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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 06/03/2021WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting Thursday, June 3, 2021 5.30 pm WEBER — Meeting Number: 1878 94 4540 1 Password: UNQQMVGN875 Join by phone: 1-408-418-9388 Terry Palmer Larisa Ford Meredith Darden Philippe Tissot Jyoti Patel Daniel Mazoch Mukesh Subedee Harrison McNeil I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:33 pm. Members Absent Lauren Williams. II. ROLL CALL The roll was called, and a quorum was present III_ EXCUSED ABSENCES: None Staff Present Darren Gurley Martha Lawhon IV. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the May 6, 2021 meeting were distributed for review. Terry suggested that the parenthesis be removed from the motion for the FBCC and a coma added. With those changes Philippe made a motion to accept the minutes, Jyoti seconded, Motion passed. V. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC There were 2 people from the public but only one wished to speak. Cliff wanted to thank Darren and the Beach Operations crew for the shower on the north side of Packery, he doesn't know what he will complain about now. He is very happy about it! VI. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION L New Business a. Gulf Beach Lifeguards The push is still on to get more money for the lifeguards, and Darren reported that this issue is being worked on downtown. The Surfriders Foundation discussed lifeguarding at the jetty and thought it would be a good idea to have a lifeguard on the jetty; this would give the guards better viewpoints and would also be good PR. Terry suggested that a guard could maybe walk up and down the jetty every so often. Darren relayed that right now there are not enough lifeguards to cover the jetty as suggested. He also wanted the surfer in the group to please let other surfer know that we need lifeguards! Darren reported that there is a ring buoy at the jetty now and so far, so good, as far as someone walking away with it. Harrison wanted to add that he believes that the local surfers need to step up and help the lifeguards. If they see someone who might not be experienced, or heading for trouble, or in trouble; do something about it. He would like Cliff to spread the word with the Surfriders. Cliff commented that to a certain extent they do that already but will step it up for the summer. b. Je'Sani Smith Foundation Darren reported that the bill is on the governor's desk, doesn't go into effect until September 1. The bill states that there must be a lifeguard stand or mobile unit at every jetty, between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Cities must set the time when the guards will be on the stands. There needs to be increased signage, which we already have. The State gave Mustang island State Park $1 million dollars to assist them in getting lifeguards! 2. Old Business a. Packery Channel Repair Darren reported that he has no new information on this. Diedre reported about information she had received from Thomas Klein; there is yet another new person assigned to this project and that person was going to try again to get FEMA to commit or not, so the project may continue. Diedre also spoke with USACE and they suggested that the City might want to detach themselves from the USACE, which might help with getting money from FEMA. There might be some money for repairs from the American Rescue Fund, this is being researched. VII. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION COMMITTEE — Howard Schauer Howard reported that he was still working on getting Shirley's project presentation to PRAC. VIII. ISAC Report Terry reported that there was not a meeting but that he was asked about the status of the lifeguard stands, and the interlocal agreement with the County regarding maintenance. IX. GMAC Report — Cliff Schlabach Cliff reported that the committee has received 2 applications for construction on the Island and 1 was approved: a recreation area & facility. There was another application for a variance because part of the property plan is now past the 350' -setback line because of erosion. Cliff told WBAC that this group has a lot of new members and the applications are lengthy and complicated. They will be having a workshop, put together by the County and GLO to hopefully get everyone on the same page. Diedre wanted to add that the main goal, she believes is to re -enforce the need for the setback line, there needs to be precedents! X. STAFF LIAISON REPORT Darren gave a presentation on Beach Operations and lifeguards. He showed pictures of the stands and showed how one stand did not move, that's because it was on the platform. Now if the tide is a 2 (2 foot above sea level based on the tide charts) or more, the stands will be removed. There is still more work to do to get the other stands out. The next slide showed the showers and the new gate on the jetty. The next slide showed the revenues that were made on Memorial Day weekend from beach parking permit sales. The next slide showed that stats on the lifeguard contacts for the year and also from the holiday weekend. Access Rd 2 was featured on the last slide; the GLO has given Beach Operations permission to move the beach maker signs back to the dune lines. The other big problem on Access Rd 2 is that the property accesses are now almost to the middle of the road, it very dangerous. The GLO will be looking at this situation. Regarding the beach south of Access Rd 6, that is maintained by the County but so far, they have not done anything, but barren will be meeting with Scott next week. The County has from Access Rd 6 to BM252 and the City has Newport Pass; that's the agreement. Diedre wanted to compliment Beach Operations for the way the pedestrian traffic was handled when the water was so high, she felt like it was very safe and comfortable for the public. XI. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Gulf Beach Lifeguards 2. Je'Sani Smith Foundation presentation 3. Packery Channel Update 4. Bay Beaches (Aug or Sept) XII. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 6:17 pm.