Port Arthur council reopens ground-lease negotiations for Pleasure Island wind and solar project; several exec-session items tabled

Port Arthur City Council voted April 28 to reopen negotiations with Diligent Offshore Services LLC on a ground lease for tracts on Pleasure Island for the development, construction and operation of wind and solar generation facilities, and the council tabled several other executive-session items to the next regular meeting.

The council’s action followed an extended executive session that began in the late afternoon and ran into the evening. Council members moved and seconded a motion “to reopen negotiation for ground lease with Diligent Offshore Services LLC” for tracts described during the meeting as containing approximately “13.79 acres, 900 acres, and 13 [xx] acres” on Pleasure Island. The council approved the motion after a voice vote and a subsequent roll call; the roll-call record in the transcript shows Mayor Pro Tem Beckham voting no, Council member Doucette yes, Council member Frank yes, Council member Hamilton Everfield no, Council member Lewis yes and Mayor Barty yes. A vote by Council member Kinlaw was not recorded in the roll-call…