By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. says he doesn’t believe reconstruction of a road south of the city limits cost the county more because the project was delayed for years.
Owens did, however, say the county paid at least $1.9 million more than the grant funding it had received from the state to rebuild the road. Owens made his comments about the road during the May 23 meeting of county commissioners court.
His discussion about the road project was a response to comments by Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of The Border Organization, who during the court’s May 9 meeting gave what she said were examples of county money that had been “misspent, misused.”
Among the examples Fuentes proffered was that of the Frontera Road construction. Frontera Road lies south of the city limits and serves a number of warehouses and businesses.
“Ms. Fuentes made a comment that it had cost us more money, over a million dollars more, because it had taken so long to get it done. I will tell you that just to be straightforward, on the numbers that I looked at, Frontera Road, above what we received in grant money, cost (the county) $1,907,451.89, and that’s probably on the low side. I probably missed some numbers,” Owens told the court on May 23.
“But to be real specific, I’m not saying that it cost $1,900,000 more than it would have cost us when we actually received the (grant) money. I’m saying that it cost $1,900,000 more than what we received in grant money. So, to make a comment that it cost all this much more money because it took so long to do, I believe that comment is wrong,” the county judge added.
Owens said one delay in the project came when it was let for construction bids in 2019, and the county received a $7 million proposal for the work. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) grant to the county for the project totaled $3,678,958.31.
“Then we went back and looked at it again, and the next go-round, (the bid) from Hunter Contracting), was at $4.7 million, so from the first time we went out to bid in 2019 and then we re-bid it, it had already dropped a little over $2 million,” Owens said.
“Again, there was a comment made two weeks ago that it had cost so much more money. I can’t come up with that dollar amount. What I can tell you is that it cost us $1.9 million more than what we received in grant (money),” he added.
Owens said three local projects were funded by the TxDOT grants.
“Alderete was finished at the same time Frontera was finished, and I don’t know when the toll booths were finished, but again, the comment that was made that it cost a million some odd dollars more than if we’d have done it sooner, and I think that’s false, a false statement,” Owens said.
“I can tell you that $1.9 million (was spent) above the grant, but to say that it cost all that money more (because of the delays), that’s a false statement,” Owens said.
When Owens finished, he asked the commissioners if they had any comments to add to his, but no one spoke.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
NEWS — Judge details costs of Frontera Road construction
By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. says he doesn’t believe reconstruction of a road south of the city limits cost the county more because the project was delayed for years.
Owens did, however, say the county paid at least $1.9 million more than the grant funding it had received from the state to rebuild the road. Owens made his comments about the road during the May 23 meeting of county commissioners court.
His discussion about the road project was a response to comments by Sandra Fuentes, a co-chair of The Border Organization, who during the court’s May 9 meeting gave what she said were examples of county money that had been “misspent, misused.”
Among the examples Fuentes proffered was that of the Frontera Road construction. Frontera Road lies south of the city limits and serves a number of warehouses and businesses.
“Ms. Fuentes made a comment that it had cost us more money, over a million dollars more, because it had taken so long to get it done. I will tell you that just to be straightforward, on the numbers that I looked at, Frontera Road, above what we received in grant money, cost (the county) $1,907,451.89, and that’s probably on the low side. I probably missed some numbers,” Owens told the court on May 23.
“But to be real specific, I’m not saying that it cost $1,900,000 more than it would have cost us when we actually received the (grant) money. I’m saying that it cost $1,900,000 more than what we received in grant money. So, to make a comment that it cost all this much more money because it took so long to do, I believe that comment is wrong,” the county judge added.
Owens said one delay in the project came when it was let for construction bids in 2019, and the county received a $7 million proposal for the work. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) grant to the county for the project totaled $3,678,958.31.
“Then we went back and looked at it again, and the next go-round, (the bid) from Hunter Contracting), was at $4.7 million, so from the first time we went out to bid in 2019 and then we re-bid it, it had already dropped a little over $2 million,” Owens said.
“Again, there was a comment made two weeks ago that it had cost so much more money. I can’t come up with that dollar amount. What I can tell you is that it cost us $1.9 million more than what we received in grant (money),” he added.
Owens said three local projects were funded by the TxDOT grants.
“Alderete was finished at the same time Frontera was finished, and I don’t know when the toll booths were finished, but again, the comment that was made that it cost a million some odd dollars more than if we’d have done it sooner, and I think that’s false, a false statement,” Owens said.
“I can tell you that $1.9 million (was spent) above the grant, but to say that it cost all that money more (because of the delays), that’s a false statement,” Owens said.
When Owens finished, he asked the commissioners if they had any comments to add to his, but no one spoke.
—
Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
Brian
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