EDINBURG – The city of Edinburg approved the development of a private apartment complex that they hope will stimulate their economy.

Edinburg city commissioners voted last Monday to move forward with a public-private partnership. The non-profit corporation will head a new private apartment complex in La Sienna development located on the north side of Edinburg.

The city will have to take out a $35 million loan on the city’s credit to complete the project.

However, Edinburg city commissioner David Torres said the process raised questions about the whole deal.

“There’s a lot of exhibits missing. There’s a lot of things that call for title commitment, deed of trust,” he said. “The way that this was done and the way that it was put out seemed very rushed. It lacked a lot of documentation, which is why I voted no.”

Edinburg city commissioners David Torres and Richard Molina voted no to move forward with the project. But the project is not new. A developer approached the city nearly three years ago.  

Molina recalled the time it was brought up. He said it never got to a point where they had to look at closing documents the night before the meeting.

“Yes, I was familiar with the project. But the way the project was handled and the way it went down, it was a big lack of transparency,” Molina said.

He then showed us how some spots on the documents were left blank when they voted.

“It has no interest rate. It has no date of note, no maturity date and we voted to close on these with this documentation,” he said.

The commissioners said their concerns were addressed in the meeting. They told them an interest rate on the loan will be set next year. The city expects the rate to be around five percent.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke to Edinburg mayor Richard Garcia by phone. He said all city commissioners had access to the documents and have discussed the project in closed executive sessions.

“My understanding was all the questions were addressed. Everything was satisfied and it was going to go on for the next meeting,” he said.

Molina said he’d rather see money be put to other areas in the city first.

Garcia said everything will be handled by the non-profit, which includes contracts for the work on the complex. The city of Edinburg will appoint a board to oversee the non-profit during the first city council meeting of next year.