By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City Manager Shawna Burkhart gave an update to city council members Tuesday on
work she and her staff performed over the past three months.
Burkhart gave the update on the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2024-2025 during the
council’s second regular meeting of the month. She called the report “your city at work.”
Before beginning her presentation, Burkhart acknowledged City Neighborhood Services
Director John Atnipp and his staff for obtaining their certifications, mentioning by name
Raul Yanez, Edgar Torres, Juan Alvarado and Kristen Williams.
She opened her formal report by discussing priority water projects, beginning with the
development of another municipal water well. She said development of the well will
require the city to borrow about $14.3 million during the current fiscal year.
Burkhart said work to finance the project has begun and told the council, “I know that it
seems like nothing’s happening, but we are assessing every single funding source.”
She said the city will attempt to levy the new debt through the state or federal
government to gain a more favorable interest rate than the city could get on its own.
Burkhart said she and her staff are investigating a number of state and federal programs
through which to seek funding for the well project.
She next discussed the East Springs wall repair and rehabilitation project. She said the
city will need to finance about $1.7 million in new debt for this project, adding that the
city is also seeking low-interest loans through the state and federal governments.
Burkhart told the council the development of the Agarita well on the city’s north side has
dropped slightly on the list of priorities, noting the city will have to finance about $2
million in new debt for this project.
Burkhart said the only funding source for this project would be the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA),
adding, “WIFIA funds only cover 49 percent of the total project cost, so we would have
to find other funds to finance this program.”
Burkhart said the city’s new number three priority is now the expansion of the water
treatment plant, which will cost an estimated $8.3 million.
“The filtration system is not made anymore, but needs replacing in the next four years,”
Burkhart said.
Again, she said the city is actively pursuing low-interest loans through the state and
federal governments to fund the project.
Burkhart told the council, “Then we have those items that are not, at the moment,
priorities, but will be very important in the very near future: the Bedell infrastructure
improvements, which are estimated to be $21.3 million; and right now, that would have
to come through WIFIA or through the TWDB Drinking Water State Revolving Loan
Fund. We don’t know as of yet which funding source would fund that.”
Burkhart also spoke about several other projects she and her staff have on their collective
radar.
She said, “We have Water Project Six, which is the water loss audit and the main line
repair of $5,672,000. We have the Phase 3 project. We’re still assessing that. The San
Felipe Regional Stormwater Facilities Project is $422,587 and finally, the water main
improvements, Phase 2 and 3, which $45,279,832.
“As you can tell, we can’t afford all of this at one time,” the city manager added.
Burkhart said she and her staff are also working on completing a new water rate study.
She noted the new water rate study will include the $24 million in new debt the city will
need to incur for its priority water projects.
Burkhart next covered work being done on financial reconciliation.
Burkhart said, “What is the second biggest project we’ve been working on in the city for
the last six months? It’s financial reconciliation. We’ve completed the 2023 audit. We’ve
completed the 2024 audit. And now we are on to our budget process for 2025-2026, and
we are also working to finish the audit process for this next year, which will include the
reconciliation of Fund 780 and closing that fund out and also moving our due to’s and
due from’s appropriately from each fund and making our computer equal what we have at
the bank and vice versa. So, our budget process is in development, but we are still
working on audit-related items.”
Other work that has been done during the second quarter of the fiscal year include
streamlining the city’s development services department. She said a new planning and
zoning director has been hired, and the city has contracted with Aoka Engineering for
plan review, floodplain manager duties and oversight of building inspections.
Burkhart said the city is also working to complete a comprehensive drainage study and is
working on several drainage projects.
Burkhart told the council, “Now we move to economic development, which is very
important to many people. (We are) working with The Retail Coach on new retailers and
restaurants to locate in the city of Del Rio. We serve not just the 37,000 population of Del
Rio, we’re serving really 280,000 population in the service region.
“That has been determined through cell phone usage. The Retail Coach will be meeting
with seven interested restaurants and retailers at the ICSC Conference in Las Vegas on
behalf of the city of Del Rio,” she said.
She said the city is working on a number of different economic development projects and
has identified several parcels for the Texas governor’s office “for potentially locating a
Fortune 500 company” in the area.
Burkhart said the city also continues to work on recruitment of commercial air service.
“It does affect many, and so the city staff is working with consultants to recruit a regional
airline service to Del Rio. . . We need to remember that this not only benefits citizens,
retailers and industrial businesses, but it really affects hospital and medical service
recruitment for Del Rio and government services such as Laughlin Air Force Base and
CBP,” Burkhart said.
She added, “We obviously are working on the second international bridge. City staff is working with consultants to move the presidential permit process forward. The consultants are currently working on environmental assessments on the fourth route.”
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
