Reprint from the Progress Times - January 25, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

Alton names new police chief

 

By Kathy Olivarez

Baldemar Flores, a former Mission police officer, has been hired as police chief for the City of Alton. The action was approved Tuesday by the Alton City Council.

Lt. Eric Hernandez has been serving as interim police chief for Alton since former Police Chief Jose Luis Vela was fired last September. Hernandez will resume duties as lieutenant.

Flores has a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas-Pan American and is enrolled in the Master of Police Administration program at the university. He possesses a master’s Peace Officer certification from TCLEOSE.

Flores has been with the Mission Police Department nine years serving in a wide variety of functions. Currently, he is on vacation and will officially start his duties with the city January 28. However, he has already met with most of the staff and has started gathering information from the department.

In other business, the city manager reported that the Alton Fire Department answered a record of 160 fire calls during the month of December. Many were in the county where a burn ban is in effect.

Under zoning matters, Mi Pedacito Subdivision, located on 0.86 acres located at 5.5 miles North Glasscock Road on the east side was rezoned for residential use.

Approximately 29.52 acres of lot 391, John H. Shary Subdivision, was rezoned from R-1 to R-3, as a multi-family district. The site is 4.5 miles north on Stewart Road.

Planning Director David De Leon said the R-3 zoning would allow developers to build anything from a single-family residence to duplexes to multi-family apartment complexes on the site because of the city’s progressive zoning codes.

De Leon said the developer was looking at the market to decide what he wanted to build before he made a final decision and wanted a zoning that would allow him to choose any of the three.

At the request of Steve Pena, finance director, a budget amendment to the Alton Development Council was approved. Pena said the amendment was needed due to a drop in taxes when a cable company pulled out of the area.

The Alton council also approved an agreement with the McAllen Boys and Girls Club to run a program for Alton children at the Alton Recreation Center. Arcaute explained that the federal government no longer gives charters for new clubs in communities the size of Alton. Instead, they like to have small cities attached as satellites to larger cities with functioning programs.

Arcaute added that Congressmen Henry Cuellar had been instrumental in getting a $75,000 grant to start the program in Alton.

While the city has been offering recreational programs in the past for the youth, the association with the Boys and Girls Club of McAllen would provide many more opportunities for arts and crafts and team sports than the city has been able to provide in the past.

Hernan Lugo told the council that the transition to the new city hall was almost complete. While the city staff has already moved into the new building, the police department would not complete their move until Monday. A sealer still needs to be added to the roof of the police department. Also the 9-1-1 equipment had been installed but the main connection to the county system still needed to be completed.

In a final action, the council voted to move their meeting to the new city hall, located at 509 S. Alton Boulevard. They also voted to change their meetings officially to the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month instead of the first and third Tuesdays. The time, 7:30 p.m., remains the same.