HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-02-08
Beach Management Advisory Committee
Land Bank Conference Room
8 February 2007
4:00 pm
Members present: Maureen Beck, Chair, Tom Dickson, Edie Ray, Colin Leddy; Beach
Manager Jeff Carlson; Guest: Jimmy Manchester, Director of the Parks & Recreation
Commission
Mrs. Beck convened the meeting at 4:07 pm. The Minutes ofthe last meeting on 11
January 2007 were unanimously approved
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Jimmy Manchester was invited to speak to the Committee about plans foEPfeguarding
for the summer of2007. He praised the lifeguards for their highly profeS3ional ~
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performance in first response incidents and in their attitude toward "Beach Week" I
training sessions each year. Last year there was one drowning at Ladies Beach, a \0
location he deemed the most dangerous of the nine guarded beaches. :::::>
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He displayed a rip current warning sign, which gives instructions for swimming out-ef
danger and back to the beach. These signs, made available by a gift from the parents of
the victim, will be posted on the already installed emergency signs along the south shore.
Mr. Manchester also passed out pamphlets as well as photos regarding beach warnings, a
colored flag alert system, beach parking, beach access routes, and vehicles on beaches, all
of which he had gathered from a recent visit to Delray Beach, Florida, where beach
management is comprehensive. The Committee approved of the way the sign presented
the dangers of rip currents and agreed with his wish to distribute the pamphlets to island
guest facilities.
The Committee proposed writing a letter to the Town Administrator endorsing Parks &
Recreation's plan for establishing a flag system alerting weather conditions on the
beaches. The Committee wondered ifBMAC's budget shouldn't take on some ofthe cost
of such a system. Both Mr. Manchester and the Committee hoped the system could be up
and running by this coming summer. The Committee also recommended that the flags be
flown from the lifeguard stands and at heavily used access points like Surfside Beach,
which entail a long walk from the parking area to the water as well as shorter approaches
when conditions are not suitable for swimming.
Mr. Manchester addressed the lifeguard situation as critical. In a recent year he has spent
as much as $34,000 in overtime because of the lack ofa full staffat times. Jeff Allen, the
chief lifeguard, who works at the Fire Department, helps him organize the schedule and
train the guards, and agrees that a book of guidelines for the staff would be useful. He
and Jeff also agree with Chief Pittman that a gator vehicle with a transport board for
victims would be helpful on the South Shore to save guards running long distances
between beaches. This summer he hopes to add lifeguards at Fisherman's and Ladies
Beaches to save some of the running from Surfside and Miacomet in first responses.
Unfortunately, he deals with only 30 guards nowadays, down from an earlier 36. Early
starts for fall school terms as well as lack of housing on island discourage applications.
Mr. Manchester praised surfers as reliable rescuers in times of danger. They, like the
guards, know how to handle victims on skim boards and floats.
The dangerous conditions ofthe road breakdowns at the end of Hummock Pond and
Madaket Roads were discussed. The Committee agreed to send a letter to the Town
Administrator citing the dangers and possible liabilities for the Town in those locations
and requesting that the DPW devise a design for installing a retaining wall of steps made
of gravel and inset railroad ties to resist the constant erosion. The Beach Manager will
take charge of seeing the design through the ConCom permitting process
Mrs. Beck asked the Beach Manager about the difficulty oflocating the binders of the
Beach Management Plan at various Town offices. He assured the members that they
were in place despite the protests and that a copy was always available and updated on
the Town's website.
The Beach Manager assured Mr. Dickson that he was still deputized and Mrs. Ray that he
would do the GPS party site locations for the police GPS maps. Mrs. Ray noted that even
recently Ranger Reinhard had reported a party in the moors despite the cold.
Mrs. Beck asked if anything further was known about the building going on at the
Jackson Point Ramp off Massachusetts Avenue. Mrs. Ray will draft a letter to the
Harbormaster asking about the site and the loss of parking there; she will have it
available for the next meeting on 22 February.
Mrs. Ray will also make a copy of items of interest to BMAC in the Island
Transportation Report currently in draft for discussion. BMAC will consider these items
also at the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:26 pm.
Respectfully submitted, with notes from Edie Ray,
Maureen Beck, Chair