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Friday, August 6, 1999

Senate passes bill to fund dredging
Bill allocates $19.5 million to Packery, faces House vote
By Jessica Wehrman
Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed the final version of legislation that would allow Congress to spend money for the dredging of Packery Channel.
   On Wednesday night, a committee of senators and congressmen finished ironing out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The House was expected to vote on the final bill either late Thursday or early today.
   If approved by the House, the bill will then go to President Clinton for final passage.
   The bill allows the federal government to spend $19.5 million in federal money on Packery Channel if Nueces County provides $10.5 million in matching funds.
   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.
   Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said the authorization legislation would keep the door open in case the community decided to take up the Packery Channel issue in the future.
   "I did what at one time they asked me to do," Ortiz said. "If it's there now, let's see what the local people will want to do."
   The authorization bill is a two-year bill, but because of the provision directing the Army Corps of Engineers to study the project, it's unclear how long it would be before the federal government no longer allows the money to be spent.
   Allowing the money is the first step in a two-part process. The second step is getting money appropriated for the project.
   Following the defeat of the June 12 bond election, county officials have been hesitant about pursuing the Packery Channel project, though.
   County Judge Richard Borchard said any decision by the commissioners court about providing the matching local funds would depend on how much the federal government actually ends up appropriating.
   "It's good to hear that the process is continuing in Washington," Borchard said. "Here locally, it depends on what's appropriated. Hopefully the appropriation will be to the extent that the local match would be reduced drastically. I think it has to be in a different formula, a different percentage, than before."
   In June, the Senate supported $150,000 for studies on the project. The House appropriated another $100,000 for the project in late July.
   The provision for Packery Channel, originally authored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, directs the Army Corps of Engineers to reopen Packery Channel and relocate the sand in front of the Padre Island seawall for flood protection.
   Under the provision, the Corps of Engineers would have nine months to study the plan to verify that it is technically and economically sound and also to hear community comment. It would then report to Congress with its findings. That process, under typical Corps procedures, would have ordinarily taken three to four years, Corps spokesman Ken Bonham has said.
   The Packery Channel plan would dredge an 11-foot channel from the Gulf 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.



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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