Letters to the Editor for August 23, 2018

Special to the PRESS

Editor,

I have a question: what is the update on the Yacht Club? I know it was sold to a private individual. I come to Port Isabel several times a year for extended periods and have always made a visit to see the building. The first time I was I there I got to eat in the restaurant and found it fascinating.

But now it is in a sad state. I first have to say shame, shame, shame on the city for not doing more when it owned it. It was given money to start fixing it and they absconded, sorry, used the money for something else, which now has to be paid back, instead of doing something for the club. Then they turned down an investor who wanted and had the funds to put in back in order. They turned him down cause they got greedy and finally had to sell it for nearly half of what he was offering.

So now it sits empty and deteriorating. I’m sure, or at least I hope, they are working on funding, but you would think they would at least board up windows and doors to mitigate the damage being done and do something for the roof to stop the leaks.

My prediction is that it will sit, just like it is, going downhill, till the owners say they can’t fix it, or worse, someone burns it down. Then the owners will get to build condos on the land and make a million. Perhaps that was the plan all along.

Verla Matthews
Evansville, Indiana

Editor,


My wife and I are setting our sights on moving our family from Central Texas to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. We’re drawn to the public schools, the relaxed lifestyle, the outdoors and the water. We support the proposed Rio Grande LNG project because we recognize the economic benefits and job opportunities it will generate for our family and many others.

Currently, I manage a construction materials manufacturing facility in the Hill Country and would like to do similar work on the construction of this $17 billion LNG facility. My wife dreams of opening a small restaurant, which would benefit from the influx of new residents and workers drawn to the area.

We’re planning to put down roots, buy a home and enroll our young children in the local public schools. We’re looking forward to joining the community and to being among the local residents who will benefit from the economic growth that Rio Grande LNG will bring.

Kieth and Maygensin Witt
Georgetown

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.portisabelsouthpadre.com/2018/08/24/letters-to-the-editor-for-august-23-2018/

3 comments

    • John Young on August 24, 2018 at 4:50 pm
    • Reply

    Kieth, Maygensin: Before you make any plans based on the three LNG projects seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permission to build at our local Port of Brownsville, you should check out SAVE RGV from LNG’s website at http://rgvstoplng.wixsite.com/rgvstoplng and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saveRGVfromLNG. Back in 2015, the Port Isabel Independent School district turned down Annova LNG’s request for a tax cut deal because the school board decided LNG would be bad for their students and for their community. The did the same to Rio Grande LNG in 2016. Texas LNG didn’t even bother to ask.

    — John Young, MS, MSW, San Benito, TX, member of SAVE RGV from LNG since May 2014

    • SteveL. on October 12, 2018 at 2:22 pm
    • Reply

    That’s too badd for the people of RGV. I currently live South of Houston where Freeport LNG has ignited community business pride wealth and happiness for Brazoria County residents as well as those near and far who come to work, to play and spend their hard earned cash supporting our schools and our community. I hope RGV pursues an LNG for the sake of the residents, businesses and local overnment.

    • John Young on October 12, 2018 at 4:05 pm
    • Reply

    The coast area around Houston is pretty built up, lots of industrialization, so maybe not as many folks there take offence at the Freeport LNG deal. How close do you live yourself to Freeport LNG? How close to it would you be willing to live?

    The situation’s different here. This is the only tourist area along the Gulf Coast that’s not so built up and/or industrialized. Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and Annova LNG have preleased acreage at out local Port of Brownsville, which is next door to South Padre Island and the Bahia Grande (the largest wetlands restoration project in North America). It crosses an important US-Mexico wildlife corridor and is in an area where bird migration paths bundle together. It’s a stone’s throw away from the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Birding’s a big money maker up and down what we call the Rio Grande Valley part of South Texas — part of the big Eco-tourism money flow some folks love even more than they love the birds and butterflies and such. These LNG operations would also hurt our sustainable Gulf shrimping and sport fishing operations.

    We’re folding an “Active Plan” development into our Eco-tourism, involving the development of a 428-mile network of cycling, pedestrian and paddling trails connecting Brownsville and 10 other communities in the Lower Valley (https://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/active-plan-tour-bringing-national-attention/article_08fb6d6a-cc9a-11e8-955e-cfbf7b7323b3.html?TNNoMobile).

    That’s part of why Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, South Padre Island, and Long Island Village passed resolutions opposing LNG in 2015. And part of why Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, Save RGV from LNG, Vecinos Para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera, and Shrimpers and Fishermen of the RGV filed requests for Contested Hearings this March 2018 regarding Rio Grande LNG’s requests for Texas Commission for Environmental Quality air permits.

    Have you check out SAVE RGV from LNG’s website at http://rgvstoplng.wixsite.com/rgvstoplng and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saveRGVfromLNG ???

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