By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members have authorized application for financial assistance from the state to replace water service lines containing lead.
Del Rio City Council members voted unanimously to approve a resolution “requesting financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board under its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Lead Service Line Replacement Program” during their meeting on July 23.
After City Secretary Mari Acosta read the heading of the agenda item, Mayor Al Arreola said, “I guess before I ask for a motion, is this a loan or a grant?”
Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez replied it is a low-interest loan.
Michael Garcia, assistant to the city manager and city grant writer, stepped to the podium and addressed the council.
Garcia told the council, “Actually the city submitted a pre-application for this project and this is an invitation for us to submit an application, so it is technically a grant and a loan, so the city was eligible to receive up to $2,018,750 to replace 13,000 lead service lines, so, technically, it is a grant, but we also have to pay 49 percent of this low-interest loan, so the city will receive 51 percent as a grant and the rest will be a loan.”
“And how much is that?” Arreola asked.
“The city will be receiving $614,000 as a grant and the low-interest loan will be $590,150, and this is if the city gets approved for this project,” Garcia replied.
Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez asked what the interest rate on the loan portion of the funding would be.
“It’s zero percent,” Garcia replied.
When Arreola asked if there were any more questions, Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. asked a portion of the application filing titled “authorized representative resolution.”
“I see here on Section 2, you have the names of Manuel (Chavez) and Greg Velazquez. Does there have to be a particular name or position . . . ? Is this what they require or is this just the way we word it?” Lopez said.
“Under the resolution, the city only put the titles . . . , but as far as the Texas Water Development Board, that was a requirement, for us to put the names,” Garcia replied.
Arreola asked about the length of the loan.
Garcia said he wasn’t sure and would report back on an answer.
Gutierrez asked where the city’s portion of the funding would come from.
“Is it going to be out of the 2023-2024 budget, this $592,855.41?” the councilwoman asked.
Assistant City Finance Director Roxy Soto replied, “The funds would come out of the 2024-2025 budget. Should this grant/loan be approved, the funds would come out of next year’s budget.”
Gutierrez also asked, “You mentioned to replace 13,000 of these lines. Do you know where they are located? I know I’ve heard some people complain that they’re all in Chihuahua.”
Assistant Public Works Director Greg Velazquez then stepped to the podium to answer Gutierrez’s question.
“So, the lead and copper (water line) rule was modified in 2023, but any house built prior to 1986 has lead and copper (lines), so we’ve identified, based off records from the appraisal district, there are 13,000 homes currently (in Del Rio) that have lead/copper,” Velazquez said.
“We currently have to do a lead service line inventory. That’s required. We have to provide this to the state of Texas, to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, by October 16, 2024, so we’re trying to get that accomplished, and we’ve tried for grants, we’ve tried for everything, so hopefully, we get approved for this. I’m thinking there’s going to be more than 13,000. We have 18,000 water connections in the city, so there’s several out there, not just the city, but every city, every community water system in the state of Texas, has to comply with these regulations,” he added.
Gutierrez pressed, “My question was, where are these 13,000?”
“They’re all over the city, in south Del Rio, in the North Heights Subdivision, Highland Subdivision, Chihuahua, San Felipe, any house built before 1986. The laws also require that inventory has addresses and latitudes and longitudes to identify each connection,” Velazquez replied.
“Was this part of the study that Mayor Fernandez conducted when he was in office, where they replaced the wooden lines?” Gutierrez asked.
“No, this was a water line replacement project that was done in the 1990s, around there, replacing the wood stave water lines. This is completely different,” Velazquez replied.
Lopez then asked, “So is our water still safe to drink?”
“It’s always been safe to drink,” Velazquez replied.
He said the water distribution system lines are made of PVC piping and that for the past 26 years, the city has complied with federal and state water safety standards.
“The question is, what did the plumber do from our meter to the first tap of the house? That’s the question,” Velazquez replied.
After the discussion, Arreola called for a motion and a second. Councilman J.P. Sanchez made the motion to approve the resolution, and Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez gave the second.
The council then voted unanimously to approve the motion.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
