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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Watershore and Beach Advisory Committee - 10/06/2022 w 1201 Leopard Street City of Corpus Christi Corpus Christi,TX 78401 cctexas.com Meeting Minutes - Final Watershore and Beach Advisory Committee Thursday,October 6,2022 5:30 PM Staff Conference Room 1st Floor,City Hall. The City of Corpus Christi promotes participation regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability or political belief. Reasonable accommodation is provided upon request and in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For assistance or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact (361) 826-3300 at least 48 hours in advance. Upon request, this information can be available in larger print and/or in electronic format. A. Call To Order B. Roll Call Present: 6- Chair Terry A. Palmer, Larisa A. Ford,Vice Chair Meredith Darden, Philippe Tissot, Scott Lawson,and Philip Blackmar Excused: 3- Jyoti Patel, Harrison A. McNeil,and Ruben Macias C. Public Comment Only 1 person from the public wanted to speak, that was Deidre Williams and she want to suggest that this committee discuss a threshold for when lifeguards should not be putting themselves in danger by going into the water. D. Approval of Minutes and Action on Absences The minutes from the September 1, 2022 meeting were distributed for review. Meredith made a motion to accept the minutes, Larisa seconded, unanimously approved. E. Committee Reports 1. 22-1494 PRAC Report - Howard Schauer Howard was not in attendance, but Terry relayed some information. PRAC made the following motion about shoreline erosion: "Motion to work with other park-related committee chairs: Island Strategic Action, Watershore Beach Advisory, and Marine Advisory to support the City in developing a comprehensive shoreline protection and erosion response plan" PRAC also sent Terry photos of the eroded shoreline at Hans Sutter and South Bay parks. City of Corpus Christi Page 1 Printed on 1111412022 Watershore and Beach Advisory Meeting Minutes -Final October 6,2022 Committee 2. 22-1495 ISAC Report Terry summarized a presentation by, and provided a handout from Scott Cross about creating a no-wake zone in front of Packery Channel Park, a Nueces County Park. Nueces County has funding to build a living shoreline at Packery Channel Park, and requested support from ISAC for creating a no-wake zone to protect this new shoreline. ISAC made a motion to support the extension of the existing no-wake zone along Packery Channel to the extent of Packery Channel Park. WBAC would like to ask Scott to come and present to them. ISAC also spoke about the dog park, the new beach facility, the Park Road 22 bridge, and the Packery Channel restoration. ISAC also discussed State Hotel Occupancy Tax (SHOT) and Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds, and their potential to be used for shoreline erosion outside the Gulf Beaches. Members of ISAC stated the City could theoretically apply for SHOT funds for shoreline protection if the City had an erosion response plan. This lead to a discussion among the WBAC members on the differences. SHOT taxes are the dollars returned from the State and are usually only available for beach related expenses. HOT taxes are split among several municipalities and can be related to beach maintenance because beach maintenance is tourism related. ISAC made a motion for the ISAC chair to work with other City committee chairs (PRAC, WRAC, MAC) to develop a plan regarding shoreline protection and erosion citywide. WBAC decided that a similar motion could not be voted upon by WBAC because it was not on the agenda. This topic will be added to the November WBAC agenda. 3. 22-1497 BMAC Report - Cliff Schlabach Cliff reported that they had 2 permits presented, one being at Island Park Estate (behind Beach Operations' location). One of the permits was for a very large concrete driveway and BMAC has been discussing using permeable materials for driveways as an alternative to concrete. These materials are more expensive but ultimately this is about protecting a sensitive environment. F. Staff Reports Darren described the barge piled with rocks (that was being used for the Packery Channel jetty and shoreline repair) being sucked out into the Gulf and being washed up on the south side of the south Packery Channel jetty. This occurred on October 2, and was related to high surf and strong currents from Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida's west coast. A tug tried to stop the barge getting pulled out but the current was too strong. As it stands now, the act of removing the barge was turned over to the insurance company. The insurance company needs to figure out a way to float it and remove all the rocks, and get a permit from the Coast Guard to move it. It will take a week or two just to get the permit. Beach Operations received 2 new loaders. The new equipment storage building on Commodores Road is coming along, it might be ready by January/February. Darren reiterated what Deidre had spoken about, working on a plan for when a lifeguard City of Corpus Christi Page 2 Printed on 1111412022 Watershore and Beach Advisory Meeting Minutes -Final October 6,2022 Committee should not attempt a rescue because of a danger situation. The situation with people being around and on the grounded barge was difficult to manage. The gate on the south jetty of Packery Channel was closed when there was the biggest surf from Hurricane Ian. There were many questions regarding the lifeguards so Darren says he will do a presentation in January 2023 about the lifeguard program. Regarding Mt. Zahn, Darren is still waiting for the permit to be approved but now at least he knows where it is being held up. Unfortunately, because of the timing, sand moving will not happen until 2023/2024 winter. G. Unfinished Business 4. 22-1576 Plans for Gulf Beach and Packery Channel monitoring/beach management by City Staff A subcommittee consisting of Terry, Meredith and Philippe met and discussed the motion passed last meeting. They came up with a draft resolution and presented it to the rest of the committee. Philippe had one change to make to the draft; at the end of the second sentence he would add "into the Gulf of Mexico". Harrison wanted to know if there were any way that these surveys could be scaled back, financially, to make it even easier for the City for comply. Meredith commented that she believes that the 1.5 surveys is scaled down and that the City needs to protect this valuable resource. Philip wanted the resolution to say what decisions the City would make from it. Deidre Williams wanted to point out that, the system we are trying to protect is the channel and the beach. One of the primary reasons the surveys are done is to know the volume of the sand that might be available for nourishing the seawall area and others. Terry suggested that we table this issue for this meeting. Meredith want to do that and Scott seconded. This resolution will be further refined and discussed next month. Harrison will replace Terry on the subcommittee. Philip Blackmar was added to the subcommittee. H. New Business for Discussion and Possible Action 5. 22-1574 Flour Bluff Citizens Council Survey Results This will be discussed next month. 6. 22-1575 WBAC By-laws Terry took the layout of the ISAC bylaws and made changes according to what WBAC's would state. He emailed both ISAC's and his revised draft to the committee members, he also included the bylaws from PRAC. Meredith thought that Sections 4, 5, & 6 (page 4 of 7) should be eliminated; they are not standard practice. Terry walked the group through the draft. Regarding membership; first up was to not require certain categories as to membership City of Corpus Christi Page 3 Printed on 1111412022 Watershore and Beach Advisory Meeting Minutes -Final October 6,2022 Committee makeup. Some of our members wanted more defined categories, and some less. Delete section 3 on page 3 of 7. Regarding quorum, the question is how many members constitutes quorum; Martha will check with the Mayor's office. Change the word "prepare" to "approve" in "B. Agenda", Section 1. There was a questions about whether we needed to get addresses from the speaking public; Martha will check. Regarding amendments; the question was who approves our bylaws once WBAC has created them; Martha will check with the Mayor's office. 7. 22®0781 A Presentation: Using Artificial Intelligence for Predicting Environmental Changes by Philippe Tissot This will be presented next month. 8. 22®1651 Replacing the word "Watershore" with "Water, shore" in Watershore and Beach Advisory Committee. Terry would like to propose changing "Watershore" to "Water Shore" because "watershore" is not a word in the English language. Martha will ask the City the question, "can we change the name, and who would approve that change?". Larisa made a motion to accept the change and Meredith seconded. Motion passed. I. Future Agenda Items Plans for Gulf Beach and Packery Channel monitoring/beach management by City Staff Flour Bluff Citizens Survey Results A Presentation: Using Artificial Intelligence for Predicting Environmental Changes by Philippe Tissot Threshold for Life Guarding Scott Cross PRAC's Motion J. Adjournment As there was no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m. This meeting may be held via videoconference call pursuant to Texas Government Code § 551.127. If this meeting is held via videoconference call or other remote method of meeting, then a member of this governmental body presiding over this meeting will be physically present at the location of this meeting unless this meeting is held pursuant to Texas Government Code § 551.125 due to an emergency or other public necessity pursuant to Texas Government Code § 551.045. City of Corpus Christi Page 4 Printed on 1111412022