It’s taken weeks of back-and-forth discussions with Ingleside officials. Including a face-to-face meeting with City Manager Brenton Lewis and Parks and Recreation Department Director Andy Tarkington, but patience has paid off for an Ingleside retiree whose request for an accommodation seemed a simple matter, that was until he ran into the bureaucracy of municipal government. Duane Rod, 65, has some physical limitations due to back injuries and requested the city open this gap between two bollards at Cove Park to make it easier for him to navigate a boat trailer to launch his 14-foot kayak. At first, the top officials he spoke with assured him it was doable, the change easing his ability to navigate the boat trailer through a tight space in between two wooden poles he must make without any assistance. During one recent attempt he backed into a bollard and broke a taillight. But then Rod received a text message from those same city leaders saying they wouldn’t adjust the width, claiming it was already wide enough and they didn’t want to encourage its use by commercial vessel owners. Rod was outraged, finally contacted by Councilman John Salinas, Place 1 on Monday, May 15, chair of the Cove Park Advisory Committee. Salinas, true to his word, got the city to widen the gap between the bollards to 11-feet on Tuesday, May 16, making Rod a satisfied taxpayer.
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