Laredo leaders recently approved funding for additional portable air-conditioning <a href="https://healthylife7.com/10-up-pantries-to-receive-refrigeration-units-for-fresh-food/” title=”10 UP pantries to receive refrigeration units for fresh food”>units at the Hamilton Senior Apartments as officials continue addressing cooling, sewer and other health and safety concerns at the downtown senior living facility
Mayor Victor Trevino brought up the issue after visiting the Hamilton and finding temperatures reaching the upper 80s and low 90s in portions of some apartments
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Trevino said portable units already installed may adequately cool one room but are not always sufficient for larger, two-bedroom apartments
The concerns came amid another stretch of extreme summer heat in Laredo. Temperatures have routinely reached above 105 degrees in recent weeks
“You can’t ask people to stay in one room all day and all night,” Trevino said. “They have to move around their apartment.”
City leaders approved the mayor’s motion to use his priority funds to purchase additional portable air-conditioning units for apartments that require them
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Trevino said the conditions are particularly concerning because many Hamilton residents are older adults and some have medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to excessive heat
City Manager Joseph Neeb said the city is working on both immediate and long-term solutions despite another complication: Laredo does not currently own the building
“The city doesn’t own the building even as of today, but we have citizens that live in there,” Neeb said
Neeb said the building’s aging HVAC equipment requires specially manufactured parts, creating a longer repair timeline. City staff said the cooling tower remains on schedule for September
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Beyond cooling, Neeb said the building has two elevators that need overhauls along with additional HVAC, water and sewer infrastructure concerns. Neeb said about $5 million could be committed to address health and safety needs
Because the Hamilton is not city-owned, Neeb said staff is also working on a reimbursement resolution that would establish a mechanism for the city to spend taxpayer dollars on the property and potentially recover those funds depending on what happens with the building
Community Development staff are conducting wellness checks at all 163 apartments twice a week. Assistant Community Development Director Marcela Cervantes said staff go door to door twice a week to check conditions inside the units
Trevino also raised concerns about lingering sewer odors and said those issues must continue to be investigated
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The problems at the Hamilton were among the needs the city sought to address through its May 2025 bond election. Laredo voters rejected a $10 million proposition intended for renovations at the senior apartments as part of the city’s unsuccessful $417 million bond referendum. Trevino said the bond’s failure did not make the Hamilton’s existing problems disappear
Neeb said the additional portable units should help address cooling “dead spots” in larger apartments while the city works on more permanent repairs expected in September
