Thursday, September 23, 2021

123 Texas Landowners Agree to State Building Border Fence on Their Property; Texas to Award Border Wall Contract as Early as This Week

123 Texas landowners agree to state building border fence on their property:
More than 120 landowners who live near the U.S.-Mexico border have agreed to let the state of Texas put up temporary fencing on their border-front property, the Washington Examiner has learned.
As of Wednesday, 123 people, most of whom live in Val Verde County, have consented to allow for an 8-foot-tall, barbed-wire metal fence to be erected at the edge of their property, according to a senior adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott. Eighty-two of the 123 people identified have signed agreements with the state’s military department, which is overseeing the process.
It is a major feat for Abbott’s administration as the governor seeks a third term. Getting the go-ahead from landowners will immediately allow the state to begin securing what is a vulnerable spot in its 1,250-mile shared border with Mexico. The remote region of south-central Texas, known by federal border authorities as the Del Rio region, has the third-highest total of illegal immigration nationwide, with 144,500 encounters of illegal immigrants between February and July.
The Abbott administration official said landowners, concerned about rising rates of criminal incidents on their property, initially sought out help from elected officials as the crisis at the border began six months ago. The decision to get landowners' permission to build was driven by residents' requests rather than the administration's initiative, the official said.
When asked if landowners are being compensated or incentivized in any way in return for their cooperation, Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said that they were not, adding that "the incentive is securing their land and our southern border."
The forthcoming border fence is intended to protect landowners and their property as more illegal immigrants who evade Border Patrol make it further into the country . Abbott in June directed state police to arrest and prosecute all illegal immigrants for trespassing. --->READ MORE HERE
Texas to award border wall contract as early as this week:
Texas may award a massive contract to begin building a barrier that stretches along more than 700 miles of the state’s border with Mexico as early as this week, according to the office overseeing the project.
The Texas Facilities Commission, which oversees state contracts, said in a statement it anticipates awarding the border wall project with more than $1 billion in available funding by mid-September.
The commission selected engineering firm Michael Baker International of Pennsylvania and design firm Huitt-Zollars of Dallas to team up on the project. The commissioners must vote on the decision before the contract for a program manager can be awarded, and the final monetary amount has not yet been determined. The program manager will handle the budget and determine where to build.
Four total companies expressed interest in the contract.
Both firms have helped with hundreds of miles of completed border wall projects under previous presidential administrations. This is the first time a state has opted to install a barrier at an international border, as it is typically considered the federal government's responsibility. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow link below to a related story:

State agency awards $11 million contract to oversee construction of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Texas-Mexico border wall

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