Port Merger Plan Temporarily Dry Docked

HOUSTON-Galveston City Council has temporarily dry docked a call for a referendum to allow for more public input and gather extra data.

The last of three public workshops will be held Wednesday. The Port of Galveston board of trustees, Galvestonians for Port Progress and Jobs and Galveston Economic Development Partnership are sponsoring the sessions.

Of the required approving bodies, only Galveston council has yet to formally sign off. Galveston Wharves Trustees and Port of Houston Authority Commissioners have OK’d the merger plan. Galveston City Council will vote after the public input meetings as to whether to place the measure on a referendum. The Port of Galveston reportedly has reviewed over 25,400 documents in the initial due diligence phase, GlobeSt.com has been told.

The proposed plan would create a regionalized port that will operate out of the Galveston Bay. The Port of Houston Authority will manage the new port and the old Port of Galveston will become a business unit of the Port of Houston. The deal calls for the Port of Houston to infuse $30 million over 10 years into the Port of Galveston.