Inside the Moon Barefoot Mardi Gras A2 Farmers Market A3 Remember When A7 Volunteer for Turtle Patrol A16 Photo by Steve Coons Issue 823 The 27° 37' 0.5952'' N | 97° 13' 21.4068'' W Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 January 23, 2020 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around By the numbers The Island Island By Dale Rankin Properties We’ve been walking Around The Island in a fog this week literally. It Sold in 2019 sometimes sends Island Humans into 130 Waterfront Homes a funk, but Island Dogs seem to love $295,000.00-$1,200,000.00 it. 215 Interior Lot Homes $172,500.00-$600,000.00 93 Waterfront Condominiums & Townhomes $47,000.00-$490,000.00 123 Dry Lot Condominiums & Townhomes $83,000.00-$399,000.00 There is just something about fog 23 Waterfront Lots $110,000.00 that sends Island dogs out the window - $400,000.00 with their ears flopping in the breeze. 46 Interior Lots $36,500.00 - On that front there is progress to $119,000.00 report this week on the Riley P. Dog Park as the clearing of brush at the 2 Commercial lots $7,000.00 - site on the west end of Whitecap has Island Starbucks due open by May $2,850,000.00 begun and a gate is next. The goal is The Starbucks Coffee Company store under construction at the Packery Pointe development at the intersection of • Numbers provided by Cindy to get it up and running in time for SPID and Aquarius Street is expected to be finished and open by May, 2020 according to officials involved with the Molnar, Realtor, Coldwell Banker summer 2020. The numbers show work on Tuesday. Island, Realtors. that almost twice as many Islanders have dogs as citizens OTB and The work closest to SPID is the parking lot for the Starbucks store and also for additional retail spaces at the site. they need a park – the dogs and the The store will include a larger than normal outdoor patio to take advantage of the view of Packery Channel. humans… What’s amazing is that The Corpus Christi City Council voted in August, 2015 to approve the installation of the traffic light at the none of the Island dogs are spoiled intersection in anticipation of a 105-room hotel at the site. The total estimated cost of the project was $705,625 with Sea Turtle at all. $420,000 coming from the Packery Pointe developer and $285,625 paid by the city from 2014 bonds. The light was installed in 2016 at a final cost of $1.2 million. Calls to find out if the hotel is still in the planning were not returned by Network POA Ballots press time. POA ballots are expected to go out Meeting in the next few weeks but the Board of Directors had a meeting scheduled Coming to for Wednesday evening after we went 18,000 New Voters Registered in to press to determine who exactly will get them. POA officials say Corpus Christi the 232 voting members in the Sea Nueces County in 2019 Pines subdivision will get ballots For The First in spite of their attempt to remove Island’s 7786 Voters should make up four to five percent of themselves from the organization. Time in Twenty The Wednesday meeting was to Nueces County Voters in 2020 determine whether the corporate Years owners of the approximately 2000 By Dale Rankin in most Presidential election cycles, area south of Whitecap had only 258. platted lots in the Cape Summer will make up between four and In 2020 the number of registered When U.S. Senator John Cornyn Sea Turtle Network Meeting Coming Subdivision (the Ski Basin) will also five percent of the total vote across voters in the two precincts is almost swung through Corpus Christi in late to Corpus Christi For The First Time get ballots. The ballots are to fill two Nueces County. identical. 2019 his stump speech to a group in Twenty Years seats on the seven-member board of local Republicans contained a However, the number of registered Elections cont. on A4 with three candidates running under startling number. Island voters could drop due to The first meeting of the Southeast a plurality format with the two top 1687 of them being currently on Regional Sea Turtle Network in “In the 2016 Presidential election vote-getters taking office. The results “suspended” status, according to the Texas in two decades will be held in eight million people voted in Texas,” will be announced at the annual Nueces County Clerk’s office. For Corpus Christi starting February 3. Cornyn said. “In 2020 that number Election Day PIPOA members meeting in March. more detail on “suspended” voters will the eleven and one-half million. More than 300 researchers, see the story in this issue. Packery work Three and one-half million new Tuesday, veterinary professionals, environmental educators, natural The Corpus Christi City Council voters will cast ballots.” In fact a check of election records with the Nueces County Clerk’s March 3, 2020 resource managers, students, and on Tuesday awarded a $392,736 That idea rang true locally in 2019 office shows the number of registered citizen scientists from 11 states and contract to HDR Engineering for when 18,399 new voters registered in voters on Padre Island has dropped 7:00 a.m. to U.S. territories are expected to attend, Packery Channel Dredging and Nueces County between December, since December, 2018, from 7928. including those from the turtle rescue Beach Nourishment. The funding 2018 and November 2019 and the A look at the number of registered program at Padre Island National is from Tax Increment Reinvestment number of registered voters rose to a 7:00 p.m. voters on Padre Island tells a quick Seashore. Zone (TIRZ) No. 2 and State Hotel record 201,714. Occupancy Tax. tale of how the area has developed Early Voting Turtles cont. on A4 A review of Nueces County voting since 1992. Padre Island is divided According to researchers hired to patterns dating back to 1992 finds into two voting precincts, 40 and February monitor the channel the Packery that if historic trends hold true for the 81, which are bisected by Whitecap Newport Pass should be dredged within the next November, 2020 General Election Boulevard. County records show that 18th-28th year to prevent navigation limitations Padre Island’s 7786 registered in 1992 the area north of Whitecap and to provide a source of sand to voters, who vote close to 90 percent had 2126 registered voters while the and Zahn Roads nourish and restore the beach along the Michael J. Ellis Seawall to a Getting $1.3 width of 200 feet. The studies have found that there is insufficient sand A little Island history Million Facelift available in the channel to meet the Newport Pass Road and Zahn Road full nourishment needs of the beach on Highway 361 north of Packery and additional sources of sand will Channel are getting a $1.3 million likely be required to restore the Angels, Serpents and Frescos facelift. beach to that width. The dredging The Corpus Christi City Council on is tentatively scheduled for 2021. In 22 Steps to the Little Chapel on the Dunes: Part II Tuesday approved the construction on the meantime the city and county the two separate but related projects maintenance crews have the beaches By Brent Rourk – brentrourk@ Aline would let locals know that yahoo.com with work to begin in March, 2020. in the best shape we can remember. she was in Port Aransas and those The contract is with R.S. Parker The beach along the seawall is wider [This is part 2 of series of articles folks would let their children know Construction, LLC in the amount of than it has been since the Packery about The Little Chapel on the that the “White Angel” was going $1,337,185.02 for reconstruction of was first dredged in 2004. It doesn’t Dunes in Port Aransas, Texas. to have Bible studies. Sometimes Newport Pass Road from SH-361 to look like there is much need for re- You can retrieve past copies of her chauffeur Henry would pick up the beach and Zahn Road from the nourishment there. The Island Moon Newspaper on the kids and transport them to the brick pavers to the beach with a water Chapel. The number of children who Meet the Councilwoman Facebook or by dropping by The line extension included on Zahn Island Moon Newspaper office] attended Bible studies varied from Road. City Councilwoman Paulette ten to fifteen, including Aline’s three Guajardo is coming to Waves Resort ‘The White Angel’ - Aline boys (Champe, Frank and David). Improvements to both beach access on The Island on Thursday, January Carter With a smile, Frank admitted that his roads were approved by voters in a attendance at those Bible studies was 2014 bond package which included 30th from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for Before long Aline began having mandatory. It has been suggested that the following language: a meet and greet. Guajardo is an At- regular Bible studies for the a few of the kids were sent by their Large councilperson so Islanders can children of Port Aransas. She “This project includes reconstruction mothers involuntarily. vote in her race in November. thought that it was important for of Beach Access Roads on North We’ll see you there. In the meantime the local children to learn about Padre Island, including Beach Access say hello if you see us Around The religion and the Bible so she shared Road 3A, and consideration will be Island.