Cibolo is a city in Guadalupe and Bexar counties, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. Cibolo voted to become an independent township on October 9, 1965. As of the 2010 census, Cibolo had a population of 15,349, up from 3,035 at the 2000 census. In 2015, the estimated population was 26,637. In 2016, the estimated population was 27,855.
Video Cibolo, Texas
History
Cibolo voted to become an independent township on October 9, 1965; the "City Fathers" were Mayor M.O. Grooms, Councilman Carl Biser, Councilman Ted Dykes, Councilman Alwin Lieck, Councilman Fred Niemietz and Councilman D.O. Trotti. However, the City of Cibolo's history begins long before this historic date.
Before the first European settlers arrived, the Comanche as well as several other Native American tribes lived in Cibolo. The name Cibolo means "buffalo". Perhaps "cibolo" was a name given to the bison by the Spaniards when they saw in large numbers during an expedition in search of a mythical town called Cibola. The community first established when the Southern Pacific Railroad cut through the area en route to major cities like Houston and San Antonio. Over time, Cibolo developed into the suburb it is today.
In 1867, George Schlather built a store on land purchased by his father Jacob. In 1882, the Schlathers sold the store to Charles Fromme, who renamed it Fromme's Store. The community also became known by this name. In 1877, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway station serving the area was called Cibolo Valley. In 1883, the US Post Office opened a branch in the town and called it Cibolo. By 1890, the population was 100 people.
Beginning in the 21st century, Cibolo has experienced high levels of growth, increasing 733 percent since 2000, when the population was 3,035 people. Between 2000 and 2010, the population increased 545 percent to 19,580 people. As Cibolo has grown, its share of the county population has also increased. In 2000, Cibolo accounted for only 3.4 percent of Guadalupe County's population. However, between 2000 and 2010 Cibolo captured 38.9 percent of the county's growth, and its share of the population increased to 14.9 percent. Between 2010 and 2013, Cibolo acquired 22.3 percent of the growth in Guadalupe County, and today Cibolo accounts for 17 percent of the county's population.
As with any growing city, Cibolo has had its growing pains. In recent history, these include ceding a majority of the City's Extraterritorial District to the neighboring city of Schertz, a fight between the mayor and mayor pro-tem, the lack of records regarding the rezoning of the property that would eventually become the city's first Super Wal-Mart and a recall election that ousted two members of the City Council, a mayor who resigns, and the questionable communications of a possible toll road through the city.
In 2013, Wal-Mart announced that it purchased property within Cibolo to build a new Super Wal-Mart. Due to its location adjacent to a single family subdivision and elementary school, many local residents were outraged. During the initial development process, words often got heated. Additionally, there were accusations that the City Staff had cut corners in paperwork to include not following the City's development code or showing records that the property had been rezoned properly to allow for big box retailers. Eventually, the City staff was exonerated, but not after one member of the staff tendered his resignation and another was fired by the city manager. Moreover, this controversy led to the recall election of four Cibolo council men and women with two actually being recalled and an ordinance that banned alcohol near schools and churches. The Wal-Mart eventually opened up in January 2016 and has been an economic spur for the City. A positive outcome for Cibolo after the Wal-Mart ordeal was the demand of the citizens for more transparency. This demand led to the city live streaming, recording and posting almost all public meetings on its website. Though there were technical glitches in the beginning, this now has become a valuable tool to keep the City leaders in check and proceedings more transparent. Cibolo was the first small town in the San Antonio Metrocom to do this.
In 2015, the mayor at the time, Lisa Jackson, resigned her role as mayor of Cibolo a few weeks prior to the election of a new mayor, of which she was not running. The background is that a Cibolo councilman/Mayor Pro Tem and a candidate for District 7 council that year (who was also member of the City's Planning and Zoning Commission) were involved in a public discussion that resulted in the candidate using slanderous language about the councilman at a public event. After the event, a mediation was held between the 2 men, the Planning and Zoning President, of which there was an agreement set that had the Planning and Zoning member apologize publicly to the councilman. Prior to that mediation, the Mayor Pro Tem wanted to file an ethics complaint against the Planning and Zoning member, but instead felt a public apology would suffice. The mayor was briefed on this agreement by the Planning and Zoning President and the Mayor Pro Tem. However, the two men made a side agreement that did not include a public apology. The mayor was informed of the side agreement prior to the October 13, 2015 City Council meeting. Mayor Jackson resigned her post stating she could not condone back door agreements and risk the trust of the citizens of Cibolo in regards to the outcome affecting the November 2015 election with knowledge of ethics violations sited by the Mayor Pro Tem. See the following reference and fast forward to the 1 hour, 28 minute, 26 second mark of the referenced YouTube video to watch the resignation unfold. However, as the City's champion for ethics (as demonstrated with her push to create an ethics and code of conduct ordinance) and with her own stated knowledge of ethics violations, she did not follow up and pursue said violations bringing into question if there truly were any violations to begin with.
In early 2017, the City of Cibolo signed a Development Agreement with the Texas Turnpike Corporation (TTC) to enter in a Public-Private Partnership to build a 7-mile Cibolo Parkway that would create a direct route from I-35 to I-10. The agreement included the City owning the road itself, while the TTC would build, operate, and maintain the road with no cost to the City. TTC would make their money via tolling the Parkway. Though there were many side arguments over the potential toll road, the biggest complaint of many citizens was that the communication of a greenfield project of this magnitude was lacking. (See the following reference and fast forward to the 1 hour, 59 minute mark of the referenced City Council Workshop video as one example of the citizen's complaints toward City communication.) This included not getting in contact with the approximately 40 to 50 landowners of the property that the road would potentially traverse. This land included some tracts that were not within City limits and would have to be annexed. Additionally, if the land was not sold to the City, the City said it would use eminent domain as a last resort to obtain the land.
Maps Cibolo, Texas
Geography
Cibolo is in western Guadalupe County, on the north side of Cibolo Creek. A small portion of the city, south of West Schaefer Road, crosses a bend of Cibolo Creek to enter Bexar County. Santa Clara and Marion border Cibolo to the east. New Berlin, Zuehl, and St. Hedwig border Cibolo to the south. Schertz borders Cibolo to the north and west. The city of New Braunfels is 14 miles (23 km) to the northeast, and downtown San Antonio is 21 miles (34 km) to the southwest.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Cibolo has a total area of 6.6 square miles (17.0 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2), or 0.07%, is water.
Transportation
Airports
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is about an hour away via I-35.
- San Antonio International Airport is 30 minutes away via I-35 and I-410.
Major thoroughfares
- Interstate 35, Deluth-Des Moines-Kansas City-Wichita-Oklahoma City-DFW Metroplex-Austin-Cibolo-San Antonio-Laredo.
- Interstate 10, Jacksonville-Houston-Cibolo-San Antonio-Fort Stockton-El Paso-Los Angeles
- FM 78, Kirby-I 35-Randolph AFB-Cibolo-Marion-McQueeney-Seguin.
- FM 1103, Cibolo.
- The proposed Cibolo Parkway as an extension of FM 1103. The Parkway will create a direct route from I-35 to I-10.
Cibolo Parkway (Proposed)
In 2006, the City of Cibolo incorporated mobility needs into the Cibolo Future Land Use Map, Future Thoroughfare Plan, and Capital Improvement Plan.
In 2007, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) completed a study for a possible FM 1103 extension in Cibolo south to I-10. However, TXDOT determined that right-of-way acquisition issues and funding precluded such an extension for the foreseeable future. The biggest hurdles included crossing floodplains and an overpass over both FM78 and the Union Pacific Railroad.
In 2015, with explosive development in the FM 1103 area continuing, the Cibolo City Council stated they wanted to investigate options to build the extension and it formed a blue-ribbon committee of citizens to study the matter. In 2016, the committee recommended a private-public partnership to develop the road as a tollway.
In 2017, the Cibolo City Council approved an agreement with the Texas Turnpike Corporation (TTC) to move forward with the project. As of early 2018, the TTC is still conducting its feasibility study for the road to see if it is a viable project for them.
In the agreement, the City of Cibolo would own the road, while TTC would fiance the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the estimated $125 million and roughly 11 mile roadway. In exchange, TTC would collect tolls from roadway users for 50 years. At one point TTC projected the toll rate to be $0.20 a mile, with exemption for city owned vehicles.
The Cibolo Parkway project is a project solely between the City of Cibolo and its partner, TTC, a private company. TxDOT is not involved in the planning or development of this project in any way other than approving any connections to state highways (i.e. FM 1103, FM 78, and I-10.) The current planned FM 1103 expansion project that spans from I-35 to Rodeo Way in Cibolo pre-dates this proposal and uses funds from the State, Cibolo, and Schertz. Additionally, the San Antonio Metropolitan Planning Organization includes this project as a privately-funded project and has no state or federal funding associated with it.
If the project is deemed feasible, the roadway could open to traffic as soon as 2020 and would end up being the first tolled road in the San Anontio metro area.
Now this project has not come without controversy. As stated in the History section above, there is a belief that many of the citizens were not informed of the project to include those landowners that would need to sell their land to bring this project to fruition. While an organization called NoCiboloTollRoad has many questions about the project, major controversies during the conceptualization, design and construction of this Parkway included:
- In the early to mid-2010s, Cibolo, Selma, and Schertz leadership partnered together to get projects for their cities accomplished with MPO money by supporting one city at a time. Selma was the first up and got MPOsupport for Lookout Rd expansion. Then the three cities supported Schertz in getting sidewalks along FM3009. However, when it came time for Cibolo's project, Cibolo leadership decided not to submit a project as they already planned on a public-private partnership to build the FM1103 extension. Many contend, that even though the whole project could not have been built by MPO dollars, Cibolo could have garnered at least enough dollars to build the extension from FM1103 to FM78, resulting in a shorter P3 (toll) road.
- An initial plan to include express lanes "Cibolo Expressway" complete with overpasses as certain intersections from I-35 to the Parkway entrance. TTC has currently dropped this component of the project when the City of Schertz's City Council stated they did not support these express lanes through their town. Additionally, TxDOT would have to approve these lanes. To date, TxDOT has not given any indication of doing so. However, the first amendment of the development agreement stated that the City of Cibolo will work with TXDOT to get FM1103 turned back to the City and at that point this aspect of the project may return.
- Many of the graphics that TTC presented to the City depicted this as a four lane divided expressway from Weil Road to I-10 at Zuehl Road. However, at an early 2018 presentation to City Council, TTC stated that their feasibility study is showing that it is only feasible to them at this time to build the road as a two lane undivided expressway and when the traffic counts increase in the future, they would go back and expand the roadway. There is concern among citizens if this build now and then build later concept is allowed by the agreement between the City of Cibolo and its partner TTC.
- Creating cul-de-sacs along major farm roads where the Parkway will traverse them; notably Arizpe Rd. This would force farmers to have to take their farm equipment up to a road that has a pass through (e.g., Lower Seguin Rd or Bolton Rd) and then back to their farms. This could create a safety hazard, traffic issues, and increased wear and tear on other local roads as well as increased costs to the farmers.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,035 people, 1,092 households, and 848 families residing in the city. The population density was 569.5 people per square mile (219.9/km²). There were 1,176 housing units at an average density of 220.7/sq mi (85.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.09% White, 14.16% African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.35% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 5.11% from other races, and 10.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 47.01% of the population.
There were 1,092 households out of which 42.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.3% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the city, the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 35.6% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,780, and the median income for a family was $65,545. Males had a median income of $42,557 versus $26,333 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,988. About 4.8% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.
By the mid-2010s, Cibolo was one of the fastest growing small cities in the United States, experiencing a nearly 900% increase in population since 2000 and growing from 3,000 to the current estimate of about 30,000 residents. Actual figures are disputed, however, due to such a huge explosion of population in such a short period of time. This has caused problems in the city, due to such unanticipated growth making developments difficult to keep up with the rapidly increasing population, poor suburban planning for expansion, and a limited amount of land.
Population over time
- 1970 Census - 440
- 1980 Census - 549
- 1990 Census - 1,757
- 2000 Census - 3,035
- 2010 Census - 15,349
- 2013 Estimate - 20,564
- 2014 Estimate - 25,280
- 2015 Estimate - 26,637
- 2016 Estimate - 27,855
City logo and slogan
In 2009, the city of Cibolo introduced a new logo and a new slogan: "City of Choice".
Government
The City of Cibolo is a Council-Manager type government. The City has a mayor and seven council members elected for two year terms. The seven council members currently are elected by and represent individual districts.
The City of Cibolo is also a member of the Alamo Area Council of Governments.
Mayors past and present
Under General Law
- M.O. Grooms (1965 - 1969)
- Fritz Schlather (1969 - ?)
- William "Bill" Little (1983 - 1987)
- Charles Ruppert (2001 - 2005)
Under Home Law
- Jennifer Hartman (2008 - 2013)
- Lisa Jackson (2013 - 2015)
- Jay Hogue (Oct -Nov 2015) - Mayor Pro Tem; assumed role of mayor when Mayor Lisa Jackson resigned
- Eric Allen Dunn (2015 - 2017)
- Stan "Stosh" Boyle (2017-Present)
Committees, commissions, boards, and corporations
Steady state
- Planning and Zoning Commission
- Economic Development Corporation
- Parks and Recreation Committee
- Known as the Parks and Community Advisory Committee between 2016 and 2018
- Capital Improvements Advisory Committee
- Zoning Board of Adjustment
- Animal Shelter Advisory Committee
- Cibolo Youth Council
Periodic / occasional / ad-hoc / limited scope
- Master Plan Committee (2016)
- UDC Committee (2013, 2015, 2017)
- Communications/Technology Advisory Committee (2017)
- Charter Review Commission (2018)
Arts, Culture, Community activities, and Programs
- City Secretary Office Organized
- CiboloFest - Annual celebration of all things Cibolo. Originally, held at Niemetz Park, it is now held in the City Hall parking lot. It is typically held in October which coincides with the anniversary of Cibolo becoming an independent city.
- Christmas Parade
- Easter Egg Hunt
- Shred Days
- Parks and Community Advisory Committee Organized
- (*Since the City Council disbanded/reorganized the City's Parks and Recreation Committee in 2016, these activities shrank in size, prominence, and/or existence)
- Memorial Day Ceremony
- * Kickball Tournament
- * Food Truck Round-Up
- * Regional Disc Golf Tournament
- Other City Hosted Activities
- Annual "Guns n Hoses" charity basketball game between the Cibolo Police Department and Cibolo Fire Department held at Steele High School. (Started in 2017)
- Non-City Sponsored Community Activities
- Miss Cibolo Scholarship Pageant is held to select the city's ambassadors to area parades and festivals (Started in 2012)
- Cibolo BBQ Cook-Off (Started around 2014)
Parks
In addition to the following list of parks, the City of Cibolo is planning a linear park system that will connect the city with bike and hike trails from near I-35 to near I-10.
- Al Rich Park
- Baseball/Softball Field, Bleachers, Pavilion, Picnic Tables, Restroom, Swing
- Niemetz Park (1977)
- Baseball/Softball Field, Basketball Court, Bleachers, Concessions, Football Field, Grills, Kitchen/Food Preparation Area, Lighted, Meeting Room, Pavilion, Picnic Tables, Playground, Restroom, Soccer Field, Volleyball, Walking Trails)
- Schlather Park (2012)
- Emergency Call Boxes, Frisbee Golf, Grills, Pavilion, Picnic Tables, Playground, Restroom, Walking Trails
- Veteran's Park (2008)
- Football Field, Grills, Pavilion, Picnic Tables, Playground, Restroom, Soccer Field
Individual level awards and recognition
The Gary Kelly Community Service Award - Awarded every year to an individual who has demonstrated exemplary volunteer service to our community. This award is to honor the memory of Gary Kelly, a Cibolo resident who served on several City Commissions, Committees and on City Council. He dedicated many hours to the city with one goal in mind, "Make a positive difference". Through his selfless dedication, Gary Kelly did just that, he helped make Cibolo a better place to live.
- 2010 - Tex Farnsworth
- 2011 - Robert Catalano
- 2012 - Dick Hetzel
- 2013 - Garth Coursen
- 2014 - Barbara Schmidbauer
- 2015 - Steve Liparoto
- 2016 - Stosh Boyle
Employee of the Year
- 2005 - Alton Ard & Teddi Young
- 2006 - Sheila Edmondson
- 2007 - Susan Johnson
- 2008 - Gary Scott
- 2009 - Tom Snedden
- 2010 - Gary Williams & Chris Ybarra
- 2011 - Bennie Fabinski
- 2012 - Alex Gonzalez
- 2013 - Terry Lemley
- 2014 - Lisa Gonzalez
- 2015 - Garret Meyer
- 2016 -
- 2017 - Alyssia Church
City level awards and recognition
- 2017
- Niche: One of the Top Texas Suburbs (2017)
- Safewise: #13 of 50 top safest cities in Texas (2017)
- Alarms.org (The National Council for Home Safety and Security): #23 top safest cities in Texas for (2017)
- NerdWallet.com: #9 Best Places for Young Families in Texas (2017)
- Elite Personal Finance: Safest Places to Live in Texas (2017)
- 2018
- Alarms.org (The National Council for Home Safety and Security): #17 top safest cities in Texas for (2018)
- Niche
Multimedia gallery
- Welcome Videos - See References or External Links
Schools
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District (SCUCISD) serves Cibolo students and families.
High schools
The high schools cover grades 9-12.
- Allison Steele Enhanced Learning Center (Schertz)
- Byron P. Steele II High School (Cibolo)
- Samuel Clemens High School (Schertz)
Junior high schools
The junior high schools cover grades 7-8.
- J. Frank Dobie Junior High (Cibolo)
- Ray D. Corbett Junior High (Schertz)
Intermediate schools
The intermediate schools cover grades 5-6.
- Barbara Jordan Intermediate (Cibolo)
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Intermediate (Schertz)
- Elaine S. Schlather Intermediate (Cibolo)
Elementary schools
The elementary schools cover grades K-4, as well as preschool.
- Cibolo Valley Elementary (Cibolo)
- Green Valley Elementary (Schertz)
- Maxine & Lutrell Watts Elementary (Cibolo)
- Norma J. Paschal Elementary (Schertz)
- O.G. Wiederstein Elementary (Cibolo)
- Rose Garden Elementary (Universal City)
- As of 2017, a new Rose Garden Elementary is being built in Schertz and the current Rose Garden will close down.
- Schertz Elementary (Schertz)
- John A. Sippel Elementary (Schertz)
Subdivisions / HOAs
A list of current subdivisions, year started, and which major roads are used to access them:
- Bentwood Ranch (2004) (Cibolo Valley Drive - Borgfeld - Town Creek Rd - Bentwood Ranch Drive)
- Falcon Ridge (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive - Thistle Creek Drive)
- Deer Creek (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive - FM 3009)
- Estates at Deer Creek (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Braewood (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Springtree (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Willow Pointe (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Woodstone (Unknown Year) (Dietz)
- Thistle Creek (Unknown Year) (Thistle Creek Dr - Dietz)
- Lantana (Unknown Year) (Old Wiedertein Rd / Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Turning Stone (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Mesa at Turning Stone (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Gatewood (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Charleston Parke (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Cibolo Valley Ranch (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Cibolo Vistas (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Heights of Cibolo (Unknown Year) (FM 1103 - Green Valley Rd)
- Saratoga (2016) (Green Valley Road)
- Landmark Pointe (Unknown Year) (Green Valley Road)
- Saddle Creek Ranch (Unknown Year) (FM 1103)
- Buffalo Crossing (FM 1103 - Wiedner Road)
- Town Creek South (Unknown Year) (Town Creek)
- Town Creek Village (Unknown Year) (FM1103)
- Town Creek West (Unknown Year) (Town Creek)
- Cher-ron (Unknown Year) (Green Valley Rd)
- Cibolo North (Unknown Year) (N. Main Street - FM1103)
- Cibolo Tolle (Unknown Year) (Tolle Rd)
- Cibolo Village (Unknown Year) (FM1103)
- Dobie Heights (Unknown Year) (W. Borgfeld Rd)
- Falcon Crest Estates (Unknown Year) (FM78)
- Five Leaf Park (Unknown Year) (N. Main Street)
- Four Leaf Park ((Unknown Year) (FM78 - Loop 539 - Pfeil Rd)
- Green Valley Park (Unknown Year) (Haeckerville Rd)
- Royal Oak Acres (Unknown Year) (Green Valley Loop)
- Six Leaf Park (Unknown Year) (N. Main Street)
- Stonebrook (Unknown Year) (FM1103)
- Enclave at Riata Oaks (Unknown Year) (Town Creek Rd)
- Estates at Riata Oaks (Unknown Year) (Town Creek Rd)
- Ridge at Deer Creek (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Val's Mobile Home Park (Unknown Year) (Country Lane - FM 78)
- Wiederstein (Unknown Year) (Old Wiederstein Rd)
- Williams Ranch (Unknown Year) (Green Valley Rd)
- Willowbridge (Unknown Year) (Cibolo Valley Drive)
- Foxbrook (2016) (FM 1103)
- Red River (2018) (FM 78 - S. Main)
- Venado Crossing (TBD) (FM 78)
- Steele Creek (TBD) (FM1103 - Tolle Rd)
Notable residents
- Tommy Armstrong Jr., former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback, Minnesota Vikings practice squad member, and current NFL free agent
- Malcolm Brown, former Texas Longhorns and current Los Angeles Rams running back
- Alexis Shapiro, craniopharyngioma patient
References
External links
- City of Cibolo official website
- City of Cibolo Master Plan
- Cibolo Economic Development Corporation
- Cibolo Welcome Videos
- Cibolo Volunteer Fire Department
Source of article : Wikipedia
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