By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Texas Rep. Eddie Morales paid a visit to county commissioners court on Tuesday, asking
the court to develop a list of projects for which he could seek state funding.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. welcomed Morales, Morales’ wife Hellen and Morales’
district director, Sonia Moreno, to the meeting, and invited him to the podium to address
the court.
Morales told the court an important part of serving the communities in his House District
74 is to encourage leaders in those communities to develop lists of legislative priorities he
can then pursue in Austin.
Morales told the court, “No one is going to understand and know your communities
better than you all, as far as what the community is expecting from the state. We’re here,
let us know how we can be of help. You know our office, which is your office, is always
open there at the Austin capital and always accessible, as well as our staff.”
Owens responded, “First of all, I want to thank you and Ms. Moreno, too, she’s been
sending emails back and forth. I want to thank both of you all, and I thank you for taking
the time to come to this meeting. . .”
Owens then asked Commissioner Pct. 1 Kerr Wardlaw if he had any priority projects in
Precinct 1.
Wardlaw told Morales, “One of the concerns I have is on Texas highways. The roadside
parks have outlived their usefulness.”
As an aside, Wardlaw said it is ironic that he is the one mentioning the problems with
those parks, as his great-grandfather constructed the first roadside parks in the state.
“The parks came about during the Great Depression, and people would pull off to eat in
them, because they couldn’t afford to eat in restaurants. . . Now they’re just dump sites,
and I think they should be removed and returned to grassy bar ditches on the side of the
highway,” Wardlaw said.
Morales asked whether or not Wardlaw has visited with the TxDOT commissioner for the
area, and Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez replied he and Owens and County
Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez have visited with TxDOT officials about the problems.
Morales encouraged continued communication with TxDOT and asked Wardlaw and
Vazquez, as well as the other commissioners, to email him with exact locations of the
problem areas.
Vazquez told Morales, “I do have a tow company, but I’m speaking on behalf of a lot of
businesses, so here in the state of Texas, and I’m talking as a commissioner but also as a
regular Joe Blow constituent, we’ve had so many accidents. . . these big 18-wheeler
companies that have accidents, and then what is happening, the (trucks’) insurance
companies are not picking up the tab as far as the cleanup.”
Vazquez referenced a number of recent accidents in which the trucks left major messes
following accidents, but the cleanup was left to the county.
“These insurance companies are not being held responsible for the cleanups, and you
literally spend $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 out of our pockets. . . to do the cleanup, and the
county and the constituents are stuck with a big old mess,” Vazquez said.
Morales said he encountered similar problems when he represented the city of Eagle
Pass.
“We developed a process by which the cleanup costs were documented, well-
documented, and then we would draft a letter to the insurance company. . . and we started
having success. They have liability and property damage, and under property damage
clause, they’re supposed to reimburse any expenses associated with that,” Morales said.
He said he would be happy to meet with County Attorney David Martinez and develop a
plan for recouping cleanup costs.
“If insurance companies are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, we need to
hold their feet to the fire,” Morales added.
Vazquez also spoke about state parks in his precinct and said he would appreciate any
additional funding the state could allocate towards them.
Morales responded, “We appropriated millions of dollars for parks this last legislative
session, including water-related (issues), the big water bill. If I recall, there was more
than $20 billion that were appropriated (for a desalination plant) in the Gulf of Mexico.”
He said the water bill had some wording for local governments to seek money for parks,
adding he would send links to the county so its grants writing team could apply for
funding.
Commissioner Pct. 3 Fernando Garcia thanked Morales for attending the meeting and
said Morales’ district director, Sonia Moreno “was very engaging with Comstock,” a
small community in west-central Val Verde County.
“She’s been there twice, and we’re trying to organize a third visit. It’s the first time we’ve
ever had someone from the state representative’s office engage with the community of
Comstock, so thank you to you and to her. She’s doing a great job for you,” Garcia said.
Garcia said Moreno listened to Comstock residents’ concerns, then followed up where
she was able.
“The two main issues that we have are Highway 163 and 1024 are in extremely poor
condition,” Garcia said. He invited Morales “to take a little field trip” and drive those
roads, saying the farther north, the worse the condition of the roadways, adding that in
places the shoulder has crumbled away and there is a steep drop off.
Garcia also said there are piles of road materials left in places along the highways. He
said the materials were left by TxDOT and in some cases, have been there for years.
Garcia also noted there is an area about two miles north of Comstock that is being used as
a dump site.
“There are construction materials. There are garbage bags with dead animals. It’s filthy, and
we’ve asked about having it cleaned and we get delay, delay, delay. It’s been years that
that mess has been there, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and invites more
dumping,” Garcia said.
Morales agreed the situation was “unacceptable” and said he would visit with TxDOT
“immediately.”
Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores asked how much money was available for
Val Verde County and his district for projects.
Morales said although he could not give an exact dollar amount unless legislation is
passed for a specific community.
“If there are any specific projects that you and any of the other commissioners have that I
can address at the state level, I would be happy to do that,” Morales said.
Flores then said there are two roads in the Del Rio Industrial Park, which lies in his
precinct, which are in poor condition. He also said there are two low-water crossings in
his precinct that need to be addressed.
Morales again said he would email links to the commissioners so they could go over
them with the county’s grant writer to see if there are any funds for which the county
could apply.
He also said he would like to see the county host a workshop to discuss the area’s
legislative priorities. The county can then send the list to him, he said, so he can begin
addressing those projects or issues with the appropriate state agencies.
After the discussion, Owens pledged to place an item on the agenda of a future meeting
to have a workshop on local legislative priorities.
Owens said the county had received a grant to pay drivers for its veterans program, so
local veterans could be transported to other cities for medical appointments. He told
Morales that if he heard of any other grants for services for veterans, to let him know.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
