Val Verde County approves rodeo tourism funding, road and school safety measures

Drivers headed into Comstock will soon see two new 30-mile-per-hour signs on old U.S. Highway 90 West, and Comstock Independent School District will get guardrails outside a playground after Val Verde County Commissioners Court approved both safety measures at its April 23 meeting.

Commissioner Fernando Garcia pushed for the signs and said they were needed to improve traffic safety on the roadway leading into the village. The court also signed off on guardrails at the school after Garcia said he had spoken with the superintendent, who initially wanted to wait until school was out in June before the barrier went in. Garcia said the guardrail would be installed outside a playground adjacent to the school to help keep vehicles from driving through it.

The court also rejected another push from Commissioner Gustavo “Gus” Flores to add six LED streetlights along part of Cienegas Road in Precinct 4. Flores said he had letters of support from the school district, law enforcement and tenants of the Del Rio Industrial Park and argued the lights were needed for public safety. County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. seconded the motion, but Kerr Wardlaw, Juan Carlos Vazquez and Fernando Garcia voted it down, leaving the request short in a 2-3 vote. The same road had already been the subject of a rejected seven-location LED proposal on Feb. 26.

Beyond the roadway and school-zone votes, the court turned to tourism money tied to events that bring people into Del Rio. Owens said Val Verde County had $50,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds available, and that the earlier $4,800 award for the George Paul Memorial Xtreme Bull Riding still left enough room to approve a new $6,000 request from the Rotary Club of Del Rio Foundation Inc. for the annual Independence Day Rodeo. The George Paul event was scheduled for April 24 and 25 at the Val Verde County Fairgrounds, and the county had already backed it with HOT dollars at a prior meeting.

The county’s hotel occupancy tax policy, adopted in February, requires spending to directly enhance tourism and fit categories allowed under Texas law. It also set up a pre-funding process for qualifying nonprofits and reimbursement rules for non-501(c) groups.

Commissioners also approved a temporary higher hotel cap for Owens and Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez on an upcoming Austin trip. Owens said the county normally pays $150 for staff motel rooms, and up to $380 a night for Austin or Washington, D.C., trips tied to Val Verde County Days. The Austin rooms quoted for the judge and sheriff ran from $250 to $260, so the court set a $250-per-night limit for that trip.