The Edinburg City Council has amended the administrative code to add a crime analyst who would help locate the most “troubled areas” to provide more surveillance, according to the chief of police.
“This position is a very important position for the Police Department in reducing crime,” Chief of Police Cesar Torres told the council at its meeting last Tuesday,
The crime analyst will help the department correctly classify each police report and map out Edinburg’s troubled areas.
“The crime analyst also reads every report to ensure that all the required elements are met before that [specific] crime is entered into the [Uniform Crime Reports],” Torres said.
Compensation for the crime analyst would range between $44,145.36 and $66,218.04.
The amendment also changes job titles for two positions: the public information specialist has been renamed to communication specialist and the grants accountant has been changed to compliance manager.
Before approving the amendment to the ordinance, the council approved the purchase of a third SkyWatch Tower System for the department.
“Once we get the analyst in place, we are going to know where we are getting hit and that’s where the towers are going to be [placed],” Torres told The Rider.
The SkyWatch Tower costs $158,095.46, but due to $100,000 in funds from the 2017 Operation Stonegarden Grant, the city will only pay a portion of the cost of the tower.
In other business, councilmembers authorized the city manager to enter into a Waterline Access Agreement, in which the city will provide services for a fire hydrant to be installed in a new IDEA Public School building.
The agreement would be among the city, IDEA Public Schools and the North Alamo Water Supply Corp., which according to Arturo Martinez, director of utilities, has experienced low water pressure issues in the past.
Councilmember Gilbert Enriquez expressed his concern about the unpredictable water pressure, since the calculations for the water tests are all done within one day.
“Six months later, God forbid, there is a fire, and in that day, there is not that 30 psi water pressure, there is going to be some lives that are going to be lost,” Enriquez said about a hypothetical situation.
He then asked the city attorney to add to the agreement that the school provides a water pump “to be that much more extra safe.”
Fire Chief Shawn Snider agreed with Enriquez’s recommendation.
The Leadership Edinburg–Class 30 asked for the council’s opinion on their current beautification project.
The class project goal is to enhance the importance of recycling through an art mural designed by an Edinburg high school student. The organization invited all four Edinburg high schools to participate.
A grand prize of a $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winning design and a $500 scholarship will be awarded to a finalist from each school.
Legally, the council couldn’t vote on the item; however, it was able to give a recommendation.
Based on that, the organization chose the artwork of Brittlee Garcia, an Edinburg North High School senior, who will receive the grand prize.
The mural will decorate the west wall of the Edinburg Recycling and Education Center, located on South Closner Street.
Lupe Hernandez, a professional muralist, will begin to paint the mural next week and is expected to finish by April 22, said Marc Roque, liaison for the Leadership Edinburg–Class 30 told The Rider.
