Winter Texans outraged by water surcharge

City officials in San Benito, Texas will "revisit" a town ordinance that has Winter Texans seeing red from more than just chilli. Caught with declining sales tax revenues, the town council passed a law that makes up $348,000 a year. Trouble is, it's based on placing a $10 a month surcharge on all apartments and RV spaces--occupied or not.

"They need to do a lot of rethinking," Sissy Wilhoit, manager at Tropical Trails RV park, said. "They owe some of us refunds." Wilhoit is quoted in a story on the subject in the Brownsville Herald. To be sure, snowbirding out-of-staters are upset by the town's approach to propping up its budget. Other RV park owners echo similar sentiments, warning town fathers that their approach will backfire when snowbirds revolt and take their rigs--and money--elsewhere.

Still, town officials claim it's necessary, and protects regular residents from an unfair monetary burden. Nevertheless, in mid-December town officials will make a "judicious review" of the matter.

photo: minimalistphotography101.com on flickr.com

Winter Texans--will they come?

Texas' Rio Grande Valley loves its Winter Texans. When the warm weather beckons the Mid-Westerners, they come with their RVs, their pets, and of course, a little spending money. But history hasn't been entirely kind to the Rio Grande.

When the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center sent a shiver into the bones of nearly every American, the Winter Texans were among them. Visitation rates dropped like a rock, and it wasn't until the 2010-2011 season that the number of seasonal visitors ever hit the same levels as before that fateful year of 2001.

The question now is: Will the violence spurred by Mexican drug cartels frighten off the Winter Texans? RV resort owners and others dependent on tourism are counting that the snowbirds will come as always. So far, they seem to be right. Lon Huff, who manages the Sunshine RV Resort in Harlingen recently told the Brownsville Herald that the numbers are looking good. Last year the park filled almost 90% of its 1,000+ RV slots. "We're definitely ahead of last year," says Huff.

Still, Melissa Cortez over at the Country Sunshine RV Resort in Weslaco isn't so sure. "My numbers are a bit down this season," says Cortez. "The publicity we're getting because of the Mexico issue has really hit us hard." Her reservations are down around 30% from last year.

Discussions we've had with RVers seem to indicate that the "Mexico scare" just isn't having a large an impact as some would have us believe. One traveler told us she's planning a trip into Mexico itself--alone--and is more concerned about how long it will take her to get back into the states when coming home time arrives.

Come season's end, the numbers will show how folks have been affected.

photo: Roadside stand on US Highway 281 north of Edinburg, taxibill on flickr.com

New, 75 mph speeds authorized on four Texas highways

RV snowbirds might want to be aware of new speed limits on a few Texas roads. The Texas Transportation Commission recently approved higher speeds on four Central Texas highways making them the first in the state to be posted at the 75-mile an hour limit since recent legislation (HB 1353) took effect on September 1.

After conducting engineering studies, the Texas Department of Transportation recommended that speed limits be raised on sections of I35, SH 130, SH 45 and US 281 in Bell, Travis, Burnet and Williamson counties.

"This is a great start, but we have a long way to go," said Carol Rawson, TxDOT Traffic Operations Division director. "TxDOT is reviewing existing 70-mile per hour speed limits statewide to determine where a higher limit may be safely posted. We anticipate having all of the speed studies completed by early 2013, so be looking for new 75 mph signs in the near future."

Texas already had 1,445 miles of 75-mph speeds and 521 miles of 80-mph speeds on certain state highways, but these areas were previously restricted to specific rural counties and highways located mostly in West Texas. The new law allows the department to implement the higher speeds on any 70-mph highway across the state.

The most recent 75 mph speed limits are located on:
•I-35, 22 miles from Georgetown to Salado;
•SH 130, 45 miles from I-35 in Williamson County to US 183 in Travis County;
•SH 45, nine miles from US 183 to I-35 in Travis County; and
•US 281, 12 miles from the Lampasas-Burnet County line to eight miles north of the Burnet city limits.

Speed limits in Texas are set by the 85th percentile method which represents the speed the majority of drivers are traveling at or below. This recognized engineering principle has been used to set speed limits nationwide for the past 60 years.

South Texas RV show coming January 5 to San Antonio

The South Texas RV Super Sale will be held at San Antonio's Joe Freeman Coliseum Exposition Hall on January 5-8, 2012. Participating dealers are Ancira RV of Boerne, Camping World of San Antonio, Crestview RV Superstore, ExploreUSA RV from San Antonio and Ron Hoover RV from Boerne.

This represents a new chapter in the South Texas RV Industry as multiple local RV dealers join forces to present and promote this Super Sale. The last exclusive RV show held in San Antonio was in 2007.

More than 200 RVs will be displayed, from basic towables to mega-motorcoaches with price tags of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The show will feature special pricing for all active duty military and RV Club members. In addition, children under the age of 15 are free. Show hours are 10 AM until 6 PM on Thursday and Sunday and 10 AM until 8 PM Friday and Saturday. Free parking is availablel. Additional information is at SOUTHTEXASRVSUPERSALE.com.