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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The South Padre Island City Council voted this week to approve buying more mats for beach access points.
City Council agreed to allocate almost $40,000 from the Beach Maintenance general fund.
Kristina Boburka, Shoreline Department Director for the city, said they’ve been doing research and testing to see what type of matting works best for their beaches.
“We’ve worked with community members, we’ve talked with other communities, we’ve talked with the state, with the Texas General Land Office as well, about what works best, not only for accessibility but also maintenance,” She said.
Boburka added that because of high winds, the mats can easily get covered with sand and require weekly maintenance to ensure they’re safe for pedestrians.
Boburka went on to say that some matting the city has already installed worked well with vehicle traffic, and the city is looking to install those same mats for pedestrians to use.
According to Boburka, there had been recent changes to the Administrative Code of the Texas General Land Office, and the city is working to extend the matting further onto the beach.
She explained that, according to the statute, ”You’re required to have one access in your jurisdiction that reaches the mean high tide line. And so we’ve been trying to work on that to make sure we’re in compliance with that.”
The city’s fire department also has a program to help everyone enjoy access to the beach. Mobicharis are amphibious vehicles with large wheels the fire department provides to the public free of charge. Ricardo Lozano, a seasonal lifeguard working with the fire department explained, “It’s accessible to anybody and any families, who may be interested in ADA disabilities or ease of use for access on the beach.”
The program has been in place for about ten years. The fire department has approximately ten of the chairs available.
Anyone who is interested in using one can go to the fire house and request one. Fire personnel will even help load it into their vehicle. They are first come first serve, and Lozano said they can go quickly, especially during busy times.
Boburka said the city is planning more accessibility projects in the future and pointed to the recent overhaul the city undertook at Beach Access #8.
Talking about that area before the work was done, Boburka said, “That was a completely undeveloped beach access, and we were able to put in a permeable paver parking lot for beach access parking. Two permanent restrooms and an ADA compliant dune walkover.”
News Source: https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/spi-to-spend-almost-40-thousand-to-improve-beach-accessibility-matting/
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