Maverick County Commissioners Court moves forward work on Old Mines Road
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The Maverick County Commissioners Court approved to move forward on doing work on Old Mines Road (FM 1021) in southern Maverick County with CERTZ funds received from the Texas Department of Transportation despite concerns raised by County Road and Bridge Supervisor Ernesto Guevara at their regular monthly meeting held on Thursday, June 5, 2014.
Maverick County received $397.000 from CERTZ funds through Senate Bill 1747, which was sponsored by State Senator Carlos I. Uresti, for the purpose of improving county roadways and infrastructure affected by the oil and gas industry.
Maverick County will use the $397.000 grant funds for partial reconstruction and maintenance of the Old Mines Road (Laredo Road). Both Maverick County and Webb County officials have met and desired for many years to have the Old Mines Road from El Indio, Texas to Laredo, Texas be made into a paved state highway connecting both cities and improving transportation conditions and decreasing the distance between both cities from 125 miles to 85 miles, saving 40 miles each way and 30 minutes of traveling time.
During discussion, County Commissioner of Precinct 4 Roberto Ruiz raised concerns over the suggested use of forced account labor of Maverick County Road and Bridge employees and other hired personnel specifically for that project because it would leave other precincts without any County Road and Bridge personnel to do the daily routine maintenance and clean up work required by County residents.
Engineer Dan Hejl of Lee and Associates addressed Commissioners Court and stated that at this point they are looking for directions from Commissioners Court for the CETRZ grant issued by TXDOT to Maverick County.
“ We have chosen Old Mines Road because in that area Anadarko has leased up quite a bit of property from various landowners there. Old Mines Road of course has been on the radar for many years but in regards to this project it’s more of improving the roadway in order to enhance the ability of the oil and gas traffic in that area. Which legislature is hoping that will provide economic opportunities in terms of taxes and tax revenues,” said Hejl.
“ What we told TXDOT we would do was add Caliche type based material basically and install some culverts and re-blade the roadway. The original intent was to do this through forced account labor that’s the way it was presented in the application. If we decide to go a different route we will petition to TXDOT to change the grant, to allow for other opportunities out there. We estimated that we will use between $100,000 to $400,000 for culverts and base materials,” added Hejl.
Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo stated that the reason this item was placed again on the Agenda was because there were some concerns from Maverick County Road and Bridge Director Ernesto Guevara regarding the use the amount of personnel and equipment that would be tied up in this project to the exclusion of all other precinct work.
Judge Saucedo stated that he felt that if the County would contract out this project there would be less done with the amount of funds that were granted for this project. In other words, by using County Road and Bridge Department personnel exclusively on this project the County could get more work done than if it hires a private contractor while helping the County meet its payroll expenses for the period of the project, however many weeks or months it lasts. The use of forced account labor is a common practice among governmental entities in Texas.
Judge Saucedo explained that’s why the agenda item was worded out in a way to be able to either use contract or forced labor or a combination of both to assure the best option in getting the maximum use of the grant funds.
“ This is why we’re here to discuss alternatives which may include hiring possibly unskilled labor for a portion of the amount of time for the project and have the CETR grant pay for those people who will be working with the County,” said Saucedo.
Judge Saucedo then stated that this would then help alleviate what the county would have to pay in labor for that project.
Guevara was asked what Maverick County was looking at in equipment needed for the Old Mines Road Project.
“ First, we are looking at needing a dozer at the caliche pit. We are going to need a motor grader, water trucks and possibly a 1,000 gallon water trailer consisting of 132 barrels and at least 2 to 3 backhoes. We will be doing a lot of digging out there. We will also need front end loaders since we will be picking up dead road when we install the drainage pipes,” stated County Road and Bridge Department Director Guevara.
Commissioner of Precinct 2 Asalia Casares asked Guevara if the Road and Bridge Department had enough personnel for the work. Guevara replied, “No.”
Commissioner Roberto Ruiz then intervened and asked how many miles would the Old Mines Road project encompass?
County Engineer Dan Hejl then replied that it would extend 10 to 14 miles to the Webb County demarcation line.
Ruiz then asked what are the conditions of Old Mines Road out there in the Maverick and Webb County areas.
Hejl replied that Webb County’s roadway is likely very similar to the roadway in Maverick County.
“ It’s all very rough, our portion is very rough. It’s a hard drive. It’s not something you would want to drive in a small sedan,” said Hejl.
Hejl then stated that the project would take close to 6 months to complete.
Ruiz then asked if once Maverick County’ completed this project if Webb County is willing to do the same on their portion of Old Mines Road?
Hejl answered that at this point there has been some discussions with Webb County that maybe in the future both counties should upgrade that Old Mines Road to a farm market road type status.
“That’s in the future. I don’t know when that will happen. I can tell you there has been a lot of discussion in the past over that. But we are not contingent upon Webb County improving their part of the roadway for us to be successful with the CETRZ grant,” said Hejl.
“All we have committed to is trying to restore this road to a drivable status. It’s in pretty rough shape you could lose a small car in it no pun intended. This project is intended to make it accessible more or less to make it like an access road,” added Hejl.
Hejl then explained that the purpose of the project would be to facilitate the roadway to the oil and gas industry as per the requirements of Senate Bill 1747. Therefore, in the future set up Maverick County for an increase in tax rolls and its ad valorem tax revenues due to present and future oil and gas activity within Maverick County.
Ruiz then stated that his concern was that if the County was to be working out there on a daily basis whether the Road and Bridge Department was to be able to deal with the needs of the rest of the County for the 6 months period that it would take to complete the project.
County Road and Bridge Department Director Guevara then replied that was where the challenge was going to be but that the issues were to be worked out as Judge Saucedo had stated earlier on different options as stated in the agenda item.
Guevara stated that it would take half of Road and Bridge Department personnel to work on the Old Mines Road project and most of its equipment.
Ruiz then expressed his concerns further concerning the depletion of employees for County projects within the four precincts. “ I just want to make sure that the needs of the County and its residents are taken care of,” said Ruiz.
Saucedo concurred with Ruiz’s statement.
Judge Saucedo then proceeded to explain the scope of the proposed agenda item and what it would entail to alleviate those very same concerns.
Commissioner of Precinct 1 Jerry Morales then asked Dan Hejl if he could present a breakdown of how the proposed numbers were put together for the cost of the project including equipment and labor.
Hejl then explained the process on how it was all broken down on what was available and what could be done with what was made available through the grant.
“It’s more like an incubator in trying to assist the oil and gas industry and then increase the County tax rolls,” said Hejl.
“This is our test and we are committed to show TXDOT that we are ready to work and that when we commit to something we’re going to get it done,” said Judge Saucedo.
Further discussion on the subject took place on different key issues and concerns as Commissioners Court worked to try to come to a consensus and to take the right decision to further the project along.
The agenda item was then put to a vote and the proposed motion to use the County Road and Bridge Department forced account labor for the Old Mines Road Project was passed unanimously.
At a previous meeting, Hejl stated that the cost of paving Maverick County’s 14 miles of Old Mines Road to acceptable road or highway standards would be close to $20 million dollars.
