People who live in Long Island Village near Port Isabel said they love their community for many reasons.

“Love the place, kind of disappointed once the infrastructure started,” resident Scott Babcock said.

Babcock and other residents said a $20 million project to upgrade water and wastewater systems that started in 2024 has created more problems than solutions.

The project has left the road unpaved and muddy.

“Living with these conditions day to day, it’s just not right,” resident Will Zuniga said.

The Laguna Madre Water District oversees the project. Interim General Manager Noe Cantu Jr. said weather and other issues pushed the project back by a couple of months.

According to Cantu, road work is being outsourced and monitored by an expert on-site to make sure it's done properly.

Residents said the road conditions are taking a toll and driving people away.

“Several of the people that I know here, probably half a dozen people, have left the community since the beginning of this project,” Joseph Wolfgram said. 

Wolfgram said he’s also considering selling his property with the roads in their current conditions.

“And when people come down a mud road to look at a house that’s $600,000 or $700,000, they're probably not that interested,” Wolfgram said.

The Laguna Madre Water District said it will host a town hall later this month to provide updates and answer questions from the community.

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