Category: Top News Stories

Keep up with what’s going on in Devine, Natalia, Lytle, Bigfoot and Moore areas in Medina, Frio, and Atascosa Counties.

Clarifier project put on hold; HOME grants in progress

The Natalia City Council tabled a decision on whether to join countywide economic development group Go Medina County for another year and approved three appointments to the Natalia Municipal Development District Board of Directors at the Regular meeting held last Monday, January 24.
Council also voted to cancel February’s Regular meeting, as it fell on President’s Day on Feb. 21, when City Hall will be closed. A Special meeting will be called if necessary.
Go Medina membership
Mayor Sam “Chip” Bluemel requested that Council approve a full membership in Go Medina, which costs one dollar per resident for municipalities.
Municipalities that have a full membership in Go Medina have pages on the group’s website that feature photographs and information about the towns.
“If we’re going to get people to come here and get businesses to come here, we need to sell our community,” Bluemel said.
Councilman Mike Fernandez noted that Council had discussed a website with the NMDD, which would be cheaper. NMDD Board member Brenda Fernandez said that the NMDD pays $100 a year for membership in Go Medina.
“Why is y’all’s rate cheaper when y’all are under the City?” Councilman Darin Frazier asked.
Councilwoman Selica Vera suggested asking someone with Go Medina about the discrepancy in rates before making a decision, and a motion by Fernandez and Councilman Sam Smith to table action passed unanimously with the support of Vera, Frazier, and Councilman Tommy Ortiz.
NMDD Board
Council unanimously approved appointing Beatrice Morales, Pat Bourcier, and Dorothy Woodson to two-year terms on the NMDD Board of Directors. The terms will expire in Feb. 2022.

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HOME Program
“Every three years we have to renew the City’s eligibility to be able to continue to participate in the HOME program grant, and it’s our year for renewal,” Interim City Secretary Nichole Bermea explained.
The HOME Program is a federal block grant used to create affordable housing for low-income households.
A Fernandez-Smith motion to authorize submitting a new application passed 5-0.
Other action
A Fernandez-Vera motion to adopt a proclamation proclaiming January as School Board Recognition Month passed 5-0.
Council also unanimously approved the consent agenda, which consisted of minutes from the November 2021 Regular meeting, the financial activity report from November and December 2021, the Utility Department activity report from Dec. 2021, the Municipal Court activity report from Nov. and Dec. 2021, and the police department/code enforcement activity report from Nov. and Dec. 2021.
Informational items
Bermea informed Council that a HOME Program house was set to be turned over to a resident on 3rd Street, and that she would have a date for the other HOME houses in progress within the next few weeks.
A new Internet-based phone system for City Hall and the police department was set to be delivered and installed this week.
“It’s no longer a regular phone system,” Bluemel said. “It’s just like what they have at Medina County.”
Bermea reminded Council that the clarifier project at the sewer plant was put on hold due to supply chain and supply and demand issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The contract period for the project has been extending to September 2022.
Marshall Hoak, a representative from Congressman Tony Gonzales’s office, is scheduled to be at City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 23 from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm.
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer

Atascosa County 2022 Primary Election info and candidates

Early voting in the primary election is February 14-19 and Feb. 22-25 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, with extended voting hours of 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on Feb. 17 and 24. Voting hours on Saturday, Feb. 19 is 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Early voting locations are the Atascosa County Annex II, located at 914 Main St. in Jourdanton; JP Pct. 2 at 1567 FM 3175 in Lytle; JP Pct. 4 at 744 Hwy. 281 South in Pleasanton; and the EMS building at 551 Broadway in Poteet.
Election Day is Tuesday, March 1, with polls open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. Countywide polling locations are as follows:
Commissioner Pct. 1/JP Pct. 1 – voting box 3, Community Christian Church, 12487 SH 16, Poteet; voting box 7, Leming School, 25 E. Fifth St., Leming; voting box 13, Pleasanton Civic Center, 115 N. Main St., Pleasanton; voting box 22 Verdi Community building, 40 Fairview Rd., Pleasanton.
Commissioner Pct. 2/JP Pct. 2 – voting box 11, Justice of the Peace, 1567 FM 3175, Lytle; voting box 12, Horace Fincher Center, 19031 Priest Blvd., Lytle.
Commissioner Pct. 3/JP Pct. 3 – voting box 8, Poteet VFW, 9655 N. SH 16, Poteet; voting box 10, Rossville Historical Community building, 515 FM 2504, Poteet; voting box 17, St. Phillips Catholic Church Hall, 274 Ave. H, Poteet; voting box 18, Charlotte First Baptist Church Hall, 173 S. Yule Ave., Charlotte.
Commissioner Pct. 4/JP Pct. 4 – voting box 19, Jourdanton Community Center, 1101 Campbell Ave., Jourdanton; voting box 20, Trinity Baptist Church, 1219 N. Bryant, Pleasanton; voting box 21, McCoy Water Supply office, 2125 FM 541, McCoy.

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Atascosa County candidates are as follows:
REPUBLICAN ONLY
County Judge
Weldon P. Cude, R
Grant M. Luckman, R
Camila Chapa Mares, R

County Court-at-Law
Bob Brendel, R (Incumbent)

District Clerk
Margaret E. Littleton, R (Incumbent)

County Clerk
Theresa Carrasco, R
Jeremy Fernandez, R

County Treasurer
Laura Pawelek, R (Incumbent)

County Commissioner Precinct 2
Mark Bowen, R
Stuart Kownlton, R (Incumbent)

County Commissioner Precinct 4
Ernest Miller
Kennard Bubba Riley (Incumbent)

Justice of the Peace Precinct 1
Felix Herrera III, R (Incumbent)

Justice of the Peace Precinct 2
Marian Knowlton, R
Wayne S. Vaughn, R

Justice of the Peace Precinct 3
Brenda Ana Arreola, R
Willie Leal Jr., R

Justice of the Peace Precinct 4
Robert M. Evans, R
R.G. Poth, R
Rusty Prasifka, R

DEMOCRATIC ONLY
County Judge
Dustin Delgado, D

County Commissioner Precinct 2
Vickie Eckert, D

Justice of the Peace Precinct 1
Charles Urbina Jones, D

Justice of the Peace Precinct 3
Orlando Carrasco, D (Incumbent)