Category: Devine City Council Meetings

The City of Devine’s long term debt is now $1,487,418 (governmental activities) plus $10,226,680 (business type activities) equaling = $11.754 million dollars according to the annual audit for fiscal year October 1, 2021- September 31, 2022 as presented on March 21, 2023 at the regular city council meeting.
Long term debt of the City consists of various series of general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, and capital leases. General obligations bonds are payable from a levy of ad valorem taxes upon all taxable property within the City and from certain net revenues derived from the operation of the city’s water and sewer system. Revenue bonds are generally payable from pledged revenues generated by the water and sewer fund. Capital leases are payable from revenues generated by the City’ governmental activities and the levy of ad valorem taxes. The debenture agreement for water and sewer bonds requires that funds be available for 1/12th of the principal and 1/6th of the interest requirements of the next fiscal year.
Leases:
On May 1, 2018, the City entered into a capital lease agreement with John Deere Financial for the purchase of golf course maintenance equipment, which is the security on the lease. Lease payments are paid out of the governmental activities. The lease contains (1) a provision that default on the note occurs when the lessee fails to pay any amounts due on the obligation, (2) lessee becomes insolvent or the subject of bankruptcy, (3 ) lessee fails to obtain insurance on the equipment, (4) equipment is impounded, and (5) lessee fails to produce collateral for inspection within 10 days upon demand.
The City leases photocopy and postage machines with agreements having 5-year terms. Payments of $1,407 are made monthly which consist of principal and imputed annual interest of 3.91%. No assets are pledged as collateral for these leases. A summary of right-to-use lease arrangements for the year ended September 30, 2022, is as follows:
CWTP Copy Machine Lease, 2020= Original Lease Liability $1,000,000, interest paid this year $1,178. New lease agreement $38,126, Principal paid this year $10,459, Principal Outstanding at 9/30/2022 of $27,667, Principal due within one year $10,745.
CTWP Postage Machine Lease, 2021 Original Lease Liability $23,894, interest paid this year $578. New lease agreement $23,894, Principal paid this year $3,361, Principal outstanding at 9/30/22 of $20,533, Principal due within one year $4,544.
Total right to use lease liabilities outstanding of $48,200 with $15,289 in principal due this year.
Debt/Governmental Activities Payable:
2021 General Certificate of Obligation Combined Tax and Revenue of $1,000,000, outstanding balance of $990,000, with $65,000 due within one year.
Series 2020 Tax Note: $475,000 with outstanding balance of $320,000, with $160,000 due within one year.
Loan Payable: $135,000, finished paying off and interest of $2,589.
Capital Lease Payable: $226, 514, finished paying off and interest of $3,189.
Right to Lease Liabilities: $34,548, balance outstanding $25,740, due within one year $9,288.
Accrued Vacation and Leave: $151,678
Debt/Business Type Payable:
2019 General Obligation Combined Tax and Revenue, $1Million, interest paid $17,568, balance $780,000, due within a year $105,000.
Revenue Bonds:
2013 General Obligation Refunding Bonds: $1.84 Million, interest paid this year $18,005, balance $550,000, and due within one year $175,000.
2018A Revenue Bonds/Utility System: $2.75 Million, interest paid this year $53,280, principal paid this year $70,000, balance $2.475 Million, due within one year $75,000.
2018B Revenue Bonds/Utility system: $6.645 Million, zero interest paid, principal paid this year $115,000, balance of $6.355 Million, due within one year $115,000.
Right to Use Liabilities: $27,472, balance $22,460, due within one year $6,001.
Accrued Vacation and Leave: $44,220.
Total City’s long term debt is $1,487,418 (governmental activities) plus $10,226,680 (business type activities) equaling = $11.754 million dollars.
(Above Figures for Long Term Debt and Right To Use Lease Liabilities Payable taken from 2021-2022 Audit presented at the meeting).

The City of Devine will hold two Public Hearings on the on the $15.02 Million Dollar Bond proposed for drainage and flood control improvements. The voters will have the chance of voting for or against the bond during the May 6, 2023 elections at city hall.
The council and mayor want the voters a choice to decide if they feel the need for the drainage projects with the understanding it will increase taxes and max out the tax rate and ability to borrow money for the next 20 years. One drainage project starts on Libold near the golf course and ends near the funeral home with changes to Burnt Boot Creek to accommodate the extra flow. The other drainage project that will also feed into Burnt Book Creek is to alleviate issues on Crouch Street.

You are invited to the public meetings which will be on Tuesday, March 14th at 6:00 p.m. and Tuesday, March 28th at 6:00 p.m. in the George S. Woods Community Center, 200 E. Hondo Avenue beside the library.
The hearings will be in relation to the $15.02 Million Dollar Bond for drainage work which will be paid for with the levying of a tax increase.
All interested parties, individuals or groups are encouraged to attend the hearing and participate in the discussion about the city’s bond election and ask questions.
For additional information, please call the city at 830-663-2804.

Voting
Early voting starts on April 24 and run to May 2 from 8am to 5 pm. Earl and late voting hours 7am-7pm on May 1 & 2. And one Saturday voting day Saturday, April 29 from 9am to 2pm. All at city hall.
Election Day is Saturday, May 6 from 7am to 7pm.
The City of Devine early voting and election day voting will all take place at city hall.

The Mayor of Devine seat will be on the ballot this year, as well as two council seats, including District 2 currently held by Angela Pichardo and District 5 currently held by Debbie Randall.
The filing deadline is February 17, 2023. The deadline for write-in candidates is February 21, 2023. The City of Devine located at 303 South Teel Drive in Devine, Texas 78016. Office hours are 8-5 Monday-Friday. Contact info: Phone: 830-663-2804 or email: citysec@cityofdevine.com
As of Tuesday, business man and former coucilman Butch Cook has filed for election in the Mayor’s race. Incumbent Angela Pichardo re-filed in District 2, and Debbie Randall re-filed in District 5.

Council members voted to call a general election for May 6 with council seats for district one, two and three on the ballot. Those seats are held by incumbents Joseph Morrow, Sam Cortez and David Emery.
Candidates who have filed thus far are: Richard Hughes for District 2, and incumbent David Emery for District 3. No one had filed for the District 1 seat as of Tuesday afternoon.
Normally, the city tries to enter into election agreements with the county or other entities to share the costs of elections, Dear said. However, the May election in Lytle will fall to the city alone to manage this year.
The deadline to file is this Friday, February 17 by 5pm at City Hall.

By ANTON RIECHER
In an emergency session Friday morning (Jan. 20) the Devine City Council voted to establish a $1 million line of credit with the Lytle State Bank to cover interim costs on a multi-million dollar project to replace aging asbestos-cement water lines still serving the public.
District 4 Council Member Josh Ritchey said that a continuing gap in the loan funding committed to by the Texas Water Development Board made the council’s action necessary.
“The current contractor has been very, very good about working with us,” Ritchey said. “They’ve been working almost four months now without pay.”
“This past Friday’s emergency meeting was the first time council was made aware of the payment issue that had been going on,” Ritchey added.
The official notice posted for the Friday meeting warned that “the construction company working on the water lines has expressed its intent to stop working if it is not paid. The notice also states “if the construction company withdraws from the job the withdrawal will have an immediate effect upon the service of potable water to the citizens of Devine.”
For video coverage of the water line project being discussed during the Jan. 17 city council meeting visit the Devine News YouTube channel at youtu.be/9r2YNaB24aM.
In March 2018, the TWDB awarded the city a $500,000 grant and $9.4 million in loans to fund the project. However, new state management assigned to administer the funding have re-evaluated many of the previously approved aspects, according to the engineer.
Asked to comment on the action taken by the council Interim City Administrator Dora Rodriguez issued a press release stating the exact motion voted upon Friday.
“I move that the City of Devine establish a line of credit with Lytle State Bank up to an amount of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) in order to allow the City of Devine to pay interim costs on the water line project that is funded by the Texas Water Development Board …,” the release states.
All payments on the line of credit shall be made from current revenues of the city, the release continues. The mayor and city secretary are authorized to “provide and execute” all documents that may be reasonably required by the bank.
A statement issued to us by the TWDB Monday in response to the city’s issues reads as follows:
“The City of Devine’s 2018 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund project began construction in July 2020 on the first phase of a planned four-phase project. The first contract for Phase I was terminated by the City in April 2021, and in June 2022 , the TWDB approved a second set of plans for Phase I.
“In October 2022, the City notified the TWDB that the overall project had insufficient funds and that it had bid, awarded, and started construction under a second contract for Phase I.”
“The TWDB is currently working with the City to determine eligible costs for reimbursement. When this review is complete, the next step will be to review the bid, followed by potentially providing a notice to proceed for the second contract and release of funds for construction.”
According to TWDB, the city’s water distribution system includes asbestos-cement lines, cast iron lines and undersized lines.
“The City is currently under a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality agreed order for failure to comply with the maximum containment level for asbestos in the water distribution system,” the TWDB SFY 2018 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund annual report states.
The system poses as potential threat to public health and safety and may lead to diminished water pressure and adversely affect the overall water quality distributed to consumers, the report states.
Asbestos-cement pipe, with an average life span of about 70 years, was used extensively in the mid-1900s in potable water distribution systems. Asbestos fibers have long been linked to serious diseases including asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
At least one aspect of the ongoing friction with TWDB came up at the council’s Jan. 17 regular session when Mayor Cory Thompson asked the council to ratify a change order in the water line project contract deleting a $39,500 bid item for the removal and disposal of 3,950 linear feet of asbestos-cement pipe.
“We got notified by the Texas Water Development Board that we essentially either stop the project or we go ahead and make this modification,” Thompson said. “So we talked about it, we talked to (City Attorney Tom Cate) and we said ‘Alright, we need to go ahead and sign this today. We can’t have everybody stopping.”
That action was taken on Jan. 6 but still required council approval to ratify it, he said.
City Engineer Raul Garcia Jr. said that the original purpose of the project was the replacement of the asbestos water lines.
“At that time (TWDB) had approved the plans and there was a categorical exclusion environmentally to do that,” Garcia said at the Jan 17th meeting.
However, a recent turnover in staff at the TWDB led to further review of the documents submitted by the city, Garcia said. The agency reversed its earlier approval to remove and dispose of the asbestos laden water lines.
“They wanted to back track to Phase I to see if we had done anything and, luckily, no asbestos lines were removed,” Garcia said. “Nothing has been done on this phase yet.”
Rather than remove the lines and risk spreading asbestos fibers Garcia told the council he recommended keeping the lines in place but unused.
“What we are going to do it keep the line in place, abandon them and, at a later date whenever the city can afford it or we get funding for it we remove at that time,” Garcia said.
Several council members questioned whether abandoning the lines was the best course of action.
“Basically we’re going to leave them there to die,” District 5 Council Member Debbie Randall said.
Ritchey said leaving the lines in place “sounds like a huge liability moving forward.” District 2 Council Member Angela Pichardo and District 3 Council Member David Espinosa questioned whether the asbestos might leach into the environment as the disused pipe continued to decay.
Garcia noted that any AC pipe abandoned in Texas Department of Transportation right-of-ways are required to be filled with concrete. But the city would probably limit its interaction with the pipe to cap it and compact the area with added backfill.
“That’s where we have problems with the asbestos,” Garcia said. “When you break it, when you saw cut it, it’s the dust and residue that is dangerous.”
On a motion by Randall, seconded by Pichardo, the council voted to approve the change order. District 1 Council Member Ruffino Vega was absent from the meeting.
However, resolving the issue of removing and discarding the asbestos-cement pipe proved insufficient to satisfy the TWDB with the status of the entire project, Ritchey said Monday. Hence, the emergency meeting held on Jan. 20.
“This is just more fallout from that new person coming in and applying their own projected role to the project,” Ritchey said. “They want to reapprove everything the last person approved. How much was in error by the last person I don’t know. “
The city administration has reached out to U.S. Representative Tony Gonzales for his help in negotiating a solution with the TWDB, he said.
Devine’s water pipe replacement project has had a troubled history even before its current woes. In March 2021, Phase I was suspended after the council’s decision to fire the general contractor, Triun LLC. However, work with Triun resumed in September. In August 2022, the council approved a $3.47 million bid by Qro Mex Construction, Inc. for the current phase of the project which includes installation of 20,343 linear feet of 8-inch water main, 3,327 linear feet of 5-inch water main, 6,613 linear feet of service line, plus various valves, hydrants and fittings.
One aspect of the project creating water supply problems for resident of southeast Devine was also discussed at the Jan. 17 meeting when Pichardo reported widespread water outages affecting her district beginning the previous week.
“We haven’t had water in our district for three to four days now,” Pichardo said. “They turn it off during the days. As I was leaving we still hadn’t had the water turned on for the residents who are pretty upset.”
Rodriguez confirmed that an unknown number of homes were experiencing low water pressure during weekdays requiring contractors to establish two emergency “tie-ins” to replenish the system.
“Yes, we’ve been getting lots of calls,” Rodriguez said. “Again, this is something the contractors have to do to be able to tie-in to the new lines to get away from the asbestos.”
At the root of the complications is trouble finding the older lines due to a lack of good maps dating back to their original installation, she said.
“Come to find out there was an issue with one valve,” Rodriguez said. “They had to go back and get hold of our engineer because, again, like I said, that area of town we don’t have the maps. For whatever reason, back in the 1950s, we didn’t have good maps.”
The contractors traced as much of the existing network as possible before construction began “but there are some things that are popping up that no one was aware of, even public works,” Rodriguez said.
The affected area lies southeast of the Union Pacific railroad tracks and runs south along FM 3176 and as far east as Live Oak Drive. Included in the area are major businesses such as Wal-Mart and Sonic located on East Hondo Avenue.
Service was restored over the January 14 weekend but cutoffs resumed the following Monday, Pichardo said. In particular, residents were annoyed that door-to-door notification was not received until after the cutoffs began.
Rodriguez said the contractor, Qro Max Construction, were responsible for distributing the notifications. However, the work originally was scheduled to begin Jan. 17, not as early as Jan. 11, she said.
Ritchey said Monday that the water service disruption has since been resolved.