Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes Claims City of Eagle Pass Not Following Annexation Process
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018
The City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, January 16, 2018, for the second reading of an Ordinance to involuntarily annex five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres into the City limits. At this special meeting, City Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes raised the issue to his fellow City Council Members that the City of Eagle Pass has not followed its own Annexation Process because some time ago the City Council had approved to create an Annexation Committee to which he was appointed to as a member of, but the City never created the Annexation Committee nor did the Annexation Committee hold a meeting to discuss the City’s Annexation Process.
Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes stated that he had requested copies of past City Council meetings’ minutes from the City Secretary wherein the Annexation Process had been discussed and learned that the City of Eagle Pass failed to follow its own Annexation Process by never constituting the Annexation Committee that City Council had previously approved at a meeting. Sifuentes’ statements raises serious issues concerning the City of Eagle Pass’ current Annexation Process seeking to involuntarily annex five proposed tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres into the City limits.
For many years, the City of Eagle Pass chose not to annex any adjacent properties to its City limits for political, financial, and other unknown reasons despite several Maverick County subdivisions or “Colonias” developing adjacent to the City limits. Consequently, the Eagle Pass City limits stayed generally the same while many subdivisions or “Colonias” were developed and grew around the City limits such as Las Quintas Fronterizas, Cedar Ridge, Loma Bonita, Seco Mines, Siesta Acres, Fabrica Subdivision, Las Brisas, and others without being annexed in an orderly process. Today, the City of Eagle Pass is growing and seeks to plan for its future growth and development by proposing to annex five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres of mostly uninhabited and rural property instead of the adjacent Maverick County subdivisions or “Colonias.”
The Eagle Pass City Council has been dabbling with annexing properties to the City limits since 2012, but because of the lack of consistency with a stable City Administration such as City Managers coming and going through a revolving door during the past six years the City of Eagle Pass has not followed its own Annexation Process approved by the City Council. The lack of consistency has caused the City of Eagle Pass to be hot and cold towards the Annexation Process with the current proposal to annex five tracts of real properties totaling 1,804.15 Acres putting it back on the hot burner. According to Attorney Heriberto Morales of the City Attorney law firm of Langley and Banack at a previous meeting, the last time that the City of Eagle Pass annexed a real property into the City limits was in 2011.
During 2017, the City of Eagle Pass placed back Annexation on the hot burner with the hiring of City Manager Arturo B. Rodriguez, who ran with the hot potato until he resigned in December 28, 2017. Acting City Manager Ivan Morua, who previously was an Administrative Assistant until City Manager Arturo B. Rodriguez promoted him to Assistant City Manager in 2017, now has the enviable task of pursuing the City’s Annexation Process together with City Attorney Langley and Banack.
Annexation is always a complicated and controversial process in Texas because there are state laws to be followed, costs of annexation can be expensive for City taxpayers to absorb these new properties, and property owners facing Annexation do not want to have to pay City taxes. The City of Eagle Pass faces this very dilemma in its current bid to annex the five proposed tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres. A majority of the property owners whose tracts of property would be annexed oppose the involuntary or forced annexation by the City of Eagle Pass while only one or two favor annexation.
Whenever a City annexes a real property into its City limits, the City is required by state law to provide that property with all the City services including water, sewer, police protection, fire protection and ambulance services, parks and recreation services, solid waste collection, roads and streets, street lighting, public works, building inspection, planning and zoning, storm water management, traffic engineering, public library services, and any other City obligated services. In exchange, the property owners pay City taxes except if they are classified as agriculture, rural or wildlife properties they pay significantly lower taxes. Thus, annexation costs a City a significant amount of money to provide and extend these City services to the annexed properties, often in the millions of dollars. These costs are borne by City taxpayers through bonds and increased City ad valorem taxes to pay for these bonds.
City Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes also raised the concern that the proposed Service Plan prepared by Legal Counsel Langley and Banack and City Administration for the five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres failed to provide City Council with specific financial costs to annex these properties as well as other properties such as Maverick County subdivisions or Colonias in order for City Council to make an informed and intelligent decision whether to annex these properties. Council Member Sifuentes stated that he could not support the Annexation Process being “laid out” and followed by the City of Eagle Pass due to these deficiencies raised by him, principally not having an Annexation Committee and the lack of concrete financial numbers for annexing these properties.
One of the five proposed tracts for current Annexation known as Tract “D” has a total of 826.22 Acres but only five to nine residential properties in it and the remainder is mostly uninhabited and rural land. Council Member Sifuentes stated that “Tract D” is not currently a legally recorded subdivision or “Colonia” in Maverick County and does not have a dedicated street nor water and sewer services. Sifuentes questioned City Attorney, Acting City Manager Ivan Morua, and City Council what exactly would be the financial costs to extend all City Services to this tract of property if it were to be annexed. Attorney Ruben O. Valadez of City Attorney Langley and Banack replied that the specific costs were listed in the proposed Service Plan drafted by legal counsel and presented by Attorney Paul Fletcher at the December 5, 2017 City Council Meeting.
City Council Member Rudy Villalpando asked Mayor Ramsey Cantu if the City had to annex each of the five proposed properties, which Mayor Cantu replied that the City Council can approve any of the five proposed tracts so long as it does not annex more than 1,804.15 Acres nor a property that public notice of the intent to annex it has not been provided to by the City.
Mayor Cantu responded to Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes’ concerns that the City of Eagle Pass was not going to annex any of these five proposed properties without providing them City services such as water and sewer services. Mayor Cantu stated that the City of Eagle Pass clearly wanted to tell the property owners of these five tracts of properties that the City will provide them with all City services if they are annexed. Mayor Cantu told Council Member Sifuentes that he was prepared to sit down and meet with him and Legal Counsel Langley and Banack and Acting City Manager Ivan Morua to review the City’s proposed Service Plan to all property owners of the five tracts scheduled for involuntary or forced annexation before the third Meeting to approve the Annexation of these 1,804.15 Acres.
The Eagle Pass City Council proceeded to approve the second Reading of the Ordinance annexing the five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres on a split vote of 3-1 with Council Member Luis E. Sifuentes in opposition.
Noticeably missing from the City Council meeting was the specific total financial cost to the City of Eagle Pass and City Taxpayers for annexing these five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres and any representative from Maverick County Commissioners Court concerning the County’s opinion on the proposed annexation of these five tracts of property into the City limits.
The Eagle Pass City Council is only one more Reading away from approving the involuntary or forced annexation of these five tracts of real property totaling 1,804.15 Acres. This third meeting is imminent and more than likely in the immediate future.
