Commissioners start discussion on special road use permits
Presidio County
County Commissioners today discussed the development of a special road use permit that would require contractors to apply for permits for the use of heavy trucks and other equipment that could harm county roads — the most obvious possibility at present being a border wall contractors’ use of Chispa Road.
Hudspeth County commissioners recently approved an agreement with a wall contractor, Barnard Construction, that outlined expectations and requirements for Barnard to make changes and improvements, namely on Indian Hot Springs Road to facilitate wall construction.
County Judge Joe Portillo said he brought the item up for discussion because he wanted to be proactive in addressing road use because, “You can’t deny someone using a public road.”
County Attorney Blair Park said policies and procedures for permitting would ensure the county can go to the liable party to fix damages, and having agreements up front would help prevent improper use of roads. “We put the onus on the special user to make sure they are doing things in a responsible manner,” she said. The process for permits would be up to commissioners, but Park said she envisions them going before the commissioners court for approvals.
Park stressed that a permit process was a good idea, because, “The use is going to happen anyway.”
Several area residents addressed the court with their concerns, particularly about trucks and other equipment that likely would exceed the weight limits on county roads. Commissioner Deirdre Hisler looked up applicable state law and noted that for a First Class county road like Chispa, it would be 20,000 pounds.
Micah Voiers of Terlingua noted that CAT bulldozers often weigh at least 40,000 pounds. He reminded commissioners that Barnard has already been working on Chispa, as well as other work on private property near there.
Voiers also said Barnard can’t be trusted to comply with agreements. “They claimed in [Hudspeth County] Commissioners Court that they have all permits for a man camp; that’s a lie,” he said. “They just feel like they have free rein.”
Jenna Cantrell of Terlingua echoed Voiers’ concerns. “Barnard is lying about road work,” she said and added that with any enforcement efforts, the company simply pays the fines and then “they do what they want.” “How can we monitor that to make sure they are not out there operating illegally, which they have been,” she said.
Yolanda Alvarado, who lives on a ranch off Chispa Road and uses the road daily, said her past experience with an Army Corps of Engineers project was watching the Corps make changes to the road, only to see it in worse condition after the next rain. She stressed that hydrologists should be involved in any permitting policy because the contractors are from out of state. “They don’t understand how water works in the area,” she said.
Alvarado also said the current lack of emergency services — for instance, to deal with accidents — should be a priority if the county is able to make or save any money off of improvements.
Currently, Presidio County has a resolution opposing a border wall. Katherine Vaughn said the county should not be “facilitating or making things easy for these contractors to come in and abuse our resources and our home.” She also said heavy water trucks from Jeff Davis County already are ripping up roads.
Since the agenda item was for discussion only, no action was taken. Park agreed to share her policy research with commissioners to review for possible future consideration.
