GALVESTON — Tuesday during a trip to Washington, D.C., Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas will ask the federal government to release 600 acres called the East End Flats to the city.
Thomas, along with the head of the University of Texas Medical Branch and the chairman of the port’s governing board, are set to testify about disaster relief and ask for funds to help with recovery efforts, which is the primary goal of the trip, City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.
The mayor is expected to ask for $1 billion. Also going to Washington are Gerald Sullivan, chairman of the Wharves Board of Trustees, who is set to ask for $500 million, and Dr. David Callender, president of the medical branch, who is scheduled to ask for $600 million.
Thomas also will ask the federal government to turn over the flats, which has been used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a site for dumping dredge spoils, LeBlanc said.
The flats, which are protected by the seawall and the levees, were untouched by Hurricane Ike, LeBlanc said.
He said it’s clear the land is the best choice for future development of the island.
The city has an agreement to sell the land to local development company Sullivan Interests if the developer was successful in getting the land released. LeBlanc said if the city is successful in getting the land released, the terms of the agreement have changed and the city council will have to revisit the agreement. He said if Thomas successfully gets the land released Tuesday, there would be “no strings attached” to any developer.
There have been talks that the developers would pay $1 for the land if they got it released, but Billy Sullivan, a principal in Sullivan Interests, has said that number was only a starting point for purchase negotiations with the city. He said the land may end up being worth more than that, depending on how much it costs to get the unstable spoils material ready for building and how much it costs to create a new dredge spoil site for the corps.
Billy Sullivan is the son of Gerald Sullivan, chairman of the governing board of the port.
Billy Sullivan said the city did not invite anyone from Sullivan Interests on the trip to talk about the land, nor did city officials give the Sullivans any information regarding plans to ask for the release of the flats. Sullivan said when he last spoke to corps officials a month ago, they planned to resume discussions about releasing the land to the city after hurricane season.
Sullivan also said he understood from discussions with his father that the main purpose of the Washington trip was to ask the federal government for disaster relief funds, not to ask for the release of the land.
Callender, the president of the medical branch, could not be reached for comment, but university officials have said the flats should be released. The medical branch has expressed some interest in seeing part of the land developed for assisted-living housing for elderly people.
The city council approved the agreement with Sullivan Interests two days before the May 10 election that ushered in four new council members. Under its terms, Sullivan Interests agreed to spend up to $500,000 to persuade the federal government to give up the land and negotiate the terms of the transfer.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Beeton said if the federal government releases the land to the city as a result of the hurricane “there is even less reason for the city to give the land” to Sullivan Interests, since the agreement is based on the developer fronting money to get the land released.
The land should be a windfall to the residents of Galveston, not to a developer or to the medical branch, Beeton said. She has complained the deal with Sullivan Interests did not involve enough public input.
During her testimony, Thomas is expected to ask for $1 billion of recovery money.
LeBlanc said that money would be used to repair damaged infrastructure and city buildings. He has a list of items the city wants the federal government to fund. It’s not clear what’s on the list, but LeBlanc said it included water, sewer, transportation, roads, bridge, housing projects and city buildings. He declined to release the unfinished list, citing the need for mayoral approval, but city spokeswoman Mary Jo Naschke said she would try to release the list to the newspaper late today.
Thomas could not be reached for comment.
LeBlanc used the Pelican Island bridge as an example of a project the city needs money to repair. The bridge, the only access to Texas A&M University at Galveston and the ship yards on Pelican Island, was severely damaged, LeBlanc said.
The medical branch will ask federal leaders for up to $600 million in disaster recovery money, said Barbara Breier, the medical branch’s vice president of strategic initiatives.
