GUS RUIZ: "YOU DON'T LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH," BUT THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS, OTHERS SAY

By Juan Montoya
With the passage of a $40 million capital improvements bond issue by the Cameron County Commissioners Court Tuesday, the road is clear for a system-wide improvement of many of the  county's facilities, including the possible relocation of some precinct warehouses to more rural areas.

That part of the bond issue, according to county administrator David Garcia,will include new precinct warehouse facilities for all four precincts and the possible relocation of all but one – Commissioner David Garcia's Pct. 3 warehouse site – to land already owned by the county.
"We still haven't got all the details straightened out," Garcia said. "We're still putting it together. We still haven't sold the bonds."

And Pct. 4 Commissioner Gus Ruiz's efforts to get a new warehouse at a new site in his precinct might be satisfied without having to acquire real estate by the county if they accept a donation of a five-acre piece of property.
Currently, Pct. 4's warehouse is located further north on US 83 and occupies an area less than one acre in size.

Last week, Ruiz had Garcia introduce an item in executive session asking for consideration and possible action to purchase real estate to build a new county Pct. 4 warehouse. The commissioners tabled the item.
This coming Tuesday, however, the commissioners will consider the acceptance of a five-acre donation of real estate from the Leon and Linda Revocable Trust. A revocable trust is a trust whereby provisions can be altered or canceled dependent on the grantor.

The late Leon Bence was the founder of Bence Nurseries and a real-estate developer in Harlingen and other parts of the valley. Incoming County Court-at-Law Judge Sheila Garcia-Bence is married to the Harlingen attorney Travis Bence, son of the late Leon Bence.

The property in question lies just east of the White Road-US 83 intersection. It lies less than two miles from La Feria and is a straight shoot on FM 506 to Santa Rosa some 12 to 15 miles north.
"It's centrally located to Pct. 4's service area," Garcia said.

And while the Harlingen City commission has just plunked more than $2 million for an eight-acre property along the expressway just north of where the property is located, Garcia said the accepting the donation makes sense as the county contemplates upgrading its precinct warehouses.
"If someone paid more than $2 million for eight acres and we can get five acres (donated), it's a good deal," he said.

Pct. 1 and Pct. 2 currently share warehouse space on 3243 E. 14th St. At the time that they were built, the facilities were toward the edge of the city. Today they are right in the middle and the county decided that they could better serve rural Pct. 1 residents and service its roads if they relocated to county-owned property adjacent to the Pete Benavides County Park and Multi-Service Center on Browne road.

Likewise, Pct. 2 is to be relocated to a piece of property owned by the county just south of the Rucker-Carrizales Corrections Center used today for open materials storage.

Pct. 3 will stay at the same location and its buildings will get an upgrade.
Some commissioners say that no one will hesitate to accept a piece of free property in these days of skyrocketing real-estate prices, especially along the expressway.

Others, however, say that the area has no infrastructure such as water and sanitary sewer, and that the cost will have to be figured into the acceptance of the property. But with the expressway and neighborhoods just up White Ranch Road across the expressway already with that infrastructure, supporters say the cost could be minimized.

If the county does accept the donation and bears the cost of the infrastructure, then property owners on all sides of the donated land will benefit and properties would increase in value. Who owns those properties? No one knows, so far.

They also point out that the county already owns some 17 acres in Pct. 4 they could use for the warehouse. Ideally, they say that if the Bence Trust would agree to less restrictive language in its legal instrument such as allowing its use as a precinct warehouse and other public uses that may arise, they would feel more comfortable agreeing to the conditions.

Also, the donation will carry language specifying a time condition in which to build the facilities.
"If there is a timetable like 18 to 24 months in which to build the warehouse facilities, I think it's doable," said Pct. 2 commissioner Alex Dominguez. "But what if in the future other commissioners courts feel the need to move the warehouse somewhere else and use the land for other public uses? Will the property revert to the Bence Trust?"

These and other issues remain unresolved, Garcia said, and added that the item of the acceptance of the Bence donation may have to be moved to a future meeting to resolve any questions that may arise.
But for now it looks as if commissioner Ruiz may get to move his precinct crews to a new warehouse after all, perhaps even before his reelection two years from now. The devil, as they say, is in the details.