# City Council Work Session - October 20, 2026

The City of San Marcos City Council work session on October 20, 2026, focused on updated preliminary designs for the riverfront parks and East Side Regional Park, followed by a review of the 2026 summer riverfront season and paid-parking pilot. Council gave staff direction on design elements including Rio Vista Park’s pool, roadway connectivity and parking, restroom and ranger-station improvements, and park amenities. Staff will incorporate the feedback and return preliminary design reports for formal adoption. The work is a long-term undertaking, likely phased and potentially included in a future bond package; no construction contract awards or project budgets were approved. Staff cited the East Side parkland acquisition at $6.6 million and noted that the final design and construction costs are not yet established.

On operations, staff requested and received council support to install Rio Vista Park’s managed-access fencing earlier, after Easter, to address large events and summer impacts. The previously established $5 fee for non-local visitors ages 18 and older was discussed alongside compliance and revenue tracking. Staff reported about $91,000 less in personnel costs than the prior year after not using contract officers. The City Park parking lot pilot uses four Flowbird kiosks, with the second of three annual kiosk payments underway and a separate monthly Wi-Fi cost; no payment amounts or new procurement actions were specified. Council also voted 7–0 to convene in executive session regarding potential economic-development incentives for Project Hercules and real-estate access matters, without public details or a related spending decision.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure, Grants & Funding
**Published:** October 20, 2026

### Sources
- [City Council Work Session - October 20, 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DHiVVL2cLY) - City of San Marcos