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Eagle Pass council creates advisory board to make public events more accessible
Summary
After presentations by local advocates and AG3, the Eagle Pass City Council unanimously voted to create an advisory board to audit and improve accessibility at parks and city events and to pilot a public GIS mapping tool showing transport and facility access.
Eagle Pass City Council on April 1 unanimously created a citizens advisory board to help the city audit and improve accessibility at public events and parks, after presentations from local advocate Daniel Delgado and Victoria of AG3.
Delgado told the council he avoids events that are “not very accessible” and described his Events for Everyone project, which aims to coordinate volunteers and city staff to remove specific barriers such as gravel walkways, missing ramps and insufficient parking. “When I was a young boy... I wouldn't want to go due to the gravel or lack of ramps or lack of parking,” Delgado said.
The advisory board request followed a technical demonstration by Victoria of AG3 and the mapping platform Stack. Victoria showed a live map of San Juan Plaza and Fort Duncan that flags accessibility issues: red for inaccessible segments, orange for sidewalks with problems and green for accessible areas. “If it's got the handicap icon, that means it is accessible,” she told council, and she demonstrated photos and notes attached to problem locations.
City staff said the presentation prompted a review of city buildings and accessibility features; staff reported the city already fixed an access button that had been out of service. Council members asked that the advisory board include people with varied disabilities and recommended six members as an initial target. Councilman Pedro Diaz made the motion to form the board; Councilwoman Cruz seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.
Council and presenters agreed the board should start with sidewalk and park audits and could expand to facility assessments (for example, gazebo access or restroom access), and that the mapping tool could record ramp widths, curb cuts and photo evidence. Staff said the city would consider integrating the maps and resources into the city website as the site is rebuilt.
Delgado and Victoria said they will donate time and share maps with the city; the council asked staff to return with an implementation plan at a future meeting.
The council recorded no new budget appropriation at the meeting; members said they expected the advisory board work to begin with volunteers and staff coordination and to bring recommendations back before allocating recurring funds.
