Pharr

[Granola]

The Pharr State of the City was held today at the Boggus Ford Events Center. 

Everybody who's anybody was there...  all area Mayors, even some from Mexico, County Judge & Commissioners, area EDCs, State Representatives and Senators, bankers, etc.  It was quite a show of strength for all those politicos to attend.

Lots of tooting of their own horn... as is typical of a State of the City....  Retail sales growth, Warehouses, international bridge, restaurants, the doubling of lanes at the interchange starting in 2020, the 365 Toll Road and the upcoming Top Golf.   
Property Taxes being lowered again. 
Utility (water) sending residents refund checks again. 
More parks coming in 2018, 2019 and beyond.   The Doctor really wants people to go outside and get healthy.  

Announced the recently opened  Rio Grande College on north 281, STC for police partnership in south Pharr, UTRGV partnership with the Pharr Aquatic Center by the stadium off Sam Houston and UT Medical School partnership (? didn't catch what that was or where). Promoting Pharr as a city with education as a key component for growth.   Many present wondered if the corner of Jackson/Owassa (Dove) will be part of the UT Medical School partnership he mentioned.

STC will be remodeling the old Lone Star National Bank building on the corner of 495 & 281 for a security collaboration as an STC Command Center with the City of Pharr.

I'll need to find it online and rewatch it - so much stuff going on that I'm sure I missed some things.

[mrpib]

Did they say why utrgv would be partnering with the pharr aqatic center?

[Minion]

Hernandez touts construction during Pharr State of City address

PHARR — Led by small children wearing hard hats and safety vests, Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez walked into the Pharr Events Center on Thursday to deliver Pharr’s second State of the City address, with the slogan “We built this city” displayed prominently behind the podium.

After a video introduction from Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, who Hernandez praised throughout his roughly 30-minute address, the mayor took the stage and listed recently completed projects such as the 60,000-square-foot Index Fresh avocado ripening and distribution facility and an upward of $1 million research and development center on the south side of town.

Hernandez touted the city’s crown jewel, the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which Bridge Director Luis Bazan noted in a video has seen a 12 to15 percent growth in imports and exports.

The mayor focused a large portion of his speech on current construction, such as the sports entertainment venue Topgolf, which broke ground last week, as well as future projects, such as the $150 million Pharr Interchange expansion and a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley aquatics center. Hernandez also unveiled a new city seal.

However, the address, and buildup, featured a couple complications.

While Hernandez mentioned the southbound and northbound truck-crossing success of the bridge, southbound car crossings have dipped significantly, which has concerned Pharr Bridge officials and board members.

Comparing October 2017 to October 2016, 7,666 fewer cars crossed the Pharr Bridge. Comparing December 2017 to December 2016, 12,042 fewer cars crossed the bridge. Pharr Bridge officials expressed concern about the trend at a Wednesday bridge board meeting.

Anticipating the address, Hernandez also wrote a column that ran in Thursday’s edition of The Monitor where he focused on Topgolf coming to Pharr.

“We are on an assertive timeline, and Topgolf is expected to open this winter,” Hernandez wrote in the third paragraph.

Later in the column, Hernandez wrote, “Topgolf shall be a first-class golf-based entertainment facility that will open by July 2019.” The July date was the deadline originally established in the city’s agreement with the company, but Pharr is pushing to open the facility by the end of winter.

www.themonitor.com/news/business/article_d6535396-fcc9-11e7-9f63-cfd712c78793.html

[Minion]

Incentives for TopGolf in this "commentary" from the Mayor.

www.themonitor.com/opinion/columnists/article_ff5a8582-fbe5-11e7-aecf-537b80c96c10.html

[Minion]

Jan 18, 2018 16:35:18 GMT -6 mrpib said:

Did they say why utrgv would be partnering with the pharr aqatic center?

I don't see anything on that.  But I do know Pharr has a beautiful aquatic center.  Maybe it fits right into their needs for a practice area?

You can see some of it here:  vimeo.com/130361918  mixed in with the playscape area video. and in the pics below. 

[Minion]

Mayor Hernandez: UTRGV is coming to Pharr

PHARR, RGV – In his 2018 State of the City Address on Thursday, Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez announced UT-Rio Grande Valley will soon have a presence in the city.

UTRGV is to build an aquatic center in Pharr, Hernandez said.

“Through the collaboration, the PSJA School District and our families will have the opportunity to use the indoor aquatic center for practice time and the hosting of competitive school swim meets throughout the year,” Hernandez said.

“Imagine that, our very own state-of-the-art facility here at home with significant additions in the area of sports medicine and rehabilitative services.”

In addition, UTRGV’s School of Medicine is to develop a medical clinic campus in Pharr designed to improve access to primary and specialty care in the region. “This is only the beginning of greater things to come,” the mayor said.

Pharr has not been known as a city for higher education but in fact, Hernandez said, it will soon be home to three higher education institutions. In addition to UTRGV, one college has arrived and another is one the way.

Hernandez pointed out that last year, Rio Grande Valley College opened the doors to a 42,000 sq. ft. state of the art facility, becoming the first college in Pharr.

“RGV College provides high-quality education in the healthcare field and for the past three years has locally-held the highest-passing licensure rate in the Vocational Nursing Program. RGV College is currently in the process of establishing Associate Degree programs which will prove beneficial for the City of Pharr and the surrounding communities,” Hernandez said.

Also last year, Pharr broke ground for the South Texas College Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence. Hernandez said the center will offer college-level certifications and professional training in public safety, law enforcement, border security, and fire science.

“We are in talks to have the center serve as a unique national model for homeland security that will accommodate the security, law enforcement and public safety training needs on a local, regional, state-wide, and national level,” Hernandez said.

In his State of the City address, held at the Pharr Events Center, Hernandez also gave a shout out to three Pharr schools that have have been recognized by the Texas Education Agency as Blue Ribbon schools. They are PSJA’s Carmen Anaya Elementary School, PSJA’s Cesar Chavez Elementary School, and Hidalgo ISD’s JC Kelly Elementary School.

Hernandez also discussed road construction, recreational activities and improvements to Pharr International Bridge. He said $200 million has been earmarked for roads, and $10 million has been spent on recreational activities.

On the subject of taxation and revenue collections, Hernandez said:

“Taxable sales in the City of Pharr increased by more than $17 million compared to last year, and approximately $133 million since taking office in 2015. Pharr International Bridge revenues increased 3.6 percent compared to last year, and ten percent since taking office in 2015. Pharr enjoyed $47.2 million in new retail and industrial development and $16.6 million in new residential and multi-family development since January 2017.”

Hernandez described his city commission and city staff as progressive. He said they decreased the property tax rate again, from 68 cents to 64.9 cents over the last three years.

“We also approved a reimbursement of water meter deposits for customers in good standing, providing real cash back in many citizens’ wallets,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez also highlighted three big events that have happened since the start of the new year.

“We hosted the grand opening of Index Fresh, 60,000 sq. ft. avocado ripening facility, marking the first fully-operational tenant in Pharr’s produce park, and many more to come. We also celebrated the grand opening of the South Pharr Development and Research Center, a multi-purpose community facility that aims to improve economic conditions for families in South Pharr. We broke ground for one of the most highly-anticipated entertainment venues in the Rio Grande Valley, Topgolf, which now calls Pharr home.”

With regard to the Pharr International Bridge, Hernandez said the city was “reaping the benefits of the investment that our neighbors to the south have committed to modernizing the Reynosa Aduana port of entry.”

He said $80 million has been investment by Mexico into the Reynosa/Pharr port of entry. He said this highlights its importance in the region to promote cross-border trade.

“This project is expected to double capacity, efficiently streamline crossings, and reduce wait times,” Hernandez said.

“The Pharr International Bridge continues to make improvements to its infrastructure to allow for more efficient crossings, and to help our competitive advantage to continue. Through the federal Donation Acceptance Program and a more than $30 million investment, the projects include 2 new entry lanes, 2 new exit lanes, a dry inspection dock expansion, additional cold dock inspection rooms, and a regional agriculture and training center.”

riograndeguardian.com/hernandez-utrgv-is-coming-to-pharr/

[mrpib]

Utrgv building a new aquatics center for swim meets is huge news, because they don't even have a swim team right now. They need to add more womens sports in order to start football. So a new womens swim team and a softball team would basically confirm football.

[Minion]

Jan 19, 2018 13:41:31 GMT -6 mrpib said:

Utrgv building a new aquatics center for swim meets is huge news, because they don't even have a swim team right now. They need to add more womens sports in order to start football. So a new womens swim team and a softball team would basically confirm football.

Seriously, that just went over my head when I copy/pasted it and even bolded it and changed it to red!   I understood from the State of the City that UTRGV was going to use Pharr's existing Aquatics Center?   Hmm.  That is pretty big news if they're building an entire center!
 
I was more excited about the UTRGV Medical Clinic.  Pharr has  doctors here and there but no big clinics or hospitals at all.  Hope that leads to more medical in the city.  There wasn't even an emergency room in Pharr until 2 months ago (Mercer at Pharr Town Center).

There was a consortium of doctors several years back that were going to build a hospital on the NW corner of Sioux and 281.  DHR fought them tooth and nail. Went back and forth for years.  Then some guy ran off with all the money. There went that. lol

[miles]

Way to go Pharr! Keep on bringing new stuff for the RGV! No one else is doing it.

[Minion]

Pharr held it's State of the City last Thursday.  I've been waiting for the UTRGV campus announced last January.  Glad to see it's still coming.


"Pharr continues to partner with UTRGV on several major initiatives. This year, Pharr fulfilled its commitment to contribute to the UTRGV School of Medicine, again presenting a five-hundred-thousand-dollar grant to UTRGV in June. Plans are moving forward for the UTRGV Satellite Campus, which propose to include a Multi-Specialty Clinical Campus and a Sports Medicine Institute and Aquatic Center. These projects will enhance educational, health care and athletic opportunities, as well as contribute to having a significant economic impact in our area. Thank you to UTRGV for your continued partnership as we work to advance educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, and especially, in Pharr."



"One of the most highly-anticipated venues to come to the Rio Grande Valley opened its doors just a few weeks ago in Pharr to much excitement. Our Pharr community has welcomed this one-of-a-kind entertainment venue with open arms, and we have some information to share about Topgolf Pharr:



Topgolf Pharr was ranked #1 in Overall Guest Satisfaction for the entire company in 2018 and currently for 2019;

Topgolf Pharr won The Culinary Cup for The Texas Region; and

More than 160,000 games were played! Impressive!"


"Our Pharr International Bridge continues to be the number one land port of entry in the country for produce, crossing 60 percent of all fresh produce traveling northbound to destinations across the United States. The Bridge is the 4th largest U. S. Port of Entry with Mexico. The bridge is also ranked number one in exports for petroleum gases. Approximately thirty-three-Billion Dollars in Total Trade cross annually through our Pharr International Bridge."

"Notable transportation projects from state and federal funds include approximately $350 million for the Pharr Interchange Expansion; $70 million total for roadway projects; $3.5 million for sidewalk funding; $40 Million for bridge projects, all toward transportation and infrastructure improvement projects, right here in Pharr."

riograndeguardian.com/mayor-hernandez-here-is-pharrs-state-of-the-city-address/