After taking an additional week off, the City Council was back in business. Here are some notable takeaways from the one hour and 18 minute session.

Before Council begins their agenda, they always provide an opportunity for public comments. Although very few people typically come out to speak, citizens of the island took to the microphone this week to voice their displeasures. Among them was Jennifer Stout, who ran in the special election for City Council in February, ultimately losing to Lisa Graves. Stout spoke for close to 15 minutes about the incidents she witnessed during Spring Break and demanded change, emphasizing the need for better protection for the island's residents.

Although Mayor Patrick McNulty allowed for Stout to go past the allotted time for residents to speak (3 min.), he grew visibly weary with Stout's comments.

4.1

Republic Services, partners with the city of South Padre Island for many years and are the City’s trash service, gave a presentation with the notice of a 4% increase in prices from last year. There is an agreement with the City and Republic Services on a 4% cap increase, which speaker and Municipal Sales Manager of Republic Services Ray Carillo has praised, stating that increases are much higher in other cities they are partnered with than here.

6.1

American Electric Power gave a notice to the City of SPI of a 13.1% increase in pricing from last year. The Council gave a motion to deny, citing that there is a cap at 9.2%. Mayor McNulty expects it to go to higher courts to receive an official ruling.

6.2

The council approved a budget amendment of $28,505.00, designated for the 2023 Side Street Improvements Phase Two Projects.

6.5

The Financial Report for the fiscal year of 2022-23 was given out. The City of South Padre was given the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting that is issued by the Government Finance Officer’s Association. Total assets of the city are 122.7 Million compared to 109 Million in 2022. Liability increased from 22.3 Million to 30.6 Million. Total Revenue was 42.2 Million. General fund is 15.1 Million, 2.9 Million in liability, mostly from projects around the city, with 11.6 Million in fund balance. No audits were reported of the city.

6.6

Action to request the Planning and Zoning Committee and the Development Standards Review Task Force to review current setback requirements in the Padre Blvd. and Entertainment Districts was passed by Council, led by Councilman Kerry Schwartz. The following zones are:

Bayfront Character Zone
Entertainment District Core Character Zone
Town Center and Neighborhood Crossing Zone
Padre Blvd. North Character Zone
Padre Blvd. South and Central Character Zone
Neighborhood Transition Character Zone
Northern Resort District Character Zone

6.7

A 120-Day moratorium on variance applications for signage, commercial art, art displays, and murals was passed by council so the Planning and Zoning Committee, along with the Development Standards Review Task Force can review current ordinances and make recommendations to City Council.

6.8

24 signs with nesting season notification and information were passed by council to be on or around beach accesses. The idea is to help residents and visitors when they see a Sea Turtle that is nesting, as SPI is one of the few beaches in the world where you can see it happen in the middle of a day.