City & County Politics – Page 4

County commissioners accept tractor donated for flood emergency

By Anton Riecher
On a motion by Precinct 4 Commissioner Danny Lawler, the Medina County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Monday to accept the donation of a compact utility tractor initially designated for use in emergency operations following the recent Guadalupe River flooding.
The tractor, a 2025 Mahindra 1640 valued at $40,139, is one of five donated by the manufacturer for use in Kerr County through Bill’s Tractor and More in Hondo, County Judge Keith Lutz said. Following that effort, the tractor, complete with bucket, grapple and backhoe, will ultimately be donated to Medina County.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Jessica Castiglione seconded the motion by Lawler to accept the donation under the provisions of the Texas Local Government Code.

Ballot to include 17 ammendments to Constitution
In other business, the commissioners approved an order permitting county elections administrator Lupe C. Torres to proceed with arrangements for the November 4 general election in Medina County. The upcoming ballot includes 17 amendments to the Texas Constitution.
The county will operate three locations for early voting and eight locations for election day voting, Torres said.
Again on a motion by Lawler, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve a bid for remodeling of the former Hondo National Bank building as a future county office location. The renovation includes removal of the bank vault, Lutz said.

Finances
County Treasurer Debra Graff reported accounts payable totaling $1.353 million, not including $5,000 in postage and two wire transfers for interest payments totaling $337,134. Disbursement of funds since the last commissioners’ court meeting covering utilities, fuel and dental plans totaled $37,732.

Subdivisions
On a motion by Castiglione, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve a final plat establishing Chaam Subdivision on County Road 467. The motion was seconded by Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre.

Murder Cases
The court also voted to approve an interlocal agreement with the Hill Country Regional Public Defender Office to provide court-appointed counsel for individuals charged with capital murder. Hill Country serves Kerr, Medina, Gillespie, Bandera and Kendall counties, providing indigent defense and pre-trial services.

Renewal
Also approved by commissioners was a renewal of the contract with the Texas Health & Human Services Commission Women, Infants and Children (WIC) local agency. The program helps families across the state by providing nutrition education, breastfeeding support, healthy foods and referrals to health care and other community services.
The new contract extends from October 2025 to September 2026.

Executive Session
Commissioners also met in closed executive session to deliberate on economic development negotiations. No action was taken after nearly an hour behind closed doors.

Lytle council tables action on closing portion of public street to provide parking

By Anton Riecher
Action to close a portion of Davis Street to provide parking for a local sports bar was tabled by the Lytle City Council Monday pending further negotiations with the bar owners.
Meanwhile, the bar, 702 Tejas, was granted a temporary waiver to the city noise ordinance to accommodate live entertainment planned for Aug. 30 ending at midnight.
The bar recently lost access to much of the local parking when a nearby doughnut shop chose to fence its property, City Administrator Zachary Meadows. The small portion of Davis Street under consideration is unusual in that it is divided by a tree in the right-of-way.
Asked for his opinion by Mayor Pro Tem David Emery, Police Chief Richard Priest said that the tree limits much of the access the street provides for emergency response vehicles.
“I’m not normally in favor of cities getting rid of roads but if there ever was a case for it this would probably be it,” Priest said.
With Mayor Ruben Gonzalez and District 2 Alderman Richard Hughes absent, the quorum of three opted to postpone any final decision on the sale pending an appraisal paid for by the bar owners.
With regard to the ordinance waiver, Meadows said the action is similar to requests made by various local organizations for special occasions.
Leaders spend 50 minutes in Executive Session on water issue
Following more than 50 minutes in closed executive session, the council voted 3-0 to authorize Meadows to enter into negotiations with the Edwards Aquifer Authority to reach a settlement in some undisclosed dispute. He is also authorized to negotiate the possible purchase of additional water rights.
The council also reviewed several points with regard to a…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

Castroville area’s MCESD1 proposal to extend ambulance service to Devine heard by local ESD4 board

Castroville Area MCESD1 Fire Chief Clint Cooke gives a presentation to board members regarding extending its ambulance operations to include Devine as Sarah Windsor, Assistant Fire Chief, and Pat Bourcier, Allegiance Director, listen. Photo by Anton Riecher

By Anton Riecher
At the request of Medina County Emergency Services District 4’s board of commissioners, Castroville area MCESD1 Fire Chief Clint Cooke made a presentation to the board July 2 on extending its ambulance operations to include Devine as an alternative to the present contract with Allegiance Mobile Health.
“Anytime you can eliminate invisible boundaries you help yourself,” Cooke said. “The neighbors can work together.”
The presentation preceded a budget workshop session for the upcoming 2025-2026 fiscal year.
ESD4 board president Steve Smith said Allegiance is also being invited to submit a new proposal for continued service beyond its present contract.
“We’re going to ask for an apples-to-apples (comparison) from Allegiance and see what they come back to us with,” he said.
Complete video coverage of the meeting is posted at the Devine News’s YouTube channel.
According to its Facebook page, ESD1 is a full service fire and EMS agency that covers slightly less than 700 square miles of Medina County, including Castroville and LaCoste. ESD1 also took charge of fire protection in Hondo last November through a contract with ESD6 that replaced the Hondo Volunteer Fire Department.
ESD1 recently launched its own transport EMS service with one of its four ambulances based in La Coste. Cooke said some questioned whether its new service could be of assistance in the Devine area when it was initiated.
“The question you always have to ask yourself is what level of service can be provided?” he said. “How sustainable is it? And is that level meeting our needs?”
It was decided to only offer assistance to Devine “when asked,” Cooke said.
Allegiance formerly held the ambulance service contract for ESD1. Cooke said he notified the company’s representatives when he took charge that the district would eventually take charge of its own ambulance service, bringing it completely in house. That transition was accomplished over a three-year period.
The question was not about quality of service, but long-term sustainability, Cooke said.
“I told them it was not personal,” he said. “This is a business decision we’ve got to make.”
Devine’s ESD4 operates two ambulances to cover roughly 165 square miles, Cook said. A two ambulance service is “very, very tough” to manage from a recruitment standpoint, he said. Also, although there is efficiency in size, administration and maintenance costs can be overwhelming.
“For 20 square miles you (ESD4) have ridiculously good coverage because two ambulances come out of the same building,” Cooke said. “Those other 140 square miles, to me, they’re constantly getting the short end of the stick because they never have an opportunity for that four-minute response time.”
By comparison, the four ambulance system operated by ESD1 includes an additional two fully functional ambulances in reserve at all times. With 34 pieces of apparatus on hand, the district maintains…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

Lytle council re-evaluates priorities for fiscal year 25-2026

By Anton Riecher
During a regular meeting of the Lytle City Council Monday, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez asked members to re-evaluate the current ranking of council priorities for consideration during fiscal year 2025-2026.
“Some of these have actually been on here for years,” Gonzalez said. “Some have already been worked on, maybe taken care of, but they are still priorities based on the rankings. We’ve got to look at them individually.”
The current priorities, as officially ranked by the council, include:
Stormwater and drainage,
Water infrastructure repairs and replacement,
Replacement or maintenance of water valves around the city,
Comprehensive plan (the current plan expires this year) and code updates completion,
Wastewater treatment plant,
New water well.
Miscellaneous street paving.
Each alderman listed their priority rankings…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

Lytle council faces tough decisions on wastewater rate hike in next five years

Matthew Garrett, managing director of client relations for NewGen, offered the council rate projections for the future.

By Anton Riecher
With the number of water and sewer customers expected to grow by 700 connections in the next five years, the Lytle City Council reviewed a presentation on recommended rate projections offered by a consulting firm specializing in public sector finances.
Based on the June 16 presentation by NewGen Strategies and Solutions, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said the council will most likely keep water rates at their present levels. However, wastewater and sewer rates may see a percentage increase in collection fees in order to fund more than $15.3 million in infrastructure expansion.
Gonzalez said the presentation drove home two important points. The first involves water.
“Basically our city is on track and where we need to be in the sense that we already had some of the major projects funded,” Gonzalez said.
Unfortunately, the second point, expansion of wastewater infrastructure, needs to be a focus of concern, he said.
“That one needed to be targeted,” Gonzalez said. “With this presentation we’re getting it down in black and white what we need to do in the near future.”
Matthew Garrett, managing director of client relations for NewGen, offered the council rate projections for the future, recommendations and “thoughts to be considered taking action in the future based on our input.”
“Obviously, the utility fund is an enterprise fund,” Garrett said. “We’d like it to be self-sufficent.”

Garrett’s entire presentation and 2025-2026 budget proposals by several city department is included in video coverage posted by the Devine News’ YouTube channel.

County takes no action on Meals on Wheels funding appeal

By Anton Riecher
Medina Senior Center Executive Director Sharayah Gonzales made a heartfelt appeal for funds to the Medina County Commissioners Court Monday to save the local Meals on Wheels program, which is left reeling from recent cutbacks.
“Today I come to you because right now we are in urgent need and we are looking to prevent the shutdown of our program serving more than 3,000 seniors in Medina County,” Gonzales said.
She told commissioners that without an infusion of cash the program could shut down by mid-to-late July.
Recent proposed budget cuts, particularly from the Trump administration, are targeting Older Americans Act (OAA) programs. These cuts could significantly impact vital services for older adults, including nutrition programs, health promotion, disease prevention, and elder abuse prevention efforts.
To date, the Medina County Meals on Wheels program has suffered funding cuts of more than $112,000. The total shortfall for the entire program is $250,000 out of an annual cost of $400,000.
“It’s near and dear to my heart,” Gonzales said. “I feel like it’s an honor to represent all the seniors in our community.”
The county already funds Meals on Wheels to the extent of $50,000 annually through the Texas Department of Agriculture which facilitates the Texans Feeding Texans: Home Delivered Meals Grant Program. In addition to money sought from the county, Meals on Wheels has applied for $138,000 in grant funding from the Baptist Health Foundation.
Unfortunately, because of the pressure placed on that grant program, the amount the local Meals on Wheels is eligible to obtain has been slashed to $35,000, Gonzales said. Meals on Wheels is also applying for funding through the James Avery jewelry company.
Meals on Wheels has already been forced to reduce its number of eligible seniors by nearly 60 people in March. Applications from nearly 45 more seniors to join the program are pending.
Meals on Wheels volunteers drive nearly 20,000 miles annually to deliver meals to eligible seniors. The average cost per meal is $8, Gonzales said.
She added that the Medina Senior Center is planning a fundraising event in July in an attempt to keep the program going.
Commissioners took no immediate action on the matter.
In other action, the commissioners voted 3-0 to approve a resolution amending the development agreement for the Talley Ho Public Improvement District.
Also, the court voted to approve an owner/contractor agreement for the partial remodeling of the Medina County tax office at 1502 Avenue M in Hondo in conjunction with a sealed bid awarded to W.R. Griggs Construction Co. in April.

Lytle council reviews local water restrictions in place

Catherine Vaughn, new president of the Greater Lytle Area Chamber of Commerce, delivered an update on chamber activities to the Lytle City Council during a regular session meeting Monday.

By Anton Riecher
Meeting in regular session Monday, the Lytle City Council discussed the need to remind residents of the different restrictions that take effect at the various levels of water restriction invoked by the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
Meadows said the issue was brought home recently when EAA rescinded Stage 5 water restrictions only days after putting them in place.
“Since we are having this kind of back and forth we just wanted to again bring forth those measures that we have provided, making sure we are speaking about them and being transparent about the items listed,” he said.
For example, residential swimming pools require a permit from the city. At Stage 5, a request made to permit a swimming pool is automatically rejected, Meadows said. However, at Stage 4, a residential pool is allowed to operate but water must come from a source separate from the city water system, i.e., a private well.
After more than a year at Stage 4 in Lytle, city residents sometimes tend to…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

County approves flood control study negotiations

The Medina County Commissioners Court voted to proclaim June Elder Abuse Awareness Month. County Judge Keith Lutz said that such abuse affected more than 125,850 older adults and people with disabilities in Texas in 2024. On hand for the presentation were members of the local APS office. (Photo by Anton Riecher)

By Anton Riecher
On two important fronts – flood control and drinking water – the Uvalde-based Nueces River Authority is gaining greater significance to residents of Medina County.
On June 2, the Medina County Commissioners Court voted 3-0 allow County Judge Keith Lutz to negotiate terms for a future interlocal agreement with NRA governing the county’s participation in a Nueces River basin study to update floodplain maps, to be conducted by the Texas Water Development Board.
According to Travis Pruski, NRA chief operating officer, one of the biggest issues with state floodplain planning is the lack of maps and outdated data.
“We applied for a grant through the TWDB flood infrastructure funds to help update county maps throughout (Nueces Flood Planning Region 13),” Pruski told commissioners. The grant would also cover studying early warning systems, high hazard dam assessment and low water crossings.
NRA did receive…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

Executive session…Lytle secures deal for future water needs for city

By Anton Riecher
Following a executive session, the Lytle City Council approved an agreement with the Nueces River Authority for the purchase of future water needs for the city. Travis Pruski, chief operating officer with NRA, said the sale is part of a project to provide nearly 40 million gallons to small water districts south of San Antonio.
“This is extremely important to us and to the region,” Pruski said. “We call it internally our South Texas moonshot.”
Other communities expected to be included in the project include Castroville, Hondo and Jourdanton, he said…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

Lytle approves development agreement for hyperscaler project

By Anton Riecher
At a May 28 special meeting, the Lytle City Council voted unanimously to approve a development agreement with Rowan Digital Infrastructure as the latest step in the planned construction of a $500 million large scale build-to-suit data center slated to bring nearly 600 construction jobs to the community this summer.
“Obviously we’ve been working really closely for the last few months on multiple phases of the development that’s going to occur for the data center,” said City Administrator Zachary Meadows. “This is the next step, an actual development agreement laying out certain terms.”
The agreement lays out a schedule for annexation of the 440-acre project site located in the city’s extra territorial jurisdiction near the Coal Mine neighborhood. ETJ refers to an area surrounding the city’s corporate limits where it has powers related to land development and annexation, but not full municipal services.
According to Meadows, the agreement would impose a “carbon copy” of Lytle’s zoning regulations for industrial districts on the project. The agreement also…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!