Visit South Padre’s board voted to approve a $50,000 ecotourism buy to support Friends of RGV Reef’s artificial-reef projects, which the presenter described as large-scale deployments of concrete and steel railroad ties to increase marine habitat off the island.

A representative identified as Curtis presented a short video and slides outlining the group’s recent work. Curtis said the organization had cleared a yard of more than 20,000 tons of material and deployed 18,000 tons in a 30-day period; individual railroad ties weigh about 800 pounds. "We literally load 3 of these at a time onto the boat. So it's a massive project," he said.

Curtis described several initiatives: assisting the Texas General Land Office with material for the Queen Isabella reef associated with the old causeway demolition; a plan to site another 1,650-acre reef between existing reefs; a FAD (fish-aggregating device) project that deployed five FADs; and the placement of 10 vessels inside the reef to create habitat. He said partners include the City of South Padre Island, the CVB, the EDC and the Port of Brownsville, and that most material is donated while the organization covers fuel and labor costs.

Curtis also described an ongoing academic partnership to measure carbon storage. "We are just completed our carbon study, which is our first year. It costs us about a million dollars to complete. Dr. Richard Klein, UTRGV has the report and he'll be publishing that report at the end of this month," he said, and noted a second-phase study planned to measure sediment carbon sequestration.

A board member moved to approve the $50,000 ecotourism buy; the motion was seconded and the board approved it by voice vote. No amendments or conditions were recorded in the meeting transcript.

The presenter said Friends of RGV Reef intends to work on additional permitting and deployments, and referenced potential benefits including increased marine habitat and tourism opportunities for local fishermen. The meeting record did not include a detailed contract or performance metrics tied to the $50,000; those details were not specified.