DILLEY AGUAS - Page 2 of 12 - Dispatches From Dilley, Texas

July 31 – August 6 | Frio County Covid-19 Numbers

THE WEEK OF JULY 31-AUGUST 6

Texas Department of State Health Services reported:

64 New Covid Cases in Frio County
(81 New Covid Cases were reported the week prior)

Active cases decreased by: 4
Recovered cases increased by: 67
The disparity between new, active and recovered cases indicates a lag in reporting by DSHS. Cases were not added to the State of Texas Covid Dashboard until they were already recovered.
Fatalities Increase: 1

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported:

22 New GEO Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases
87 New CoreCivic Dilley Detainee Covid Cases
24 New La Quinta Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases

Frio County Vaccination Rate:

Frio County’s Fully Vaccinated Rate (age 12+) increased 1.78% for the week.
The prior week’s increase was 2.15%, which represents a decrease in the rate of full vaccinations.
Vaccinated with at least one dose (12+), a better indicator of recent vaccine activity, increased 2.56%.
The prior week’s increase was 2.95%, which represents a decrease in this second metric: vaccinated with at lease one dose.
These two numbers graphed together show that delta variant reports have had little impact on recent vaccine numbers in Frio County.

COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity:

Meanwhile, as vaccination rates decrease in Frio, there has been an increase in the rate of COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity. Frio is one of 22 counties in Region P.

“COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity” increased by 4.8% to 15.08%.
The prior week’s increase was 3.78%

The 15% threshold line shows the point that formerly triggered the limiting the capacity of certain businesses and bars after seven days. During this wave of the pandemic, however, that order has been rescinded. Given that many of these businesses need to stay open to survive, and we now have the availability of vaccines, the 15% threshold has been lifted by Governor Abbott.

Adding pressure in the near future, school starts on Monday in Pearsall, and the following week in Dilley. Some of the updated guidance from the Texas Education Agency:

COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity is a crucial metric because each data point paints only one part of the picture. On any given day, the case counts at the top of this post may be misleading without taking into account positivity rate, trends over time, reporting delays, and numerous other factors. Hospitalizations, on the other hand, are reported in a timely and uniform fashion, and represent a clear result.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Reported:

TDCJ’s Briscoe Unit in Dilley, recently emptied for conversion to an immigrant jail, has not shown an increase in “Offender Active” Covid cases yet. However, it is unclear if TDCJ will report the same Covid data since the Briscoe unit will transition from a state prison to immigrant jail: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/21/texas-prison-immigrant-jail-briscoe/

–written by Jose Asuncion, Frio County Commissioner, Pct. 4

July 24 -30 | Frio County Covid-19 Numbers

For the daily snapshot of case numbers, visit http://www.dilleyaguas.com/

THE WEEK OF JULY 24-30

Texas Department of State Health Services reported:

81 New Covid Cases
(29 New Covid Cases were reported the week prior)

Active cases increased by: 28
Recovered cases increased by: 53
The disparity between active and recovered cases indicates a lag in reporting by DSHS. Cases were not added to the State of Texas Covid Dashboard until they were already recovered.
Fatalities Increase: 0

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported:

24 New GEO Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases
118 New CoreCivic Dilley Detainee Covid Cases
19 New La Quinta Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Reported:

Frio County Vaccination Rate:

Frio County’s Fully Vaccinated Rate (age 12+) increased 2.15% for the week. The increase seems absurdly low when displayed on a graph that tops out at 100%, but there was a barely perceptible rise over the past week.

COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity:

As we explained during the first waves of Covid-19, each data point is only one part of the picture. On any given day, the number of cases may be misleading without taking into account positivity rate, trends over time, reporting delays, and numerous other factors. Ultimately, our goal is to prevent deaths and lingering long term illness.

“Covid hospitalization as a percent of hospital capacity” is another important warning indicator. In our 22 county Trauma Service Area (P), the numbers are concerning:

Social Media Posts from Around Texas

–written by Jose Asuncion, Frio County Commissioner, Pct. 4

July 17 -23 | Frio County Covid-19 Numbers

THE WEEK OF JULY 17-23

Texas Department of State Health Services reported:

29 New Covid Cases

Active cases decreased by: 1
Recovered cases increased by: 29
The disparity between active and recovered cases indicates a lag in reporting by DSHS. Cases were not added to the State of Texas Covid Dashboard until they were already recovered.

Fatalities Increase: 1
The death of a Frio County resident was reported on the State of Texas Covid Dashboard on July 22, 2021. It was the first Covid death reported in Frio County by DSHS since April 27, 2021

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported:

42 New GEO Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases
127 New CoreCivic Dilley Detainee Covid Cases
10 New La Quinta Pearsall Detainee Covid Cases

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Reported:

TDCJ’s Briscoe Unit in Dilley, recently emptied for conversion to an immigrant jail, has not shown an increase in Covid cases yet. However, the population is still low as TDCJ begins the transition of Briscoe from state prison to immigrant jail: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/21/texas-prison-immigrant-jail-briscoe/

Frio County Vaccination Rate:

Frio County’s Fully Vaccinated Rate (age 12+) increased 0.46% for the week.
The onslaught of Delta variant news did not appear to have an effect on vaccination rates, as the number of vaccinations slowed the last two days of the week. This could be due to a lag in reporting, however.

COVID Hospitalizations out of Total Region P Hospital Capacity:

This week’s Covid numbers led the Frio County Judge to request this notice on the Frio-Nueces Current Facebook page:

–written by Jose Asuncion, Frio County Commissioner, Pct. 4

Frio COVID Update | July 16, 2021

For more data, including ICE, TDCJ numbers, and surrounding counties, visit this site’s Frio COVID Dashboard page.

This post is a replication of the Frio COVID Lifeline updates, a component of the program that was funded by Frio County and the City of Dilley through January 2021 and by the City of Pearsall through February 2021.

There’s a lot to catch up on… For a full explanation of the difference between data available today versus February 2021, jump to the “Reporting Update” section of this post. If you were a frequent follower of the Frio COVID Lifeline updates, it is critical to understand the differences.

JULY 16, 2021

6 New Frio County Cases since July 14, 2021
Active Increase: 4
Recovered Increase: 2
Fatalities Increase: 0

Due to reporting cutbacks from The Texas Department of State Health Services, it is uncertain whether the 6 new cases since July 14 are community cases, ICE or TDCJ cases, or a mix. Based on other available data, I would infer that the 22 new cases are community based until informed differently by DSHS:

● ICE and TDCJ publish inmate numbers independently to their websites before they show up in the DSHS numbers we use for the above post. Since July 14, there have been no changes to the published ICE and TDCJ numbers.
● Active ICE detainee cases have totaled 89 since July 14. Since 89 is greater than 36 (the number of total active cases in the county including ICE, according to DSHS), we know that the ICE numbers have yet to be factored.
● Surrounding counties that do not have ICE detention centers saw jumps in their active cases since July 14: 5 new active cases in Medina, 21 in Atascosa, and 7 in Zavala.

REPORTING UPDATE (written July 14, 2021)

In the former website, the “Frio County Case Count” box counted residents only, and did not include ICE or TDCJ inmates. However, the Texas Department of State Health Services no longer separates those values, so the Active (Estimated), Recovered (Estimated), and Fatalities boxes will include ICE and TDCJ cases until further notice.

But you might notice that today (July 14, 2021), the number of active ICE cases (89), exceeds the reported total number of Active cases in the county (32). This means that the Texas Department of State Health Services has delayed incorporating the ICE (and likely TDCJ) active numbers into their dashboard.

Since these numbers were last tracked five months ago, CoreCivic’s South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley leapfrogged GEO’s South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall in total Covid cases. On February 17, 2021, Dilley CoreCivic total cases were 44, while Pearsall GEO total cases were 312. Today, those numbers stand at 937 in Dilley and 805 in Pearsall.

Given that ICE cases have yet to show up in our active totals as reported by the DSHS, it becomes apparent that our total cases are severely underreported as well. Expect a reporting spike when DSHS catches up with the data.

TDCJ no longer reports Offender Recovered or Employee Recovered numbers. Frio COVID Lifeline used to track increases in the sum of active and recovered numbers to arrive at a number of new cases. Without the recovered number, we can no longer track new cases.

Unfortunately, these are the best numbers we have. I am sharing them because, in this case, I believe some information is better than none.

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4

County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | July 5-9, 2021

BUDGET SEASON

Last week, three of the four working days were spent in budget workshops. According to estimates from the Frio Appraisal District, total property values in Frio decreased.

Frio County will receive approximately $1.3 million less in revenues at the current property tax rate.

By July 30th, the Frio County Judge “shall prepare a budget to cover all proposed expenditures of the county government for the succeeding fiscal year.” The proposed budget will be filed with County Clerk Aaron Ibarra and available for public inspection and comment.

The statutory responsibility granted to the County Judge to take the lead in preparing the budget represents a great deal of power. The budget is more than just tax rates. It is a vision and policy document. And in a year with a significant loss of total property value, the Judge’s priorities will become even more apparent:
● What will the Judge propose to fund or cut?
● Which issues will be discussed and which will never be mentioned?
● Will the Judge’s proposed budget require a property tax rate increase?

By September 30th, “the commissioners court may make any changes in the proposed budget that it considers warranted by the law and required by the interest of the taxpayers.”

The County Judge has scheduled the next budget workshop for July 26.

ROAD & BRIDGE REPORT

Last week’s Road & Bridge efforts focused on trash and limb pickup precinct-wide. The same was true county-wide, where crews also cleaned out several culverts in preparation for the weekend rain, as well as ongoing material hauling. Crews also graded CR4850 (Chido) and did sign maintenance at CR4538 (Divot).

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4

UPCOMING EVENTS

No event found!

County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | June 28- July 2, 2021

SOUTH TEXAS COUNTY JUDGES AND COMMISSIONERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

Last week, Commissioners Carrizales, Graf, Vela, and I attended the South Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association Conference. Continuing education hours are not only a statutory requirement of our job, but because laws are always changing, because the county grows in sometimes unpredictable ways, and because events remind us that we’ve probably overlooked some areas of governance, commissioners always need to push themselves to learn more, no matter how long they’ve been on the job.

We covered a range of topics, but I’d like to highlight the following:

● Budgeting
● Redistricting
● Emergency Management
● Subdivision Regulations
● Septic Issues
● Open Records Updates

ROAD & BRIDGE REPORT

Some of the work done by Frio County Road & Bridge in Precinct 4 for the week ending Friday July 2nd:

Hauled millings to CR4700 (Jack Penn), CR4850 (Chido)
Graded CR4850 (Chido), CR4700 (Jack Penn)
Shredding/Weed-eating CR4700 (Jack Penn)
Inspected CR4700 (Jack Penn), CR4440 (Machado), CR4725 (Galan), CR 4843 (Urban), CR3871 (Hindes), CR3715 (Schorp), CR4728 (Berrones), CR4757 (Leona River)

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4

County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | June 20-25, 2021

SOUTH TEXAS RURAL HEALTH SERVICES

The week started at a training for South Texas Rural Health Services. I’ve served on the board since 2017, and I’m proud to share major developments and projects in Precinct 4 and Frio County:

● On June 14th, South Texas Rural Health Services (STRHS) entered an agreement with Frio County to provide scheduled on-site medical care, dental care, mental health, and substance abuse counseling for inmates at the Frio County jail. The flat $4,000 monthly administration fee for these services will greatly reduce medical costs at the jail.

South Texas Rural Health Services will provide medical services to inmates at Frio County Jail. photo courtesy Frio County Sheriff Facebook Page

● Only one day after COVID vaccine eligibility expanded in early March, STRHS began to schedule vaccines for all willing employees at Frio County, city of Dilley, Dilley ISD, and Pearsall ISD. Because of this early action, Frio was able to end reduced work schedules sooner, and return to full service at the courthouse.
● Each time the vaccine age eligibility was lowered, STRHS returned to the ISDs, providing vaccines to students with parent permission.
● South Texas Rural Health Services is now applying for a grant to build a wellness center in Dilley. The proposed wellness center will have fitness equipment and personal trainers to assist patients with exercise as part of a health plan.
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WHEN CHEAP IS MORE EXPENSIVE | ROAD & BRIDGE
The week’s work shifted from public health with South Texas Rural Health Services to water and drainage with Road & Bridge.

Before I continue, I should acknowledge that there is a small but vocal minority of county officials (two) who continue to question the need for a county engineer, despite the statutory requirement resulting when Frio County residents petitioned to force an election that moved Frio to a county engineer system, and despite recent national headlines of the Miami condominium collapse, in which short-sighted officials ignored engineering warnings…

I accompanied County Engineer Roxana Garcia and Road & Bridge Supervisor Ancelmo Ornelas on inspections of county-wide water and drainage issues that have been compounded over the years by design and construction shortcuts. We saw enough problems to keep me writing for a few months. This week, I’ll focus on the construction of a bridge that predates any of our current commissioners, and was built during a stretch in which Road & Bridge was operating without a county engineer.

The San Miguel bridge washed away during the heavy rains a few months ago. The culverts collapsed and clogged with road material that once provided a path for vehicles. Displaced material will eventually change the route of the water, potentially causing new problems elsewhere. What went wrong?

To begin with, this bridge was constructed 18 ft in length. Why is that important? There was never a consideration to be part of TxDOT’s off-system bridge program, which has a 20 ft requirement.

Collapsed and clogged culvert under the bridge.

TxDOT performs inspections of “off-system bridges,” bridges owned by local jurisdictions such as a county, at least once every 24 months. TxDOT then makes recommendations. As long as work is performed to spec, TxDOT can provide parts, materials, matching funds, and in some cases full replacement. When County Engineer Roxana Garcia started her job in Frio, she leveraged her 20 years experience at TxDOT to take full advantage of the program, repairing bridges that had been flagged by TxDOT for years.

Since the San Miguel bridge was not a TxDOT off-system bridge, the reconstruction costs would come at the expense of county taxpayers, likely hundreds of thousands of dollars. In this case, County Engineer Roxana Garcia again bailed out Frio County, who was able to work with consultants to apply for the County Transportation Infrastructure Fund in an extremely short time frame. The result? TxDOT awarded Frio $1.2 million, and this bridge will be one of the projects at least partially funded by the grant, reducing the burden on county taxpayers…

This time, Frio County will build a strong and long-lasting bridge. It will hopefully be enrolled in a funding-assisted maintenance program that will ensure the bridge actually works for the public and is no longer a threat to public safety…
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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
…or other clichés about not studying history:

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ROAD & BRIDGE REPORT

Some of the work done by Frio County Road & Bridge in Precinct 4 for the week ending Friday June 25th:

Hauled millings to CR4827 (St. Mary’s)
Graded CR4828 (Copps), CR4827 (St. Mary’s), CR4890 (Lopez), CR4871 (Ewald), CR4885 (Hurt), CR4670 (Hug0)
Shredding/Weed-eating Hilltop, CR4440 (Machado), CR4425 (Derby), CR3709 (Sheephill), CR3800 (Crawford)
Replaced signs/object markers CR4700 (Jack Penn), CR4843 (Urban), CR4440 (Machado), CR4425 (Derby)

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4
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County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | June 14-18, 2021

Frio Tax Assessor-Collector Anna Alaniz presents to Dilley City Council on June 14.

TAX COLLECTION

While roads and bridges are the most visible aspect of commissioner business, our oversight duties encompass every department in Frio. Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of assisting Frio Tax Assessor-Collector Anna Alaniz in an administrative move that will benefit all Precinct 4 residents while lowering costs for the city of Dilley and Dilley ISD.

Currently, Frio County residents pay property taxes to two different collection entities: the Frio Appraisal District and the Frio Tax Assessor Collector Office. Any Precinct 4 resident that prefers to pay their county, hospital, and other taxes in person can visit the Frio Dilley annex building (more commonly known in Dilley as “the place you get your stickers”). Meanwhile, paying city of Dilley and Dilley ISD property taxes in person requires travel to the appraisal district office in Pearsall. It’s inconvenient and causes confusion.

Pending Commissioners Court approval, Precinct 4 residents will be able to pay all Frio County property taxes at the Dilley Annex building.

The new tax collection agreement will enable Precinct 4 property taxpayers to pay all Frio County property taxes, including city of Dilley and Dilley ISD taxes, at the Frio Dilley Annex building- no more trips to Pearsall. To make the service more accommodating, Tax Assessor-Collector Anna Alaniz has expanded the Dilley office hours from three days a week to five days a week. Furthermore, the city of Dilley and Dilley ISD will pay about 30% less for collection services by contracting with the Tax Assessor-Collector office rather than the appraisal district. The appraisal district is a willing participant in this deal, which allows them to concentrate on appraisals- their intended function.

The new agreement was approved by the Dilley City Council on June 14 and Dilley ISD School Board on June 21st. Commissioners Court is expected to pass our end of the agreement at the next regular meeting in July. It will go into effect October 1st.

ROAD & BRIDGE

Lab Testing
County Engineer Roxana “Roxi” Garcia, Road & Bridge Supervisor Ancelmo “Chemo” Ornelas, Building Maintenance Supervisor Tommy Navarro, and I visited Gessner Engineering this week- the consultant Frio County uses for material lab samples.

Gessner Engineering was contracted to sample soil on the Keystone Road project. Roxi and Chemo explained that the soil on one side of Keystone is river rock, but on the opposite end, the soil is sandy. They knew the sandy soil would have to be cement treated to provide a solid foundation for the road material. Gessner performed the test that provided guidance on the proper formula and application of cement for the specific soil. It is this proffesionalization of the Road & Bridge department that will lead to longer lasting roads, and more effective maintenance.

Gessner will also test foundation materials for the upcoming Frio County/Camino Real building project. Pictured: Cement cores soaking before the pressure test.

Road Report
Some of the work done by Frio County Road & Bridge in Precinct 4 for the week ending Friday June 18th:

Hauled millings to CR3715 (Schorp), CR 4614 (Klopek)
Hauled Base to CR3715 (Schorp), CR3701 (Lovers Ln)
Patched roads in Hilltop area, CR4677 (Ventura Gonzales), CR4614 (Klopek), CR4670 (Hugo)
Graded CR4629 (Herwig), CR4642 (Birdwell), CR4614 (Klopek), CR4675 (Good), CR4450 (Charolais), CR4889 (Viviano Gonzales), CR3715 (Schorp)
Brush Cutting CR3801 (Proctor)
Shredding/Weed-eating CR4670 (Hugo), CR4675 (Good),
Inspected CR4885 (Hurt), CR4670 (Hugo), CR4843 (Urban), CR4520 (Panther Hollow), CR4500 (Bohannon), CR4515 (Massey), CR4614 (Klopek), CR4425 (Derby), CR4429 (Topperwein)
Picked up Trash on CR3801 (Proctor) and other areas of Precinct 4
Welding at jail by Road & Bridge crew

I’ve decided on beginning each week’s report with a “some of the work” disclaimer. I’m listing the work that is most visible to residents of Precinct 4, but there are lots of parts to this machine. For instance…

In this week’s report I included inspections by Roadways Crew Chief Pete Hernandez. I typically leave these off the report because inspections don’t always lead to work. However, last week had a heavy amount of maintenance done away from city limits and I want to assure residents that we do actively keep tabs on those roads.

An employee of Road & Bridge Special Crews team did road patching last week and spent four days welding at the jail. The welding work wasn’t in Precinct 4 but that was an employee that could have been used on roads. The county engineer and road administrator approve the jail work of course, because it’s in everyone’s interest for county departments to assist each other, and we’re confident the Sheriff’s Office will return the favor when called upon.

And this says nothing of the mechanics who maintain the trucks and heavy equipment, the constant maintenance of road signs, the buildings crew that looks after our facilities, and the office and administrative staff that keep everyone scheduled and everything documented…

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4

County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | June 7-11, 2021

ROAD & BRIDGE

Some of the work done by Frio County Road & Bridge in Precinct 4 for the week ending Friday June 11th:

Hauled millings to CR3715 (Schorp) and from various TxDOT stockpiles/Vulcan Materials to county yards in preparation for continuing patching/grading
Patched CR4670 (Hugo), CR4614 (Klopek), CR4675 (Good)
Graded CR4670 (Hugo), CR4538 (Old Divot Hwy), CR4629 (Herwig), CR3871 (Hindes), CR4757 (Leona River)
Shredding CR4670 (Hugo)
Septic Inspections
Vector Control/Mosquito Spraying

Last week, I met with Zavala Pct. 1 Commissioner Joe Cruz. We share Leona River Road, and talked about ways we can work together to maintain the road for our constituents.

Zavala County, Pct. 1 Commissioner Joe Cruz at Leona River Road.

Millings in position:

Grading:

Road and Bridge sprayed for mosquitos on county roads close to Dilley, including Hilltop and other areas:

Good Road near Hugo was prone to flooding, leading to damage. Material was added to the low point:

Removing excess dirt, silt, and growth from the edges of the road after the rains to maintain the edge-to-edge clearance:

Patching:

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4
–photos by Jose Asuncion, Anthony Gonzales, and Joe Louis Hernandez Jr.

County Commissioner, Pct. 4 Update | May 24 – June 5, 2021

ROAD & BRIDGE

Heavy rains returned for several days over the past few weeks, affecting roads all over Frio County. Some of the work done by Frio County Road & Bridge in Precinct 4 for the two week period ending Friday June 4th:

Hauled millings to CR3715 (Schorp), CR4885 (Hurt), CR4757 (Leona River) CR4670 (Hugo)
Patched CR4670 (Hugo)
Graded CR4715 (Pacho Garcia), CR4701 (Ayala), CR 4714 (Orndoff), CR4670 (Hugo), CR3715 (Schorp), CR4815 (Moffet)
Brush Cutting CR3843 (Burns), CR4450 (Guajardo),
Septic Inspections
Tree and Branch Pick up

Trees that initially survived but were weakened by the storms are still making their way into county roads….

Temporary patches were applied to Hugo Rd until a more permanent solution can be determined for areas consistently affected by drainage issues…

FRIO COUNTY EVENTS COMMITTEE INAUGURAL AUTO SHOW

In a future post, I’ll talk more about the magnificent work done by the new Frio County Events Committee for employees and for the community. In the meantime, I’ll just say that I’m proud to be part of the team.

On Saturday, June 5th, the Frio County Events Committee organized and hosted an Auto Show, attended by 40 vehicles, with vendors, food, and music…

UPCOMING EVENTS IN FRIO COUNTY

–written by Jose Asuncion, County Commissioner, Pct. 4