Van Horn City Council met in regular session last Tuesday night and heard that Rafael Rodriguez, affectionately known as “Raffa,” was retiring after 27 years at the city. Rodriguez spent most of those years tending to the local golf course, and his retirement will leave the course short-handed for the time being. Alderman Garibay asked Edward Torres, Utilities director to shift current city employees around to cover the golf course shortage.
Torres also updated Council on the landfill and told them that he had sent pictures of the area to TCEQ in preparation for final inspection. He also reported that the pipeline at the rest area would be pressure tested hopefully next Tuesday. Torres advised Council that he and his staff had been making good use of the sanitizing machines that the city purchased after the last meeting.
Raul Issa, with the engineering firm of Brock and Bustillos made a return trip to clarify some questions that Council had about their last report on the low-pressure zone and long-term maintenance plan for the city’s aging infrastructure. Mr. Issa also confirmed that the city is still within the TCEQ-allowed number of taps, with each motel counting as one tap instead of counting each room as a tap.
Council also unanimously approved the signing of an annual, renewable certificate of deposit for securing a loan from the Van Horn State Bank in the amount of $250,000.
In other business, Council:
Approved the effective tax rate at $0.482987 for the tax base of $79,237, 050.00 valuation with a rollback rate of 0.500071.
