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Hazard pay coming to Robstown first responders for pandemic response

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Posted at 7:13 PM, Jun 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-23 20:13:27-04

ROBSTOWN, Texas — First responders in Robstown will receive a $1,200 one-time hazard pay thanks to the CARES Act approved by Congress.

The process to send out payments took a while. Robstown Mayor Gilbert Gomez said that the process was a lengthy one and took about two months. City council had to approve an ordinance to send out the payments and it took two readings at city council meetings to get it approved.

"First of all we had to decide if we were going to have enough money after we paid for a lot of the things we had to implement to make sure our citizens were safe," Gomez said.

Chief Javier Zapata with the Robstown Fire Department said that they were unaware of what they were heading into when the pandemic first started.

"It was scary cause we didn't know what it was at first," Zapata said. "And responding to something that we are not aware of is very scary."

Both Gomez and Zapata are incredibly happy that first responders including EMS, the fire department and the police department will receive these payments.

Payments should have been processed into direct deposit Wednesday.