HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-01-17
Beach Management Advisory Committee
Land bank Conference Room
17 January 2008
4:00 pm
Members Present: Maureen Beck, Chair, Tom Dickson, Edie Ray, Colin Leddy; Beach Manager Jeff
Carlson
Mrs. Beck convened the meeting at 4:00 pm and asked for approval of the Minutes of 10 January 2008.
Mr. Leddy called attention to his remarks about raising the Beach Driving Sticker fees in the paragraph in
which the Beach Manager spoke about his discussion of the fees with Harbormaster Fronzuto. sj asked.,",
that the word "solely" be substituted for "especially" since he only wants the fee in~e for non- ..0
residents to take place from July 4 to Labor Day. With this change the Minutes wer~proved g
unanimously. ., . I
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The Beach Manager's Report: :::::g
The Town Administrator now has the Beach Driving Brochure and will return it to him a~soon a~ . ~
she finalizes it. ~ .
He will contact both the Fire and Police Department Chiefs for their opinions on installing an
emergency phone at Surfside Public Beach.
He acknowledged that the Town Manager has transferred the lifeguard operations to his
department but will not know specifics of the transfer until after a meeting next Tuesday when he meets
with the Harbormaster and the Town Manager. As he understands the transfer now, the Harbormaster,
who supervised the lifeguards until 2003, will oversee the adjustments at first and then turn over
operations gradually to the Beach Manager.
Do not, he cautioned, expect a perfect operation this summer until we understand all that it
entails. No hiring has been done yet. His goal primarily is for safe and open beaches. While early
summer training for ATV Police and lifeguards will generally be separate, there will be opportunities for
cross training among lifeguards and ATV Police for certain issues and for meeting and cooperating with
each other before emergencies occur. For lifeguards the important understanding is that all are
interchangeable, that no one keeps to one duty or beach; they should all understand the rips and tides
and conditions at all the beaches.
The members asked that the revenue stream charts for Beach Management be moved for discussion to
the next meeting on 24 January.
Mrs. Beck asked for comments about the draft to the Town Manager regarding BMAC's discussions thus
far with agencies involved in beach operation. While she regretted that the draft was not a brief one,
the members assured her that it was sufficient and covered the many comments offered by the
participants. She will send it as approved to the TM.
Mrs. Beck then asked which other agencies should be invited for discussions. The members would like
to pursue Ms. Hamilton's suggestions for use of TV to publicize respect for the beaches. Mrs. Ray
suggested that the members at the next meeting work up a list of talking points to discuss with her at
the meeting on 31 January. The members agreed. Mrs. Beck will ask Ms. Hamilton to attend.
Mr. Leddy added that on his recent tours of beaches and the island trash was still a serious problem.
Mrs. Ray agreed and hoped that the talking points would develop a kind of Nantucket Beach 101 to
educate the public with behavior, rules, conditions, and driving, which, as Mr. Dickson stated, attacks a
personality which disregards beach care..
Members also suggested that the DPW Director be asked. Mrs. Beck referred to current
recommendations being developed in the Surfside Area Plan to demand a private and public partnership
of the Town, the residents, and the beachgoers to monitor trash daily.
Another suggestion was to have the Environmental Police Officer come in the spring at the same time as
Officer Carnevale to go over their joint operations on the beaches and elsewhere. Mr. Carlson
mentioned that this next week he would be at a workshop in Yarmouth regarding negotiation of coastal
rights with private landowners. He will report on these meetings when he returns.
Mrs. Beck affirmed that BMAC will meet on the 24th and 31st of January to prepare for discussion with
Ms. Hamilton and to explore the possible lack of quorum for February meetings.
Respectfully submitted, with notes from Edie Ray,
Maureen Beck, Chair