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ZAPATA
HEALTH CARE
Clinic County balances budget facing exodus By JULIE DAFFERN THE ZAPATA TIMES
By JULIE DAFFERN THE ZAPATA TIMES
A cut in rates for workers’ compensation helped Zapata County officials balance the proposed 2009-2010 fiscal year budget. County Treasurer Romeo Salinas said the county has been doing a lot better when it comes to workers’ compensation cases. “We’ve been working with all the departments to try and tell them safety comes first,” he said. “In the past (the rate) was super high; we were paying a larger amount.” The cut in rates was very evident in the Fire Department’s budget where there was also a cut in Social Security and unemploy-
ZAPATA — Familiar faces were seen at the Zapata Medical Clinic this week, but they won’t be there for long. Several employees who walked out in late July returned to work Aug. 21 as volunteers for Dr. Ernesto Cabrera, co-partner of Zapata Medical Group, which runs the clinic. Cabrera, who employees said submitted his resignation effective Aug. 31, asked the employees to fill in until his last day. Cabrera was with patients and could not be reached for comment. Dr. Larry Sands, Cabrera’s partner, will be out of the office until Tuesday. The doctors take turns running the clinic, working 24hour shifts for weeks at a time. Zapata Medical Group’s contract with the county is up at the end of September, and county officials have opened the contract up for bidding. Several proposals have been received, including one from the medical group. The employees originally walked out in July when they heard they would not be paid as scheduled on July 31, leaving behind just a couple of employees to run the clinic. They learned Aug. 10 that they would be paid, but the money was coming from Cabrera’s personal account. That same day, the Zapata Commissioners Court approved an extra $36,000 for the clinic that was to be used to reimburse Cabrera. At the time, Manuel Pelaez, attorney for Zapata Medical Group, said all of the services at the Zapata Medical Clinic were available. However, the clinic’s volunteers said Friday several patients have said they were turned away over the past few weeks and told
ment insurance. The cost of benefits for the Fire Department in the proposed budget is $402,390 as compared to $513,540 in budgeted expenditures in the current budget. Salinas said he makes a point of talking to county supervisors about basic safety procedures, such as wearing safety belts and wearing steel-toe boots when required. “That’s my main concern,” he said. “If we don’t do that, then everything is going to skyrocket.”
Royalty checks
county would come up short on the revenue side of the proposed budget when it comes to royalty checks for oil and natural gas. “Royalty checks are getting smaller and smaller,” Salinas told the court. The proposed budget projects $1.2 million in revenue, but Salinas estimated that if the amount received stays at the current figure, the county would come up $634,000 short. The county budgeted $700,000 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. “Those royalty checks have been declining because the cost of gas is so low,” Salinas said Friday. “It continues to drop.
Salinas expressed concern at a Commissioners Court meeting Aug. 10 that the
See BUDGET | PAGE 7A
TREATMENTPLANT
PROGRESS
See CLINIC | PAGE 7A
INFRASTRUCTURE
Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times
Construction of the new Zapata water treatment plant progresses as workers set rebar and platforms to pour concrete Thursday morning.
Tech center W begins
Officials: Water works may open ahead of schedule
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Construction of the $3.1 million Zapata County Higher Education and Advanced Technology Center is officially underway, with completion of the new structure still set for March 2010. “I believe education is the greatest gift that each generation gives to the next,” said state Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, who represents Zapata in the Texas Legislature. “It is how we preserve our history and culture. It is how we ensure that new generations can meet the new challenges they must face.
By JOE RUTLAND THE ZAPATA TIMES
orkers are busily constructing the new Zapata County water treatment plant and, from the looks of things, it could be completed ahead of schedule. Carlos Treviño, Zapata County water and wastewater utilities director, said Friday mostly all of the new project’s concrete has been poured. “I see the project and it is coming along great,” Treviño said. “We’re on schedule. We’re on budget. The concrete for tanks and clarifiers has been poured. The office building is being put up as we speak.” Zapata County Precinct 3 Commissioner Joseph Rathmell agreed with Treviño’s summation. “We’re probably looking at finishing it by mid-summer or late summer next
year,” Rathmell said. He added this new plant will help meet Zapata County’s continual, expanding needs. “We will be able to keep up as our county continues to grow,” Rathmell said. “This plant will increase our production up to 7 million gallons a day more. That will be the capacity of the new plant. “Right now, we’re producing about 3 million gallons per day,” he said. “Our demand is right about there and if we have any breakdowns or power outages, then it hurts us to catch up. So we’re really looking forward to the day we can have that excess capacity.” Treviño said the new plant will mean “a shot in the arm” to water capacity. “Right now, like many South Texas towns … like many across our state, we are being hurt by this drought,” he said. “Our ailing water plant is just not producing
enough for every customer’s needs. So we have periods of extreme demand and we also have low pressure in some areas that we deal with on an individual basis.” The older county water plant is exceeding its 2.5 million gallon-per-day output because of demand, Treviño said. “When this plant was built, our population was less,” he said. “Demands grew, though, as our population increased. If everything was working fine and total demand equaled the millions per day that plant produces, we’d be on the margin line.” Treviño said he’s heard Corpus Christi has had problems, too, with more than 100 water leaks that cannot be dealt with right now. “Because the earth is shifting due to the dry spell, there are a lot of water breaks,” he said. “Our water plant crews are working 24 hours, seven days a week.”
ATREE IS PLANTED
See related photo/Page 3A
A crew works to plant a tree on the corner of U.S. 83 and Seventh Avenue, next to the Zapata County Courthouse, on Friday.
“Success of the individual also leads to the success of the community,” he added. The center will be at U.S. 83 and 7th Avenue. Previously, the center opened in space provided by the Zapata County Independent School District, but funding and administration issues prompted a change in plans. Guillen and state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, DLaredo, who represents Zapata in the Texas Senate, sponsored legislation that allowed the state’s Office of Rural Community Affairs to set up a grant program to pay for technology centers in counties such as Zapata. As vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Guillen helped secure $1.5 million for a new building. The rest of the funds came from local and federal sources. Guillen and Congressman Henry Cuellar were among the many officials who attended the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning.
See TECH | PAGE 7A
Photo by Julie Daffern | Laredo Morning Times