City Agrees To Take Over Star, Split Bill With EP Electric

EL PASO, Texas — El Paso City Council has agreed to take over the operation and maintenance of a longtime city icon. City Council voted unanimously to become the new owner of the star and research ways that will ensure the star shines in perpetuity.

For the past year the star’s future has been in question. The Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce has been picking up the approximately $45,000-a-year tab for the past 16 years.

Recently the chamber decided it could no longer do that.

In the new agreement, the chamber will maintain the lease on the property for up to 12 months while the city considers alternatives, including possibly moving the star to another property on the mountain.

El Paso Electric, which was responsible for the star from the 1960s to the early 1990s, has agreed to pay for 50 percent of its operational costs for the time being.

The city hopes to have a more permanent solution in place soon.

“It’s part of El Paso right now and I’m glad that the Council did support it…I think we owed it to our citizens to do that,” said Mayor John Cook.

It costs $725 a month, nearly $9,000 a year, just to lease the land the star is on from El Paso’s wealthy Salom family. City and chamber officials said the family is not willing to donate or even consider selling the land.

The Saloms did not return calls from ABC-7 on Tuesday, and when we stopped by their office, they refused to grant us an interview.