Corpusfishing.com

The Trash Heap · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:22 am Post subject: Gib Shoots, He Scores....

Caller.com Corpus Christi News and Information
Bob Hall Pier cleans up after complaint
By David Sikes
Originally published 05:15 a.m., September 6, 2007
Updated 05:15 a.m., September 6, 2007

Earlier this year, Matthew Gibson's sons nearly stepped on the spiny dorsal of a hardhead catfish someone had left for dead on the planks of Bob Hall Pier.

By the way, leaving a hardhead for dead is against the law. But that's not my point. It was dark and lighting on the pier was poor.

Being a five-year pier regular, Gibson had become accustomed to poor maintenance at Bob Hall. But this incident sparked a sequence of events that put Gibson into the role of activist. There's a lesson here, a civics lesson with favorable results.

Pier regulars I've spoken with in recent years say their list of Bob Hall complaints included occasional unruly drunks, surfers/kayakers jumping off pier's end, anglers staking out a section of railing with way too many rods, poor maintenance/lighting, profanity, auto burglaries, overnight camping and inconsiderate anglers who toss castnets from the pier, which is against the rules.

Gibson said that initial attempts to address some of these concerns had failed. Part of the problem is that the people who lease the concession rights at the pier and manage operations there have no enforcement authority. The new managers out there tell me they intend to tell repeat offenders they're not welcome or they'll call the cops on egregious violations.

After the springtime hardhead incident, Gibson called the Nueces County Parks offices, but didn't receive immediate relief.

So he decided to make an end run by posting his complaints and a request for help on the popular Web site CorpusFishing.com. This began a chatroom thread that eventually attracted more than 4,000 online views and 83 responses as of Wednesday.

This response boiled down to about 20 legitimate comments regarding nagging pier issues as well as a suggestion to contact Nueces County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, whose district includes Padre Island.

Gibson called Cazalas and explained the problem, then followed up with an e-mail containing the online comments. Cazalas said he would look into it, and he forwarded the comments to the Nueces County Parks Board.

Then Gibson, along with about a dozen concerned anglers, attended a park board meeting in late-August to follow up, provide details and answer questions. Gibson said he was encouraged by the reception they received. Also at the meeting were representatives of the new pier management and restaurant owners.

Since then, Gibson said he's seen positive results.

"Things are getting done out there now," he said. "The pier is in the best shape I've seen it in five years. They've really stepped up to the plate on maintenance and cleanliness."

Despite this, Gibson said there is more that could be done to improve the pier, mostly involving enforcement of parking lot crime activity and violations of pier rules.

"About a month ago, I saw three or four anglers on the pier and 40 rods set out," Gibson said. "I'm not kidding. I'd be tickled to see someone from law enforcement once a week out there."

Part of the challenge, explains Jim Needham, a Nueces County Parks Board member, is that a while back the city annexed a lengthy section of the beach between Port Aransas and the Kleberg County line. This resulted in a drop in funds for the county in the form of hotel/motel tax revenue. The county no longer could afford as many park staffers, including park rangers.

Enforcement out there falls on the Corpus Christi Police Department, the Nueces County Sheriff's Department and Bobby Sherwood's crew of Nueces County Constables. Cazalas said he's begun talking to these folks, and Gibson tells me he's already seen a higher presence of law enforcement at the pier, particularly from Sherwood's officers.

Cazalas said he's hopeful that patrol officers who usually deal with crime and traffic violations on the beach and on the island will stop in and walk the pier from time to time.

Nueces County Parks Director Blake Pettis said that while poor weather may have prevented proper maintenance in recent months, he hopes that pier anglers continue to provide input on such issues. Perhaps they could become like a volunteer eyes and ears committee, he suggested. Gibson said that would be OK with him.

Maybe Pettis should post his phone number on the pier for convenience.

Meanwhile, the parks board, Cazalas and Pettis are seeking a consensus or at least a majority opinion from pier anglers on a variety of issues. If you want them to rescind the no-castnet rule, tell them. Or if you'd like to see the rod limit raised to four, let them know. Needham said the board will post any issue that rises to the top on the board's agenda for a vote.

See, the system works.

Outdoors writer David Sikes column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 886-3616 or sikesd@caller.com

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The Trash Heap Has Spoken!
NNYYAAAHH!!!

ironmanstan · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:06 am Post subject:

sometimes it pays to be a squeaky wheel.....
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

juanpescado · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:58 am Post subject:

Awesome ....
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Bluffer · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:50 am Post subject:

Great article. Hopefully it will stay that way & not just becuase some complaints were raised.
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robul · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 2677

Nice work guys!

ccbobber · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:08 am Post subject: congrats

now with the paper giving corpus fishing/gib/parks committee some coverage, maybe we can go forward with positive results. get involved to the point of at least posting your ideas about rod limit & cast nets. we need info for end of september meeting.
thanks & congrats to gib.
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ccbobber