03-11-03 Town Hall Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. e Minutes of the Town Meeting - March 11, 2003 - Page 7 draw more businesses, and more business to existing businesses, more use for professional buildings, and possible development of partnership with government agencies, individuals or organizations whom would have a vested interest for health care for the community. This will be a good opportunity for our area. Councihnember Bruce Meismer-District 6, shared with the audience thoughts and ideas of his own. Mr. Meismer would like us to think about how La Porte will move into the future and some items that need to be considered. As a community, we need to be careful of being overly dependent on industry, which may continue to decline; we should promote our City in other directions becoming more diverse. Retail stores, restaurants and a theatre could be of a benefit to us; they bring in sales tax revenue while providing services and jobs. The utilization of tax incentives and other enhancement options should be coordinated to take advantage of and focus funding for the positive growth of the community. A broad approach needs to be considered to obtain the best possible effect. We need to look at many different views of growth for the City and consider our citizens, LPISD, the Port, San Jacinto Battleground area, local businesses, transportation, Sylvan Beach, and the Main Street area. A museum to showcase the arts, local and industrial history could be part of a historic Main Street. We need to capitalize on resources afforded us by government grants and encourage various entities to get involved in the growth. The sharing of different ideas only enhances the potential for La Porte. We may also want to develop a cooperative, as a funding source, allowing every citizen opportunity to be involved and benefit from such plans. We should capitalize on hazard concerns about local industry and the Port, regarding how we would deal with a catastrophic event. These concerns could come together in providing the catalyst for our political leaders to acquire the hospital or trauma center for this area. Mr. Meismer feels the tunnel stunted our growth and confined La'Porte for many years. The Fred Hartman Bridge has opened doors for our community and we should embrace the opportunity it brings. A deep-water marina for protecting boats during bad weather could be added in its shadow; there are so many possibilities to consider. Other things we could look at are, a Hotel Convention Center at Sylvan Beach, a barrier island in front of Sylvan Beach (to protect the beach and provide a Cruise Ship docking terminal), the creation of a waterfront district, an amphitheater (possibly on the barrier island allowing it to be utilized for many things like; cruise ship staging, meetings, musical events, chapel, etc.. .). A marina could then be built between the Barrier Island and Sylvan Beach around a causeway used for transit or rail to connect the island to the shoreline, parking area, hotel, and waterfront district, Main Street, museum, restaurants and other points of interest. This would be a great asset and even incorporate a canal system and water taxi service to the San Jacinto Battleground, neighboring islands (used for eco-tourism and birding), Morgans Point, the Yacht Club, Kemah and Clear Lake.