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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 10/06/2016 WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting, Thursday, October 6, 2016 5:30 p.m. Staff Conference Room, City Hall 1201 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Cameron Perry Jay Gardner Russell Armstrong Cliff Schlabach Jennifer Pollack Martha Lawhon Carrie Robertson Meyer Jyoti Patel Josh Wentworth Mukesh Subedee Jay Ellington Joseph DePalma Paulette Kluge I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:34 p.m. II. ROLL CALL The roll was called and a quorum was present. I. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the September 1, 2016 meeting were distributed for review and approval. Cliff want to note that in the discussion of"Vehicle access along the South Packery Channel"that he wanted the access to be left open but didn't want people to be driving on the dunes/vegetation. With this change noted Cliff made a motion to accept the minutes as changed, Paulette seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. IV. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC— None V. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION 1 New Business a. Graduate student presentation on herbicides This was tabled until the November meeting. b. Installation of beach showers at Packery Channel Cliff relayed that he has had many people ask him "where are the showers?". These people are not looking for anything fancy,just something like Port Aransas has; a pallet looking platform with a shower head,just something to rinse off with and they would like to have the showers on both sides of the Packery Channel and have these showers set up by Spring. Russell says that the showers at Windward were set up for that but Cliff says they are way too far away. Russell biggest concern is where the water is going to come from to which Cliff says that the Packery amenities will need water. Cliff thought that maybe some of the permit sales money could go towards this. Russell reported that permits sales are about the same as last year; beach permit sellers sold more but the vendors did not. Cameron suggested that we start this process with a feasibility study; what would it take to accomplish this? WBAC is asking Staff to do an assessment of this request. c. Packery Channel "Six Pack" Jay Ellington, as the ISAC representative has been tasked with working on this discussion. Jay distributed handouts to the committee and discussed several points within those handouts. Some of the information is background for the issue which originated in 2009. • Project#8 (page 2) is about the Packery restrooms. Russell handed out copies of a portable, solar powered, self-contained restroom with 2 regular toilets and 1 ADA toilet. This is the current concept that the City is looking at. Cliff thinks this needs to be the top priority. The cost would probably be about$60,000 each. • Project#9 (page 2) refers to the ADA ramps. Jay Gardner had designed a sand based path with pavers, which would create a "mat" and would be semi-permanent. This path will get you from the sand up to the Channel. • Project#11 (page 2) involves a pavilion being built on the Channel but needs lots more discussion. • Project#12 (page 2) is a new Beach Operations' building and the City is currently working with the County on this project. The recommendation is that this be located on the south side of the Channel. 2 • Project#13 (page 2) refers to an ADA parking lot at the jetty ramps and the GLO has said no to this project. The City believes that#9 (jetty ramps)will help you get to the jetty. Beach Operations is looking into buying 3 ADA carts (big wheeled carts)this year. Cliff said the "ADA ramps" are the second most complaint about the beach. Jay would like this committee to look at these project, talk about them and get these moving through the system by the end of the year. WBAC will establish a subcommittee to brainstorm on prioritizing these projects. 2 Old Business a. ISAC Update Paulette and Jay Ellington reported on this. • ISAC has created a subcommittee regarding Billish Park and how to get rid of the sticker burrs, install turf and figure out a watering system. • There was an update on the plastic bag ban but Cliff relayed the latest information. Laredo is appealing to the Texas Supreme Court and that will slow down what our City will do. The Texas Municipal League (TML) lawyers will be ruling on this this week. "You can't ban plastic bags if they are used for solid waste". • There is to be some action on the Park Road 22 Bridge by the end of the year. The City is looking at 2 paths; one being that the developer can come up with an agreement or the City will put the project out to bid. The funding will come from TIFF and ISAC recommends that the project have a maximum fund of$4 million. • There has been some coordination on enforcement. There was a meeting that included various Police groups and the City to talk about the problems on the beach. This group will re convene in February. One item that came from this meeting is to produce a brochure that will list all the ordinances that pertain to the beach and distribute it to all enforcement agencies and even to have the brochures distributed to visitors when they purchase a beach parking permit/sticker. b. Spraying Herbicides: Storm Water or the responsible department Josh reported that it is the Street Department that is in charge of this and that the contractor will keep spraying until told not to. c. State HOT Funds Update/Improvements Josh reported that 4 of the 5 positions for maintenance at North Beach and McGee Beach have been filled and they are currently interviewing the 5th. New rule signs have been ordered for North Beach. Future projects include building wooden frames for signs on the boardwalk and remove the shade structure that need to be removed. The picnic table issue is still being discussed. The park enforcement officer has been hired and is currently in training. VI. STAFF LIASON REPORT Russell reported that things are normal at the beach. Beach Operations is gearing up for a surfing competition next weekend. Regarding the "frequent flyers"; the vehicle driving into the Packery Channel, new signs that read "No vehicles beyond this point" are going to be installed. The trash system is working great; Beach Operations has picked up 450 tons of trash since January. Russell is discussing with Stacie on whether or not to leave the lifeguard stands on McGee Beach. 35,000 trash bags were given out over the summer. 2016's beach parking stickers will be sold through mid-November and then the 2017 stickers should be available and they have a new design. A quote on the new signage has been received. Paulette reported that the "SurfCC.com"site will have information regarding Zika, Vibrio, red tide and rip current and is not about surfing but will be about safety in the water. Some believe that the name needs to be changed to reflect what the site is really about. VII. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. ISAC Update 2. Graduate Student presentation on herbicides 3. Packery Channel "Six Pack" Update VIII. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business, Cliff made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Paulette seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m. Martha Lawhon, Management Assistant C:\Users\Tam era rWppdata\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\ZQFLP32G\100616 Minutes.Doc