Inside the Moon
Casino A2
Issue 648
Extreme Kayaking A6
Conquer the Coast A4
The
Island Moon The voice of The Island since 1996
September 15, 2016
Around The Island
Live Music A18
Meet the Candidates A14
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By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com We’ve hit the sweet spot everybody. The water along our beaches has taken on a beautiful blue hue this week and the beach traffic, as our old friend Jack says, is just about right. A good rule of thumb for off-season beach traffic is whether you can let your dog off the leash to run free without crashing into a neighboring campfire or being tempted by a wiener calling from a nearby picnic table. If you can then it’s the Locals’ Season. As the tourists alighted the birds delighted and took their place around Bob Hall Pier catching the fish the anglers on the pier missed.
Driftwood sculptures on St. Joe Island. Photo by Kalynda Sparks Williams The Kleberg County crews which empty trash cans along the six miles of beach south of Bob Hall Pier each Monday are now using trash bins just like the ones we use at home. It means one guy in one truck can do the pickup instead of the two who in the past had to toss the bins into the back of a truck. But alas, when the truck arrived there were still two guys in there. Government jobs always require a supervisor.
Bidi Bidi Big Bus! There was a Selena sighting on The Island this week as the spirit of the slain Tejano singer visited Schlitterbahn on the B-Bus. The new bus features a giant picture of the local lady made good right on the side. Not only is our city the Birdiest City in American, we are also the Selenaiest too. Since our office moved across the street from the bus stop on Compass we get a daily promenade of B-Bus riders from patients coming to see the doctor to Chinese workers from Gregory visiting Schlitterbahn, to door-to-door salesfolks peddling banana bread. It’s somehow comforting to know that if things ever get so balled up we just can’t take it anymore we can just jump on that
Bridge Vote Heads to Council ISAC backs use of up to $4 million from Island Reinvestment Zone By Dale Rankin The proposed Park Road 22/ SPID Water Exchange Bridge took a major step toward becoming a reality Tuesday night when the Island Strategic Action Committee unanimously voted to approve the use of up to $4 million from the Island Tax Incremental Financing Zone #2 (TIRZ) to fund the project which is estimated to cost about $10.5 million. The move is the Island’s final piece in the puzzle to move forward with the project which since its approval by voters in 2004 has proven a bridge too far. Both the city council and the ISAC have voted in favor of the project in
Time to be heard There are some important dates coming up on the Island calendar and the first is Monday, September 19 when the Island United Political Action Committee gives Island voters a chance to question and endorse candidates in the races for Mayor and City Council District 4. The particulars are in this issue. If past trends hold we Islanders could cast more than 5% of the total votes in the November election and the endorsement of Islanders voters through the IUPAC process is our chance to unite behind our candidates. If past trends hold Island voters could constitute more the 5% of the total votes in Nueces County in the November Election and if we vote together we can get things done. If you don’t participate you forfeit your right to complain…and nobody wants that. We’ll see you there and in the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Bridge continued on A4
Island's chance to be heard
Mayor and District 4 Candidates Come to The Island on Monday September 19th By Brent Rourk
B Bus and head for the Downtown Greyhound, the last bus station in American with a functioning blues bar right across the street. Reach us in California we have hit the Big One!
the past but it was stuck due to lack of a definitive funding source. There is currently $6.5 million available from unspent bond money which can be used to pay for the bridge but the source of the remaining $4 million has been a sticking point for more than two years as city council members, acutely aware of the potential political fallout from spending General Fund or Capital Improvement Fund money to fund the shortfall, have looked to the ISAC for a solution. That solution came in the form of Tuesday’s vote. Money from the Island TIRZ is raised through a property tax levied on property
The Island’s 7332 registered voters will get the chance to meet and question candidates for the District 4 City Council Seat and Mayor then vote on which to endorse in the November elections when the Island United Political Action Committee holds its candidate endorsement night at the Holiday Inn on Padre Island. The District 4 seat will have a new face after City Councilwoman Colleen McIntyre has announced she will not seek re-election. Two
candidates are seeking the position: Businessman, and former Chairman of the Island Strategic Action Committee Greg Smith, who also is the CEO of Pioneer RV; and Dr. Lloyd Stegemann, a surgeon. In the mayoral race Mayor Nelda Martinez is seeking re-election, challenged by Dan McQueen, an engineer who ran against Martinez in 2014. Islanders are encouraged to attend
Island by the numbers - The Island TIRZ $8.6 million currently in the fund $6 million in total reserve for funding and maintenance of Packery Channel (as required by the original bonding language) $4 million in reserve funds for Packery dredging (as required by the original bonding language) $500,000 in reserve for general maintained of Packery Channel $1.5 million in reserve to pay back bonds for development of Packery Channel $12 million original bonds floated by the City of Corpus Christi to build Packery Channel $30 million total cost to build Packery Channel (approved in 2000 and opened prematurely by Hurricane Rita in 2005) $18 million in federal money approved for the construction of Packery Channel as a renourishment project for the adjacent beach. The project was originally called the North Padre Island Storm Damage Reduction and Environmental Restoration Project 1 number of times it was estimated Packery Channel would have to be dredged each year when the channel was created 2 number of times Packery Channel has actually been dredged since 2005 $5.8 million spent on Six Pack projects around Packery Channel since through 2014 $5 million saved since 2008 through monitoring of the Packery
Channel by the Texas A&M Corpus Christi under contract with the TIRZ $3 million raised through the TIRZ in the fiscal year which ends September 30 $2.6 million available over and above reserves for the fiscal year ending September, 2016 $1.01 million raised through the fund in fiscal year 2005 (lowest yearly total) $3.6 million raised through the fund in fiscal year 2009 (highest yearly total) $3.2 million estimated to be collected through the TIRZ in the fiscal year which begins October 1, 2016 $1.4 million spent in current fiscal year for bond repayments, Packery monitoring, and marina patrol $28,000 spent in current fiscal year for administrative costs $4.4 million projected to be available over and above reserves by the end of the fiscal year which begins October 1, 2016 $1.6 million available after reserves by the end of Fiscal Year 2020 (after funds spent for the Water Exchange Bridge and anticipated dredging of Packery Channel in Fiscal Year 2019 $3.6 million in annual anticipated revenue into the TIRZ for each of the next five years $21 million anticipated revenue over the next six years $32 million raised by the TIRZ since its inception
Candidates continued on A4
A little Island history
Can the POA Write Tickets? Can Members Speak at Meetings?
By MayBeth Christensen Executive Director Padre Isles Property Owners Association There have been several letters to the Editor questioning the “legality” of the Association fining property owners for non-compliance with the maintenance standards. One of the residents in particular has used the reason that the Association cannot enforce the standards is because a previous Executive Coordinator told him the Association could not. That was true until the Texas law was clarified to include the Bylaws and rules of the POA as part of the dedicatory instruments that govern the POA. Here is the response from the Association’s attorney: The Bylaws of the POA give the
Board the authority to make rules for the operation of the Association and to enforce penalties for the violation of the rules and exercise such other powers as are necessary and proper to attain the objectives of the Association. Amendments made to Chapter 202.001 of the Texas Property Code in 2011 clarified the definition of “dedicatory instrument” which was changed to expand it to any document concerning the establishment, maintenance, or operation of a residential subdivision, and it added in 202.006 that additions or amendments to such dedicatory instruments became binding when filed of record. Additionally, the Legislature set up the notice procedures in Section 209.006 and the limitations generally
on the actual collection of fines by any POA. As a result, the source of rule-making power comes from the Bylaws, but the expansion of state regulation on how rules are implemented and how they can be enforced has resulted in many POA’s across the state beginning to use rules more as a means of providing better specificity as to how covenants will be enforced.” There was another letter last week which objected to the process whereby residents can make statements to the Board. Again, there is a great deal of confusion and misinformation about this part of the Board meeting. The three minutes allowed at the beginning of the meeting solely is a courtesy by the Board to hear current concerns from members. Some
organizations don’t allow it at all, and others require members to sign up a week in advance and indicate what they want to talk about. Keep in mind, it is a Board meeting and not a membership meeting, so members do not have the right to discuss particular agenda items when they are being discussed by the Board. That is true under Robert’s Rules of Order as well as the Texas Nonprofit Corporation Act and the Texas Property Code. Hopefully, this helps some of our residents understand the process. If anyone has an issue, I am happy to schedule the time to meet and discuss their concerns and answer questions. The answers may not be what you want to hear, but I will be open and honest with my answers.