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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 07/07/2016 WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting, Thursday, July 7, 2016 5:30 p.m. Staff Conference Room, City Hall 1201 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Cameron Perry Jennifer Pollack Russell Armstrong Jay Gardner Jyoti Patel Martha Lawhon Cliff Schlabach Joseph DePalma Carrie Robertson Meyer Mukesh Subedee Paulette Kluge I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL The roll was called and a quorum was present. I. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the June 2, 2016 meeting were distributed for review and approval. The last page of the June 2nd meeting minutes are comments that Carrie added after the minutes were distributed by email. Cliff made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, Joe seconded, unanimously approved, motion passed. IV. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC—Two people were present and only one wanted to speak. The person who spoke wanted to know what the access to the beach will be once the work starts on Access Roads 3A and 2. V. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION 1 New Business a. Report on Access Road 3A Russ Armstrong noted that Stacie Talbert was to be at the meeting but got tied up in a meeting so we don't have a report from her. However, Russ stated he was able to have a conversation with Jay Ellington (Assistant City Manager) prior to this coming up and Jay told Russ that once construction does start on 3A, if necessary the bollards around the pedestrian beach will be removed to allow vehicle access to the south side of Packery Channel. Jay reported that Access road 3A will be moved closer to EI Constante. b. Contact CCPD regarding Code Enforcement and a potential for a workshop Cliff noted that this was brought up by David Pierce and that CCPD doesn't know or understand the rules on the beach regarding code enforcement (littering) and that a meeting with CCPD was needed. Jay reported that the meeting happened. Russ said that he had a meeting with CCPD after that meeting. The enforcement officer that was working the beach retired and a new one started Monday. The HOT funds allows the beach to have a second officer and that person will start in 2 weeks. Once the 2 officer are on board and have completed the Code course, a meeting will be setup and all code enforcement officers (including the bay beaches), Russ, and CCPD will be included. Russ hopes that this will be accomplished next month. Russ relayed that Josh Wentworth wanted the committee to know that the other enforcement position is posted. Carrie wants to have littering as part of code enforcement. Beach operations have stepped up their efforts to distribute the yellow trash bags. Cliff noted that the new trash trucks and the trash bags have really made a difference; that it is working. He said that the beach is the cleanest it has been in a long time, after a major holiday weekend. 2 Old Business a. ISAC Update Jay reported that there was public comment regarding driving in the dunes. At the ISAC meeting, Jay Ellington relayed that beach operations is working on filling the rest of their position, and also discussed 2 Access Road 3A. Jeff Pollack from the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization)discuss in general the layout for the "south Loop"; a second causeway from the Chapman Ranch through the King Ranch to the Island. Jay reported that it is believed that in 15 years we will have spring break like traffic every day. b. Update on the State HOT Funds and how they affect North Beach Carrie reported that she has been talking with Stacie about the parking lots at North Beach and that issue cannot be solved using HOT funds. She will propose an agenda item be placed on the agenda at a future meeting. c. Update on the plastic bag ban Cliff reported that ISAC &WBAC passed resolutions. Libby& Neil McQueen (Surfrider foundation local chapter) have been to City Council twice and have also been to the Mayor's office. The plan is to bring this to City Council before the election. It is now known that this ordinance can be upheld in only portions of the City. There have been other developments recently; Laredo had a lawsuit filed against them and this case is currently in the courts. The basis of this case regards the use of"packaging" and "containers" in the existing laws with regards to the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This is the first case that has made it to the courts and other"bag bans" issues are waiting to see how the court decides this case. The outcome of this decision will affect many more issues. This issue will not be solved anytime soon. 17 State Representatives and 3 Texas Senators are opposed to bag bans. Governor Greg Abbott has stated (when he was Attorney General)that a plastic bag could be a container but might also be banned for other reasons. VI. STAFF LIASON REPORT • Russ reported that the new trash trucks are in and working well. • There is an issue with picking up trash on the west side of the Packery Channel bridge. Beach Operations put trash cans there and thought that there was an understanding between Nueces County and beach operations that they would share the responsibility of emptying those cans on a regular bases. In speaking with the County they know nothing about picking up or empting said trash cans. This is private property but no one takes care of the trash. There have been attempts in the past to have the owners be responsible but that has not happened. • Now that we have a code enforcement officer we are going to be in touch with the horse people on the beach south of Access 6 and let them know that they must clean up after the horses. • We should have the lifeguards hired through SHOTs on the stands from 10 to 8 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday within 2 weeks. McGee Beach is covered from noon to 6 only. VII. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Update on Access Road 3A 2. ISAC Update 3. Update on plastic bag ban 4. Spraying herbicide; what is it? 5. Beach parking &access on North Beach 6. RVs on the beach VIII. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business, Cliff made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mukesh seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 6:29 p.m. Martha Lawhon, Management Assistant C:\Users\Tam era rWppdata\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\ZQFLP32G\070716 Minutes Final.Doc