Last Tuesday, the Edinburg City Council approved resolutions authorizing the city manager to apply for grants for improvements to the South Texas International Airport and to combat driving-while-intoxicated cases.
The $825,000 Department of Transportation (DoT) Federal Aviation Administration Airport Terminal Program (ATP) Grant would address needed changes in access and overall improvements to the restrooms in the terminal in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Edinburg Aviation Director Jose Velarde told The Rider during an interview last Wednesday that it is important to expand and make the restrooms compatible with ADA requirements.
“I think the last revision of ADA, as far as accessibility, was about 10-plus years ago, approximately,” Velarde said.
If received, the grant would also help with changes to the aging infrastructure, which he said is around 20 years old. Velarde also said the changes are not urgent but are imperative improvements to increase savings within the electricity consumption of the airport.
“We would be changing from fluorescent [lights] there to LED, so the consumption of electricity would be much less, and we probably have fewer fixtures because of the efficiency of LED lighting,” he said. “There are more efficient windows, for instance, that have a UV blocking technology. Ours are just, you know, simple double-pane glass, so they’re inherently inefficient.”
The city will request $825,000 and will contribute $75,000 in matching funds from the Department of Aviation’s operating budget.
South Texas International Airport will compete with other commercial-serving and non-primary airports for the grant, which encompasses at least 10% of the $1 billion the DoT Federal Aviation Administration is sponsoring.
The Edinburg Police Department will seek $75,256.78 from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP)-Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM) grant.
From its General Fund Operating Budget, the city will dedicate $15,051.36 for the project, which together with the grant will total $90,308.14.
If received, the grant will provide overtime and fringe costs for commissioned police officers to conduct driving while intoxicated (DWI) enforcement activities during four two-week mobilizations periods
Police officers would focus on combating impaired driving during the Christmas-New Year’s time period, which would be from Dec. 14 to Jan. 1 2023; spring break in March; Independence Day, which would cover the months of June and July; and, Labor Day, which would cover the months of August and September.
In an interview with The Rider, Edinburg Police Lt. Reynaldo Sepulveda said the department would have three officers working an eight-hour shift during those holiday periods.
“The importance of this grant is, during the holiday season, people do consume a little more alcohol than normal, and they do drink and drive and we’re trying to prevent this,” Sepulveda said. “Hopefully, we prevent an accident from happening. We do have fatalities in our city
just like all over the state and it’s important that we try to reduce
these fatalities.”
He also said this is the first time the department will apply for the IDM grant for overtime activities for DWI prevention enforcement. Sepulveda said the grant will help taxpayers and save the department money, which could then be used for other programs.
“We want everyone to enjoy the holiday season, but we also want everyone to be safe,” Sepulveda said.
