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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore And Beach Advisory Committee - 09/01/2021 - Special WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Special Called Meeting Wednesday, September 1, 2021 5:30 pm WEBEX – Meeting Number: 1463 63 6258 | Password: mQpsA7Mnm27 Join by phone: 1-408-418-9388 Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Terry Palmer Meredith Darden Larisa Ford Harrison McNeil Daniel Mazoch Mukesh Subedee Lauren Williams Jyoti Patel Philippe Tissot Darren Gurley Martha Lawhon I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:34 pm. ll. ROLL CALL The roll was called, and a quorum was present III. EXCUSED ABSENCES: Lauren Williams This was not voted on because June was Lauren’s last meeting, she has resigned from WBAC. IV. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the June 3, 2021 meeting were distributed for review. Meredith made a motion to accept the minutes, Larisa seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. V. HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC One person was in attendance and she had nothing to say, at this time. Vl. BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION 1 New Business a. Creating a subcommittee or external committee for long-range coastal planning and urgent issues Terry and Deidre came up with this idea. Deidre thought that it would be good to have a group of individuals get together and invite other individuals, that have expertise in the area of concern. This group would discuss and develop suggested solutions to these concerns. Deidre explained that the group would not meet regularly, only when an issue came up. She also said that this would give others, outside of WBAC, a chance to add or at least have their input considered. Mukesh wanted clarification about what the subcommittee would work on because the WBAC committee is made up of professionals in most of the areas discussed. Deidre relayed that through this subcommittee, the WBAC members could recruit other knowledgeable individual for advice. Darren added that those individuals could just be invited to a meeting. Deidr e agreed but stated that this subcommittee would give WBAC a “better” group of experts to draw from for advice. Terry suggested that we wait for an issue to c ome up and then decide what is the best way to proceed. Mukesh wanted to know what, if any plans, the City has for any long-range coastal projects. And if so, could WBAC be updated on them. He would also like to know what has already happened on the issue. Deidre thought this was a good idea because there are so many new people with the City. Deidre thought that it would be a great idea to get the people in the know to speak with the WBAC members about the Open Gulf and Parks plans. Howard will speak to Nieman about all this first and he will let the committee know what he finds out. 2. Old Business a. Gulf Beach Lifeguards 2 C:\Users\NormaD2\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\C1K8JZ51\September.doc Harrison relayed that he surfs and this summer he has participated in 2 rescues. The first one was not such a big deal but the second was a serious situation. He along with a couple of other surfers rescued a swimmer who had been swept up by a current and ended up tangled in fishing line. At the same time, Harrison reported that there were 4 guards on the beach and none of them got in the water! He said that the most frustrating thing was that, with both incidents, when the rescued individual got back to the beach, there were no guards there, no one to do a welfare check. The guards didn’t come to help with the second incident, and there was no first aid offer from the guards on either of these occasions. Harrison recommends that the guards use the rescue boards. Darren told Harrison that it would have been good if he had called him when this happens, so that he could react immediately with the lifeguards. Terry suggested that WBAC revisit this discussion when it gets closer to March of 2022. b. Packery Channel Repair Darren has not heard anything except that we (City) might be fixing it ourselves. He thinks that the channel will be repaired and then dredged. Deidre said that she had heard that FEMA has approved the whole project. VlI. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION COMMITTEE – Howard Schauer Howard wanted the WBAC members to have his email Howard.Schauer@gmail.com. VlII. ISAC Report No one present attended the ISAC meeting. IX. BMAC Report – Cliff Schlabach Cliff did not attend this meeting. X. STAFF LIAISON REPORT Darren reported that last week the guard stands were removed from the beach because of hurricane Ida; we were not sure what it was going to do. The stands will be put back on the beach next week before the holiday weekend. The bases under the guard stands will stay on the beach for the winter. The new flag warning signed are in, they are much larger than the previous ones and should be installed in the next couple of weeks. Darren also reported that there is a lot of sand on JP Luby, so much that there is an extra berm by the waters’ edge. Darren did report that he would be meeting with GLO and HRD regarding the re-nourishment, that FEMA is paying for, at North Beach next week. XI. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Update on the Beach Safety Project 2. Vote for the Chair and Vice Chair 3. Update on the Bayside Parks Projects XlI. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 6:49 pm.