The City Council approved to take over the deed of the star during Tuesday’s meeting.

The chamber, however, will do a month-to-month lease with the landowners until the city of El Paso can work out a deal with them to purchase the land or find an alternate place to put the star.

The lease for the star was up on April 30, and the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which maintains the star, told the El Paso City Council it could no longer afford it.

The foundation has offered to give the star as a gift to the city, but it comes with a huge expense.

Richard Dayoub of the foundation would not disclose what it costs to lease the privately owned land the star sits on, or how much it costs to light it every night. He just said it’s more than $20,000 a month.

The giant star on the edge of the Franklin Mountains has been an El Paso icon since it was first placed on the mountain in 1940 by the El Paso Electric Company, which later handed off to the El Paso Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

In more recent years, El Pasoans have gotten used to seeing it lit every night thanks to Western Refining, which sponsors it most of the year. The company would not disclose figures, but said it costs tens of thousands of dollars annually to keep the El Paso icon shining bright

El Paso Electric said it will pay 50 percent of the utilities until an agreement is finalized.

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