Local leaders' response to Bob Hall Pier's rebuilding process weighs on a month-long damage assessment.
The pier sustained massive damage from Hurricane Hanna’s storm surge a little more than a week ago.
Nueces County for Pct. 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney said he expects a brief update from Jacobs Engineering Group on either Aug. 6 or 7. That update, Chesney said, will only focus on the main structure of the pier. More significant decisions will come as a result of the longer assessment.
“I do think we’re still on track for that initial 30-day period of time where we should have a pretty good idea of where we stand in regards to what the main structure looks like,” Chesney said.
Until then, the pier sits, damaged and mostly unchanged since Hurricane Hanna struck it July 25.
Chesney said Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales was able to use her emergency authority to initiate the damage-assessment process. On Wednesday, it will be discussed formally in commissioner’s court.
“We’re going to look at all the options,” Chesney said. “We’re going to do everything we can to work with the federal government, the state government, the county government and get this thing rebuilt — that is priority No. 1 to me.”
Another focus, Chesney said, are the employees who have been affected.
"That’s very important too," he said. "It’s not just the damage to the pier, it’s the damage to the economy and the damage to those employees that we need to get back to work. And certainly to Mikel May’s — the owners — so that they’re not just continuing to hemorrhage money.”
