Alpine council to meet on fire issues
The Alpine City Council will hold a workshop at its Monday, June 3, meeting to discuss the following issues related to the Sunday downtown fire:
A. Fire response update – Present, discuss and update on the fire in Downtown Alpine on Sunday, May 26, 2024, including cause and key lessons learned.
B. Business impact plan – Understand the needs of businesses directly impacted by the fire and discussion actions needed to support them getting back on line.
C. Destroyed building – Understand the next steps that the building owner would like to take. Discuss actions needed to support the building owner, including any special requirements associated with a building destroyed by fire so that the property can be rehabilitated and returned to use, including any special requirements from a historical perspective.
D. Lessons learned – Understand potential risks to other Alpine buildings so that building owners can call on city officials to conduct walk throughs and make recommendations. The workshop will start at 5:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 803 W. Holland Avenue in Alpine.
Border Patrol halts high-intensity lighting plan
As reported in The Big Bend Sentinel previously, the Border Patrol announced on March 7 it was seeking public input on “potential impacts and project alternatives for the proposed construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier lighting in El Paso and Starr counties.”
In total, CBP proposed a 44.75-mile noncontinuous stretch of lights, light poles and associated infrastructure in areas along the border outside of ports of entry, some of which are remote and agricultural. A 19.6-mile portion of the lighting has already been installed but is not yet illuminated, with another 25.15 miles being proposed by CBP.
The plan prompted local concerns over potential impacts to dark skies and the environment. But the Border Patrol’s pause was not spurred by public feedback, which ended on April 22. Instead, a temporary injunction — sought by the State of Texas’s General Land Office objecting to President Joe Biden diverting border wall funding to other projects — has halted the lighting plan for now.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approves new rules to protect mountain lions
Last week, The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to ban “canned hunts” — trapping mountain lions with the intent of releasing them for an easier hunt, as well as enacting new regulations on the types of traps used and when they must be checked.
On April 21, the commission published the proposed rules seeking public comment on the changes, and according to the nonprofit Environment Texas, “Parks and Wildlife received over 7,000 comments from the public on the proposal – 91% of which were in support” of the new ban.