Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Fredericksburg City Council Regular Meeting – November 3, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, November 3, 2026

BodyFredericksburg, Texas

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, November 3, 2026

StatusNEW · FILED

Video Record

⇩ GET FROM SOURCE

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

4:31

Good morning.

4:32

It is nine o'clock, November third.

4:35

Welcome to Frederick's Burgess City Hall.

Unassigned speaker

4:55

Many of you may know that Bethany Lutheran Church has been in the process of working towards building a new preschool facility to help benefit our community.

Speaker 2

5:03

When the building is complete, we hope to uh be able to serve 210 children in that facility up from our current 120.

5:11

This past Sunday, our congregation voted in the affirmative to begin construction on that project, uh, which we're really excited about.

5:18

Groundbreaking will be December the second.

5:21

Uh many of you will be getting invitations for that.

5:23

So we hope you'd be able to make that.

5:25

Uh and then construction is scheduled to begin on December the 14th.

5:29

So we're extremely excited about this project.

5:32

And and one other little piece.

5:34

Uh, we received a matching grant from not a matching grant, I'm I'm sorry, a challenge grant from the Maybe Foundation out of Midland.

5:42

It's a 1.1 million dollar challenge grant.

5:44

If we raise that, that will uh mean we have 2.2 million that goes towards the facility, which will fully pay for the facility and then give us some extra wiggle room to pay for the additional costs that we know we're going to experience when we move into that building.

5:59

So thank you for the opportunity to announce that.

6:02

And uh if there are generous folks out there who'd like to help us meet that challenge grant, uh yeah, please help out.

6:08

Uh, we'd greatly appreciate it.

6:10

Um, but it's not my job to plug that this morning.

6:12

It's my job to invoke God's peace and presence and Jesus' presence here today.

6:17

So I invite you to join me in a word of prayer.

6:21

Our gracious God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you have given to us.

6:27

We thank you for the blessed rains that you sent last night.

6:30

And even though we are strangers and aliens in this world, you have set before us a task, a task to help work for the good of the communities of the countries, of the states and places that we live.

6:42

And so this day we pray that we may indeed facilitate that and be a part of that, especially for our community here in Fredericksburg, Texas.

6:51

Ask that your spirit will bless this gathering and your wisdom will pervade it so that the decisions that are made, the the comments that are brought forth may be to your glory, to your honor, and to the improvement of our community.

7:04

And Lord, we especially pause on this day when we take that responsibility of voting so seriously.

7:12

We pray that your wisdom will engage again be not just with us, but we with our our state and with our nation.

7:19

We pray that we may choose trustworthy leaders that will work for peace, will work for justice, will work for the good of our communities.

7:27

And we pray that as Christians we may lift high the cross to proclaim Jesus as Lord and to bring those values into our voting so that the society may thrive, because it is your will that we thrive in this world and the next.

7:44

Again, we pray for your spirit to lead us in that direction today, in Jesus' name.

7:49

Amen.

Unassigned speaker

7:51

Thank you.

Speaker 3

7:52

Pledge

Speaker 1

7:52

allegiance to

Speaker 3

7:54

the United States of America and for which one nation, another God, an indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

8:07

Honor Texas flag.

8:09

Pledge of leaders to the Texas, one state, under God, one and individual.

Speaker 1

8:21

All right, good morning.

8:22

Uh pretty busy couple weeks.

8:25

I think we have a fairly abbreviated agenda this morning, but uh I'll start off with Council Comics.

Speaker 4

8:30

Uh congratulations to Bethany.

8:32

I know that's been a long time coming.

8:34

So uh good for them.

8:35

On the 21st, I had the opportunity to uh participate in a round table discussion with the board from the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum in Cuero.

8:46

They were invited here by David Shield at the uh Pacific War Museum, just trying to help them um get their museum up and going.

8:56

Uh I attended a couple of food and wine fest events.

8:59

Congratulations to Jim and everybody at the chamber staff, whoever you bribed on getting that weather, I'll take their name.

9:06

Um I had a regular CVB meeting last week and also attended uh unified development code meeting.

Speaker 5

9:15

Good morning, everyone.

9:16

And uh last week I was attended a conference with my wife in Grapevine.

9:23

Uh spent one afternoon on Grapevine's main street.

9:27

Um we still got them beat.

9:31

Um I attended the Food and Wine Fest uh October the 22nd through the 25th.

9:38

Best event yet.

9:39

Um just amazing, amazing event.

9:43

And the numbers we had from not only out of town but out of state.

9:48

So the events growing and and getting great uh publicity uh nationwide now.

9:56

So it's pretty exciting.

Unassigned speaker

10:00

And then on the 30th, I attended uh the Hill Country Mayor's Alliance.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████48%

Water And Wastewater Management█████████10%

Economic Development████████9%

Real Estate Development████████8%

Youth Programs██████6%

Tourism Promotion█████5%

Community Engagement████4%

Workforce Development████4%

Public Safety███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Fredericksburg City Council Regular Meeting – November 3, 2026

The Fredericksburg City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 9:00 AM at City Hall at East Campus, 2818 E. U.S. Hwy. 290. The council approved the consent agenda and the 2027 holiday schedule, received updates on the Oak Crest Park soccer facility and Gillespie County economic development, reviewed future agenda items, and recessed into executive session.

Opening and Council Comments

Mayor Randy Briley presided. Pastor Kevin Haug of Bethany Lutheran Church gave the invocation and announced the congregation voted to begin construction on a new preschool facility that will serve 210 children, up from 120; a $1.1 million challenge grant from the Maybe Foundation will support the project, with groundbreaking December 2 and construction starting December 14.
Council members offered community updates, including attendance at Food & Wine Fest October 22–25, the Hill Country Mayor’s Alliance, a watershed health alliance meeting, Citizens University, and Market Square fundraising progress of over $2 million.

Consent Calendar

Approved the City Council minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of October 20, 2026.
Approved the purchase of a modular vehicle barrier system from Advanced Security Technologies LLC in the approximate amount of $239,500, not to exceed $240,000, budgeted in the FY 2027 budget. Police Chief Brian Vorauer explained it is an 88-unit mobile system deployed from an enclosed trailer, can cover up to 11 lanes, can be set up by two people, allows emergency vehicle access, and can stop vehicles up to 16,500 pounds.
Approved reappointments of Julie Kuhlken and Stephen Harris to the Gillespie County Economic Development Board for two-year terms expiring December 2028.

Approval of 2027 Holiday Schedule

Approved the City of Fredericksburg 2027 Holiday Schedule on a motion. City Secretary Leticia Vacek noted it is the same as last year, with Gillespie County Fair Day falling on a Friday, the 27th.

Soccer Facility at Oak Crest Park Update

Dan Kemp of Hill Country United, joined by Paul Hays and Mark Cornett, presented an update on the public-private soccer complex. He described the facility as having six full-size fields, sign sponsors, and maintenance supported by player fees and sponsorships.
Kemp said the club’s philosophy is to keep fees low and get kids playing, noting club-side fees are about $975 per year compared with $1,800–$2,000 at other clubs. Two staff members are paid, while coaches are volunteers.
Key statistics: 50 recreational teams, 25 games per weekend, 14 competitive select teams, 187 spring recreational athletes in 2026 versus 87 in 2025, 430 fall recreational athletes, about 180 competitive athletes, 24 flag football teams drawing close to 100 kids from Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Junction, Harper, and Medina, and an estimated 3,000 people at the complex on fall weekends.
Kemp said the complex is one of the top five in the state and has attracted visiting teams from Brownsville, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, and Laredo; no tournaments have been held yet, but one is planned.
Council members praised the partnership and the philanthropic support from the Adam R. Scripps Foundation, Create Healthy Foundation, local families, and the Fredericksburg Park Foundation. City Manager Clinton Bailey noted it sets an example for other organizations and said the same energy is needed for Little League.

Economic Development Quarterly Update

Tim Lehmberg, GCEDC Executive Director, presented quarterly economic data. Sales tax for August showed the city up 6.02% and the county up 2.91%; year-to-date through 10 months, the city was up 4.64% and the county up 4.54%. The most recent 12-month totals showed the city up 3.42% and the county up 3.82%.
Building permits totaled 271 in the third quarter of 2026, more than any single year between 2008 and 2023 in one quarter, and 801 year-to-date through nine months, surpassing the all-time record of 719 set in 2024.
Septic permits, well permits, and C-tech meter installations were down in the third quarter. Real estate transactions were flat, though dollar volume trended up; the average city home sale price through nine months was about $559,000, down from a 2022 peak of about $660,000.
Lodging data: second-quarter lodging revenues were up 27% versus the prior year and up 15% for the first half; occupancy flattened at 94–95%; hotel average daily rate is climbing; 611 apartment units deployed in 2024 leased up quickly. Visitor center attendance was down 5% for the quarter but up 3% year-to-date through nine months.
Housing pipeline: 274 completed but unsold lots were identified, primarily Friendship Oaks and Trails of Windcrest; 331 lots approved and pending; 240 apartment units under construction at the Lucille project on Friendship Lane; proposed apartment units fell from almost 900 to zero. Lehmberg said the proposed number is unlikely to come online soon.
Employment: Gillespie County has averaged about 350 new jobs per year over the last five years, though growth slowed in the last year. Gillespie County’s five-year average weekly wage increase was 34%, ranking 106th of 254 counties. Unemployment for September 2026 was the lowest among contiguous counties, compared with 4.3% statewide.
Lehmberg described his work on a potential state-funded program for scheduled air service to unserved markets, including a Zoom call with Surf Air, a regional commuter airline. He also discussed preliminary work on a downtown conditional use permit inventory from Acorn to Elk, assistance in pushing back on battery storage facilities, and noted about 80% of his work is real estate-related.
Lehmberg clarified that meeting with developers does not mean he is pro-growth; he said his goal is to influence outcomes, manage growth, and shape development. He also mentioned an economic development opportunity at 405 Goehmann Lane, coordinated with Councilmember Todd Eidson, likely to be brought to the council in executive session.

Future Agenda Items and Upcoming Meetings

City Manager Clinton Bailey reviewed upcoming items: November 17 will include a Racket Center project update, a lift station pump contract, annual water/sewer main replacement contract, annexation/development agreement at 405 Goehmann Lane, land use and zoning changes at 591 Friendship Lane (R2 to C2) and 604/608/610 North Milam (R1 to C1), and a dark skies presentation by P&Z member Belinda McDonnell.
December 3 items include recognition of the 2026 Citizens University class, the old police substation remodel project, appointments to the health board, budget amendments closing FY 2025-26, and the city investment policy. December 15 will be a special council workshop on the transfer station, new well field, and transportation projects, with a study completed around 2016.
Upcoming events include Coffee with the City Manager on November 18 at the Cardinal Room with Graham Pearson of the 100 Club, and on December 9; the final Citizens University class is November 24.

Executive Session and Adjournment

The council recessed into executive session around 10:03 AM under Texas Government Code Section 551.087 to discuss economic development negotiations regarding potential incentives for a development at 405 Goehmann Lane, with legal consultation under Section 551.071, and under Section 551.071 for a legal matters update. No action was reported after the session, and the meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning. It is nine o'clock, November third. Welcome to Frederick's Burgess City Hall. Many of you may know that Bethany Lutheran Church has been in the process of working towards building a new preschool facility to help benefit our community. When the building is complete, we hope to uh be able to serve 210 children in that facility up from our current 120. This past Sunday, our congregation voted in the affirmative to begin construction on that project, uh, which we're really excited about. Groundbreaking will be December the second. Uh many of you will be getting invitations for that. So we hope you'd be able to make that. Uh and then construction is scheduled to begin on December the 14th. So we're extremely excited about this project. And and one other little piece. Uh, we received a matching grant from not a matching grant, I'm I'm sorry, a challenge grant from the Maybe Foundation out of Midland. It's a 1.1 million dollar challenge grant. If we raise that, that will uh mean we have 2.2 million that goes towards the facility, which will fully pay for the facility and then give us some extra wiggle room to pay for the additional costs that we know we're going to experience when we move into that building. So thank you for the opportunity to announce that. And uh if there are generous folks out there who'd like to help us meet that challenge grant, uh yeah, please help out. Uh, we'd greatly appreciate it. Um, but it's not my job to plug that this morning. It's my job to invoke God's peace and presence and Jesus' presence here today. So I invite you to join me in a word of prayer. Our gracious God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you have given to us. We thank you for the blessed rains that you sent last night. And even though we are strangers and aliens in this world, you have set before us a task, a task to help work for the good of the communities of the countries, of the states and places that we live. And so this day we pray that we may indeed facilitate that and be a part of that, especially for our community here in Fredericksburg, Texas. Ask that your spirit will bless this gathering and your wisdom will pervade it so that the decisions that are made, the the comments that are brought forth may be to your glory, to your honor, and to the improvement of our community. And Lord, we especially pause on this day when we take that responsibility of voting so seriously. We pray that your wisdom will engage again be not just with us, but we with our our state and with our nation. We pray that we may choose trustworthy leaders that will work for peace, will work for justice, will work for the good of our communities. And we pray that as Christians we may lift high the cross to proclaim Jesus as Lord and to bring those values into our voting so that the society may thrive, because it is your will that we thrive in this world and the next. Again, we pray for your spirit to lead us in that direction today, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. Pledge allegiance to the United States of America and for which one nation, another God, an indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Honor Texas flag. Pledge of leaders to the Texas, one state, under God, one and individual. All right, good morning. Uh pretty busy couple weeks. I think we have a fairly abbreviated agenda this morning, but uh I'll start off with Council Comics. Uh congratulations to Bethany. I know that's been a long time coming. So uh good for them. On the 21st, I had the opportunity to uh participate in a round table discussion with the board from the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum in Cuero. They were invited here by David Shield at the uh Pacific War Museum, just trying to help them um get their museum up and going. Uh I attended a couple of food and wine fest events. Congratulations to Jim and everybody at the chamber staff, whoever you bribed on getting that weather, I'll take their name. Um I had a regular CVB meeting last week and also attended uh unified development code meeting. Good morning, everyone.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com

Fredericksburg City Council Regular Meeting – November 3, 2026

Opening and Council Comments

Mayor Randy Briley presided. Pastor Kevin Haug of Bethany Lutheran Church gave the invocation and announced the congregation voted to begin construction on a new preschool facility that will serve 210 children, up from 120; a $1.1 million challenge grant from the Maybe Foundation will support the project, with groundbreaking December 2 and construction starting December 14.

Council members offered community updates, including attendance at Food & Wine Fest October 22–25, the Hill Country Mayor’s Alliance, a watershed health alliance meeting, Citizens University, and Market Square fundraising progress of over $2 million.

Consent Calendar

Approved the City Council minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of October 20, 2026.

Approved the purchase of a modular vehicle barrier system from Advanced Security Technologies LLC in the approximate amount of $239,500, not to exceed $240,000, budgeted in the FY 2027 budget. Police Chief Brian Vorauer explained it is an 88-unit mobile system deployed from an enclosed trailer, can cover up to 11 lanes, can be set up by two people, allows emergency vehicle access, and can stop vehicles up to 16,500 pounds.

Approved reappointments of Julie Kuhlken and Stephen Harris to the Gillespie County Economic Development Board for two-year terms expiring December 2028.

Approval of 2027 Holiday Schedule

Approved the City of Fredericksburg 2027 Holiday Schedule on a motion. City Secretary Leticia Vacek noted it is the same as last year, with Gillespie County Fair Day falling on a Friday, the 27th.

Soccer Facility at Oak Crest Park Update

Dan Kemp of Hill Country United, joined by Paul Hays and Mark Cornett, presented an update on the public-private soccer complex. He described the facility as having six full-size fields, sign sponsors, and maintenance supported by player fees and sponsorships.

Kemp said the club’s philosophy is to keep fees low and get kids playing, noting club-side fees are about $975 per year compared with $1,800–$2,000 at other clubs. Two staff members are paid, while coaches are volunteers.

Key statistics: 50 recreational teams, 25 games per weekend, 14 competitive select teams, 187 spring recreational athletes in 2026 versus 87 in 2025, 430 fall recreational athletes, about 180 competitive athletes, 24 flag football teams drawing close to 100 kids from Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Junction, Harper, and Medina, and an estimated 3,000 people at the complex on fall weekends.

Kemp said the complex is one of the top five in the state and has attracted visiting teams from Brownsville, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, and Laredo; no tournaments have been held yet, but one is planned.

Council members praised the partnership and the philanthropic support from the Adam R. Scripps Foundation, Create Healthy Foundation, local families, and the Fredericksburg Park Foundation. City Manager Clinton Bailey noted it sets an example for other organizations and said the same energy is needed for Little League.

Economic Development Quarterly Update

Tim Lehmberg, GCEDC Executive Director, presented quarterly economic data. Sales tax for August showed the city up 6.02% and the county up 2.91%; year-to-date through 10 months, the city was up 4.64% and the county up 4.54%. The most recent 12-month totals showed the city up 3.42% and the county up 3.82%.

Building permits totaled 271 in the third quarter of 2026, more than any single year between 2008 and 2023 in one quarter, and 801 year-to-date through nine months, surpassing the all-time record of 719 set in 2024.

Septic permits, well permits, and C-tech meter installations were down in the third quarter. Real estate transactions were flat, though dollar volume trended up; the average city home sale price through nine months was about $559,000, down from a 2022 peak of about $660,000.

Lodging data: second-quarter lodging revenues were up 27% versus the prior year and up 15% for the first half; occupancy flattened at 94–95%; hotel average daily rate is climbing; 611 apartment units deployed in 2024 leased up quickly. Visitor center attendance was down 5% for the quarter but up 3% year-to-date through nine months.

Housing pipeline: 274 completed but unsold lots were identified, primarily Friendship Oaks and Trails of Windcrest; 331 lots approved and pending; 240 apartment units under construction at the Lucille project on Friendship Lane; proposed apartment units fell from almost 900 to zero. Lehmberg said the proposed number is unlikely to come online soon.

Employment: Gillespie County has averaged about 350 new jobs per year over the last five years, though growth slowed in the last year. Gillespie County’s five-year average weekly wage increase was 34%, ranking 106th of 254 counties. Unemployment for September 2026 was the lowest among contiguous counties, compared with 4.3% statewide.

Lehmberg described his work on a potential state-funded program for scheduled air service to unserved markets, including a Zoom call with Surf Air, a regional commuter airline. He also discussed preliminary work on a downtown conditional use permit inventory from Acorn to Elk, assistance in pushing back on battery storage facilities, and noted about 80% of his work is real estate-related.

Lehmberg clarified that meeting with developers does not mean he is pro-growth; he said his goal is to influence outcomes, manage growth, and shape development. He also mentioned an economic development opportunity at 405 Goehmann Lane, coordinated with Councilmember Todd Eidson, likely to be brought to the council in executive session.

Future Agenda Items and Upcoming Meetings

City Manager Clinton Bailey reviewed upcoming items: November 17 will include a Racket Center project update, a lift station pump contract, annual water/sewer main replacement contract, annexation/development agreement at 405 Goehmann Lane, land use and zoning changes at 591 Friendship Lane (R2 to C2) and 604/608/610 North Milam (R1 to C1), and a dark skies presentation by P&Z member Belinda McDonnell.

December 3 items include recognition of the 2026 Citizens University class, the old police substation remodel project, appointments to the health board, budget amendments closing FY 2025-26, and the city investment policy. December 15 will be a special council workshop on the transfer station, new well field, and transportation projects, with a study completed around 2016.

Upcoming events include Coffee with the City Manager on November 18 at the Cardinal Room with Graham Pearson of the 100 Club, and on December 9; the final Citizens University class is November 24.

Executive Session and Adjournment

The council recessed into executive session around 10:03 AM under Texas Government Code Section 551.087 to discuss economic development negotiations regarding potential incentives for a development at 405 Goehmann Lane, with legal consultation under Section 551.071, and under Section 551.071 for a legal matters update. No action was reported after the session, and the meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript