BISBEE — In an effort to reach out to the county and its residents, the U.S. Border Patrol has begun fostering a closer relationship with the Cochise County Board of Supervisors.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, John Nieves, the Border Patrol assistant patrol agent in charge at the Naco station, let the supervisors know he was going to be the go-to guy for questions and assistance.

“We look forward to a better relationship with the county and the municipalities,” he said. “And I’ve been given direct instructions to help you.”

He spoke briefly about the successes of the patrol and its recent milestone of apprehending drug smugglers with a total weight of a million pounds of marijuana confiscated in the Tucson sector, which includes Cochise, Santa Cruz and Pima counties.

“This shows a job well done. We were able to apprehend and seize these drugs before they were carried out of the state,” he added.

He credits the apprehensions and seizures to the added boots on the border, closer surveillance at ports of entry and new technology that allows authorities to watch via remote cameras from Naco to the Huachuca Mountains.

“The Huachuca Mountains are our Achilles’ heel,” he told the supervisors.

The range is vast and the cover to hide is plenty. When people are camping, they tend to become a bit frightened when they see 30 or more illegal immigrants hoofing it down a ravine or trail, he said. So authorities do their best to monitor the area and keep such illegal crossings to a minimum.

Checkpoint questions

Supervisor Pat Call opened the dialogue last month in a work session with patrol agents to discuss the checkpoint on Highway 90 in Whetstone. Residents had questions about the number of agents at the checkpoint that had only one lane open. A second lane would allow the traffic to move along without a buildup that can result in waits of 15 minutes or more, particularly at certain times of the day. Call requested the patrol open two lanes like Fort Huachuca does.

While that may happen in the future at those heavy-traffic times, safety precautions must be maintained to ensure no one runs down an agent if a car gets the OK but one in front takes longer Nieves said.

Call also told Nieves that some of his constituents were very concerned with the other nationalities illegally crossing into the county through Mexico.

Patrol agents often meet with county residents in particular areas where discussions occur and complaints are aired on both sides. Supervisor Ann English asked to be informed of any such meetings so the supervisors have the option to attend.

In other business

• Supervisors approved a $767,733 three-year contract between the county and the Arizona Department of Economic Security to provide training programs through Cochise County Workforce Development.

• Supervisors withdrew an agenda item concerning an Arizona Department of Transportation request to take three roads totaling 1.25 miles of Interstate 10 in Benson into the county system as requested by the highways and floodplain department.

• Supervisors approved recommendations of the county assessor’s office to accept property tax exemptions that came in after the cutoff date of March 1.

• The board approved a modification of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act workforce investment program between the county and the Arizona Department of Economic Security’s workforce investment act.

• Supervisors approved forwarding to the state a #12 liquor license to Mercedes Lee for Esperanza’s Fine Mexican Food in Cochise.

• The board approved the sale bids for county properties totaling $2,175.

• A second work session was approved to further discuss what to do about property owners encroaching into public right of way.