By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members have approved an agreement with a federal law enforcement agency to place surveillance cameras on a city property.
The council approved the agreement between the city and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during its Feb. 27 meeting.
After Mayor Al Arreola called for a motion on the resolution, Councilman J.P. Sanchez made the motion to approve it, and Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb gave the second.
Arreola asked if council members had any questions, and Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. asked Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez, “Mr. Chavez, this particular land, it’s vacant. There’s nothing there, right? What is the purpose for them wanting to use this property, other than what’s described, putting equipment for surveillance?”
City Public Works Director/City Engineer Albert Quintanilla moved to the podium to respond to Lopez’s question.
“It’s on Eagle Pass Hill, and the reason that Border Patrol wants to use that property is because of the elevation of it. You have a good sight distance to be able to see a broad area, so they’re hoping to surveil a large portion of southern Del Rio with some camera equipment there, temporary camera equipment.”
Lopez asked, “Right now we have no future use for the property?”
“We do have use for it now. We have two portable buildings there now that we use for storage, and we use (the property) to store roadway materials as well,” Quintanilla replied.
He added CBP will place a camera on a trailer inside the property and put up a fence around it.
Arreola then invited a Border Patrol agent in the audience to come forward and speak to the council about the agency’s request.
“To paint a picture of the area, the reason we’re targeting this area, is that there is a depression down where the Loma De La Cruz area is and down into the San Felipe neighborhood. We tend to lose a lot of undocumented migrant traffic in that area. So that high ground gives us a view of that area and allows us to detect those migrants before they disappear into the neighborhoods and/or load up into vehicles, which opens another door into dangers like possible pursuits,” the Border Patrol agent told the council.
“It’s a pretty important area for us,” the agent added, noting the city can revoke the agreement at any time.
“The camera system is very small, a 30-foot by 30-foot footprint. The tower’s about 30 feet tall, and with a week’s notice, we can have it removed in a day,” the agent said.
“No problem, as long as it’s for security purposes and safety to citizens, there’s no problem,” Lopez commented.
“I want you to know that back in the day, the Indians used to use that mountain (La Loma de la Cruz) as a lookout point also,” Sanchez said.
“And the conquistadors,” Arreola added.
On a more serious note, Arreola told the Border Patrol agent, “We on the council want to thank you guys for the partnership, that you are here to secure the border, and anything that the city can do, that’s what we’re here for. . . We appreciate everything you guys are doing.”
The council unanimously approved the resolution authorizing the agreement.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
