Cibolo council approves budget amendment, adopts substandard-structure rules and directs studies on traffic and parks; tables Old Town master plan

Cibolo City Council on Jan. 28 approved a series of administrative and policy actions, including its first budget amendment for fiscal year 2025 and a replacement ordinance for substandard building enforcement, and directed staff to fund short-term senior services and study a troubled intersection on FM 1103.

The council adopted a budget amendment that reallocates prior-year savings and covers a set of onetime and recurring needs across multiple funds, and approved a new ordinance to clarify the city’s powers and process for dealing with dangerous, substandard or unsecured structures. Council also directed staff to proceed with a $5,000 traffic-signal warrant study for the intersection of Cibolo Valley Drive and Everyday Way and to pause heavy public use of the Multi‑Event Center (MAC) field while staff returns a repair and cost plan.

Why it matters: The budget amendment and the substandard-structure ordinance give staff clearer authority and short-term resources to abate properties that have not responded to prior notices; the traffic study and field pause respond to immediate public-safety and asset‑management concerns raised by residents and council. Several actions will carry direct costs or require later council approvals, including design and construction work funded from bond proceeds and grants.

What the council decided and directed

- Budget amendment: Council approved the city’s 1st FY25 budget amendment. The ordinance moves prior-year savings and other carryovers into FY25 to cover onetime projects, market- and public‑safety salary adjustments, legal and consultant services, and several roll‑forwards. Staff said the change increases general‑fund appropriations and moves EDC and grant carryforward dollars (including $160,000 for the Old Town/Downtown master plan) into the current year. City finance staff said the amendment keeps an estimated general‑fund ending balance near policy (approximately 30% of recurring expenditures). (See “Votes at a glance.”)

- Substandard-structure ordinance: The council voted to repeal and replace Chapter 14, Article 4 of the Cibolo Code of Ordinances to clarify definitions (including unsecured and dangerous structures), set out the multi-step enforcement process, and assign municipal court as the judicial venue for enforcement hearings (while reserving council’s option to be the judicial body in particular cases). City staff said the new language consolidates procedures, notice forms and a standard checklist so code‑compliance staff can follow a single, consistent sequence of notices, hearings, abatement and lien filing. The change responds to properties that have repeatedly failed to abate hazards, staff told the council. (See “Votes at a glance.”)

- Senior center / Meals on Wheels: Council authorized the city manager to take necessary short‑term actions to sustain the city’s senior meals program and related staffing if outside providers lapse, with contingency authority and…