CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tuesday’s Corpus Christi City Council meeting ran long as members heard from lots of folks during the public comment section of their regularly scheduled meeting.
The main topic on everyone's mind was desalination - and whether it belongs in the city, and according to many residents who made their voices heard – that answer was a “No.”
The sound of the timer that marks community members’ 3-minute limit sounded over and over again as residents lined the room of the temporary council chambers at the RTA building to give their opinions regarding issues on the agenda. The one that came up the most: desalination.
"The uninterruptible source will not only take care of the citizens that are here, but future growth and economic development," said new Port of Corpus Christi Chairman David Engel.
Engel was one of those at the meeting to support the city of Corpus Christi’s desal efforts. His reasoning: bringing more money into the Coastal Bend.
"They create jobs,” he said. “People that have the funds to be able to go out and buy a car or refrigerator, furniture, they create tax dollars."
Council shared Engel's view, approving the second reading of desal-related items.
But Engel's views on desalination were not shared by all. In fact, most of the people who showed up had a lot of complaints about the proposed project.
"You’re going to be sucking up brine and that thing's going to shut down," said resident Blanca Parkinson.
She was one of many residents who spoke out Tuesday against desal, along with Henry Williams, who also is not a fan of the idea because of its proposed location near the Hillcrest neighborhood – a community he said he has fought for years to preserve.
"The ship channel is not a viable source,” he said. “There's a way to find a valid solution, but the desalination project is not a valid solution."
Corpus Christi NAACP President Jeremy Coleman also spoke before council.
He said he feels like there are still missing pieces of the puzzle, but time ran out before he could get his full point across.
"Accurate information is what we did not get,” he said during his three minutes. “And the reason this was prolonged so long before we could make a decision was because...”
"Mr. Coleman, I'm sorry to cut you off,” said Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo as the timer sounded.
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