The Edinburg City Council has awarded $641,500 to several entities and programs for general operations.
The council approved funding for the following entities during its Nov. 15 meeting:
–$160,000 to the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce for general operations
–$186,500 to Edinburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, a division of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, for general operations
–$245,000 to the Museum of South Texas History for general operations
–$50,000 to the Nevaeh’s Kidz Conquering Cancer for general operations, including cancer care packets for children and parents
It also approved a contract with the Donna Independent School District for use of the Los Lagos and Ebony golf courses by students from the district. The school district will pay the city $7,500 for use of the courses.
The city will buy 21 vehicles from Silsbee Ford at a cost of $513,557.15. These vehicles are for departments that include Engineering, Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, wastewater, water plant, library, fire prevention and City Secretary.
After defeating incumbent Richard Garcia for mayor by over 1,000 votes on Nov. 7, Richard Molina began his term with a City Council meeting just an hour and a half after being sworn in.
Molina garnered 4,518 votes, while Garcia tallied 3,278 and Gina Marie Alamia captured 624 votes, according to the official returns, which were canvassed on Nov. 14. Molina previously served as the Place 1 councilmember.
In the Place 1 councilmember’s race, Jorge Salinas defeated Richard Gonzalez and Fern McClaugherty. Salinas received 4,160 votes; Gonzalez, 3,343; and McClaugherty, 792.
Gilbert Enriquez won the Place 2 council seat with 4,442 votes, while Richard Villarreal received 3,716. The person who previously had this position was J.R. Betancourt, who decided not to run again.
Molina, Salinas and Enriquez were sworn in at 5 p.m. Nov. 15.
The council approved three of five zoning amendments after holding a public hearing on each:
–A 1.01-acre tract of land located at South McColl Road rezoned from an auto urban use to general commercial use. Jesus Saenz, director of Planning and Zoning, said the landowners see McColl as a commercial corridor and would like to transition the property for a more commercial use.
–A .45-acre tract, Lot 14, Section 244 Texas Mexican Railway Company Survey, was rezoned from an urban residential to general commercial use. Saenz was asked to explain this to the council.
“What’s happening here is this property was rezoned already commercial, along Frontage/Business Highway 281, and the rear part of this was already rezoned to an urban residential district for apartments. In order to make this more marketable to a client, they need an additional 30 feet. They went back, they redesigned what they are doing on this lot, and that is why we are going through this rezoning process right now,” Saenz said.
–A public hearing on providing a special use permit for the on-premise consumption of alcoholic beverages during late hours at 1601 W. Trenton Road, for an event hosted by Rock Ur Belly Catering & Grub Run Delivery Service.
–The council rejected the request to rezone a lot in the Amended Iowa Estates Subdivision, located at 2002 Ancira Lane, from a neighborhood conservation district to an urban residential district.
Enriquez made a motion to deny this amendment because the lot is located in a major subdivision.
–The council also denied a request to rezone a .34-acre tract of land, located at the 2700 block of North Jackson Road, from suburban use to auto-urban use. The request is to allow for the construction of a four-to-six-tenant apartment complex.
Juan Lopez, of MJO Consulting, spoke on behalf of Joe De Leon, who made the request.
“I want to point out a few things to support [De Leon’s] request. The property is not part of a subdivision. It measures 75 by 200. That’s 15,000 square feet approximately. The request is to allow four, possibly six, units on the property,” Lopez said.
Adele Beltran, a resident who lives near the property, asked the council to deny the rezoning request.
“Jackson Road is a high-traffic road, and building apartments there will only add to the traffic,” Beltran said. “The piece of property that they are intending to build will have six units, and there will be two parking spaces per unit. That will not allow any space for visitors and will only congest traffic further and will, in turn, overflow to our property. We would really like you to consider denying this request and keep this area residential.”
In other business:
–Councilmember Enriquez proposed an amendment to an ordinance to increase rental rates in Airport Regulations Section 54.31 Airport Tenants, to also remove the subletting clause, which allowed any vetted renter, to temporarily (meaning within 60 days) sub-lease the hangar to someone who has not been vetted. Enriquez cited security concerns for this change.
“I would feel more comfortable [with this change], because you don’t know who is out there, you don’t know who is coming in, and you don’t know who is renting it out. There is a lot of unknowns, and that’s what worries me,” Enriquez said.
The proposed change to the rental rates would increase the monthly rates from $125 to $150 for small hangars, $150 to $175 for medium hangars and $300 to $350 for large hangars.
–The council approved a proclamation declaring November 19-27, 2017, as National Family Week in Edinburg.
–The council adopted an amendment to the bylaws of the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. to reflect that only residents of Edinburg can be appointed to the board of directors. In the meeting, Councilmember Enriquez was appointed to the board of directors.
–The council also appointed Councilmember David Torres as mayor pro tem, meaning that he will be responsible for the duties of mayor when Molina is unavailable.
“We’ll all work as hard as a team, and when the mayor isn’t around, I’ll carry the torch,” Torres said.
