Texas State stops plan to sell outdoor retreat
After facing backlash from the community, Texas State University officials have backed off their plan to sell an outdoor reserve that is set aside for for students and alumni.
The Texas State University System, the body that oversees the San Marcos campus, was considering selling the University Camp property to a real estate investment group. University Camp is a 126acre reserve along the Blanco River near Wimberley, about 9 miles northwest of the San Marcos campus. The property is reserved for the use of Texas State students and alumni, as well as current faculty and staff members and retired employees. The property contains 4 miles of biking and hiking trails as well as other outdoor recreation options.
Mcallen-based Needmore River Ranch LLC, a company that owns multiple properties near the University Camp site, had offered to buy the land for $4.6 million, plus a $4.4 million donation to the school, according to sincedeleted item on the agenda of the university board of regents’ Nov. 16 meeting. A copy of the agenda item was obtained by the University Star, Texas State’s student newspaper. However, Texas State officials received pushback from some opposing the sale. They removed the proposed sale from the agenda prior to the meeting. Texas State President Kelly Damphousse sent an email to students and facility saying the the school had decided against selling the University Camp property.
“I have decided that so long as I am president at (Texas State), the property will not be sold,” Damphousse said in the email. “I look forward to watching our Bobcat family continue to use University Camp for research, recreation and leadership training in the years to come,”
Texas state Rep. Erin Zweiner, who represents Hays County, was among those opposing the sale. In a letter to university officials, Zweiner called University Camp a “cherished sanctuary in the Hill Country ” that embodied the spirit of Texas State. The Nov. 9 open letter was addressed to the chancellor of the Texas State University system and the school’s president.
“I’m so grateful to everyone in the community for being vigilant and making sure that we don’t lose a really priceless piece of property on the Blanco River,” Zweiner said in a video posted on Facebook.