PRESIDIO — At Wednesday’s meeting, the Presidio County Commissioners Court voted in favor of a resolution of support for the transfer of ownership of the Presidio International Bridge from TxDOT to the county. The court also approved an agreement with the North American Development Bank that would provide $45,000 in funding for a study on the potential risks and rewards with a $5,000 match from the county.
The Presidio bridge is the only international bridge in Texas owned by the state. All others are owned by the city or county they’re located in.
A year and a half ago, County Judge Joe Portillo — with the help of Texas Sen. César Blanco — tried to push a bill through the Texas Legislature that would make the Presidio International Port Authority (PIPA) into a special taxing entity, but the bill never got off the ground.
Consultant Kelly Barnes of Hillco Partners, a lobbying firm, said that this time the county is taking “a completely different approach” in trying to take control of the bridge — by working with state government to approach the federal government for an amended permit from the White House.
Barnes gave a presentation about the potential economic benefits to the area, including the creation of up to 43 jobs and up to a $6.7 billion in “total economic output.” The county could explore opening up the bridge to 24/7 commercial traffic instead of only allowing trucks to cross during business hours, which could double or triple business-related crossings.
Judge Portillo has long seen the bridge as the economic future of the county. As a case study, he pointed to the City of Laredo, which owns a bridge that sees $1 billion of cargo cross back and forth each day — roughly equivalent to what the Presidio International Bridge moves in 14 months.
Portillo did not necessarily want to see Presidio become as busy as Laredo but was hoping to see the city and county enjoy some of the perks other bridge-owning governments enjoy. “There’s no cherry on the ice cream,” he said of the cash-strapped county’s financial situation. “There’s not even any ice cream.”
Now that a resolution in support has been signed, the county will approach state officials, who can send a letter of interest to the county in support of transferring ownership of the bridge.
The power ultimately rests with the federal government — only the White House can issue permits pertaining to the operation of international bridges. With the state’s blessing, Presidio County can file a permit amendment to the State Department, which has 90 days to review the potential changes. The permit then gets passed on to the White House, which has 120 days from that point to make a final decision.
Barnes said that there were a lot of steps to complete before a more set-in-stone plan could be offered to local residents and officials. “This is just us doing our homework and providing information about what other ports have done,” he said.