By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Work is continuing on several major county projects, including the construction of a new county fire station and two huge new youth sports complexes, but the world economy is also affecting at least one other county project through steep increases in material costs.
Val Verde County Commissioners Court members discussed the ongoing projects during their April regular term meeting on Wednesday during a presentation by County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr.
Escondido Estates water projects
Owens began the discussion with an overview of the work being done to extend water lines in the Escondido Estates Colonia south of U.S. Highway 90 east of Laughlin Air Force Base.
Owens told the court, “In Escondido Estates, we’ve been working with Commissioner (Pct. 1 Kerr) Wardlaw to get that pump station going.
We have the money set aside for it. We have $355,000 set aside for it, but (the bid for the pump station) came in at a little over $800,000, so there will have to be some funds from some other sources set aside for that project.”
Owens told the court that the county had a grant for a similar water project in the San Felipe Pastures area in Precinct 2. He said the county will award a contract for the design of the project in San Felipe Pastures and may be able to modify that design for the work planned for Escondido Estates.
Owens told the court he hoped that most of the projects he would be discussing would be completed or mostly completed by the end of the 2026 calendar year.
Owens continued his update on the Escondido Estates projects by informing the court that a stalled water study of the colonia, its residents and their water needs has been completed and will be submitted to the state for assessment.
Owens told the court, “They (water study contractors) did turn that in, and we’re moving forward with that, so both of those projects in Escondido, the water study and the booster station, are now moving forward again, versus everybody just sitting on their hands.”
Precinct 2 projects
Owens next moved on to discuss projects in Precinct 2.
The county judge said he spoke with Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez about the projects, and Vazquez has informed him the county has sent a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the city regarding a flood mitigation project on Chapman Road.
Owens said, “(The MOU) on Chapman is to allow Val Verde County personnel to install two culverts across Chapman Road to help with the drainage along Lausen Road. . . (The city has) sent those MOUs to legal, so they can review and get back to us, to see if there need to be any changes.”
Owens said on the Lausen Road project, a bid has already been awarded, and April 23 is the projected construction start date.
Owens said, “We’re waiting on some documents from the contractor to be able to give him the green light to go. It’s been awarded. . . A lot of that material also goes into the sports complex behind the Seventh and Eighth Grade campus. A lot of the material (excavated) from Lausen will be used as the sports complex. . .We’ll be able to use (the Lausen) dirt up there.”
Owens spoke about the start of work on the Roberto Chavira Sport Complex Vazquez will build behind the Del Rio Middle School.
The county judge said, “On the parking lot, for the sports complex. Why are we starting on the parking lot versus everything else? Well, a lot
ceremony for the Roberto “Bob” Chavira Sports Complex, which will be sited behind the Del
Rio Middle School off East De La Rosa Street. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
of that material that we’ll get out of the parking lot will help fill in some of the areas for the sports complex, and the material from Lausen can be put up top to grow grass.
“So a lot of the material we’ll get out of the parking lot is caliche, and we have some low spots at the sports complex itself, and there will probably be a retention system there. That material is also to be filled in, but those projects, again, that one won’t be done before the end of the calendar year, but you’re going to see great improvements on that one,” Owens said.
Precinct 3 projects
Owens next spoke about the work on the construction of a large water storage tank in the village of Comstock in Precinct 3.
Owens said, “I think there was some discussion, some emails went back and forth, right now, about some other needs that we might need to do there in Comstock?”
Commissioner Pct. 3 Fernando Garcia replied, “They’re discussing whether to change out one of the pressure tanks. They’re going to have a water board meeting tomorrow night, and I’m going to be attending and see if they’re willing to pay the difference, of about a little over $10,000, from what’s remaining in the grant to what they would need to pay to replace one of the pressure tanks.”
Owens said, “We’re already spending $313,000 out there, and that was also because we had some gate valves that were going to be replaced, and those were already approved, so the storage tank (project) in Comstock is moving forward.”
Owens addressed two other projects in Precinct 3: a new county gun range and a new county fire station.
Owens told the court, “The gun range at the Precinct 3 yard, they’ve already thrown the floor, (and) put up most of the building. The last time I went out there, they were lacking the back wall, but that’s moving forward, and we’re waiting on a . . . a change order on the inside for
some of the walls that had been deleted, and we visited with the contractor, for him to get us a price on doing everything else that needed to be done on the inside, since the state has awarded us some more money than we had initially thought.”
Owens next spoke about the new county fire station being planned in Precinct 3. The new fire station will be sited off U.S. Highway 90 West, just north of the “Y” intersection of U.S. Highway 277 and U.S. Highway 90.
Owens said, “The pad’s been built, the forms are up, ditch has been dug. . . I would think in the next two weeks, plumbing will be done. I know that they were writing a PO (purchase order) for the plumbing, and I would think that within the next 30 days, that slab should be done, and then, the same contractor that’s doing the slab is going to be the one putting up the building. So in the next 30 days, the slab should be thrown and then he’ll begin with the building.”
Development near State Loop 79
Owens also spoke about a new development being planned off State Loop 79 north of Del Rio.
He said, “Commissioner Garcia and myself sat in a meeting with the city on a development that is coming on the north side of the Precinct 3 yard, between 90 West and 277 North, off of SL 79. They’re in the development stage of that property, which right now, will probably be a gas station and some apartments, but they’re looking at a development in that area. Getting water to it won’t be a problem, city water, if that’s they need, or even drilling a well, because there’s a massive amount of water out there. Wastewater would be the problem, but they’re not really too concerned. If they have to, they’ll put in a system for the wastewater.”
Precinct 4 projects and rising costs
Finally, Owens spoke about projects in Precinct 4, beginning with a planned, grant-funded sidewalk to be constructed along a portion of Cienegas Road.
Owens said, “We received about a $2.3 million grant for sidewalks, and we have until 2028 to award that contract on the sidewalks, and that’s going to help us. . . We have about $6 million set aside for Cienegas Road (reconstruction). Our low bidder came in at $9.9 million, so we’re about $4 million upside-down with that project, and later on we’ll get into more of a discussion, with what we’re going to do, with recommendations for the court and for commissioner.”
Owens after the meeting said in the last six months, there have been steep increases in the prices of asphalt, diesel, oil and oil-related products.
During the meeting, Wardlaw asked, “We have to put the road in before the sidewalks, right?”
Owens replied, “We will need to do at least the drainage, and that’s how come I said a little while ago, it’s good that they gave us until 2028 to try to figure this out. Again, it’s one of those deals, when we get into the other item (on the agenda), on Cienegas Road, we’ll give options, and we’ll see if the court will give us permission to go out for rebid with a different design, but that’s where we’re at on Cienegas Road.”
Youth sports complex expansion
Owens next addressed a series of fields Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores is developing near the Val Verde County Community
Center for the purpose of providing more county land for youth sports.
Owens said to Flores, “I know that you’ve been hauling in sand? Not only off the property off Johnson, but also on the property the county had initially owned.”
Flores replied, “The whole tract is 20-some acres, and, yeah, we’re going to build the fields everywhere.”
Owens said, “You already have a layout of that, too?”
“Yes, sir, we do. We sure do. We’ve already hauled over 300 belly-dump loads of sandy loam. We’re still lacking about 1,500 more. We’re going to get more, but we are going to complete as many fields as we can. At some point, we’re going to be running low on money for that and hopefully, we’ll go out for something, borrow money or a grant or something.”
Owens and Flores briefly discussed grants the county might apply for, but Owens noted, “But we still have to bring (the grant) before the court to check and see what it is we want to do with the money. I will tell you that this next go-round, when we do the budget – and you all correct me if I’m wrong – everybody’s real concerned about our roads. (Citizens) want more done to the county roads, so, in my opinion, if it’s possible to go out. . . if we were to go borrow the money, that’s where the money would need to go, is for our roads.”
Garcia commented, “I can agree with that 100 percent.”
“That’s where they’re complaining right now, is the roads,” Owens said.
Grants, Vega Verde and flood mitigation
He added, “Some of the other projects that we did, and I want to thank the court and (County Engineer) Carlos (Velarde), we just received, three weeks ago, a $5 million grant for the airfield lighting out at Laughlin. This court, since 2019, has received, with that $5 million, right at $15 million, a little bit less than $15 million, in grants from the state, to help Laughlin, and then the previous court, under Judge (Efrain) Valdez, $4.3 million, also, so Val Verde County, under Judge Valdez and this court, has received right at $19.2, $19.3 million for Laughlin.”
When Owens asked if he had missed any projects, Flores said he had missed the planned water line extensions on Vega Verde Road.
Owens said, “I did. Vega Verde, out of the $1 million grant we applied for, there’s $313,000 that was set aside for Comstock; $314,000 for San Felipe Pastures and $313,000 for Vega Verde. There is another grant opening up, and there’s also a possible FEMA grant I think we can look, to mitigate flooding. We looked at a Precinct 4 bridge, a Duck Pond bridge, but since the bridge was created already, we can’t apply for FEMA money for it. But one of the things we will be able to apply for is flood mitigation in your precinct (Precinct 4) or any other precinct. I think you have, off of Brodbent, that ditch that goes through there. Those are areas that we would be able to apply for.”
Flores said, “There’s two areas in Precinct 4, down in Vega Verde: Saw Creek, this last rain that we got, about a month ago, water went over the road, and then there’s another area further down where water went over the road, and I took the county engineer over there and he’s a witness to that.
“On the water extension for Vega Verde, we received 4,000 linear feet of pipe yesterday, water line pipe,” Flores said.
Owens said, “The water over the road – and I’m not trying to make anybody mad – really doesn’t concern me. It’s when we have water in the houses, and (people) can’t cross at all because it got washed out.”
Owens turned to Wardlaw and mentioned that the former commissioner in that precinct, Kerr Wardlaw’s father Martin Wardlaw, had worked to address flooding issues in Escondido Estates.
Owens told the court, “If you all don’t mind, give me a list of what you all want (for flood mitigation projects), and we’ll bring that back to the court to check and see, because it has to be part of our mitigation, the plan that we already passed, and we can look at that, get started on that.”
