Laredo Morning Times, August 3, 2009, page 1A

Laredo Morning TimesMONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2009 50¢

128th Year,No. 46, 30 pages

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COUNCIL

City totalk

policefunds

By ZACH LINDSEYLAREDO MORNING TIMES

In the wake of the lack of fund-ing from the Community OrientedPolice Services, Laredo City Coun-cil Member Michael Landeckwants to know if the city has otheroptions to fund its police services.

Landeck is asking Police ChiefCarlos Maldonado to talk abouthow the lack of funding will affecttheir new budget at today’s CityCouncil meeting.

Also today, Councilman MikeGarza is suggesting having a spe-

cial election in November to ad-dress issues with the city charterand a possible increase to the hoteland motel tax.

Regarding police funding, Lan-deck has an issue with a plan to in-crease the number of police sub-stations from 17 to 20 during a timewhen the police have no new bud-geted police officers.

Landeck wanted to discuss theissue of the increase in substationsat a previous meeting, but at thetime, Maldonado said he shouldnot discuss details of the structureof police forces in a public forum.Landeck expressed frustration be-cause he did not know in what fo-rum to address the issue.

He wanted to discuss the issuein a closed setting, but according toLandeck, City Attorney Raul Cassosaid he could not legally discussthe issue in a closed setting.

“I cannot discuss them in closedsession, and they don’t want to dis-cuss them in open session,” Lan-deck said.

In budget discussions up to thispoint, city officials have expresseda willingness to avoid cuts to emer-gency services such as police andfire services.

However, the new budget has nonew police officers budgeted be-cause the city had expected to getas many as 40 positions with COPSfunding.

There are other state and federaloptions for funding officers, andcity officials intend to seek thoseoptions out.

“Although we did not get anyfunding for the COPS program … Ihaven’t given up on pursuing fund-ing that the people of Laredo de-serve,” said Mayor Raul Salinas.

Regarding a possible Novemberelection, the city is interested indeveloping a new convention cen-ter, and an election would deter-mine the interest of citizens. Theitem Garza hopes to place on a No-vember election is an increase ofthe sales tax on hotels and motels,and car rentals.

At last, waterState law change allows colonia connections

By ZACH LINDSEYLAREDO MORNING TIMES

Seventeen dwellings in thecolonias are part of the firstwave to receive eligibility forwater and sewer connections,thanks to a bill passed by theTexas Legislature.

The announcement of thefirst 17 eligible homes came atMonday’s Webb County Com-

missioners Court meeting. All 17 had previously applied

for water and sewer connectionsbut were ineligible under the oldTexas zoning regulations be-cause they had not been platted.

The bill allows for residencesconstructed before 2007 to haveconnections even if they havenot been platted.

Webb County Planner Rhon-da Tiffin held onto the applica-tions with confidence that thebill would pass.

“In the last couple of years,we have not denied anyone,” Tif-fin said. “What we have done isput them in the ‘I can’t approve

you at this time’ file. What we’redoing now is wading througheach one of those so we can findall opportunities to hook up thatwe weren’t able to hook up.”

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, wrote the Senate ver-sion of the bill, and Rep. RyanGuillen, D-Laredo, wrote theHouse version.

SEN. ZAFFIRINI: She wrote the stateSenate version of the water bill.

Whatever we have to pay we would be willing to pay because what we want is the water.“ ”PUEBLO NUEVO COLONIA RESIDENT ELVIRA GARCIA

Photos by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning TimesTOP LEFT: Drops of water fall from an air conditioner into a large tank Sunday morning in the Pueblo Nuevo colonia. Collecting the water in a tankis one way a colonia resident saves water. ABOVE RIGHT: Pueblo Nuevo resident Juan A. Gonzalez fills his 400-gallon water tank, a routine he per-forms twice a week despite having to wait in a long line. ABOVE LEFT: A hose from a colonia residence pumps water into a tank so the water can befiltered and consumed.

Residents want upgradeBy JULIETA CHIQUILLO

LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Water drips from an air condi-tioner on the wall of ElviraGarcia’s house and into a 50-gallon container. She uses

the water on her lemon tree and otherplants struggling to survive in her dry,dusty yard in the Pueblo Nuevo colonia.

“The trees are drying up,” she said.Almost daily, Garcia, 50, will drive

about 4 miles to the county water pumpon the Judith Gutierrez Parkway offTexas 359 and sometimes wait hours tofill a 210-gallon container. Garcia’s hus-band used to drive the pickup to collectthe water, but since a car accident dis-abled him about a year ago, Garcia hasassumed the responsibility. She transfersthe water from the container to a storage

tank connected to a water pump.After 27 years of her family hauling

water for the house, Garcia said she wel-comes the news that colonia residents arenow eligible for water and sewer connec-tions.

Even though some residents are com-plaining about having to buy their ownwater meter, her household of six doesn’tmind as much.

“Whatever we have to pay we would bewilling to pay because what we want isthe water,” she said.

A new bill passed by the Texas Legisla-ture allows residences built before 2007 tohave water and sewer connections even ifthey have not been platted.

Colonia residents who need help in-stalling a plumbing system or paying thecity’s connection fee can apply for grantfunding through the Texas Department

of Housing or the Office of Rural Com-munity Affairs. The Webb County Self-Help Center is located at 8116 Texas 359.

Bare necessitiesIracema Ramos, 44, and her husband

sat in their pickup for about two hoursSunday to fill up their container at thewater pump.

The couple live in Los Ranchitos andwere filling up the container to bring totheir daughter, who lives in anotherhouse in the same colonia. Filling a 500-gallon container costs 75 cents.

Each vehicle can take only 500 gallonsof water per trip, but some people exceedthat allowance, Ramos said.

“Sometimes there’s water, and

See RESIDENTS | PAGE 9A

See WATER | PAGE 9A

See FUNDS | PAGE 10A

MICHAEL LANDECK The councilman is con-cerned about policestaffing and funding.

Laredo Morning Times, August 3, 2009, page 9A

Since the CommissionersCourt meeting, the Office ofRural Community Affairs,or ORCA, has qualified an-other 65 new families.

The law deals specificallywith homes built before2007.

To be eligible, a propertystill must have a plumbingsystem in place.

“If people don’t haveplumbing facilities, we’vebeen trying to work … withthe county’s grant-writingpeople,” Tiffin said. Also,advocacy groups such as theRotary Club and privateplumbers have donatedtheir time to buildingplumbing systems for theresidents.

Authorization does notprovide the funding to con-nect a house to a water orsewer line.

“There’s a lot of fees,”said Commissioner Rosaura“Wawi” Tijerina. The cityhas a connection fee, and aplumber is needed to con-nect the residence to theline.

However, two sources ofgrant funding are availableto dwellings recognized asbeing in economically dis-tressed areas.

Colonia residents can goto the self-help center onTexas 359 to apply for a grantthrough either the Texas De-

partment of Housing andCommunity Affairs orORCA.

“They will help them withall the expenses,” Tijerina said.

To become authorized forthe new connections, and toapply for the grant, thedwelling must be a residen-tial area, and it must be clas-sified as low-income. Colo-nia-based businesses do notqualify.

“This will benefit people alot because most of the peo-ple will get connected,” saidJesus Sanchez, who spokeduring the public commentperiod of Monday’s Commis-sioners Court.

Sanchez, a resident of theSan Enrique colonia, onTexas 359, hopes to educatecolonia residents about thenew legislation. He saidthere are many residentsthat may be eligible now, butare unaware of their eligi-bility.

Tiffin said she is not sureyet how many families willbe affected by the legisla-tion.

“It will vary from subdivi-sion to subdivision,” shesaid. “I think we should beable to get 90 percent of(dwellings) hooked up, but itmight be 75 (percent) in oneand 98 (percent) in another.”

The 17 newly eligiblehomes are located in Tan-

quecitos South Acres, LosAltos, San Carlos and Lare-do Ranchettes.

Previous law ruled outmany residences in the colo-nias because of platting is-sues.

Platting is still important,Tiffin said, but she believesthat there are more impor-tant issues.

“We will deal with theplat at another date,” Tiffinsaid. “In the meantime, let’saddress the health and safe-ty.”

There is a mandatoryhookup of water and sewerlines.

“When this project ends,those people who are nothooked up will be subject toan enforcement action,” Tif-fin said.

She had no date for whenenforcement will begin, butdoes not foresee it occurring“unatil we can investigateevery possibility of hookingpeople up.”

Israel Reyna of TexasRural Legal Aid describedthe colonias as “a ThirdWorld in our own midst” andpraised Tiffin in particularand the county in general forthe work they’ve done oncolonia issues.

“People living in coloniashave had to go without wa-ter, sewer and electricity foryears, and you all have

worked to ensure that peoplecould get those things,” Rey-na told the court.

The law also deals withelectrical connections andother issues related to plat-ting on colonia land, but thefocus of Monday’s announce-ment was water and sewer.

(Zach Lindsey may bereached at 728-2538 orzach@lmtonline.com)

Manuel “Meme” Arriaga,53, passed away July 31,2009. Meme worked for 30years at the old Mercy hospi-tal, then continued to workat Laredo Medical Center, aselectrician foreman. Memewas well known by his peersand friends as always outgo-ing and fun loving. Memecared about providing forpeople in need, always will-ing to help. Meme was a Dal-las Cowboys fanatic. Heloved and cared for hismother dearly. Meme lovedhis children unconditional-ly. He will be dearly missedby all who knew him.

He is preceded in deathby his father Salvador Ar-riaga, and brother HectorRene Arriaga. Mr. Arriagais survived by his mother,Carmen C. Arriaga; wife,Cindy Arriaga; sons: Ange-

lo, Alessandro Arriaga andAlan Sanchez. He is sur-vived by his children: Imel-da Arriaga, Juan ManuelArriaga, Miguel Angel(Sarita) Arriaga and LeticiaArriaga; grandchildren;Kassandra Gamboa, ReneIrene Gamboa and Anthony

Gamboa; sister; Margarita(Rodolfo) Castaneda; broth-ers; Juan S. (Concepcion)Arriaga, Jorge Luis (Leti-cia) Arriaga, Roberto(Irene) Arriaga, Javier(Sofia) Arriaga, Ramon(Jessica) Arriaga and nu-merous nieces and

nephews. Visitation will beheld Monday, Aug. 3, 2009,from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. with arosary recited at 7 p.m. atthe Fred Dickey Funeralchapel. A funeral Mass willbe celebrated Tuesday, Aug.4, 2009, at 10 a.m. at San Vi-cente de Paul CatholicChurch. Interment will fol-low at the Calvary CatholicCemetery. Funeral arrange-ments are under the care ofFred Dickey Funeral & Cre-mation Services. For moreinformation, please call(956) 723-3611 or visit ourWeb site at www.freddick-ey.com.

MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2009 LAREDO MORNING TIMES | 9A

OBITUARIES

Miss Juana Herrera, 82,passed away Thursday,July 30, 2009, at a local hos-pital.

Visitation and a Vigil ofthe Deceased were heldSunday, Aug. 2, 2009, in theHernandez-Lopez andSons Northside Chapels,800 Boston St. at SanBernardo Avenue. Funeralservices will begin at 8a.m. Monday, Aug. 3, 2009,

departing from the funeralhome chapel. Holy Masswill be celebrated at 8:30a.m. at San Luis ReyCatholic Church. Inter-ment will then follow inthe Calvary CatholicCemetery.

JUANA HERRERA

KELLY DEEM

Gilberto N. Treviño, 81,passed away Thursday, July30, 2009, in Round Rock,Texas.

Mr. Gilberto Treviño wasborn in Laredo, Texas, onAug. 24, 1927. He served inthe U.S. Army from Septem-ber 1953 to September 1955and was stationed in Paris,France. He served in Com-pany B, 821st Engineers Avi-ation Battalion, A.P.O. 84USAF; U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers and U.S. AirForce, Supreme Headquar-ters Allied Powers Europe,office of the Air Deputy. Heearned his GED and attend-ed Laredo Junior College fortwo years.

Our beloved husband, fa-ther and grandfather, Gilber-to Treviño, loved, most of all,life. He was an avid support-er of not only the Laredohigh school football teams,but enjoyed going to footballgames in Austin, Texas, withhis son-in-law, Carlos. Fur-thermore, he loved collegefootball, especially the TexasLonghorns.

He enjoyed working oncrossword puzzles and chal-lenged everyone to work onthem. He loved to read andkept himself informed onworld news. One of his

greatest attributes was help-ing others. He went that ex-tra mile to make sure thateveryone he helped wouldbe happy. He was an animallover and an advocate fortheir rights. Most of all, hewas courageous and hadgreat determination when itcame to overcoming all thechallenges of everyday life.

The family extends grati-tude to all his medical doc-tors, especially Dr. JerryFlin, M.D., and Dr. TimothyDziuk, M.D., and all thenursing staff from the Cen-tral Texas Pulmonary Clinicin Austin, Texas.

Futhermore, we give oursincere thanks and appreci-ation to all the nursing staff

from the Intensive Care Unitof Seton Medical CenterWilliamson in Round Rock,Texas, for the special careand support they renderedour beloved Gilberto.

He was preceded in deathby his parents, Wencesladoand Adela Treviño. Broth-ers and sisters Roberto Tre-viño, Jesus Treviño, Eduar-do Treviño, Elena Treviñoand Emma Ramon.

He is survived by his wifeof 59 years of marriage,Teodora M. Treviño. Sonsand daughters: Rosalia (Car-los) Cruz from Pflugersville,Texas, Diana Treviño,Gilberto (Martha) TreviñoJr. and Cordelia Treviño andhusband, Jesus Perales, of

Pflugersville, Texas. Twograndchildren: Lisa Treviñoand Gilberto Carlos Tre-viño. Brothers and sistersWenceslado (Bonnie) Tre-viño, Jorge (Guadalupe)Treviño, Andres (Esperan-za) Treviño, Teresa Oviedoand Adela Vela. Specialfriends, Francisco and Lau-ra Pruneda, Amando Chapaand Gil Hernandez. Also,surviving him are nephews,nieces, numerous other rela-tives, many friends and hiswonderful pets.

Visitation will be heldMonday, Aug. 3, 2009, from 4p.m. to 9 p.m. and a Vigil ofthe Deceased will be held at7 p.m. in the Hernandez-Lopez and Sons NorthsideChapels, 800 Boston St. atSan Bernardo Avenue. Fu-neral services will begin at 9a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, inthe funeral home chapelwith a Liturgy of the Wordofficiated by the Rev. Mon-signor James E. Harris. In-terment will then follow tothe veterans section of theLaredo City Cemetery.

GILBERTO N. TREVIÑO

MANUEL ‘MEME’ ARRIAGA

Kelly Deem, 39, passedaway Saturday, Aug. 1,2009. Funeral services arepending at Fred DickeyFuneral and CremationServices, 4502 ThomasAve. For more informa-tion, please contact us at723-3611.

Jorge Luis Benavides,56, joined our Lord in Hisheavenly kingdom Fri-day, July 31, 2009. Jorgewas born on Jan. 22,1953, to parents Arman-do and Arabella Bena-vides. He began his ca-reer in the familyconstruction businessand shortly after found-ed the Mohawk CarpetBusiness in Laredo; healso established the Dis-tinctive Designs Co. Lat-er in life he was a con-struction supervisor forLISD and was a city man-ager for Rio Bravo. Hewill be greatly missed byfamily and friends.

He was preceded indeath by his son JorgeLuis Benavides Jr. andhis parents: Armandoand Arabella Benavides.

He is survived by hisloving children, whowere his pride and joy,Cristina Michelle (John)Duncan, Celina (Peter)Clifton and Alonzo JavierBenavides all from Hous-ton, Texas; and by hisbeloved grandchildrenAndrew Thomas andNicholas Michael Dun-can. He is also survivedby his sisters Arabella

(Gerald) Stone, PatriciaB. (Lauro) Garcia, NormaB. (Richard) Cole, andMargarita (Huey) Boulet;brothers Armando JavierBenavides, and SergioGerardo (Anna Lydia) Be-navides; and by numer-ous nieces and nephews.

Visitation was heldSunday, Aug. 2, 2009, from5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at JoeJackson North FuneralChapels, 1410 JacamanRoad. A vigil commencedat 7 p.m.

Funeral services willbe held Monday, Aug. 3,2009, departing at 8:30a.m. from Joe JacksonNorth Funeral Chapels toBlessed SacramentCatholic Church for aMass of Christian Burialat 9 a.m.

Pallbearers will be:Sergio G. Benavides Jr.,Horacio R. Benavides, Ar-mando J. Benavides Jr.,Huey Earl Boulet, JoseArmando Garcia, KeithD. Stone and Doug A.Stone.

Interment will followto the family plot in theCalvary Catholic Ceme-tery.

We invite you to ex-press your condolences tothe family online atwww.joejacksonfuner-alchapels.com.

Services are under thedirection of the funeralservice professionals atJoe Jackson North Fu-neral Chapels, 1410 Jaca-man; (956) 722-8850.

JORGE LUIS BENAVIDES

JAN. 22, 1953 JULY 31, 2009

WATER | Continued from Page 1A

RESIDENTS | Continued from Page 1A

sometimes there’s not,” shesaid.

As for sewage, Ramosand other residents payabout $150 a month to havetheir septic tank emptied,she said.

While some residentshave regular bathrooms, adrive through the coloniasreveals that others use pitlatrines surrounded by awooden shelter or portabletoilets sitting in their yards.

In the San Carlos colo-nia, residents say waterlines have already been in-stalled in some streets.Artemio Ramos, 42, and

Ignacia Cebrero, 48, rentrooms in a house there.They are waiting for thehouse owner to make thearrangements so the house

can have connections.In the meantime, they

borrow a truck to haul wa-ter to the house twice aweek. They place the water

in several containers anduse buckets to take the wa-ter inside the house to usefor rinsing dishes orbathing. They visit a laun-dromat for their clothes.

Ramos, who workspainting houses and otherbuildings, said he looksforward to coming homefrom work to a house withwater lines.

“When you return fromwork, you can take a bathwith your shower,” hesaid.

(Julieta Chiquillo may bereached at 728-2557 or juli-eta@lmtonline.com)

While some residents have regular bathrooms, a drive throughthe colonias reveals that others use pit latrines surrounded by awooden shelter or portable toiletssitting in their yards.

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