El Paso City Council looking to outsource to deal with weed problem; add moratorium for certain weed-related code violations

EL PASO, Texas -- The monsoon over the summer and continued rains in the region have more and more weeds popping up all around the city.

"I personally have never seen the weeds this big before," said District 6 Councilwoman Claudia Rodriguez Thursday. Dealing with a short staff for both streets & maintenance and environmental services, Rodriguez is proposing the city to outsource labor to remove the abundance of weeds throughout El Paso.

"Our crew right now is 28 people. It's supposed to be a crew of around 80 people," said Rodriguez. She added the city has had a hard time hiring workers to fill those empty slots, especially since the pandemic.

Rodriguez also told us there will be an estimate for how much this will cost taxpayers during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

In addition to the outsourcing, District 7 councilman Henry Rivera proposes a moratorium for private property owners 65 years and older. If passed, elderly residents will be "protected from receiving a citation from the City for overgrown weeds at their homestead property during El Paso’s monsoon season."

"At a point in time where the City is unable to keep up with the maintenance of overgrown weeds along medians on City and State roadways and is now seeking volunteers to help clean up those medians, it is unfair to expect that our senior and disabled residents keep up with their own yards and abutting parkways and alleys," said Rivera in a press release.

Both of these items will be discussed during Tuesday's City Council meeting.