Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Clinton budget includes funds for Packery Channel study

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Wednesday, February 9, 2000

Clinton budget includes funds for Packery Channel study

By Jessica Wehrman
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON - A $1.8 trillion budget proposal released Monday by President Clinton includes $164,000 for studies on dredging a boat channel through Packery Channel.
   The proposal breathes life into an old problem for members of the Texas congressional delegation who originally fought hard for federal funding to dredge the channel: whether to fight for money for a project that voters rejected last June.
   For Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, the compromise is to work to fund Army Corps of Engineers' studies of the channel's feasibility. That way, if voters decide later to support the dredging of the channel, the studies already will be complete.
   "The president's funding request highlights the uncertainty in Corpus Christi surrounding Packery Channel," Hutchison said. "Should the community decide to proceed, then the president's $164,000 request for Packery Channel will not be enough.
   If the citizens of Corpus Christi choose to move, I will work to ensure the appropriate level of federal assistance is available."
   The Packery proposal received $250,000 in federal funds last year, as well as language directing the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct studies of the project.
   Under a provision authored by Hutchison that passed last year, the Corps of Engineers would have nine months to study the Packery proposal to verify that it is technically and economically sound, and also to hear community comment.
   It would then report to Congress with its findings. Corps studies on the project began last month.
   "This is something we've been working on for a long time," said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi. "It's not dead. We just hope that as we move along, a group of people will like to see an environmentally sound project, and this is what we're trying to do."
   Project with potential
   Ortiz said he's heard requests from people who want to continue the project.
   "It's not that much money, but still, it's alive," he said, adding that it's still the community's choice whether or not to proceed with the project.
   Nueces County Commissioner Joe McComb said he still has hope that the Packery Channel project will become a reality.
   "I'm looking forward to the day we can do it," McComb said. "I'm convinced it's going to happen. We need a shot in the arm down here and I think people have realized that that project has potential. The rest of the country has this robust economy and Corpus Christi doesn't have it. Maybe people will get on the 'dig it' wagon."
   Money issues
   Now that Clinton has submitted his budget proposal, Congress will begin work on its own budget.
   Congress passed legislation last year allowing the federal government to spend $19.5 million in federal money on Packery if Nueces County provided $10.5 million in matching funds.
   But in a June bond election, Nueces County voters denied the county the $10.5 million. The issue was linked on the ballot to other county issues, including raising the JFK Causeway and building a county fairground in Robstown.
   Keeping the venture alive
   John Michael, principal engineer with Naismith Engineering, the company that prepared the feasibility study on Packery Channel, said the federal government has kept the project alive.
   "It is being pursued," Michael said. "We have the authorizing legislation. Now we need to get the appropriations. The corps is keeping the project alive with whatever money has come their way."
   The Packery Channel plan would dredge an 11-foot channel from the Gulf of Mexico to the bridge at State Highway 361, and pump 1 million cubic yards of sand from the channel to rebuild the beach in front of the Padre Island Seawall.
   Clinton's budget proposal also includes $1,008,000 for a study of improvements to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel and $456,000 for a study on the La Quinta Channel.


Jessica Wehrman is a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. Staff writer Jennifer Stump contributed to this report. She can be reached at 886-3778 or by e-mail at stumpj@caller.com

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