City honored for assistance during Summer 2019 flooding

Updated: March 6, 2020

La Feria city leaders stand with Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. and commissioner Gus Ruiz at Tuesday’s city commssion meeting. Photo: Cayetano Garza Jr./LFN

By Cayetano Garza Jr.

LFN

LA FERIA – The city of La Feria received special recognition at its last regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The meeting was held at the La Feria Recreation Center at 901 Pancho Maples Dr. due to early voting taking place in the commission meeting room at city hall.

Many local and area officials, justices, as well as city leaders from Primera were in attendance. Among them were representatives from the Cameron County Commissioners Court – Commissioner Gus Ruiz and Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. – who were there to present the city commission with a special proclamation honoring the city’s efforts in providing assistance during the historic June 2019 floods.

Before the presentation, Ruiz and Trevino both praised the city, particularly La Feria’s first responders, for its efforts.

Last June, the northwestern area of Cameron County experienced unprecedented severe flooding and many homes inundated in a matter of hours. More than 600 residents were rescued during the storm.

Approximately 50 evacuees needed shelter, over 1,000 home cleaning kits were distributed, and eventually more than 2,000 residents applied for Federal Disaster Assistance.

Commissioner Gus Ruiz and Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. address the La Feria city commission before presenting them with the proclamaton. Photo: Cayetano Garza Jr./LFN

As a result of the catastrophic flooding, Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino declared a local state of disaster and the city of La Feria responded, providing services from the police, fire, and public works departments at a moment’s notice, rescuing evacuees, providing shelter, distributing cleaning kits and pumping out water from areas hit the hardest.

In accepting the accolade, the city commission took time to personally thank and spotlight La Feria emergency first responders for their exemplary service, noting it was their hard work that lead to the County Commissioners Court recognition.

Following the presentation, La Feria events coordinator Angela Garza gave a small presentation to the commission concerning the success of this year’s Fiesta De La Feria festivities. The commission praised Garza for her work, noting that this year’s Fiesta was one of the most well attended in recent years.

Action was taken on Ordinance 2020-03 cancelling the general election scheduled May 2, 2020 for the positions of commissioner places 3, 4, and 5 currently held by Donato Garcia, Julian Guevara, and Esmeralda Lozano, respectively. The ordinance was passed unanimously since all three commissioner seats were unopposed in this election cycle.

Resolution 2020-02 authorizing the submission of a grant application for the Governor’s CJ Police Equipment Grant was also passed unanimously. The grant gives state money to the police department to aid in the purchase of new tasers as well as other equipment.

The next scheduled meeting of the La Feria City Commission is set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. The public is encouraged to attend. An agenda for the meeting can be downloaded from the city’s website.