Inside the Moon...
Sports A16
Ducks Unlimited A15
Angler’s Alley A11
Wild Options A6
FREE
The
Island Moon
Live Music A16
Free
Photo by Miles Merwin
The Island Newspaper since 1996 Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment
November 21, 2012
The Island Where Ducks Come For the Holiday
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
It’s been high tides and green grass on our Island of late. The recent rains have provided some rare greenery and, knock on wood, relatively few of the usually requisite mosquitoes who accompany them. So far this season the Chamber of Commerce Weather has prevailed for the most part and here’s hoping that continues. We have had some high tides of late which have pushed water up near low-lying roadways but so far nothing drastic.
Ducks and Pax Islandia After years of back and forth between duck hunters who hunt along the Laguna Madre and homeowners who want to keep them at falling-shot distance - defined as 1000 feet by city ordinance - we’re happy to report we have reached a Pax Islandia.
Next Publication Date: 11/29/2012
Windstorm Fight Developer Says Schlitterbahn on Schedule Headed for Austin for Spring 2014 Opening By Dale Rankin but Progress is Being The Schlitterbahn Waterpark on The Island is Made on schedule to open in the Reform bill is written and will be pre-filed with legislature By Dale Rankin Local attorney Charlie Zahn has been busy the last few months. Zahn is the person tapped by State Representative Todd Hunter to write and present a bill to the Texas Legislature in January that will reform the way property owners in the 14 counties along the Texas Coast pay for catastrophic windstorm insurance coverage. Zahn spoke to the Padre Island Rotary Club on Tuesday at the Padre Isles Country Club. First the bad news; if the Texas Legislature doesn’t change the rules for Windstorm Insurance in Texas during its session which begins in January, and if a major storm hits the Texas Coast next summer, Coastal homeowners could face a 46% increase in rates on their insurance policies including homeowners, car, boat, and most other policies.
A couple of issues back we ran a letter from our City Attorney which announced that due to the overlapping of state and city rules for enforcing the prohibition on firing a weapon within 1000 feet of a home while hunting he had ordered CCPD not to enforce the city rule. This came on the week before the kickoff of duck season and to put it mildly instigated a lot of confusion and yes, anger, on the part of both homeowners and conscientious duck hunters who didn’t want the rogues among them to define the rest of them. Since then, we’re happy to say cooler heads have prevailed. The Police Department, which for years has been trapped in the middle of this problem as each season officers listened to the loud complaints of homeowners who awoke each autumn Saturday to the sound of blasting shotguns and to duck hunters who pointed out that they had a legitimate right to hunt. The city ban on hunting within 1000 feet of homes was difficult if not impossible for the PD to enforce since; 1) they didn’t have boats, and 2) there were no markings showing where the 1000 foot boundary was located. This season two things have happened that have largely solved the problem. The first, in spite of the kick the can down the street approach by the City Attorney, the PD has adopted an “enforcement without prosecution” approach that is working. It is predicated on the presumption that most duck hunters aren’t out to break laws or cause problems, just hunt ducks. So anticipating the enforcement of the 1000foot rule the responsible hunters went to the Laguna ahead of the opening of the season and, GPS in hand, scoped out a hunting spot outside the 1000-foot parameter. Simultaneously, PD officers, as well as responsible duck hunters, have pointed out to the rogue hunters the error of their ways and the problem, at least for now and for the most part, has worked itself out through common sense – a rare and precious commodity in these divisive times. The first week of hunting officers wrote about a half dozen warnings and the word went out that the “enforcement without prosecution” program would seek to reign in the Wild West approach of previous years. We’re proud to announce that the irate calls to the Moon office from homeowners have dropped to zero. All hail the Pax Islandia and long may it live!
A couple of problems still exist There are still some wrinkles to be ironed out. Some hunters are still crossing private property between Aquarius and the Laguna to access hunting spots. Aside from trespassing this means they are going over, under, around, or through barriers placed there to stop them from doing that. It promises to be an ongoing problem. Second, is the practice of some hunters to field dress ducks and then throw the remainder of the carcass back into the water. This just isn’t right. The dead ducks then float up under the docks of people in adjacent homes who have to fish them out or watch them decay. This isn’t good for Around continued on A5
Year 15, Issue 450
The good news: the task force headed by Zahn, a Port Aransian, will pre-file a reform bill with the state House prior to the session that has some traction in Austin and appears to stand a fair chance of passing and will head off the bad news. The series of events leading to the current predicament began after Hurricane Celia ravaged the Coast Bend in 1970. After the storm the legislature formed a catastrophic damage pool – known as the CAT – to be insurer of last resort in the cast of major damage from coastal hurricanes. Then in 2001 the legislature dissolved the CAT and formed the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to take its place. The idea was that a state-run pool of available dollars would be used to offset repair costs in the case of a major storm – costs over and above those covered by homeowner and other policies. Problems began soon after when Windstorm continued on A8
La Posada Schedule Several events are planned for leading up the La Posada Lighted Boat Parade on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9. Here are the highlights with some details to be filled in by next issue.
Saturday, December 1 Breakfast with Santa 9 a.m.-noon at Catholic Church Social Hall. Admission is a toy to donate to Toys for Tots. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club.
Tuesday December 4 La Posada Kickoff Party 3 p.m. through the evening at Scuttlebutt’s Restaurant Bring toy for Toys for Tots
spring of 2014 according to the park developer and part-owner Jeff Henry.
“Plans for the construction of the park are right on schedule,” Henry, head of construction for the new park said on Tuesday. “Our concepts for the park haven’t changed much. We are close to groundbreaking. It always takes the lawyers and bankers twice as long to do their work as it takes for us to build it. All the money is in place, financing for the project is completed and is ready to go, the plans are done but will change right up to the time we start building. Once we start we will work straight through.” Henry said his crews have begun to build the equipment at their construction yard at their New Braunfels headquarters; those include some of the castles and other custom equipment that his crews have also built for other parks. He said his crews usually take two weeks off in
Ice Cream with Santa TBA Judging of front yard decorations TBA Judging of waterfront decorations TBA
Friday, December 7 La Posada Lighted Boat Parade on North end of The Island
Saturday, December 8 La Posada Lighted Boat Parade on South end of The Island Public viewing at Padre Island Yacht Club
Sunday December 9 Handing over of toys to Toys For Tots 9 a.m. at Padre Island Yacht Club followed by Pot Luck Brunch
The $41 million resort will be located on a 65-acree tract that is currently the site of Padre Isles Country Club. While no new drawings of the park have been released in almost a year, Henry said the concepts for the park haven’t changed much in that time.
Under a $117 million incentive agreement with the city Phase I of the park must be finished by summer 2013.The waterpark is part of a proposed $552 million master plan for The Schlitterbahn continued on A9
A little Island history
The First Thanksgiving in America was Celebrated on the South Texas Plains in 1534 By Dale Rankin It wasn’t an official Thanksgiving as there was no such thing yet. It was November, 1534 and four shipwrecked Spanish wanderers making their way across the prairies of what is now South Texas had little to be thankful for – at least until the end of November rolled around and their fortunes began to change.
A Moorish prediction Before 1536 there were 95 Church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, when people were required to attend church and forego work and sometimes pay for expensive celebrations. In 1536 reforms reduced the number of Church holidays to 27 and the Thanksgiving holiday as we now know it began to take shape. Days of Fasting were called for after the drought of 1611, and for relief from the plagues of
1604 and 1622; in 1588 it was the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and in 1705 the deliverance of Queen Anne, then the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. History Continued on A14
CCA Texas Makes Historic Contribution to Marine Science
CCA and Harte Research Institute Partner to Create Sportfishing Science Center
Auction and other events
Week of December 1
December and equipment should begin arriving at the Island site around the end of year or early January.
Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently pledged $500,000 toward the creation of a Sportfishing Research Center within the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. This unique research center holds promise to address many of the key scientific issues facing the ecosystems that support Gulf of Mexico sportfishing. Dr. Greg Stunz, Endowed Chair for Fisheries and Ocean Health at HRI, will direct the Center’s operations. Stunz has a long history in the marine science community and was CCA’s first marine science scholarship recipient. “This research center is unique in a number of ways, and truly there is nothing like it in the western Gulf,” said Larry McKinney, executive director for HRI. “The timing for the creation of the center is perfect. With such pressing issues as the role of Gulf passes on bay ecosystems and the impact of diminishing Gulf habitat, recreational anglers need a center that can tackle these multi-decade concerns.”
CCA Texas and HRI have partnered on a number of ground-breaking projects including Dr. Stunz’s spotted seatrout catch-and-release study, state-of-the-art electronic tracking programs, and efforts regarding the reopening of Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough.
“CCA and HRI are natural partners in conservation,” said Mark Ray, chairman of CCA Texas. “This center and the scientific research it will create are keys in ensuring healthy marine resources for the future of recreational fisheries.” The Harte Research Support Foundation has also pledged $300,000 for a research vessel that will be used in addressing the broad array of Gulf of Mexico research needs. The Center is expected to attract additional support from private foundations, corporations and individuals.
“CCA’s policy positions have always been based in sound science,” said Robby Byers, executive director of CCA Texas. “This partnership with HRI will further the important impact recreational anglers bring to the conservation of coastal marine resources.”