Edinburg City Council: Utility board proposed

_{Edinburg City Council members present the Employee of the Month award to Bianney Vasquez (fourth from left), program coordinator II for the Edinburg Parks and Recreation World Birding Center, during Tuesday’s meeting. Shown with Vasquez are Councilmember Place 4 David White (from left), Parks and Recreation Director Javier Garza, World Birding Center Manager Brandon Alaniz, Human Resources Director Belinda Torres, Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr., Councilmember Place 3 David Salazar Jr., Councilmember Place 2 Jason De Leon and City Manager Myra L. Ayala. Angel Ballesteros/THE RIDER}

The Edinburg City Council is considering the creation of a Public Utilities Board to oversee and regulate essential services within the city. 

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Tom Reyna, assistant city manager, provided a short presentation to councilmembers on the proposal.

“So, we look at the PUB … almost just like the Economic Development Corporation board,” Reyna said. “It would be its own separate entity that would make all the decisions on the utilities department and they’d come back to final approval as per city council.”

The PUB would ensure the services are reliable, affordable and sustainable for residents while balancing the interests of utility providers and the public, Reyna said during the presentation. 

Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. and Reyna clarified the PUB would be just for water and wastewater.

“We’ve been growing so rapidly,” Garza said. “And as you all know … a utility analysis determined that there’s a lot of improvements that utilities are in need of.” 

The mayor said other cities, such as McAllen and Brownsville, have established independent departments to manage utilities. 

Creating a similar department in Edinburg would focus solely on utility operations, allowing better focus and potentially a more efficient way to address the needed improvements, according to Garza.

City Manager Mayra L. Ayala told councilmembers they would need to appoint the board members who would decide on leadership, potentially keeping the current director or hiring someone new. 

Funding and existing staff would not be significantly impacted as they are already tied to the utilities fund, according to Ayala. 

Councilmember Place 3 David Salazar Jr. said that in order to understand the benefits of the PUB, “we have to work with other cities to weigh the pros and cons, and see if it fits into our city.” 

If the proposal is approved, the City Council will take steps to form the board, according to state regulations. 

In other business, councilmembers awarded a bid to McDonald Municipal and Industrial in the amount not to exceed $1,009,469 to install a new 750 KW standby generator for the Downtown Plant high service pumps.

“This is a very important generator,” Gerardo Carmona Jr., director of Utilities, told councilmembers. “… Because if we have some kind of loss of power, maybe during a hurricane or something, it’s really gonna hinder our ability to provide water to the north part of town.”

The current generator is too small to provide backup power for the high service pumps that are crucial for distributing treated water, according to Carmona. 

“So what you’re saying is, when you lose power you can still flush the toilet,” said Councilmember Place 4 David White, who put it in “layman’s terms” for the public to understand. 

The council recognized Bianney Vasquez, program coordinator II with the Department of Parks and Recreation, as the city’s employee of the month. Vasquez graduated from UTRGV with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. 

“This is really awesome to be recognized … and I hope to continue making a difference,” Vasquez told councilmembers after being presented with the proclamation.