Reprint from the Progress Times - September 26, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

 

Drainage district to receive more funding

 

By Ricky Reynoso

 

Hidalgo County Drainage District #1 Director Godfrey Garza told the board of directors that the district is on track to receive $73 million from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for levee-border projects.

As part of a request to amend an agreement between the drainage district and DHS, Garza notified the board of that the extra funding for the project was forthcoming.

“I know Commissioner Palacios always says, “don’t give me the details, just tell me when the baby arrives,’” Garza said. “Well, the baby is arriving.”

Garza told the board the reason for extra funding from DHS was due to escalating construction costs.

“We’re making sure, through legal counsel, that the money that is needed due to the increase in cost of the wall is going to be addressed,” Garza said. “We’re also making sure the drainage district is not going to take on any additional cost based on the fact that our original intention was to work on the levees and DHS’ intention was to work on the border.”

Garza assured the board that the district would only spend the amount of money they originally intended to.

“Basically, the whole project is looking at about $179 million, with Hidalgo County staying with their original commitment,” Garza said. “In simpler terms, Hidalgo County is still holding the original dollar amount that we first committed when we got into this project.”

The amendment was approved.

Garza later said the drainage district was working with congressional leaders to expedite the federal reimbursement process.

“Senator Cornyn has pushed language for us to start getting our money back,” Garza said. “There was some congressional language that was passed last week to the tune of $37.5 million for the levees. We’re trying to see if we can have access to those monies and if we can use them for our other levee projects. So we’re still doing our due diligence to get our money back.”

In terms of economic impact to the county, Garza said the local and federal projects would bring in 400 jobs to the area. The total amount of economic stimulus to the area is estimated at $1.4 billion.

“Once all the contracts are awarded and construction has begun, we’re going to have the University of Texas do an analysis of the economic impact that these federal dollars will [have].” Garza said. “The total amount of federal portion is $134 million, which is what the federal government has committed to date. We still have two more federal projects underway, which could tally up to another $40 million.”

Commissioners Court

On the agenda for the Commissioners Court was a request to issue payment for of $6,186,134.59 to Ashbrit Environmental, Inc. Commissioners Court Executive Officer Valde Guerra said the payment was for debris removal and water extraction services due to Hurricane Dolly.

Alongside the item was a request for authorization to set up a receivable account for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement.

“This will allow us to receive reimbursement in the amount of $4,639,600.94 for the debris removal,” Guerra said. “This represents a 75 percent reimbursement rate.”

Both requests were approved.

The court went on to approve a request to appropriate $1,546,533.65 from the county’s general fund unreserved fund balance to address emergency expenditures related to Hurricane Dolly.

An interdepartmental transfer request was approved from the county sheriff’s jail room and board program to the gasoline bulk program. Guerra said the transfer would hopefully fund fuel purchases for the department through the rest of the year.

“We knew that this was going to become an issue early on in the year because of the rising cost of gas,” Guerra said. “I know that they have leveled off recently, but it will still fluctuate. We are still looking at other precincts, as well, because we suspect that it may become an issue.”

Also approved was an interdepartmental transfer to various county fire departments. Alton Fire Department will receive $22,895, Edinburg Fire Department $9,345, Hidalgo Fire Department $1,100, and La Joya Fire Department $6,825.

The court later approved an amendment to an interlocal agreement between Hidalgo County Precinct #3 and La Joya Water Supply Corporation. The purpose of the amendment was to reflect the dissolution of the La Joya Water Supply Corporation and the transition into the new Agua Special Utility District.

The Precinct 3 Colonia Access Program submitted a request to make a payment of $63,138.90 to Asago Construction. The payment was for construction projects for El Sol #1 and El Sol #2 Subdivisions.  The court approved the payment.