. If our area remains above the 15% mark for seven consecutive days, the more restrictive components of the standing Governor’s Order (GA-32) will be triggered.
Restrictive components that could be triggered after Sunday, Jan. 10 include reducing occupancy in many businesses or establishments from 75% of listed occupancy to 50% and also closing bars or similar establishments that hold a permit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) and are not restaurants as defined in the Order. You may read the entire Order at www.sanmarcostx.gov/covid19info.
“We expected to see our local numbers rise after the recent holiday season, but it’s time for us to work together to reduce and change this trend,” said Stapp. “Please continue to wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands frequently, and observe all recommended CDC guidelines to lower our case counts and hospitalizations.”
As during the two weeks following Christmas, City staff will be available to assist residents by phone, email, curbside services, and utility billing drive-thrus (see specific details in the Dec. 22 press release below).
December 22 Original Release
The City of San Marcos is closing all public facilities for the two weeks following the Christmas holiday, from Monday, Dec. 28 to Tuesday, Jan. 12, to help ensure that COVID-19 case counts remain low among City staff and within the overall community. City parks and green spaces will remain open to the public and patrons are encouraged to practice social distancing and wear a mask when around others not in their household.
“As the COVID-19 public health emergency continues to impact San Marcos, the City is remaining vigilant in our efforts to keep our citizens and staff safe and healthy,” said City Manager Bert Lumbreras. “Throughout this year, positive cases have been at their highest following every holiday since COVID arrived, and we’ve seen this same trend after Thanksgiving and as we move into Christmas.”
Facilities that will be closed to the public during these two weeks include all buildings in the City Hall complex, the Activity Center, the Animal Shelter, Municipal Court, the Public Library, the Grant Harris Building, the San Marcos Tourist Information Center, the Discovery Center, and Utility Billing counters at the Municipal Building and the San Marcos Electric Utility Office.
City staff will be available to assist residents by phone and email during normal work hours and information may be found at www.sanmarcostx.gov. Emergency animal services are available by calling the San Marcos Police Department non-emergency line at 512.753.2108. Additional information about Animal Shelter operations will be posted on the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter Facebook page.
Public Library Curbside Service:
Library curbside service will continue to be available from Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Patrons may place items on hold through the library catalog at www.sanmarcostx.gov/library, via email at smpl@sanmarcostx.gov or by calling 512.393.8200. The library lobby and computer lab services will be closed to the public beginning Saturday, Dec. 26, but the public may access wi-fi service from the library parking lot.
Utility Billing Assistance & Drive-thrus:
For assistance with utility questions or payment arrangements, customers may email utility_billing@sanmarcostx.gov, call 512.393.8383 or visit https://connect.sanmarcostx.gov/. They may also visit the utility drive-thrus located at the Municipal Building, 630 E Hopkins or the San Marcos Electric Utility office, 1040 Hwy 123 from 9 a.m. to 4 pm., Monday through Friday.
“We’re in this together and we thank our community for their continued efforts to be safe throughout the holidays and to keep our case count and hospitalizations as low as possible. We’ll also be ready to welcome everyone back to our facilities on January 12,” said Lumbreras.
For media inquiries, contact communicationsinfo@sanmarcostx.gov.