Longhorn Street Sweep by City Crew

by Tony Vindell/LFN

While many people stay in bed Saturday mornings, a crew of city employees got up early on such a day and went to work along the street of a recently annexed area of town.

Among them were: Police Chief Hector Gonzalez; officer Javen Morales; City Secretary Jacqueline Moya; Carlos Salazar, the public works director; and J.J. Rodarte and Javier Morales, both with the public works department.

The crew showed up at Longhorn Street, off Texas Highway 100 on the west side of town, to collect items residents wanted to get rid of.

That included vehicle tires, appliances, construction materials, lawnmowers and so on.

The clean-up went from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 7 and it netted a good amount of junk people did not want anymore.

Moya said residents were notified ahead of time about the clean-up.

“If it works out well,” she said, “we are going to do something bigger next time.”

One of the problems caused by some home dwellers is the tendency to throw trash under the cover of darkness along county roads, irrigation ditches and even inside city limits – something which happens all over the Rio Grande Valley.

Old tires and furniture and construction materials top the list.

Benito Torres, who lives on Longhorn Street, agreed.

“This is good what the city is doing,” he said, after throwing a pile of debris into the bed of a city dump truck parked at the end of the street.

“The biggest problem is with old tires.”