By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Residents of the Escondido Estates area of Val Verde County were back in commissioners court on Wednesday to discuss a years-old project to extend city water to their homes and properties.
Escondido Estates is a rural area of scattered homes and small ranches located south of U.S. Highway 90 east of Laughlin Air Force Base. The county has been working since 2011 to extend city water lines to the area, and residents have repeatedly spoken to the court about their frustrations at the slow progress.
During the court’s Jan. 17, Sergio Rodriguez, president of the Escondido Estates Residents Association and a candidate for the county commissioner seat representing that area, told the court he and other residents had met with city officials to talk about the project.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. chided Rodriguez for not involving county officials in that meeting, pointing out that since the county is paying for the project, its representatives need to be present at meetings about the project.
The Escondido Estates water issue was on commissioners court’s agenda again on Wednesday.
During the “citizen comments” portion at the start of the meeting, Owens recognized Isaac Rodriguez, the only person who had signed up to speak to the court.
Rodriguez identified himself to the court as a resident of the Escondido Estates area and a leader of The Border Organization, an activist group that has long championed the cause of extending city water to the area.
“Judge, I wanted to come out and say thank you for meeting with us. That impromptu meeting we had yesterday (Tuesday), was very informative and gave us a little bit of hope for a path forward for water out there for the residents,” Rodriguez told the court.
“As I understand it right now, we’re waiting for approval from the city on an agreement for the county not to use the fire hydrants (in the area) so we can at least restore some water to some of the residents,” he said.
“I also understand that the county engineer is working on a plan, the pump plan, and that plan should be ready in five to six weeks, so we’ll be following up with that later. Again, thank you for all that progress. So again, there are many, many residents out there who have been waiting a long time for water, some many, many more years than me, and I’ve been out there for 17 years, so thank you,” Rodriguez said.
“Lastly, there are some other issues that we need to address with Mr. Wardlaw (County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw). We’ll be reaching out to you by the end of the week to see if we can set up a meeting with you to address some of our other concerns,” Rodriguez said.
Owens thanked Rodriguez after he was finished, but made no comment on the remarks. The county judge and the court discussed the water issue at length later in the meeting. (See separate stories.)
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