La Posada photos by Miles Merwin
Issue 557
The voice of The Island since 1996
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The Island Moon
December 18, 2014 Around The Island By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
Weekly
The Island is ‘La Posaded’ for 2014 Colorful Boats, Golf Carts, and Jeeps Keep Spirit Going
The 40th version of the La Posada Lighted Boat Parade went off under perfect weather Friday and Saturday nights. The Padre Island Yacht Club has done a great job of expanding the number of La Posada events in the past couple of years. This year’s parade had fewer boats than in some years but the event collected 4308 toys and $20,000 which will be used to purchase more.
The Flour Bluff department is often the first line of defense for brush fires, which are the most common type of fire we have on The Island. Any Islanders who watched anxiously last December as a brush fire swept across the open grassland on the south end of The Island toward homes will immediately understand what a big deal this is. Brush fires move quickly in our South Texas breeze and having the brush trucks already on The Island to knock the fire down before it spreads is a real game changer
Bluff millionaire One lucky Flour Bluff resident walked into the Stripes Store at Waldron Road and SPID last week and walked out a millionaire. She won a cool million on a scratch off card. We’re told there are still four more of the million dollar scratch offs floating around in the state. Good luck everybody.
Island Christmas The good folks over at the Island House condos on the Michael J. Ellis Seawall are offering a family holiday getaway. What they are offering is a complimentary two- night stay in a two- bedroom, two-bath condo plus a turkey dinner for a family to enjoy. So, if you know a deserving family whose Christmas could use a shot in the arm please email a brief summary of why this person/family should win this Christmas staycation on the beach!!
Sale of 3680 Acres of Island Land to Nueces County Complete By Dale Rankin Almost two years after the first stories on the subject appeared in the Island Moon the purchase of 3680 acres of land by Nueces County from the Texas General Land Office was approved by Nueces County Commissioners on Wednesday.
Island fire station If you have ever noticed way down at the bottom of your tax notice there is a line for Nueces County Emergency Service District #2. You may have wondered what that was for. Well, that one line on the tax notice looks like it may be about to pay a big dividend to The Island. Chief Dale Scott of the fire department in Flour Bluff and Charlie Zahn, Chairman of the Nueces County Coastal Parks Board, are working on a plan that would build a new fire station on five acres of land at Padre Balli Park. . The new facility would be paid for by funds from the district’s budget.
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The newly acquired land will be used for public recreation and remain open to the public under the direction of the Nueces County Coastal Parks Board.
Fleet Award winner Sea Casa was the command boat of the parade By Brent Rourk In bright fashion it came and went again. La Posada, an Island mainstay that celebrates the Christmas Holiday and helps provide many toys for less fortunate children, provided a new event this year (the inaugural Cart and Jeep Land Parade) in addition to the annual and much anticipated Lit Boat Parades. With unimagined powers, the sponsoring Padre Island
Yacht Club (PIYC) requested and received ideal weather for the boat parades. It seemed to many Islanders that there were more parties this year, lasting well into the evenings. The Friday night boat parade was short yet colorful as 9 beautifully decorated boats took many turns around the northern route characteristically stopping where people were partying or flashing
a light for toy pick-ups. Saturday evening’s parade featured 17 lit boats that ran routes through many of the main Island canals and feeder canals. Twelve collector boats, most with Marines on board, picked up thousands of toys that were transported to the PIYC by volunteer Sea Tow and Tow Boat US boats.
La Posada continued on A2
Mazoch Family Christmas
Island Projects
Design for Water Exchange Bridge 90% Complete
GLO continued on A14
The following updates on projects currently underway on The Island come from information presented to the Island Strategic Action Committee in its meeting on December 2. The next ISAC meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6 at Comfort Suites on Windward Drive. All meetings are open to the public.
Projects continued on A14
Under the agreement beach maintenance will remain in the hands of Kleberg County. Also under the terms of the sale an agreement would need to be approved by Kleberg County Commissioners before the approximately six miles of beach included in the purchase could be included in the area where a beach parking sticker is required. The purchase by the county ends a year-long fight for ownership of the land between the county and the Texas Nature Conservancy which
By Dale Rankin
Park Road 22/SPID Water Exchange Bridge. 90% of the design for the bridge has now been approved by the Texas Department of Transportation, according to information presented to the ISAC
Corpus Christi based Ed Rachal Foundation donated $1 million for the project, the sale price for the land was $626,000; the remaining $374,000 is to be used to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle for county law enforcement personnel to patrol the area ($70,000) with the remainder to be used for other public-use related items. The land includes 20% of the public beaches between Port Aransas and the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS).
Inside the Moon
The Mazoch Family Christmas Display Whitecap was selected as a 10 Best finalist for Best Private Lights Display in the United States by USA Today newspaper. The vote for the best house in the country continues through 2 a.m. on Friday, December 19.
Island Living Fishing A7
Please email their story to Cynthia at crequenez@ccislandhouse.com. The winner will be contacted on Monday 12/22/14. Please include a contact phone number.
Possible tax cap When the Texas Legislature convenes next month in Austin one of the bills in the hopper is one which would reduce the amount that cities and counties across the state can raise property taxes (the Effective Tax Rate) from 8% to 4% without facing a rollback election from taxpayers. The Nueces County Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted unanimously to oppose the bill; which is interesting given that they, as well as the City of Corpus Christi, bumped their ETR hike right up against the 8% tax increase number for the current fiscal year. Tuesday’s vote looks like a sign that Nueces County Commissioners may have another 7% tax hike in mind for their next budget. The County Commission likes to blame their increased revenue each year on rising property evaluations and not call them tax increases. If they are not raising taxes it makes you wonder why they would care about the reduction of the 8% rollback number. Don’t forget about the Dog Santa at the Animal Hospital on Friday and Saturday. We’ll see you there. In the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Early Deadlines next two weeks! We'll be printing the paper on Tuesday. Get your submissions in early.
Sports A8
The ladies of P.I.E (Padre Enrichment Club) held their first Holiday Home Tour recently at ten homes around The Island. We will feature more of them in the next few issues. The Ardoin home along Packery Channel is this week’s featured home. The house was originally built in the 1960s and has been added on to twice and the once outdoor swimming pool is now indoors.
More photos on A11
New Ferry Building A9