By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Street paving, traffic problems around north Del Rio schools, overgrown yards and junked vehicles were among the topics discussed during a town hall meeting on Thursday.
The meeting was held at the civic center and hosted by Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus, who serves as the District II representative on the Del Rio City Council. About a dozen citizens attended the meeting. Also present were several city administrators, including Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez.
DeReus opened the meeting by thanking those who attended.
DeReus said, “I don’t have anything I really want to say, because I want to hear from you, what’s going on, what your concerns are, what you think we need to focus on.”
DeReus then asked who wanted to start, and north Del Rio resident Amy Morecraft said she had several items she wanted to talk about.
Morecraft said she has lived on her street since 2016 and has never seen the city do any work there, adding the street off the end of her driveway is “nothing but lumps and bumps.”
Morecraft complained there is no street lighting in her area.
“I like to walk at night, but I can’t because it’s pitch-black dark at night,” she said.
Morecraft also said her area suffers from daily traffic issues while school is in session.
DeReus said assured her a city employee would go look at the street in front of her house.
Chavez told Morecraft the city is currently looking at solar lighting in local parks, adding he would look at the street lighting issues on her street.
DeReus said the traffic issues could be resolved by having police officers patrol the area more frequently and giving warnings to drivers who are speeding or parking illegally.
Fernando Garcia, another north Del Rio resident who is also the Republican Party nominee for County Commissioner Pct. 3, asked if the city could place more sidewalks around Buena Vista Elementary School.
Garcia, too, said parents waiting to pick up their children from the school sometimes block all four lanes on Amistad Boulevard next to the school.
Scot Carcasi, the city’s operations and compliance auditor, said city staff is planning meetings with personnel from the public school district to address a school traffic plan.
Carole Cooper thanked DeReus and the city council for taking steps to rehabilitate the historic Paul Poag Theatre in downtown Del Rio and said she is pleased with the company the city hired to design the renovations.
Del Rio George Solis asked how much the rehabilitation of the old theater would cost, and DeReus said the city has put aside about $3 million for the work.
Cooper also asked about repairs of water line leaks on streets and the length of time it takes to make final repairs to the street where city employees fixed the leaks.
DeReus said the city has an app called the “83GO App,” which citizens can download and use to report and geotag issues around the city like potholes, junked vehicles, overgrown properties and dogs running at large.
Solis also asked about how the city decides which streets need to be paved or reconstructed.
DeReus explained one of the main differences between city council and county commissioners court is that city council members “have very little direct authority” over city employees, noting that the city’s day-to-day operations are handled by the city manager.
“They run the city. The city council provides that big-picture direction, and then the city manager gets the troops going,” DeReus told the group.
Chavez then explained how the city deals with potholes and said the city is now trying to correlate all of the work on its infrastructure, so if a street needs a new water, sewer or gas line, those lines are placed first, and then the street is paved.
“We don’t want to repave a street that requires infrastructure work, and once we get that (water, sewer and gas) done, then it becomes eligible for resurfacing or reconstruction,” Chavez said.
He admitted, though, that the process can take some time.
DeReus also pointed out the city is in the process of conducting a city-wide street survey to prioritize resurfacing and reconstruction. He also pointed out the city’s annual paving plan is on the city’s website for citizens to review.
Debbie Nieto, a resident of south Del Rio, asked city staff to look working on streets near where she lives, including Bowie, Eduardo and Gutierrez streets.
Solis then asked if the city council would approve an increase in the city’s property tax rate for next year, and DeReus said the council will get the proposed city budget on Tuesday, adding a tax rate increase will likely be recommended by city staff.
Cooper and Morecraft asked some additional questions about grass growing on city streets, unkempt properties, overgrown easements and junked vehicles.
After additional discussion, DeReus thanked everyone for coming, promised to hold more meetings in the future, then spoke with several citizens after the meeting ended.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
