By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
All five members of commissioners court were present.
Here’s what happened at the meeting:
Court appoints two new members to historical commission
• Commissioners court members voted 5-0 to appoint Bertha Benson and Barbara Galvan
to the Val Verde County Historical Commission. County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said
the court re-established the historical commission last year, adding the commission asked
these two individuals be appointed.
•
Court discusses progress on emergency children’s shelter
• County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. gave the court a progress update on work toward
establishing an emergency children’s shelter in Val Verde County. Owens said he
recently met with representatives of several different local children’s advocacy groups,
including CASA of Val Verde County, BELONG, the Del Rio Police Department, the
Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office and the county attorney’s office. Owens said the
consensus of the group was that an emergency shelter is what is needed most urgently,
with eight to 12 bedrooms with their own bathrooms, where individual children could be
housed for up to 90 days. Owens said the group is already beginning to investigate the
licensing procedures needed to open the facility. Owens said he would like other
members of the court to attend meetings in the future.
•
Court approves resolution for Border Prosecution Grant
• Commissioners court members voted 5-0 to approve a resolution granting permission to
63 rd Judicial District Attorney Suzanne West to apply for renewal of the Border
Prosecution Grant for the period of Sept.1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2027.
•
District attorney introduces county’s Sexual Assault Response Team
• 63 rd Judicial District Attorney Suzanne West attended Wednesday’s commissioners
court meeting to introduce the county Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). West said
the team “has done an incredible amount of work this past year and in the past couple of
years.” The team included Tiffany Henderson of Laughlin Air Force Sexual Assault
Response Coordinator; Mary Gibson, Laughlin Air Force Base Sexual Assault Advocate;
Debbie Garcia, victims’ advocate for the district attorney’s office; Claudia Lopez, BCFS
victims’ advocate and Denysea Garcia, outreach specialist for the Wintergarden
Women’s Shelter. West also presented the court with the bi-annual sexual assault
response team report. West also invited members of the court to visit with her and ask
any questions they wanted about the report. She said the report must be submitted to the
state by February 2026.
•
County judge gives update on county projects
• County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. gave the court and audience an update on ongoing
county projects. He said the design for the Vega Verde water extension project has
already been put out for bids, and the county is waiting on bids to come back on materials
for the project. County Engineer Carlos Velarde said bids for the Vega Verde project, the
San Felipe Pastures water line extension and the Comstock water storage tank will be
opened at the same time. Owens said the county is still working on the Escondido Estates
water pump station. The county judge also spoke about ongoing work on a planned fire
station for the area north of Del Rio, the county target range and the reconstruction of
Cienegas Road.
•
County judge addresses vote on second international bridge
• County Judge Owens Jr. handed out a sheet showing the results of the Nov. 4 county
election on the city’s proposed second international bridge. He said the county had asked
for the election “to get a clear understanding of what the citizens want.” He said looking
at the results, county voting precincts 10, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22, 40 and 41 voted for a bridge
and voted for the location north of the existing bridge. He said after that, the results are
more confusing, with county voting precincts 24, 30 and 33 voting for a bridge, but also
voting to place it south of the existing bridge. He said county voting precincts 12, 23 and
42 voted against a bridge and against locating it either north or south of the existing
bridge. He said county voting precinct 31 voted for a bridge, but against both sites, north
or south of the existing bridge. Precincts 32 and 33 voted against the bridge and voted for
it to be south of the existing bridge. Owens said he believes the court needs to “wait it
out” and see where the city plans to go from here. He also gave each commissioner the
opportunity to speak. The court took no action following the discussion.
•
Court approves application for colonia grant
• Commissioners court members voted 5-0 to approve a resolution to apply for Program
Year 2026 Colonia Fund Construction Program grant to the Texas Department of
Agriculture. County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. said the county is in the process of
applying for the grant. He said the chances of the county receiving the grant are slim, but
said it was up to the court to try and apply for the grant. He said he would bring the item
back for the next commissioners court meeting so the court can discuss which project it
would do under the grant. Carl Esser, the county’s grant writer, noted this is a pre-
application, and the court would not have to identify any particular project, but would
identify basic infrastructure needs in the county’s colonia neighborhoods.
•
Court approves letter in support of United Medical Center
• Commissioners court members voted 5-0 to approve a letter of support to assist the
United Medical Centers in the community in an attempt to receive federal funds. County
Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. noted the letters simply state that the medical centers are
needed in the community.
•
Court authorizes county court-at-law to receive state funding
• Commissioners court members voted 5-0 to authorize the Val Verde County Court-At-
Law to receive state grant monies relating to the court’s adult drug treatment specialty
court (previously called the Val Verde County DWI Specialty Court) for the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year. Commissioners court members also voted 5-0 to authorize the Val Verde
County Court-At-Law to receive state grant monies relating to the court’s juvenile drug
treatment specialty court (previously called the Val Verde County Juvenile/Mental Health
Specialty Court) for the 2025-2026 Fiscal Year. County Court-At-Law Judge Sergio
Gonzalez attended the meeting to make presentations about the two grants.
•
Court approves agreement for installation of light
• Commissioner court members voted 5-0 to approve Val Verde County entering into an
agreement with AEP for the installation of one LED light on Mata Lane, after the narrow
bridge, in the amount of $760.33, to be funded from the Precinct 1 operating budget and
authorizing County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. to sign the AEP agreement.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
