The
Issue 575
Island Moon
The voice of The Island since 1996
April 23, 2015
Around The Island By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
It is seldom that we here in the semiarid Southwest have a gripe about too much rain, and the truth is we still don’t, but if the skies keep opening up the way they have been we may soon have boat traffic in our bar ditches. The high water table has turned our Island into a giant bird bath and the good news is that, so far, it has not produced the rampant mosquito population that might be expected but let’s not get ahead of ourselves there. Let’s hope it lets up for the Sandfest in Port Aransas this weekend. As of this writing Port Aransas is getting hammered again by heavy rain after heavy rain flooded streets last weekend.
Tax The Cabins! By Amy Nuñez Lower Coast Regional Manager Coastal Field Operations Texas General Land Office Kleberg, Kenedy, and Calhoun counties are moving to assess property taxes on cabins on the lower Laguna Madre. The cabins are permitted by the Texas General Land Office and Texas Parks and Wildlife and are located both on land along the Laguna Madre and on the water.
The permits for the cabins are auctioned as they become available and in recent years state authorities have permitted size of the cabins to increase if the owners pay increased fees. The larger cabins have caught the eye of taxing authorities. Nueces County authorities have not discussed accessing a tax on cabins within their jurisdiction.
Main street in Port A flooded on Saturday PINS
“I have heard no discussion on any such tax in Nueces County,” said Precinct 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney. “I am not in the business of looking for ways to levy more taxes, I am interested in finding ways to cut taxes.”
Driving conditions on the National Seashore have been good of late according to reports of the fisherpersons who have been down there. The Jacks are still running and the rain and lack of much wind have kept the sand packed for good driving. It is surprising how many of our fellow Islanders have not been down that way.
Schlitterbahn update Crews have begun pouring cement at the Schlitterbahn park again and are working on finishing the waterway that will convey park goers from one ride to the next via inner tube. We will have a complete update in the next issue.
Tax Meeting If you want to get a rise out of an Islander all you have to do is suggest that maybe, just maybe, property assessments on The Island are not high enough. The large amount of real estate sales on The Island means that the Nueces County Appraisal District has a very efficient market from which to draw up to date sales numbers; numbers that somehow seem to reflect any increase in sales prices but never seem to drop when prices do. It’s funny how that works. So longtime Islander Bob Maupin has decided to do something about it and is holding a public meeting to familiarize property owners with the property tax system and how to file effective appeals at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 2, at the Seashore gym on Encantada. There is a system and the more you know about how it works the better you can work within the system. Keep your umbrellas handy everybody and say hello if you see us Around The Island.
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A little Island history
The Island in 1846 by Future General George Meade Editor’s note: Before taking command of the Union Army at Gettysburg and fighting in the U.S.-Mexican War, Lieutenant George G. Meade, known as Old Snapping Turtle by his troops, was sent to Padre Island to survey it and the Laguna Madre to determine if it was suitable for transport of men and materials for the war with Mexico. The following is his report (as best as we can make out his handwriting). We thank Dr. Richard Watson for sending it to us.
Report on the Military Reconnaissance of Laguna Madre. By Lt. George G. Meade,
Obstructions to the navigation The obstructions to the navigation of the Laguna Madre consist of 1) In a sandbar, or reef which extends along the southern shore of Corpus Christi Bay, from Mustang Island to about 3 miles beyond the Flour Bluffs, having a general direction of East and West, and or being about a mile from the shore.
George Meade Over this bar there are two channels, one leading directly into the Laguna, immediately at the Flour Bluffs, the other a mile to the west of Mustang Island, leading into Corpus Christi Pass. These channels, are similar in character and dimensions, both being about 100 yards broad, from 100 to 200 yards in length, having a uniform depth of 3 feet and hard sand bottoms. After passing the sand bar, the “mud flat,” consisting of the 2nd obstruction commences. It is delineated on the accompanying sketchy a light shade
of India ink, and extends from the mainland to Padre Island, being about 6 miles long. There are two channels over this flat, one called “El Paso,” is a deep bayou having 5-6 feet of water in it, commencing at the sand bar and extending in a southerly direction 3 miles. The Paso is narrow, averaging not more than 20 yards, and is very tortuous. The flat on each side of it has about 14 inches water, and
History continued on A4
Research Unveils – It’s More Than a Drop in The Bucket
Inside the Moon
From the University of Texas Marine Science Institute
The Texas General Land Office this week issued the following letter to permit holders. Greetings Cabin Permit Holders and Partners, As always, we want to keep you informed of issues that may impact the Cabin Program and our Permit Holders. As you know, the cabin, associated structures, and land are owned by the State of Texas and, because the underlying property is state property, the General Land Office ( GLO) is exempt from taxation. The GLO, however, has become aware that some coastal counties are preparing to tax the possessory interest our permit holders have in our cabins. This initiative to tax the possessory interest does NOT involve the GLO but will affect our Permit Holders. Since the appraisal districts made us aware of this, we wanted to pass this information along to you. So far, three coastal counties have stated they will be working to add the possessory interest cabin structures to their county's tax roll. Calhoun County said they would add the cabins to their tax roll in 2015. Kenedy County has stated letters will be sent regarding this issue in late April. Kleberg County
It’s the 5-year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon Blow out and Proceeding Oil Spill, and we sat down with researchers from The University of Texas Marine Science Institute who have been studying the effects of oil and dispersants with major funding from the independentlyreviewed Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. Dr. Ed Buskey is the lead researcher for a consortium formed to study the Dispersion Research on Oil: Physics and Plankton Studies (DROPPS - http://dropps.utmsi. utexas.edu). The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative recently renewed support of this consortium to the tune of $9.2 million. What do you know now that you didn’t know before you started the research? We have a much better handle on the rate at which microbes, like bacteria, and other small plankton can metabolize or eat the oil. Our research determined that dispersant treated oil results in the formation of tiny droplets of crude oil in the same size range as the food of marine zooplankton. We confirmed that these tiny oil droplets are readily consumed
Beach Clean-up A5
Images of planktonic marine copepods that have consumed tiny oil droplets. Image on the left under bright illumination; on right same animals illuminated with UV light which makes consumed oil droplets appear as bright spots. Credit: The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Rodrigo Almeda and toxic compounds in the oil and are accumulated in the bodies of these tiny animals, which are then passed up the food chain to larger
Fishing A7
Oil continued on A4
Its Unanimous! 100% of SMA 8th Graders Pass STAARS Language Arts Test Sports A8
Cabins continued on A3
Sandfest 2015
SandFest 2015 is taking shape in Port Aransas. The three day sand sculpting competition and festival starts at Noon on Friday. Texas SandFest is one of the largest sand sculpting contests in the U.S. attracting world-class sculptors each year. Texas SandFest Began in 1997 as a play-on-the-beach day, when Sharon Schaefer and Elleece Calvert sat in folding chairs around a card table so they could watch and help children build sand castles — or whatever they wanted to create — in the sand. A few years later, the event had developed into a 3-day festival. Dee McElroy, who had experience as a contestant at sand sculpting festivals, joined the team. Texas SandFest gave more than $80,000 back to the community in 2014. Hours are Friday from Noon
Island Flooding A11
8th grade class - 2015 - Great job on the Reading STAAR photo by Shannon Trial By Brent Rourk
until 5, Sat. 10 to 6 and Sunday 10 to 5 with the awards ceremony at 3:30 on Sunday in the music tent.
Seashore Middle Academy just received results from the 8th grade STAAR Reading Test and was pleased to report that 100% of the 8th graders passed that test, with 43% achieving the equivalent of a commended score. Great job SMA
and SLC for the work they have done in teaching and preparing those 8th grade students. Speaking of SMA, Social Studies teacher Susan Bernal was just awarded the Teacher of the Week Award from Radio Station Beach 96.5. People
STAARS continued on A5
Live Music A16