Combes, TX (KRGV) — Combes city commissioners voted on Monday to ask the state to inspect a reclassified building so the city can open an animal holding facility.

The city says the $117,000 building was meant to be an animal shelter when construction finished in April 2023. The state refused to certify the building as constructed, so the city did not use it.

According to officials, the city spent nearly three years in a legal fight with the contractor who built the facility. After the case was settled, the building was reclassified.

"We want to do the most humane deal for the animals. So, we want to hold them there while we try and get them adopted," Combes Mayor Silvestre Garcia said.

Garcia says the inspection is needed to help keep the stray population down.