Maverick County Landfill expansion delayed
The Maverick County Solid Waste Authority, Inc. (MCSWA) Board of Directors held another public meeting on Tuesday, December 4, 2012, at the Maverick County Commissioners Court Chambers to address the expansion of the Maverick County Landfill due to its original Cell No. One nearing full capacity prematurely as a result of the growing demand by Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling and service companies disposing of their waste in the landfill.
At their November 26, 2012 meeting, the MCSWA Board of Directors informed the communities of Eagle Pass and Maverick County of the urgent need to begin the planning, financing, design, and construction of a new Cell No. Two for the Maverick County Landfill because many of its Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling and service companies have large waste disposal needs, requiring the MCSWA to increase its waste acceptance up to 200 tons per day instead of the 100 tons per day for which the landfill was originally designed and built for.
The MCSWA Board of Directors stated at this November 26th meeting that the Maverick County Landfill would reach its full capacity in February of 2013, requiring that a Cell No. Two be financed, designed, and constructed to be operational by February of 2013.
Although MCSWA General Manager Hector Chavez, Jr., assures that the Texas Commisison on Environmental Quality(TCEQ) monitors the landfil, it is well-documented that oil and gas waste has many chemicals and residue of chemicals which are radioactive and highly carcinogenic and dangerous to human health.
The MCSWA Board of Directors held a workshop within their December 4th meeting to discuss the presentation by Community Development Associates and the Oppenheimer & Company last week on the various financial alternatives available to fund the $3 Million required to expand and construct the Maverick County Landfill Cell No. Two.
MCSWA’s civil engineer Dan Hejl of Hejl, Lee & Associates of Austin, Texas advised the Board of Directors that the Maverick County Landfill Cell No. One would not reach full capacity until November of 2013 instead of the previously advised February of 2013 date, allowing the MCSWA more time and breathing room to fund and construct the landfills’ Cell No. Two.
The MCSWA Board of Directors were advised that a local bank had expressed interest in financing the expansion of Cell No. Two at a lower interest rate, giving the MCSWA an alternative funding source other than Community Development Associates and Oppenheimer & Company. A legal question was raised by Community Development Associates and Oppenheimer & Company at the November 26th meeting whether the MCSWA Board of Directors even had legal authority to approve the issuance of tax-exempt bonds to finance the construction of Cell No. Two or whether the Maverick County Commissioners Court had the authority to approve the issuance of the tax-exempt bonds.
If a local bank finances the contruction of Cell No. Two, then the MCSWA Board of Directors may avoid having Maverick County Commissioners Court approve the loan or issuance of tax-exempt bonds. To complicate matters, there is a dispute between MCSWA and Maverick County Commisisoners Court over monies owed to the County.
After the workshop, the MCSWA Board of Directors agreed to table the item concerning the possible approval of Community Development Associates and Oppenheimer & Company to secure funding for the Cell No. Two construction project and/or funding of long-term debt associated with the initial landfill development, delaying the construction of the landfill’s Cell No. Two and expansion.
On another agenda item, the MCSWA Board of Directors also tabled the transferring of $71,991.18 from the Landfill Construction Account and a $570,000 Letter of Credit into the MCSWA Depository Account at the First National Bank in Eagle Pass. The MCSWA and Maverick County dispute the ownership of these funds. Each claim the monies belong to them.
The MCSWA was created in August of 2009, by a resolution of Maverick County Commissioner’s Court to operate the Maverick County Landfill after the Maverick County taxpayers approved the issuance of both a one-half cent sales tax in 1997 and over $8.5 Million in Maverick County bonds to finance the purchase of the landfill property, the design, construction, and permitting of the landfill.
Many Maverick County taxpayers question the legality of the creation of the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority, Inc. by a mere Maverick County Commissioners Court resolution without a referendum or vote by Maverick County taxpayers who are footing the bill to pay the bonds for the original landfill.
Some Maverick County taxpayers even believe the MCSWA is not doing enough to pay Maverick County the excess funds generated by the Maverick County Landfill and should be completely dissolved, reverting the Maverick County Landfill to its lawful owners, Maverick County and its taxpayers.
There is a legal opinion by Maverick County Bond Councel, Juan Aguilera of San Antonio, stating the MCSWA is merely a department of Maverick County while the MCSWA claims it is a separate legal entity from Maverick County.
When a previous MCSWA Board of Director, veteran news journalist Hector Muñoz-Mijares, began questioning certain decisions and requested public records from MCSWA, Muñoz-Mijares was promptly removed and replaced from the MCSWA Board of Directors by Maverick County Commissioners Court.
The MCSWA Board of Directors are Chairman/President Rolando Jasso, Michael Luna, Benjamin Rodriguez, Roberto Mireles, and Enrique Montalvo. The MCSWA General Manager is Hector Chavez, Jr. and general counsel is Earl M. Herring.