HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-01-24
Beach Management Advisory Committee
Land Bank Conference Room
24 January 2008
4:00 pm
Members Present: Maureen Beck, Chair, Tom Dickson, Edie Ray, Colin Leddy.
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Mrs. Beck convened the meeting at 4:10 pm.
unanimously.
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The members approved the Minutes Q!:17Janu~2008
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Since the Beach Manager was off-island for a workshop, there would be no Beach ~brt.
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Mrs. Beck announced that Kate Hamilton is delighted to come to the meeting on 31 January toaiscuss
further some ideas for using the island's TV resources to promote responsible beach behavior.
A discussion of the Town Manager's summary pages of the 2008 revenue stream for the Beach
Manager's account followed. Mrs. Beck reminded the meeting that Mrs. Gibson had sent these pages to
BMAC in October; therefore, this accounting represented only a quarter of the year's expenditures and
revenues, mostly salaries. Supplies and other costs were few at the time. She also reminded the
meeting that Ms. Gibson had explained that this brief summary did not represent the more complex
municipal budget structure used by the Town; it was simply an abstract of areas of a budget set up for
the Marine Department.
The members pressed for a report which would provide more clarity and particulars. They suggested
that the Beach Manager perhaps had such an accounting available to him and would ask him when he
returned. Or perhaps the Harbormaster could be invited to comment on the expenditures and those
involved. Mrs. Beck responded that if that was not possble, then perhaps Ms. Gibson could provide a
clearer indication of who was paid what after Annual Town Meeting was over. Mrs. Ray stated that the
bigger question was: Should every expense for the beaches come out of this account? The members
agreed that in BMAC's current study of agencies handling beach operations it was important to see that
all contractors are identified as well as man hours spent. Mrs. Beck will check to see if the FinCom will
be hearing the Marine Department budget soon. In the meantime, she suggested the discussion be
tabled until the Beach Manager is present.
The members then began to make a list of talking points for a discussion with Ms. Hamilton. Mr.
Dickson stated that, above all, the points must be well presented. They need to be clear, not
threatening, the simpler the better. They need to involve everyone in the process of understanding that
the beaches are delicate. We want to be sure we understand how much total time and
bits of time the TV stations will dedicate to the project.
Mr. Leddy asked that the crawl ribbon be used for supplementary information. Mr. Dickson pointed out
the difficulty of reading crawls. Some will like it, replied Mr. Leddy. Mrs. Ray sees the substance of the
information as a kind of travelogue and the crawls as simple facts of: who, where, when, the emergency
numbers to mark all beach locations, and the location of public transit.
Mr. Dickson suggested incentives to promote the use of public transportation. Also, once Ms. Hamilton
has assembled her ideas, Mr. Dickson wants her to bring them back to BMAC.
Mr. Leddy reported that he had just made a tour of beaches for the first time in ten days. He was
pleased with the new steps at Fisherman's Beach but found considerable household trash in many bags
at the Woodbine beach access. Looking through the trash, he found the name of the person whose
trash it was. He was reluctant to call the police about the mess because he knew the family and didn't
want to get them in trouble; however, Mrs. Beck offered to go look at it, find the name, and report it to
the police, which she did on Friday. The police thanked her for her information and promised to check
on it. They assured her that that access was regularly patrolled throughout the year because it is a big
party spot.
The next meeting will be on 31 January at 4 pm, at which decisions for February meetings must be
made.
Respectfully submitted, with notes from Edie Ray,
Maureen Beck, Chair
Summary BMAC/Kate Hamilton Talking Points
Start with a HOOK
Separate sections for each point:
Name all beaches and their benefits/amenities/ transport
Emergency location numbers and why
Rules: driving, surfing, fishing, dogs, especially on guarded beaches;
windsurfing, toilet behavior
Contacts: police, BMAC Phone, Websites, 911 cell phone problem
Importance of civility; importance of cooperation with abutters (Edie)
How it's presented - invite people in - the simpler the better
Leave it the way you found it.
The beaches are what you came for.
I want to be included in shaping and delivering the message.
Does Kate know how much time TV stations allocate to slots and how long? (Tom)
Add a supplement on the crawl - bullet points.
Make it like a travelogue.(Colin)