By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
An activist who has been urging county commissioners court to extend water to a subdivided area south of the city limits recently urged the court to try and enlist the help of a private company.
Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of the Border Organization, spoke to Val Verde County Commissioners Court during the public comments section of its March 28 regular term meeting.
“Good morning, Judge Owens and county commissioners. My name is Sandra Fuentes, and I’m a co-chair of The Border Organization. So, we’re still here with the issue of Old Foster Road and the Moreno Valley (Subdivision), and the fact that those people that live there do not have any water,” Fuentes told the court.
Fuentes and other Border Organization members have been lobbying the court for more than a year to seek grants to extend city water lines to the Moreno Valley Subdivision, a semi-rural area located south of the Del Rio city limits.
The court decided previously that no grants would be sought for the area until the roads into and out of the subdivision could be reconstructed to county standards, which the subdivision’s developer, who is now deceased, failed to do. Later the court also voted that the roads into and out of the subdivision were private, so the county could not work on them, also voting to remove the roads from the county’s road maintenance log.
On March 28, Fuentes told the court, “The Moreno Valley residents tell us that there’s a company by the name of SWC that’s been improving Old Foster Road (which goes into the subdivision), just a section of it; it’s coming out by the pictures that they send us, and coming out really, really nice. So it occurred to us that perhaps the court could see its way to talking to this company, SWC, to go ahead and improve the whole road. That way the county can apply for grants from the state of Texas,” Fuentes said.
“(The company is) already there. They’re doing a good job. I’m not saying that they would do it for free; I don’t know. But we’re encouraging the county to please talk to them and look at the work that they’re doing.
“The reason that that company’s out there is that the state of Texas has contracted, I believe, this company to put up a fence, a border fence, so they’re improving the road so they can get the material out to where they’re going to build the fence. So if the court and in particular, Commissioner (Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus”) Flores could reach out to the company, it would be greatly appreciated, see what they have to say.
“What’s the worst that can happen, is that they say no,” Fuentes finished.
The court made no comments and took no action following Fuentes’ comments.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
