SAN BENITO — The city is considering a $25 million project to repair pot-holed streets and upgrade an aging sewer system.
At last night’s town hall meeting, City Commissioner Esteban Rodriguez said the city is considering options including private financing to fund about $14 million worth of street repairs and $11 million in sewer lift station upgrades.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is giving the city three more years to upgrade its sewer system as part of an agreement to waive fines following a series of sewage discharges in 2009 and 2010, Rodriguez told about 30 residents at the San Benito Community Building.
Rodriguez said the city faces big fines if its fails to upgrade six lift stations within the next three years.
“That’s a priority we have to make,” Rodriguez said. “It all has to do with money. That’s what it takes to run a city. We’re going to have to incur expenses — major expenses.
“There are going to be decisions that are going to be difficult. There’s no way around that.”
Meanwhile, Rodriguez said residents call poor street conditions the city’s biggest problem.
“All the streets need repair,” Commissioner Tony Gonzales said. “We’re going to see if we can get the worst streets.”
Like Rodriguez, Gonzales and Commissioner Carol Lynn Sanchez said they did not want to burden residents, many living in poverty, with a property tax rate increase.
“The last thing we want to do is raise taxes in San Benito,” Gonzales said.
Sanchez, who put the city’s long-term debt at $32 million, said commissioners are working with a tight budget to address the city’s problems.
“We are in a really bad situation when it comes down to financials,” Sanchez said. “We’re living in a house that’s barely making it with cracks in the foundation. It seems things are moving slowly but we want to be very, very careful.”
Sanchez said the city is using money from a lawsuit to repair the $17 million water plant the previous commission closed in 2014 because it did not properly operate.
Meanwhile, the city has proposed a splash pad for the newly-developed South Park off South Sam Houston Boulevard.
Mayor Ben Gomez and Commissioner Rene Villalobos did not attend the town hall meeting.
Earlier this week, Gomez announced on the city’s website he would not attend because he believed the meeting, held a month before the May 5 election, was politically-motivated.
Rodriguez and Sanchez are seeking second terms in the election.
