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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 05/06/2010 Y' a WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING RECEIVED Regular Called Meeting,Thursday, May 6,2010,5:30 p.m. Staff Conference Room, City Hall JUL 1 6 2010 1201 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi,TX Members Present Member Absent Staff Present CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE Jake Herring Joanna Mott Michele Thomas Kimberly Lemley John Powell Derek Herzog Willie Riviera, Jr. Tara Mireles Neil McQueen Robert Thomas JoAnn Gilbertson I. CALL TO ORDER Chair, Jake Herring called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. II. ROLL CALL The recording secretary called roll and announced that a quorum was present. III.ADOPTION OF MINUTES Regular called meeting-April 15, 2010.Willie made a motion to approve the minutes. Kim seconded. Minutes were approved. IV. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC—Kim passed out updated information on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. V. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION New Business CC Restrooms (Engineering) Billy Delgado, who oversees all the bond projects for the City, introduced Chuck Anastes who is the architect on the bathhouse project.The original location the were going to use by the bus stop turned out to be a utility easement, and they also wanted to keep it as much of the beach as possible.They will build 4 restroom stalls, 2 for men and 2 for women. The building is going to be constructed 2 ft off of the beach to avoid the daily tides. It will have blow out walls in the event of a storm. The entire facility is covered with a high strength mesh canvas roof structure put on concrete columns. There will be 2 walls on either side so people can take showers and be protected from the wind. He provided pictures of the facility.The doors and frames will be made out of a high strength plastic to avoid rusting. The design will be sent out on CD to several departments including water,wastewater, parks and recreation, and they will have 2 weeks to comment on the design and submit any changes/recommendations.The park is recommended to be locked at night around 10 pm. Update on the Beach Maintenance Plan The WBAC committee previously created a Sargassum Sub-Committee to develop a beach maintenance plan.The committee consists of Neil McQueen, Rob Thomas, Cliff Schlabach with the Surfrider's Foundation, Hal Suter, Michele Thomas, and Derek Herzog. It's an adaptive plan to see which ways work more effectively in maintaining the beach.The plan addresses issues such as trash pick-up and sargassum removal.The committee will review the results at the end of the summer. Derek will send out the plan to the committee members via email.The topic will be put under Old Business on the next agenda. Summer Season: Plans Lifeguards will be out on the beach. There will be 3 lifeguard stands on the north side of Packery Channel, 2 on the south side of Packery Channel, 1 on the seawall near Windward Parking Lot, and 1 at Whitecap. They will be manned from 12:30pm to 6:00pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They will be patrolling in a minimum of 2-3 trucks daily. Packery Patrol will be operating every day, as well. Beach operation will also be out on the beach. Trash pick-up will be daily. Grading of the sand and sargassum removal will remain as needed, according to the beach maintenance plan. Beach Parking Permits will be sold on the beach using temporary staff and permanent staff.Turtle patrol will be out with their equipment from 7am to 6 pm on the north side of Packery Channel, while PINS will be running the patrol on the south side. SCANNED I - - Zahn Road is scheduled to be opening on the Wednesday prior to Memorial Day weekend. The striping along with some minor things will not be completed for the opening. Beach Parking Revenue Information John Powell requested information regarding the Beach Parking Revenue; however, since he was not in attendance,the item was tabled until next month. Old Business Update on Water Quality There was no update as Dr. Mott was not available. Peggy Sumner will at the next meeting. VI. Staff Liaison Report The Texas General Land Office has scheduled a meeting with the City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Gregory-Portland, City of Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, along with the Fire Department to discuss the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. All organizations have been put on alert; however, with the tides, the spill is not expected to come to Texas. The City has been monitoring the beaches, including the bay beaches. If oil is spotted, they are to contact the oil spill division. The City will follow instructions given by the oil spill division, and will limit beach maintenance to assist with emergency operations. Michele discussed the budget for Fiscal Year 10-11. If 30% of the Beach Operations budget is cut, the beach maintenance plan will also be cut. City Staff discussed ways in which they would be able to cut some expenses without cutting essential services. One option is having temps selling beach parking permits only through Spring Break and on weekends during the summer. The more drastic option is to cut beach parking permit sales on the beach all together; however, this would be loss of revenue for the City.The budget will go to Council at the beginning of July. VII. Committee Concerns, Request for Information,Agenda Items Identify Items to be placed on next agenda The following items will be placed on the next agenda: Update on Oil Spill, Beach Parking Revenue Information, Update on Water Quality (Peggy Sumner), Hurricane Preparedness, and Update on Beach Maintenance Plan. JoAnn asked about applying for grants for the wetlands at the north end of Corpus Christi Beach. City staff will contact Bob Payne with Developmental Services about available grants. Item will be placed on next agenda. Committee discussed Windward bathrooms. VIII. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business, Kim made a motion to adjourn the meeting. JoAnn seconded. Jake adjourned the meeting at 6:22 pm. Michele Thomas, Superintendent Parks and Recreation Department