Jasmina Zapata, a resident of the Moreno Valley Subdivision and a leader of The Border Organization, speaks to members of Val Verde County Commissioners Court during the court’s meeting July 19. (Photo by Karen Gleason)

NEWS — Citizens speak on Moreno Valley infrastructure

By Karen Gleason

The 830 Times

 

Residents of the Moreno Valley Subdivision in far southern Val Verde County attended county commissioners court July 19 to again ask the court to work toward bringing water and sewer infrastructure to the area.

Jasmina Zapata, a leader in The Border Organization and a member of the Moreno Valley Subdivision spoke to the court during the citizen comments portion of its agenda.

“We are here this morning to (ask you to) recognize Old Foster Road in Moreno Valley Subdivision as a county road. Old Foster Road is on the county maintenance road list and has been maintained by (County) Commissioner (Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus”) Flores. In addition, it is used by Border Patrol, DPS, sheriff’s office, county fire department and all other emergency vehicles.

“It is very much a public road that belongs to the county. If this first step to (designate) the road as a county is taken, then in the near future we can talk about bringing water to Moreno Valley,” Zapata told the court.

The court also heard from Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of The Border Organization.

Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of The Border Organization, demands action from county commissioners court to bring water and sewer infrastructure to the Moreno Valley Subdivision in far south Val Verde County. (Photo by Karen Gleason)

“As you well know, we have been working on this issue for a couple of years at least now. We have met with every single commissioner of this court and with Judge Owens.

“In a couple of recent conversations, we have heard a couple of commissioners say, ‘It’s not in my precinct. That’s not my precinct.’ While we understand that every commissioner has their own precinct, and that you respect the commissioner of that precinct, there are some issues that you can’t get away from by just saying that’s not my precinct,” Fuentes said.

“These people living in Moreno Valley do not have water so that if Commissioner Vazquez is driving down the road that ‘belongs’ to Commissioner Wardlaw, and he sees a person in need of aid, is Commissioner Vazquez not going to stop and render aid because that person is not in my precinct? . . . People are in need of aid in Moreno Valley and for those commissioners that are in different precincts, look beyond your boundaries. Look to see if there’s a great necessity there. The answer is yes, and I believe that you know the answer is ‘yes,’” she added.

“The first step, as Ms. Zapata said, is please to acknowledge that Old Foster Road is a county road. That way we can begin the steps of bringing water to those people, regardless of whether it’s your precinct or not,” Fuentes said.

Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com

Brian

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