City commissioners talked about many things at their regular meeting Tuesday and one of the more interesting things discussed was the planned demolition of the old eyesore on East Hidalgo Ave., once known as the Whitewing Hotel.

Owners of the dilapidated hotel building, the Patel family, have been given every opportunity to do something to repair the building over the past seven or eight years but have repeatedly ignored orders from the city to clean up their property.

Now, according to Andres Chavez, the city code enforcement officer, time has run out, the building has been condemned and starting on Monday, the city plans to tear it down.

The cost of taking the old building down will range from $80,000 up, Chavez said. Original estimates of $100,000 may be high because the asbestos in the building has already been removed.

Chavez told commissioners that heavy equipment will begin arriving on Thursday and roll off containers will be delivered Sunday. The property will be fenced after the demolition is complete. Some discussion about the tall palm trees on the site ended with commissioners deciding they should be left on the site.

Chavez said it will take two weeks to knock the old building that was once a showplace down and to remove the debris. A lien will be slapped on the property and the owners will have to pay the demolition causes to the city when they decide to sell the land.

"We'll start knocking it down on Monday, unless we get a court order stopping us from doing it," said City Manager Eleazar "Yogi" Garcia.

When the current owners bought the old building they paid off the past due taxes and announced plans to open a "Super 8" hotel at the site, after total remodel of the building.

That didn't happen. Rash of burglaries and thefts lead to call for Neighborhood Watch

Police Chief Uvaldo Zamora said the city is experiencing a wave of thefts and burglaries, many committed during daytime hours.

"During the past two months we have had a big increase in the number of property crimes and they are being committed night and day. Today we had three major burglaries. We are thinking about organizing a Neighborhood Watch group and we will have a meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Community Room next to the police department," he said.

Chief Zamora said most of the burglaries and thefts are taking place on the south side of town and so far 25-to-50 individuals have expressed interest in forming a watchdog group like Neighborhood Watch, where homeowners keep an eye out for their neighbors property as well as their own and call police when they see suspicious behavior.

Commissioner Zeke Cava-zos has recent experience with the problem of theft. Someone drove into his driveway early this week and loaded a heavy bench into a truck and sped away while he was not at home.

Commissioner Yolanda Alexandre reported that she saw a suspicious car parking in front of her home while she was there for lunch. The car had its flashing emergency lights on and later she saw the same car parked a block away from her home.

Alexandre said some people go to homes offering to switch the owners electric service but can't produce identification and they are hit by burglars sometime later, leading them to suspect the sales people who called on them.

Code enforcement officer Andres Chavez said that all solicitors are required to buy permits from the city at a cost of $30. If they don't have permits, residents should call police, he said. Fire Chief shows off new equipment

Fire Chief Frank Torres showed commissioners one of his dept's new air packs for firefighters. The department bought several new units at a cost of $4,500 each with grant funds. The city now has 23 air packs, one for each fireman. The units are about eight lbs. lighter than the old ones and have lights that indicate to a fireman how much air he has left in his tank. Each unit has an alarm that sounds if the firefighter wearing it does not move for 30 seconds.

The firemen also have new 5- inch supply lines that can pump 1,500 gallons a minute from their two pumper trucks. "Its like moving the fire hydrant to the scene of the fire," said Torres regarding the increased flow of water the lines can supply.

Commissioners voted to accept an additional $25,000 grant for police gear, in addition to the $50,000 overtime grant recently awarded to the department.

New seat belt laws go into effect this month and much of that overtime will be used to pay officers scouting for cars in which occupants are not using seat be1ts. They are now going to be required for all occupants of the vehicle, not just those in the front seats. Citations will be issued for seat belt violations and also for young children not strapped into car seats.

Commissioners tabled a request by the high school cheer leaders to collect money for uniforms at downtown intersections, after Commissioner Cavazos noted that previous groups did not clear the streets when emergency vehicles approached as they were collecting funds.

"I've got a problem. When fire trucks and ambulances come by, those kids need to move," said Cavazos. Animal Control Dept. reports on activties

The city manager reported from the animal control dept. report for April. Twenty dogs, 24 cats and 10 opossums were picked up and 65 animals were disposed of. Illegal parking at Little League Park to be targeted by police

Police Chief Zamora said the time for warnings has passed and individuals who double park, or park in the wrong direction will begin to get citations tonight at Little League Park. New city building almost finished

City manager Garcia said the new city building that will house the Chamber of Commerce, University of Texas-Brownsville long distance learning center, Workforce Solutions and the Raymondville Economic Development Council will be ready by the middle of June.

"They finished the parking lot today," he reported.

The new building is located on FM3168 across the street from the high school.

Workforce Solutions is expected to begin moving in this week, Garcia said. No word on plans for new police station

City manager Garcia said the city will know in about a month if their application for grant funds to build a new police station on the same site as the existing one will be approved. The city has applied for a $1.3 million grant from the USDA and will have to come up with $375,000 matching funds if the grant is approved.

Finally, the city manager reported that 81 percent of the current tax levy or $816,346 has been collected.

And the city got a good report from John Buffo of Buffo & Berkman, certified public accounts on its financial performance last year.

Buffo said the city's net assets increased by $716,968 in the year ending Sept. 30, 2009. In addition, the city saw a $72,579 profit in the utility fund, "the first time in a long time the water and wastewater department made a profit,"the CPA said.

Meanwhile the city paid $1.2 million in debt reduction and capital purchases last year, mostly for the new city building on FM3168.

Buffo said the city financial report was a "clean" one and he complimented the city manager and his staff for the cooperation they exhibited in providing the necessary financial material included in his report.

And, last but not least, City Judge Armin "Mino" Martinez reported that he collected $10,036.70 cash for fines related to violations of city ordinances in April.