Inside the Moon Puppy Pool Party A2, A7 Taco Fest A5 Mutts at the Hut A7 Traveling Moon A9 P.I.B.A. Mixer A16 Issue 805 The 27° 37' 0.5952'' N | 97° 13' 21.4068'' W Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 September 19, 2019 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around By the Numbers The Island Snoopy’s Sells! Port Aransas By Dale Rankin Marker 37 owner buys Padre Island’s oldest Tourism This is the time of year we Islanders Jeff Hentz, President/CEO of await the first hint of cool air Mustang Island/Port Aransas sweeping in from the north signaling and most iconic business Tourism Board and Chamber of the effective end of the hurricane Commerce, spoke to the Padre season. Once the first cool front By Dale Rankin Island Business Association lunch arrives from OTB our chances of a Padre Island's most iconic and on Thursday, September 12. Here hurricane are about the same as a tax are the numbers he quoted with cut. longest-running business is changing hands after forty years of operation. regards to the tourism industry in We've had a few squalls that washed Port Aransas. the sand off our cars and drove the Snoopy’s Pier owner and founder Ernie Buttler said this week he has 5.5 million Visitors to Port dogs crazy but all in all, it's been Aransas annually an uneventful hurricane season signed an agreement to sell the hereabouts. The tides have been venerable and successful business New Conference Center to Mitchell Kalogridis, owner of the winding their way to the dunes and 2,500 square-foot conference adjacent Marker 37 Marina. the OTB traffic has slowed a bit but center in the new conference the restaurants have been packed on “I’ve been doing this since I was center at Cinnamon Shore the weekends and the heat has let twenty-six,” Ernie said, “It’s time to South set to begin construction up. Things are rolling our way as hand it off to somebody else. Snoopy's is one of only four Landmark restaurants in the U.S. in early 2020 we say goodbye to Summer 2019 on Monday. “We are taking over an island 250 rooms – available at institution,” Kalogridis said. “It is Cinnamon Shore South after Island property value working and we are not going to construction change a thing.” In the last issue, we ran a number 700-2000 number of people placing the value of land on He said the current staff will be kept expected to attend conventions Padre Island at $2.2 billion. After in place once the final paperwork is in Port Aransas once the we published we received more done, which is expected within the conference center is open information. These values were next week. 1000 average per convention derived using the following criteria: The change of hands ends the forty- Properties with listed addresses that year run which began when Corliss Hurricane Harvey are physically on Padre Island and and Ernie Buttler bought Snoopy’s September 2017 physically within Corpus Christi Pier in 1979, opening its doors in city limits that were being taxed by 4500 overnight-stay rooms in 1980. the City of Corpus Christi as of tax 2016 (before Hurricane Harvey) year 2019. The numbers are: Market Ernie said the area under the John 55 percent of those rooms were value: $2,253,470,805, Appraised F. Kennedy Bridge was then a open in 2018 season (post value $2,248,906,133, Assessed shantytown and the building that Harvey) value $2,240,061,014. eventually became Snoopy’s Pier had been a bait stand and fishing pier since 10 percent of the overnight-stay FBISD meetings opening in 1959. The pier closed in rooms were available in 2018 The numbers showed that the Snoopy's cont. on A4 Ernie Buttler. Photo by Mary Craft 30 percent of retail stores and property value on Padre Island restaurants back open in 2018 makes up half of the total property season value in the Flour Bluff Independent Bid Opening on Park Road 22 New 80 percent of lodging currently School District of $4,285,748,687 back on-line (almost 4000 for 2019. So for Padre Island parents Water Exchange Bridge Delayed Development on rooms but many condominiums to have a line of communication still not ready) with the district Superintendent Dr. for the Fourth Time Lake Padre David Freeman has agreed to hold a 4 months – the number of monthly meeting with Island parents Bid on repairs to Whitecap bulkheads goes A Monterrey businessman is visitors in the last four months and the Island Moon is working to set working on plans for a development beat numbers for the same up a schedule and meeting place. If to city council October 15 straddling the canal on Leeward months in 2016 (pre-Harvery) readers have suggestions on when and Drive between Running Light and where to hold these gatherings please By Dale Rankin of money left from previous bond Granada Drive. The future projects and up to $4 million from let us know by emailing us at editor@ Two major Island projects are 8000 overnight-stay rooms in the Tax Increment Refinancing Zone islandmoon.com or on our Facebook making their way through the City of Port Aransas by 2005 page theislandmoonnewspaper. We #2 which captures property tax from Corpus Christi’s bidding process with 88 percent of visitors to Port would like to hold the first one in improvements inside the zone since construction scheduled to begin on Aransas come from Austin, San October. its inception in 2004. both by the end of the year. Antonio, Houston, and Dallas The first round of bidding in 2016 Tax hike at the city The first is the long-awaited Park resulted in a low bid of $11.5 million 24-62 year olds make up the Road 22 Water Exchange Bridge While we haven’t had a hurricane but construction was never begun large majority of visitors to Port which was approved by voters in this season we did the annual tax hike due to the lack of a guarantee from Aransas 2004 at $1.2 million. Bids on the at city hall this week as the council the landowners of the west side of the project went out in July with the first $60 million Texas has spent to approved an “Ordinance setting a bridge site, on Park Road 22/SPID Juan Carlos Calvi recently purchased bid opening scheduled for August 21, bring in interstate air carriers property tax rate of $0.646264 per halfway between Commodores Drive the land along Leeward Drive that then postponed until August 28, then $100 valuation which is effectively and Whitecap Boulevard, that they connects the lots on either side of September 18, and currently October a 6.55% increase over the effective would build the canal and bulkheads the canal which he has owned for 9. Sources at city hall and in the private tax rate that will require raising more connecting to the bridge. The canal several years. Calvi said this week he Saturday, September 21 sector with knowledge of the project revenue from property taxes than in on the Lake Padre side of the bridge plans to develop the property and is say the delay is due to minor design the FY 2018-2019 Operating Budget site has been in place for more than asking the public for suggestions on changes, soil testing, and an attempt Adopt a Beach in amount of $9,321,332, of which four years. what type of development to build. $4,198,157 represents property tax to bring the bring in close to the $12.5 The Facebook page for the project Fall Cleanup revenues of $0.02 per $100 valuation million current estimated cost. The The good news this week is that features this photo. Calvi said the to be used towards residential street latest round of bidding is the second owners of the land on the western project is in its early stages but he reconstruction.” That is one way of try at moving the project forward with approach, Axys Capital Management hopes to begin construction as soon This Weekend! saying that two cents for street work funding to come from a combination who bought the land at foreclosure as possible. The Annual Adopt-A-Beach was approved by voters in 2016 but Bids cont. on A4 Fall Cleanup is set for Saturday, the $5,123,175 on top of that is a tax September 21 at 31 locations along hike initiated by the council. the Texas Coast. Volunteers can sign A little Island history up at www.texasadoptabeach.org Waves concerts or show up on-site to take part in a We have three Music from the Moon fun-filled day of giving back to our Thirty-Nine Years Under the Bridge community and taking care of the concerts left in the season with the Editor’s note: Dale Patterson – doors. Imagine if you will…the next on Thursday, September 19 Texas coast. Registration begins at known by everyone as Pete from Island circa 1980. 8:30 a.m. Clean up will be from 9 when the Toman Brothers come in Snoopy’s Pier where he was the from San Antonio, then on October By Snoopy Pete (Dale Pete a.m. to 12 p.m. second employee and has worked Patterson) 17 Independent Thieves come to for going on four decades – moved Local sites town, and finally the Big Sendoff to The Island thirty-nine years I recently surpassed my thirty- will be the day after Thanksgiving, ago, arriving by sailboat from the ninth anniversary of setting foot North Padre Island/Padre Balli Friday, November 29 which will be West Coast and coming up through on Snoopy’s Pier – Memorial Park part of the La Posada Lighted Boat Day 1980 – on a small sailing the Panama Canal.