Commission Approves Auction of Declared Surplus Property

by Martha E. Ibarra/LFN

The La Feria city commission held its regularly scheduled city meeting on Tuesday, September 13th, in the City Commission meeting room located at 115 E. Commercial Ave in La Feria.

After following the usual protocol of a regular city meeting (invocation, pledge of allegiance, and determining quorum present) Mayor Maldonado called the meeting to order and immediately opened the floor for public comments.

The first resident to come forth was Sylvia Towne who expressed concern about the pavement and potholes on Chelo Drive. “…the pavement is so bad some [people] are getting hurt because the pavement isn’t smoothed or the potholes aren’t filled. It’s been several years, maybe 20 years, since any major improvements have been done on our street.”

The commission listened as Towne wrapped up her comments and spoke about the speed limit on Chelo Drive, “We have a lot of children that play on that road and we have people driving down the street that are going over the speed limit.”

The next resident, Yolanda Schoffeitt came forth and voiced her concern regarding grants that former city manager, Sunny Philip, applied for. “I understand that at one time he [Sunny Philip] had made a remark… he had applied for a personal grant… there is no such thing as a personal grant. You might want to start checking the grants and make sure that they were for the city and not for his pockets,” said Schoffeitt.

The final resident to have the floor was Roy Penaloza Jr. who expressed his concern regarding a lack of street lights in his community,

“We are prone to robberies and illegal entries,” said Penaloza.

The committee thanked the La Feria residents for their concerns and comments.

The mayor and commission then went on to review and approve the minutes of previous meetings (Aug 23, Aug 30, Sep 7).

Next the commission considered and appointed one member of the city commission to a vacant position on the La Feria Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors.

Commissioner Victor Gonzalez Jr. motioned to appoint Commissioner Julian Guevara Jr. to the open position and the commission agreed.

The commission next considered and approved the order for release of excess funds and authorized the release of lien in connection with the unknown heirs of Elionzo Cantu Jr.

“This was an effort to propose on a tax lien that the city had on a piece of property,” attorney Alan T. Ozuna informed the committee.

Ozuna explained the lien in more detail to the committee and advised that it was in their best interest to approve the agreed order for release. Commissioner Esmeralda Lozano motioned to approve the order and received unanimous support from the committee.

Next, the committee took action and made a motion to authorize interim city manager, Esmeralda Sanchez, to arrange an auction for the sale of declared surplus property.

“We have a list of the property that has been identified. These are all vehicles that are either at the public works warehouse or at the shop. It’s a list of eighteen vehicles and you’ve got a reason as to why we don’t need them anymore, so rather than sit in the warehouse, we’d like to get them out of there and see if we can get anything back for them,” explained Sanchez to the commission.

Next, the committee considered the approval of an interlocal agreement between the city of La Feria and Tropical Behavioral Health. Rick Gonzales, a representative from Tropical Behavioral Health, presented the commission with information regarding the agreement. The committee, however, tabled any action on the item.

The commission proceeded to go into closed executive session to receive legal advice and counsel and also consider the appointment, employment and evaluation to consider applicants for the position of city manager. While in executive session, the commission also discussed economic development negotiations.

After one hour and thirty five minutes in closed session, there was no action on any of the items discussed.

The final item on the agenda was the discussion with the city commission regarding reports of the following- drainage improvement projects, water/wastewater improvement projects, NFL Flag football and technology and success center/ OLLU grand opening. There was no action required for any of the items discussed and the committee adjorned the meeting.

The next city meeting is scheduled for September 27, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room at 115 E. Commercial Avenue, La Feria, TX. The public is encouraged and welcome to attend. An agenda for the meeting can be found online via the city of La Feria’s website.