Join the Lytle VFW Post 12041 and Auxiliary and the City of Lytle for the 2023 Patriot Day Freedom Walk Remembrance at John Lott Municipal Park. The Freedom Walk will be this Saturday, September 9 at 10 AM, followed by a Remembrance Ceremony to honor victims of 9/11. It’s an all day event going on until 10:30 PM.
Enjoy hot dogs and chips provided by the VFW while supplies last. Bring the whole family and enjoy shopping local vendors, food trucks, games, music, face painting and more! There will also be lots of music!
Category: City & County Politics
Information you need to know about the City of Devine, Medina County Commissioner’s Court, City of Natalia, City of Lytle, and our local Emergency Service Districts.
Jessica Castiglione appointed to Medina County Pct. 1 seat
By Jerry Beck
Jessica Castiglione was sworn in Tuesday morning by County Judge Keith Lutz. Mrs. Castiglione is a Graduate of Texas A&M University where she received a degree in Civil Engineering in 1999.
Continue reading “Jessica Castiglione appointed to Medina County Pct. 1 seat”
Responsibility for chemical inventory and bill at golf course still in question
By Anton Riecher
By a 3-2 vote, the Devine City Council rejected a motion to release the management group previously in charge of the city golf course from responsibility for an outstanding balance of $36,000 due for lawn chemicals.
Continue reading “Responsibility for chemical inventory and bill at golf course still in question”
Down to one water well… Devine calls emergency meeting, new pump and back-up on the way
By Kathleen Calame
Publisher, The Devine News
The pump on the Edwards Water Well #1 went down last Friday, August 25, 2023 leaving only one well to service the entire City of Devine, prompting an emergency meeting. At one point in time the City of Devine had five wells.
TxDOT report offers no “silver bullet” to fix Devine’s airport woes
By Anton Riecher
A recent report from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviaition Division on the Devine Airport contained no “silver bullet” to quickly resolve the many problems plaguing the facility, airport board president Hap Squires told the city council Aug. 15.
Continue reading “TxDOT report offers no “silver bullet” to fix Devine’s airport woes”
County judge casts deciding vote on measure to change apportionment of road funds
By Anton Riecher
Medina County Judge Keith Lutz cast a rare deciding vote on commissioners’ court action August 17, joining with two other members to approve a measure amending how funds for road construction and maintenance are apportioned to the precincts.
The vote followed Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre abrupt departure after several terse exchanges with Precinct 3 Commissioner David Lynch on the proposed amendment.
Continue reading “County judge casts deciding vote on measure to change apportionment of road funds”
Devine mayor requests sheriff investigation into private water tie-in at golf course
By Anton Riecher
Brian Navarro, golf course superintendent with the Devine Golf Group, revealed the existence of the tie-in during a status report on the golf course during an Aug. 19 session of the Devine City Council.
By Anton Riecher
Mayor Butch Cook requested an investigation by the Medina County Sheriff’s Department of water drawn for private use from the city-owned Devine golf course water system by means of a recently discovered water line tie-in.
“I think this needs to be turned over to the sheriff and have an outside investigation,” Cook said. “Whatever the sheriff determines is how we will proceed.”
Battling large, difficult fires in Medina County
Sheriff Randy Brown operated a bulldozer used to cut a fire break during a 30-acre wildfire that broke out near Rio Medina Sunday night.
The fire involving rough terrain and heavy brush in the 800 block of County Road 265 was 60 percent contained Monday morning, said Medina County Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Chadwick.
Numerous Medina County fire agencies responded with the county serving as incident command, he said. The Texas Forest Service also assisted.
Officials on the scene included County Judge Keith Lutz, Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre, Sheriff Brown and Chadwick.
Severe Drought forces Burn Ban in Medina County
Severe drought forces burn ban for Medina County
On August 10, 2023, Medina County Commissioner’s Court implemented a countywide burn ban due to the severe drought conditions and fire danger. The ban is effective for 90 days and may be extended if the current conditions persist.
“We need to do our utmost to prevent fires of that nature from occurring in Medina County,” said Mark Chadwick, county emergency management coordinator.
No outdoor burning is authorized other than the approved exceptions. Per the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chapter 111 residents may burn “domestic waste” consisting of kitchen garbage, cardboard, cloth, leaves, and grass. However, the burning of domestic waste during the ban is limited to the following:
- Burning within a burn barrel with no waste protruding from the top of the barrel.
- The barrel must be covered with a small opening grate no more than a one-inch gap between the grating to reduce the likelihood of embers flying.
- A water source must be readily available next to the barrel.
- The person burning MUST call the Medina County Sheriff’s Office dispatch non-emergency number of 830-741-6153 to provide their name, address and phone number prior to burning.
- The person burning must stay in the immediate vicinity of the burn barrel until the fire is extinguished and not leave the fire unattended at any time.
- Burning in a barrel is to be accomplished in the morning hours between 7:00 am and 11:00 am.
- No burning is authorized in a barrel at night.
- If the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning, no burning will be authorized that day.
For residents who are doing land clearing and require to conduct burning of brush piles, Medina County has rules for how to obtain a Burn Notice Exception. The resident will need to make an appointment for the Medina County Fire Marshal, by calling 830-455-0129, to do an inspection of the burn site and the landowner/tenant/operator will need to sign for responsibility of the fire.
The rules for burning under a Burn Notice Exception are: - All brush piles must be of a reasonable size. If you have a contractor who is pushing up brush, make sure that they are not creating massive brush piles or the piles will have to be broken down in size before burning.
- As with domestic waste, no burning is authorized if the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning under any circumstances.
- Burning is not authorized if the winds are over 10 mph.
- The person burning MUST call the Medina County Sheriff’s Office dispatch non-emergency number of 830-741-6153 to provide their name, address and phone number prior to burning.
- The person burning must have means of communication (cell phone) with them in case emergency services are needed.
- The person burning must have a water source or heavy equipment immediately available prior to burning.
- The burn pile cannot be left unattended at any time. This means that if several piles need to be burned, the person will need to plan to burn them individually over separate days or times.
- No burning is authorized at night and all fires MUST be extinguished by nightfall.
All around the State there are catastrophic fires burning that are endangering lives and property.
Lytle city administrator opts to resume police career
By Anton Riecher
Lytle is again searching for a city administrator after the city council voted Monday to approve a transfer for current administrator Matthew Dear back to police duty with the rank of captain.
“First and foremost, it’s been a great honor to work with you all in the position here,” Dear told the council. “But I think my heart still lies in the police department. That’s where my skill set is.”
The council approved the transfer by a 4-0 vote with District 3 Alderman David Emery absent.
Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said Dear “stepped up during a difficult time and we appreciate him doing that.”
Dear said he pursued the city administrator job as an opportunity for advancement within the city not expecting the captain position to be vacant in the near future. That position is now open due to retirement.
“If I’d have known the captain at the time was leaving I’m not sure I would have made this leap over here,” Dear said.
Dear took over as city administrator in May 2022 after training to qualify for the job. The transfer represents a reduction in salary and benefits.
“The great thing for us is he’ll still be around,” Gonzalez said. “I know that like anything else he always steps up and helps out no matter where we need him within the city.”
Gonzalez said he hoped that the transition could be made no later than the end of the year. However, District 5 Alderman Charles Cate, who made the motion in favor of the transfer, said he was concerned that finding a new city administrator would likely become a lengthy process.
“Devine has had an interim city administrator for several years now,” Cate said.
Dear said it was not his intention to leave the city “high and dry.”
“That’s never been the way I’ve operated,” he said. “Obviously, I would like to transfer as soon as possible but I understand the importance of the position I hold.”
Cate’s motion in favor of the transfer made it contingent on finding a replacement city administrator first.
Gonzalez and Cate agreed that the city administrator job is demanding.
“Whoever fills the role it’s not just about showing up and sitting behind a desk,” Gonzalez said. “This is a job where you’ve got to be out and connected.”
In other business, the council approved donation of $10,000 from hotel-motel tax revenue to the city’s Veterans of Foreign Wars post to promote local tourism.
“The new Lytle VFW hall is not even open yet and we’ve already started putting people in hotels,” said post commander Chris Clouser.
The post is planning several events involving local musicians to draw guests to the area, Clouser said. The money would also go to construction of a corn hole field with proper lighting to bring competing teams to Lytle, he said. Barbecue competitions are also in the planning stage.
Action on a request by the VFW to support its annual Patriot Day Freedom Walk was tabled for further consideration.
At the request of Mayor Gonzalez the council voted to permit Dear to survey council members on priorities for the 2023-2024 budget with Dear compiling the results and reporting back to the council.
“I asked everybody to take a look and see if there are any projects that we need to take into consideration as a way for us to go ahead and minimize going back and forth with staff,” Gonzalez said.
For example, Gonzalez listed two of his own priorities as work on the Benton City Road and developing a city capital improvement plan to help pursue grant funding.
Devine City Council decides to pull back on search for permanent City Administrator
By Kathleen Calalme
Publisher
In an interesting turn of events, Devine City Council decided to temporarily “terminate and stop advertising” in their search for a City Administrator until further notice, or September 18th, on a Debbie Randall/ Flipper Vega motion.
The motion passeda 4 (Randall, Vega, Hernandez, and Pyron) to 1, with Josh Ritchey voting against stopping the progress.
“I would like to terminate advertising for the city administration position until further notice or until September,” said Debbie Randall, District 5 Councilwoman.
“Not until September…?” questioned Interim City Admin. Dora Rodriguez.
“I think you need a time, September 15 or so,” suggested Mayor Butch Cook.
“Okay, September 18”, Randall replied.
After executive session at 8:11 pm the council reconvened and the mayor announced no action was taken during the executive session item, “Personnel matters- discuss and consider City Administrator issues.”
Randall immediately made the motion to terminate advertising for a new city administrator.
“The motion is to discontinue advertising for a city admin until Sept 18”, said Cook. “Any discussion? Already done?”
Without any further discussion on why, Flipper seconded Randall’s motion and the motion carried with 4 ayes and 1 nay.
Council and mayor responses
After the meeting, The News offered each council person and the mayor a chance to express their opinion on this new turn of events in order to help the public understand why they are holding back on their search for a City Administrator.
They were given the opportunity to elaborate on their “personal reasoning or opinion” for or against this motion to terminate the search, until Sept 18, about 48 days.
Debbie Randall, District 5 response: “I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, but my motion was based off of what was discussed in executive session, something I cannot discuss in public without breaking the trust of council”.
Josh Ritchey, District 4 response: “Officially, I can’t share what happened in the closed session. In my opinion, it is extremely irresponsible to cease the search for a city administrator with our current lack of staffing and high level of debt. This reminds me of when Mayor Thompson simply stopped releasing resumes to council. While Mayor Cook is releasing resumes, the council has chosen not to interview until sometime in September, if I recall correctly.”
Stacy Pyron, District 3 response: “While I can’t comment on discussions in executive session, I will say that I believe this was the best decision at this time. This is also temporary, and the position will be advertised again in September.”
Flipper Vega, District 1- no response as of press time.
Michael Hernandez, District 2- “All I can say is the only reason we put the thing on hold for hiring a city manager is because of budget. Interviewing 2-3 candidates in one day will take up so much time during budget session. The last 4 people we interviewed took almost 1 1/2 hours each and that was just 2 interviews per council session.”
Butch Cook, Mayor- “It is my personal opinion that we should continuously and aggressively pursue hiring a competent and qualified City Administrator and it should be our top priority. In our style of government, the City Administrator is the most important person of all – more so than the Mayor or any individual Council member and until we accomplish this goal we will just be treading water.”
Next on agenda was the budget workshop, something the council will continue to meet often to decide on priorities, the budget and tax rate.
New Council and Mayor suggesting changes to several procedures
The new City of Devine Council and Mayor are voicing some concerns over old procedures and suggesting new ones. Some would require changing of the ordinances, others not.
Mayor Butch Cook just took office three months ago in May 2023 as well as council members Stacy Pyron and Michael Hernandez.
Josh Ritchey was elected to the council last year.
Flipper Vega has served several terms as well as Debbie Randall.