48 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Fall 2018 TheCoastalBend.com 48 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINE • Early Summer 2018 TheCoastalBend.com THE LATE SUMMER months were a period of excitement and frustra- tion for the Port Aransas Bepko’s, who are less than mid-way through the recon- struction of their beachside home after it was almost destroyed by Hurricane Har- vey. With the pressure of a looming end- of-year completion deadline starting to be felt, Brandon Bepko, working as his own general contractor, describes the process of obtaining building permits in the city of Port Aransas: “Permitting has been an issue since the beginning of the project. Due to the scope of the total project, I could not simply pull a permit for construction as a home owner. In fact, I was required to become my own general contractor and purchase insurance in order to pull a permit. The City of Port Aransas has been tasked with rebuilding this city to withstand future storms, so the recent increased scrutiny of plans is to be expected. Abel, city inspec- tor, makes himself available nearly every HurricaneimpactwindowsbeinginstalledatthePortARebuildhome,includinganew,storm-proofportholewindow.