Levee Enhancement Project Still on the Table
By Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
May 8–Cameron County has not abandoned its intention to enhance its levee system, which could serve as an alternative to the border fence.
County Judge Carlos H. Cascos affirmed this a day after Cameron County Commissioners failed to support an agenda item by Precinct 2 Commissioner John Wood to join a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Michael Chertoff against the border fence.
The item never went to a vote for lack of support.
“Do we still have a shot at this? It has never been off the table,” Cascos said.
County officials are currently reviewing proposals for the county’s levee enhancement project. Official estimates on the project are at $5 million, but the judge believes the figure could be higher.
Cascos said he may have misspoken at last week’s Commissioners Court meeting when he said the fence was going to be built — levee or not. He believes the DHS’s position is if the levees are enhanced they could serve as the barrier, which would mean there would no longer be a need for the border fence.
“The position has always been that wherever there is a levee, they are not going to build a structure,” Cascos said.
The judge said he was surprised that no one from Commissioners Court made a motion to bring the DHS lawsuit up for discussion. “It was obvious that there was absolutely no support for this,” Cascos said, adding that he didn’t think a lawsuit would work.
“The court stands firm. We oppose the border wall,” but have different approaches on how to deal with the federal government, Cascos said.
Wood said he was disappointed by the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting and as of early Wednesday afternoon had not had a chance to talk to the other commissioners about their decisions.
“I don’t know what their (commissioners) thought process was,” Wood said. “I don’t ask them why they do or don’t vote on something.”
Commissioners Sofia C. Benavides, David Garza and Edna Tamayo could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the county judge on Wednesday sent letters to U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison requesting they draft an amendment that would place a moratorium on the fence construction in Cameron County.
In addition, he would like a six- to 12-month extension on the Dec. 31 deadline in which the government hopes to have the fence completed. It’s believed the fence’s construction in Cameron County could start next month.
Extending the deadline is something the DHS did for Hidalgo County following that county’s agreement to work with the federal government for the construction of a concrete barrier that in some portions will serve as a border wall.
The agreement pushes back Hidalgo County’s levee project completion date to March 2009 from December of this year.
Under the agreement, DHS will give Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 $65.7 million to construct the concrete barrier. The drainage district will have to fund the remaining cost, which is about $48.2 million.
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