By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County commissioners court members have discussed applying for a $1 million colonia fund construction grant to pay for water system improvements throughout the county.
The court discussed the projects during its Feb. 14 meeting.
Members of the court discussed which projects to select for submission to the Texas Department of Agriculture 2023 Community Block Development Grant (CDBG) Colonia Fund Construction for a possible award of up to $1 million.
After County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. announced the agenda item, County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton said, “In Comstock, we need to upgrade an old water tank that’s used for the water system there and a backup generator that needs to be replaced. I’d like to add that to the list.
“The (water) tank was put in in 1968. It’s been patched. It needs to be replaced,” Nettleton added.
Carl Esser, the county’s grants administrator, told the court, “I may add that this is for a million-dollar request, so should the commissioners want to divide that up, I did poll Comstock and visited with them. I talked to Commissioner Flores as well. We all know Commissioner Wardlaw has additional needs out in Escondido. I did not visit with Commissioner Vazquez, as far as the colonia fund, but I know he has a park project going on he’s concerned about.
“These (colonia fund construction) funds here can only be used for water and sewer improvements,” Esser added.
Owens interjected, “One of the things Commissioner Vazquez and I spoke about was we have a tank over there on Paisano (Lane) that does not have pumps, and they (the city) are going to require us to put pumps on that tank, and I don’t know if a project we could do.”
“That’s a project I’d be interested in,” County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez said.
“I know we’ve got a little bit of time still left (to apply) for this million-dollar one. Could we get some dollar amounts for this, so that way we can figure out what projects? We’ve got the one in Comstock, we’ve got the tank, and (to Commissioner Flores) I’m sure you want to do more water extensions,” Owens said.
“I want to do another extension down there on Vega Verde,” Flores said.
Owens went on, “We already know there in Precinct 1, we’re looking at putting in a pump there, but we don’t know what else is going to be needed.”
“Another water tank,” County Commissioner Pct.1 Martin Wardlaw replied.
“So can we come up with dollar amounts and bring it back to the court? That way we can see what we’re going to do,” Owens said.
“I will say that for the last two years, (Precinct 3) hasn’t received anything, and the other three precincts had, so depending on dollars, we could probably sort of scope it out,” Owens said.
In an aside to Vazquez, Owens noted that without the pump on the Paisano Lane tank, “they’re not going to let us turn on the water line they they’re laying right now.”
The judge also told Flores, “I know that you have a lot of linear feet (of pipe) you want to continue with.”
“I’ve got a couple more miles down Vega Verde,” Flores replied.
Owens asked the commissioners to bring back their projects with dollar amounts “so we can see which ones fit within that million dollars.”
In the past, the grants from the colonia construction fund grants have been used for a variety of county water projects.
According to information provided to the court by Esser, in the past the grants have been awarded for the following projects: $500,000 for Comstock water lines and Paisano water lines, $500,000 for water lines and a water tank for Escondido Estates, $500,000 for a water tank for the San Felipe Pastures area and water lines for Vega Verde Road, $500,000 for Rancho Del Rio and San Felipe Pastures water lines and $1 million for water lines in Escondido Estates, Rise Estates, San Felipe Pastures and Vega Verde Road.
The court took no action on the agenda item after the discussion.
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