Texas State University announced it will not sell University Camp—a 126acre oasis in Wimberley with over four miles of hiking and biking trails and views of the Blanco River that is available to university alumni, students and staff.
The camp, which is located at the end of Flite Acres Road, is used by university students, alumni, faculty and staff for both recreational and educational purposes. It was originally donated to the university in the 1950s by Sallie Beretta.
Texas State University Systems, which encompasses seven institutions including Texas State University, previously had the sale of University Camp on its Nov. 16 meeting agenda. That item was eventually pulled from the agenda.
The university issued this statement about the decision to keep University Camp.
“I appreciate those who took the time to share feedback regarding the possible sale of University Camp,” Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said. “Their input made it clear that University Camp continues to be a valuable asset for our TXST alumni, employees, students, and community members. For that reason, I have decided that so long as I am president at TXST, the property will not be sold. I look forward to watching our Bobcat Family continue to use University Camp for research, recreation, and leadership training in the years to come.”
According to the previously published agenda, the university was set to possibly sell 125.73 acres of land and mineral interests to Needmore River Ranch, LLC, the owner of the property across the river from the camp. The purchaser had obtained an appraisal from a licensed appraiser for $4,626,225, which would have been paid in addition to $4,373,775 that would have been placed in escrow. The $4 million in escrow would have been considered an unrestricted donation to the university and was to have been paid in three equal installments over a three year period if a sale were completed under these terms.
When word began to leak out earlier this month about the potential sale, members of the Texas State and Wimberley communities discussed what the camp means to students and others.
“It is a tremendous recreational asset to the community of Wimberley as well as university folks,” Lori Olson, a Wimberley resident, said. “It’s one of our very few places that we have to access the river in this area and certainly provides a wealth of opportunities … for different student groups and alumni groups … It would be a travesty to lose it to private ownership.”
Andrew Weber lives near the camp. While he said he is on the board of the Trinity Edwards Spring Protection Association and is the President of Friends of Wimberley Parks [formerly known as Friends of Blue Hole], he made it clear that on this matter he was speaking for himself and not his organizations.
“Land with water rights and water pumping access, obviously, is of importance to the broader community, given the water situation in the [Wimberley] Valley,” Weber said. “It is my understanding that, yes, it has multiple karst areas where the aquifer is recharged.”
Olson said she was shocked to hear that the sale would have been going through the board of regents and was certain others in the Texas State community would be as well.
“It seems like this process has happened out of the public eye without any opportunity for public input,” Olson said Thursday before the discussion of a camp sale item had been pulled from the TSUS Board of Regents meeting agenda. “I would hope the board of regents would put the brakes on this and allow for that public input. I think that if they understood the importance of this property to the community and to the university–the people who attend the university, who have attended the university, who work for the university– that hopefully they would change course and keep it as a park.”
The public pushback from the potential sale of the camp resonated across both the intertwined communities eventually leading Damphousse to pull the item from discussion and stating the camp will not be sold while he is president of the university.
