CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -
The U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Corpus Christi are trying to come up with a move-in date for the Coast Guard to move into its new headquarters at the Corpus Christi International Airport.
However, there has been a bit of confusion on who will actually build the facility.
The Corpus Christi Army Depot has been wanting to expand its operations, and the Coast Guard hanger out at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi would be a perfect fit; but the only problem is the Coast Guard has to move out before CCAD could possibly move in. Plus, the Navy would have to sign off on the CCAD move.
The government approved the Coast Guard's request to build a new sector headquarters out at the airport. The Coast Guard has asked the City to have the facility ready by early 2014, but the U.S. General Services Administration is still looking at the details of the deal.
It's a frustrating delay for Councilman Mark Scott, who believes the project needs to move forward at a faster pace.
"I've been frustrated with that honestly," Scott said. "Congressman Farenthold was very kind to push through legislation this spring that got a new Coast Guard facility funded. I talked with the congressman. I was involved in that, kind of pushing that along. Now the documents are stuck in GSA. My hope, my wish, is that the City steps up and we have a guaranteed income stream. Somebody has just got to go out and sell the bonds, design the building and build the building."
The new Coast Guard facility would cost $35 million to construct. The government is looking at paying $3.5 million a year for 20 years to pay to have it built and to lease the land.
There's also more military planning in the works. The Corpus Christi Planning Commission will be holding a workshop on Oct. 3 to try and ensure that the Navy will be staying here for the foreseeable future.
