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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
November 21, 2013
The newspaper where we cover everything that goes down your street or up your canal…
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
We had our first Winter Texan Turnaround this week. A baffled Winter Texan was standing outside her RV in the Stripes parking lot stopping anyone who looked like a local asking for directions to the Padre South Hotel. “There’s no such place here Ma’am.” “There has to be we’ve booked a room. This is South Padre Island right?” “No Ma’am this is North Padre Island.” “But the street signs says…” “I know, South Padre Island Drive.” “But why isn’t it North Padre Island Drive? And how do I get to South Padre Island? Can I just go south on South Padre Island Drive?” “No ma’am you can’t get there that way it dead ends in the sand.” “So if South Padre Island Drive doesn’t go to South Padre Island? And North Padre Island Drive doesn’t go to North Padre Island? Then how do I get to South Padre Island?” Well,” and then we went through the explanation we Islanders have memorized for use during the tourist and Winter Texan seasons. “North Padre Island Drive is not on North Padre Island, in fact, you can’t get to North Padre Island on North Padre Island Drive. You have to take South Padre Island Drive to get to North Padre Island. And you are not on South Padre Island you’re on North Padre Island. To get to South Padre Island from North Padre Island you must go north on South Padre Island Drive but if you get to North Padre Island Drive you went too far.” The poor lady stood there with a look on her face like a coyote had just snatched up her little yappy dog. “North on South Padre Island Drive…” “So after I go north on South Padre Island Drive how far is it to South Padre Island?” “I’d give it about three hours ma’am. It takes some time for the feds to search your car at Sarita.”
State Eying Rules Change for Limits on Trout and Flounder
Unexpected results But for reasons that are not readily apparent the changes in rules had the opposite effect from what was intended. Instead of the tighter rules cutting down on the number of fish being taken those numbers are increasing along with the number of fishermen after them. Conversely, the targeted fish, whose populations had been struggling, have seen their numbers stabilize or increase - which is exactly what fisheries
“Which Island again…?” The first Winter Texan Turnaround. And so it goes.
Accent Party Once the Winter Texans arrive in earnest in January The Island Moon is going to sponsor an Accent Party. We’re going to see how many different accents we can get together at one time in one Star Spangled Island celebration of our diversity. Maybe we can set some kind of a record if we count drawls, stammers and winedriven slurs.
Slow your roll… Be careful at the stop sign at Windward and Leeward. The sneaky PD has been hiding behind the dumpster over there and chasing people down after they roll through the stop sign.
Why we don’t live there… The drive time from Georgetown to downtown Austin last Friday was just under three hours. It’s barely twenty miles but there were 300,000plus people in town for the U.T. football game and Formula One race. Rooms at the Driskill Hotel were going for $1000 per night with a three-night minimum and a waiting list. Saturday evening 22,000 people flew out of the airport in less than four hours. Meanwhile on The Island traffic was moving nicely.
Island time It’s a great time of year to be on The Island; temperatures are up, wind is down, rents holding steady. And it’s almost time for the La Posada Lighted Boat Parade and the Mother of All Deck Parties. It’s all just a reminder that everybody else’s vacation is our life. Say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Packery Channel Improvements PHASE 1 - Restroom Facilities at Seawall Parking Lot - Complete PHASE 2 - Packery Channel Parking and Overlooks – Complete PHASE 3 - Restroom Facilities at Packery Channel - $2,066,000 PHASE 4 - ADA Ramps to Jetties - $274,000 PHASE 5 – North side Pavilion - $1,281,200 PHASE 6 - Administration & Maintenance Building - $715,000
Trout continued on A3
Next week's Deadline Is Monday November 25th
La Posada is Only Three Weeks Away! Kickoff party December 3, Parade registration underway The 39th annual La Posada Lighted Boat Parade is only three weeks away on Friday, December 13 in the canals on the north end of The Island, and Saturday, December 14 on the south end.
“Oh, my goodness. Harold start the car. Let’s find a place here on…where are we again? South Padre Island?”
“There are a lot of them sir. You’re on The Island now.”
Contract for Restrooms on North Packery Beach Approved
Regulations governing harvest of the two game sport fish were tightened in 2007 when the daily bag limit of speckled trout was halved in the Lower Laguna Madre and two years later, rules slashing flounder limits and imposing other restrictions on taking of the flatfish took effect statewide.
“Well, you’re headed south ma’am so they’ll be looking for cash.”
“Where’s a good happy hour?” Harold said.
Year 16, Issue 501
State rules for limits on speckled trout and flounder in the Lower Laguna Madre may be undergoing some changes soon.
“Search my car! For what?”
“No ma’am. You’re on South Padre Island Drive on North Padre Island.”
Next Publication Date: 11/26/2013
PHASE 7 - Parking Lot Improvements at Jetty Ramp - $879,000
By Dale Rankin Corpus Christi City Council this week approved the design and construction contract for restrooms on the north side of Packery Channel between the channel and Zahn Road. The $193,500 design contract is part of the total of $2.1 million for the project that will bring, besides the restrooms, a new lift station will connect a new wastewater line from the restroom to an existing lift station on Zahn Road and a parking lot at the site. The contract is Phase 3 of a 7 phase plan for improvements around the channel which were approved as part of the channel project passed by voters in 2000. The improvements were not part of the original vote to approve the digging of Packery Channel in 2000; they were
approved by a vote of the city council when the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #2 in 2003. The zone captures property tax revenue from new construction inside the zone since that date. The design contract approved by city council this week includes development of an overall conceptual site plan to include the restroom (Phase 3) and future Packery Channel Pavilion (Phase 5). Design and construction of the Pavilion are not included. The project is expected to take about 18 months to complete with the construction contract expected to be awarded in October 2014 with anticipated construction completion in March 2016. The design will be done by Chuck Anastos Associates, LLC.
Litter on Private Island Property Getting Attention
Boaters who want to be part of the parade can T-shirts and other fill out the registration items with this form included in this year's La Posada issue and drop it off at the La Posada Kickoff logo will be available soon. Party at Scuttlebutt’s on Tuesday, December 3 or send it to Brent Rourk – 15606 Gypsy Street, CC, TX 78418. Keep a copy for yourself. You can also e-mail a copy to Brent at brentrourk@yahoo.com. La Posada continued on A9
A Little Island History
Plans to turn the Island into the Next Florida Fall Flat
By Greg Smith
In 1925 the “Duke of Padre” Pat Dunn ruled The Island. Little had changed from the time the Malaquite and Karankawa Indians roamed Padre. There were a few more cattle, with short horns and white faces instead of the long horned animals the Native Americans were familiar with. Instead of shell middens on the Laguna side of the Island marking Indian camps there were cattle stations scattered every twenty miles or so. Padre was still as isolated as ever, the only way to reach it was by boat or crossing the Laguna in the old Indian fords with a hard bottom. For visitors that reached Padre without getting Pat’s permission they would quickly be told to find their way back to the mainland and out of his Island Kingdom.
Robertson’s Backdoor Railroad and Pancho Villa Sam Robertson was born in DeWitt, Missouri in 1867. At fifteen he left DeWitt to work on building the railroad lines crossing America. By twenty he was building and engineering railroads for the Santa Fe. In 1903 he had the contract for building a line from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. Working out of the Valley he La Posada continued on A11
This dump site along Packery includes a complete bedroom set and personal information including a woman's social security number and credit information. By Dale Rankin Trash left by trespassers on private Island land has landowners asking the City of Corpus Christi and the Texas Highway Department for help in limiting access to the more than 1500 acres of privately-owned land on The Island from public roadways. A representative of the MANTI real estate group, which owns land on The Island, addressed the November meeting of the Island Strategic Action Committee, which in turn asked the City of Corpus Christi staff to present a plan to curb access to private land from public roadways. The issue has come to head after years of complaints about littering on the private land on the west side of Packery Channel adjacent to the SH 361 Packery Channel Bridge which is a popular spot for fishing. No Trespassing and Private Property signs have been torn down at the site several times. But the problem of the public access to private
Trash left on private land near SPID. land on The Island and subsequent littering is one that has been going on for decades. Signs and barricades aimed at limiting or preventing entry onto private land by the public are routinely torn down or circumvented. The problem of littering is exasperated because property owners say they cannot Trespassing continued on A8