County May Build Youth Services Center On Ascarate Golf Course

byStephanie Valle

After some confusion and bickering, Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to authorize the County Purchasing Agent to issue a Request for Qualifications for an architect for the Youth Services Facility, quite possibly on nearly a dozen acres of land currently occupied by the Ascarate Golf Course.

County Commissioner Dan Haggerty, who’s been working with the Border Children’s Mental Health Collaborative on building a facility for kids who need mental health treatment in El Paso, said he was alerted to an 11.69 acre tract of land inside the golf course that was set aside in the 1970s to be used for “public purposes.”

A satellite view of the land in question was presented to the court, showing how much of the golf course would be affected. The head of the BCMHC mentioned it would possibly be two holes.

That information alarmed Commissioner Veronica Escobar, who said she couldn’t support the plan if that meant eating into already existing green space. Commissioner Haggerty mentioned the Youth Services Facility may not need all that land, but didn’t want to restrict the architect to any space less than that.

Judge Anthony Cobos agreed, saying “the stars have aligned.” “We were going to buy 10 acres across the street for$2 million,” Judge Cobos pointed out. “It will affect golfers. But I love children more.”

That’s when the court dissolved into a debate over whether the court should specifically earmark the golf course land for the facility.

A motion to find an architect to work on the 11 acres of land failed 3-2with Commissioner Haggerty and Judge Cobos voting forit. Assistant County Attorney Holly Lytle suggested a motion that would authorize the Purchasing Agent toissue an RFQ for an architect for the Youth Services Facility and the Juvenile Probation Department expansion to include land adjacent to the JPD facility within the 11.69 acres on Ascarate Park, which Commissioner Escobar adopted as her own motion.

Commissioner Miguel Teran exploded, saying it was getting too complicated and the issue would surely go nowhere. He said he did not want to even mention JPDor the acreage amount and made his own motion.

The court ended up voting on Commissioner Escobar’s motion, which passed 4-1 with Commissioner Teran voting against it.

Look for more on this issue in our newscasts.