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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore and Beach Advisory Committee - 10/07/2021 WATERSHORE AND BEACH ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Called Meeting Wednesday, October 7, 2021 5:30 pm WEBEX – Meeting Number: 2498 188 1663 | Password: ikXymx24Js4 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 Jyoti Patel Philippe Tissot Scott Lawson Darren Gurley Martha Lawhon I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 5:32 pm. ll. ROLL CALL The roll was called, and a quorum was present III. EXCUSED ABSENCES: Philippe Tissot Larisa made a motion to excuse Philippe and Jyoti seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. IV. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Minutes from the September 1, 2021 meeting were distributed for review. Harrison made a motion to accept the minutes, Meredith 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. Voting on a new Chair and Vice Chair Larisa made a motion to keep the current Chair and Vice Chair, Philippe seconded, unanimously approved. Motion passed. Daniel did relay to the group that this would be his last term. b. Plans for Gulf beach and Packery Channel monitoring/beach maintenance by City Staff Howard was setting this up with City Staff, but he is not here tonight and nor is any City Staff. Darren will follow up on this for the next meeting. c. Update on the Bay-side parks projects (Parks Masterplan) by City Staff No City Staff are present at this meeting. d. Additional Bay-side park information (challenges and management plans) by Deidre Williams Deidre had hope to follow the City Staff with her presentation, she was interested in getting the City Staff’s take and the WBAC members ideas but will be presenting anyway. Her presentation deal with the “long game”, not a quick fix. She is looking at the erosion in the bluff parks and the fact that there is not a plan and there has not been one for a couple of years. These parks are getting used, people are really enjoying them. She next spoke about the individual areas and their history and current needs. All of our beaches and parks are unique, and each needs its own plan. Darren did note that the storm water system needs to be looked at also to assist with the beach and park improvement plans. Deidre suggested that the city use one park as a prototype to see how the future planned improvements work. Philippe added that he had just read an article that talked about how very important beaches are to a city. 2 C:\Users\NormaD2\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Outlook\C1K8JZ51\October.doc 2. Old Business a. Packery Channel Repair FEMA will be funding 80% of the Packery Channel, the City 20%. Darren reported that the contract has been awarded and the work should start within a couple of months. The project will probably take a couple of years to complete. b. Beach Safety Project Meredith reported that she had a meeting with this group, but things are not getting done as scheduled. The legislation by the Je’Sani Smith foundation has passed. The City would like to go further with safety awareness. They would like to get into the hotels and reach more visitors. Meredith has volunteered her marketing team to redesign the messages. Visit Corpus Christi will be taking the lead on seasonal kickoff events and remind visitors of safety measures. Also, this safety information will be available at our welcome centers. Darren said that he plans to have the Gulf Beach lifeguards go into the schools on talk about beach safety. The Je’Sani Smith Foundation will also be getting some new branding. VlI. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION COMMITTEE – Howard Schauer Howard was not in attendance. I. ISAC Report They are now meeting in person and the meeting is next Tuesday. Darren will be attending that meeting. Terry did attend the last meeting and the members ask him if he could get reflectors put on the lifeguard platforms. He told them that he would relay the message to Darren, that he doesn’t work for Beach Operations. They discussed the results of the survey and they were good, Corpus Christi is getting people on the beaches. There was discussion about the “No Wake” zone by Doc’s and Snoopy’s, they are extending the zone and there will be enforcement. There was also discussion about removing the concrete spots along the Overlook and there was also a discussion about the City and the monitoring plan. Meredith spoke about the information survey, everyone was emailed a copy, but overall people are happy with the city beaches. Finally, ISAC discussed the TIRZ2 status and that it will need to be renewed. IX. BMAC Report – Cliff Schlabach There was no meeting last month. X. STAFF LIAISON REPORT Darren reported that it was a good summer and relayed some numbers to back that up. Preventables, general contacts, jelly fish are all up and there was only 1 drowning. The lifeguards did get a pay increase and incentives to return next summer. The permit sales are going up. There is still talk of splitting the permits between the 3 entities, this is still being discussed by all involved. The reflectors have been installed on the platforms and the “Slow No Wake” signs are up. He also told the group that he was working on the nourishment project at North Beach. XI. IDENTIFY ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON NEXT AGENDA 1. Kevin Johnson report on the Grant Application 2. Masterplan update regarding the water shore parks 3. Gulf Beach and Packery Channel Monitoring/beach management by City Staff XlI. ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business the meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.