Commissioners approve purchase of old FCC building

By Breyana Segura - Chief Staff Writer | August 28, 2024

Resilience Hub to open in Frio

A former Christian school building in Dilley, which has been vacant for the past seven years, was purchased by Frio County Commissioners earlier this month to serve as a resilience hub during inclement weather.
Commissioners learned of the potential purchase during a discussion held on Tuesday, August 13 before casting a unanimous vote on Thursday, August 15.
The sale, facilitated by county officials and Faith Christian Church (FCC) board members, came with a $300,000 price tag.
“We were actually going to go to our realtor on Monday,” Chico Hines, representative for FCC said during the Aug. 13 meeting. “Our price tag was going to be four-hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but the way we are doing it, we are cutting out the middle guy. This will be great for the community.”
Pct. 3 Commissioner Raul Carrizales questioned the county auditor over funding for the acquisition.
According to Crystal Marquez, the county auditor, commissioners set aside $250,000 in the upcoming fiscal year for the purchase of a building.
The grant funding will not pay for the purchase of the building.
Camacho noted the whole property value is $670,000; and church officials have agreed to allow the county to purchase the property for $300,000.
Records filed at the county auditor’s office show the county will submit an earnest money payment for $150,000; the remaining $150,000 is due at closing.
The purchase includes the church building, an adjacent house and pavilion.
“We have decided to put this in Dilley so this is the discussion part of it,” Frio County Judge Rochelle Camacho said.
According to the judge, on Friday, August 2 Frio County officials attended an Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) meeting to discuss a recent grant awarded to the county, the EPA Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grant Program.
The grant, geared towards disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges was awarded to three counties in Texas.
Frio, Wilson and Karnes Counties are set to receive grant funding totaling $20 million.
“This will be for a resilience hub,” Camacho said. “A shelter, to provide essential services during extreme weather, natural hazards or other events contributing to an emergency disaster.”
Camacho noted the county did encounter an obstacle with the grant’s regulations.
“The only problem was they did prefer a shovel-ready project,” the judge said. “We do not have many buildings that need to be upgraded. We have come to a very good opportunity, Ms. [Crystal] Marquez, Commissioner Cano, myself and Mr. Kallio [911 Emergency Management Coordinator] went to visit the Faith Christian Church with Mr. Chico Hines.”
During the visit with church members, the county officials toured the facility and discussed financials.
“We reviewed everything [they are] willing to sell off to the county; I believe we now found a very highly potential shovel-ready project here,” Camacho said.
AACOG does require the county to identify five high-priority areas, which according to Kallio and the judge, include cool roofing, enhanced internet, windows, and generators.
Those upgrades to the facility will be funded 100 percent through the grant.
“Our goal is to have available, for our citizens, a place in the worst heat indexes, and then of course, in the cold,” the judge said.
The facility has other potential uses for programs that include bilingual programs, children and senior services, educational workshops, tax preparation, healthy and substantial eating.
“The programming is endless,” the judge said. “We need a hub to provide services to our citizens.”