By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The city council recently approved the submission for a Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) grant with a max amount of $5,000 to go towards beautifying the local areas.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting, the city council discussed a resolution to ratify the submission of the H-E-B “Our Texas, Our Future” Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2026 grant application and authorize the city manager to ratify and accept the grant submissions.
As mentioned in the agenda packet provided to the council, KTB and H-E-B are offering grants from the Our Texas, Our Future grant program. Grants from the program fund community projects to help restore native habitats through planting and beautifying methods, art activities and educational workshops. The grant’s amount can range from $1,000 to $5,000.
Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. made the motion to approve the resolution, and Ernestina “Tina” Martinez gave the second.
Mayor Al Arreola asked if the council members had any comments to make, and Councilman J.P. Sanchez shared his enthusiasm and said he loves his H-E-B.
Community Services Director Esme Meza gave a quick presentation addressing Del Rio’s unique ecosystems and highlighting the city’s success related to the achievements recognized by KTB.
“This is a wildlife and habitat restoration project. Keep Del Rio Beautiful plans to restore wildlife habits and native landscapes along the San Felipe Creek. The project will restore native habitats through planting, art and education while engaging to protect wildlife (habitats), enhance biodiversity and foster long-term community stewardship,” Meza said.
Continuing with the presentation, Meza said Del Rio needed to have a “good status” as a KTB affiliate in a H-E-B service area to apply for the grant. She said out of 300 affiliates in the state of Texas, Del Rio was one of 10 selected cities qualified for the grant and one of two cities selected in the category of wildlife protection and habitat restoration.
Meza then showed images of the rare, threatened and endangered species in Del Rio and Val Verde County. Some of the unique species special in the area include fishes such as the Proserpine shiner and the Devi’s River minnow, and reptiles such as the indigo snake and the Big Bend blackhead snake.
Meza also showed pictures of four bats that are also considered threatened and rare in Del Rio.
The four bat species include the Mexican long-nosed bat, the cave myotis, the western small- footed myotis and the big free-tailed bat. She said the Mexican free-tailed bat was named the state mammal of Texas in 1995, adding that Texas is home to the biggest bat population in the United States.
As mentioned in the presentation, the Devils River State Natural Area conducted a study identifying the various bat species, which include the eastern red bat, the hoary bat, the silver-haired bat, the evening bat, the western parastrelle and the tricolored bat.
Meza said the goal of the grant is to “protect pollinators and remove invasive species” in the Del Rio area. Council members thanked Meza for her presentation before moving on to the next agenda item.
