Residents thank council for tougher Buc-ee’s terms, urge follow-through on traffic and greenbelt

Residents who live near the planned Buc-ee’s in the Manger Springs area used the council’s public-comment period on Nov. 18 to thank the City of Boerne for renegotiating the retailer’s economic-development agreement and to press officials for close follow-up on unfinished details.

Dana Mathis, who identified her address as 164 Creek Springs, opened the comments by thanking “mayor Ritchie, councilman Macaluso, and city manager Thatcher for taking time to meet” and for “courageously renegotiating the Buc-ee’s agreement,” and asked the city to verify that Buc-ee’s “meets all of its commitments and complies with the new agreement.”

Paula Reker (101 Creek Springs) cited specific contract changes that residents supported: limits on fueling stations and store size. She said the original agreement had been open-ended (her summary referenced previous figures the public had seen) and noted the revised terms cap the facility at 100 fueling stations plus 26 electric-vehicle charging stations and place a roughly 54,000-square-foot cap on retail space.

Christie Ackerman (623 Manger Springs) also thanked council members for adding an 8-foot security fence, dark-sky–compliant lighting, lower light poles and an HVAC condensate-recapture requirement. Ackerman said the amendments should provide “a layer of protection for at least our family” and urged the council and staff to continue refining and enforcing the traffic plan.

Council members responded with acknowledgements and said staff would continue to work on traffic impact assessments and contract implementation. No formal council action on the Buc-ee’s agreement occurred during public comment; the remarks were appeals for enforcement and follow-up by staff and elected officials.