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South Padre Island Area News Jan07
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0 Comments ::  :: South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, Bayview |
This week's local area news stories that impact readers in our area include:
- Mexican upper class pumping money into region helping the Rio Grande Valley becoming an International banking Mecca
- Local Boaters may need to upgrade their radios
- 2007 Brownsville International Birding Festival
- Museums may be hurt by the transfer of Port Isabel Light House
- South Padre RV space rentals to rise 15 percent
See details below:
Mexican upper class pumping money into region helping the Rio Grande Valley becoming an International banking Mecca
Inter National Bank president Carlos Garza has spent recent weeks just over the border in Mexico, hopping from city to city to promote services that allow seamless, cross-border banking. Garza's customers can write checks, get a mortgage and deposit or withdraw money at branches or ATMs on either side of the border. And they can easily transfer funds from the United States to relatives in Mexico, eliminating a need for costly money-wiring services.
In the midst of a growth spurt that is pumping money into the region from both sides of the border, the Rio Grande Valley is becoming something of an international banking Mecca. Deposits in the Valley have more than doubled to about $10.2 billion from 1994 to 2004, according to the most recent data available. Bankers such as Garza are scrambling for a share. Banking giant Banorte, which recently acquired Garza's Inter National Bank, is the first Mexican financial institution to offer branch access in the United States. Other high-profile banking forays into the Texas border region are under way.
Spain's second largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, which owns Mexican banking giant Bancomer, is entering the U.S. market with a takeover of Texas State, which started in McAllen and has spread throughout Texas. "We looked at Texas State because of synergies that we could get with Mexico on the border," BBVA spokeswoman Julissa Bonfante said. Earlier in the year, San Antonio-based Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. wedged its way into the area by purchasing Alamo Bank of Texas and its 15 Rio Grande Valley branches.
Industry experts and outside analysts say the fervor is natural. McAllen, and Brownsville to the east, are hubs of a binational region growing fast in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement. For example, gross sales in McAllen's Hidalgo County were $2.6 billion for the first quarter of 2005, compared with $1.9 billion for the same period in 2001. Although poverty remains rampant, the Texas side continues to groom itself as a spending playground for millionaires from Monterrey, Northern Mexico's industrial powerhouse. "When you look at our bank deposits they're very, very big relative to any location, relative to our population, our socioeconomics," said Cynthia Brown, an economist at the University of Texas-Pan American. "The reason we have this is not because of who's banking here, people who live here, but because of people banking out of Mexico. ... Now what Banorte, a Mexican bank, is saying, is 'hey, we want a piece of this action, too."'
Garza speaks with a sort of deference as he walks past some of the customers on the bank's sixth and highest floor -- they are international banking customers and discretion is paramount. But as evidenced by the steady flow of customers making smaller transactions on the ground floor, there's more than Mexican millionaires driving the banking boom.
The Rio Grande Valley has managed to diversify from its former agriculture base and is surviving the loss of clothing mills by embracing retail, staffing call centers, and cultivating a support role for the factory complexes across the border. Explosive population growth (large families, continuing influx of new immigrants, as well as job seekers and entrepreneurs coming and settling from other parts of the country) has created a construction frenzy. About 1.4 million people are expected to be living in the Valley by 2010, a 40 percent increase since the 2000 Census.
Everywhere are new highways, new subdivisions, new strip malls, new government complexes and new schools. Homeland Security mandates have brought thousands of federal agents earning an average annually salaries of $70,000 -- more than double the region's median household income -- who are buying homes and shopping at the stores. And there's increasing evidence of a growing middle class in Mexico, who are following the example of the upper class and taking their pesos to McAllen, Brownsville, and the beaches of South Padre Island. "The Valley is probably what the Dallas-Fort Worth area was 25, 30 years ago," said Raymond Jenkins, the chairman of Frost Bank's new Valley region. "Large growth rates, very young citizenship. ... It's kind of the last frontier. When I got into banking, in 1976, there were really only three banks in McAllen. Now there's 18, 19 banks with about 70 branches -- and that's inside the city limits." Ford Sasser, president of Rio Bank, said the region's ties with Mexico meant it couldn't be compared fairly with other parts of America. When the Mexican peso devaluated in the 1980s, the Valley suffered even as the economy elsewhere grew. And as real estate prices peak and plummet elsewhere, new arrivals from places such as California and Florida are a decade behind Mexicans in discovering the deep South Texas housing market.
"It's been a pretty easy ride with the appreciation in real estate values," Sasser said. "When your collateral is worth more a year from now than it is today, it's kind of hard to make lending mistakes." He said fears of a leftist takeover in the Mexican presidency helped the market, as many Mexican investors looked at valley real estate as a hedge on their pesos. "It was real close to having a person be elected down there that could have certainly had a big impact on the Mexican economy," he said. "The only people to get hurt in a peso devaluation are the people with pesos." There are more than a dozen banks on South Padre Island, a three mile-strip of condominiums and hotels with only about 2,400 year-round residents. "I think the real estate opportunities here on the island are certainly a compelling reason to locate here," said Roxanne Guenzel, president of the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce. More banks want a piece of that cross-border mortgage action. Besides marketing to Mexicans buying up real estate in the Valley, they can also woo Americans shopping for coastal property in Mexico. "The American that wants to own real estate in Baja California, the Pacific Coast, that's just a huge market," Inter National's Garza said. "The market is becoming a lot more like in the U.S."
By Lynn Brezosky ASSOCIATED PRESS
Local Boaters may need to upgrade their radios
Some Laguna Madre area boaters may need to upgrade their radios in order to comply with new federal regulations. The Federal Communications Commission ordered boaters and aircraft pilots to replace all 121.5 megahertz radio beacons in a phase out program that started Sunday.The radios, known as Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons, act as locators during emergency search and rescues and are generally found on commercial and charter fishing boats. A statement from the U.S. Coast Guard on South Padre Island said the devices take the “search out of search and rescue.” Outmoded 121.5 megahertz radios should be replaced by the 406 megahertz model, Lt. Charles Hawkins said. Pete Garcia, a captain for Jim’s Pier, thinks the new radios are better. He said that if a life depended on it, the 406 MHz radio beacons would do the job. “The 406 megahertz are better,” he said. “There is just no comparison.” When the radio beacons are activated they send a sign to satellites which locate mariners in distress. The 406 MHz beacons offer quicker notification, more accurate position and registration information. The U.S. Coast Guard will still respond to the older models. Not all boaters are set to comply immediately. The International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization plan to remove all their 121.5 MHz models as of Feb. 1, 2009. Satellite processing of these distress signals will stop worldwide in February 2009, Hawkins stated.
The Coast Guard advises all mariners to make the necessary switch to the newer models as soon as possible. After about 20 years of the radios, Garcia sees the need for change. “The 121.5 megahertz radio beacons are outdated,” Garcia said. The new radio beacons cost approximately $1,000. Garcia said his boats already use the 406 megahertz devices and he has experienced quicker response times with the newer model. “I received a call after the device went off in my boat, and it took only three hours to find,” he said. The new models allow the Coast Guard to pinpoint distressed ships to within 30 feet of the actual device. Boat owners can register their 406 megahertz beacons online at : www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov
By:THERESA NAJERA
Island Breeze
2007 Brownsville International Birding Festival
Very special birding awaits you this February amidst the best overall climate in Texas. The seventh annual Brownsville International Birding Festival offers Birders and other nature lovers a complete program of field trips, seminars and other fun events that will explore the biodiversity of South Texas and Northern Mexico . The Brownsville International Birding Festival is your introduction to the wonderful semi-tropical paradise that is the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Birding has become extremely popular among Texas residents and visitors in recent years. This is particularly true in the South Texas Plains and Gulf Coast regions.
Register Right Here
Museums may be hurt by the transfer of Port Isabel Light House
A possible bureaucratic change in the management of the Port Isabel Lighthouse could siphon revenue from the city’s museums, its director said. The Port Isabel Lighthouse is one of 21 state park properties that may soon transfer from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to the Texas Historical Commission, officials said.
The two agencies are looking to improve operations of historical sites. The lighthouse is also managed by the Museums of Port Isabel, whose director, Edward Meza, said the proposal could cause major changes for the city’s museums. “When it comes down to it, we have a 10-year relationship with the TPWD, and all our funds for the museums consist of the admissions from the lighthouse,” Meza said.
He is concerned that the state’s historical commission will withhold part or all of the admission revenues. “I have worked with the THC for over 20 years, and they have strict requirements,” Meza said. The city projects films on the side of the lighthouse to attract visitors and uses the historical site in other ways that may not be permitted under the THC, Meza said. The museum director said he has received little feedback to his concerns in written letters to state representatives and others.
“They have contacted the county, but not me, which will be interesting if this is the way we will be working,” he said. Port Isabel City Manager Robert H. Garcia wrote in a letter that he is “deeply concerned” with the transfer. “Our partnership with the TPWD has proven successful in operating and maintaining the lighthouse and the lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage,” Garcia said. The transfer will have a “negative impact on the Department of Historical Preservation for the city of Port Isabel,” he said.
The lighthouse is staffed by city employees and volunteers, including the museum director, a site manager and admissions clerks and lighthouse keepers. The lighthouse is a part of the two other city museums. Garcia wrote that without the “strength of the lighthouse, the museums will be lost.” The lighthouse met two criterions required for the agency transfer: The site doesn’t require the protection of park police and has no recreational facilities. The proposed transfer will better preserve, develop and promote the properties, stated a letter by John L. Nau III, chairman for the THC. The commission’s award-winning Texas Trails Program “increases tourism” and “promotes economic growth,” he stated.
But Meza still sees difficulty ahead. “I have worked with the Texas Trail Program, and we do all the work,” Meza said. He agrees that the program is good for community involvement but said it works after the town proves it can find labor. “They (THC) have done good operating historical sites, but I believe it comes down to finances,” he said. Meza said he and others are troubled by the lack of public comment involved in the transfer. Advocacy group Texans for State Parks’ president, Beth McDonald, wrote in an e-mail that the historical commission is “ill-equipped to care for the properties.” Her e-mail called the transfer a “behind the scenes deal” and rallied other group members to get involved in the proposal. She also stated that residents have a right to know more about the issue. TPWD regional maintenance specialist Rob Trippet said the transfer is being considered because of funding issues and the THC’s expertise in preserving site history.
Trippet confirmed that the agencies believe the historical sites can be better maintained by the historical commission. “The way we (TPWD) approach things is health and safety first,” Trippet said. “If we had to fix a broken sewer line or do a paint job, we would fix the sewer line. It is a way we prioritize things.” The Port Isabel Lighthouse was painted by the TPWD two years ago. The project required some research. “We study the environment and what will work best,” Trippet said. “We have done all right.” TPWD’s agreement with Port Isabel is that the state agency will repair anything costing more than $500, Trippet said. He is not sure whether the agreement will remain if the Legislature agrees to the transfer. The agencies have not determined whether the transfer would save money or have other benefits, he added. The Legislature begins its next session on Tuesday.
By THERESA NAJERA Island Breeze
South Padre RV space rentals to rise 15 percent
Rent will soon cost 15 percent more for a recreational vehicle space in Cameron County parks on South Padre Island and at Arroyo City. Cameron County commissioners approved the rate hike on the advice of Noe Hinojosa Jr., a Dallas financial adviser. He said the parks system will need more revenue to make the payments on an $8 million package of certificates of obligation for park improvements and construction of new small parks. "There will be $630,000 in payments the first year, Hinojosa said. "I think 15 percent should be enough to cover costs," County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa said. Certificates of obligation are similar to bonds as a way for the county to borrow money, but only require a majority vote of the commissioners' court, rather than a public bond referendum. The "COs" will be repaid with park revenues, such as admission fees, season passes, boat launch fees and RV space rentals, not with property taxes, county Parks Director Javier Mendez said.
By:ALLEN ESSEX |
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