EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso City Council has voted to deprogram several city projects, including long-planned lighting upgrades at parks and road median improvements, due to a decision not to take on additional debt.

Deputy City Manager and City Engineer Yvette Hernandez explained, “It’s just really making sure that when we’ve identified a project by council and there was not the funds to complete it, it has been addressed and deprogrammed from the resolution and or the Council presentation and the action that was taken.”

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The projects affected include lighting upgrades at parks such as Grandview, Nations Tobin, Skyline, and Franklin.

These projects were dependent on borrowed money, and without taking on debt, they cannot proceed.

Hernandez noted that deprogramming does not mean the projects can never happen, but they cannot move forward with the current funding source.

City Representative Josh Acevedo, who represents parts of central and northeast El Paso, voted against the measure after hearing concerns from his constituents.

“One lingering thing that has been persistent over the weekend talking to constituents about this has been that they found out through the media that this was happening,” Acevedo said.

He added, “I still feel a little weird supporting this just because of the feedback, that I’ve been getting from constituents and them not having a chance. I think they were kind of blindsided by this. Especially the people around Grandview that were expecting lights for all these years.”

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Despite these concerns, the council passed the items with a 6 to 1 vote, with Acevedo casting the only dissenting vote. KFOX14/CBS4 will continue to follow up to see whether the projects could return under a different funding plan.

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