b'offered none and refused to fund anything on topographysame answer on engi-neering reports, and anything and everything else the Task Force might request of the Citythe answer was no. At the end of October 2018, Blackard and Vaughn sent a letter to the City Manager and Mayor McComb, requesting Van Vlecks removal and replacement, so that the City was represented but not by him.Van Vleck was infamous for his 2015 memo to then-City Manager Ron Olson re-porting that there was no problem with storm drainage on North Beachan official report as staggeringly-inaccurate as his assessments of our drinking water prob-lems. District One Councilman Everett Roy replaced Van Vleck, but has disappointed his colleagues and just about everyone who supports the project, as his record of at-tendance at Task Force work sessions amounted to less than five of more than forty meetingsdespite his official votes in favor.WORKING WITH THE PROSWhen you work with Blackard Global, you soon understand how the Big Boys do it. There are no shortcuts, there is only quality. The are no oddly missing details, the work is always complete. Only experienced professionals who are among the best in their fields find slots on their team, whether engineers, architects, designers, com-munications staff, buildersall vital roles are filled by pros. All of those cylinders fired at top speed for over six months, developing a complete and viable package of studies, plans and presentations that have since left a visual imprint on the minds of thousands of our neighbors for what is possible on North Beach. Frazier and Blackard developed an ingenious strategy that would both solve the 50-year-old flooding problems on North Beach, as well as create an entertainment destination on par with the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Working with multiple engi-neering firms, the Task Force settled on a navigable canal of 60 to 300 feet in width, running a mile north and south along what is now the median between Surfside and Timon Boulevards and opening to Corpus Christi Bay along what is now Burleson Street, as the best solution. Storm drainage and tidal flooding problems do not exist in canal-front neighborhoods on North Padre Island, Key Allegro in Rockport, Island Moorings in Port Aransas, andyesin The Harbors on the back side of North Beach!While a cheaper alternative to a canal would solve the flooding problem, in the form of a concrete ditch that takes the same route, the Grand Canal plan provides visitor infrastructure that will attract hotel, commercial and residential develop-A Grand Canal is the centerpiece of Blackard & Fraziers vision for North Beach. ment. The Riverwalk is a $4.3 billion per year economic engine within San Anto-nios economy, and since its first major expansion in 1968, has acted as a catalyst Just like the job he did on the City drinking water system that resulted in closedfor growth throughout one of the most successful cities in the country. Frazier and businesses, lost jobs and millions of dollars in economic damage to the City and usBlackards vision for North Beach, that includes both the Grand Canal and ten man-citizens, Van Vleck was determined to not just kill a popular development idea, butmade islands that will serve as breakwaters and wildlife habitat, would increase also to extend and expand an era of real danger to the public on North Beach. Com- property value there by no less than $1 billion within a decade of its completion, manders at the Citys fire and police departments, neither of which have a stationwould add thousands of jobs and hundreds of small business opportunities to one of on the peninsula, have acknowledged the hazards to public safety that come with thethe poorest sections of town, over $20 million per year in tax revenue and over $100 type of chronic flooding problems that affect that area, and like no other location inmillion per year in direct expenditures. In the world of civil engineering, utility in-Corpus Christi. With only one exit ramp to come with the new Harbor Bridge, half- frastructure repairs very rarely, if ever, serve as an economic boom to a cityit just a-mile north of the current, main ramp, instead of the two there now, all traffic fromdoesnt happen. It can on North Beach.the city will be delivered directly into the very worst area of floodingguaranteeingWhat also rarely exists is the level of investment of professional effort, and real even longer emergency response times, traffic congestion in peak times, and addedmoney, that went into the 35-minute video presentation for what was a volunteer ef-danger to everyone there, in every kind of emergency. fort on behalf of a city. The first of eight presentations on the history of North Beach It is widely understood that the vision, the engineering, and the economic fea- and its problems, along with the narrated, 3-D video rendering of the Task Forces sibility of redeveloping North Beach collectively equals Blackard Global, the team ofvision for its potential, debuted at the Texas State Aquarium in April 2019, first to an planners, designers, engineers, and financial gurus that bring Jeff Blackards visionsaudience of property owners. The next morning, the presentation was made to news to reality. Vaughn provided political insight and leadership and was a well-knownmedia, and word spread fast about what was being proposed. That evening, City and and respected spokesperson for the effortbut nothing could happen without sup- County elected officials were invited to a special presentation, and everyone showed port from the City of Corpus Christi, as well as Nueces County and the Port of Corpusup except for one, that being Mayor Joe McComb, who attended none all week.Christi. Early-on, the Task Forces prospects for success looked dim. McCombs indifference to the safety and happiness of the citizens of North Van Vleck was assigned to do nothing but say, no. When you build, particu- Beach has been on full display since his initial vote against the formation of the larly on a flood plain, analysis and maps of the topography of the land are essen- all-volunteer Task Force. When the Mayor and acting City Manager Keith Selman ap-tialsomething that would seem obvious to most. On behalf of the City, Van Vleckpointed Mark Van Vleck to represent the City on the Task Force, there was no doubt 46 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEQ2.2020 TheCoastalBend.com'