by John Waters, Publisher

    In an abrupt change to an agreement reached last year between Steve Smith,  Austin owner of Lajitas Resort, and the Texas Department of Transportation, the federal government will finance road construction around Lajitas.
    In the fall of 2004, representatives of Lajitas Resort presented plans to the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Transportation Commission to reroute 6,151 feet of FM 170 around Lajitas. Smith offered to exchange land he owned for the new route and offered to pay construction costs.
    Recently, however, Congressman Henry Bonilla inserted a line item “Lajitas Relief Route $1,200,000” as part of the recently-passed Transportation bill. Taryn Fritz of Bonilla’s Washington office confirmed the representative’s role in inserting the item.
    Daniel Hostettler, President of Lajitas Resort, confirmed the deal in an email to the Gazette: “Yes, the feds will pay for it instead.”
     “As the road move is for safety reasons as well as re-routing the new highway out of the center of the town,” Hostettler elaborated, “the move will be funded as part of the new transportation bill recently passed. Lajitas has already spent in excess of $300,000 for the engineering, evironmentals, etc. and we do not anticipate being repaid that amount, but the construction costs will now be funded through these federal funds and thus the move is a joint project funded partially by the developer, Mr. Smith, and partially by the federal government.
    ‘And if I might clear up a rumor, at no time in the past or currently has it been discussed to gate off Lajitas after this road move is complete. We do plan some sort of mounumental entrance to the town...”
    The Gazette sought clarification from Bonilla’s Chief of Staff Marc Lubin on why Federal transportation money would be spent on a project a private individual had agreed to finance; at press time, no response was received.