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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 08/02/2018 WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting, Thursday,August 2, 2018 5:30 pm Staff Conference Room, City Hall 1201 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Cliff Schlabach Josh Wentworth Jyoti Patel Darren Gurley Meredith Darden Martha Lawhon Carrie Robertson Meyer Mukesh Subedee Daniel Mazoch Jennifer Pollack Terry Palmer Philippe Tissot I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:31 pm. II. EXCUSED ABSENCES: Terry Palmer, Philippe Tissot, Daniel Mazoch &Jennifer Pollack Cliff explained to the committee that this was a new thing that we will be doing; hearing the reason why a member was unable to attend and then voting on whether that absence should be excused or not. Jennifer noted that she was able to attend the regularly scheduled meeting in July but not the rescheduled one. Jennifer made a motion that we excuse all absences when the meeting has been rescheduled, Meredith seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. III. ROLL CALL The roll was called and a quorum was present. IV. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the July 12, 2018 meeting were distributed for review. Meredith made a motion to accept the minutes, Jyoti seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. V. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC There was no one from the public in attendance. VI. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION 1 New Business a. Deidre Williams: Monitoring Plan Deidre came back in response to questions she had received at the previous meeting. She presented a slide presentation and started with a summary of the plan's beginnings and where we are now. The Packery Channel was built based on a law. The original intent was to provide sand, increase stability against storms and to provide a water exchange between the Gulf and the Laguna Madre; this was an environmental restoration project. One of the goals for the City was recreational. The Blucher Institute got involved to develop the initial monitoring program and eventually the City took over the program. Since 2008 there have been several others involved in the program. The City primary obligations with regards to this program are OMRR&R, public safety, TGLO (CEPRA& land leases), the City ordinance and the TGLO as it relates to that City ordinance. Also FEMA reimbursement projects. The monitoring program helps management make decisions. Different programs are scheduled at different times during the year based on seasons and events. The summer assessment is done on the full channel footprint and the beach, the winter one is done on the full channel but only a limited beach area. The spring assessment is the one that has been cut back and this is the one that is most important for navigation safety. This assessment has not been done this year 2 because the contract is not in place. The event category was setup so that the City could act in a timely manner when this is needed or requested. This program gives provides the City with valuable information on beaches and inlets, it gives the City historical information and provides documentations; all of this is important with a constantly changing workforce. Beach Operations also needs this information to make decisions. The monitoring program also can protects the City from false claims. The current status of the program is that it has not been approved and ended on 5/31/18. Without this program being in place the FEMA claim would not have gone as well as believed it has. Cliff made a motion that WBAC recommends renewing the contract annually with all its current components, Meredith second, Philippe abstained, motion passed. b. Beach Adaptive Maintenance Plan Cliff asked if this is maintenance or management and Deidre says it is maintenance. Darren believes that the beach is doing the management and the USACE established the maintenance through the permit. Mukesh reported that when this was last discussed the difference was the movement of sand; the maintenance plan dealt with other items such as sargassum and debris but not the movement of sand. It was agreed that the name should be Maintenance/Management. There was also a discussion about the pamphlets regarding the sargassum; there were some printed in the past but Darren is looking into getting signs made that deal with the seaweed in addition to the sargassum. Cliff noted that the plan didn't discuss the water truck and it should and also he would like the wording about the beach width to match what the ordinance says. Meredith wanted to know about the "opinion surveys" and the answer was that they are not being done. Meredith will work on this with Martha. c. Recommendations for North Beach Budgets Carrie passed out a list of proposed SHOT projects from North Beach Community Association. She explained that since WBAC makes recommendations on the SHOT budgets, NBCA wants the committee to know how North Beach residents think the allocated money should be spent. All the items on the list involved safety and cleanliness. Meredith offered to check with Scott Joslove on whether these recommendations are SHOT allowed. SHOTs are tied to "heads and beds" and the parking lots and demolition of the bathhouses would probably not qualify under that but Meredith will check with Scott. Carrie and Cliff questioned whether the "heads in beds" rule applied to the SHOT or only to local HOT. d. Update the committee on current terms of member Martha relayed the current term status of the members. 2 Old Business a. Update: North Beach Bathrooms Josh reported that the locks on the Bridgeport bath house doors are currently broken and in the process of being replaced. All three North Beach bathhouses will follow this schedule: March 1St to September 15th they will be open from 7:30 am to 7 pm &from September 16th to February 28th they will be open 7:30 am to 3 pm. The restrooms at Water's Edge will be open from 7:30 am to 11 pm every day, all year long. Carrie is going to check with some of the North Beach residents to see about volunteering to fix the locks on the Bridgeport bathhouse. b. Update: North Beach Redevelopment Initiative Nothing is happening with this however Carrie would like the group to know the following: The North Beach Redevelopment Initiative is the name of the new master plan for North Beach approved by City Council earlier this year, which includes Breakwater islands and a canal. The "North Beach Infrastructure Task Force" is a group of 3 individuals appointed by City Council in 2018 to investigate reusing materials from the old Harbor Bridge to use for projects on the new North Beach plan, including a new breakwater in the bay to protect North Beach. Those individuals are: Commissioner Carolyn Vaughn, developer David Blackard and a City engineer. c. Update: Six Pack Projects Showers - Still waiting on engineering; they need a permit. The committee wants to do something to speed this up. Darren suggest that they start with the City Manager. Jyoti suggested that maybe the City Manager could come to the WBAC meeting. Cliff will check into this. C:AUsers\NormaD2\AppData\Local\Temp\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-08_02_2018_4073635\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-08_02 2018.doc 3 VII. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION COMMITTEE—Jerry Plemons Jerry reported that the County has said yes to the increase in beach parking permits (to $15.) and that the "feelers"for Port A are positive. After Port A agrees it will go to City Council. There is no money available to repair Cole Park pier or Dimmick pier and the RESTORE money cannot be used for repairs but Josh is looking at the RESTORE money to rebuild Cole Park pier and Dimmick pier still needs to be looked at. PRAC is working on 2 issues: the Parks Master Plan Update survey(Jerry will bring the link next time)and Bond 2018 proposals. With regards to the bond; the request is for$16 million. Of that money$7.5 would go to direct improvement of the parks (Cole, Surfside & Dolphin) including improving parking, splash pads and shading. $4 million would go to general infrastructure improvements on park buildings and $4.5 million for a tennis center. This bond will be finalized and put on the ballot in November. Jerry also reported that the budget cuts will not be as severe as thought. Jerry relayed that there are 3 opening in PRAC if anyone know someone who is interested. Jerry mentioned that if PRAC goes to City Council, WBAC should go also, greater numbers! On a personal note: Jerry said that if WBAC members want to recommend changes in the State's SHOT legislative wording, to let him know and he will discuss it with Representative Todd Hunter. VIII. ISAC Report There has not been a meeting since our last meeting. IX. STAFF LIAISON REPORT • Josh reported that with the dollars in the reserve (SHOT funds), they maybe enough to cover the dredging and increase his budget. With that increase he has requested 2 more fulltime employees for North Beach plus $10,000 for temporary service and 1 more employee for McGee Beach and $5,000 in temporary services. Carrie made the point that you can't fill the positions you have now. • Darren noted that he is adding 1 more Park Compliance Officer, more lifeguards and more summer help for next year. Carrie made the point that Parks and Recreation can't fill the positions they have open now, due to lack of qualified applicants and recommended increasing the salary of those positions to attract more applicants. • The beach tech machine is up and running; Darren show the group some pictures of what this machine collects. This machine doesn't work on McGee and North Beach. • Darren spoke with Laura regarding North Beach and there is a full time officer on a UTV at North Beach. Carrie said she has talked with several other residents and beach walkers but that nobody has seen him on the beach yet. She will keep looking. X. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Ask City Manager to visit this meeting. 2. Update: Beach Adaptive Maintenance/Management Plan 3. Update: Recommendations for North Beach budgets 4. Update: North Beach Infrastructure Task Force 5. Update: Six Pack Projects XI. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 7:39 pm. Martha Lawhon, Management Assistant C:AUsers\NormaD2\AppData\Local\Temp\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-08_02_2018_4073635\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-08_02 2018.doc