At its May 8 meeting, Port Lavaca City Council approved a conceptual plan for a new Dollar General and submitted shoreline protection proposals for both Lighthouse Beach and the Harbor of Refuge.
The proposed Dollar General is set to be built on 1207 W. Austin St. near 1st Street and was approved by the city after being recommended by the city’s Planning Board. However, concerns were raised by Planning Board Member Justin Weaver. While Weaver did approve the proposed store, as the plan met all regulations, he also spoke as a member of the public and warned about the possible harm caused by future dollar stores being placed in city limits and urged the city council to consider precautions against future retail locations.
“I was surprised by this development and when I found out it was a dollar store, I raised a red flag on it. A lot of municipalities have banned dollar stores outright from city limits. There are several different reasons for it, but many say that it doesn’t add anything to their economies and that it can prevent other businesses from coming in,” Weaver said. “Specifically, to Port Lavaca, in kind of reference to what councilman Jim Ward said, we’re poised for growth. This would be an opportunity for a large business to come in and take advantage of that. Personally, it struck me that it was so close to my own business and another business, all of which would have to compete with this new store.”
The city also approved the submissions of two shoreline protection proposals — one for the Harbor of Refuge and one for Lighthouse Beach — to the General Land Office (GLO) to obtain a CEPRA grant. The grant will cover the costs of both the initial engineering and planning for the Harbor of Refuge project as well as the feasibility study for the Lighthouse Beach proposal.
If approved by the GLO, the match required by the city will be $275,00 for the Harbor of Refuge and $50,00 for the Lighthouse Beach Study. Of the $275,000 match, $200,000 will be covered by the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust, reducing the total combined cost to the city to $125,00 for both proposals.
A proclamation issued by Mayor Jack Whitlow designated May as Motorcycle Awareness Month to raise awareness of motorcycle riders and avoid collisions between riders and drivers. The proclamation was presented to an assembled group of riders from numerous Calhoun County-based motorcycle clubs. The city also approved the adoption of a new sidewalk plan and approved the application to TxDot for a shared-use path along Independence Drive and Sandcrab Boulevard
Port Commissioners Mike Kovarek, Jim O’Neil, Larry Nichols, Alex Davila and Mike McGuire were also reappointed to the Port Commission for an additional two-year term each.
