December 3, 2015
Projects continued from A1
According to city staff Tuesday there is $6.7 million remaining in bond money available for the project with another $3.5 million needed which the Corpus Christi City Council will have to consider. Engineers said the design of the bridge, three separate spans covering a 120-opening for water and pedestrian traffic, is unique to the area; in fact they said “there has never been a bridge like this built in this area.” The canal to the bridge is in place on the west side of the roadway but has not been bulkheaded; Developer Paul Schexnailder whose company owns the land on the east side of the roadway says he expects to begin digging canals there in the next few months. His permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires him to have the canal complete within one year of the permit’s approval, which was granted in October.
Seawall maintenance City officials told the ISAC members Tuesday that city officials have now determined that the Michael J. Ellis Seawall is included in the Municipal Management District which was formed earlier this year to include the bulkheads in the Island canal system. The MMD, which is a public entity, can issue government bonds to repair the bulkheads in case of storm damage which the Padre Isles Property Owners Association as a private corporation cannot.
Island Moon
Aquarius/SPID Traffic light City Engineers also told the ISAC this week that plans to redesign the intersection of SPID and Aquarius and install a traffic light have hit a snag due to lack of interest from contractors. A first round of bidding produced no bids, and now the city is talking to one company which they said may be interested in doing the work. The engineers said while some contractors have expressed an interest in installing the light so far none are interested in re-constructing the intersection. They said initial bids came in “over $1 million” while the budget for the project is $600,000. They said plans call for the project to go back out to bids in January and for the project to be bid in two parts; one for the intersection and one for the light. The push for the light originated with a plan by a San Antonio developer to build a 104 room hotel and retail space on the east side of the intersection. The developer agreed to pay $420,000 of the cost for the project as well as to install warning devices on the JFK Causeway to notify drivers that there is a traffic light ahead.
A 11
Port Aransas Art
We had a wonderful turnout Sunday night at the third annual Our Footprints on the Island Art show. Despite the chilly weather, we were warmed up by the fabulous food, fine art, and good company. Special thanks go to Greg Villasana and his crew of Susan, Pepe, Manuel, David, and Jose, who surpassed their past efforts and provided excellent food (did you get to taste the tuna and quail?!) and drinks. Thank you, Kaitlyn VanZandt, who conceived of the idea and has worked hard all 3 years to make it happen. Thank you also to members Suzanne McCann, Susan Sheehan, Theta Kenney, Katie Swanson, Arlene Hughes, Joan Snyder, Diana and Glenn Vondra, Candi and Dave McReynolds, Deno Fabrie, Shirlee Page, Jill Smith, Mike and Darlene Secich, Katherine Mathews, Lu Ann Ferguson, and Pam Greene, who worked before,
Victoria
No completion date was announced.
“The Magic of Christmas.” Stay tuned!
New beach cans
The ninth picture from the left is of Kaitlyn VanZandt and Greg Villasana. Greg, of course, is the owner of La Playa, and Kaitlyn is an artist and employee of La Playa. Two years ago, Kaitlyn came up with the idea of hosting an art show to benefit KPAB, with an environmental theme. She also decided on the name, Our Footprints on the Island. The cute little lady in the lavender sweater in the 10th frame is my
The Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department is in the process of replacing the 55-gallon trash containers now on the beach with rows of 96-gallon cans.
Sara Searight during and/or after the event. Thank to everyone who donated goods and services to the raffle and auction, and to all who came out and supported KPAB. .
While the seawall must remain open to the public as part of an agreement when the seawall was rebuilt after it was destroyed by Hurricane Allen in 1980, but if damaged the private property owners would have to pay to rebuild it; unless bonds or other funding could be found through the MMD. The city in the past year has refused to remove drifting sand which has built up on the seawall’s pedestrian path citing rules which prohibit the city from doing work on private property. However, ISAC members pointed out Tuesday that the city currently cleans about five miles of beaches above the mean high tide line, land which is open to the public but privately owned by the adjacent property owners. Private owners along the 4300 feet of the seawall have been cleaning sand off the steps at their own expense, and city officials said Tuesday the city will begin cleaning the seawall in front of the city-owned parking lot. The owners now say since the seawall has been determined to be inside the MMD they will apply for a $2 million grant to clean and maintain it. They said there are currently about 8000 cubic yards of sand on the seawall. ISAC members voted Tuesday to instruct city officials to push for a Memorandum of Understanding with the private property owners for a plan to jointly clean the seawall and institute a maintenance program to repair it in areas where the concrete is peeling due to rusted rebar.
The first of the new containers are already in place on the beach south of Whitecap and Parks and Recreation Director Jay Ellington said all the news containers should be in place by Spring Break 2016.
Linda, Colleen, Sally, and friend
Don’t forget the Christmas party on Monday, December 7, at 5:30 in the Community Center! Bring a white elephant (i.e., recycled) gift to exchange and a snack to share. Beer, wine, or water will be provided, as well as BINGO!! It’s a KPAB tradition!
mother, Caroline Kinney. Frame 8 is Michele Olsen of the Port A Shutterbugs. I’m sure you know Sally Marco, and the woman next to her is Sally’s sister Colleen from Des Moines. Linda of the Venetian Hotplate is next to her, and Kika, who works at VHP is the tall lady on the left. Victoria Ferguson is the artist with the octopus paintings (#4), Sara Searight is in frame 3, and Glenn Vondra is the one “stretching” the raffle tickets in frame 7. That’s Pam Greene (R) and me (L) in #11. #12 is Theta Kenney, the raffle ticket seller, with Suzanne McCann in the center and a raffle winner on the right (not sure of her name). #13 is Greg and Linda.
We also want volunteers to help provide decorations and to decorate the Enchanted Christmas Tree Forest. The theme this year is
He said the city expects to garner about $3 million in additional money for beach maintenance this year, both on The Island and on bay beaches, from a new Hotel Motel Tax passed by the legislature in its last session. He said aside from beach maintenance some of the additional money will be used to hire more lifeguards. ISAC members said it is possible some of the money could be used to repair the seawall since the HOT tax allows for the money to be spent on “Erosion Response Structures.”
JFK Causeway The $1.2 million project to improve the road adjacent to the JFK Causeway has been delayed due to high tides. But as of this writing the completion date is still May 2016.
That’s way more than you need, but thank you for offering to put some in your paper. We appreciate your coverage of KPAB and other Port Aransas events.
Kaitlyn VanZandt with Greg Villasana, the owner of La Playa. Kaitlyn is an artist and employee of La Playa. Two years ago, Kaitlyn came up with the idea of hosting an art show to benefit KPAB, with an environmental theme. She also decided on the name, “Our Footprints on the Island.”
A big crowd enjoyed the art show
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