Eagle Pass council approves series of fee updates, contracts and planning items; directs manager to negotiate EMS deal with Maverick County

Eagle Pass City Council on Feb. 11 approved a package of ordinance updates, contract awards and planning items and directed the city manager to seek an interim agreement with Maverick County on fire and emergency medical services. The actions were taken during a regularly scheduled meeting at Eagle Pass City Hall.

The votes covered a wide set of items: updates to municipal fees across departments, rental-fee increases at the Eagle Pass International Center for Trade, statutory adoption of a foreign-trade zone fee schedule, awards of several procurement solicitations, and approvals for subdivision master plans and preliminary plats. Council also instructed the city manager to negotiate and expedite an EMS services agreement with Maverick County after city staff reported the county’s prior agreement had expired in September 2024.

Why this matters: the fee and contract decisions affect municipal revenue and services (library, police, fire/EMS, event venues, international trade facilities and planning). The manager’s authorization to negotiate with Maverick County bears directly on whether the county’s residents continue receiving fire and EMS from the city while a formal county agreement is finalized.

Key actions approved or taken (motions and outcomes as recorded at the meeting):

- Consent agenda (Items 3–19): approved by motion (motion recorded as moved by Councilman Garcia and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Davis). Outcome: approved.

- Ordinance amending Chapter 19 (city secretary/municipal court fees; Item 21): staff proposed modest increases (examples: certain certifications and subpoena/questionnaire fees). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Ordinance updating library fees (Item 22): council approved a net reduction in many library fees to encourage usage (black-and-white copies reduced to $0.10, color to $0.25, replacement fees to be defined as replacement cost). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Eagle Pass International Center for Trade rental fees (Item 23): recommended ~25% increases for many event rates (example: ballroom 6-hour block from $1,900 to $2,400; West Room 6-hour block from $1,000 to $1,250). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Ambulance/EMS fees ordinance (Item 24): council approved updated billing rates and directed staff to add definitions for ALS/BLS categories for second reading. Staff noted the proposed fee schedule raises certain transport charges (examples cited in staff presentation included increases in BLS/ALS levels and instances where previous amounts such as ~$900 would increase to roughly $1,600 depending on service level). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Ordinance establishing foreign-trade zone No. 96 fees (Item 25): council adopted a fee schedule and lowered a subsequent-application fee from $7,500 to $5,000 as presented by staff. Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Police department records/security and fingerprinting fee changes (Item 26): proposed increases (police/accident reports $8→$10; fingerprints $15→$20; security-event officer hourly rate $35→$45). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Funeral procession escort fee (Item 27): council added a $75 per-unit fee for police funeral escorts. Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Appointments to Zoning Board of Adjustments & Appeals (Item 28): the council appointed three board members (Priscilla Puente Chacon for Place 2; Troy Valero for Place 3; Ernesto Fuentes for another seat as read into the record). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Final plat of Regis Escondido LLC (Item 29): after taking the matter into executive session to address legal questions, council took a motion to approve in open session; the motion did not pass (the record shows two votes in favor and multiple abstentions, resulting in no approval). Outcome: not approved (motion did not pass).

- MGA master plan and MGA Subdivision Unit 2 preliminary plat (Items 30–31): staff recommended and council approved the master plan and the preliminary plat (the preliminary plat subdivides ~10.46 acres into 24 residential lots plus open space; staff and plan/zoning commission recommended approval subject to standard plat compliance). Motion(s) recorded; outcome(s): approved.

- Carthage Place master plan (Item 32): council voted to table the item pending further analysis of a proposed thoroughfare connection shown by staff and to allow public meeting outcomes to inform next steps. Outcome: tabled.

- IFB 2025-004 (Sports Complex fence construction; Item 33): staff recommended award to the lowest bidder, Mueller Ranch Fences of Texas, after procurement and reference checks. Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- RFP 2025-003 (website redesign; Item 34): staff and an evaluation panel recommended CivicPlus (the incumbent) for design and development work to update the city website to modern, ADA-compliant and mobile-friendly standards and to add online services. Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- RFP 2025-008 (recycling services; Item 35): staff reported one solicitation was received; council authorized the city manager to enter negotiations with the proposer and return with final contract terms or approve at staff level as directed. Motion to authorize negotiations recorded; outcome: approved (4 in favor, 1 abstention recorded on the final motion to negotiate).

- Agreement with Southwest Texas College for trade/welding/diesel internship hours (Item 36): council approved a cooperative internship/observation agreement to allow students to gain on-site hours with public works/city departments. Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Engineering design services for Camino Real International Bridge realignment (Item 37): council approved a consultant agreement with Dewar Group Inc. for design work on the section within U.S. General Services Administration property (not-to-exceed amount $304,842). Motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved.

- Executive session and direction on EMS / Maverick County (Item 38): after executive session under Texas Government Code §551.071, council authorized the city manager to negotiate and expedite a contract extension or interim agreement with Maverick County to continue fire and EMS services while negotiations proceed. Motion to authorize negotiations recorded; outcome: approved.

Meeting procedure and next steps: several ordinances noted that additional definitions or second readings would be added (for example, EMS fee ordinance text will include defined ALS/BLS language at the reading). Staff and procurement will return with finalized contract language where council authorized negotiation (recycling services, potential county EMS agreement). Several master-plan items may return for administrative or zoning changes depending on the finalized thoroughfare plan or applicant resubmissions.

Sources: actions, motions and quotes were recorded in the Feb. 11, 2025 Eagle Pass City Council meeting transcript and summarized here.