Thursday, July 10, 2014

$1/2 MILLION GBIC-PUB-PORT "PLAN" REDUNDANT, INCREDIBLE

By Juan Montoya
Read the $454,000 study drafted by Robin McCaffrey of Needham, McCaffrey and Associates for the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board and the Port of Brownsville and one ting will become instantly clear: There is so much repetition and contradiction in this production that it could have easily be one-third its size.
Section after section goes over the same mantra: Deepen the ship channel, extend the runway the the airport, build the Tenaska power plant, embrace SpaceX, put all your eggs into the maquiladoras across the river, and hope that some spillover from the Pemex oil discoveries in the deep Gulf will come to the port.
It doesn't matter what past of the document you look at. It's basically la misma gata, pero revolcada.
Much ado is made about the extension of the existing 7,400-foot runway to the proposed 10,000 and then to 12,000.
This extension, the tome says, will allow Brownsville to replace Harlingen as the "small hub" for passenger, freight and cargo in the Rio Grande Valley, they assert.
Now, consultants are notorious for telling their clients what they want to hear, and for a cool $1/2 million the three "clients" got the full treatment, massage, back rub, BJ, you name it.
Listen to this.
BRONSVILLE OUTPACES HARLINGEN IN EMPLANEMENTS, CARGO TONNAGE
Currently, Brownsville commands an 11 percent share of the estimated 802,140 emplanements in the Rio Grande Valley that includes the Harlingen (47 percent) and McAllen (42 percent )airports. With the proposed 12,000-foot runway, the "consultants" say, "Brownsville could move from its current 'no-hub' status" to a 'small hub,' thereby displacing Harlingen in this regard. In such an event, Brownsville could conceivable (sic) capture a 50 percent market share which would equate to 401,000 emplanements in 2013 and $675,000 emplanements in 2030.
"At 675,000 emplanements, Brownsville South Padre International Airport would see revenues similar to airports experiencing level of emplanement activity similar to the projected levels for Brownsville. These airports include Lubbock (508,858 emplanements, also a Border City [border with what country? ], and having an 11,500-ft. runway) and Pensacola (729,748 emplanements).
BROWNSVILLE TO GET SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
"If Brownsville were the hub instead of Harlingen, then Brownsville operating revenues could rise to $2,000,000. This is a 579 percent increase. At full share of market maturity (2030) operating revenues could rise to $4,000,000 (a 1,157 percent increase).
"If Brownsville is successful in becoming the Valley Hub, then Brownsville could also land Southwest Airlines at its facility.
"In Conclusion, the possible 2030/2040 emplanements for Brownsville are 675,000 and the potential cargo tonnage is 108,562 ton (217,124.000 pounds).
Brownsville/South Padre Island Airport Director Larry Brown said he had met withe consultants in the development of this "plan" and said that the airport had already acquired some land in order for the Brownsville Number 2 runway to be extended from 7,400 to 12,000 feet. However, in order for the extension to become reality, the national government would have to declare it a would have to declare it a project of  "federal significance."
Then there's the small matter of cost. To extend the runway to 12,000 feet, the price tag that Brown cited is just a piddling $83 million, una baba.
SUNNY SKIES COLONIA WILL BE NO MORE
Add the other small matter of doing away with the Sunny Skies colonia to insure a safe runway approach for the large planes to land. The county, state and federal government have been pumping money into improving the conditions at that illegal subdivision for more than 20 years and have finally legalized the ownership rights of the residents. With the consultants' predictions that a 12,000-foot runway is coming, that colonia will now have to go.
Can you pronounce pie-in-the-sky?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

With Eduardo Campriano as Director of the Port and his connection with PUB....we have the same folks planning everything and that produces redundancy and the connection we see between PUB, BND, and both shipping and power plants. Eduardo Campriano is a close associate of Julieta Garcia and both seem to like to find a public taxing entity and squeeze their livelihood out of it....seldom thinking of the public. We must ask too, "Why do we continue to pay taxes to a Port with such grandiose commercial illusions?" Eduardo Campriano and associates have sold the rail system at the port for millions of dollars. Why do we still pay taxes to the Port???
Eduardo Campriano has learned from Julieta Garcia how to milk a taxing entity to death for their own personal gain. What's in in for the community, especially with the high salaries given to Campriano and his administrators...including Julieta's son-in-law.

Anonymous said...

Can these assholes not find a map? How can BRO possibly be a hub when it is at the end of the line and completely boxed in by the river except for a small corridor to Harlingen, the natural hub for the Valley. This is ridiculous bullshit. The port has the same problem. It is at the end of nowhere and only works as a port for Monterrey. By the way, the idiot that thinks BRO can be a hub for South America needs to look at a map as well. South America is East of BRO and much closer to South Florida and that is why Miami is what it is. BRO is a lot like San Angelo. In the middle of nowhere, going nowhere.

If you took away the slave wages paid at the port, it would look a lot like Port Mansfield.

Anonymous said...

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rita