28 Oct Del Rio council approves $941,000 pool contract, dissolves airport commission

The Del Rio City Council on Tuesday approved a $941,000 contract for the Buena Vista Pool rehabilitation, abolished the Del Rio International Airport Commission and confirmed a new finance director, according to the 830 Times. All seven council members attended.

The pool contract, for design-build work by Connected Home Solutions, which does business as Stella’s Pools, passed 4-2-1. Mayor Al Arreola and Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez voted no, and Mayor Pro Tem Randy Quinones abstained. Quinones announced before the vote that he has a substantial interest in the company and did not take part in the discussion or the vote. City Secretary Mari Acosta said he had filed the conflict-of-interest paperwork state law requires, and that it is open to public review. Council members first met behind closed doors, then discussed the item, with several giving their views.

The same contract came before the council Oct. 13, when a motion to approve it failed 3-2 with Quinones recused and Councilwoman Elsa Reyes absent, according to draft minutes in the agenda packet. Arreola said the item would return at the next meeting.

The agenda backup traces the project’s path. On Dec. 16, 2025, the council set aside $1.5 million from reallocated 2023A certificate of obligation proceeds for the pool. It approved a request for qualifications Feb. 10 and, on Aug. 25, directed city staff to negotiate with Connected Home Solutions. The resolution states the process followed state procurement law and the city’s purchasing policy.

Former Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. raised concerns during citizen comments about whether state law was followed on the contract, since a council member has an interest in the company. He also questioned the plan to abolish the airport commission and the earlier abolition of the San Felipe Springs Golf Course Commission, which the council approved at a prior meeting.

Council members met in closed session from 7:08 p.m. to 7:51 p.m. on posted items that included the employment of the city manager and finance director, and Arreola said no action was taken there. Afterward, the council voted 7-0 to approve City Manager Manuel Chavez’s contract as drafted. The council named him city manager Oct. 13 pending contract negotiations, according to the draft minutes. The council then voted 7-0 to confirm Roxy Soto as finance director, effective Tuesday. A 12-year city employee, Soto had been the interim finance director.

On the airport commission, the council voted 7-0 to dissolve the volunteer advisory board and approved a companion ordinance removing references to it from the city code. Created in 1981 as a seven-member body, the commission was required under the code to meet monthly. Airport Manager Juan Onofre told the council it last met in January, met six times in 2025 and three times in 2024, and that he sometimes cannot wait for its next meeting to bring matters to the council. Chavez said the board has fallen short of how it was meant to function. The agenda summary cites trouble reaching a quorum and limited public interest, and says no federal or state rule requires the board. Its advisory role can be handled by city staff, the city manager and the council, the summary says.

The council also voted 7-0 to authorize a letter of intent to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division for a project to redesignate the airport’s main runway. The Federal Aviation Administration found the airport’s magnetic variation out of tolerance, so Runway 13/31 will become Runway 14/32. The engineering estimate is $379,000 to $389,000. The FAA’s Airport Improvement Program would pay 90%, leaving the city a match of about $38,000 to $39,000 that is required only if a grant is awarded.

Two animal and fee measures passed unanimously. An ordinance adds a code article on dangerous and aggressive dogs. As presented in the agenda, it requires owners to carry insurance and keep dogs in secure enclosures, microchipped, sterilized and marked with warning signs, and it gives owners appeal rights. A companion fee schedule ordinance, as presented, sets a $100 annual dangerous dog permit, adds a $15 processing fee to development services permits, sets a $90 carport permit fee and adds community garden reservation fees of $80 plus a $200 deposit for four hours and $125 plus a $500 deposit for 12-hour special events.

Other actions, all approved 7-0:

• Senior nutrition services: A fiscal year 2026-27 agreement with the Middle Rio Grande Development Council’s Area Agency on Aging keeps the city as the provider of congregate and home-delivered meals, nutrition education, assessments and transportation for Val Verde County seniors. The agreement lets the city be reimbursed for the program’s cost, about $143,248, and the program provides more than 46,000 meals a year.
• Vending machines: Staff may now negotiate terms with Amistad Snacks. According to the agenda backup, a first request for proposals drew one incomplete bid, which the city rejected, and Amistad was the only bidder in the second round. Its proposal offers machines priced from $1 to $7, twice-weekly service and a 10% commission to the city. The contract will return to the council for approval.
• Plats: Ordinances approving a replat at 101 Rusty Drive into two lots, an amended plat at 404 Avenue K and a plat dividing 2 Buena Vista Circle into three lots.

Mayor Arreola proclaimed Nov. 6 Texas Arbor Day in Del Rio. Community Services Director Esme Esparza said city staff will begin a continuing tree-planting effort that day, with trees going in along the hike-and-bike trail beside San Felipe Creek between the Joe Ramos Center and Camp Del Rio. Peter Ojeda, the city’s communications and marketing director, said staff is lining up nonprofit and business sponsors for trees.

Chavez also announced upcoming dates: a seminar on Texas’ new mobile food vendor law at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Spark Lab, 101 W. Ogden St.; trick-or-treating at City Hall, 109 W. Broadway St., from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and a staff tree-planting at 11:30 a.m. Friday starting at the Joe Ramos Center. The council’s November meetings will be Nov. 9 and Nov. 17.