The Eagle Pass City Council held a public hearing on Tuesday March 20 to discuss the imposition of a water impact fee within the City of Eagle Pass Corporate Boundaries and extraterritorial jurisdiction to benefit the Eagle Pass Water Works System and its Capital Improvement projects.

Jose G. Landa

Staff Writer

The Eagle Pass City council voted in favor of a resolution scheduling a public hearing to discuss the imposition of a water impact fee to benefit the Eagle Pass Water Works System and its Capital Improvement projects. 

Students at Nellie Mae Glass Elementary were dismissed early on Thursday morning due to a power outage at the school leaving the entire campus in the dark for several hours.

A problem with water from the Maverick County Water District (MCWD) Canal specifically in the area of lateral 20 (Thompson Road/ Eagle Pass mine) was reported during the 2^nd week of February bringing concerns of some form of possible contamination.

Jaclyn Guzmán

Staff Writer

  Eagle Pass City Council approved water impact fees and gas increase fees after the third and final reading of the ordinances at the most recent meeting on Wednesday, August 10.

Gas increases will begin September 1, 2016, with a proposed average increase of 2 percent.

Water impact fees will be effective October 1, 2016 with a proposed average increase of $2.90 over five years, with the overall increase being approximately $14.50.  

Both increases would depend on the amount of gas or water used by the resident: prices for certain individuals could be lower or higher than the proposed average. 

Eagle Pass Water Works General Manager Jorge Barrera said the department is very excited they can begin these seven much needed projects now that impact fees have been approved by the city.

“We just got approved for the financial part of the application, so right now the Water Development Board is going to be looking at the technical part,” said Barrera. “Hopefully in the next month or so we’ll get an ‘ok’ and we can get going.”

EPWW hopes to begin the projects by December or January, said Barrera. It would take approximately three to four years to complete all seven projects, with bigger projects such as pipe replacements throughout the downtown area taking up to 3.5 years. This will undoubtedly cause a disturbance in the area, but Barrera said the department is doing its best to make sure it is minimal.

“We’re going to be getting together with all the entities and try to minimize the disruption. There’s going to be some, and that’s why this project is going to take a little longer,” said Barrera. “We could go in and try to do everything, but we don’t want to cause that chaos so we have to be very careful how we do it.”

Ciudad aprueba aumento de agua y gas  por la 

Jaclyn Guzmán

Staff Writer

El concilio de la ciudad  aprobó  aumentar tarifas de gas y agua después de la tercera y última lectura de las ordenanzas de la ciudad en la más reciente reunión  del miércoles, 10 de agosto. 

 El aumento del gas comenzará el 01 de septiembre de 2016, con un aumento promedio propuesto de 2 por ciento. 

Cuotas de impacto de agua será efectivos 01 de octubre de 2016 con una propuesta promedio de aumento de $2.90  por cinco años, con el aumento total que es aproximadamente $14.50.

Ambos aumentos dependerán de la cantidad de gas o agua usada por el residente: precios para ciertas personas pueden ser más baja o más alta que la media propuesta. 

Gerente General  del Sistema de Agua Jorge Barrera dijo que el departamento está muy entusiasmado  en poder comenzar estos siete  proyectos  que mucho se necesitan ahora que  el aumento  ha sido aprobado por la ciudad. 

"Nosotros sólo fuimos aprobados para la parte financiera de la aplicación, así que derecho que ahora la Junta de desarrollo de agua va a estar buscando en la parte técnica,", dijo Barrera. "Esperemos que en el mes siguiente  nosotros podemos empezar". 

EPWW espera iniciar los proyectos por diciembre o enero, dijo Barrera. Tomaría aproximadamente tres a cuatro años para completar los siete proyectos, con proyectos más grandes como reemplazos de tuberías a lo largo de la zona centro hasta 3,5 años. Esto sin duda hará que haya unas perturbaciones  en la zona, pero Barrera dijo que el Departamento está haciendo todo lo posible para asegurarse de que sea mínima. 

"Vamos a trabajar  junto con todas las entidades y tratar de minimizar la interrupción. Va a  haber algunas, y es por ello que este proyecto va a tardar un poco más, "dijo Barrera. "Podríamos ir y tratar de hacerlo todo, pero no queremos causar ese caos así que tenemos que tener mucho cuidado cómo lo hacemos".

Jaclyn Guzmán

Staff Writer

At Tuesday evening’s special meeting, Eagle Pass City Council agreed to an increase of natural gas and water prices during it’s first reading.

A total of three public readings will be held before either projects can officially begin.