By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
After months of research, several public workshops and one-on-one meetings with County leaders, conservationists and landowners, the Cameron County Erosion Response Plan (ERP) is just about complete.
Peter Ravella, of PAR Consulting, was tasked by the Cameron County Commissioners Court to create the plan, which will serve as an outline for how the beaches of South Padre Island are to be maintained and developed over the next 30 years. The State of Texas has mandated that every county along the Gulf of Mexico have an approved ERP. Doing so keeps the counties eligible for state and federal funding during times of disaster, among other things.
Currently, Ravella and members of Applied Coastal, a coastal engineering firm that partnered with him to design the plan, are sorting through the numerous comments the public has provided about its proposals. “We’re cataloguing all of the comments right now,” Ravella said in a phone interview earlier this week.
After that’s done, the draft will be presented to the County commissioners and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) for review and the addition of any final tweaks. The public will be given the opportunity to comment again before the GLO gives final approval.
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