County commissioners approve $1 million for Downtown El Paso Deck Plaza
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso County Commissioners voted during their meeting today to approve county funding for the Downtown El Paso Deck Plaza project.
The item approved today also authorizes county staff to negotiate an agreement with other parties for participation in the design phase of the project. Commissioners voted three to two in favor of the item.
The presentation, public comment and action took nearly 2 hours during Monday's meeting, with a passionate hour-long discussion before the vote was taken.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Jackie Butler and Precinct 3 Commissioner Iliana Holguin voted against the funding.
"I am afraid that the county will end up having to contribute more and more towards those costs," Holguin said after the vote. "I really feel that if the county is even considering doing that, we need to ask our voters for permission."
Instead, Holguin suggested the County focus on other high-priority projects, such as improvements to roads, jails and county-operated parks.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Sergio Coronado spoke passionately in favor of the project.
"What a great thing for the community of El Paso," he said. "We've passed on these projects in the past, and frankly, we've fumbled the ball on them to the point where we've gotten left behind by other cities in the state and in the southwest."
County Judge Ricardo Samaniego also voiced his support for the project during the meeting.
"Most of the people here depend on what we offer them; they don't have the money to take vacations. They don't have the money to go elsewhere," Samaniego said. "I think we deserve, they deserve to have something like any other community has."
This all follows El Paso City Council's application to Congresswoman Veronica Escobar's office for $5 million in funding from the Community Project Funding program in May.
Lawmakers also approved $10 million in state funding during the 89th Texas Legislature, spearheaded by state Sen. César Blanco, D-El Paso.
The proposed Deck Plaza aims to transform the portion of I-10 that runs through downtown El Paso. Current plans have the deck plaza connecting uptown and downtown in an effort to transform the larger area.
