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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 11/07/2019 WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting Thursday, November 7, 2019 5:30 pm First Floor Staff Conference Room City Hall, 1201 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78401 Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Cliff Schlabach Lauren Williams Darren Gurley Philippe Tissot Daniel Mazoch Martha Lawhon Carrie Robertson Meyer Joe Johnson Terry Palmer Jyoti Patel Mukesh Subedee Meredith Darden I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:30 pm. II. EXCUSED ABSENCES: Terry Palmer& Daniel Mazoch Philippe made a motion to excuse last month's absences, Jyoti seconded, unanimously approved. III. ROLL CALL The roll was called, and a quorum was present. IV. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the October 3, 2019 meeting were distributed for review. Carrie made a motion to accept the minutes, Jyoti seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. V. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC There were 2 people present; Jerry Plemons, who wanted to let WBAC know that the North Beach project is moving along and he has serious reservation about the project. His main concern is with the proposed barrier island; according to Diedre Williams if you create those islands, you will not have a beach, it will be wetlands. According to Jerry this issue is "tailor made"for WBAC to make sure this project is done the right way. Jerry would like this issue put on the December agenda. Harrison McNeil was also in attendance but did not care to speak. VI. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION 1 New Business a. Cliff: Narrative on the history of the 2006 North Padre Island beach battle Cliff passed out several copies of articles for his narrative. In 2004 the Coastal Bend Surfriders Chapter is formed. In September of 2005, City Council voted to remove vehicles from the beach in front of the seawall and create a parking lot. That same year the Beach Access Coalition was formed to oppose the City Council's action. The Beach Access Coalition along with the Surfriders proposed a comprise to City Council and the Council refused to even consider a compromise. In November of 2005 the Coalition starts educating the public on the vehicle ban in hopes of getting something on the November 2006 ballot. In December these groups get the required number of signatures needed for the ballot to be included in that election. When this was presented to City Council, it was rejected, "because the ordinance had changed". A developer arrived on the scene and said that he would build a resort, if there was no vehicle traffic allowed from the south side of the Packery Channel to Padre Bali Park. This was the change that prompted the Council to reject the petition. In January of 2006 the 2 groups join together again to get the required signatures for a ballot to be included on the November 2006 elections. This petition included 2 charter amendments: the first dealt with the vehicular traffic on 2 the 7200' of beach from South Packery to Padre Bali Park and the second would allow the public to vote on all future ban proposals. In March of 2006, City Council voted to extend the ban to Padre Bali Park. April of 2006 brings the 2 groups together for another petition, this one states that the public gets to vote on bans; this one is successful! The next few months were spent with each side campaigning, those in favor of the ban spent lots of money promoting their side, the other side went door knocking. Election day brought victory to those that opposed the ban, both charter amendments passed! In 2007—2008 both sides to this issue meet and arrive at a comprise that is put on the 2008 ballot; Prop 8, which address safety concerns on the beach with regards to vehicles. The GLO signed off on it and so did City Council; it becomes an ordinance. This ordinance is never acted upon for several reasons; too expensive, maintenance nightmare and complaints. Cliff finished his presentation with some slides. b. Rip Current Awareness Meeting Philippe reported on this. Jasani Smith's (the young man from King High School that drowned) Mother and a group of others, including Philippe are going to Austin to speak with TXDot about displaying a message, on the message boards on the highway, when there is a high risk for rip currents. Cliff relayed that the "No Swimming" signs to be displayed on the jetties, passed. Philippe reported that he had done research in 2005 and from that he says that the majority of drownings are not caused by rip currents but will not be broadcasting that because the rip current signs are giving visitors a warning to be careful. He did discover that the majority of drownings that occur involve young men (17 to 20 some year olds). 2. Old Business a. Update: "NO SWIMMING" signs Darren reported that he is still working on a design. There was a discussion about allowing surfer in the area because that means that there is a person and a floatation device present. VII. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION COMMITTEE—Jerry Plemons Jerry reported that there are 2 issues that PRAC is working on: Homelessness, they want to take Blucher Park back and make it a bird sanctuary (as it was meant to be) and they are also working on Splash pads for some of the City's parks. PRAC passed the motion to increase the price of the beach parking permits so the hope is that the City Council approves this, then the County and finally Port Aransas. The City's budget was passed, and the City and County are still in discussion regarding beach responsibility issues. VIII. ISAC Report There was not a meeting. IX. STAFF LIAISON REPORT Darren reported that Josh is leaving the City. He also relayed the following: The sign board at Dolphin Park has been replaced, they have painted some at Dolphin and Surfside Parks' restrooms while they decide what they are going to do with them. The crews work on cleaning up the planter boxes and removing sand from the walkways. The Dolphin Park boardwalk project should start next month. Darren reported that we are looking at lifeguard stands and he showed the group a couple of pictures. Dimmit pier should be fixed soon and they are working on the design for Cole Park. Beach Ops is deep cleaning and replacing parts on the solar restrooms, still working on the water line and Darren is requesting, from the GLO, permission to use barricades instead of bollards in front of the seawall. X. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Update: North Beach Barrier Islands & Channel (bring the motion that WBAC passed) 2. Voting for WBAC new Chairperson &Vice Chair 3. A visit with, or from the North Beach Task Infrastructure Committee. XI. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 7:12 pm. C:AUsers\NormaD2\AppData\Local\Temp\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-11_07_2019_4647687\Minutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee-11_07 2019.doc