By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Three Val Verde County Commissioners Court members Monday reaffirmed their January decision to move a proposed sports complex from the fairgrounds to a large county property adjacent to Laughlin Air Force Base.
County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw, County Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez and County Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores voted again to site the proposed sports complex on a 2,500-acre property formerly called the SE Ranch following a public hearing at the civic center.
The proposed county sports complex had initially been planned on a portion of the county fairgrounds property off North Main Street. Plans for the complex had been drawn up, and the court had voted unanimously during several previous meetings to site the complex on the fairgrounds property.
Then in January, Wardlaw, Vazquez and Flores abruptly voted to move the planned sports complex to the SE Ranch property.
After two-and-a-half hours of public comment during Monday’s hearing, most of it in favor of keeping the complex at the fairgrounds, Wardlaw said, “I make a motion we move the sports complex to the SE Ranch.”
Flores gave the second, and Wardlaw, Vazquez and Flores voted in favor of the motion.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. and County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton voted against the motion.
Owens opened Monday’s public hearing, which drew about 200 people to the civic center’s Red Oak Ballroom, by thanking those who attended.
He emphasized that every member of the court was in favor of constructing a new sports complex for the community’s young athletes.
Owens lauded the court for working together on previous projects and said, “I don’t think the conversation is ‘do we need or do we want a sports complex.’ That is not the conversation. The conversation is do we build it at the fairgrounds, or do we build it at the SE Ranch? I don’t think anybody sitting up here disagrees that we need to do more for our kids.”
Owens then opened the floor for comments from citizens attending the meeting, beginning with Pat Rodriguez, who told the court he wished to read a resolution in favor of keeping the sports complex at the fairgrounds. Rodriguez said the resolution was a joint action endorsed by members of the Del Rio Laughlin Youth Soccer League, the Del Rio Youth Football League, Del Rio Babe Ruth Baseball, Del Rio Little League and Boys & Girls Club of Del Rio.
All in all, the court heard comments from about 20 attendees. Most favored keeping the sports complex at the fairgrounds, though several, most of them horse owners and riders, spoke in favor of the move to the SE Ranch.
Owens punctuated the public commentary by speaking about the history of the county’s efforts to build a sports complex, the use of the fairgrounds and the county’s purchase of the SE Ranch to protect Laughlin from encroaching development.
Nettleton, too, cautioned against moving the sports complex, saying that the county had purchased the SE Ranch property to protect it from development that could encroach on Laughlin’s pilot training mission.
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