The design of the proposed deck plaza that would cap a portion of Interstate 10 in Downtown El Paso got a $1 million boost Monday after the County Commissioners Court voted to contribute leftover funds from previously approved debt.
After nearly two hours of heated debate, commissioners voted 3-2 to allocate money from the $59 million certificate of obligation bond the county issued in early 2023 to fund a wide range of public infrastructure projects.
Unlike the $155 million in general obligation bonds voters approved in November for various county projects, certificates of obligation don’t require voter approval.
One sewer-related project that was expected to cost roughly $6 million came in well under-budget, according to County Administrator Betsy Keller. As a result, the county has just over $1 million available from the proceeds of that bond to allocate to the deck park.
El Paso County previously approved spending $1 million on the deck project last fall when the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation – the project’s main backer – asked local governments to put up matching funds for a $5 million federal grant application. The foundation didn’t win that grant, though, so the county didn’t pay out the $1 million.
Differing views on El Paso Downtown deck park | RSS.com
Those who voted in favor of the allocation – County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and Commissioners David Stout and Sergio Coronado – argued the deck project is a rare opportunity to create an amenity that could boost El Paso’s economy. Commissioners Iliana Holguin and Jackie Butler, who voted against the allocation, argued the county had more urgent needs.
The estimated cost to develop the public portion of the park is $207 million. Tracy Yellen, CEO of the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation, has said construction of the plaza would induce another $200 million of private investment to build housing adjacent to the deck.
Yellen recently said private philanthropists have committed to donate $35 million toward construction of the project.
A five-block-long deck park that would essentially become the city’s central park could create more demand for housing in the core of El Paso, which has seen population decline – and related public school closures – as residents have shifted to the outer edges of the city, Stout said.
Paying for construction designs will create a sharper cost estimate for the deck plaza, Stout said, and he supported investing in the project so that the county can influence how its development proceeds along with the city government.
“We need to contract with the city, so that we’re co-qual partners so that we understand that they’re not making decisions without us,” Stout said,
Holguin and Butler questioned whether that funding could be better spent on other pressing needs, such as sewage infrastructure for colonia residents.
“Commissioner Butler and I, for years, have tried to bring attention to this issue of the (road) paving needs in our outlying areas,” Holguin said. “The Fabens airport, we’re not even able to purchase our T hangars because we don’t have the funding to do that, even though that’s been identified as a priority.”
The county in recent years has directed millions of dollars to build out wastewater systems in some under-developed county neighborhoods, but tens of thousands of households still lack sewage infrastructure.
“We know that people in our communities are living without basic necessities,” Butler said, “and for us to just say, ‘We’re going to pull this to the top of the list because it’s visionary and we want a seat at the table,’ it just isn’t in line with everything else that we’ve done up to this point.”
They both also cited concerns that contributing $1 million now will create pressure for the county to spend additional dollars on the deck plaza in the future.
Coronado engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Holguin during the meeting, arguing the county can contribute to the deck plaza and fulfill other needs throughout the county as well.
“The fact that we’re wanting to invest in, really, a positive thing doesn’t mean we’re not going to work on other things and needs in the county,” he said.
The contribution comes as backers of the deck park in recent months have sought funding from local governments to pay for detailed construction blueprints of the deck.
The design is estimated to cost about $20 million to complete, and the state Legislature contributed $10 million for design earlier this summer. Another federal government grant worth $8 million is up for grabs, but the Deck Plaza Foundation won’t know if it won the grant until October. Backers of the project are seeking that grant funding so the design is mostly paid for by dollars from outside of El Paso.
“That’s money that the state has been willing to bring to El Paso. We’ve always talked about how El Paso is left out of funding from the state,” Stout said. “For something that could be really great if we do it the right way.”
There’s a time crunch, because the construction designs have to be completed before the state transportation agency begins its own project to widen the freeway in Downtown, likely starting in 2027. And the design phase will take 14 months to complete, Yellen said.
Samaniego argued that contributing $1 million to advance the deck park doesn’t obligate the county to chip in more funding in the future.
“What we’re seeking is to be able to see a design that tells us whether we should or shouldn’t go forward,” Samaniego said.
“I think this is generational,” he added. “I don’t think there’s been one deck … that doesn’t bring economic growth.”
Ricardo Mora, CEO of the El Paso Chamber, spoke in favor of capping I-10 and developing the park.
“The deck park plaza will reclaim that space, creating a vibrant, multi-use greenspace in the heart of our city that stimulates economic activity,” Mora said.
Still, numerous El Pasoans on Monday urged the county officials to vote against allocating dollars to the deck park.
Veronica Carbajal, an attorney and community organizer, said she opposes any governmental investment in the deck plaza. Instead, she said, funding going to the deck project should be used to fund initiatives that could improve conditions for low-income El Pasoans.
Some examples she mentioned included strategic tree-planting to add shading and help block blowing dust, programs to increase energy efficiency in homes and flood-mitigation projects for low-lying neighborhoods.
If local governments redirected the funding that’s required to build the deck project, “we would just have all of our dreams met,” Carbajal said. “Most of our community members want to use their spaces. They don’t want to have to drive Downtown to make use of an amenity that they did not ask for.”
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