County moves forward on veterans service center and parking; VFW seeks permanent home

Webb County Commissioner Ricardo Jaime announced county plans to convert a downtown property into a veterans service center and museum and said the county will construct an adjacent cement parking lot, with an estimated 60-day timeline for the lot and a roughly one-year timeline for the larger facility’s construction.

The projects are intended to expand space for veterans services and to provide dedicated parking and museum space. Jaime said the construction contract represents a roughly $4.5 million commitment and that the new service-area square footage will increase from the current roughly 900–1,000 square feet to an estimated 2,000–2,500 square feet for veterans services alone.

Commissioner Ricardo Jaime, County Commissioner for Precinct 4, said the county has placed agenda items for easement realignment and for engineers to design the parking lot and site improvements. “They did design 9 parking spots. The city code required to for them to have at least 1 parking parking lot designated for handicap, and I asked for 2,” Jaime said. Jaime said the parking-lot work would be cement and include sidewalks and that a groundbreaking should happen soon.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and other committee members pushed for a separate permanent home for VFW activities. VFW representative Mister Alvarez told the committee the organization seeks a facility with meeting rooms, offices, a reception area and an armory; he said renovations for one building the group was offered would run “upwards of half a million” dollars. “All the above, meetings, reception area, offices. We can make a space work,” Alvarez said when asked about space needs.

Committee members raised concerns about the museum’s proposed downtown location, particularly parking and accessibility for older and disabled veterans. A committee speaker said the veterans committee previously voted against that museum location and recalled the margin as large: “I think there was only 1 vote against the passing of this motion…9 to 1, I believe. I I don't remember the exact,” the speaker said, urging the county to consider those objections.

Jaime said the design documents should be filed in the coming days and offered to have the project architects present to the committee. “If the construction document hasn’t been filed… the completion should be in 1 year,” he said.

Discussion only: veterans groups described needs for a permanent VFW facility, security concerns for an armory, and maintenance costs. Direction: Jaime said he will continue county planning, file construction documents, and invited an architects’ presentation. Formal action: the meeting recorded no formal county vote on the project during this session; approval of minutes and adjournment were the only formal votes recorded.

Committee members asked the county to provide more detailed plans, to confirm parking counts and handicap access, and to coordinate with the city for additional street parking. Jaime also referenced the project history, saying the museum-plan approval dated back to February 2008 and that the county inherited the project and is now moving it forward.

The committee asked that architects present final design and that county staff follow up with the committee on parking, accessibility and a presentation timeline. Jaime said he would notify the committee of next steps and that staff would continue coordination with the city and veterans groups.