Economic Development Corporation - Regular Meeting

All right now let's go to number three Public comments and announcements. Does anybody have anything from the board or anybody out there in the wilderness? All right, well move right on to four which is approved consent agenda. I am looking for a motion. I

I move to approve the agenda. What is it that you want there? You have to approve the consent agenda.

Okay.

We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Moving on to our regular agenda. So 5.1 is discussion and possible action to approve a facade grant for 5212 Padre Boulevard. And Darla, who's this?

This is for Ship Shape. I'm going to go over the numbers a little bit and then June's going to go over some of the photos with you. So they're going to do quite a bit of work there. I met with Nikki a few times at Ship Shape and her and the owner are actually in Dallas at the market. So June is here and she's one of the managers. The amount that the work that they're asking for is $43,627.25. The addition of the replacing rotted wood is the last bid they got in. And so the split would be $21,813.63. The owner has signed the application. I asked him about the sign. Since there's a new ordinance going on, and they said they did meet with the city about the permit and they did go with the new guidelines on the sign. So I think whenever we approve these and you all make a motion, maybe say something about contingent on the building permit being accepted or something. It says that in the rules and they, do I do ask that but we have like there's been a few things in the past where they had to redo it remember that one building so that's my recommendation y'all can do whatever you want but do you want to go over the rest of this stuff June yes ma'am okay introduce yourself hi my name is June and I am the business manager at ship shape um so what we wanted to do

To the building is repainted because we've noticed some chips do a redoing and we've been going with J&R landscaping. And so what they do is they said they could sandblast it and repaint it. And we actually wanted to go with the new paint and a new color, which is kind of like a seafoam with a white trim. and so this is the before what it looks like right now we did use it to remove the sign in the front so y'all could see the full coverage of it and then this is what we wanted to turn it into so with the seafoam trim sorry about that

There we go.

With the seafoam color and then a white trimming on the edges and everything like that so it could look like that. We were trying to go with a tropical color and we also did get a billboard sign so we wanted to kind of like match that color as well and it's also on our business card too.

Yes ma'am. I have a question. Yes ma'am. When you rebuild that boardwalk around the top, what's the material you're gonna use

wanted to remove the because right now it's wood and it's a really like rotting i believe they wanted to do it with concrete okay thank you it's not you can't really tell that from the picture i know yeah from the picture i know i was looking at that right now but yeah i believe they wanted to remove it too sort of board composite or something okay No, yeah, I believe what we decided is they wanted to remove it because we did get a lot of people like saying like, oh, there's a nail sticking out or like, oh, you could trip on that. We're like, maybe we should just remove it and put like just solid concrete. So it's an easier to people can get up, especially with our ladies that use like canes and wheelchairs and all that stuff.

was just going to say a lot of you have been here this long but whenever they got that sign in the front it was a it was too big like they everybody said it was too big it was a sign now you can't even see the building because everything's been built up around it so by removing all that front you can really see the store better i think well yeah you know you're absolutely way better look at the other picture

And then they did say that as they start removing the wood around, because as they start sandblasting it and cleaning it, they're not too sure if they're going to find any rotten wood. And so they already spotted some parts. So as they go into it, until they remove it, they won't see any further until it needs to be replaced.

Well, that's that last bid.

Yeah, that was the last bid that they sent.

Or the rotted wood.

And then on the sides of the building, we have the, Let me remove it down right here. We have the bar lights on the outside and then the windows, but with the sun being so bright and stuff, we were thinking of putting a tent on the windows so it doesn't damage the clothing on the inside. And so we do have the blinds and stuff, but we could still see some clothing being partially faded due to the lights beaming in and stuff, so we wanted to put a tent. And then on the top where the lights are at, we wanted to put recess lights. to show circle and there won't be wires exposed so they'll be all in the building and so during like rain and stuff they won't be exposed to be inside and so this is the before pic what it looks like right now and then this is what we kind of wanted it to look like sorry about the glare i think that's in your pack that's like but it'll be the blue color it'll be the blue color yes ma'am And we will keep the brick in the middle. That is always going to be there. And we just love how it looks because it's brick and then with the paint and stuff. But yeah, but you'll see the recess lights on the top. So they'll just be the circular light shown and then the tent. I don't think it'll be too dark of a tent like that, but that's just what the picture when you put it in showed us. But it won't be too dark because we still want people to kind of see inside. and not really dim it out. Because we still have clothes in the window that we show people, we dress up our mannequins and everything like that. And then we will get to the sign. And so we did meet with the city manager and we went with the ordinance that they had available and see these are our measurements for the sign. And so we're actually going to try to put it out right in front of the building where the city is telling us to. Because in front, we get a lot of people that say that they can't see our sign. Or when they pass it by, it's just like, oh, it's too far in with the surroundings around it and everything like that. And so we wanted to put it a little bit more forward out into the parking lot or wherever they allow us to so people could see our sign. Because we get people a lot of times that, like, oh, we saw your sign. We had to turn around. to come back to your shop. So we're like, OK, maybe we could do something about that. Maybe get a new sign, since we've had that sign for quite a bit of time. So this is what the sign is going to look like. So we want it to match the brick that matches the building so it looks the same. It will be that tall. And then it will have also, I forgot what it's called, but it's the letters where you stick them in, and then you could change the letters outside. and put it, because that's how people see our brands. So we always put like Olakai, Tommy Bahama, our Reef Sandals, Lulabee. And so we would be able to change those letters out throughout the year so people could see the different stuff that we have in there. But we wanted it to match the brick.

So I have a question.

Yes, ma'am.

On the sign, I see this little guy right there by the sign. And if he is five or six feet tall, how tall is that sign?

That sign will be here. Okay, I know the letters are so small.

16.

I'm sorry about that. I know the letters are so small.

No, but it looks like it's going to be like 16 feet.

Yes, 16 feet.

And we were going by the guidelines of the ordinance. Oh, okay. Yes, that's what we were going by. That was the. I know, it seems like. I thought they were going to make the signs all lower now.

Mm-hmm. But yeah, but that's what we went by.

Just double check with the building department.

Yes, ma'am.

Before you order it, it's not that expensive.

Yes, ma'am.

Just double check, triple check. I know, right, check all our boxes twice and three times. Yeah, I thought that too, it looked tall.

And then this is how it looks.

Sorry about that.

This is how it looks before with the sign in. And so a lot of people can't really see that because with it being blocked with the other buildings, we wanted to push it a bit more out. And like I said, wherever the city allows us to put it out, we wanted to put it more towards the road. And so we wanted it to look much better like that. able to see it on the road instead of um passing by it they're able to see and just go into our parking lot as well but yes i'll triple check with the city manager and make sure that that height is the appropriate height if not we'll do it lower before we order it and everything like that okay somebody else have any questions is that an angle instead of straight I know that's the way the picture came up with it. It's supposed to be straight.

It's supposed to be straight up and down. OK. I just thought that was a little odd.

And when you look at it now, the angle is like, oh, that's not supposed to be like that.

It'll be perpendicular.

Yes, ma'am. OK.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Any motions or discussion?

The new amount they're asking for is 21, 8, 13, and 63 cents? Yep. On that section to approve the facade grant for $21,813.63 contingent upon the signage meeting the new city requirements for signage. I second it.

Okay, we have a motion, we have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries, congratulations.

Okay, you gotta go open the store, I know.

Okay, we'll move on to 5.2, which is discussion and possible action for the facade improvement grant for 1313 Padre Boulevard. And we have the two sisters here.

there how are y'all doing good morning how are you i'm jenna brianna owners of nautico so we are here to present to you application for the facade grant we are going to this is currently what our deck looks like and we would like to cover it so we did cut down this palm tree we did put an eight top there so we currently have

32 seats out there now.

32 seats out there. And we would like to cover it with the same aluminum material that we have on the side of the building, which is, well, this is... Yeah, it would be the same.

Yeah. So we're basically just going to want to come down and either straight out. He's not sure if he's going to be able to come straight out or if he's going to have to re...

surface that area but have you guys talked to the building department yet because I'm not sure that that you're gonna be able to do that corrugated metal anymore because that right across the street you know live right there and that that golf cart place yeah they something happened there was a permit for them to put that on there and they said they couldn't do it and i think they pointed out some of the other businesses that had it and they said they were grandfathered in okay this was like several years ago but just again double check with the building department because you might have to put like regular roof material or something i think we redid that one what i mean right before we opened we Yeah, I think your location was grandfathered in, but I don't know about a new deck, you know what I mean? Okay, gotcha. Yeah, we'll definitely check because I feel like, but then I'm not sure the form-based code, I don't think allowed that, but I don't know if they're still going with the form-based code exactly. I would just double check with the building department again. You don't want to have to rip it up and redo it. Right, definitely.

Yeah, we're just wanting to add the cover just because we've... countless it's hot yeah it's very hot out there and you need shade all the umbrellas we've had to purchase and just how hot it is in that front edition i don't know if y'all have ever sat out there but in the front area it's pretty it's pretty warm so intense yes it's got the hurricane ties and all that stuff on it that would be required yes yes um yeah the 22 650.

We'll have a question. Since you might need to talk to the code enforcement or permit, I'm thinking that the price might be a little bit different. I think that the idea is awesome. I think you guys need it. But the price might be different. Would you want to table it and come back with a new price? Because this may be less expensive than what you're going to run into next.

Yeah, we can table it.

It can be more. It might need to be more.

That's what I would agree.

Well, I meant the tin roof seems to be less expensive, right?

Well, with that material, because there is a cheaper material. I know that whenever we redid it at first, we went with the level up on it. So there is one grade. Certain aluminum. Yes.

It looks nicer than the regular ribbed tin.

I'm just wondering.

If it was more expensive, you're just gonna be out some money.

The extra.

But it's up to you. I don't know if you guys wanna do it, like it's up to you.

The question is do you wanna talk to the building people and make sure that you don't need to upgrade to a different kind of roof before you ask us for half? Or do you wanna wing it?

When's the next meeting? Next month, right? Yeah, we meet the third Tuesday in September. We're for sure going to meet because we have the Sand Dollars grants and stuff, that meeting.

Yeah, I think we should meet.

Yeah, we'll just wait. I think it's beautiful.

It is beautiful. And if this would work, that would be great looking. Yes. Or maybe there's some material out there that's very similar that is another kind of product that I'm not familiar with.

Aluminum, not corrugated.

galvanized steel or whatever that it's considered the galvanized steel yeah yeah that's what i think and just yeah double check that's the one i mean it was very pricey i don't i just remember that because i remember they had put up they were trying to go a little bit cheaper at first and then that's when we wanted that yeah that higher grade hate to award it and then yes no definitely change yeah yeah for sure so we're going to table it and come back next month after they spoke to the building department

Does somebody want to make a motion? Are you sure y'all are okay with that, right?

I move that we table.

We were going to do it in September, but it's so slow in September. Full October.

Maybe you could wait and do it in November. October feels busier than September.

I make a motion that we table the Nautico facade grant until September 1st.

Okay, we got a motion. We got a second to table it. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, well.

Thank you. It's beautiful. Looks nice. Back on you all. Yeah. Okay, let's see.

All right. Move to 5.3, discussion and possible action to approve a resolution of support for South Padre Island to become a certified Texas film-friendly city.

Hold on, I gotta find that. So I had a meeting with Aaron and Kelly And they want to start this film initiative on the island. So I just did it through AI and came up with a simple one page resolution. And then Kelly sent me this one on Friday, I think it was. That was a lot more detailed. But I guess before that resolution, let me just mention a few things. So under Senate Bill 22, passed by the Texas legislature and enacted in 2025, the state set aside $1.5 billion over a decade for this Texas Moving Industry Incentive Program. They are going to be allocating every biennium or every two years $300 million that will go to communities that are certified film-friendly communities, and you can get up to 31% grant rebate. There's all kinds of, it's like a 10-page thing. If anybody's interested, more backup on it. So I think there's a huge push in Texas for film. You've got Taylor Sheridan making all these huge blockbuster films. you know, hits, and I think that they're just realizing what an economic impact that is. Okay, so will you put up the slide that says Why Film in Texas? That has a little bit more information about what I just said. The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program by the Texas Film Commission. Qualifying projects are eligible to receive a cash grant up to 25% of eligible spending. And then you can kind of stack on up to 31%. And then these are the other different rules. 60% must be completed in Texas of production. 35% of the paid crew must be Texas residents. 35% of the total number of paid cast, including paid extras, must be Texas residents. So there's that. And then I have one more slide. She sent me like five slides. Erin couldn't be here. How much are we talking? Okay, this was interesting. So I thought this bottom part was great. So it shows how much benefit you can get in direct local spending for small productions, commercials and indie films. And then it goes up for the midsize episodes and then large production. HBO filmed The Leftovers in the small town of Lockhart, Texas. It generated $1.49 million in direct economic impact in just 45 days of filming. HBO's Love and Death TV miniseries created more than 800 local hires and generated $4.6 million locally. So it could be a really good thing if we get it. And then I have the resolution, I did add it, did it work? I added it after, is that what's on the iPad, the three pager?

Yeah, it's here.

Okay, I don't know, Tom, I hate to make you read this whole thing out loud, but it says if I changed it that what was in the packet that it's best to read it out loud. But you don't normally have to do it. Do you have a problem with reading it out loud? We don't have to. What do y'all think? I mean. If that's what he's supposed to do, then let's do it.

Is this available online to anybody that's seen it? In this attachment under this agenda item?

Yes. Because whatever's online is what y'all are looking at.

Do we ask questions now or after he reads it? Are you familiar enough to answer questions about it, do you think?

Well, I read it a few times. Kelly did this one, not me, the CBB lady, but I did take a few things out that I didn't like in it, but the rest of it I felt was okay, so I'll try to answer.

Who owns the initiative? So if the EDC approves this resolution, is this an EDC? It's the city. So we're supporting the city doing it. So they're asking the EDC to approve the resolution to support the city in owning this initiative. Yes.

One thing that Erin mentioned is that when she went to the conference, it was almost all EDC people doing it and were in attendance. She was sitting with somebody from the governor's office. But I don't think they're asking us to take the lead on that because I think the city, Erin's going to be taking the lead on it.

I thought that CVB was gonna take the lead for the city.

It's a three-way thing. Yeah. It's one of the things I pulled out of, because there's a lot of inconsistency between CVB commentary, SPI commentary, and EDC, which is why I asked who owns it. Budgetarily, where's the money coming from? The liaison... is clearly defined in the section that it has to be a current designated employee, city council, local government employee. So that can't be us.

No, and I think it says somewhere later about a CVB person. I do know that this, when she sent this to me, everywhere it says ADC, it also said CVB. So she's putting the same thing on the CVB agenda. So if there's some, you know, that's why there's probably some paragraphs that are more CVB related and we can take anything out, we don't.

So who's, I know they're going to get a lot of grants for this, but will there be other funding that would come from us and from CVB?

Possibly. I know they wanna hire a full-time person.

It's required that you have a full-time person. You have to hire a full-time person.

And they have to be an employee. In our meeting it was very briefly discussed how that would be paid for and maybe we could share, I'll share it, but that was not in an ask. They specifically said right now they're just looking for this, because this is gonna go in the application to be certified. So basically we're just supporting them to become a certified film-friendly Texas. And yes, there will be probably other things that come from this.

But we would vote on any other funding that we do, right? So it's not automatic anyway.

Yes, I think at the end it even says we're not committing to any funding. She added that, which I thought that was a good idea.

That's section seven.

where this library where they're thinking that that it requires that you have a like film library they need to hire that's one of the things the full-time person will help do um because you know you want to have like a nice condo and i like so that if they call you and say we need this and you've got a list of properties you can boom boom go film that yeah I mean, I think economic benefit is kind of a no-brainer.

I think it's good exposure for the island. I know that about 10 years ago, there was a series of HGTV.

Yeah, there you go.

Beat Trump, Bargain Hunt, Live on Life, all that. And it really put South Padre on the map to some people that didn't know we existed. Yes. So I think it's a good thing. And the fact that they're going to be funded a lot by the grants I think is good. We'll be able to control what kind of funding that we put into it. So I don't see a drawback.

I also like the section seven with the future incentives. So that does not authorize or commit funds for local film.

Yeah, this is basically, it just looks good on the application if everybody in the community's on board

So it will be, it goes, it's on our agenda. It's on the CBB's agenda, and then ultimately it will go to city council for their support. And all this does is go into the package to get certified, which based on what I saw last night, the certification process is relatively simple. There's not a lot to it. So there's really no financial investment up until this point, until we're certified, and then we look to hire a person. They probably work for the CBB. Yes. Okay.

I did say in the meeting I don't want them to be an EC employee. I don't think so. It'd be a 1099. It's probably gonna be a 1099, but I don't wanna, I think they'll be supervised probably by the section outlines that they have to be an employee.

So the fact that this is online, if people want to read it, you don't have to if you don't want to.

Okay, so I'm not going to read it then?

Whatever you want to do.

I mean, I'll read it if you guys want me to, but I don't see the reason for reading because they can see it. It's a large document. They can read it themselves if they're at a restaurant. And I think this is a great thing for the city. It's a great thing for us. And it's not like we're committed to doing anything. So I see no reason not to make a resolution.

I would suggest at a minimum you read the preamble. Okay.

Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Great idea. I think they did...

This is a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Sal Padre Island Economic Development Corporation supporting the creation of a Sal Padre Island film initiative, supporting the city of Sal Padre Island's pursuit of film-friendly Texas certification through the Office of the Governor, Texas Film Commission, and encouraging coordination among the city. Visit Sal Padre Island, the Sal Padre Island Economic Development Corporation, and community partners to develop South Padre Island as a competitive destination for film, television, commercial, digital media, music video, and other moving image productions.

Resolution 2026-08. You can see that.

Resolution... 2026-08 is that revolution. So if anybody's interested, they can read it online. Or get a hold of me. Or get a hold of Darla. And now I'll be looking for a motion.

I make a motion to approve the resolution of the support for South Ponder Island to become a certified Texas film-friendly city.

I second.

We have a motion and we have a second. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Okay, motion passed.

So we will move on. Hopefully we'll become a film destination.

I mean we have some really pretty cool landscape. Look at all the fishing stuff we have and the water for sure.

All right, and maybe we'll have this beautiful Causeway Marine Park that we are going to be. So we're going down to 5.4 as an update on the SPI Causeway Marine Park, and this will be Gail.

Okay, well, two things. One, we're getting ready to file for our application. We've got all the data collected. They're just preparing that final report or application to go into the regulatory agencies to get our permit. And that's a huge step. It took us, what is, a year and four months or something to do that, but much better than the last location that took us even longer and didn't work out. So I'm really proud of the guys that worked really hard on this, Edgewater Resources and Ergus, they really did a good job. September 14th will be an update on the marina and it will be Coffee and Conversation from the Chamber and it's a Monday instead of a Thursday because we needed to coordinate with Greg Waykamp's schedule from Edgewater Resources

I think we may have to move that date. Oh, we're gonna move it? We'll talk offline, but yeah, I think we may have to move that date.

Oh, okay. Well, there will be one here the next day on the 15th for EDC at 9 a.m. They're going to do the update presentation. The one we do here is not as long as the one we do for the chamber. and Greg has a commitment the next day and has to fly out right after our meeting, so that's why we were trying to do it the day before.

We have the sand dollars presentations, too, that we were gonna change the time of, so maybe we don't need to change the time of those.

Well, maybe, I don't know.

Okay, we'll talk about that in my report, yeah.

Well, stand by for the coffee and conversation. We'll see how that turns out. But we do know we're gonna get one next month in this meeting, so you'll get to see all the latest drawings and layouts, but that's all.

I have some questions. Excuse me, I have some questions, Gail. People have talked to me and said, why do we need this? And I know that we want those big boats to come down for TIFT. I had a conversation with someone just the day before yesterday who said, well, you know, there were slips available for rent and nobody came. That's not true. So are we sure that we're going to get the attraction of those boats and the money that comes with it?

Well, we did a feasibility study and it showed that we really need these slips. And the slips that are available are already leased to somebody that subleases. So there's people that are still looking for boat slips want to buy a boat and won't buy it because there's nowhere to put it. But we're having them update our reports, and we can have them update the feasibility study and all the other, like the pro forma and all that. We did some... reorganizing the wetlands and so that helped us a little bit with the price and so that came down so we're updating the reports we had to reflect our final application that we put in. But I'll be sure and have them add that to our presentation and answer that question too.

And the second thing that has been said is like, well, you know, TIFT changed their rules so that people can come from anywhere along the Texas coast and fish so why wouldn't they just stay in their home port as opposed to coming down here well the fuel for one I mean just to get from Port Aransas where a lot of them come from

and the time it takes to get here, you know, to fish the tournaments. And some of the tournaments are one day, they're not two. So that makes it even more difficult to try to get here and weigh in, get back to their port. It's a long way. Okay, I do have one more question.

And probably they're doing that now because they didn't have anywhere to put the boats. They didn't know where to park. They got up at city council, the people from Tifton said, you guys better build us a marina. I mean, it worried me with the way they were talking, almost like we might not be able to keep coming down here. Port Aransas has got all the room in the world for us up there. Why are they having to come down here? Oh, I'm sorry, maybe I took over that conversation.

And I also had a client that... that had bought a new boat and there was nowhere to dock it, so we ended up selling two properties, very nice-sized properties. He had something for his captain and for themselves, and they moved to Rockport because he had nowhere to dock his boat.

okay yeah I just you know I'm hearing negatives why is the city spending all this money who's gonna own it when it's all built who's gonna operate it you know and I don't have answers I would rather he had stayed and brought more friends

Lisa graves so of course you know we have Captain Murphy's so I'm down at the Marine all the time we actually had to move our boat because we bought a bigger boat had to move to slip because it was the boat the sashimi comes in every year for tipped had already lease that for this year. So I mean, I can tell you, we had to move our boat up the channel up by Paradise, or way up there by Captain's Cove, because there were no slips. So I can speak that there are no slips in the marina. And the fact that what the RGB reef, the fads, all that that's going in is just going to be a game changer. And it's just going to attract more and more people in the fishing industry who want to come down here, but they can't. There's nowhere for them to put their boat. And I mean, if we just move with the momentum that the RGB Reef is creating for us, we can regain that title that we need from Port A is that they're the fishing capital of Texas. Well, guess what? So are we. And I think we need to move with that. So that's my two cents.

Well, thank you. All the information tells me that, yes, we do need it. But I have these naysayers. And I don't always have the answers I need for them. I do have one more question. Once it's built, who owns the operating of the marina?

We have a choice. And it can be the city. I don't think the city really wants to do that. And the landowner has offered to do it. They've offered to finance it. And there's another group out of Dallas that is the biggest in the world for marinas, deep water marinas. And they're interested in our numbers and what it can do. So it could be a public-private partnership. But right now, having the city spearheaded the EDC, is to our advantage because we can apply for grants. They're more likely to give us a permit than they are an individual. So getting it to this point, to the permitting stage, improving, it's a viable project to somebody, is where it's been our journey. And that's been what our goal has been. And so what we decide to do with it after we get the permit or whenever, is up to all of us.

Options other than the city owning it. That seems to be with everything that's going on and oh my God, we're spending so much money. We do have options where the city does not have to own it.

There are private equity firms that do nothing but this.

That's right.

That run all over the US and do nothing but this. This is their bread and butter. I like the idea of us owning this process because then we get to decide. Sure. how we choose to do it whether it's direct revenue you know managed by us I personally wouldn't want to go into the running a marina business but if we could if the city chose to or you could do a private partnership or you could invest in a private and you know I've visited marinas all the way from Galveston down to here those that were along the coastline that would compete with us to see what was available now and nothing

Nothing is near as nice as what we're planning and I think we will attract some of those boats that are in Port Aransas right now would rather be here if we had a place to put them. And Port Aransas had a really nice marina and it's city owned but all the rest of them were private owned. The city really doesn't get into running the marinas. But one of the things that happened also when I interviewed that general manager was that they took the funds from the marina and put them in their general fund for the city. And so the marina tends to suffer a little bit when it comes to maintenance because the money's being spent somewhere else. Or that was his complaint anyway.

I've always been excited about the whole thing and I love the thought of all those islands out there and the benefit, the ecological benefit that we're going to get from that. Why are we spending all this money and who's going to run it? Thank you for all that information.

I get it. The convention center has always been a... I don't want to talk about that. That's not on our agenda.

Thank you.

That's

and I'm all together. Thanks for that info, I do appreciate it.

And I'd like to thank Gail for all the hard work she's put in this. You mentioned everybody else, but Gail has pretty much spearheaded the whole thing. Okay, moving on to 5.5, was discussion and possible action regarding the renewal of the draft interlocal agreement with the Cameron County for the boardwalks of South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center. And this is going to be Darla.

So the Birding and Nature Center, I think it was Marv, Richard, Frankie, and Pete came up with this renewed interlocal agreement. I did get a few comments from Gail that we do have a separate agreement with the Water District, and I'll get a copy of that and send it to you. One of your questions was about that. It's a similar document. It's an interlocal agreement with them, and it's probably coming due pretty soon, so I need to look into that. And then you had a misspelling there for, you had a, I'm trying to remember what your other things were. Oh, there was some like an indemnity clause you recommended they added. I sent that to Pete, Marv, and Richard. And I forget what the last one was. I think it was just, do you remember? Yeah. anyway does anybody else have any changes because we still have to get this to the city the county the so i would love it if we could move it along but if you guys have something some kind of reservation the indemnity clause was added into this version that well it's been sent to them to recommend adding that in there they have not responded to me yet but um you know pete moore's attorney so he should i'm sure that he'll put it in there unless there's some reason not to

So we're voting on the one that's here or we're voting on the one that's here with the indemnity clause added?

Yes, you can say that. If you guys want to add that as part of your motion and that you want that change as whatever. Well, that way it wouldn't have to come back to us.

I would rather do it that way. This thing needs to move forward from what I understand.

Other than the indemnity clause and the misspelling, is there anything else that they've not responded to?

Mm-mm.

What was the paragraph where we talked about the indemnity clause?

It was on page four, I think, where it says. Oh, no, that was the other item. You said something about putting the boardwalks instead of in the same manner or better condition. I did tell them that, but I think that they keep ours so good that I think that maybe they don't. I don't know if they'll change that or not. I feel like it was on maybe page one. You want me to pull up your email? Sorry. Let me see. I don't know. We send a lot of emails to each other, but let me see if I can find it. I think I did send it to everyone, didn't I? How long ago was that? Okay. Yeah, I'm in the right email. You know what might be faster? Sorry, let me just search a send to Pete. That'll be fine. We have too many emails, Gail. Well, I guess we have more, too. Okay, maybe this is it. Okay, I'm reading. I think this is it. I don't know why it's not pulling up. You know how long ago that was, Gil. I feel like it wasn't that long ago, like maybe a week ago, right?

Anybody else wants to look? I just did, and I don't think I was copied on it. I remember.

Okay, I found it. Yay. Okay, it says...

I finally found it.

I found it, we both found it. Page 62 in the packet. Page 62. Page two, boardwalks have been constructed by EDC upon property owned by county and may in the future join the existing boardwalks emanating from convention. I want to say they will join and be allowed. No, that's not it.

That's the same email, though.

Page 64. Page 64. It was the last page. That's what I thought at the beginning. Said boardwalk shall be maintained and operated in the city at or better. No? Where is it? Such transfer takes place. Do you see that? If such transfer takes place. In whole or in part, it's agreed the BNC will stand in the place instead of sitting EDC as a party to this agreement to the degree such transfer gives it an interest in the matters covered by this agreement. Should we add, and the parties to this agreement agree to release, indemnify, and hold the EDC harmless from any and all liabilities, claims, or duties arising on or after the effective date of such transfer.

Say that again. I think I went in a circle.

Okay, wait. Okay, so it's the top paragraph.

Right.

And we just add that at the end. And the parties to this agreement agree to release, indemnify, and hold the EDC harmless from any and all liabilities, claims, or duties arising on or after the effective date of such transfer. Do you think anybody's going to have a problem with that other than just saying, well, why just EDC? They're going to say all parties or something.

It kind of says that right now. It says if such transfer takes place in whole or in part, it is agreed that BNC will stand in the place instead of the city and EDC as party to this agreement. So it already says that.

It does. It just didn't use the word indemnify, but the inference is the same. Okay. Stand.

Because I don't know if they'll add it or not, so I did send it. So y'all just wanna leave it as is?

Well, there was another issue, and that was the boardwalks. And joining the existing boardwalks, it's page 62, currently emanating from the convention center, which are located upon county property. And it says that they may, which are located in the county. Why not say they will join?

I think that's a lawyer thing. They always like to use may rather than will.

Well, it may not happen either. It's better to say will, may. Well, they're also not the same construction. They're not the same condition. There is a big may on that.

Do they want to join those? No.

not right now nobody okay okay sometimes people suggest it but it's a huge expense yeah because they're not trex decking like the boardwalks at the verdict center oh okay and there have been promises that that they would be updated to that and if that happens yeah maybe that would be a good consideration but right now at least the last time i looked which has been a while um it wouldn't be something you'd want to take on.

It's doubtful.

Now, I guess if somebody's, I don't know how this works, but we can approve it like this, and then if someone changes it at the county level or something, I guess I got to bring it back to you with that change.

That would be true.

This can go on for months. That's why it's expiring in November, and I started sending this out in February to people.

Yeah, we need to get this approved.

I knew this was going to take a while. I remember this original one 20 years ago.

So what you're asking for us today is to approve this in the form in which it's presented in the package. Yes, ma'am.

And if it gets changed, I'll let you know. I don't know how. Unless it's like one little word, I might not.

That's what I was gonna, I don't know how we could sign, add a, I don't know how we can make a motion that would accommodate for the massaging of attorney words. And you know what I mean? I think that we could probably make a motion to approve it like in, with its intent. barring any significant change in the underlying.

Minor adjustments would be approved.

Right, something like that. That way they don't come back to us with. Good idea. Will versus might versus. Because there might just be little picky, you know, little things.

E's, stuff.

Well, let's make a motion for that.

I make a motion that we approve the agreement, the local agreement. as is and or with minor adjustments made by the other parties. That don't materially change? That don't materially affect the intent of the agreement.

I'll second that.

Okay, we have a motion and we have a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries.

I wish I knew shorthand. No take-backs.

No take-backs. All right, so now we're going to move on to 5.6, discussion and possible action regarding paying off the bond for the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, and this is Darla.

Okay, hopefully I did send another email, but I think someone had a question about it. But basically we'll save the $43,000 in interest if we pay it off now.

Everybody realizes.

I don't know, Wendy, if you want to ask a question.

I don't think we're actually going to say 43,000. I thought it was 30,000. OK, 30,000. 13,000 we got already.

13 is happening anyway. Yeah, 30,000. He said in his email we would say both.

I'm not sure that everybody is aware that from the original bond, this was refinanced a few years ago. Yes. Which then was upsetting to a lot of us, including myself. in that yes there were some advantages to doing it the financial gurus of the city etc highly recommended that it happened because it lowered the payment and et cetera et cetera but it also extended the number no it did not oh i thought it did not nope it's always been 20 it's always been expensive okay well then forget it all it did was lower our interest rate to two percent that was the perfect part but i thought it extended the link no i was like where is she going with this

No, it did not change the expiration date.

Okay, well, the rumor was. I promise it did not. Since it did not, well, anyway, the whole point is, this has been hanging over the EDC's head for so long that if we have the opportunity right now to pay it off, go for it. That would be my recommendation.

Well, all I wanted to understand, well, like the 375 is a non-negotiable. The interest that's generating, that we owe that, that's happening, that's accruing either way. So I think we're actually saving, I don't actually think it's 30, but either way, we're the ancillary. Like it was 29. Yeah, the only question, right, is the 390, the extra 390. So is there anybody that can tell us what we earn in interest income on that money, where it's at now?

So that's a whole other discussion probably. Is it more than $29,000? Well, when Rodrigo left, we had some CDs that needed to be renewed. So she just got all. Sandra, the new lady now, has gotten everything. So we're going to be moving more into investments. I think we had three, and I think we're down to one. But the mayor wants all the CVB investments. I'm not sure if I'm answering your question.

the point is if we make if if we have a two percent note on 390 000 in two percent interest and we have that 390 in a cd that yields six we should not be paying this off i just don't know the other math yeah i think the cds we had were yielding very uh we're yielding less than that but um

Do you see what I mean? I don't know that part. But if anybody want to know that, it would be paid out of that $2.8 million we have in reserves. And then what would happen is, you know how we did our budget already and we put the bond payment in the budget? That money would go into other projects.

So what I understand is this goes into some sort of escrow account?

Yes.

And there's a charge for that? but the interest we save by putting it in that comes into play along, but like, Wendy said, how much are we losing in interest that we could have had it in a CD?

But we don't have much in investments right now is our problem. That's the issue. We've got all that fund balance, and you can see the investments is very low. We've got to get some more. The mayor thinks that we can go by with $500,000 in the fund balance and have it all in investments, but they haven't been doing it aggressively.

Well, that's not an agenda item, so we don't worry. No.

But I know she's already working on that. Looking to see the best rate and stuff.

I guess my question is net-net. We put this money in escrow to be paid. We save money.

Again, it's only in there one month.

But what is the net result?

Until October 1st.

what we save, and we gotta factor in what we could have made.

I don't know that answer. The net benefit is, assuming we're making just a baseline, like 2% or 3% off our interest, we're gonna save about 18,000 bucks by paying the 390 off early. If, assuming we just have a basic, like money market interest rate, which there's no chance we have less than that, that means after you take the 30 off, we're probably saving 18,000 or so.

Well, it's 19,000, I mean.

Unless we have $390,000 in projects. Yeah.

Why not? I mean, what's the drawback? Why don't we?

I don't see one. You know how I would vote. Okay. It's important that we make it. It's a fiduciary decision, not a budgetary line item. I understand an ancillary benefit would be that we can move a budget item, but that should not be part of our decision-making process. It's a fiduciary decision.

When it originally came up, it was researched, I thought, to find out if there were going to be any penalties. And there's not. And there's not. We knew that there weren't going to be any penalties or it wouldn't be even being brought up right now. It wouldn't be on the agenda.

I think it's a win-win deal.

Okay, do I have any motions?

that we pay off the note October 1st of this year.

Do we have a second?

Yeah.

Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. We will pay off our debt and that'll be a fun thing actually. And it's a big deal for, I mean, we got the birding center.

I had that on my budget almost since I got here.

I'm worried about that silly note being extended all this time.

No, it was not extended.

Rumors get around this island. It's just nuts.

It's just always so negative. It's so negative.

Rumors will beat you home.

I've thought that for years, guys. Never said that to me.

Point seven, discussion and possible action regarding a new project to recruit young professionals to start businesses here. And this is Darla.

This is fun. Okay, so, you know, Glenda and I met on this once, but we didn't really understand. what we were going to be doing. So I think this is kind of self-explanatory. We're basically going to try a new program to bring some young professionals to our area. The original AI thing that I had received had a lot more communities in it. So I like some of the ideas that some of the communities are doing out there. I just don't even want to speculate about what it could be, because this is so preliminary. What I need help with right now is I've got UTRGB on board on this committee with me. It originally went to Randy and Wendy at the city, Kelly at the CBB, this email about this project. But I think I make the most sense on taking the lead on this. So I guess I am. So if there's any board member, and Glenda, I am hoping it's still you. Now that we have a little bit more information to go on, I'd like to form a committee. And I think the other people that he had the mayor had sent this to was Chad Hart and Will Greenwood, because I think he was thinking of a realty property management. So I don't know if they would be on the committee. They're pretty busy. But you could kind of handle that part of it, too, that piece. and i think just brainstorming and finding out which thing would work the best for our community and see if we want to do some kind of stipend or we want to do i can reach out incentives i think this one community did something that looked like they were giving them a lot of money to move there but it was a lot of like dolphin watch rides it uh it was like gift certificates at restaurants you know that they put in the bundle i don't know if y'all read that one but i thought that was interesting but i don't know Just very preliminary.

Do you need a motion to form the committee?

I just want you to know that I'm going to be working on it basically. I don't even think we need a motion. And just know that it is going to be a little time consuming at the beginning until we figure out what direction we're going to go. And if anybody has any ideas, you know, it's a problem all over in resort areas. You know, Telluride has a really good one, but they're spending a lot of money. So it just depends on how deep we're going to go. Gail made a good point, I think, in an email to me that with Saronix and with LNG and with SpaceX and all that, we will be getting more permanent residents. I think out of that we should be. I hope the realtors are all working on that, but. you know i think we had gone so far with the short-term rentals maybe we need to start getting more long-term rentals back in the communities i don't know i don't know what the problem is i don't know how we how do we make it easier for these people that are going to be working over there on all those big projects so i think they're hiring like 10 000 people and they're paying them over a hundred thousand dollars I'm sure you want to sell them a house rather than rent them a house.

But a lot of them might just want to be here for a year or so. I don't know. Well, with me, a lot of them are, I don't know if I want to make that commitment because I don't know how long I'm going to be here. So they usually want to live here for a year and see if they're coming. Property owners are, well, they're investors, and they're not interested in long-term. They're interested in that short-term ride when it's peak season.

Yeah, although I heard there were so many that the short-terms weren't working, so maybe. We'll see.

But, Darla, one thing that is, I mean, you're in a resort area. And if you rent your property out long-term, you can't stay in it. If you rent it short-term, you can be here July 4th weekend if you want to be. That's why that doesn't work usually. So there's an appeal to the ownership here of short-term rentals so that they can use it also and get the income to assist with the payments that they make, their maintenance taxes, et cetera. So that is a huge factor in their choice of whether they want to do long-term or short-term.

Well, maybe we just support Port Isabel or Laguna Vista building some different housing, but I heard that there might be some apartments coming here.

So Darla, I have a suggestion. Tom Goodman started an organization with the property managers here on the island. Yes. They're all geared for short-term rental. That is their business. Yeah. But he may have some ideas on how to come up with some long-term rentals, whether it's here or Port Isabel or wherever. And they make more money if they do short-term. So they push for it. The owners push for it. and it's a tough sell, but there is a need for it, and there's a need for maybe someone constructing buildings that are only long-term. There's got to be advantages to that, of course.

Yeah, I think that's why we want someone in the real estate.

Somebody good to have on that committee.

Okay, well, Glenda, are you gonna be on my committee?

Yes, I will be on that.

Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure you're all in now that we have a little bit more information. Okay.

Let's go ahead and move on to 5.8, the Executive Director's Activity Report, including the latest economic indicators, projects, and events. And this is Darla.

Yes, and I just want to say hi to Ashley Montemayor from the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, who said she's coming to our meetings, and she's coming to our meetings, and I feel so bad I forgot to tell her about the last meeting when it didn't happen, and she came to the island. I said, oh, hopefully you can at least go have breakfast somewhere.

Can we hear from her?

Yeah, do you have anything, news or anything you want to just... Okay.

Can you come up to the mics? Nobody can hear you that's listening online.

Yeah, I'm gonna mention something that you'll be interested in in my report about that, but yeah. Hello, good morning.

Introduce yourself.

I'm Ashley Montemayor from the Regional Mobility Authority here in Cameron County. I'm the Marketing and Communications Director. I don't have information on the second access. We haven't had our TxDOT meeting, but I do just want to say on the record, TxDOT is a sponsor for that project, which I think I've mentioned before. So they're the spokesperson for that project. Anything that they release to us, which they haven't yet to communicate, I definitely will. I have been attending the chamber meetings. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to give any information either, so what you know is what I know. I do know we are waiting for certain approvals environmentally, and that can take time, but that's pretty much it.

How often does your board meet? Are they meeting monthly? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Is Poncho still the chairman? Frank Parker?

Yes, ma'am. Okay. He's still the chairman. Okay. And I believe our board meeting is set for next Thursday, the 27th, I believe. Okay. If you can correct me on that.

Would you mind sending me the – or where's the agendas? It's just on the CCRMA website?

Yes, ma'am. I'd like to see – But I can take note of that and forward you that agenda once it's posted. Okay.

Yeah, that would be a good idea. I've been to some of the meetings, especially when –

when edc was spearheading the second causeway project okay before the sit and then the city kind of took over but um yeah i'd like to look at the agendas that'd be good are there any questions that you all have that i can take back to see if i can have them answered for you all at the next meeting i have lots of questions but there's no answers for them yet If they need it on top priority, you know, you can get them to Ms. Darla. When is your next meeting? Next Thursday. I believe it's the 22nd.

So next Thursday.

I'm sorry, 27th, if I'm not mistaken. 27th. Okay. Okay.

The timeline is still the same? Beginning of next year should be beginning it?

As of right now, the timeline hasn't changed as of right now. Of course, depending on approvals and how long those things take, it can change. But as of right now, it hasn't.

Yeah. Well, I guess we might get some more information at, we're having Alex Mead from TxDOT at a luncheon in a couple weeks, so.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, hopefully he's gonna bring us some good news.

Yes, I hope so. We'll see. But yes, if you do have questions, you can send them to me.

Yeah, and I'll be inviting your board to that probably. Okay. Or at least, you know, Pete for sure. Yes. So, okay. I'll let you know. We're still kind of figuring out who's. I offered, we have a committee working on it, and I offered to help get the people there, so I'll make sure he gets invited. I know the mayor already said invite the county people, so.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for coming to the meetings. If they're starting on this end or that end when they're beginning it in January?

just because I know that there's different project, how can I say it? I guess proposals. So it would depend on the one that they finalize where they're gonna start, on which end. Yes, sir.

Good question. I would think they'd start at both ends and work towards the middle, but who knows?

Thank you.

They did this one. Okay, so let's start off with the economic indicators. I have such good news. Sales tax revenue, May 2026. was 546,809, the highest May ever, and that was a 7.10 increase. over may 2025 then in june 2026 we had 813 437 highest june ever it's a 17.30 increase over june 2025. i mean that's outstanding um it's like i think a lot of the new restaurants i mean i don't know it's like june was busy i'm trying to remember last year maybe we had some rain or something but i looked at all the years going back and it's just still so high on the occupancy tax revenue they collected 1.473 million for may 2026. that was the highest may ever also which was a 29.44 percent increase over may 2025 for june 2026 the hot tax collected was 2 million 25,222, which was a 10.37% change over 2025. It was not the highest ever. 2021 and 2023 were still a little higher, but very good start to our summer for sure. Property tax revenue, June 2026 collections were 83,823. July was 78,285. Those are not big months for property tax. Building permits June was $3 million and $11,367. That was mostly a home at the Shores and the addition at the water park, some new business at the water park. It was kind of evenly split between commercial and residential that month. And then in July, the building permit valuations was $2,012,628. That was mostly the Cafe Karma new drive-through location at 3213 Padre Boulevard, where the old putt-putt was. Will's putting in a drive-through Cafe Karma. And then there was a huge commercial repair at Saida 3. I want to say it was almost $1 million, $800,000 per. It just said commercial repair Saida 3. So I don't know what they're doing over there. On the Sand Dollars for Success, the business plans are due September 3. We ended up getting seven. I think it was kind of slow when they had to apply in July. Everybody's busy. Right now, I have the presentations on Monday the 14th. Normally, we start those at 10. Since we don't have that many, and I have a feeling we might only get six out of the seven, Gail's thought we might do coffee and conversations and start at 11, but that's not gonna happen now. So do y'all wanna go and just start at 10 like we usually do and we'll probably be done by 11.30? If that works. OK, I'll just do that same. That's kind of how we usually do, but we'll have a little bit less. Who we have is, let's see, three existing and three new. Crystal Rose Salon and Spa, Karen's Custom Toe Rings, and Nautico. Nautico, believe it or not, they still have $13,000 left because I think when they applied the last one, we told them we only gave them $2,000 for the air conditioners. they did a facade grant for. So they can get up to 25. They've already gotten 12,010 plus two. New businesses that applied are Paws and Stay. It's a dog feed daycare place.

And Joyful Living Market. It's Shawn and Dana Renzel. Okay, yeah, Dana's the, I think because their email address is like joyfullivingbydana. They're pastor at the one, two, three.

Oh, cool, okay. And then skin, it's S-K-I-N. She's in this actually in summer space. So she's coming to apply. And the wine bar had $5,000 left. And they did fill out the application because they've already gotten 20. But I don't know if they're coming or not because she didn't answer my last email. But they might just be busy. The Birding and Nature Center, the board voted unanimously to support. Let me make sure I get the language right. to support moving forward to develop a butterfly pavilion. That was pretty much all that was discussed. So they didn't feel like that. That was two meetings ago. They didn't feel like they were ready to come to EDC. Richard's chomping at the bit to come. So probably next month, Richard might be here.

I don't know. I think we needed some clarification.

He doesn't want to move forward unless everybody wants it.

So when you say they've decided to move forward, that means their board and their funds have decided to pursue that. Yes.

Well, they don't have much funds.

Your inference is that he's going to come back here and ask for it here.

Yeah, I think right now he just, you know, because he started on the aquarium and it got, everybody didn't want it, right? So they told him don't do that again. So they all approved it. Now he can go and say, hey, what do you think about this idea? And he's just going to like see if the board is in, I'm not going to speak for him, but I think he's going to be coming out of the field. Can I add a little bit? Or someone from the birding center.

Can I add a little bit to that? You know, I've been involved with trying to get, something done with the butterflies for a long time. There is a movement afoot with some of their board, with some other people in the community to explore doing an outdoor butterfly garden as opposed to a pavilion. A glass pavilion. It might change because I know that within this month, we'll be going to Mission. and going to see their outdoor exhibit, and also going to McAllen to see what Quinta Mazatlan has done with their pavilion. That's a good idea. So we also have a big, huge thing, and I would love it if anyone in the public or in this board has ever been to the Butterfly Festival that they have in Rockport in September. Okay, I believe we will, some of us will attend that, where they have these, it's a hummingbird festival where they go for people's backyards and they've encouraged, just like we did the monarch thing, they've encouraged butterfly. Pollinator plants. Pollinator deals, I mean hummingbirds. The hummingbirds and... which includes other nature. And so I wanna see how they do that where if we encourage more of the monarch type gardens, et cetera, all over the island, that that would help too. So I think we're on a butterfly mission.

Might be a few months.

Yeah, we're on a butterfly mission, several of us. And I'm paying a whole lot of attention to it because I care about it. And so that's where we are right now. I don't know necessarily that somebody's going to come and ask for a building.

Yeah, okay.

Because I think the outdoor things are... pretty cool and when you do uh some of the butterfly gardens that i have been to uh have glass ceilings and or not glass necessarily maybe it's made out of lucite or something but you know some of those buildings don't really um work real well in a hurricane zone so that's why that's why You know, everyone's in the exploration stage right now. I don't think anyone's going to be coming really anytime soon.

The outdoor would be a lot cheaper.

Well, an outdoor, that's part of nature. I mean, it is. Okay, well, that'll be to be continued. Right, and I'll tell you something else that I found interesting. I didn't realize how many hundreds of... butterflies there are in the lower rio grande valley that's been eye-opening for me and so i think i think there's a possibility that we could do a really um great public park oh that sounds great so that's kind of the way i think this group is some of them are going anyway At least they're looking into it.

OK, that sounds good. OK, so they approved the draft interlocal agreement for the boardwalks. They received a grant from the Kleberg Foundation for $65,000. that they have to match it, though, but that'll be going towards the wetlands restoration. Wetlands restoration phase two. So you know how we paid for phase one. Phase two's gonna be all that area over closer by the... convention center not their boardwalks but kind of between our boardwalks and their boardwalks all that wetlands area phil hanley from ergus is working on the core permit for that phase two um i think javier was thinking somehow this work would be done this year but i said you got to get the core permit first and then we can only do work in the wetlands from November to March or something like that because of the nesting season. So in other words, this would have to be permitted by November. And that's not going to happen. So they have a lot more time to raise funds.

And I've told them they're going to have to get grants for this because we don't want to have to pay for phase two.

So I gave Javier some ideas the other day about they do have a grant writer. Now, the grant writer they have is really good at the foundations. But the kind of grant we probably need for this is some kind of US Fish and Wildlife or Texas Parks and Wildlife or something. So I'm going to pass on that information you had about what they're going to do, maybe getting a different grant writer or something. The Art Business Incubator, we got a new program director. I think we got the good one here, Jose Lozano. He's doing a great job. I think he's a perfect fit. He really is. He's been there about a month or two. He was an artist. He went through the program. I want to say he was in the second or third year. And then he went and he's been working at the Brownsville Museum of Art and UTRGV and He does teach classes down at Art Space. Y'all might all know him. I mean, he always comes to every Island Art event. All the artists know him, and I think he's really gonna do a good job for us. Our ARA fundraiser is October 3rd. Lynn Tate is gonna be selling tickets. EDC will have tickets for the board members. Will y'all please let me know if you wanna go? It's October the 3rd, and I think Jim went last year. I think Tom went last year. Were y'all the only two that went? I went. I was there. Of course you went. I think it's six to nine, right, Lynn? That's what time I'm thinking. Isn't it election day? Yes, I think it's at six.

That is election day, so be sure and vote first.

Yeah, it is six to nine. We talked about maybe starting a little later, but then it's kind of hot at the beginning. But I think we're going to keep it that time. It's in the atrium area. Oh, that's right. Okay. Well, then you go into the studio spaces.

It's a really cool thing. It was the best event I think I've ever attended here. So that's why I said all they were missing were people. So I said, well, I'll sell tickets.

And we are limiting it to 150 or 100? 150 people. Only 150 tickets. So I keep saying I'm worried and Lynn keeps going, no, we're going to be fine. OK, we'll sell out, I'm sure. We accepted a new artist, Alyssa Bono, or Bono. She is a painter. She works for the CVB at the Visitor Center. I love when they live on the, and she lives on the island. So we don't have to worry about her housing. We are interviewing two artists tomorrow, a painter and a photographer. The painter's from Brownsville, and Nadia is a, a lot of her photography is landscapes, black and white, nature, but she also does some portrait photography. Maya Hardnett, one of our artists right now, is painting a huge mural in the 2500 Breezeway. It's an underwater scene. It's humongous because she's doing the roof and all the walls, you know, that breezeway that goes all the way back to the back. Finally, we're getting some things that will bring people back so we can get those spaces in the back filled. We have seven spaces right now. We have lots of spaces. So we're trying to get some artists that are really ready to do a studio. Let's see, Jenny Mancello and her wife Erica took over the art lounge and they're gonna have a venue for events, music, art, they're still gonna have a lot of, it's still gonna be an art related business, so happy about that. I'm not sure when they open. They always are in Buffalo for the summer. I think they come back pretty soon, I think next month. So I'll keep you informed when they open. Quality of Island Life Grants, I did look at all that again, and I think I have a lady, a girl. young lady, helping me with my website. And hopefully she's going to be able to help me figure out, because I want it to be an online application like the Sand Dollars one. But I also need to have where they can upload attachments. And I don't have that on my sand dollars one, so I don't know how to do that part. Hopefully she can help me with that. So I'm hoping that I can get that done in September. We can start taking applications in October. I know the Parks Department is interested. I attended an event in Primera. It was a Janie Lopez, State Representative Janie Lopez. And it was people from the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Tourism. There was a few CBB staff there also. And I found out where Primera was, because I didn't know. They have a nice little new building over there. It's outside of Harlingen. The Island Horizon breakfast, I think that's what we're calling it. Island Horizon. I saw that in the last email. The breakfast with tech stock commissioner Alex Mead has been confirmed for September 10th at 930 at the Convention Center. We don't really have to do much because who the email's been going to is Nikki Kelly at the CBB and myself. And I asked what can we do to help and I told them that the chamber offered to help if we need the chamber to help. I think we can definitely have y'all help us get the word out but I'm not sure exactly who all we're inviting to this. I think it's everybody. They even talked about since they want really good attendance putting the food outside and like mingle and then you go in and sit more like chairs and get rid of the big tent top tables in the main room, which makes me think they really wanna invite everybody. And he wants all the cities to be invited and the counties, the mayor does. Kelly told me that they are gonna take care of the venue, the giveaways, the decorations and the food. I said, well, then I can offer. She goes, so I think we're good. And I said, okay, well, I'll offer to help get the cities and the county there and spread the word. So that's what I said. But we don't have to evidently pay for anything. I don't know. I think it's going to be a free event. I don't think they're going to charge tickets. At one point, we were talking about maybe doing it kind of like a chamber lunch and the ones that we have done in the past. But I think this is going to be. And I have to send them a slide about ADC. which I'm just gonna use what I sent them for the annual report, which is how many businesses have opened and how many grants we gave out and all that kind of stuff.

So. September 10th and I guess they're gonna be communicating that with the community.

Yeah, I think this last email went out where the lobbyist confirmed Alex like yesterday or maybe it was Friday. So. I think the city, public, and probably Nikki and Karen will work on getting the word out. But everybody put it on your calendar. Oh, and then CoSTEP, who is Council for South Economic Progress, they kind of took the place of the Rio South Texas Economic Council. They just mailed everybody these. I think Reese and Glenn already got theirs. It's just their little promotional brochure.

They mailed them, so I thought I'd let them know.

All right. Meeting adjourned. Thanks, Darla.