T HE GO O D MA N CO R P O RA T I O N
MEMORANDUM
TO: Tom Muehlenbeck
FROM: Barry Goodman
DATE: October 26, 2011
SUBJECT: Washington, D.C. Trip by Galveston Delegation
Representatives of Galveston (Mayor Joe Jaworski, Councilwoman Puccetti, Lynn Spencer, and
Barry Goodman) completed a two day visit with Congressional and federal agency
representatives to discuss the following issues of importance to the City of Galveston:
• 2010 U.S. Census impact on Galveston's existing "small urbanized area" status;
• City of Galveston TIGER III submittal, on behalf of the Port of Galveston;
• Galveston - Houston Mobility Corridor;
• Status of Congressional Authorizing Bill for Transportation
We visited the offices of Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Gene Green, Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson-Lee, Congressman John Carter, Senator Hutchinson, Senator Cornyn, House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Department of Transportation Office of the
Secretary, Federal Transit Adminstration, and Commerce Department/Economic Development
Administration.
The following is the background and summary of our visit:
2010 U.S. Census Impact - Based upon the latest 2010 U.S. Census impact calculations by TGC
and discussion with representative of the Bureau of the Census, it is likely that the City of
Galveston will lose its existing small urbanized area status when the results of changes to
existing urbanized area boundaries are published in the spring of 2012. This change from small
urban to rural could result in the City losing direct federal transit funding to support its transit
program. As a result, Galveston is requesting that congressional reprentatives draft language
within the 2013 Transportation Appropriation's Bill to protect Galveston's existing status, and
include language within any new transportation authorizing bill which recognizes that Hurricane
Ike has caused the displacement of many Galvestonians who are now just beginning to
repopulate the Island. Congresman Carter, who is one of two Texas representatives on the House
Appropriation's Sub-committee, indicated his support for "protecting" Galveston's small urban
status. Representative Paul and both Senate offices also indicated their support to protect
Galveston.
T HE GO O D MA N CO R P O RA T I O N
City of Galveston/Port of Galveston TIGER III Submittal - The submittal of the TIGER III
application by the City, on behalf of the Port of Galveston, is to construct a new Port Intermodal
Transportation and Parking Facility which would include a more secure transfer of passengers
and baggage, transit connectivity through Island Transit, pedestrian safety's improvements
through the relocation of Port Industrial Boulevard and existing rail track, improvement to the
existing overhead walkway between the Port and downtown Galveston, and cruise ship/transit
parking. The approximate $28 million project would be funded 60% local and 40% federal.
Discussion with representatives of the DOT Office of the Secretary provided insight to those
project attributes being sought by Secretary LaHood, and suggestions on how the City can
strengthen its application. Port Security, Intermodalism, Safety, and Pedestrian connectivity are
important ingredients to a successful application. The City's submittal is due on October 31st.
Galveston - Houston Mobility Corridor - The City of Galveston, corridor stakeholders, and the
Galveston County Transit District have indicatd their desire that a commuter rail connection
between Galveston and Houston is the "locally preferred alternative" (LPA) within the Galveston
- Houston Mobility Corridor. However, stakeholders want to achieve the locally preferred
alternative in a staged "evolutionary" manner, which initially emphasizes better bus connectivity,
State Highway 3 improvements, and progresses to park and ride locations along State Highway 3
which will eventually transition to commuter rail stations. The FTA Recently awarded the City
of Galveston $240,000 of Alternative Analysis funding which enables further development of the
evolutionary approach toward achieving the LPA, by corridor stakeholders.
Our meeting with representatives of FTA's Planning and Policy Office and New Starts Office
reinforced the proposed "evolutionary" approach toward the ultimate corridor solution of
commuter rail and improvement of the Galveston - Houston Mobility corridor for both transit
and the auto as an acceptable strategy that falls within the intent of the FTA "New Starts"
program. Our timetable for developing the evolutionary approach to achieve the LPA is
relatively short since Senator Hutchinson has previously "earmarked" $2 million to support this
program, which will lapse as of September 30, 2012. The Galveston delegation also briefed
Senator Hutchinson's staff on the Mobility Caorridor and our need for substantially more funding
to complete the PE/EA phase of the project.
New Transportation Authorizing Legislation - The existing Congessional Transportation
Authorizing legislation expired September 30, 2009. Since that time, funding for highways and
transit has been facilitated through "continuing resolutions" passed by Congress. Discussion
with representatives of the House Tranportation and Infrastructure Committee indicated that the
House Authorizing Bill for Transportation will be "marked up" on November 9th targeting a
March 2012 passage, and that the Senate Banking Committee is working on its version of the
same legislation. The likelyhood, however, is that we may not have a new bill until after the next
Presidential election in November 2012; particularly since there is not a new revenue resource
currently acceptable to adequately fund our nation's transportation infrastructure.
T HE GO O D MA N CO R P O RA T I O N
The visit to Washington was very informative and reinforced the need for the City of Galveston
to keep in close touch with the events taking place in our nation's capital.
cc. Mayor Joe Jaworski
Councilwoman Puccetti
Lynn Spencer
David Smith
John Carrara
Jeff Miller
Kellie Buchanan