Council makes no decision on old EPNG building; Planning & Zoning grant variances
By John Earp
This past Monday evening at City Hall, the hot topic definitely was regarding the possible demolition of the old El Paso Natural Gas Building, which has for many years now served to house the police department, dispatch, jail, and municipal court. Several citizens spoke against doing away with the old building during the Public Comment portion of the meeting, with most stating the structure had great historical value, being that it was the headquarters building for the company (El Paso Natural Gas) which in many ways was said to have built Jal. After EPNG downsized its operations in Jal in the early 1980s, the building was given to the City, according to Jal historian Brian Norwood.
When the time came during the agenda for the council to consider the item regarding the possibility of demolishing the old building, City Manager Wes Hooper began by saying that the previous City Manager, Matt White, had shared with Hooper that the plan was to tear down the old building and move the police department, jail, dispatch and municipal court to the Burke Building, where City Hall was relocated to a couple years ago after renovation of the old junior high (Burke) building. Hooper said the staff had decided that with the old building property being frontage on Highway 18, it would be best to build a new building on the site for the purpose of having a business of some kind there.
Hooper said he wanted to put this item on the agenda so that the council could make a decision regarding the old building. He mentioned water leaks underneath the foundation, asbestos in the tiles of the building, plumbing, electrical, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) saying, “It would take a lot of money to refurbish that building and get it back to where it needs to be for any type of business to be in.” Hooper said, “I feel like we just need a little bit of direction there, so we can start moving forward.” He did note that the plan right now would be to move the police and courts to the old city hall on Main St. Hooper said, “If we tear it down, the City’s going to build a nice building there,” with a nice security fence, adding, that it would be designed in such a way as to not be problematic for the residents in General Camp.
Councilor Chacon interjected that the old building could be converted to a nursing home, which of course would also require a total refurbishment of the facility, though he did not mention the renovation required to make it suitable for a nursing facility. Mayor Aldridge then suggested that the council take a tour of the old building to better assess the feasibility of renovating the building. County Commissioner Pat Sims was given permission to speak. He mentioned how that the County is having the same issue with the World-War-II-era historic courthouse in Lovington, quoting a cost of $1000 per square foot to renovate it. Councilor Ward made a motion to table the item, which was not seconded after it was mentioned by the mayor and city clerk that it could just be left as a discussion item to be brought up at a later date.
Next, the Jal Mayor and City Council voted to convene as the Planning & Zoning Commission, in order to discuss and decide regarding two zoning variances. The first involved a business that had asked for a variance in order to build an eight-foot fence, which would exceed the city ordinance for fence height by two feet. Because the proposed fence was set back from the street at a considerable distance and thus would not present a line-of-sight problem for drivers, it was deemed an acceptable variance by unanimous decision of the Planning & Zoning Commission.
The second requested variance involved land on the south side of Highway 128 past the clinic, on land that would share an alley with residential homes on Hillcrest. Fort Stockton Welding Supply plans to build a welding supply store on the property, to service the many welders who work in the oil and gas industry in and around Jal. No letters of complaint by residents in the vicinity were said to have been received by the City. The welding supply company owner made it clear that it was not going to be a welding shop, but instead a store that supplies welders with equipment. This had also been made clear by the company through social media posts with photos of their current welding supply store in Fort Stockton. It was also made clear that the welding supply store would not have the huge propane tanks that other larger welding supply companies may have on site.
After a few minutes of discussion, questions and answers, all but one member of the Planning & Zoning Commission voted in favor of the proposed variance which would allow for the changing of the property from Residential “A” to Commercial “C” zoning. Commissioner Lorenzo Chacon was the only dissenting vote. Councilors Seifts, Ward, Trevino, Richard, and Aldridge all voted in favor of the variance.