Breakwater plan for North Beach splits commissioners as court readies CDBG‑MIT application

A wave of public comment and a lengthy court debate on Jan. 18 focused on whether the county should prioritize a proposed breakwater project for North Beach — including shoreline protection near the USS Lexington — as part of its CDBG‑MIT mitigation application. Residents and business owners said engineering is near-complete and characterized the project as “shovel-ready.” One speaker, Peter Davidson, said the project had been designated a Tier 1 project by the Texas General Land Office and asked the court for as much as $10 million to $14 million.

Commissioners agreed the breakwater would protect tourism and an important historic asset, but several urged caution. Commissioner Chesney and others argued the port and city, which hold coastal jurisdiction powers and receive dedicated seawall funds, should be larger contributors; they also emphasized a county backlog of interior drainage, colonia and public‑safety projects that also qualify for mitigation funding. Staff and the Council of Governments clarified the CDBG‑MIT program’s LMI (low‑to‑moderate income) obligations and explained that projects submitted for the county application must be mapped to HUD/GLO LMI census tracts and posted for a 14‑day public comment period before the Feb. 21 application deadline.

The court directed staff to produce an LMI‑mapped version of every candidate project and to return to a follow‑up workshop (Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.) with prioritized scenarios showing which projects can be funded within both restricted (LMI) and unrestricted allocations. Commissioners reiterated that if projects are not LMI‑eligible they must be placed in an unrestricted bucket or considered for ARPA or other funding sources.