By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A resident of the Moreno Valley Subdivision south of Del Rio appealed to county commissioners court Tuesday, asking for help to make the area more livable.
The Moreno Valley Subdivision resident is the latest in a group of residents who have asked to the county for improved roads and installation of water and wastewater services.
The county has not taken any steps requested by property owners in Moreno Valley, saying the subdivision was created illegally.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. and county commissioners Tuesday heard from Carlos Salazar, who identified himself as a property owner in the Moreno Valley Subdivision.
“Me and my fiancé, we just bought property in Moreno Valley, hoping to make a family there and build our home. Unfortunately, as some of you may know, the water (there) is very bad. The water is very sulfury. That makes it really hard for my and my fiancé to make our home there, to start our future there,” Salazar told the court.
“And it’s not only the water, but because of everything that’s going on in the Moreno Valley Subdivision. I am here today asking you guys, the commissioners and the county, for possible aid, to adopt the road and help us put water in the Moreno Valley Subdivision, so my fiancé and I can start making our home there,” he added.
Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of The Border Organization, also addressed the court about problems in the subdivision.
“The Border Organization is working with the citizens, the property owners, in Moreno Valley. The Border Organization has spoken to every commissioner and Judge Owens pertaining to this issue. The issue is very simple, but yet very complicated,” she said.
“People have bought land there, but the water there has sulfur in it, and some of them have invested a lot of money drilling their own wells, and they can’t use the water because it’s bad water.
“We are asking that the county adopt the roads (there), but we have been told they cannot because it is county policy not to use county funds to improve the road. If it’s county policy, county policies have always been known to be broken by the commissioners court,” she charged.
Fuentes also called on the court to use federal funds from the American Recovery Plan to improve the main road in the subdivision, which she said would cost $270,000.
“It’s not a lot of money,” she said.
Fuentes also said previous courts have “lost money” or not put money to good use.
“We’re talking about people’s lives here. We’re talking about safe water, clean water, that this court and every county commissioners court in the state of Texas has the responsibility of providing,” Fuentes said.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
