By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City officials July 25 said they will discuss a letter from Val Verde County opposing the construction of a second international bridge northwest of Del Rio at their next regular meeting Aug. 8.
During the council meeting, in an agenda item updating council members about various city projects, Sheedy told the council the city had received a letter from Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. regarding the second international bridge and proposed routes connecting the bridge site to U.S. Highway 90.
Currently the proposed site of the planned second international bridge is northwest of Del Rio, upstream of the existing bridge.
Sheedy told the council, “We did receive a letter from Val Verde County. I’ve spoken to Judge Owens a couple of times. Once we received the letter, we have to submit that to our consultants for their review. That’s what we’re paying them to do.
“So they’ve made a review, and when we were out of town in Washington, D.C., we got the review back from them. So now all we have to do, myself and my staff, we’re going to take some time to work with our attorney and to get this response completed, and then of course I have to bring that to council, and we’ll bring that at the next council meeting, for council approval, and then we’ll be sending the letter back,” Sheedy said.
Owens sent the letter to Arreola July 10 regarding “propose(d) second international bridge and adjoining route.”
In the letter, Owens recapped action the commissioners court had taken to formally oppose two routes connecting the proposed bridge site with U.S. Highway 90 north of Del Rio as well as the proposed site of the second international bridge.
Owens wrote:
“Dear Mayor Arreola,
“As you may know, Val Verde County Commissioners Court held a special called public meeting on July 5. . . to discuss and possibly act on the proposed second international bridge and to consider possible adjoining routes. During this public meeting, the Court allowed our constituents to voice their concerns, objections and comments in general.
“After much discussion, the Court ordered that I, as Val Verde County Judge, inform the City of Del Rio of the following actions taken at the special meeting:
“1) A unanimous consent vote to oppose a route presented by the City of Del Rio that follows Las Brisas Road and connects to U.S. Highway 90 West. The proposed route would connect to Highway 90 West directly across from Agua Vista.
“2) A unanimous consent vote to oppose any route that would go over or connect Las Brisas Road with Highway 90 West.
“3) A unanimous consent vote for the second international bridge to include a route that would connect at the intersection of State Loop 79 and (Highway) 277 South. This bridge would be located SE (southeast) of the present international bridge.
“Please understand that the commissioners court agrees with the need for a second international bridge. In addition, we are amenable to working with the city of Del Rio to develop a feasible solution. If you should have any questions or if anything remains unclear, please do not hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience. Thank you in advance for your courtesies in this matter.”
Friday, Owens told the 830 Times the court will again discuss the city’s plans for a second international bridge at its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
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