DALLAS, July 23 (UPI) -- Texas has spent millions to improve life for the residents of makeshift colonias on the border, but some still have no running water or sewer connections, and more action is needed.
State Sen. Eddie Lucio, who wrote legislation to help the estimated 500,000 low-income residents along the 1,200-mile border, said progress has been made but county government needs more authority to deal with the problem.
Colonias -- "neighborhoods" in Spanish -- have been a headache in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California since the 1950s. They began when unscrupulous developers sold cheap lots and made promises of services they couldn't keep.
"They sell these lots and consequently people own a piece of the American dream -- property -- and they start building their homes, their dwellings," said Lucio, a Brownsville Democrat. "It's a big issue and one that we need to continue to address."
The new property owners, mostly Mexican immigrants, were promised water and sewer service by promoters, but they were never delivered. With little money of their own they built homes the best they could, often on flood-plain land that was unusable for agricultural production.
Some developers also used "contracts for deeds," which meant the ownership of the lot remained with the seller until the total purchase price was paid. The interest rates are also often high, according to the Texas secretary of state.
In 1989 Texas officials began taking steps to improve conditions in the colonias, which were pockets of unemployment, health problems and poverty. Unemployment in some of the counties was among the highest in the nation.
In 1999 the Legislature passed and Gov. George W. Bush signed a Lucio-written bill to provide water and wastewater hookups. Two years later, another of his bills to address the thousands of miles of unpaved roads was enacted and approved by voters in a statewide vote.
Texans authorized $175 million in bonds to build or upgrade roads in the border communities, a vital requirement to address the other needs in the border towns.
In January 2002 the Texas Finance Authority authorized the first issuance of $50 million in bonds. The Texas Department of Transportation selected 274 projects in 21 counties for the roadwork from Brownsville to El Paso. About 25 percent of those projects are completed, and most of the remaining ones are in the final construction phase.
On Thursday Gov. Rick Perry visited colonias along the border to announce that he would request the state finance authority issue another $50 million in bonds under the Lucio bill to build more paved more roads.
Perry said four years ago when he visited one of the communities that there were no paved roads and children were unable to get to school when floods washed out the roads. Postmen could not even deliver the mail.
"In order for colonia children to be able to learn in school or adults to be able to report for work on time, the most basic infrastructure must be in place to ensure school buses and passenger vehicles can get in and out of colonias safely," he said.
Los Fresnos Mayor David Winstead Sr. said the paved roads would open the possibility of extending other important services for three colonias in his community north of Brownsville.
"We can get at least the roads out to them and then can get some of the other amenities, like water and sewer and infrastructure, that will allow them to maintain at least a better standard of living than they are currently undergoing," he said.
In Brownsville, Cameron County Commissioner David Garza said the county's share of the first $50 million bond issue was already at work on roads, and other state and federal sources have been used to improve water and sewer service.
There are 125 colonias in Cameron County and "numerous" homeowners without water and sewer connections, he said. Many have septic systems, but they overflow during floods.
Under the Texas Plan, Texas Secretary of State Geoff Connor has used $800 million in state and federal funds to hook up 320,000 colonia residents to water and wastewater services. Perry said those efforts would continue.
Major improvements have been made over the past decade, said Lucio. There are fewer residents without water and sewer service, the influx of unscrupulous operators has slowed, and the Texas attorney general is cracking down on violators.
"It's like day and night," he said, but county governments need more authority to control development.
Garza, the Cameron County commissioner, said county officials now have only health standards and some model subdivision rules to regulate the colonias.
Lucio said he would seek legislation in the 2005 session to give county governments local ordinance making authority to control the development of the lands and prevent substandard housing and some of the related headaches.
"It would allow county governments to set up stringent regulations for building any dwellings or development in this area," the senator said. "We must stop the proliferation of colonias."
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