COASTAL BEND SIERRA CLUB      P.O.  BOX 3512   CORPUS CHRISTI,TX     78404

General Meetings are held the Third Tuesday of each month, 11:30pm at the Art Center of Corpus Christi,
100 N. Shoreline Drive.

• GENERAL MEETING

  • Date:  March 16, 1999

  • Place:  Art Community Center, 100 Shoreline

  • Time: 12:15p.m. Business Meeting; Lunch 11:15a.m.

  • Program: Wintering MONARCH BUTTERFLIES in Mexico Anganguea, Morelia, Patzcuaro

• COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR
  
  You will notice in another area of this website that we are again asking for member input on their interests.  Please print out the form, fill it out and mail it to the box number (3512, 78404).  We cannot address your concerns if we do not know what they are.  And, of course, we need your participation as well.
  
  You will also note the upcoming GARAGE SALE, scheduled for March 20.  Again we neeg to have you help.  If nothing else, clean out your odds and ends and bring for sale.   If you can help set-up or help sell, more the better.  The main reason for our twice a year sales is that we must provide for ALL our expenses.  We get no help from national.   Our main expense is the newsletter ($100 per month) and so we really need to know if you care at all.
  
  With apologies to the out of Nueces County members, the election on the various bond proposals here in Nueces County is of such importance that we will devote a substantial amount of this newsletter to discussion.  Those of you who live out of this local district might like to send us your concerns in your area for inclusion in future newsletters.  We do not know of them unless someone tells us.

                                                                                                                                     Pat Suter

              A N O T H E R   S P R I N G,     A N O T H E R   Y A R D    S A L E

COUNTY BOND ELECTION         June 12, 1999........

• PACKERY CHANNEL
  

  Packery Channel is too expensive to dredge, to keep open and in our view, the money is needed for "bread and butter" projects.
  
  PACKERY CHANNEL AND THE     NUECES COUNTY BOND ELECTION

  Packery Channel has been an issue since Padre Isles was first started way back in 1968.  At that time, a large public hearing was held on the canals and what would happen there, but Packery Channel came in for discussion as well.  Then in the 1970's the developer wanted to close off Packery Channel and actually put concrete rebutments across the channel to anchor an extension of the seawall.  This was too  much, even for the state, and so a lawsuit was brought which nixed that proposal.  Then in the 1980's the proposal surfaced to dredge the channel to the Lake Padre Marina and 8300 people signed a petition against this.  So everything was quiet for a time until the 1990's.  It seems that every ten years, the desire to open the channel for economic purposes come around.   We are OPPOSED to dredging Packery Channel for many reasons, not the least being that tax money should be used for needed benefits to the public andnot FLUFF.

  Packery Channel is too expensive to dredge, to keep open and in our view, the money is needed for "bread and butter" projects.
  

• THE KENNEDY CAUSEWAY
  
  • Raising the Kennedy Causeway is an issue which has been on the needed list ever since the County opted for the cheapest way to build a causeway back in 1948.  When the causeway was finished, a toll of $1 was imposed on cars crossing, which was eliminated in 1968. The Causeway needs to be elevated onto pilings.   Financing is another matter.  From the point of safety, the road crossings on Padre/Mustang Islands are too low for the mere raising of the causeway to solve all problems.  But it needs to be done.  There are other ways to make the local match to state funds and in our view, this real need should not be sacrificed to the FLUFF projects.
    
• ROBSTOWN FAIRGROUNDS
  
  • In our view, this would be a nice thing to have, but not at all necessary.  It is designed to give the people of Robstown jobs and a fun place to go.   One does not have to argue that this would be nice, but again it is not a needed project.  We put this project into the FLUFF category because there are so many other things the citizens really need in the county.  Better roads??
    
• WIDENING HIGHWAY 624
  
  • This road has  very heavy traffic and should be widened.   However, the greatest danger there is the exit from the freeway onto the access road and not 624 itself.  The whole intersection was badly designed and just widening the road itself will not correct this.  However, this project we do not oppose.
    
    
    Editorial Comment: We oppose an all-or-nothing bond issue.  We believe that each
                                                    of the proposals should either stand alone, or be forgotten.

   

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  The Sierra Club's statement of Purpose is:  To explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

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