The city of Lyford will hold a July 4th celebration at the local sports park. The event will begin at 6 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m. with live music and fireworks.

Mayor Henry de la Paz said vendors are welcome to sell refreshments, everything but cold drinks, which will be sold by the city activities committee.

Food, such as hot dogs, fajita tacos and other treats such as watermelon are expected to be available and it should be a good fund raiser for civic organizations.

Commissioners voted Monday evening to borrow $1,200 from the activities fund to pay for a fireworks show at the event. Council member Ramon Perez will take care of music with his band known as "Express".

The activity fund is held in reserve for the Christmas parade, but the Mayor said there will be time to repay before the holidays.

Austin trip put on hold:

A desire by council woman Melissa "Missy" Rodriguez to attend a Newly Elected Off icials Orientation in Austin was put on hold when council members were unable to come with the $600 cost of the trip.

Mayor de la Paz explained that the city does not have a travel budget for elected officials. Rodriguez said the event will be held at the Doubletree Hotel where the cost is $190 per night. Registration is $170 and mileage is paid by the city at 35.5 per mile.

Rodriguez said she believes it is important to "get our name (Lyford) out there and to network with other elected officials who face similar problems."

A final decision was not made and the matter was tabled.

Donated car won’t patrol:

Lyford was recently given a 1991 Ford Patrol Car by the Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace, but Chief Paul Campbell is less than enthusiastic about using it as a patrol car.

Campbell said it would cost $6,000 to put the aged vehicle back in service and suggested, instead, that it be given to city manager Lydia Moreno as an administrative vehicle.

The Public Works manager can clean the car up replace worn upholstery, strip the old paint, repaint and get it into running condition, Campbell said. In the meantime, he plans to park the old police car in high traffic locations as a decoy for speeders.

The lights don't work and a new police radio would cost $2,500, Campbell said in explaining his position.

Traffic tickets increasing:

Chief Campbell said that his new patrol officer, Jesse Castaneda, wrote 66 traffic tickets in May resulting in the collection of $1,857 in municipal court fines and fees. With the summer heat assaults and family violence calls are going up and burglaries and thefts have declined to none in May, the chief said. Fire Department Dinner success:

Lyford Volunteer Firemen held a Spaghetti Dinner recently and Chief Michael Birdsong said the event raised $596 profit.

His department was called to three serious car crashes during May, answered five bee calls and had two house fires to deal with.

They bought a water tank from Delia Ramirez for $310 with the commissioners approval.

Flag Pole Problems:

Several months ago the city bought a flag pole from Frank Rodriguez (Flags & Caps Galore), for $3,190 plus $325 shipping. The shipment showed up in two cartons, one with the pole and the other with the hardware. When the hardware box was opened it was discovered that parts were missing.

Commissioners discussed shipping the pole back to the manufacturer but decided instead to accept Rodriguez' offer to pay for the missing parts and to get a bid to complete the flag pole installation. City moving into computer age:

City manager Lydia Moreno was given the okay to spend $6,900 for an upgrade of the city computer software so that the general ledger and budget will no longer have to be done manually. The Dell server and software will come from the CSDC Corp., the same vendor used by Willacy County for a similar installation in the county clerks deed records office.

Hilario Rincones, Rincones Group, Inc., told commissioners that he was upset to learn that he was the low bidder but he did not get the job.. Rincones paraphrased remarks he said were made by a city consultant, to the effect that the low bidder was not always the best bidder for the city.

Rincones said the consultant implied that some bidders were buying airconditioners, lumber and other building materials in Mexico

"Every bit of materials I use comes from Home Depot, Lowe's, or Alamo Lumber," Rincones said. "I am a responsible businessman and taxpayer,” he added while requesting that the bids to build homes in Lyford be re-bid.

City manager Moreno told remark were not directed at his company and the mayor agreed. Rincones was told that his company will be considered on future jobs. Resident donates speed bumps:

Rudy Chavez, a resident of Gas Street, told commissioners that the recent installation of speed bumps on Broadway and Third Street have had the consequence of diverting speeders to his street. Chavez said 15-or-20 kids live on his street and the city ageed to install two speed bumps that he will donate.

Opening Brenda Street:

Aurelio Turrubiates complained that the city is opening Brenda Street and encroaching on his property and his son’s property. Turrubiates said he has lived in the same location for 42 years.

The mayor explained that the street is being opened to allow development of land behind Turrubiates' property.

The city manager believes Turrubiates built his barn on a city owned easement, while he believes he is losing eight feet of his right-of-way. Turribiates was asked to come come back to the next meeting to continue the discussion.

City Hall Remodeling

Ray Bustamante of, Idea Group and Bougambillia Construction, reported that the city hall remodeling is 90 percent complete. Completion date is July 9 and only painting, hanging interior doors and some staining of woodwork remains. The service counter must be assembled and installed to complete the $l00,000 facelift.

Concrete vs Asphalt:

Commissioners are trying to decide whether to use concrete at the intersection of Glen Lofton and Simon Gomez, or asphalt.

"School buses would eat up the asphalt in no time," said Commissioner Joey Mendoza who favors concrete although the cost will be higher. The new elevated water tower is at the site.

"Let's bid it out both ways," he said.