Reprint from the Progress Times - December 21, 2007
©Progress Times 2007 - All Rights Reserved

Alton Approves No Smoking Ordinance

 

By Kathy Olivarez

A vote to approve a no-smoking ordinance in the City of Alton by the Alton City Council in their Tuesday, December 18, meeting drew applause from a large group of people in the audience. The ordinance prohibits smoking in all public areas of the city.

In other action the council approved Resolution 2007-15 supporting construction and rehabilitation of flood control levees with respect to alternative approaches for securing the United States-Mexico border. The council was told that Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas had been negotiating with the federal government to help share the cost of levee repairs if the government were to be allowed to construct a fence on top of the levees.

City Manager George Arcaute said that that Alton City Council supported Judge Salinas’ efforts to help secure the border.

In other action the council heard a report from Alex Zuniga of Alexia Financial on bids for employee health insurance. Currently the city has Blue Cross/Blue Shield Solutions, which is economical but limits the doctors that can be seen under the program.

Zuniga said premiums were as high as $337 per employee in 2004 and the goal was to see that amount drop. Due to good management, Blue Cross Solutions was being offered as low as $285 per employee for the coming year. If employees wanted a better choice of doctors, the city could go with Blue Cross at a cost of $302, which was still a substantial drop from 2004.

Zuniga said he had been ready to recommend that the city stay with Blue Cross but just as he arrived, an employee brought a copy of the Texas Municipal League (TML) bid that came in with a rate of $297.19 per person. Because of differences in what was covered and what was not, it was possible that the TML bid was better.

The city manager recommended the council give Zuniga time to study the differences before making a final decision. The council scheduled a special meeting to make the final decision for Wednesday, December 26 at 6 p.m.

An agreement between the City of Alton and the County of Hidalgo for rural emergency services was approved. Currently, Alton serves an area from Taylor and Wallace Road in the east north to FM 490, west to Iowa Road and south to the Mile 7 Road.

An additional area not in last year’s agreement added the area between Mile 3 Road and Mile 7 Road and La Homa Road and Iowa Road.

The council approved a revised request from the Hidalgo Elections department allowing use of the new Alton City Hall for early voting in the March 2008 primary and April 2008 runoff.

The council approved an agreement between Alton and Mission Hospital to share a parking lot surrounding the hospital’s clinic at a cost of $1,800 per year.

The council approved the 2008 holiday schedule which included New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday following it, and Christmas Day and the Friday following it.

In his city manager’s report Arcaute told the council that Villas de Alton was substantially complete and applications were being gathered. A ribbon cutting will be planned in January.

The Alton Youth Football League fielded a team of all-stars who will attend the Bash by the Bay Football Classic in Aransas Pass on December 20-23. The team has a roster of 28 to 29 players.

The Greater Alton Chamber of Commerce distributed 1,500 toys during the annual Christmas parade.

The Alton City Hall will be closed December 24-25 and January 1 for the holidays.