By Butch Cook
City of Devine Mayor
For the first time since September 2022, we are reinstating the quarterly newsletters to better inform our citizens of what is going on in our fair city. Staff will be mailing these newsletters to every household and business that receives city utilities. For daily updates please join and follow our Facebook page at “City of Devine City Hall; visit our website at cityofdevine.org; and for emergency notifications, sign up for I-Info at http://r.i-info.com/rc/arc. As always, our official newspaper, The Devine News, prints all of our press releases and does a great job covering our
city council meetings.
VFD to handle code compliance and inspections
The City Council has approved a contract with Devine VFD to handle code compliance and inspections for the city. This replaces the current practice of using a paid city employee within City Hall for inspections related to new construction, remodeling, electrical and plumbing. We have been using Bureau Veritas, based in Kerrville, for many years, but enforcing code compliance has been problematic. Since 2015, only two code compliance officers have stayed with the city for longer than a year and this long-term agreement will help solve that issue. The VFD will have adequate and certified personnel of staff to stay on top of things. The city also benefits financially from the agreement and the money that went to Kerrville will now stay in our community to enhance the VFD operation.
Citizens will notice an increase in the enforcement of city codes which have existed for many years but lacked sufficient manpower for enforcement.
The first priorities of our city are always safety and security concerns, along with trash, brush and bulk garbage items being placed in the city right-of-way for weeks at a time – sometimes immediately after our scheduled pickups. Many people in town assume they can place brush and bulk items on the curb when convenient for them, but that is not the case.
We have an agreement with Republic Services for quarterly brush pickups and two annual bulk pickups at well-publicized time frames with 10-day windows. It is the citizen’s responsibility to place their items at the beginning of the 10-day time frame, and if not done in time, the citizen is
expected to take other measures or move the items back onto their property until the next pickup. Bulk items can be disposed of year round on Saturdays at the county yard on Hwy 173 just past the high school for a nominal fee, but the county does not accept brush.
Properties in violation will be contacted by mail for compliance and if issues are not resolved within the allotted time, the owners will be cited to appear at Municipal Court. The City and Devine VFD intend to be consistent across the board in the enforcing and removing the unnecessary eye sores.
The next scheduled times for brush and bulk pickup for the City of Devine are August 12-16 and October 7-11, 2024 According to a recent survey of our citizens through our Communities as a Startup (CASU) initiative, the importance of city appearance rated near the top of community aspirations, affecting quality of life and economic development; it’s a straight forward problem we can solve.
Water System Improvements
The City of Devine is excited to announce that it now has three fully operational water wells to better handle the city’s needs. Not too long ago the city was down to one operational water well, which is a precarious situation.
Most recently, the Bain Well and its storage tank have been refurbished. The water tests have met requirements, and it is now contributing to our water supply. Aside from the increased volume benefit, the Bain Well draws from the Carrizo aquifer and reduces our reliance on the Edwards aquifer, and the subsequent fees we pay for our allotted acre feet – which
are substantial.
Our twin wells on 1343, that pull from the Edwards aquifer, have also been refurbished as close to new as possible. Backup generators for both wells are being installed and will help avoid outages caused from lightning strikes and freezing weather.
Spring Election Results
Congratulations to the newly elected Councilmen from the spring election: Jeff Miller is the new District 3 representative winning by a margin of 36-15, and Ray Gonzales won his race with a turnout of 23-5 in District 1. Both bring a lot to the table and it’s already been a pleasure working with them the last two months.
Also, special thanks to Stacy Pyron and Flipper Vega for their service on the City Council and stepping up for the challenge of public service, which quite often is a thankless job.
Food for Thought
Please keep in mind that all of the representatives on your City Council, including the Mayor, also reside in Devine, and each shares the same concerns and aspirations as many of you – streets, parks, sidewalks, economic opportunity, etc., and if there were easy solutions, there
wouldn’t be any problems.