Officials in Jeff Davis County will meet Thursday to consider a federal contractor's work on a rugged dirt road leading to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The project could ultimately facilitate the Trump administration's plan for border walls in the region.
County commissioners are set to discuss letting Barnard Construction "gift" the county a project to "reconstruct" Chispa Road from where it begins, near a local highway, to the Jeff Davis-Presidio County line, just a few miles from the Rio Grande.
The meeting comes just days after local officials were caught off guard by a construction crew's work on the little-traveled public road that stretches from U.S. 90 near the small town of Valentine to the international border through wide-open ranches.
Officials said last week the crew was working as a subcontractor for Barnard Construction, the Montana firm that was recently awarded nearly $2 billion in federal contracts to build border walls from Hudspeth to Presidio counties.
Jeff Davis County Judge Curtis Evans told Marfa Public Radio on Monday that commissioners are not reviewing a formal proposal from Barnard Construction. Rather, Evans said, it was his idea to explore the option of Barnard donating the road work to the county.
Evans said if the wall plan moves forward, contractors would "destroy" Chispa Road in its current condition.
"That's going to be left to Jeff Davis County taxpayers to rebuild that road," he said. "So if they are willing to put their money and effort and really do that road good, and it costs our taxpayers nothing, that's fine."
Evans said while he is personally opposed to the border wall, he has to consider all of the county's taxpayers and not just those who also oppose the plan.
"I'm just trying to use common sense here and do the best for our taxpayers," he said.
While the Trump administration has backed off the idea of building physical border walls in Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is still moving forward with plans for 175 miles of physical barriers along the Rio Grande through Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.
CBP was set to continue taking public comments on the plan through the end of the day Monday as part of an environmental management process, though the agency had not as of Monday afternoon posted information about the process on a section of its website where such information typically appears.
Critics of the wall have reacted to CBP's shifting plans with skepticism in recent days, warning they could continue to change.
"None of these comments are binding in any way. They are just statements," Laiken Jordahl, an advocate with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, told Inside Climate News. "They could show up with bulldozers and dynamite trucks and start building in the state park tomorrow. And nothing could stop them."
The southern stretch of Chispa Road that hugs the Rio Grande is located in Presidio County, where officials are set to discuss the matter at a meeting Wednesday.
A representative from Barnard was going to speak to Presidio County commissioners at this week's meeting, but County Attorney Blair Park said that will no longer happen.
"They related that they have more work to do before they're ready to present," she said.
Still, commissioners are expected to provide an update on the status of the road work plans and consider public input on the matter.
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