Galveston to rebuild fishing pier, examine potential transit district

Rebuilding after Hurricane Ike

Steve Hawley, Dec 18, 09.

The Galveston County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a contract to rebuild Galveston’s 61st Street Fishing Pier, according to Guidry News. The pier was destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

The commissioners also discussed the possibility of forming a county transit district, as some other counties in the region have done. “Throughout the state of Texas there are many of these transit districts that have been created,” said transit consultant Barry Goodman. “What we are proposing is a district that has no taxing authority without a vote of the people.” County and city leaders expressed support for the plan as long as it had no taxing authority. County Judge Jim Yarbrough said, “[I]t is a preemptive move that will at least stake our boundaries so that anything within our boundaries, our transit district, METRO can’t get our federal money.”

Goodman said that any transit district should be established before the 2010 Census is completed, noting that Galveston County is expected to lose population as a result of Hurricane Ike.

(Photo: Houston Chronicle)