“Is that all there is?” Tom Beasley asked at a Tax Increment Finance District Board meeting last Thursday when he addressed the depot pavilion project.

Beasley, who pointed out he no longer owns property in the downtown area, said the first thing he thinks when looking at the pavilion project is, “Where’s the rest of it?”

“We don’t have a restroom, we don’t have a door we can open and close,” he said. “I think the $150,000 could have been spent more cleverly. In Mexico, I’d call that a jacal.”

Beasley was addressing the downtown project proposed by the Beeville Main Street Program but largely financed by the TIF. He had voted in favor of spending TIF funds on the project but he said the structure looked more impressive in the drawings.

The pavilion is nearing completion and Main Street Program Manager Molly Young said she already is getting calls from people and organizations which are anxious to make use of the facility.

TIF board member Gilbert Herrera, who also sits on the Main Street Project advisory board, said he thinks the pavilion will look better once the project is completed.

Herrera said there is still some work to be done on the facility, like seal coating the parking lot, painting and landscaping.

“I think when we’re finally done with that depot area, I think it’s going to be worth it,” Herrera said.

Young said the first big event in which the pavilion will be used will be a car show scheduled for April 14. Then, she said, the facility will be the site of a regularly scheduled farmers market in the spring and summer months. She said she has received several inquiries from people who are interested in taking part in the farmers market events.

City Manager Ford Patton said the $160,000 being spent on the project covered much more than the construction. He said because the city was having he facility built, it had to pay for a number of professional services.

Earlier in the meeting, the board approved plans for landscaping to be completed by Double S Nursery, a local business owned by Terri Scott.

Scott showed board members a drawing of what she has planned for the area around the pavilion, explaining that she will be planting three live oak trees and other types of vegetation to make the area more attractive.

She offered two proposals, one for $5,490 if her company does the labor and one for $4,752 if city workers perform the labor.

Scott said the most complicated part of the landscaping effort would be the installation of the irrigation system but she assured the board that even that would not be too difficult for the city’s water department personnel.

However, City Manager Ford Patton recommended having Scott’s crew to do the labor. Patton pointed out that the difference only a little more than $700 to have a turnkey job and having the nursery’s staff perform the work would mean the city would not have to take its workers away from their regular jobs.

Board members agreed and voted unanimously to have Scott and her staff do the work.

Young also provided board members with detailed projections of the Texas Department of Transportation’s drainage improvements being conducted by Hunter Industries, Ltd.

She said the San Marcos area company plans to install larger concrete drainage culverts under the three blocks of North St. Mary’s Street first, working their way from Poesta Creek to the north end of the 300 block of that street. That work is scheduled to take place between Feb. 10 and the end of April.

The company then will do the same work on the three downtown blocks of North Washington Street. Young said plans are to begin on that part of the project on April 21 and have the work completed by the middle of July.

“As far as we know, they are sticking to our request to go block by block and to create as little interruption as possible in the downtown area,” Young said.

Young also reported that the city had been notified that it will receive a $150,000 grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Texas Capital Fund.

That $195,000 project will be the largest TIF-financed endeavor since the city undertook sidewalk improvements on North Washington Street years ago.

According to the plans for the project, the existing sidewalks in the three blocks of North St. Mary’s Street in the downtown area will be removed and replaced with new concrete curb and gutter and the sidewalks themselves will be built of stone pavers, much like those on North Washington Street.

The project will include the building of 24 sidewalk ramps to make the area accessible to people in wheelchairs.

Board member Joe B. Montez suggested that any money that could be saved when the project is put out for bids should be used to improve the sidewalks on streets running east and west in the downtown area.

“Those contractors are hungry out there,” Montez said, “and competition could result in us being able to add some work.”

Montez expressed special interest in improving the sidewalks in the 200 block of West Bowie Street where some major commercial improvements are underway on some existing buildings.

Young said Urban Engineering of Corpus Christi was doing final work on plans for the St. Mary’s Street improvements.

“We need to do some more specific things before we go out for bids,” she said.

Before adjourning, the board heard financial reports and updates on planned facade improvement projects in the downtown and other areas.

That report included a comment from Jim Crumrine, president of the Beeville Economic Improvement Corporation board. He said the EIC had received eight of the 17 applications back that had been requested for facade improvements within the city. That organization recommends projects for funding to the City Council and businesses may apply for up to $6,000 in matching funds from the city’s 4B sales taxes for economic development.

The EIC and City Council have approved a budget of $30,000 for the initial phase of the project.

The board also voted to table a workshop on future TIF projects so it can obtain more funding information.