HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-08-31
Beach Management Advisory Committee
Land Bank Conference Room
31 August 2006
4:00 pm
Members present: Maureen Beck, Chair, Tom Dickson, Edie Ray, Colin Leddy, John
Johnson; Guests: Tom Quigley, Bill Connell
The meeting was convened at 4:10 p.m. The Minutes of24 August 2006 were approved.
In the absence of the Beach Manager, members discussed various items. Mr. Quigley
moved a pile of wood debris from Nobadeer Beach to the trash barrels. ATV patrol
vehicle tracks were noted cutting through the newly planted grass and the barriers at the
top of the Nobadeer bluff.
The final draft of the BMAC recommendations to the BOS on commercial use ofthe
ponds was discussed. Mr. Quigley questioned whether the BOS requested an opinion on
the coastal beaches as well. Mrs. Beck replied no, but members suggested that issue
might corne up later. The draft was approved unanimously. Mrs. Beck will deliver it 1
September to Assistant Town Administrator Murray, who has scheduled BOS discussion
of the draft for its Wednesnesday September 13 meeting.
Mrs. Beck raised questions regarding the calendar of meetings for the next two months.
Since some members will be away in October for medical and personal reasons, all
agreed to meet every week in September, then only the last Thursday of October, the 26,th
at the usual time, so that the Committee can begin its winter review and planning for
2007.
Bill Connell arrived to report on the activities of his Clean Team, in its third year of
operation. Sarah Oktay and Grant Sanders aid him in scheduling and supervising each
Saturday's work. E-mails are sent on Monday to all volunteers with the meeting places
for the next two weeks. They also include a review ofthe work accomplished the
previous Saturday.
The Team tries to alternate between beaches and roads all over the island between May
and October. It works in a business-like manner for one hour, 8:00 am-9:00 am.
Members often include Town officials and their children. The Team was disgruntled at
fIrst when the DPW insisted on sorting the collected trash but is now reconeiled to this
additional task. Mr. Dickson regretted the DPW's request, noting that island tax dollars
pay for such service
There are seventy volunteers on the Clean Team list. The best turnout any week so far is
twenty-three; there are always twelve or thirteen regulars; half are summer reside~
half, year-round. One morning at Coatue eighteen people collected on~ of trasrl
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Hoping to improve the Team's work, Mr. Connell foresees a need of money to buy
equipment like gloves, bags, signs, vests, and advertisements for more people. Mr.
Quigley referred him to Footprints Only Foundation for equipment, and Mr. Leddy, to the
DPW for more items. Mr. Connell mentioned that the Hospital paid the Team $250 for
cleaning up after the Pops, a remark which annoyed the Committee because the patrons
and volunteers should have been responsible as well as the Pops committee itself for the
debris from the fireworks scattered all over the beach. He asked that the DPW not mow
an area the Team intends to clean next beeause it breaks the debris into small pieces hard
to pick up.
When members asked iftearns could work at other times more convenient to them, Mr.
Connell agreed that he was going to suggest adopt-a-spot areas for whieh individual
volunteers would be responsible exclusively. He also is setting up a Sunday schedule
starting September 9 with Mr. Sanders in charge for those who prefer that day.
Mrs. Ray suggested that he write a letter to the members of the BOS with copies to the
newspapers to present the Team's accomplishments and needs, citing the number ofrnan
hours the Team has given in service to the Town and asking for support from them and
the DPW to improve the safety oftheir work.
The Committee thanked Mr. Connell for his thorough coverage of the Team's service.
He will continue to let us know his progress and follow up on the suggestions offered.
Next meeting: September 7,2006
Respectfully submitted, with notes from John Johnson,
Maureen Beck, Chair