People who live in the small city of Agua Dulce have never had a city hall to handle business for their city. City leaders have been forced to do their duties in a Nueces County building, but that will soon change.
"At first I thought it was a rumor. But I did call the mayor. He did tell me it's going to happen, it's in the works," said Jose A. Gonzalez, Agua Dulce resident.
Gonzalez has been a resident of the small town since 1990. Not long after the mayor confirmed what Gonzalez mentioned, there were crews working across the street from Gonzalez's home - the future site of the new city hall at the intersection of Fifth Street and Farm-to-Market 70.
"It seems like this new facility is going to give the city of Agua Dulce a better place of conducting business as compared to where they were," Gonzalez said.
This was one of the main reasons Mayor John Howard said he reached out to the Wyatt Ranches Foundation for help.
"This is a county building. The city has never had a city hall. We share it with the county," Howard said.
The city currently has a small office within the county building off of Highway 44, in the center of town, for the city secretary and for meetings with the mayor and city council. Howard said council must meet in the Justice of the Peace courtroom and when he has a meeting he must either use a county office that isn't occupied or conduct the meeting in the lobby.
"We need a nice building for all of this to happen in. We need a place where we can call our own," Howard said.
The new building will not cost taxpayers anything, as the Wyatt Ranches Foundation approved the $500,000 building. When asked if the fact that the Wyatts' own the property would have anything to do with how the city is run, Mayor Howard responded with a simple "No, nothing."
The first-ever city hall is expected to be completed in about 6 months.
"I believe it's going to be very beneficial just a psychological benefit. And, we're trying to improve our inside of our town here. Trying to clean it up," Howard said.
The president of the Wyatt Ranches Foundation tells KRIS 6 News they plan to donate the land where the city hall will be built.
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