Let's Talk Luling Episode 6: Mayor Watts & City Manager Mark McLaughlin on Growth, Infrastructure & the Future of Luling

Title: Let's Talk Luling Episode 6: Mayor Watts & City Manager Mark McLaughlin on Growth, Infrastructure & the Future of Luling

SEO Title: Luling Texas City Manager & Mayor on Growth Plans, Retail, Roads & What's Coming Next

Meta Description: Mayor CJ Watts and City Manager Mark McLaughlin sit down with the Luling EDC to talk about strategic growth, incoming retail, the transportation plan, hospital expansion, and what Luling looks like in the next five years.

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This post is adapted from Episode 6 of Let's Talk Luling, a podcast produced by DSE Media for the Luling Economic Development Corporation. Watch the full episode on YouTube.

If you want to understand where Luling is headed, there are two people you need to hear from. In Episode 6 of Let's Talk Luling, EDC Executive Director Arias sat down with Mayor CJ Watts and City Manager Mark McLaughlin for the most wide-ranging conversation in the series — covering incoming retail, the transportation crisis on Magnolia Street, hospital expansion, street infrastructure, electricity bills, and what Luling needs to look like in five to ten years.

Who is Mayor Watts?

Mayor Watts was born and raised in Lockhart but has deep roots in Luling through her husband, whose family has been here since 1855 — starting with a gin, a store, and a blacksmith shop in Wattsville just outside McNeil. She spent 30 years as a paralegal, came back to help run the family business, served on Planning and Zoning for ten years, then two terms on city council before running for mayor. She ran unopposed the first time and beat an opponent in 2024. She also serves on the EDC board as president, the Zedler Mill board, and previously on the chamber and oil museum boards.

Who is Mark McLaughlin?

Mark grew up in Caldwell, Idaho, came to Texas A&M on a Navy scholarship, graduated commissioned and married in the same weekend, and spent 27 years as a Navy aircraft carrier pilot including 22 missions in Operation Desert Storm. He finished his military career as the commanding officer of Naval Air Station Kingsville — which he describes as running a city. After retiring in 2013 he fell into city management, ran cities in Platonia and Kingsville, and arrived in Luling 15 months ago. At the last city council meeting his contract was extended through January 2029.

Building the foundation

When Mark arrived, Luling didn't have a parks department, a planning department, a compensation plan, or an updated personnel policy. His first year was about building that infrastructure. A parks department was created. A planning director was hired. A new police chief came on board from the Houston area and the department is now fully staffed. A new finance director, city secretary, and HR director have been brought on. The city now has 94 employees.

As Mark puts it, the city is like a ship and he's the captain — he sets the destination and lets the experts in each department figure out how to get there.

What's coming to Luling in the next three to five years

Several specific developments are already in motion.

QuikTrip is coming. They have their driveway permits from TxDOT and will be building near the Lavender Farms above Loves off Highway 90 and 183.

The Lera subdivision north of town will reach nearly 500 homes, adding roughly 2,500 people to the city's population.

Commercial development along Highway 183 near Lera is already sold and will follow the residential growth.

Crossbow Systems is expanding. The solid rocket manufacturer that Luling took a chance on is growing rapidly and hiring local people who previously had to commute out of town for comparable jobs.

Retail Coach, led by Aaron Farmer, is actively working with specific sites in town. McDonald's is looking at the area — it's a matter of finding the right property. O'Reilly Auto Parts is already open. More is coming.

The EDC owns lots at the old airport site that are still available.

A potential gated community near the golf course has been discussed, aimed at attracting higher-income families including Crossbow employees who currently can't find suitable housing in Luling.

The transportation problem

Luling sits at the intersection of Interstate 10, Highway 183, Highway 90, and now a connection to 130. That's the crossroads to everywhere — and it's also causing a serious infrastructure problem.

Magnolia Street and the downtown corridor are seeing roughly 16,000 vehicles per day, well over capacity. Belly dump trucks are regularly coming through Davis Street when they're not supposed to. The Luling Transportation Plan is currently in development with TxDOT and an open house is coming for public input.

The short answer is that bypasses are coming. Mark pushed back on the old fear that bypasses kill downtown businesses — the evidence shows the opposite. Getting through traffic out of downtown lets the people who actually want to be there access it more easily.

This will take ten years minimum. Nothing about road infrastructure moves fast. But the process has started.

The hospital is not leaving

Mark and Mayor Watts addressed this directly. Despite rumors circulating in the community, Ascension Seton Smithville Regional Hospital is not moving to Lockhart. It is staying in Luling and planning to expand. The current structure can't support vertical growth so they're looking at horizontal expansion options. The city meets with the hospital administrator quarterly. Specialists are already making routine visits. The rehabilitation center just opened and is already too small. Rural hospital grant funding from new state legislation is being pursued actively.

Streets, fees, and what it actually costs to run a city

Mark was candid about the street situation. Luling's roads have been underfunded for years. The city has people and willingness but not the equipment or the dedicated funding stream needed to do chip seal work or full road reconstruction in-house.

His plan for the coming year is to establish a street maintenance fee — a small charge on every utility account that creates a dedicated fund only usable for streets. He's also looking at acquiring equipment from utility companies at reduced cost so the street department can take on more work without contracting it out.

He also took time to address the most common complaint his office receives: the fuel adjustment on utility bills. The short version is that it is not a city tax and the city makes nothing from it. Luling buys 100% of its electricity off the market through a contract with the Lower Colorado River Authority, spending roughly $400,000 per month to power the entire city. The fuel adjustment is the pass-through cost of producing and transmitting that power. Luling residents pay about 13 cents per kilowatt — cheaper than the open market and cheaper than surrounding communities.

City council meetings going live

Mark is working on installing a 360-degree camera in the council chambers so city council meetings can be streamed live on Facebook. The internet connection issues in the room have been resolved. The camera quote is coming. This will allow anyone to watch without having to attend in person.

A message from Mayor Watts

She closed the conversation simply: regardless of what you see on Facebook, the city has a team working hard every day to make Luling better. The parks look better than they have in years. Growth is coming and it's being managed carefully. None of it happens overnight.

Living in Luling is a good thing. The future is looking brighter every day.

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