Growth, ready or not – City of Seguin continues to roll out plans

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Cindy Aguirre

(Seguin) – With housing developers and new retail springing up across the city, one might question whether the city is ready for the growth that has officially arrived. Today, the Seguin Daily News begins a three-part series taking a closer look at the evidence of growth throughout the city. Today, the SDN dives into the details of growing smart.

Josh Schneuker, the executive director of Seguin’s Economic Development Corporation, says the city’s objective has always been to grow responsibly. In fact, he says being ready and planning for this growth started years ago.

“We are obviously making sure that we grow in a responsible manner where we can continue to ensure that we have the infrastructure and the utilities to accommodate that growth and then also continue to support our existing residents. I mean it’s critical. That is something that we look at with every different development that comes into the city. We never want to get ourselves in a pinch where we are going to somehow put our water supply in danger, put something in danger just because we are not thinking about that but we’ve just got a fantastic staff, I think, at the city from our utilities department to our engineering staff to our planning folks and city management that we are all working together to make sure that those are things we are thinking about and we are making those investments right now,” said Schneuker.

Schneuker says most of what the community sees today are things that have been in the works.

“Things take some time. I mean these projects – I know we’ve talked about them for quite a while now but things like Cordova Road and Rudeloff Road, those are going to start moving forward here to increase roadway capacity for the housing growth that we are seeing in that area. Our Geronimo Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, we are going to have our groundbreaking ceremony and we are going to be able to double the treatment capacity that that facility can handle. Obviously other outside entities like TxDOT see the growth that is happening here in Seguin and throughout the region and that is why we are seeing the I10 expansion project. You have the other things like the State Highway 46 expansion project that is being looked at right now as well. So, there’s a lot of work and there’s a lot of collaboration not only amongst different city departments but with other outside entities to make sure that we are all on the same page with where we are headed as a community and to make sure that we can continue to handle the growth and grow in a responsible manner but also ensuring that we can remain economically competitive for years to come,” said Schneuker.

Schneuker believes Seguin benefits from following surrounding communities, which have grown significantly over the last 5 to 10 years. He says the city has been able to watch and learn from these cities and what not to do.

“We brought folks in, new city staff that worked in those cities like New Braunfels and San Marcos and Schertz and Cibolo. So, they’ve been in these environments and had to work on projects within their previous work experience for rapidly growing communities and now, it’s Seguin’s turn and we are able to really tap into their expertise and their knowledge and how they handle this in their previous work lives and take that experience and implement it into what we are doing here in Seguin,” said Schneuker.

While some fear or even object to the city’s fast, rapid growth, Schneuker says growth for Seguin was just inevitable.

“So again, we are very fortunate I think to have really amazing city staff that I think obviously knows how to work around all the growth that we are seeing and work with the developers and really have these investments and these projects that are — I just think a win-win for the community. So, I think the future is bright for Seguin. The growth is going to continue. It’s going to happen just based on where we are located. It’s hard not to grow when you only 35 minutes outside of San Antonio and an hour south of Austin. I mean you are really in the heart of the one of the fastest growing mega regions in the United States. It’s just a matter, again, that we are collaborating with other entities and agencies and working hard here within the city to address the needs of our citizens,” said Schneuker.

According to officials, Seguin’s growth shows no signs of slowing down. Over the past 10 years, the city’s population has grown nearly 25 percent, and since 2020, it has grown 13.5 percent.

Seguin is on the same fast-paced growth schedule reported in surrounding communities such as New Braunfels and Kyle.

Comprehensive plans for all areas of the city also continue, with strong encouragement for public involvement. The Seguin Daily News will continue its series on Wednesday by looking at the increase in housing developments.

View article on SeguinToday.com