A.D. Ibarra

-Eagle Pass

     At the regular meeting of Maverick County Commissioner's Court, several key issues were on the agenda including the item on the approval of funds for the proposed opening of Cell 2 at the Maverick County Sanitary Landfill.

     Financial advisor Robert Rodriguez was on hand to inform Commissioner's Court of the status of a loan which will be requested to pay for the project.

     Rodriguez advised that they needed to take action on this day to make said request being that it must be done within the scope of a regular meeting.

     The funds will go toward the preparation of the cell to take the loads of waste materials which have been coming in steadily to the facility in turn generating much needed funds for the county which finds itself in need of such beneficial projects such as this which brings in $1.6 million a year.

     "We usually give a number of dollars not to exceed in these types of situations," stated Rodriguez, "It's a two step process.  Once the County Attorney receives the recommendation from the County Auditor, the documents go to the Attorney General.  The lender is the most important component at this point.  They will then ask for an independent audit and current audit reports."

     Fortunately for Maverick County, Dimmit County sends us daily waste as their facility is maxed out to capacity by 9:00 A.M. each morning.  Traffic may be coming in from Laredo in terms of sludge waste and the Eagle Ford Shale boom and the traffic it has provided has made this a profitable endeavor indeed which could essentially pay for itself once completed.

     The item did meet some resistance simply because of the fact that the contact person for information dealing with the project is in fact Commissioner Daniela Aleman who has been working with County Judge Saucedo as well as Rolano Jasso, Chairman of the Landfill Board.

     Commissioner Robert Ruiz advised The news Gram that this is the first step to look at the intent for someone to sponsor the project, but they need a non-profit organization such as The County of Maverick to request the bonds, or the financing for them.

     "Even though the county is looking for these funds for them, Maverick County will not be burdened by this financially," stated the newly appointed commissioner of Precinct 4.

     Commissioner Daniela Aleman had the following to say to The News Gram from her hotel in Austin as she prepares to attend the meting with State Representative Alfonso Nevarez about the new highway to Laredo as well as the TAC Conference for County Management which runs through Friday, "We already have a company we're in negotiations with, but we need to secure the tax note," added the commissioner, "The whole issue is in essence of time," she concluded as the first cell nears capacity years before it was scheduled to do so.

     "What we've seen is that Maverick County is moving in the right direction, unfortunately right now, at the national level they look at our rating, but we are a non-rated entity at this point.  The SWA (Solid Waste Authority) has a lot more revenue than the $659,000.00 it was projected to have each year through 2030 because they contributed $1 million over that amount last year and Cell 1 is filling up fast."