City of Brackettville, Texas City Council does not approve water supply contract to Union Pacific Railroad for Spofford, Texas Railcar Washing Facility

By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2015

The City of Brackettville, Texas City Council did not approve a contract to supply City water to Union Pacific Railroad for its $45 Million Railcar Washing Facility in Spofford, Texas at its meeting held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, at the City of Brackettville Annex located on U.S. Highway 90 West, stunning representatives of Union Pacific Railroad which questioned Mayor Andres Rodriguez if all of their months-long negotiations on this water contract was for nothing and storming out of the City Council meeting.

Brackettville Mayor Andres Rodriguez called Agenda Item No. 6 regarding the consideration and possible action to approve/accept the Water Purchase Agreement between Union Pacific and the City of Brackettville, Texas.  Mayor Pro-Tem Francisca “Chica” Hernandez motioned to approve the Water Purchase Agreement between the City of Brackettville and Union Pacific, but no other Alderman or Alderwoman seconded the motion to approve the Water Purchase Agreement.  Aldermen Jesus “Roy” Garza and Francisco Rodriguez, Jr. did not attend the City Council meeting on August 11th.  Mayor Rodriguez does not have a vote on agenda items except to break a tie among the City Council.

Mayor Andres Rodriguez questioned Alderwoman Aurelia E. Garza and Alderman Gerardo “Jerry” Lee De Hoyos if they were going to second the motion made by Mayor Pro-Tem Hernandez and both declined to second the motion, thus the agenda item failed for lack of a second to the motion.

Mayor Rodriguez requested to go into Executive Session to discuss the agenda item concerning the Water Puchase Agreement between the City of Brackettville with Union Pacific Railroad.  Mayor Rodriguez led his City Council into Executive Session to consult with legal counsel regarding the Water Purchase Agreement even though it was not listed as an Executive Session agenda item.  After a lenghty discussion in Executive Session, the Brackettville City Council returned into Open Session and Mayor Rodriguez announced to the citizens of Brackettville and Union Pacific representatives in attendance that the City Council would not take further action on this agenda item.

Union Pacific Border Affairs Director Ivan Jaime stood up and questioned Mayor Andres Rodriguez if this meant that all of their months-long negotiations on the Water Purchase Agreement was for naught and Mayor Rodriguez replied that the City Council had not approved it and there was nothing he could do about it, causing Union Pacific representatives to storm out of the City Council meeting.

Union Pacific Railroad was requesting the City of Brackettville, Texas to sell City water for use in its soon to be completed $45 Million Railcar Washing Facility in Spofford, Texas.  The proposed Water Purchase Agreement called for the City of Bracketville to sell water to Union Pacific at a certain agreed price and Union Pacific was going to take the water from a City fire hydrant.   The City of Brackettville supplies water to the City of Spofford located approximately 10 miles away.  An earlier proposal was going to use the Spofford, Texas water line from Brackettville to supply the Union Pacific Railcar Washing Facility, located just outside the city limits of Spofford, but City of Spofford officials questioned whether the existing water line was capable of handling the large amounts of water needed for the Union Pacific Railcar Washing Facility.

Union Pacific Railroad may have to seek obtaining water for its Spofford, Texas Railcar Washing Facility from a different source than the City of Brackettville and having to transport it to the facility site adjacent to the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas Ranch in Kinney County, Texas.

The $45 Million Union Pacific Railcar Washing Facility in Spofford, Texas will become the largest facility of its kind in the United States and is scheduled to be completed in October of 2015 and be fully operational in January of 2016.  The Union Pacific facility will wash empty railcars from various railroad companies and those from the Constellation Brands $2 Billion Beer Brewery in Nava, Coahuila, Mexico, manufacturing different Modelo and Corona beer brands for export into the United States.

The Union Pacific Railcar Washing Facility was selected to be built in Spofford, Texas to take advantage of its strategic location to service U.S.-Mexico railcar traffic at Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass, Texas Port of Entry Railroad Bridge as well as service its Western United States to Eastern United States railcar traffic.