Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 673 amends the Local Government Code to decrease from 60,000 to 50,000 the minimum population required of a municipality that borders on the Gulf of Mexico for it to be authorized to use gulf tidelands and adjacent water for park purposes. The bill increases from 75 to 99 years the period during which a purchaser may operate a franchise on the state-owned tideland, water, and bed of the Gulf of Mexico, and it similarly extends the period during which the purchaser or the purchaser's heirs enjoy certain related use and occupancy rights. The bill authorizes the municipality to sell to a purchaser any piers, structures, or improvements located on the land, if no bonded indebtedness remains outstanding, and establishes the terms under which the purchaser or the purchaser's heirs may lease the state-owned land on which such structures are located.