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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
August 1, 2013
Photo by Jon Brandt
The Island Where Golf Carts Move Down The Road as Fast as Cars Next Publication Date: 8/8/2013
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com We got a reminder last weekend of just how tenuous is our Island connection to the North American Continent. A truck pulling a boat stalled on the JFK Causeway at the point where it rises over the ICW. A car rammed into the boat, and then a truck filled with firewood hit that car, and then a truck pulling a boat hit that truck, sending firewood and debris across both lanes backing up traffic all the way past Bob Hall Pier.
By Dale Rankin A member of the Island Strategic Action Committee is asking that organization to take up the issue of parking and traffic flow around the Schlitterbahn Beach Country Resort now under construction at Padre Isles Country Club.
And in proof of the old adage that good news travels fast and bad news travels faster, when the bridge was cleared and traffic flowing normally by mid-afternoon the word was still echoing around Port Aransas that the bridge was still closed and the gridlock there continued.
“We need to make sure that cars are not parking along Commodores or Aquarius during peak usage times at the park,” Goldston said. There needs to be adequate offsite parking to handle the overflow without pushing it out on public streets.”
It is all just a reminder how closely our tourist and retail business is tied to the JFK Causeway and how the traffic on The Island this summer has reached consistent levels never seen before. All it takes is one driver to send traffic on both ends of The Island into a maddening snarl. The head-in-the-sand approach to this problem is not working because the reality is that the traffic is already here. The longer it goes on the more word will go out to out-of-towners that traffic here is a real problem. While we fiddle the tourists/drivers burn.
Who are they? The Convention and Visitor Bureau has statistics that show that 80% of the people who visit the Coastal Bend are coming here to go to the beach. But where are they coming from? A random and totally subjective, but consistent, check of license plates, which show up on police computers by their county of origin, finds that nine of every ten visitors to The Island come from the Austin/San Antonio area. One anomaly is that a disproportionate number are from the Kerrverts - that is to say they are from the Kerrville area. State numbers show that about 400 people move into that corridor every day and more than 2 million people have moved there since 1990. Sooner or later they all find their way to The Island.
Busy Nigerian Last issue we told you about an Island homeowner who came home to find a man in his driveway awaiting the arrival of a key to his house. The visitor had “booked” the use of the house for the weekend on Craigslist and paid an $1100 deposit. Seems a gentleman from Nigeria had found the house listed for sale on-line and figured it must be empty and so he began “leasing” it to unsuspecting Island visitors. Well, he’s been one busy Nigerian. Several other visitors have now turned up at the house expecting to spend the weekend only to find it occupied and not for lease. It’s become a popular place to not spend the night.
Low tide Watch out for skinny water if you are out there in your boat these days. Seems Mother Nature needs our water somewhere else for a while and she sucked it right out of the Laguna leaving a good foot of barnacles exposed on our deck pilings. That Skinny Water will get you every time.
Year 16, Issue 485
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Parking and Traffic Plan Around Schlitterbahn Beach Country Resort to be Addressed by Island Committee
This all happened about 3pm and in the postAl Gore Internet World word travels quickly and soon enough word got out that the bridge was blocked and the overflow crowd already in Port Aransas lined up to cross the ferry to get home. Four of the ferries happened to be down for repair and the ferry line stacked up for several hours. The result was gridlock from the ferry landings, around Cutoff Road, Cotter, and Alester Street and out SH 361.
By late afternoon things had evened out and the usual line of cars was pilling up on SH 361 as they waited in the single right-turn lane to get onto SPID. But the timing of the light at that intersection backed up inbound SPID traffic from there to Bob Hall Pier for the second time in the day; this time not due to a wreck but to the timing of the light.
ISAC member William Goldston, has requested that the matter be placed on the next ISAC agenda for its August 6 meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the country club.
His request to the ISAC reads in part: “ I recommend the City develop a plan to limit on-street parking near Schlitterbahn to residents and their guests with some form of visible parking passes, signage and enforcement procedures. “ “The streets of Commodores Drive, Cabana East and Aquarius are adequate for today’s traffic and on-street parking. The potential additional traffic and on-street parking which may result from Schlitterbahn customers will both inconvenience residents and reduce the safety of those streets. Other streets in the subdivisions nearby may also be impacted by overflow street parking. Schlitterbahn should provide adequate parking for their customers. “I recommend the ISAC consider the following issues: I understand Schlitterbahn may have interest in working with the City to develop the parkland along Commodores Drive and create additional parking area for their customers. The City should not allow that park land for parking for Schlitterbahn customers. Vehicle traffic in and out of Schlitterbahn along Commodores will significantly increase the number of vehicles using Commodores. Adding off-street parking on the north side of Commodores will increase congestion and reduce safety. All Schlitterbahn parking should be on Schlitterbahn property and south of Commodores Drive.” Park developer Paul Schexnailder said his group recognizes the need for a comprehensive Schlitterbahn continued on A12
The new streetlights are now installed on Aquarius
Mid Year Real Estate Picture No Longer a Buyers Market Mary Lou White 361-960-9460 marylou@baxterbrooks.com Each time I research the MLS statistics for my article, I realize that the least expensive and the most expensive properties almost never change. All the action occurs somewhere in the middle, of the pack. That makes sense because the lowest in price are placed there for a reason. Some feature or circumstance is affecting the price that customers are “willing” to pay.
the least expensive and the most expensive properties almost never change. While the most expensive are limited by the number of buyers who “can” pay. Real Estate agents have seen a change in the marketplace, since the beginning of the year and are trying to change the public perception that it is no longer a “buyer’s” market. However, this too has limits, as the following numbers will reflect. All of the pressure, is below a certain price point, which seems to be $400K. Above that figure, I think, it is still a “Buyer’s” market. Of course, another factor comes into play, as well. People want “new” homes, especially younger buyers. On the Islands, where is all new construction concentrated …at the lower price ranges. Newly built, more expensive homes have been in short supply since 2006/2007. Combine that with the lack of updating by current homeowners, who have been cautious to put money into their property, when being able to re-coup those funds seems almost impossible. The result is pictured in the numbers that follow.
In City News…
First Six Months on Padre Island 343 Transactions: 78 Lots / 102 Attached Residences / 163 Detached Residences 163 Detached Homes Sold 1-1-2013 to 6-30-2013
2
Contingent 45 built in 2013/2012
6
Option Period 46 built between 2011 and 2000
23
Pending closing 40 built between 1999 and 1990
30
Sold at 100K+ 23 built between 1989 and 1980
57
Sold at 200K+ 5 built between 1979 and 1970
23
Sold at 300K+ 4 unknown construction date
10
Sold at 400K+
4
Sold at 500K+
5
Sold at 600K+
3
Sold from $727,500 to $1.2 Million
102 Attached Homes Sold 1-1-2013 to 6-30-2013 7
Option Period
20
Pending Closing
15
Sold below 100K Real Estate continued on A5
Las Brisas is Dead, Plastic Bags Still Alive, Destination Bayfront Hanging Fire Plastic Bags
When the city council started their Tuesday meeting they had a proposed ordinance in front of them that would have placed a 10-cent fee and/or a $1 fee on each transaction involving a plastic bag at retail checkout counters that would have raised an estimated $1.3 million annually for litter cleanup across the city. When the meeting was over they voted 6-3 for a watered-down version of the ordinance that would eliminate the charge if retailers join a program to help reduce bag litter. The stated goal is to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags in the city by 60%. The matter is expected to be again taken up in the council’s August 20 meeting.
Las Brisas The proposed $3 billion coke fueled power plant along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel is now dead. Las Brisas Energy Center LLC threw in the towel on Friday by filing an unopposed motion with the 3rd District Court of Appeals seeking to dismiss its appeal of a 2012 district court decision sending the project’s air quality permit back to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Projects continued on A6
A little Island History
Civil War Battle on Padre Island
Yanks and Rebs squared off at the end of Whitecap By Greg Smith
Part II For those that didn’t read part I, two Union cutters under Ensign Alfred Reynolds had chased the Confederate Texas Schooner, Queen of the Bay up Corpus Christi Pass close to the where the Beach Club Condo’s are located on Whitecap Blvd today. The Rebels under Captain John Ireland had beached the Queen and fled to the Dunes that lined the pass.
Seven sharpshooters from Seguin In a matter of minutes from the time the Confederates fled the Queen the Union sailors closed the gap and prepared A flat bottom Texas Scow Schooner like the Queen to capture the Rebel schooner. of the Bay. More information on Texas Schooners Then only thirty yards away and the Port Aransas Museum’s Farley Boat from their quarry flashes of Works building of a replica can be found at http:// fire and black powder smoke suddenly erupted from the portaransasmuseum.org/news-and-events/newsletter/. Picture courtesy of Port Aransas Preservation and nearby sand hills as Rebel Historical Association. Captain Ireland gave the order to fire to his seven sound as bullets clanged off the iron hull of sharpshooters from Seguin. Consternation one cutter and the sickening thud of musket broke out on the two Yankee cutters with the ball striking flesh. whiz of bullets, the near misses screeching Ensign Reynolds gave the order to turn by, splashing in the water, the deafening History continued on A14