Earlier today, Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina signed an agreement in which three major metropolitan planning organizations in the Rio Grande Valley will merge to become the fifth largest in the state.
The “Re-Designation Agreement and By-Laws for MPO Consolidation” was approved as a resolution during the City Council’s special meeting.
Edinburg is the first city to sign the agreement, which will merge the Harlingen-San Benito MPO, Brownsville MPO and Hidalgo County MPO, according to the agenda documents.
“[The agreement] is big for the region,” Molina told The Rider. “It shows that we are uniting, and that we are really looking at the big picture to get funding for the overall Valley, generally speaking.”
He explained during the meeting that the merger of the metropolitan planning organizations will help ensure the “region receives the most funding possible for our transportation needs.”
A metropolitan planning organization “is the policy board of an organization created and designated to carry out the metropolitan transportation planning process,” according to the Federal Transit Administration website. MPOs compete for state and federal funds.
Andrew A. Canon, director of Transportation Planning for the Hidalgo County MPO, explained part of the extra funding will go to the Transportation Alternatives Program, and will also be used for road reconstruction, transit, pedestrian projects, among others.
In a special meeting last Wednesday, the Council approved a 2 percent raise for non-civil service employees, effective immediately.
Councilmembers approved an ordinance amending the Classification and Compensation Plan. The 2 percent raise will cost the city $247,450 for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018-2019. Next year, the increase will total $494,900.
Three sections of the plan were amended, two of which are considered non-exempt and the other exempt.
A non-civil service employee with a non-exempt pay plan is paid hourly. An exempt pay plan receives a salary.
After City Manager Juan G. Guerra explained that the city now has a healthy financial balance, Councilmember Gilbert Enriquez said he would like to see the full-time hourly position wages above the poverty income level.
Belinda Torres, director of Human Resources and Civil Service, clarified that the compensation plan is “competitive” in comparison to surrounding cities.
“We can review the poverty level and then determine, maybe during the budget process, determine if we need to increase some of these salary ranges,” Torres said.
The Council proclaimed April 2 as National Service Recognition Day.
Receiving the proclamation were members of Teach for America Rio Grande Valley, UTRGV AmeriCorps and Texas A&M University College Advising Corps.
“All of the programs that we have present here, they actually have to deal with education,” said Jael Perez, associate director of UTRGV Financial Aid Operations. “There are some helping, teaching our children in the schools and others are helping students to complete their college enrollment process to make sure that they can achieve a college degree.”
In other business, the councilmembers approved an ordinance amending the Unified Development Code that adds a regulation for fences.
The ordinance states “no fences shall be constructed upon any lot adjoining a golf course.”
The Council also approved an ordinance changing the authorized strength and classifications of City of Edinburg Fire Station No. 5, as follows:
–decrease number of firefighters from 36 to 27;
–increase number of lieutenants from 10 to 16;
— and increase number of driver positions from nine to 12.
A total of 60 staff members are authorized with one captain and four deputy chiefs.
Councilmembers voted 3-to-1 to appoint five members to the Public Safety Advisory Board, with Councilmember Gilbert Enriquez casting the “nay” vote:
–Sonia Enriquez
–Sergio Salinas
–Noe Sauceda
–Jaime Guzman
–Robert Fernandez
The Council also:
–authorized the city manager to negotiate and enter into agreement with Tri- Gen Construction LLC for the construction of Fire Station No. 5 in the amount of $2,101,867;
–awarded Bid No. 2019-66 to purchase 15 vehicles from Boggus Motor Sales II LLC of McAllen in the amount of $461,531;
–approved an ordinance that increases the fee for each additional copy of a death certificate in a single request to $4 and incorporating a $2 fee for plastic covers.
