Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1978 Page: 1 of 8
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PORT ARANSAS
A
SOOTH JETTY
VOLUME 8 - No. 24 PRICE 20 CENTS__ON MUSTANG ISLAND; TEXAS ..... THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1978
Proposals Arrive
For Island Study
Proposals continue to come in
from planning consultants and
firms for developing a comprehen-
sive plan for the development of
Mustang Island. City manager
Dana Bennett sent out a request
for proposals early in November
for the study which is to be
funded with $56,000 of Coastal
Energy Impact Program monies, a
federal fund distributed through
the Governor’s Office.
Responses were due in Ben-
nett’s office by November 27, but
a number of firms requested a
few day’s extension and it was
granted. The proposals will be
screened by Bennett and the Port
Aransas city council as well as the
Nueces County Commissioners
before a choice is made.
The development plan, to be
completed within six to nine
months, must be accepted by both
the Port Aransas City Council and
the Nueces County Commissioners
Court.
The following is the text of the
expected aims of the study that
was provided to planning firms in
advance of their making proposals
for carrying out the study. A
consultant will be chosen on the
basis of the study approach he
proposes and the scope of the
work that will be provided for the
money available.
Description of Proposal: The
comprehensive plan developed for
Mustang Island must focus on the
potential impact of extensive
development and directly address
the following critical areas:
(1) Ascertain the development
expectations for Mustang Island
as expressed by property owners,
residents, and appropriate local
officials.
(2) Evaluate potential environ-
mental impact of extensive devel-
opment on the island and recom-
mend standards to reduce any ad-
verse impacts anticipated.
(3) Determine future traffic and
transportation needs and recom-
mend specific policies and pro-
grams necessary to address those
needs.
(4) Evaluate potential needs for
increased municipal services stim-
ulated by greater population
density. Also, ascertain problems
that may be encountered by local
governments and local populace
during evacuation of the island
prior to major storms and/or
hurricanes. Recommendations re-
garding population and land use
should be made utilizing land-use
intensity factors based on environ-
mental data and population evacu-
ation criteria.
(5) Address needs relating to
future service, fire protection,
water and sewer, police, solid
waste sanitation, and open park
areas.
(6) Address problems of access
off and on beach parking.
(7) Recommend specific land-
use regulatory controls and the
governmental agency most feasi-
ble of instituting said controls.
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c. j. plummer photo
Drifting Barges Give Short Scare To Aransas Pass
Thanksgiving evening about 250
people in Aransas Pass were
evacuated from their homes and
some clubs in the waterfront area
while five barges drifting in the
intracoastal canal were brought
under control.
The barges, three empty and
two filled with liquid butane, had
been beached while the tug
captain took his boat into port for
refueling. The barges drifted
loose and moving in the tide
traveled two to three miles along
the channel before beaching on
the bank, blocking the canal and
the Aransas Pass Channel. The
Water-Sewer
Improvement Job
Out For Bids
Bids will be opened December
11 for major expansion and
upgrading of the water and sewer
systems in Port Aransas. The
project, approved by voters in last
July’s $1.9 million bond issue for
the local water district, will
replace nearly all the old water
lines in the City as well as expand
the water distribution system into
areas expected for near-future
development. Obsolete sewer
lines will also be replaced and
new lines will be extended into
expected development areas. A
major portion of the sewer line job
will involve upgrading of some lift
stations and the overhaul of the
main sewer transmission line
along Alistcr Street.
New water lines will be of a
size approved by the State Board
of insurance, and will serve to
fear among local Aransas Pass
officials was that the butane
barges would strike the seawall
and explode or develop a leak.
The barges came to rest about
one-half mile from the seawall.
The drifting barges were re-
ported by the shrimp boat Pelican
II to the Port Aransas Coast
Guard station. When the incident
was reported to the New Orleans
region office, the word came back
to evacuate the area. Aransas
Pass police, and constables, DPS
officers, sheriffs deputies, the
Civil Defense team and local
game wardens went door-to-door
increase fire protection throughout
the City, as well as lower tire
insurance rates. The City has
agreed to provide a number of
new fire hydrants to be installed
on the upgraded lines.
Also included in the plans for
the job will be major street
repairs following the water and
sewer line work.
According to water district
officials, when this job is complet-
ed, Port Aransas will have a
first-rate water and sewer system
that should require little mainte-
nance and provide good service
for a number of years.
The district spent over a year
planning this project and hold
public meetings to get the
public’s views on where the
critical areas for upgrading and
expansion were.
In scheduling the work, efforts
will be made to have as little
traffic disruption as possible
during peak visitor periods, es-
pecially along Alistcr Street.
telling people to leave the
waterfront area for a short time
because of the possible danger.
Within about an hour and a half,
all were able to return to their
homes.
Coast Guard Captain of the Port
Cmdr. Joel Sipes, whose office is
responsible for marine safety
between Brownsville and the
Colorado River, said that the New'
Orleans office over-reacted and
that the evacuation was not
necessary, adding that the call
should properly have been handl-
ed through his authority. He said
that the response from New
Orleans was probably based on
limited detailed knowledge of the
local waters and was probably an
attempt to be on the safe side. He
added, “It was a routine thing
that was not handled in a routine
fashion." He said that there was
no real risk and that the gas cargo
was protected by the double-wall
construction of the barges.
Sipes' office is now investigat-
ing the incident to determine if
the tug captain should be cited for
violations of rules, which could
include blocking the channel and
leaving barges unattended.
There wrere no accidents or
other incidents associated with the
rapid evacuation, which also
resulted in the causeway to Port
Aransas being closed for about 90
minutes. Aransas Pass mayor J.
M. Attaway said that Aransas
Pass officials acted because they
didn't want to take any chances,
and that there had not been any
complaints from those involved in
the short evacuation.
Feds To Study
Matagorda Bay
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced it has awarded
a $’’88,000 contract to the firm of
Espev, Huston and Associates of
Austin to perform a three-year
environmental study of the Mata-
gorda Bay system.
The USFWS notified the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department
that the goal of the study is to
determine the effects of the
alteration of freshwater inflows to
Matagorda Bay’s estuaries and its
marine resources. The study will
also identify the amounts of
freshwater inflows the bay system
needs to maintain the productivity
of its fishery resources, the
USFWS announcement said.
The Texas gulf coast supports
one of the richest sport and
commercial fisheries in the United
States, not to mention abundant
populations of wintering birds and
resident wildlife. The value of last
year’s commercial harvest of fish,
shrimp and shellfish in Texas was
over $134 million.
Shrimp harvests alone totalled
$127 million, the USFWS said.
A similar study is now under
way for Nueces Bay, with a late
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USFWS.
The Texas Department of Water
Resources is also making a study
of the freshwater inflow needs of
the Texas Bays and estuaries,
with its report due to be
presented to the legislature in
1980.
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Frishman, Steve. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1978, newspaper, November 30, 1978; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth623934/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.