El Paso city officials take no action to protect damaged buildings in Duranguito

There won't be any weather- or fire-protection for damaged buildings inside the fenced off portions of Duranguito in the Union Plaza District for now.

The El Paso City Council voted to revisit the topic during the next council work session meeting on Jan. 18.

More: El Paso City Council votes to seek resolution in Duranguito legal fight with Max Grossman

More: El Paso City Council votes for new cost estimate on proposed Downtown arena

The item originally was on the agenda for Tuesday's City Council meeting, but when District 6 city Rep. Claudia Rodriguez asked city officials about an update on a plan to protect the buildings, City Attorney Karla Nieman and El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said no progress has been made.

On Nov. 9, the City Council unanimously voted to reinforce buildings that had holes punched in them by heavy machinery. The City Council also voted to direct Gonzalez to "hire a consultant and execute all contracts and amendments" to uncover:

• The updated cost to the proposed Downtown arena.

• The project concept.

• Partnership opportunity guidelines, including public-private partnership specifications.

Gonzalez said because of the ongoing legal battle between the city and Max Grossman, alongside residents of the neighborhood, the city would have to have an agreement in place "to feel comfortable" to do anything regarding the buildings.

More: Duranguito is indeed the birthplace of the contemporary city of El Paso: David Romo

More: Texas appeals court grants temporary injunction on arena project, putting halt on city action

Nieman said that "we won't be touching the buildings until we have additional feedback from architects and engineers about how to how to proceed to move forward with doing what we need to do with the buildings."

Not everyone was happy with the lack of progress being made to secure the buildings.

"I want to say I'm really disappointed in the response from staff today," District 2 city Rep. Alexsandra Annello said during Tuesday's meeting. "We had a conversation (on Nov. 9) about what we could legally do, what we couldn't do, to secure the buildings, and we amended a motion to have staff go and discuss this when it came to securing them."

Annello said she wanted a plan to keep the people and the buildings in that neighborhood safe. Annello said it was embarrassing how the city's property looks right now.

In 2018, the city agreed to pay $11.6 million for 18 properties located within the existing arena footprint.

Annello said it felt as though the council was "being gaslit a little bit."

"We're not asking you to rebuild brick on these buildings," Annello said. "We're not asking you to even go in and put in support beams. We're asking that you go and board up a building like you do any other one in this city when it is posing a threat to our neighborhood."

Anthony Jackson may be reached at ADJackson@elpasotimes.com and @TonyAnjackson on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso officials take no action to protect Duranguito buildings