The Orange City Council Tuesday will conduct a public hearing to annex 5.3 acres along Highway 62 north of Interstate 10. The owners of the property requested the annexation with a Blue Beacon Truck Wash planned for the site.
The council meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday with an agenda of public hearings for numerous items, including the 2017 budget and tax rate, plus expenditures for the Hotel Occupancy Tax.
The hotel tax is collected from people who stay in local hotels and motels. The state limits the way the money can be spent. The city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau will get the bulk of the total $634,000 to be spent. The bureau has $416,000 budgeted.
The city is also working with the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce for a variety of projects. The budget includes a total of $48,000 to the chamber with $8,000 for the Mardi Gras parade, $30,000 for a national fishing tournament, $5,000 for the Sabine River Festival, and $5,000 for a high school fishing tournament.
Historic preservation is set to get a total of $45,000 with $30,000 to the Heritage House Museum and $15,000 to Friends of the Orange Depot.
The hotel tax fund will also spend $20,000 for landscape maintenance at the Riverfront Boardwalk and Pavilion and $40,000 is allocated for a future tourism-related event.
Other groups set to get grants are the Gulf Coast Cajun Festival, Orange Trade Days and the Southeast Texas Arts Council “Off Ramp” magazine with $5,000 each.
The council meets in the auditorium next to the Orange Public Library.
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