City Facilities Master Plan

The City of South Padre Island has several buildings where City-related business is conducted daily. It is critical to their longevity and productivity to inventory them, assess their level of effectiveness and address maintenance needs. Additionally, planning for future growth is imperative.

South Padre Island is one of the most corrosive environments in the world. In addition to periodic tropical events, the daily high-saline environment is very caustic to most materials, including buildings. Prior to 2017, the City’s building stock was aging and suffering from deferred maintenance and lack of future budgeting. To address the deferred maintenance and budgeting problems, the City hired a consultant in 2017 to perform a Reserve Study for the municipal buildings. These Reserve Studies will guide the City into the future with facilities needing attention and the funds needed to replace/repair those facilities. In addition, the City Council saw the need for an identified funding source from the general fund and raised the ad valorem tax rate by one cent with those funds dedicated to facilities maintenance.

Facilities are an integral part of a municipality’s daily functions and are a significant investment of the taxpayers of the City. Being proactive instead of reactive about the maintenance of the facilities is critical to keeping up with demand. Having an accurate record of all systems within a facility can help with maintaining a parts and materials inventory, assist with warranties, budgeting, support staffing schedules and can help with matching fixtures or paint colors or tile.

Planning for current and future space needs is an important step in the planning process. A new facility should not be planned to fill only the current space needs, as growth is imminent and additional space will be needed. Additionally, as the community expands through annexation, it could result in needing ancillary locations to meet response time demands.

Ensuring the most current technology is used in the facility planning process can make the space more efficient and user-friendly. HVAC Systems can be programmed to shut down or operate at a lower frequency during non-business hours; access to certain sensitive areas can be permitted to certain individuals and key facility components can be tied to a remote monitoring system where they can be operated off-site during non-working hours.

In addition, security of those building users has become more important than ever in our current culture. Many facilities are designed to make accesses more secure, requiring credentials to enter. Ballistic-proof materials are being used more in common gathering areas and increased visibility has become more necessary to prevent an active shooter scenario. Parking areas are being constructed at a greater distance from buildings and vehicle intrusion prevention techniques are being planned to prevent vehicles from driving into buildings.