Karen Gleason
County officials said Wednesday they will take the next steps in pursuing a resolution to complaints by property owners of unimproved land in far south Val Verde County who say they’d like the county to extend city water lines to them.
About a dozen owners of property in the Moreno Valley Subdivision met with county officials on Dec. 15 and asked the county to extend city water lines to their properties.
At the time, county officials, including County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. and County Commissioner Pct. 3 Gustavo “Gus” Flores, in whose precinct the subdivision is located, told those property owners the county could not legally do any work on their land until the subdivider installs paved roads, water lines and sewer or septic services.
Owens during that meeting told the landowners the county had sent a letter to the seller of the lots, Keith Hicks of Eagle Pass, informing him that he could not legally sell land in a subdivision without providing water and sewer services.
Moreno Valley Subdivision landowner Gabriel Zapata spoke about the issue to county commissioners court again on Wednesday.
Zapata introduced himself to the court as a leader in The Border Organization and a member of the Moreno Valley Association.
“We are here this morning, as you all know, (because) Moreno Valley does not have any infrastructure, utilities or water, and we are asking that the county take the same consideration with other projects going around, for example, Ridgeline, as to bringing in water to that area,” Zapata told the court during the citizen comments portion of the meeting.
As per its long-standing policy, members of the court did not respond to Zapata’s statement.
Owens said after the meeting he met Tuesday with Flores, County Attorney Ana Markowski Smith, County Engineer Carlos Velarde and Assistant Attorney General Mark Steinbach to discuss the situation.
“We are going to move forward with whatever action we need to take against this individual (Hicks), and that’s the bottom line. We can’t allow this to continue. We’re not going to allow it, so we will take action, whether it be the county, the attorney general’s office or both, and that’s the process that we’re in right now.
“There will be letters sent, and hopefully, we can come to a decision on how to work this out. We’re going to take it in steps, but we will take any action necessary against Mr. Hicks to make sure he complies with the model subdivision rules,” Owens added.
The county judge also released a letter Hicks sent to the county, responding to the letter that had been sent to him on Dec. 14.
“First and foremost the properties that I have sold in Moreno Valley Estates were never sold as residential properties. The contracts used were promulgated forms from TREC 9-13 (Unimproved Property Contract) or TREC 25-12 (Farm and Ranch Contract). There was never a mention in these contracts to be used as Residential Properties,” Hicks wrote.
“There also were no verbal agreements because in Real Estate transactions everything must be bound in writing. Each Buyer was apprised when signing the contract and at closing that there were no services installed by the Developer, Arturo Moreno,” Hicks added.
He noted Val Verde County approved the filing of the Moreno Valley plat in November 1982.
“Val Verde (County) did not enforce the installation of any services, as they should have. I am not the Developer, as the County Judge (has) been quoted saying. At this time I must demand that you, the County Judge and the County Planner cease and desist from defaming my character, slandering me and committing racketeering anymore,” Hicks wrote.
He noted he had “been damaged” and expected a letter of apology from Val Verde County officials he could show “the people that purchased properties from me in Moreno Valley Estates.”
Hicks said the county had seven days to comply with his demands “or this will be handed over to my attorneys and settled in court.”
