Two of my friends found these nice trout in Copano this weekend. They were one short of the limit when a game warden pulled up to check them out. They were anchored and she had trouble controlling her boat. She checked the ice chest and took off. They never got another bite. Thank you Ms. Game Warden.
Pat and Sybil took live shrimp into Copano on Thursday morning, but did not get a bite. As usual, it's all about the timing.
I'm hearing from owners that the Aransas Appraisal District is sending out requests for personal property values inside of condos. I would have to guess they are using rental management websites to see which condos are being rented.  For condos being rented they tax the furnishings because this is seen as property being used to produce a profit. There have been several condos paying this tax for years. Accessing the appraisal district website will show which condos are now paying this tax. These condos will show two taxable values. One for the condo and one for the personal property.
I've heard that Mingo is a scratch golfer. Last week I took out 6 golf balls and an old two iron I purchased at Castaways for $2. I found Mingo over at the office and challenged him to see what he could do with that old 2 iron. He said he never carries a 2 iron and I thought to myself, excuses already. I pointed out a spot across the entrance road about 200 yards away and asked him to see how close he could come to the edge of the pond there. The first ball was absolutely on the money. He even smiled a bit. I said I wanted to see him do it again. Sure enough, all six balls would have been on the green. I was impressed.
We now have buildings 1,3,5, and 6 hardwired for WiFi. They should see improved service. I've heard nothing further from Time Warner.

Jerry took on the task last week of extending the bulkhead along the HEB property line. We are not sure just what mother nature has planned for us here. Last year it washed out about 20 feet or shoreline. Rather than go all out at a high cost, Jerry built a wooden bulkhead from old 2 by 8s. This will buy us time until we can determine just what the water will do. If it continues to wash out, we will have to pull out this wooden bulkhead and spend the bucks to put in shoreguard and concrete.

This week Jerry is working under the buildings to evaluate rotted pilings. The news isn't good. We replaced about 130 four years ago, or at least we paid for 130. I don't know that they were ever counted when they were supposed to be completed. He has done half of the 500 building and has found over 20. We may be looking at about $1,000 a piece to replace them with concrete. Olshan Foundation is coming out next Thursday to give us a price. By then Jerry hopes to have a total count.

Cedar Bayou Update from Pat Noack

Ken(606) had an up and down weekend. Here his son, Matt, shows two of the nine reds they caught on Saturday. They kept only three. On Friday, they went all the way to Lydia Ann channel and did not get a bite.
Another owner's son showed me a picture of their limit of trout from Copano on Saturday. He said he caught trout on the first eleven casts. All were caught on lures.
I saw a stringer of five on the pier last night, but only one appeared legal. I paid $7 for an eel to try for a few gafftop off the pier, but only one hardhead seemed to want the eel.

Our pool committee has provided our board with some prices and options they have found. Our board will meet next Saturday to review these and refer options to our owners. Our current pool is about 900 square feet. Recommendations are for a pool to limit use to no more that one person per 25 square feet. This means our present pool should be able to accommodate 36 people at one time.

Our committee found the following:

Corpus Christi Pools will renovate our existing pool and add another like it just north of the present pool for $91,000. One committee member noted this could allow for one pool to be for adult use only. Our annual pool expenses are $7,000 per year. This would double in this scenario.

Barrett Pools will demo our current pool and build a new one with 1,200 square feet for $149,475. This would allow for 12 more people to use it.

Blue Haven Pools would do the same as Barrett, but the cost would be only $109,000.

Oasis Pools would build a second pool for $95,500 and refurbish the existing pool for an additional $18,950. They would build a second rectangular pool of 1,250 square feet for $110,250.

Bids from a few years ago were about $175,000 for a new pool in place of the existing one, but they were for a pool about twice the size. This could almost be done by removing the grass areas inside the present fencing and maybe moving one side of the fencing a bit outward.

Owners will have to decide yes or no on doing anything at present.

If a majority wants to take action now, we will have to decide if we want one pool or two. If one pool is the choice we will have to decide what size we want. A special owners’ meeting could be called to approve an assessment to begin collecting the funds to allow construction to begin after this summer season.

Our owners have a wide range of opinions as to the need for a new pool and if one is built, what will it look like. This should be an interesting process.

 Jerry used the low tide time on Friday and Saturday to try to fix the washout under the bulkhead. It's hard to see, but the seams don't match as the extra shoreguard that JR gave us is a different style. Jerry had to cut the piece vertically and drive the extra pieces into place. He then put a lot of concrete in the washout to seal the leaks. When this wall was built, we didn't anticipate the HEB side to erode below the level of the bottom of the shoreguard. It looks as if there may be some additional areas that may need the same fix.

This is the latest information I have received from Time Warner as of last Friday. While it is true the converter box rental is $12 per month, the programming upgrade runs an additional $8 per month.

Hello Mr. Biggers,

Thank you for your correspondence. 

The update that I received today is that there is a backlog of jobs (properties) for addresses also have to be upgraded with the same or similar products and services. I pushed as hard as I could but we have to stand in line, for a lack of better words.  

Please know however that anyone that wants to enjoy a box can pick one up and the worst case is that they will pay for the time between now and when the codes are changed. The box rate is approximately $11.00 - $12 per month plus taxes. 

I waited until the last minute to see if I could get a different answer from others but to no avail.

To all, have a great weekend,