By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. recently gave a public update on a number of ongoing county projects.
Owens spoke about the projects during the Nov. 6 meeting of county commissioners court, saying he believes the court doesn’t do as much as it could to let the public know about those projects.
He said especially during election season, candidates tend to say the county could do more projects, go after more grants.
“But we’ve done a lot. When we look back it’s been a hell of an amazing ride the last six years. It’s a lot, that you all (the commissioners) have done, but we don’t do a good enough job putting it out there,” Owens said.
Community Development Block Grant
He began by talking about a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that the city and the county take turns applying for each year.
“(This year) it’s the city’s (turn), and I visited with the city on Friday (Nov. 1), and I was informed that they might not be able to apply for the grant . . . I did tell the city manager if she wanted, give it back to us, and we could work on a project together, that they would be applying for, but that would benefit both the city and the county. . . but we need a decision by the city soon, and she said she would try to let me know something this month,” Owens said.
He said the city manager told him that the city would try to apply for funds for the Moreno Valley Subdivision.
“But (the subdivision) is outside the city limits, and as I explained to the city manager, I think this court has a plan as to where we need to go apply for funds next,” Owens said.
He added he believes the county needs to finish work in the San Felipe Pastures area of the county.
“We have a lot of (water) lines (there) that need to be connected,” the county judge said.
After the meeting he said he began work in that area of Precinct 2 when he served as its commissioner, extending water lines on Paesano, Tierra Blanca and other streets that will eventually connect with lines along State Loop 79.
Owens said the county also needs to extend more water lines along Vega Verde Road in Precinct 4 and replace old water lines in Comstock, located in Precinct 3. He also said the county has to continue working to extend water lines in Precinct 1’s Escondido Estates area east of Laughlin Air Force Base.
“So, if the city comes back with a project that would benefit both the city and the county, and the county could apply for it, I’ll bring it to the court, and at that time, the court can make the decision,” Owens said.
$6 million Cienegas Road project
He noted the county is about to spend $6 million to reconstruct a portion of Cienegas Road in the southern part of the county.
“(The city) has a six-inch asbestos (cement water) line on part of Cienegas Road, and they’re talking about doing a new (wastewater) trunk line from the wastewater treatment plant on Frontera Road, through the Duck Pond area, the Owens Subdivision, and we would appreciate it if they would replace the trunk line, the six-inch asbestos line, before we go spend $6 million on a road,” Owens said.
He added applying for CDBG funds to replace the six-inch asbestos cement water line would be a project that would benefit both the city and the county.
Owens invited County Engineer Carlos Velarde to the podium to help him give overviews of some of the other major projects the county is working on.
Velarde told the court a contract has been awarded to construct a low-water crossing and a drainage channel on Lausen Road, located on the north side of Del Rio. Velarde said plans for the project were submitted to the city several months ago, and the county is in the process of responding to comments from the city’s engineering firm review team.
County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton asked why a city permit was needed for the project.
“It is a county road, but it’s in the city limits, and (the city is) going to be the floodplain administrators, and part of (the process) is to address mitigation,” Velarde replied.
Owens added the project has been in the works for about four years and the city and county will have to work through issues arising from the placement of the city’s proposed sewer trunk line in the area and the placement of a concrete low-water crossing.
He next addressed a water pump station for the Escondido Estates area east of Laughlin Air Force Base.
He said that the project will go out for bids within a week.
Judicial Center camera project
Owens also spoke about cameras for the Val Verde County Judicial Center downtown.
Ramiro “Ram” Barrera, the county’s IT director, came forward and spoke briefly about the camera installation project. He said the cameras would be installed just under the third floor and would provide an aerial view “of rooftops in the surrounding area, addressing some of the concerns of the district judges.”
Chavira Sports Complex
Owens also spoke about the county plans for the new Chavira Sports Complex in Precinct 2.
Velarde told the court, “For that one, we received a statement of qualifications from three consultants and right now, we’re in the evaluation scoring stage.”
Owens said the project will come back before the court in two weeks, during its Nov. 20 meeting.
a baseball field, basketball and volleyball courts, a soccer pitch, playground and a new
splash pad. The park is named after the family of James Long, a local military historian
whose family owned much of the land in the Lake Ridge area before it was developed.
(Photo by Karen Gleason)
Long Memorial Park
Nettleton then spoke about work being done on Long Memorial Park in Precinct 3.
“We’ve already finished the baseball field, the soccer fields, the playgrounds. The bathrooms should be here, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks. The septic’s already installed. The splash pad should be completed in the next few weeks, so the park should be completed before the end of the year, if all works out well,” Nettleton said.
“It’s turning out to be a nice park. It’s going to be good for the community. They really enjoy it. We’ve got splash pads, basketball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, baseball. They use it every single day, the baseball field, already. We’re just waiting for the splash pad to get finished,” the commissioner added.
Owens said before 2024 is over, he would like to have a ribbon cutting event at the park.
He added the water for the splash pad at the park is not being recycled at the pad, but is being used in the park’s irrigation system.
Precinct 1 warehouse
Owens also said the county is working on a new warehouse for Precinct 1, a project being funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.
Owens told County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw, “So what we’re going to do, we already have all your prices. They’re going to move forward on that.”
Velarde added the county will have to work on the septic system for the warehouse.
“With everything we did, the concrete, the building, the labor for the building, the labor the concrete. They’re going to put that together for you and give you a list of other stuff that’s still needed, your septic system, your ramps going up to the building and your electrical inside,” Owens added.
He noted when the court talked about “getting restrooms,” the restrooms come pre-built inside a storage container-type structure and all the county has to do is hook them up once they are received.
4-H gun range
Owens also addressed a project the county is doing to construct a new gun range for the county’s 4-H shooting team.
“I know we’re doing environmental on the gun range,” Owens said, and Velarde said the county already has addressed all the comments on the project from TxDOT.
Nettleton added he and Velarde are working with the city to run a water line to the property because the city wants to extend a water line to another piece of property it owns in the area.
“They’ll give us a two-inch tap off that 12-inch (line). The design (for the range) is done, we’re just waiting on the environmental,” Nettleton said.
Fairgrounds pavilion
Owens noted the court had given permission for the county to go out for bids for a new pavilion at the county fairgrounds.
“It’ll be 70 (foot) by 150 (foot); that’s what we want to have, but depending on price, we’ll bring all that back to you all. The 70-by-150 will have restrooms and a kitchen. The reason it’s so wide is because if we ever wanted to do events there, or if we wanted to do basketball practice, the 70-by-150 foot(print) is wide enough to have a basketball court, but it’s all-inclusive,” Owens said.
“What’s going to determine the cost, the size and what we’re going to be able to spend is, there was a mention of the insurance money, to use that on (renovation of) the 4-H horse stalls first, so we’ll do the 4-H horse stalls, the lighting for the arena that’s needed, and then once we get those prices and prices for the pavilion, we will bring it back to the court,” he added.
Animal control livestock pen
He said the county’s animal control department is working on a project to construct livestock pens at the facility, so any livestock confiscated or brought in by the animal control officers can be housed there instead of at the county fairgrounds. He said personnel are also working to install a fence around the animal control facility.
Civic Center Veterans Memorial
Owens said he is also looking at an area to place a community veterans memorial at the civic center, but noted that in speaking to the city manager, he was told the city is currently looking at “the best use” of the civic center in the future and said he does not want to place a memorial at the civic center if the city ends up selling the facility. He said he would also try to come up with a design for the memorial at the entrance to the fairgrounds.
County judicial center elevator
Owens said the county is also working to renovate the elevator at the county judicial center.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
