County, Town of Clint unable to use public funds to help clear mud on private property

Residents in the Clint area continue to try and clean up their properties with limited assistance.

Last Thursday, a wall of mud flowed into the neighborhood, covering their road and yards with several feet of dirt.

“The only help that we get here is from our neighbors,” said Carlos Gago, whose yard remains buried under several tons of dirt on Virrey Drive. “I pray all day that no more rain.”

Ruben Navarette, who lives across the street on Virrey Drive, said, “We’re basically, just with the help of family and friends, moving the dirt however possible that we can and we’re waiting to hear if we’re going to have any additional help.”

Navarette watched as front-end loaders were used to clear the dirt on the side of the street, which was taken up toward the area where the mud came from last Thursday afternoon.

“Looking at what they’re doing, knowing where the water and the dirt came from originally, it’s kind of scary,” he said. “Because if it does rain again, its going to come right back.”

County Commissioner Vince Perez told ABC-7 he went to the neighborhood over the weekend to speak with residents and also sent the equipment from the County Road and Bridge Department that cleared the street of mud.

“This is one of the worst flooding situations we’ve seen in decades,” Perez said. “I’ve spoken with our Public Works Department to ensure that at least the roadways are clear as possible.”

When it comes to clearing the mud from the yards and homes, however, Perez said his hands are tied.

“Whenever there is damage on private property, we’re often asked if County crews can help clear out the mud, and unfortunately, we’re prohibited by law from doing so, from expending taxpayer funds on private property,” Perez said. “It’s a very frustrating situation understandably for many residents, because much of the mud that covered their property isn’t theirs. It came from an arroyo further up North. So it creates a situation where many residents are frustrated looking for solutions.”

ABC-7 did finally reach Clint Mayor Charles Gonzalez on Monday. Gonzalez said his hands are also tied. “I’ve lived in the town of Clint going on 22 years,” Gonzalez said. “This is the worst I’ve seen it, no doubt about it.”

Asked if there is anything that can be done by the Town of Clint to help with the cleanup, Gonzalez replied: “Unfortunately, the municipality of the Town of Clint is two square miles. The area that was affected is outside of our two square miles. It’s even outside of our ETJ, our extra territorial jurisdiction.”

Even if it wasn’t, Gonzalez said the Town of Clint doesn’t have the resources to help.

“As far as any type of maintenance personnel, heavy equipment,” Gonzalez said, “our town, we are a small municipality, we are a thousand in population, a little more than a thousand. So we don’t have the manpower and we don’t have the equipment either.”

Perez told ABC-7 that the number of natural arroyos in the County have been increasing in recent years.

“The number of arroyos, according to the irrigation district, has grown from nine to 40 over the last 20 years, just because of the amount of water coming from up North and the shifting arroyos, which is making it much more difficult and there are more problem areas emerging that weren’t before,” Perez said. “It makes it very difficult for our crews, because there are areas that are typically prone to flooding, but now we’re seeing more areas that are being flooded and inundated.”

Perez said a long-term solution must be found.

“One of the conversations that came up earlier in the court was the possibility of looking at a longer term revenue source for stormwater,” Perez said.

Perez pointed out the County can’t levy a fee, like El Paso Water does for stormwater maintenance in the City of El Paso. But they could create a stormwater tax.