This is the second year in a row that the council has approved a large outlay of hotel and motel tax funds to assist the organization in purchasing liability insurance for the event.
The 4-1 vote in favor of providing the funds came after Texas Mile organizer Shannon Matus provided the council with a report on what the semi-annual speed event brings to the city.
The vote came after some council members took the Bee Development Authority board to task for requiring a $50 million insurance policy for the Texas Mile organization.
Matus and others at the meeting said that the standard insurance requirement for speed events is $5 million.
City Manager Deborah Ballí said she had requested a joint meeting with the BDA board for the Thursday night session but the BDA had declined the invitation.
“What you mean is that they won’t meet with us?” Mayor Santiago “Jimbo” Martinez asked.
Martinez called it “extraordinary” that a board made up of members appointed by three elected bodies would refuse to meet with one of those elected bodies. And the elected body which requested the meeting is responsible for appointing four of the board members.
Councilman David Carabajal, who is one of the four BDA board members appointed by the City Council, said he was not notified that the BDA’s executive committee had met and had made the decision not to meet with the council regarding the insurance requirement.
“I sit on that board,” Carabajal said. “I don’t share those views.”
Carabajal said that “out of respect I would like to have a chance to make those decisions, especially when it benefits the whole city.”
“In the end,” Carabajal said, “this money can be better spent.” He said he objected to having to provide $80,000 of the city’s hotel and motel tax receipts on what he called “a one-trick pony.”
“I don’t agree with four persons on the board (the executive committee) making decisions for the whole board,” Carabajal continued.
Council members were told that the Texas Mile organizers had to have an answer to their request for funds by Monday so the organization could open its books to participants who wish to run in the March 22-24 event.
“I support the event,” said Councilman John Fulghum. “I want to make it happen.”
But Fulghum said he thought it was “outrageous that the BDA would require the Texas Mile organizers to have to pay $94,000 for insurance coverage for an event that would be set up for a total of six days in 2013.
At least 30 Texas Mile supporters attended the meeting.
Several of them reminded the council of the economic impact that the event has on the community during each of its two events.
Matus said that the event brought 6,395 participants, crew and spectators to Beeville last year and they spent more than $700,000 in raw dollars during 2012.
During the meeting, council members questioned the need for a $50 million insurance policy for the event.
Martinez said the assets that had been at Chase Field last year for the Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance operation are no longer there.
“There is another tenant out there and their assets need to be covered as well,” said Councilwoman Libby Spires.
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Scotten expressed concern about spending so much of the city’s hotel and motel tax money on one event.
“Although I didn’t like it last year, I can understand the request,” Scotten said. “But now the assets are gone. They could at least cut it in half.”
When the discussion on the request ended and Martinez called for action, the council was told that it would cost J&S Matus Motorsports $94,190 to purchase the $50 million policy for 2013. The difference in the cost for the $5 million coverage and the $50 million insurance policy would come to $78,690.
But Ballí reminded the council that it had approved a $40,000 cap in hotel and motel tax expenditures for an event. However, because the Texas Mile would be purchasing insurance coverage for two events in 2013, the organization could be given $40,000 for each of the events for a total of $80,000.
Ballí said the city would pay the money directly to the insurance company providing the coverage and none of the funds would go to the Texas Mile organization.
The council then heard comments from a number of those who had come to support the request. Business managers said their sales doubled during each Texas Mile event.
Fulghum then made the motion to approve the request and provide $40,000 for each of the two events.
Carabajal seconded the motion and it passed with Spires voting against it.
Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at reporter@mySouTex.com.
NOTE: pink_kitty, if your going to argue about us supporting something we love then grow the hell up. Im 17 years old and i know what your doing IS CHILDISH and i am not writing back to you if you post something else CHILDISH about what im stating THANK YOU(:
Personally i see the Texas mile as a great job opportunity and an amazing training experience. I went to the Texas mile for the first time in my life FOR FREE last semester thanks to CBC and had an amazing time and it was a mind blowing experience. I am also writing this on my own time before i go to work not because of a class project but because i want to support what i love doing. the reason: In the future i wish to attend the Texas mile with my own vehicle.
I got to talk to people about their amazingly fast cars and sound systems and i learned a whole bunch of new stuff i had never known before. I saw cars i have never seen before and whenever a car pulled up to get inspected I was always on my toes while looking at EVERY SINGLE CAR and talking to almost every person that owned a vehicle that was registered to race at the Texas mile!
Its an exciting opportunity for a young person like myself and my classmates to figure out if this is really the choice we want to make with our lives! How will the BDA feel when my chance for good money leaves beeville for good. Oh wait they probably wont care because their selfish! If they don't care about what the community says then they aren't really doing their job! Am I right? They want to make beeville better but their not doing it by taking away something we love And by taking away i mean running them off! Any other event that takes place in Beeville(carnival, the rodeos, parades, etc.)pay nothing compared to this much!
And a plus side to the Texas mile, they hardly bring drunks! They don't even sell alcohol of any sort! All the events i listed above and more bring way more drunks and people get arrested for DWIs left and right! Oh but they get their money back because of all the tickets they have to write up! They would rather people get drunk and get arrested to make money other than have people driving fast down an airstrip in a controlled environment that doesn't promote drinking AT ALL!
Any other speed event anywhere pays WAY LESS money compared to something that only comes around 2 times a year! This is an outrageous demand for money and i think this middle school of a lunch money stealing bully known as the BDA needs to stop trying to get so much money from people who do absolutely no harm to the people around them!
And again to pink_kitty. im sure that the Texas mile will have eventually given something to beeville's community to thank us for making Beeville their home. But now we we will never find out because of the BDA pulling this move on them. That little airstrip and the land around it is not even worth $50,000,000! Like you said maybe the Texas mile should buy land? Why would they if the insurance is 50million? Haha i know for sure i wouldn buy land from a community that wants more then what you give them even though they bring thousands or even millions of dollars to Beeville.
By the way i used my real name and i am a beeville resident just letting everyone know that the roads are crappy why not fix them? Or wait you would rather build businesses that PAY YOU to stand where they are now. Haha priceless...
The BDA was put into place to aid in economic development of Beeville so their job is not to protect the interest of the BDA but to protect the economic interest of the City of Beeville and its residents. There is not a question here about what the BDA does at Chase field, the question is why wont the BDA answer the question being asked which is why are they requiring a $50 million dollar insurance policy? It is in the best economic interest of the city of Beeville to continue to host The Texas Mile at Chase Field therefore the BDA should take into consideration all of the evidence given to show why a $50 million dollar insurance policy is outrageous and at least have an open discussion about it so that there is some potential of The Texas Mile staying in Beeville.
Is the Texas Mile really economic development? Why didn't the City fight this hard for Sikorsky? The city always fought over giving money to BDA for improvements at the hangars for Sikorsky and they left. I didn't see the city fighting for that. Those were jobs lost. The Texas mile comes into our town and makes money and leaves. How is that economic development. Goliad never gave the Texas Mile money for anything (advertising or insurance) and how long was the Texas Mile in Goliad? They left Goliad and Goliad didn't blink and eye. So your evidence of why so much in insurance is the investments that have been made at Chase field even a simple person can put that together every time money is spent at chase field the newspaper lets us know.
Didn't the one trick pony ride into our town, use the city's 4B sales tax money to subsidize their business and leave several times? Why don't you have a problem calling that economic development?
Thats funny using my quote so you take the words of others instead of finding out for yourself.
Councilman David Carabajal, who is one of the four BDA board members appointed by the City Council, said he was not notified that the BDA’s executive committee had met and had made the decision not to meet with the council regarding the insurance requirement.
So again I say. If the BDA doesn't even include one of its appointed members in decisions that effect the community then what would make me think that they would care about little ol me.
As a concerned citizen and taxpayer for the City of Beeville, the State of Texas, and the United States, I have one question for you: to whom is the Bee Development Authority accountable? I have done some research into the purpose of the Bee Development Authority. According to the Bee Development Authority website: “In October of 1992 the community of Beeville formed the Beeville-Bee County Redevelopment Authority, a 501c corporation. The Authority was charged with the guidance of planning and re-development of Chase Field and the economy of Beeville, Bee County and the surrounding area. In August of 2001 legislation was introduced creating the Bee Development Authority (BDA) under the Defense Closure Act of the State of Texas. The formation gave the BDA broader powers and the ability to work with state and federal economic development programs and enhance the ability to procure grants. BDA adopted a mission to “positively affect the economic development at Chase Field and the surrounding areas of Beeville and Bee County.”” From my interpretation, the Bee Development Authority was created for the benefit of the community. Doesn’t the Beeville community have a right to know where and how their tax dollars are spent, and how decisions are made concerning their community? Exactly how does the “BDA” arrive at their decisions?
The “BDA” received a one-million dollar grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2010. In return, the “BDA” said it would create over a hundred jobs. Where are those jobs today? Sikorsky and contractor Kay Associates have left the facility as of the end of 2012. What is left? I wonder if the U.S. Economic Development Administration would also be interested to know where their money has gone.
Correct, the Hughes’s did contribute to runway improvements. I just wonder how an improvement to a runway helps us citizens that don’t own planes.
Yes, Ms. Pink P, you are correct. The “BDA” board members are appointed by elected officials. In this day of budget deficits, and possible sequestrations, transparency is all the more vital to our government. According to several articles in the Picayune, J&S Matus Motorsports did ask the “BDA” how they arrived at their decision. We all would like to know the reasoning behind the “BDA’s” decision to require insurance above and beyond even the standard requirements.
The Texas Mile helps bring exposure to Beeville, Texas and the surrounding counties. Whenever the Texas Mile is in town, I see license plates from all over the county. Why would a committee created to specifically to re-develop Chase Field and the community of Beeville make it so difficult for event organizers to bring their event to the community, which only benefits all of us? Shouldn’t the “BDA” encourage business, instead of driving it away?
Every time the Texas Mile is in town, I see nothing, but pleasant people enjoying our small community. Restaurants are full, stores and convenience/gas stations are always busy. I hope I am not alone in asking these questions, and implore my fellow citizens to start doing the same. It is time for a revamping of the “BDA” board. Even if they are “appointed”, the appointments come from elected officials. It is time the Bee Development Authority work for the community, and not against it. This is our community.
I don't know the details, but most underwriters will advise their clients to insure for the maximum probable loss. If 20-25 people are seriously injured at the Texas Mile, then the policy limits of 5 million will be exhausted and then all parties including BDA could be on the hook.
While the revenue from the event helps Beeville and provides an opportunity to the CBC automotive students, the bigger question is whether a quasi-governmental entity should be subsidizing a private entity (J&S Matus Motorsports) with tax dollars? Isn't that corporate welfare?
I'm glad that the Texas Mile is in Beeville, but the additional insurance expense is no longer a surprise and J&S Matus Motorsports needs to budget accordingly.
The funds they gave were already ear marked for use in getting tourism to Beeville. I think the mile qualifies as tourism. Granted that money could be used for advertisement and other things to get even more tourism if the BDA would listen to the insurance company.
You are right about this not being a surprise but it isn't as simple as making room in their budget. This is a question of the mile staying in Beeville or finding it financially unfeasible to continue to hold the mile in Beeville.
According to the BDA website, the BDA also "adopted a mission to “positively affect the economic development at Chase Field and the surrounding areas of Beeville and Bee County.”
Doing everything they can to chase the Texas Mile (and all they revenue they bring in) out of Beeville without coming out and saying it doesn't seem to fit their mission.
didn't the paper have an article that the BDA and the Texas Mile signed another contract. Also, the Texas mile has an event 2-3 times a year and their participants are the only ones coming and staying in our community. We need spectators to come from everywhere to fill up the hotels, to shop in our stores, and eat at our restaurants. Do you go to the event both days to watch? how many local people go to watch the event paying $15 per person to attend. If the Texas Mile really wanted to make Beeville their home why dont they purchase property (increase our tax income) and build their own strip to run on. Invest in this community make it your permanent home. The City has gave them money last year for their insurance and again this year. The Texas Mile host their event makes their profit from the participants and spectators and leaves our community.
Why don't you tell this forum how much the city has given the BDA over the past? Do the research in the paper to find the amount. I gurantee it's a lot more then what they have given to the Texas Mile.
You claim "The BDA has millions of dollars in investments that is not seen by many because these investments are in building renovations and runway improvements.
Why don't you tell this forum just how much of the BDA's money was actually used on these investments? My guess is that most of that money has come from the city and state, and not out of BDA coffers. Right?
In fact, didn't the city just give the BDA $800k to help build a warehouse for their so called "one trick pony?" What happend to that money now that the one trick pony got up and left?
The fact is as of right now Beeville is the miles home. All those people are spending their money in Beeville. In restaurants and bars and hotels. People that normally wouldn't be spending their weekend in Beeville are making it a point to plan trips there every year that the mile is there. I don't know how that could be twisted into a bad thing. When a concert comes into a town do you think they are concerned with the artist buying property in that city. No they realize that the event injects money into the community.
kudos to you pursuing your education. It is unfortunate that your are being taking advantage off. You will have a lot of experiences in your career as long as you keep pursuing your education and work hard to achieve your goals. The BDA has millions of dollars in investments that is not seen by many because these investments are in building renovations and runway improvements. If you will do some research in this vary newspaper you will read about all those investments and understand why the BDA is trying to protect its investments. Never have they denied the Texas Mile they just want the investments of the community, state funding and private investors protected. Be careful when getting caught up in the ugly politics of the Texas Mile and the City of Beeville they never share all the information.
It is unfortunate that you think Julio is being taken advantage of. I am sure that Julio took the time to understand what he was writing about and supporting. Obviously The Texas Mile is important to him and (like everyone else) he is voicing his concern because he wants the Texas Mile to stay in Beeville. He speaks from what he knows which are the personal benefits to him and his education.
It troubles me to think that you would be trying to discourage or dissuade young people from participating in local politics or voicing their opinion. By telling a young person that they should not be "taken advantage of" is a total slap in the face and an insult to their intelligence.
Perhaps we would have all of the facts and the whole truth had the BDA shown up to the meeting to defend their side. Now we are all left to wonder what the BDA is thinking.... Yes, it is great that the BDA is trying to protect their investments but they are doing it in such a way that looks like they are trying to push out the biggest tourist attraction Beeville has. People come from all over the world to this event. What better tourist attraction is there than one that brings people from all over the world?!
The youth of this community are the future of Beeville and I applaud them for openly supporting an event that brings obvious economic impact. I especially applaud their courage for speaking out when others are too afraid to do so.
I think this entire $50 million insurance policy situation is rediculous. The Texas Mile brings money to our city, and this policy helps no one. I'd bet that you couldn't name anything on chase field that's worth even half of what your'e asking.
If you won't come to your senses and give them a more affordable policy, the least you could do is come out and explain WHY you made this decision, and give us valid points to try and persuade us to to see it from your side, but I'm almost certain you won't be able to.
As a college student, the Texas Mile is a one in a million chance to get up close and personal with cars and engines that I would never even have the chance to see in person. This year would be my first time. Why would you take this experience away from me and all the other students excited for the Texas Mle? Why would you drive them away?