Love and Water Balloon War

We had a fun day at Devine Acres this Saturday. Mommy even got to ride the barrel train. I won’t say my knees enjoyed the cramped quarters with toddlers sitting on me, but it was really fun, goes a lot faster than I thought it could, sort of like a country roller coaster. The toddlers were screaming with delight every time we went around the bend. Tucky loved the gem stone mining activity, the duck races, and of course, the jumping pad (his all-time favorite).
That evening we had a modern water balloon fight with cousin Audrey and my two kids. I say modern, because my sister bought the fancy ones that fill up 20 balloons at one time. I’d never seen them in action before, they are truly amazing. I’ve always been too cheap to buy those new fangled water balloons, and usually get the “fill yourself” kind from the dollar stores. But I might make a little splurge next time.
I’ll tell you what though, those balloons go just as fast as you fill them. Easy come, easy go. Of course, I was smart enough to grab little baby Kenneth so I wouldn’t get water bombed. My sister had to fend for herself while I sat comfortably in a lawn chair, with a baby shield. Little Audrey was kind enough to use some of the water bombs to water my plants instead of attacking her cousins, so that was nice. My children the teenager and the toddler went at each other with a vengeance. I know they love each other, but they don’t like to show it very often. What is that saying? All is fair in love and water balloon war I guess. Tuckers favorite thing to do is like a shot put throw, where he holds the water balloon in one hand and swings around in a circle to launch it.
Later that evening, we played a game of Simon Says, and that’s always fun to watch. Tucker’s a little too high strung to follow the rules or even realize them in that game. I never was very good at that game either. But it does keep him standing fairly still in one general area for quite a while, so cheers to that!
We’ve done water balloons several times over the past few weeks, and somehow, he’s never “accidentally” hit me with any of them. Pretty amazing. Maybe he’s gonna be a champion shot put thrower, trained with water balloons (and the importance of not hitting mom so she’ll keep filling them up). I guess all is fair in love and water balloon war–AS LONG AS YOU DON’T HIT MOM WITH ONE!

Halloween is Monday

Well, last week was pretty busy, as in addition to my usual times of working with the Auxiliary, either in the gift shop, or work shop, I added a couple of shifts helping at the library during the book sale that is an annual affair. It is always interesting, and one of the times, in the past that I helped; my friend and I were our own best customers! This year, there weren’t too many customers as this is one of the first years since the pandemic and they just aren’t coming out.
Wow, it’s that spooky time of year again when tiny princesses, robots, and various scary people will be knocking on doors, shouting, or saying politely, “trick or treat”, “trick or treat”, and we will hand out candy or perhaps pencils or stickers. Living as I do, several miles out in the country, I know that there most probably won’t be any of these cute kids at my home. Also I am invited to a friend’s home in town and all of her guests will be helping her give candy, pencils and all sorts of things to the “trick or treaters”, who come to her home. She lives on a street that the tradition is to go to homes on that street, as in years past, those people had the most and best treats. I’ve been told it is the old “silk stocking” district, or the street where “rich people live. The crowds of children that come to this street is sort of like it was when my children were small and we lived on Colonial Parkway in Devine and frequently used 20 or more pounds of candy!
Costumes have changed quite a lot since I was a child. Back then, we had masks shaped like a dog or cat or some other animal, but most of us wore the little “Lone Ranger” type of mask that had an elastic band that went around our head. (Also, probably because this type of mask only cost a dime and that was all a lot of people could afford). Many of today’s costumes and masks are really elaborate, with the masks being made of rubber and covering the whole head. You can be almost anyone or anything you want to be, from the president of the United States to a rock star, or almost any animal or hobgoblin you choose.
One year, at Halloween, when I was in Galveston, with my daughter, her son decided he wanted to be a green crow, of all things. Believe it or not, she and I with a little help from her husband created him a costume by sewing layers of nylon net to a backing and then cutting into it to form ‘feathers’. He was as cute as could be. Over the years, with my children, I created all types of costumes, for them as well as for myself.
The year I was helping as a volunteer at the nursing home (then called Leisure Lodge), I went as a mummy and had to be pushed around in a wheelchair all evening because my wrappings kept coming off. It was a hoot, as the residents couldn’t figure out who I was. We had a great time.
At home, I usually answered the door dressed as a ghost; and we frequently had “headless Fred” hanging in the tree by the front door. For many years, when the kids were smaller, there would be several of us mothers who would get together and take our children trick or treating as a group. It was safer in those days to even go trick or treating. When I was growing up, I really don’t remember actually going trick or treating, except to two or three homes in my immediate neighborhoods; however, I do remember friends or relatives having Halloween parties that we attended. Also, our mothers brought treats to school for the class, which was allowed in those long-ago days! Of course, in the mid 40s, when I was of an age to go trick or treating, sugar and shortening were rationed, as were tires and gasoline, so the greatest distance we would have been able to go would have been around the block, or over to any friend who lived within walking distance. Also, during part of this World War II time, we were subject to “blackouts”, where you were not allowed to have any lights on in your home, or if you did, you had to have blackout curtains on your windows so that no light showed through. At this time, the streetlights were extinguished, and this would preclude anyone walking around with a flashlight or a pumpkin with a lit candle. If there was any type of light on in your home during this time, the Air Raid Warden would be sure to tell you to put it out, and you would possibly be given a ticket.
The origins of Halloween date back to the Celts. They lived in the area that is now known as England, northern France and Ireland. It was the Celts who traditionally celebrated a holiday called Samhain, which was celebrated on the night before the New Year began, marked the end of harvest season, and the beginning of the long, cold winter. They believed that on this night, witches and ghosts ruled, and that the souls of the dead would rise to visit the places where they had lived. Fires were built to frighten the witches away, but food and lanterns were set out to welcome the ghosts and dead souls.
At a later time, Roman conquerors combined their own celebration of the dead with Samhain. November 1 was named as “All Saints Day” or “All Hallows Day”, the evening before was named “All Hallows Even”, way back in the ninth century. Although churches attempted to turn the people away from these celebrations, tradition and myth prevailed. People kept their beliefs in the wandering of the dead on this evening. That probably accounts for ghosts being associated with Halloween.
In spite of church teachings, many Pagan ideas and customs still remained. The people in Ireland lit candles and lights to frighten the unwelcome ghosts and spirits away on Halloween night. They wore masks and costumes to ward off spirits and ghosts if they ventured away from their homes. Another invention of the Irish was trick or treating. Villagers in groups would go from house to house begging for food for a community feast. Those who gave generously received promises of a prosperous year; those who gave little were cursed and threatened.
One of the best and safest types of masks for the children is to use face paint. That way, they’ll be able to see where they’re going. If Daddy is a hunter and has paint that he uses, when he has on his camo hunting gear, this is great, if not, the following recipe works really well.
Peanut Butter Crispy Treats
1 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
6 cups crisp rice cereal (i.e. Rice Krispies® or a store brand)
Lightly grease a 9X13 baking pan. Set aside. In a large saucepan, over low heat, stir together syrup, sugar and peanut buttter. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over cereal, toss and stir to coat well. Press into prepared pan. Cool thoroughly and cut into 1X3-inch bars or cut into squares.
Popcorn Cake
6 quarts popped, unsalted popcorn
¼ cup margarine or butter
35 to 40 large marshmallows (1 large = 10 miniature)
1 to 1½ cups candy (red hots, jelly beans, candy corn, or M&Ms)
Lightly oil or spray a tube pan (i.e. Angel Food cake pan or Bundt pan) and set aside.
Melt margerine or butter and marshmallows together. Pour over popcorn and mix well with greased hands; add candy of choice and press mixture into prepared pan. Allow to cool thoroughly and remove from pan. Decorate with additional candy if desired. (I used to make this for my family with seasonal candy, red hots for Valentine’s Day, jelly beans for Easter and at Thanksgiving or Halloween with candy corn. Christmas, of course, bring out the red and green M&Ms).
Halloween Face Paint
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon water
½ teaspoon cold cream
2 drops food coloring
Mix all together in small bowl. You will have to do this for each color you want.
Now, here is a recipe for using some of those wonderful avocados that are available at this time. The flavor is a little different from your regular guacamole because of the tomatillos, and it is a little bit labor intensive, but the results are worth every minute of the time involved in the preparation.

Mustang & Pirate Bands Making History!

The Award-Wining Natalia Mustang Band (pictured above) placed 2nd at Area E Competition for the second consecutive year. If it were an advancing year the band would be making its second back-to-back trip to State!
The Lytle Pirate Band earned 7th place out of 35 bands in Area prelims. Then, for the first time in the history of Lytle ISD, this amazing group of performers progressed to the Finals. The Lytle High School band placed 5th in the Finals and were all overcome with emotion knowing that they would have qualified for the State Marching Competition had this been an advancing year! Congratulations to both bands! The Devine HS band will perform at Area this Saturday. Photo by Alyssa Sprenger 
 were all overcome with emotion knowing that we would have qualified for State Marching Competition had this been an advancing year! 

Warhorses, Arabians, Lady Mustangs finish season at Regionals

The Devine Arabian and Warhorse Cross Country teams, as well as the Natalia Lady Mustangs finished their season at Regionals. Devine Front (l to r): Kristofer Aguirre, Jillian Guajardo, Rachel Stotts, Charlee Rangel, Kristina Morales, Yaya Rodriguez, Rebecca Mares, Ashley Mattke. Back row: Jesse House, David Gutierrez , Donovan Dixon, Joe Guerrero, Stephen Culver, Mario Vicente, Thomas Mendoza, Enrique Midobuche.

The Devine Arabian and Warhorse Cross Country teams, as well as the Natalia Lady Mustangs finished their season at Regionals. Devine Front (l to r): Kristofer Aguirre, Jillian Guajardo, Rachel Stotts, Charlee Rangel, Kristina Morales, Yaya Rodriguez, Rebecca Mares, Ashley Mattke. Back row: Jesse House, David Gutierrez , Donovan Dixon, Joe Guerrero, Stephen Culver, Mario Vicente, Thomas Mendoza, Enrique Midobuche. The Lady Mustangs pictured on right are: Ritzi Robles-Ocanpo, McKyenzie Flores, Yahdi Lujan, Tyli Ventimiglia, Jasmine Riso, Kiara Garcia.

The Lady Mustangs pictured on right are: Ritzi Robles-Ocanpo, McKyenzie Flores, Yahdi Lujan, Tyli Ventimiglia, Jasmine Riso, Kiara Garcia.

Devine Fall Festival Nov. 5th Volunteers still needed

Enter your parade float now

The 61st Annual Devine Cactus Fall Festival will be hosted in downtown Devine as usual and will start off with a 10 am parade followed by a carnival and festival, shopping, food, games and live music all day and night.
Volunteers are needed to help in the ticket booth, beer and soda booth, helping set up on Friday and Saturday, and various other duties. If you would like to volunteer to help contact President Bonnie Manning of Devine Chamber at Bon Cafe in Devine or by phone at 210-718-6301.
The Fall Festival will have free live music all day on two different stages. Jeremy Richards Band will headline the event in the 10-12 midnight slot. Before him will be David Adam Byrnes from 8-10 pm featuring country music as well. Also playing on the main stage will be The Watters, Bad Funky Bones, David Tribble, Love Killed The Hero, The Fleeks, DJ Rockin’ Reece.
On the second stage on College Street will be Claude Morgan and The Bandaholics, Michael Wade, John Whipple, and Bill Caisse.
The Carnival will be here from Thursday thru Saturday.
The Youth Art Exhibit will be on display in the community center featuring the theme “Our Community in Cactus and Color”.
There will be a full food court with 12 food booths (6 still available), 7 food trucks and over 60 retail vendor booths will line the parking lot and streets for shopping fun and offer many different types of good food.
There are six food booths available, call Heather Shultz 210-710-1176 for inquires and to sign up. Prices vary from $150 to $175 for the booth space.
No outside food or drinks are allowed.
Be sure to mark Saturday, November 5 on the calendar and come out and enjoy the festival in downtown Devine.

Robotics team rocks meet!

The Devine Robotics Team qualified for State this Sunday. Unfortunately, they were notified two days later that there was an error in the scoring and therefore they may not be advancing after all. As of press time Tuesday, Oct. 25 Devine is advocating for them, waiting on the news, and it is hoped that they will give them the opportunity to advance as first announced.

Eli James (left) and Curtis Kuykendall (right) compete for Devine High School during the UIL Robotics Meet last weekend.

Devine High Schools Robotics Team shown here super excited after finishing high enough to qualify to continue on to State as announced last Sunday at the meet. Unfortunately, their Coach was notified two days later on Tuesday that there was an error in the scoring and therefore may not be advancing to the State contest after all. As of press time Tuesday, Oct. 25 Devine is advocating for them, waiting on the news, and it is hoped that they will find a spot for the team and give them the opportunity to advance. To get to the level of success, competitiveness and skill they did says a lot about their preparation, dedication and determination. We proudly present the 2022 DHS Robotics Team: Top row-left to right is Roy Vanderslice, Robotics Coach Mr. Jim Wilcox, Ted Hinkle, Hunter Erwin, Felix Mendoza, Christian Esparza, Gabe Lopez. Middle row, Trinity Spurgers. Bottom row, Tommy Hinkle, Eli James, David Rendon, Curtis Kuykendall.  Not pictured are Brian Custodio, Nathan Fuentes and Kenneth Byers.
Last Sunday they competed in the annual UIL-BEST San Antonio Regional competition at St. Mary’s University. The team has been diligently working towards designing, engineering, Programming, building and operating a robot that will repair and control another robot in an order fulfillment facility. They have also been putting together a Marketing Presentation, Team Exhibit, and Engineering Notebook to go along with the robot.

Racing to State, baby!

The Statebound Lytle Lady Pirates Cross Country team runners are: Samantha Mujica, Frances Scotello, Klayre Cook, Marissa Lopez, Moriah Gomez, Dezmarie Ortega, and Eisabel Guerrero. Lopez (4th) and Gomez (5th) also qualified as individuals. The team finished only 10 points from #2 Poth. Below, the Regional Championship Lytle Pirate teammates are: Johnny Alvarez, Robert Wagner (Holding trophy), Tristan Lopez, Yandel Esquivez, Abel Sanchez, Brandon Obando, Luke Estrada. Alvarez (5th), Obando (6th), and Wagner (9th) also qualified as individuals. All six placed in the top 28. The team is UNDEFEATED.

“In God We Trust” signs to go to all school districts countywide

Last Wednesday, October 12th, Mr. Bob Oberlender, a member of the Medina County GOP Executive Committee and Natalia resident, donated four posters displaying the National Motto, “In God We Trust” to Superintendent Harry Piles of the Natalia Independent School District. Each campus of the NAISD received a sign. This donation of the signs is encouraged by Texas Senate Bill 797, signed by the Governor last year, which directed schools to publicly display such donated signs. The National Motto display is to remind students of the founding of our nation and our dependence on divine guidance. Other schools in the county are also receiving such signs.

By Anton Riecher
Medina County Commissioners addressed a variety of topics at the Sept. 13th meeting, including hearing a couple speakers from the Democratic and Republican parties.
Medina County Democratic Party chair Sandy Young warned that those caught stealing or defacing campaign signs for gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke will face “creative punishments” if the vandalism continues, she told county commissioners.
Rather than pursue charges under criminal law as misdemeanor offense, Young said she intends to prosecute those guilty under civil law which permits greater input into what eventual punishment the court levies.
“If we have input into what the civil punishments will be I can assure you that we will be very creative,” Young said.
Having raised five children Young said she was very experienced in devising punishments that fit the crime.
Young reported that large four-by-six foot signs for the O’Rourke campaign have been stolen or vandalized on at least 10 different occasions recently. At one location on Highway 90 in mid Hondo the sign was up less than eight hours.
“That sign has been vandalized three times,” Young said. “They have painted over it and changed ‘Beto’ to ‘ghetto,’ which is racist.”
Other times the offenders have been brazen enough to simply steal the signs and then use the stakes driven to post signs for their own candidates, she said. In response, Young said that cameras have been placed to record any further vandalism.
“It is a misdemeanor if it is charged as a crime,” Young said. “They will get a ticket and a slap on the hand.”
“I also want to say that it’s funny that they are only doing it to the Beto signs, which tells me they are really nervous,” Young said.
She also said she was just as willing to deal harshly with any Democratic candidates linked to the destruction of campaign signs.
“It is unethical, it’s theft and it’s a crime no matter how you cut it,” Young said. “
Also addressing the court during the public comments portion of the agenda, Robert Oberlender of Natalia, liaison for the Medina County Republican Party to area schools, presented the commissioners with an early prototype of a sign to be provided by the GOP to local campuses.
“The county Republican party is providing signs to every school campus in the county with the national motto of ‘In God We Trust,’” Oberlender said. “If the school received a donation of those signs state law now says they should publicly display them.”
He said the prototype presented to the commissioners was one drafted during the process of developing a “legally approved sign” in compliance with what the state law allows.
Oberlender also told commissioners he wanted to thank them for providing additional school resource officers to protect area schools in the wake of the Uvalde school shootings in May.
“I’ve talked to a couple of the superintendents,” he said. “We’ve got big problems. But that’s for a later discussion.”
COUNTY FINANCES
In other action, the commissioners approved accounts payable totaling $574.164 as reported by County Treasurer Debbie Southwell. The commissioners also approved payment of utilities totaling $61,873.
“Everybody needs to keep the air conditioner at 85 degrees,” County Judge Chris Schuchart said.
Total combined funds ending in August was $29.3 million with total debt shown as $26.9 million, Southwell reports.
SUBDIVISIONS
The commissioners approved service plans and assessment plans presented for public improvement districts in Potranco Acres, Potranco Oaks, Potranco Ranch and Potranco Gardens. Jay Juarez of McCall, Parkhurst and Horton explained that the original agreements establishing the PID need to be updated annually.
A Public Improvement District is a special district created by a city or county under the authority of Chapter 372 of the Texas Local Code. The statute allows for a city or county to levy a special assessment against properties within the district to pay for improvements to the properties within the District.
Within seven days of the court’s approval of the update orders that include both the service plan and assessment plant is added to the real property record, Juarez said. The plans include the average home value, the number of new homes being built, the assessment rate, the net assessable value, the projected revenue and anticipated costs.
However, Van Johnson, president of the Potranco Ranch Homeowners Association, challenged the home values used to calculate the proposed assessments. The assessments he had studied had home values estimated at $420,000 when the actual value is closer to $700,000, he said.
“The home values make the whole plan they are delivering to you incorrect because the home values are a lot more,” Johnson said.
Schuchart asked Juarez to look into the accessments issue and report back to the commissioners. However, on motion of Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre, seconded by Precinct 1 Commissioner Timothy Neuman, the court voted unanimously to approve the assessments.
In other subdivision related action, the commissioners approved an extension of the preliminary plat approval for units 14B, 15B, 16B, 18A and 18B in Hunters Ranch and unit 1 in Potranco West Phase II.
Andrew Ortega of MTR Engineers reported that all the homes were presently under construction and scheduled to be finished in six months. On a motion by Neuman, seconded by Sittre, the extension was approved.
Ortega also asked for final approval on units four and six of the Potranco Oaks subdivision located in precinct two off FM 1957. The homes are the last two units of the subdivision and were completed several week earlier.
Commissioners also gave preliminary approval for the Double Five Acres subdivision located in precinct four off FM 2200. Gary Allen of Allen & Associates explained that the owner had purchased a 10-acre tract west of Devine wanting to subdivide it into two five acre tracts for sale.
On motion of Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Beck, seconded by Precinct 3 Commissioner David Lynch, the subdivision approval was granted.
The commissioners also granted preliminary approval to subdivide a 4.6 acre tract of Encino Park Estates into three one-acre tracts and one 1.6 acre tract, all fronting on County Road 6723 in precinct 4.
COUNTY IT
Commissioners approved a quote for information technology services to migrate county records from its 26 servers to a secure government platform or “cloud” to improve efficiency. The most immediate impact on county operations will be improved email security.
The migration is expected to be completed next year, Schuchart said.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Only one local resident was heard from during public hearings on proposed speed limit reductions on CR 265 in precinct one and CR 443 in precincts one and three. The new speed limit on the affected portion of CR 265 is 40 miles per hour,
The new speed limit imposed on CR 443, also known as Cemetery Road, is 35 mph. Neither located previously has a posted speed limit.
Lynch noted that any county road without a specific posted speed limit automatically defaults to 60 mph.
Neuman reported that road work to expand Cemetery Road from 22 to 24 feet wide would resume next week, part of nearly five miles of paving that he expects to complete in the next few days. The county recently completed adding culverts along the Cemetery Road route.
The commissioners also approved the placement of stop signs on CR 381 at Hunters Ranch East in precinct two.
Sittre reported that with the help of his neighboring commissioners nearly 2.25 miles of new paving was completed in precinct two the previous day with plans for another two miles this week.
D’HANIS FLOOD PLAN
Commissioners Lynch told the court that a town hall meeting on Oct. 11 in D’Hanis to discuss a proposed flood mitigation project drew nearly 100 people.
“There was positive feedback from the landowners,” Lynch said.
Earlier this month, Medina County commissioners approved preparation of grant applications worth more than $7 million to finance both a county drainage plant and, in D’Hanis, a flood mitigation plan.
The D’Hanis meeting included a presentation by Westwood Professional Services, the company retained by the county to draft the application. There was also a tour of property that would be affected by the flood mitigation plan.
BUILDING DISPUTE
Schuchart informed the commissioners that Uvalde County district attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee has chosen to challenge the Fourth Court of Appeals decision in favor of Medina County and others regarding the former office of the 38th Judicial District attorney.
“We keep winning and she has now appealed it to the Supreme Court,” Schuchart said. “We hope that the Supreme Court denies writ which will mean it dies and we win.”
Medina County’s right to sell the building to the Medina County Appraisal District was challenged by Busbee, the district attorney now representing the 38th Judicial District after the state authorized Medina County to form its own district.
Despite the win in the Fourth Court of Appeals, the appraisal district opted to back out of the purchase after an 18 month delay.
Commissioners Beck asked Schuchart if Uvalde County was still “onboard” with the ownership challenge.
“Somebody is paying for it,” Schuchart said.
GO MEDINA
Schuchart told commissioners he has instructed that future meeting of the “Go Medina” development board be posted as workshop sessions for the court. The next meeting is 9 a.m., Oct. 25 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in La Coste.

Lytle council finalizes $16.7 million budget for 2022-2023

By Anton Riecher
The Lytle City Council voted 4-0 on Oct. 11 to formally adopt a proposed 2022-2023 budget of $16.7 million. The vote made official a preliminary vote on the budget taken Sept. 26.
As with the Sept. 26 meeting, the vote followed a brief public hearing at which no local residents took the opportunity to speak. Mayor Ruben Gonzalez asked audience members waiting to discuss other items if they wished to comment on the budget.
“I’d like to open it up,” Gonzalez said. “No one has signed up for that one but I still want to see if anyone has any comments.”
After a one-minute wait, the council closed the public hearing and, on a motion by District 3 Alderman David Emery, seconded by District 4 Alderman Michael Rodriguez, voted to approve the new budget. District 5 Alderman Charles Cate, a reservist deployed on active duty, was unable to monitor the council meeting by Internet as ususal.
Drawing more debate was action on a new ordinance to limit the idling of heavy-duty vehicles within the city limits. The council has previously directed city attorney Jessie Lopez prepare such an ordinance by reviewing examples such as a similar ordinance in San Antonio.
The ordinance proposed for Lytle regulates the period of time that truckers can idle without the risk of police issuing a citation. Such vehicles would not be allowed to idle more than five minutes unless some special exception is met.
Lopez said the proposed city ordinance would be a little less strict than the state’s own Locally Enforced Motor Vehicle Idling Limitation rule. It lists special exceptions involving operating in a school zone, near a hospital or in a residential neighborhood.
“I recommend we stick to our own ordinance rather than accept the state ordinance,” Mayor Gonzalez said.
However, Lytle Police Chief Richard Priest said the new ordinance would be difficult for officers to enforce.
“How do you spot vehicles that are just idling?” he said.
The issue came to the forefront in Lytle with the new truck stop opening soon that will be offering nearly 70 parking spaces for truckers who would not be permitted to idle their trucks while sleeping inside.
On a motion by Emery seconded by District 2 Alderman Sam Cortez the council approved the new ordinance.
In other action, the council voted to annex a four-acre tract of land that will serve as parking space for the new truck stop near the southeast corner of the Interstate 35 frontage road and FM 3175.
City Administrator Matthew Dear explained that the owners discovered when attempting to file their final plat with the county that the city’s proposed annexation of the property about a year ago had never been properly completed.
As with the city budget public hearing, the hearing scheduled to complete the annexation process drew no comment from local residents.
Annexation also proved to be a thorny issue with regard to granting an easement for the installation of a water line on the east side of McCoy Lane. Dear explained that city staff thought McCoy Lane was in the county. However, county officials claim the opposite is true.
Under state law, when the city originally took the easement in 2006 it also acquired the road and the easement on the opposite side as well, Dear said.
Now for the property owner to install the needed water line, it will require a permit from the city, Dear said. On a motion by Emery, seconded by Cortez, the council voted to grant the permit.
Despite the lack of comment during the public hearings the council did hear from one local resident during the session – Maria Gonzalez. Her concern involved parking near her home at 19329 S. Somerset Street.
Priest explained that the parking issues involve two local businesses operating near her home without parking space of their own. Instead, customers often park on the public easement near Gonzalez’ home, causing congestion problems.
Dear said he had conferred with police and code enforcement but that as long as the parking is done on the public easement the city has no recourse. He recommended that Gonzalez obtain the official survey for her property to determine if her property rights are being violated.
In other action, Dear updated the council on the status of obtaining city files from previous city attorney Tom P. Cate who was replaced by Lopez last May.
“We are still trying to see where we are on obtaining whatever city files our previous city attorney has that our current city attorney needs,” Dear said.
A hectic tax season has made it difficult to coordinate obtaining the files, Dear said. Also, the amount of files involved could range from everything for the last 10 years to just those files regarding pending cases still open.
Emery asked if the city did not have copies of any material that the previous attorney may have. Lopez said that since nearly 30 years of documents may be involved it is difficult to say if duplicates of everything exist.
“Anything that is a matter of record needs to be with the city,” Mayor Gonzalez said. No action was taken on the matter.
Another issue open to a wide range of opinion was interest in Atascosa County to use hotel occupancy tax money collected by the cities to support either a convention center or a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association arena near the county seat.
Dear reported to the council that Lytle has been mentioned as a location for the proposed facilities “but I can tell you it was not the number one place that three of the entities wanted.”
The city administrator said he could not view investing local hotel occupancy tax revenue in such a project favorably.
“It’s a hard sell for me to come to the city and say ‘Hey, I think we should send our hard earned tax money to the other side of the county and help support this project when it will not support any of our local tourism,’” Dear said.
Without Lytle’s participation, the other entities will not be able to support the sale of bonds to fund the project, he said.

Volunteers Needed for Devine Fall Festival Nov. 5,
few food booths still open

The 61st Annual Devine Cactus Fall Festival will be hosted in downtown Devine as usual and will start off with a 10 am parade followed by a carnival and festival, shopping, food, games and live music all day and night.
Volunteers are needed to help in the ticket booth, beer and soda booth, helping set up on Friday and Saturday, and various other duties. If you would like to volunteer to help contact President Bonnie Manning of Devine Chamber at Bon Cafe in Devine or by phone at 210-718-6301.
The Fall Festival will have free live music all day on two different stages. Jeremy Richards Band will headline the event in the 10-12 midnight slot. Before him will be David Adam Byrnes from 8-10 pm featuring country music as well. Also playing on the main stage will be The Watters, Bad Funky Bones, David Tribble, Love Killed The Hero, The Fleeks, DJ Rockin’ Reece.
On the second stage on College Street will be Claude Morgan and The Bandaholics, Michael Wade, John Whipple, and Bill Caisse.
The Carnival will be here from Thursday thru Saturday.
The Youth Art Exhibit will be on display in the community center featuring the theme “Our Community in Cactus and Color”.
There will be a full food court with 12 food booths (6 still available), 7 food trucks and over 60 retail vendor booths will line the parking lot and streets for shopping fun and offer many different types of good food.
There are six food booths available, call Heather Shultz 210-710-1176 for inquires and to sign up. Prices vary from $150 to $175 for the booth space.
No outside food or drinks are allowed.
Be sure to mark Saturday, November 5 on the calendar and come out and enjoy the festival in downtown Devine.