LAREDO, Texas - LAREDO, Texas - U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez participated in a virtual press conference to respond to what they say is “Republican-led extremist chaos and obstruction at the U.S. Mexico border.” 
 The event was hosted by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and also featured Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Sylvia Garcia of Houston, Greg Casar of Austin and Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. 
 Cuellar, of Laredo, and Gonzalez, of McAllen, said Governor Greg Abbott was trying to provoke a standoff at the border. As a result, they said, Abbott was inciting extremist violence, obstructing federal immigration enforcement, and endangering asylum-seekers, Border Patrol agents, and border residents. 
 Here is an audio recording of the opening remarks of Reps. Cuellar and Gonzalez at the virtual press conference: To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Cuellar and Gonzalez unhappy with Abbott's border policies

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Judge Treviño, commissioners, thank you very much for allowing me the time to be here this morning. I know I don't have very much time so I'm going to jump right into this.   The first thing that I wanted to start off with was safety. Safety is our number one concern with regards to community, with regards to our employees, and with regards to the environment. There's a number of things that we're doing. All people on site today and all people that will be working in operations have a mandate that if they see something unsafe, they have the obligation to stop work. So, if there's a maintenance person or a person mowing the lawn, if they see something unsafe, they can stop work.   Additionally, all the tanks once are built are full containment tanks, meaning that if there was a rupture in the tank, there's enough space within the outer tank to hold 100% of the capacity of that tank.   Additionally, LNG is not explosive. It's not propane, it's not butane. It's not stored under pressure. It's not volatile. It's not flammable in its liquid form. It's not corrosive, it's not toxic. So, we have all of that and we're building the facility to mitigate risk to the community, to mitigate risk to our employees and to the environment. When you look at LNG ships, these are some of the most robust machines on the planet.  

Editor's Note: The above commentary was provided by David Keane, senior vice president, policy and corporate affairs for NextDecade at a public hearing held by Cameron County Commissioners Court on June 4, 2024.  The hearing was held to discuss amending NextDecade's the tax abatement agreement with Cameron County.


Editor's Note: The read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian website. To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Everything NextDecade's David Keane said about his company's Brownsville LNG project at public hearing

Just to refresh everybody's memory. Rio Grande LNG leased a 984-acre site from the Port of Brownsville. The project will consist of five LNG trains. The estimated investment on the project is $18 billion with $12 billion of that being for phase one alone, with trains one to three.   At the peak there will be over 5,000 construction jobs or five to seven years. At full build out the project will have 437 permanent jobs with an average salary of $100,000 per year and the annual payroll will be $43.7 million.   Tax receipts are projected in Cameron County alone from expenditures in local businesses at $136.9 million.   Cameron County granted NextDecade/Rio Grande LNG a tax abatement in 2017 for trains one and two, for trains three, four and five. Cameron County approached Rio Grande LNG about considering some amendments to the agreement to smooth out the revenue stream for the county which would benefit the county. 
 And I'll pass this on to David King with NextDecade. But before I do, I'm going to show a slide. So, I wanted to show this, the list of taxpayers. That is the top taxpayers in Cameron County, and you can see there, the total assessed value on the top taxpayer, AEP Texas is $331 million. That's the current tax rate. The tax calculated revenue to the county would be about $1.4 million. The blue number there for NextDecade/Rio Grande LNG, that is during the abatement period. That is not at 100% taxable values. During the abatement period, for the five trains, they will become the highest paying taxpayer in Cameron County.   So, during the abatement period, I want to point that out again. So, you can see that the first year is $9.6 million, and it goes on to $4 million and it stays consistent. That's how we smooth out the revenue and about $4.2 million in revenue. So, they become the highest paying taxpayer in Cameron County. This is with the abatements and only during the abatement period. This number jumps up substantially after the abatement period is over.  
Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story. To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Everything Cameron County Deputy Administrator Dan Serna said about NextDecade at public hearing

EDINBURG, Texas - Growth, growth, and more growth. That was the message Carlos Garza, project manager for Edinburg Economic Development Organization, made a pitch to investors from India.  
 The event was hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and was held at the Casa De Palmas in McAllen. 
 “One of the things that we boast here is that we are the fifth fastest growing city in Texas. That’s Edinburg. We are actually ranked 12th in the United States. Why is that? Because we have over 140 subdivisions in preliminary review, construction and construction review. That totals over 5,700 lots,” Garza said. 
 “If you are looking for a house you can go to Edinburg, you can go to Weslaco and go to McAllen. But we have them. There’s so much growth going on right now in all of our region, which is great.” 
 Edinburg is growing so fast there is not a lot of industrial or office space, Garza explained.  
 “We have one percent availability, a vacancy rate of one percent, for offices. That shows you that there is no office space available in Edinburg. And a four percent vacancy rate for industrial. Every time some listing comes up, they go. They go so fast, Garza said. 
 “The target areas that we're looking at, healthcare, biotech, logistics, manufacturing, they’re all coming in fast into Edinburg and the region, because they know what's going on and what's happening.”


Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story.  
 To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Everything Edinburg EDC's Carlos Garza said to investors from India

MCALLEN, Texas - Belén Guerrero, Mission Economic Development Corporation’s chief operating officer, recently spoke to investors that are keen to bring manufacturing and high-tech companies from India to the Rio Grande Valley. The event was hosted by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress and was held at the Casa De Palmas in McAllen. Guerrero said there were great opportunities for Indian companies to expand into Mission. “We focus on four major functions: corporate attraction, business retention and expansion, incentive navigation, and business development within our community,” Guerrero said. She also spoke about a feature of Mission EDC’s work that sets the entity apart. “I think one thing that sets the Mission EDC apart from other communities is that we are very keen and very bullish on growing our startups and our small businesses within our community. We really have a tailored and creative approach to be able to assist businesses from the time of inception to funding, to growing. and developing into larger corporations with pretty large investments and job production.” In her pitch to the investors from India, Guerrero also spoke about the 55,000 square feet of incubator space available at the Center for Education and Economic Development She said tenants housed within the CEED building are “really set up for success in a space that is about innovation with like-minded companies that are on the same track for growth.”

Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian website to read the full story. To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Everything Mission EDC's Belén Guerrero said to investors from India

PORT MANSFIELD, Texas - Several tons of trash was collected during the annual Port Mansfield Cut & Beach Cleanup. Hundreds of volunteers participated in the event Miller and Kathie Bassler began organizing 15 years ago with the idea of keeping the area clean of debris and trash from across the harbor all the way to the cut. Dozens of boats owned by fishing guides, private individuals and from the assistance of a San Benito-based boat dealers, The Sportsman, hit the waters of the Laguna Madre with people on board and who spent several hours walking along both sides of the water way picking up whatever they could find. A lot of the debris consisted of plastic and glass bottles, caps, jugs, shoes of all sorts, old gill nets, vehicle parts and even a truck tire with the rim still attached. Once the trash was collected, it was transferred over two large boats and taken to a dumpster provided by the Port Mansfield Navigation District. Students, parents, and friends all helped with the cleanup. Andrew Butler has been bringing family for a number of years. Two of his daughters, Logan, 11, and Morgan, 13, said they like to contribute because of their love for the outdoors and the wildlife. “We like to help the environment,” Morgan Butler said. “We know harmful plastic is for the sea turtles.” The Millers said everything went well even though attendance was down this time. “We had more than 350 people saying they will be here,” Miller Bassler said. “I would estimate a little more than 250 showed up.” Perhaps one reason that was attributed to the brutal weather and the strong winds pounding the area. But on the day of the event, held Saturday, June 7, the wind came down but the heat started to pick up later in the morning. The Millers got the idea for cleaning the area after Hurricane Ike trashed the same spots people have been cleaning since. That was in July 2008. They said they couldn’t let bad weather ruin the places they really enjoy. Several small pockets of sand are frequented by the locals off the water way. So is the beach on both sides of the north jetty. Many of the volunteers come from all the Rio Grande Valley and from as far as Houston and Corpus Christi. The cleanup also is supported by dozens of sponsors that contribute with meals, lodging and supplies for the cleanup. They included local and out-of-own businesses, energy companies, food distributors and many others. To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

Cuellar and Gonzalez unhappy with Abbott's border policies

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