Galveston City Council on Thursday voted 5-2, with Elizabeth Beeton and Cornelia Harris-Banks opposed, to approve a specific use permit in conjunction with the development of an amusement that includes a go cart track on the property of the old Sea-Arama property at 9402 Seawall Boulevard. Listen

The development, which was originally planned to include go cart tracks, was modified to restrict the project to one go cart track; and after the divided vote, another motion to require “super silent” motors on the carts was approved unanimously.

Residents of The Maravilla condominiums complained that noise from the track would be annoying, but Council Member Rusty Legg, who said he was educated about decibel  levels during the deliberations of the recently approved noise ordinance, said the level of sound that will be generated by the amusement should not be a problem.

 The city council voted 6-0-1, with Mayor Joe Jaworski abstaining, to approve a modification of the agreement with Craig Eiland, who has been retained to represent the city on Texas Windstorm Association claims.  Listen

“It would modify Paragraph 6 to allow for a contingency, the maximum of 28 percent for fees and seven percent for expenses,” explained City Attorney Dottie Palumbo.

The city council voted unanimously to approve a resolution recognizing May 19 through May 25 as “Boater Safety Week”.

All other agenda items were approved unanimously.  Agenda

In a brief work session after the formal meeting, City Manager Michael Kovacs updated the city council on efforts to preserve funding by the Federal Transit Administration despite the city’s drop in population after Hurricane Ike. Listen

“If you are a large urban system you are part of a large urban pot of money; and the cutoff is 50,000,” Kovacs said reviewing the efforts to not lose transit funds.  “There hasn’t been any resolution yet.   There’s about eight different attack strategies undergoing implementation right now.”