HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-11-01
Beach Management Advisory Committee
1 November 2007
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Members Present: Maureen Beck, Chair, Tom Dickson, Edie Ray, Colin~y
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Guests: Kate Hamilton Pardee, Director of Visitor Services; Jim Mullen, ;'Suifside ~
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Mrs. Beck convened the meeting at 4:05 pm, determining that there was a quorum. ihe
welcomed Ms. Hamilton as a special guest to discuss the role of Visitor Services in beach
management operations.
Ms. Hamilton stated that her department has been cleaning the Town-owned beaches for
fifteen or sixteen years and now has expanded into a partnership with the Land Bank for
cleaning their beaches. Mr. Frank Powers uses a special surf rake, which is
environmentally effective in that it does not pull out beach grass. When asked what the
raking schedule for the beaches was, she stated that some, like Jetties and Surfside, were
cleaned once each day from the end of May until after Columbus Day, others less
populated, on a less frequent schedule.
In addition, Visitor Services receives many requests from private parties for cleaning of
their beaches. Since this is not part of the Town's obligation, Ms. Hamilton refers them
directly to Mr. Powers for his own business. Mr. Powers no longer rakes Nobadeer,
formerly done as part of the Town's connection with the Airport. She assumes the
Airport is taking care of the cleaning now. Mr. Leddy asked where the line is drawn at
Nobadeer for cleaning limits.
Ms. Hamilton keeps in touch with Mr. Powers about the amount of trash he finds on
beaches. When certain non-profits use public beaches for benefit events, like the
Thanksgiving Day Turkey Plunge at Children's Beach, she notifies Mr. Powers to bill the
Atheneum, its sponsor. When one notices rakings before or after the contracted time
period for c1eanings, probably non-profit or private clients request these.
Ms. Hamilton gets frequent calls complaining about the seaweed on the beaches. What
about complaints regarding lifeguards? Very few, but she probably ought to be in touch
with Mr. Manchester at Parks when she receives such a call. She receives many calls for
information about the beaches, where they are located, how big are the waves? Are there
restrooms? what are the rules? how to reach them? what about dogs? She thinks it would
be a good idea to consolidate all the information about beaches into one standard
message. Furthermore, the questions, she thinks, do not indicate a desire for more
amenities but rather for a remote, undisturbed experience.
Mr. Dickson stated that BMAC pursued an on-going effort in the schools to educate the
students about responsible use of the beaches. He and Ms. Hamilton discussed the pros
and cons of providing trash receptacles as part of keeping the beaches clean. Ms.
Hamilton worries that some beaches should probably have some receptacles even if they
attract home trash. Mrs. Ray stated that there is a changing audience to be educated and
that they can be persuaded to take their trash away as they depart. Ms. Hamilton hopes
for "a happy medium" in this issue. Mr. Dickson noted that increasingly beach trash
comes from off-island wash-ashore items because of the tides and winds. Mr. Leddy
stated that he was just as concerned for the peripheral beach areas like access ways and
roadsides where trash accumulates for a long time without being picked up. Ms.
Hamilton and the members mentioned instances when the trash droppers were identified
by their names on some of the discarded items and approached.
Ms. Hamilton worries that people are close to ruining the ambience of the island with this
sort of neglect. Mrs. Beck asked ifher office saw any need to help further with the
needs of beach management. Ms. Hamilton agreed that her expertise was in public
relations and that she could certainly argue a case for more attention to beach cleanliness
during her talks with the Town Manager and other officials. She also suggested she help
BMAC create an effective short message or slogan which could be used on the Nantucket
web sites, like BMAC's and the Town's, on the TV stations as a crawl tape, in the
newspapers, and as a poster. The most effective publicity would be on the TV and the
Internet. She is about to have a meeting with Plum-TV and will ask if they are interested.
She suggested that Mrs. Beck call Kate Brosnan at Plum before her meeting with Ms.
Brosnan there.
Mrs. Ray suggested scenic photos of Nantucket with voice-over reminders of cleanup or
a photo of the emergency signs numbering beach locations. Mrs. Beck envisioned a short
film of a family leaving the beach and carefully picking up their gear and trash. Mr.
Hamilton thought a web listing of beach info all in one place would be useful. She did
warn that many people on vacation did not bring their computers with them. Still, they
want immediate information from posters, brochures, and guest-room TV's.
Mr. Dickson asked if she saw a duplication of beach efforts or tasks with other agencies.
She did see that people expected beaches that were pristinely clean, that they must be told
constantly to pick up after themselves. What bothers her most is the private fireworks
occurring all over the island without penalties.
Mr. Leddy enthusiastically supported her comments and stated that volunteer efforts to
do cleanup were not sufficient to solving the problems. Ms. Hamilton responded that the
Cape is much stricter in its expectations of tourist behavior. Mr. Leddy observed that the
problem was not just from young people's carelessness. Adults need education, too. Ms.
Hamilton replied that Wellfleet's beaches were taken away from the Town because of its
failure to respond to State demands for improved cleanup. She and BMAC should bring
this message to the attention of other Town departments. Mrs. Beck hopes that BMAC
can help empower the Beach Manager to exercise more influence on the other agencies.
What about the Beach Driving Map? Any suggestions? Perhaps indicate where there are
bathrooms at the beaches. What about the bike maps? Perhaps we overlap on delivering
information, she suggested. Mrs. Beck confirmed that Ms. Hamilton wanted the same
message to come from all agencies.
Mrs. Ray suggested BMAC add the bike shops to its interviews of agencies. Mr. Dickson
volunteered to speak to Harvey Young.
Mrs. Ray urged Ms. Hamilton to report to BMAC her conversation with Plum TV. Mrs.
Beck promised to call Plum on Monday ahead of Ms. Hamilton's meeting there. She and
Ms. Hamilton feel strongly that Plum should partner with the Town on tourist
information. Mrs. Ray reminded the members to use Channel 17 as well. How about
NPR? asked Mrs. Beck. As long as you use the same message for all, urged Ms.
Hamilton.
Mrs. Beck thank Ms. Hamilton for her very interesting conversation and ideas and will
stay in touch with her.
Next Mrs., Beck welcomed Jim Mullen, a Surfside seasonal resident and property owner,
who voiced his irritation with the driving on his beach without his permission. He
questioned the spending of the beach driving permits money and feels that it is being
misused. Mrs. Ray responded that a large amount of the money is spent on the ATVs,
which patrol the beaches for safety and responsible behavior, and for the Beach
Manager's salary.
Mr. Mullen replied that the permission to drive from 5:00 pm should be moved later to
6:00 pm because people were still on the beach until then. The members asked him if he
had evidence of a large number indicating that change. Mrs. Beck noted that that change
was being considered. Mr. Leddy noted that there were fewer cars driving on the beaches
in the evenings.
Mr. Mullen asked why weren't other beaches than Surfside being used for driving. He
also insisted that the A TV s be used only on Surfside, not everywhere else. They should
only be on beaches where people are allowed to drive. The members pointed out that the
money is used for other beach needs than driving, such as accesses, maintenance, etc.
Mr. Mullen stated that the permit income should be only used for beach driving uses.
Mr. Mullen stated that the beaches should be closed if they are not being patrolled, that
all beaches should be closed to driving anyway. Mr. Dickson foresaw a militant response
to such a total shutdown and stated that BMAC was making progress in reducing the
amount of driving and in making drivers aware of their responsibilities on the fragile
beaches.
Mr. Mullen reported that the Chief of Police had termed all the island beaches as "quasi-
public." Mrs. Ray stated that the basic unfairness lay with drivers who did not buy
permits at all. She does believe that the Beach Manager should do random but
continuous patrols off-season to prod an awareness of the need for a beach permit all
through the year.
In parting Mr. Mullen repeated that he wanted no cars on the beaches until after 6:00 pm.
Mr. Leddy worried that caterers would have a problem with this change.
Mrs. Beck thanked Mr. Mullen for attending the meeting and reminded him of the next
meeting dates should he still be on island.
Mrs. Beck then asked for approval of the Minutes of 25 October 2007. Mrs. Ray asked
that the reference to "Beach Management expenses" on page 1 in paragraph 5 be changed
to "beach related expenses," a motion which was approved unanimously along with the
approval of the Minutes for that date.
Mrs. Beck then asked for approval of the Town Manager's emendations to the Minutes of
18 October. Mr. Leddy asked if this approval could be delayed until he had looked at
them more carefully. The members agreed to seek approval at the next meeting on
November 15.
Mrs. Beck asked if the members were satisfied with the Beach Manager's replies to their
questions to him in the Minutes of 18 October. All agreed, and Mr. Leddy asked that the
members offer their special thanks for the promptness of his reply.
Mrs. Beck reported on her week of persistent phone calls from the Cullums regarding the
removal of their beach as a permitted driving area on the Beach Driving Map. They not
only called Mrs. Beck but other Town officials was well, demanding that they be
guaranteed the change in the 2008 Beach Driving Map on the basis of their conversation
with Chief Pittman after a summer incident on their beach. Mrs. Beck explained to them
the process that BMAC was presently beginning for editing the Map and then referring it
to the Town Manager for approval before it goes to press. The members reacted to this
sort of pressure as entitlement based on personal issues which disregarded BMAC
policies.
Mrs. Beck stated that the members must do intensive study of the present map in the next
week in order to have it confirmed with changes by the November 15 meeting She will
contact each member and the Beach Manager individually during that time for their input.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm. The next meeting will be on 15 November 2007.
Respectfully submitted, with notes by Edie Ray,
Maureen Beck, Chair