Maverick County Commissioners Court Moves Forward with Senate Bill 1747 Application

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Maverick County Commissioners held a special meeting on Thursday,March 27, 2014,at the Commissioners Courtroom, located at the  Maverick County Courthouse Annex, 500 Quarry Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas, approving to submit a Maverick County application for Senate Bill 1747’s County Reinvestment Transportation Zone (CETRZ).

Senate Bill 1747 was introduced by State Senator Carlos Uresti and approved by the Texas Legislature during the 2013 Legislative Session to assist Texas Counties receive funding from the State Transportation Department for county roads damaged by the increased traffic caused by the oil and gas boom in Texas.

The State approved several hundred of millions in funding for Senate Bill 1747’s County Reinvestment Transportation Zones which will be taken from the Texas Rainy Day Fund to assist counties improve their county roads damaged by oil and gas increased traffic.

Earlier this year, Commissioners Court approved the consulting firm of TSGi to assist Maverick County with its County Reinvestment Transportation Zone application to the State.

During the meeting, TSGi presented their Phase 1 report pertaining to the creation of County Reinvestments Transportation Zones (CETRZ) and Transportation Reinvestment  Zones (TRZ) designated for the County of Maverick as required by the application process for funding through Senate Bill 1747.

Benjamin Factor, a representative of TSGi, discussed the many details involved in forming the CETRZ and TRZ’s necessary for Maverick County to take advantage of the Senate Bill 1747 funding availability.  This funding will be made available to Maverick County if the county is deemed qualified after its application is reviewed and approved by the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT).

TSGi recommended there are up to seven TRZ zones available within Maverick County through the Senate Bill 1747 funding.

The preliminary recommended areas to be sought for a CETRZ and a TRZ zone designation are the Maverick County International Memorial Airport area (TRZ) and the Old Mines Road (CETRZ) as discussed with representatives of TSGi.

In order for Maverick County to apply for Senate Bill 1747 funding, Commissioners Court has to appoint a County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zone Advisory Board.  After a detailed discussion, Commissioners Court appointed Jaime Elizondo (Oil & Gas Representative), Ricardo Ruiz (County resident), and Gilberto Sanchez (County Resident) to Maverick County’s Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zone Advisory Board to comply with Senate Bill’s 1747 requirement.  This advisory board will serve to provide recommendations for road projects from the CETRZ and other issues that fall within the scope of the Senate Bill1747 application and funding.

At a previous County Commissioners Court meeting, it was agreed to designate the Old Mines Road (FM 1021) as the designated CETRZ Zone for Maverick County, which if approved by TXDOT would be eligible to receive up to $400,000 in funding for improvements and repaving.

This phase of Senate Bill 1747 would require Maverick County to match 10% in funds, or up to $40,000, in order to receive the CERTZ funds.  Commissioners Court discussed from which source would Maverick County obtain its 10% matching share and decided to obtain these funds from Precinct 2’s budget.  If Maverick County is approved, these 10% matching funds would be recaptured by the County through the Senate Bill 1747 funding.