Groups OK Paso plan

After a week’s worth of contentious debate, LCC, Border Patrol and the environmental community have reached a consensus on the expansion of the river road that runs through the pristine Paso Del Indio. However, it’s an unusual agreement because it’s based on trust, something not commonly seen nowadays, especially among governmental entities. “This is our roll of the dice,” said Jay Johnson-Castro, executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC). “RGISC is wanting to weigh on the side of trust.” Austin Skero, assistant Laredo Sector Border Patrol chief, said he discussed a written agreement with RGISC members earlier this week. But “that’s not possible because (RGISC members) aren’t engineers,” he said.“However, we have provided them with a set of plans and they marked the most sensitive areas,” he added. “We will be careful.” Skero joined Johnson-Castro at the podium Wednesday for a special called Laredo Community College board meeting. As part of a verbal agreement, RGISC members will take the onsite manager of the road project on a walkthrough of the trail, pointing out and prioritizing the most sensitive areas. “If at any time during the course of construction, (the manager) needs to make a decision, he can make an educated decision, which improves transparency,” Skero said. At issue is a temporary work area easement that will give Border Patrol an additional 20 feet around the river road. The additional 20 feet would allow the agency to move in large construction equipment to complete the 36-foot-wide road. Currently, the dirt road, which will be surfaced with caliche, is about 10 to 12 feet wide. A consultant for Border Patrol estimated that fewer than 227 trees and an unknown amount of vegetation will have to be removed during construction. However, the agency has a legal responsibility to replace the trees and vegetation. Wednesday marked the second time LCC trustees have discussed the temporary easement. After a lengthy discussion Jan. 28, LCC trustees voted to grant the temporary easement to Border Patrol on the condition that the agency’s officials visit with RGISC members. The members said they had a legal right to be involved in the process because RGISC has a resolution with LCC that gives them joint use of the Paso Del Indio. But Skero said Border Patrol was unaware of the resolution. “Now we know,” he told the board Wednesday. “This has been an education. “This was nothing more, in my opinion, than a communications problem. And it has been resolved.” Johnson-Castro agreed. “It has not been the easiest thing to do because we came at this from two different angles,” he said. “But we need to be united on things if we want the best results.” RGISC members met with Border Patrol officials for almost 2½ hours Monday. But they didn’t reach a consensus, Johnson- Castro said shortly after the meeting. By Wednesday, though, an agreement had been reached. And to ensure everything was OK between the two groups, the board held a special called meeting to again discuss the temporary work area easement. LCC President Juan L. Maldonado prefaced the meeting by saying the entities had had a healthy discussion during the past several days, noting that in remediation, neither side gets 100 percent of what it wants. At the end of the meeting, trustees unanimously approved a one-year temporary work area easement with a possible extension of another year. The extension is at the discretion of the LCC president. The construction, which has already begun, is expected to take 30 to 45 days to complete. Maldonado said the one-year-plus-long temporary easement is needed for mitigating the environmental issues, such as replacing the trees and vegetation destroyed in the construction process.