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2012.12.11_BSAB_Minutes_Regular 18 L4 '• TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH s� N41NUTES OF THE '��a * •.•* ; BEACHES & SHORES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING Tuesday December 11, 2012 9:30 AM Members Present: Chair Rosalind Svenstrup; Vice Chair Ira Oaklander; Member Linda Albertson; Member Elizabeth Andrews; Member Susan Hiles; Member Jim Jiovanazzo and Member Elyse Riesa. Also Attending: Commissioner Dennis Sheridan, Ron Clark, Planning Board Member; Administrative Assistant Rosalie DeMartino and members of the public. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Svenstrun called the Regular Meeting to order at 9:30 AM. Roll Call was taken by Rosalie DeMartino, Administrative Assistant, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. ADDITIONS, DELETIONS OR ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA: Chair Svenstruy called for any additions, deletions or acceptance of the agenda Member Riesa would like to discuss under New Business beach cleaning and the beach erosion due to hurricane Sandy. By consensus the Board accepted the agenda as amended. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REQUESTS: Irwin Zigoria, 4211 S. Ocean Blvd — Before I purchased my home in Highland Beach I came before this Board to ask if there was ever a problem with beach erosion and was told that there has never been an issue in this community and that we get sand naturally from the movement of the tides from Delray Beach south. In the southern end of town, the beaches are significantly eroded. I spoke with an engineer, formerly with the Army Corp of Engineers, and she told me that this community could have a significant problem because of the beach erosion that could not only impact the homes on the east side but also the west side of Highland Beach. Since we live on a barrier island the only thing protecting us is the amount of sand from the ocean to the east side and west side. I would like to know what this committee is doing to help the city managers put more sand or help to determine what we need to do as a community to protect our homes and all the residents. I am also questioning how the beaches are cleaned up. I understand it is the responsibility of the homeowner on the east side of Highland Beach to clean the beaches in front of their dwellings since they are private. I feel the town should have Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Pace 2 of 10 their own beach cleaning service that is part of the City of Highland Beach and not subcontracted out and not allow individual judgment by people to clean these beaches. The amount of trash that washes up along the beach and is left there day after day is abominable. The beach is one of our biggest assets. Before Sandy I would walk up and down the beach and collect garbage but have not done so lately because there are no garbage receptacles on the beach. Do we know when they will be replaced? I would also ask that if there is ever an opening on this committee I would like to be involved in any way possible and serve this community. 4. PRESENTATIONS There were no presentations. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: • June 12, 2012 —Regular Meeting MOTION: Member Hiles moved to approve the June 12, 2012 Regular Meeting Minutes; seconded by Member Andrews. Motion passed with all in favor. 6. OLD BUSINESS No old business. 7. NEW BUSINESS A) Member Hiles' Report on Turtle Season 2012 Member Hiles, Highland Beach Sea Turtle Volunteer, reported on the 2012 turtle season. There was a slow start to the season but it ended up a record breaker. The first nest was on April 7 Between April 7' and October 27 when hurricane Sandy hit our shores there were a total of over 2,300 sea turtle exits from the ocean in their attempt to nests. Of these, approximately 1,300 nested successfully. Our numbers flew way above the last six or seven years and there were approximately 500 more nests then last year. Member Hiles reported on the Leatherback turtle that came ashore in the spring at the Boca Highland Beach Club disoriented with severe paralysis of her rear flippers and unable to dig a nest. She was assisted by members of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, sea turtle volunteers and the Juno Beach Marine Loggerhead Center who knew about this turtle and called her "Kate ". She normally nests on the beaches north of us. They dug her nest for her, covered the nest after she laid her eggs and eventually help return her back to the ocean. This event was posted on the Boca Highland website. This year the lighting ordinance was acknowledged and observed by the residents along the beach by a much higher percentage. There were a few too many people walking the beaches in the dark with flashlights and lanterns which can cause serious consequences to the nesting turtles and the newly hatched turtles and often result in loss of life to these animals. All in all Highland Beach is becoming an excellent Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Paste 3 of 10 example of how people can live with the nesting turtles and help with the survival by just following some very simple steps. The sea turtle season is March I" through October 31 With regard to the hurricane and the rough seas, there was a loss of approximately 40 nests out of about 240 in my zone. Member Riesa applauded the work and dedication Member Hiles does for the sea turtles. B) Election of Officers: • Chairman: MOTION Vice Chairman Oaklander moved to elect Rosalind Svenstrup as Chair; seconded by Member Hiles Motion passed with all in favor. • Vice Chairman: MOTION Member Albertson moved to elect Ira Oaklander as Vice Chairman seconded by Member Hiles Motion passed with all in favor. C) Approval of 2013 Meeting Dates: Chair Svenstrup explained to the Board that they are going back to the original meeting dates which were quarterly, with the option that we can call a special meeting if needed. Member Riesa stated that she had an objection to these dates and felt that this Board should continue on a monthly basis since there is a sense of urgency with all that is going on with the beach. The last name of this town is beach and we are not taking advantage of this board and what we could collectively do to assist residents like we just heard. I am not only concerned for the residents on the beach but all the residents. Having a meeting quarterly is like having a girl scout meeting once every four months. Chair Svenstrup stated that she would like to have a meeting regarding the beach cleanup because she has walked the beach and knows it is a mess. She gave a history of this Board and how and why it was set up. This is an advisory Board and we don't have any power per se. She explained about the proposed Town Wide Beach Clean- Up (Municipal Special taxing District Unit) where the Town gave the Board the money to hire an economist to develop a plan for this. Highland Beach is a private beach not public and is not entitled to any government funding. Public beaches in towns like Boca Raton and Delray Beach are cleaned by their town because they have public beaches. This Board was meeting on a regular basis for years to get this done. It was to be voted on and because of the downturn in the economy, people were not in favor of the increase in their taxes, although minim to have their beaches cleaned. We elected not to put this on a ballot since we knew it would not fly. So, this was put on the backburner for now with the hope that, if things got better, people would see the need to have the beaches improved. Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Page 4 of 10 Chair Svenstrun stated that she believes we will get some sand re- nourishment as soon as we get some calm waters. She has seen it happen in the past. Member Albertson asked if any of the residents who are present at this meeting have talked to the Town Manager or the Commissioners. Irwin Zigoria — The Commission is now funding an impact study. They are now taking bids for an impact study to determine how the changes in the beaches could impact the community and the turtles. The issues are the homes, the beaches and the turtle population. We need this committee to advise and push the Commission into helping the residents. Unless this committee gets involved on a monthly basis with the Commission to protect our great resource, the beaches, nothing is going to get done. The City has a two million dollar surplus and I would like to know why this committee can't ask the Commission to use part of this money to clean the beaches on a recurring basis. They can buy a machine and hire an employee who job would be to clean the beaches. There was a discussion regarding the beach clean-up that took place in April of this year. Member Jiovanazzo stated to the Board that their Home Owner's Association does contribute to the beach cleaning on the portion of the beach that they have access to as well as the other Home Owner's Associations in the town. He asked about which portion of the beach is private. Vice Chair Oaklander stated that the determination is the high water mark. Everything west of the high water mark is private. East of this is public beach. Member Riesa stated that the beach clean up is one of the primary things that we need to set our goal on making sure our beaches are clean, but we have to have a beach in order to keep it clean. After one of the Planning meetings I spoke with Town Manager Kathleen Weiser about the beach and asked her, what can we do as a community to start replenishing the beach because they were talking about what was going on in Manalapan and setting up an expedited way of doing permits? She told me that as far as she knew there was nothing that could be done because the dunes were all owned by the homeowners and you can't replenish the beach unless you replenish the dunes. It was up to the individual homeowners. I asked her if we could do some kind of educational program to the homeowners to let them know how to do it; what's the most economical way to do it; how can we in the town help them; and can we get any kind of government funding that may or may not be possible? The thing that bothered me the most is we can't just allow that the beach here is considered private property since the public enjoys it. We own it together in a lot of ways. I met with Town Clerk Beverly Brown and she showed me the tax rolls and what that study accomplished. She had a ledger with every homeowner in it and how much it would cost for them to take a little piece of their money and put it toward beach clean up and that was ranging from maybe $50 a month to maybe $5 a month depending on the assessment of your property. It was such a small amount I was stunned that it was not voted in. She told me that a large amount of people did not want to pay for it. I think with the right marketing of the issue to our community, the right communication instead of sending out a survey, letting them know how important it is keeping our beaches clean and Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Page 5 of 10 proper and how important it is to the community would be the best way to go. I would like to see this Board and I realize we are only an Advisory Board, maybe we can make a set of action items that we could utilize to advise the people that make the decisions. Maybe we could work together to say you talk to this person, you talk to that person. Let's get a series of actionable items that we can work towards to see if we can get something done rather than playing "Dr. No" with us because that is how I see it right now. Everybody is saying no, no, no and we don't want our property values to go down let alone flood away. There was a discussion regarding the posted meeting dates. Chair Svenstrup suggested we have a special meeting in January to discuss beach cleaning and set dates to have a "town wide volunteer beach cleaning day ". Member Andrews stated that if not for the hurricane, the quarterly meetings would be fine but things have changed. Member Albertson asked if anyone has been to the beach and taken photographs to show to the Commission. Members of the public indicated that they had done so. She also asked that the Town Manager and Commissioners attend our meetings. The members agreed that because of the hurricane and the condition of the beaches the meetings be changed back to monthly meetings. Administrative Assistant Rosalie DeMartino read the new dates for the year 2013 into the record. They are as follows: Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Tuesday, February 12, 2013 Tuesday, August 13, 2013 Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Tuesday, October 8, 2013 Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Tuesday, November 12, 2013 Tuesday, June 11, 2013 Tuesday, December 10, 2013 All meetings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in the Town Commission Chambers. MOTION: Member Rovanazzo moved to approve the revised 2013 meeting dates; seconded by Vice Chair Oaklander All voted in favor. Before the Adjournment, Chair SveggW gave the public an opportunity to comment on items discussed during this meeting. Al Giachetti, 4211 S. Ocean Blvd — I am a Civil Engineer and a resident of Highland Beach. I have built several homes in this town. I have been to every Commission meeting since hurricane Sandy and am very surprised that I have not seen any one of you at those meetings. I appreciate Elyse Riesa's comments because now is the time to get involved. Although you say that you are only an advisory committee, nobody knows that. You are the Beaches & Shores Board and you can get somebody's attention. It took us two meetings with the Mayor to get his attention. If you want, we will put 50 people here at the next meeting to show people how serious we are. We met with the Army Corp of Engineers and they said that sand migrates at a mile a year so it is going to take Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Pa e 6 of 10 four years for the sand from Delray Beach to get back to the south end of Highland Beach. I would like the answer to this question. When they replenished Boca Raton beaches the dredge sat outside and scoured the exact beaches that got scoured the most in this hurricane and took that sand offshore from exactly the properties that got the most damage this time. Is this some sort of correlation? As far as public and private, everybody in Highland Beach can walk and park their beach blanket in front of my home any day they want, so to me that's public. I know we can't get federal funding because you have to have a certain amount of parking; a handicap space, but they only give you seventy percent of the funds. Boca Raton just estimated that it is going to cost them four million dollars for their four miles of beach. If we say we have three and one -half miles and the Mayor has already said that there is a two million excess and if you came to the meeting he also said that there is a piece of property that is owned by the water department that they are willing to sell for this cause. We have to find a way to do it; float a bond because this is a matter of public safety; especially when people won't be able to get off this island. We pay for our own private beach cleanup in front of our 200 feet of beach, but the people on the side of us don't. We need a concerted effort to re- nourish the beaches. We pay a lot of taxes to the county and we have to force them to give some of it back to us. Now is the time for action and we would appreciate it if you would meet once a month and force the Commission to help us. Kathleen Resnick, 3407 S. Ocean Blvd. — I don't think we can wait for the sand to come back on its own because I don't think it is going to happen. Something has to be done and I think the force has to come from this Board. I think the town should be responsible for cleaning the beaches and it should be done continually. Chair Svenstrup again explained about the Town Wide Beach Cleaning proposal and the fact that it was turned down. It had to be put on a ballot and the residents of this town did not want to pay additional taxes. Kathleen Resnick — I feel the survey that was sent to all the residents should have been sent only to those who have a legal right to vote in this town. They are the ones that should have the right to vote on this issue. Peter Resnick 3407 S. Ocean Blvd. — I want to endorse what these gentlemen have said. With respect to the beach cleanup, I think this committee needs to roll up its sleeves and find out what the legal requirements are for getting that money allocated. I think it is a budgetary item and does not need a vote to get that done. I don't know if that is right or wrong but I don't think this committee knows it either and you should. I was very pleased to hear Elyse's comments, which is the only indication I have, sitting in this meeting, that this committee realizes the urgency of this crisis and is showing some initiative in trying to fmd some solutions. You should have had many meetings regarding this crisis. I don't think you are using the full potential of the office you hold. I think you should have someone designated on this committee to fmd out the facts, not we think. I think you ought to have a clear agenda as Elyse has indicated, and I think you ought to search out other people, like these gentlemen here, who are willing to take this initiative and get things done. Chris Viag_as 3407 S. Ocean Blvd. — Elyse has made an excellent suggestion that perhaps we should have action items that this meeting comes up with at this meeting to actually Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Paze 7 of 10 take it forward. I think you should take the time, right now. One of the suggestions I heard was that the clean up may be a budgetary item not a tax item. Ask the Clerk to get the verification on that and have that item clarified at the next meeting. You need an email list to be utilized for such items as what to do about the beach; do we need volunteers or do we just need to talk about it. This Board should get in touch with the Army Corp of Engineers because they have developed a type of tubing that is filled with sand that is anchored against the dune so that if we have another storm that wave hits the tubing and it doesn't cause the suction to go beyond the tubing. If we have a reserve that we can use, maybe there is a way for the city to partner with the private people who live on the beach and the people whose buildings have access to the beach and combine the resources, private and public. To let your New Business section be blank, after we have had this storm and not come up with some action items, I think that is a disservice to the community. Chair Svenstruu — I will speak to Kathleen to see what funds are available and what we could do legally. As far as I know, in the history of this town, they never did a beach re- nourishment. Chris Viagas — A new event has had a tremendous impact on Highland Beach. I realize that this Board has not been active, and you had a lot of cancelled meetings, but this is the time when you can take a clean up issue that is very near and dear to some of the board member's hearts and a replenishment issue. Get information from public sources. Action number one is you are going to speak to Kathleen Weiser. Action number two could be that you actually find out that you want the information on what is available for communities; what are the options for beach replenishment? Action number three can they, on the beach clean up, do a budgetary item. You are answering my questions but I am suggesting that perhaps we need to verify this stuff and bring it back to the meeting. Chair Svenstrny — I would be happy to set up a committee to work with you. Chris Viagas — I think this is an action item for this Board. You have volunteers who are willing to help you but I think it needs to be quantified in an action item that you are bringing back, it is written down and coming back as an agenda item and in the meantime you are going to have the pressure on the City Council that this is something that was raised and we have as a Board voted on it and we think it is a good idea to get these things done. That is how you move the City Council. I would like to know what this Board is going to recommend. Chair Svenstrun — I will do everything in my power to let Kathleen Weiser and the Commission know what you would like done. I realize you would like to see beach re- nourishment but we have to see how that can happen if it can happen at all. Chris Viagas — The items I mentioned are action items so you can vote on it today. I am asking that you take action today. Chair Svenstrun — We cannot vote on anything that has not been placed on the agenda. We will put it on the agenda for the next meeting. We will go forward with this and try to do everything we can to help. Susan Raia — 4515 S. Ocean Blvd. — I understand you were just re- elected and I personally listed to a call of leadership from one of your very courageous newly appointed member as well as my neighbors in the community. With respect it is not okay to adjourn today and meet in another month. It is not okay to just talk to the Town Manager and ask what can be done. I talked to the Town Manager and asked what can be done and got a list of what can't be done and why it can't be done. I am a lawyer and Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Pa e 8 of 10 lawyers get paid to be very creative and look at issues between public and private use. My neighbors here represent just a handful of people who just in the last four to six weeks have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars doing dune restoration on our private properties and yes, I am one of the people affected and am waiting my turn for the trucks to get to me in the next few days. Without a public /private partnership of some kind, these northeastern winds are going to come for the next six months and continue to wipe out, just as they already have, what got put in. It is going to continue to erode our beaches and exasperate all the problems that the community is already facing. This is a crisis. Your own committee member brought that to your attention. With respect, those of us who spent the time here today would love to hear that you have a structure in place for the next few weeks; that you have people with specific tasks to be accomplished and you are working through these holidays. I am at your disposal to do the leg work or whatever it takes to change things. Please don't adjourn today without a written plan, without a structure, without an ad hoc appointment of some of us to service your people Winning around. Please appoint your new member who has energy and vision to spearhead something. Chair Svenstrun — Suppose we do this. Elyse will head up a committee and all of you sign your name, give us your phone number and we will try to get the issues brought to the Commission. Again, we are an advisory board. Member Riesa — I think this is very important. I have attended the planning meetings right after the storm, except for the last one the other day, and listened to the Commissioners there to as much disheartenment as I have right now, because it really truly felt like let's put it on the agenda for next month and next month and next month and I said what's happening here. I am not familiar with Robert's Rules and maybe that is what a lot of this is but, maybe from my corporate background, if you have a problem you have to find a solution. You can't just keep putting it off. But meeting individually with Kathleen was not helpful. If you meet individually with Kathleen, I am sure it will be informative, but it won't be helpful because Kathleen understands up until now what you can and can't do due to private versus public. Nobody is trying to make these determinations. Instead of playing Dr. No, let's figure out a way around it because I don't want honestly anybody to meet privately with Kathleen because she will tell every one of you "no ". I am not saying this because she wants to say "no ". This is what she knows to be "no ". Chair Svenstrun — There are rules and regulations that we have to follow. Member Riesa — But we have to do it together. I am going to tell you what I said in the Commission and I don't care that it is public now. "I voted you in. I can vote you out" and I believe very strongly that the Commission up to now hasn't done enough except for maybe a couple of folks. I am very, very concerned that the Commission is not doing what they need to do. Al Giachetti — After going to the meetings three or four times, we finally got them to change the way they were thinking and that is what I am asking this committee to do, too. I am asking you to start to change people's opinion. There won't be any beach for the turtles to nest. Beach re- nourishment is very important. There won't be any protection for the public when that water washes between the buildings, like it did at Ambassador's, and it is up on AIA. If nothing else, and don't care about me as a homeowner, it is an environmental and public safety thing. The government has a fiduciary to the people who pay their taxes to protect them and they are not doing it. i Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Pau 9 of 10 Irwin Zigoria — We need to change public opinion in Highland Beach. Chair SvenstUM — We are willing to help you. I will have Elyse head up the committee, if this is something we can do, and she can contact you. I am willing to go to any condo and speak for you. Irwin Zigoria — The people, both in the private homes and the condos, need to understand that the garbage needs to be dealt with and not just every six months. Chair Svenstrup — We will do what we can but you must remember that we are an advisory board. Irwin Zigoria — This board needs to roll up its sleeves collectively and push the Town Council to an action plan, at that level, as to what can be done to enhance and maintain the value of all the homes in this community. Chair Svenstrup — I encourage you to read the economist's report. Irwin Zigoria — Could you tell us how much the cost per resident was on an average in that report? Chair Svenstrup — There was a base cost that every single resident in Highland Beach would pay and that base was fifty percent of the total cost of beach cleanup. The other fifty percent was going to be borne by the people that were actually beach front property owners. All of this was according to your property value. Some would be paying a little more than $100. Irwin Zigoria — Really, I spend more then that to go out to lunch. Chair Svenstrup — It went as high as $1600 for the most expensive home on the beach in a year. But we still need people to go to the different condominiums and homes because the votes are there. We will do whatever we can to make people aware and appreciate what our beaches mean to us. Irwin Zigoria — Boca Raton and Delray Beach have a reserve set aside each year so there is money set aside out of the budget each and every year to replenish the beaches. If the money is not needed by this town but it is allocated in the future then there is money to do other things. But certainly in the event of another emergency, the tides are changing and the water levels as a reserve for the potentiality that there is another storm. Not doing it and waiting for it to happen again is a shame. Chair Svenstrup — We hear you. There are rules and regulations we have to follow and you must understand that money just doesn't fall out of the budget for it. I am sure the Town Commission will be looking into this and I will try to speak before the Commission and tell them of your concerns and our concerns because they are there with you. Elyse can set up her committee with your objectives. Member Riesa — This is what I want to focus on and please let me know. I basically believe it is split up into two areas. One is clean up and one is options for replenishment. Within the cleanup I have trash. In terms of replenishment I have things like protection of the citizens itself because I thought that was a tremendous area to bring up in order to get federal funding or any other kind of funding if we are protecting our citizens. We have to talk about this in terms of marketing, changing public opinion, partnerships public and private. How other communities are doing this such as Delray and receive FEMA money from the storm. Obviously part of replenishment is discussions with the Army Corp of Engineers and finding out what they recommend. I also have budget versus tax; reserve versus charter. I understand the Town Commissioners just changed the Charter which would have a lot of difference in terms of what we can be taxed on versus what they can do in terms of just allocating through their budget. I believe the number went up significantly from what it used to be from the Charter because I remember arguing that point at one of the Commission meetings. Regardless of what we Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 11, 2012 Page 10 of 10 do, we need to have a communication plan back to our residents in email something beyond the Highland Beach website and although I use it regularly, it is obvious that unfortunately not everyone uses the website. I don't want to spend a fortune on that. I would rather spend my money on finding ways to clean up and replenish. All members were in agreement. 8. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Svenstrun called for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:15 a.m. MOTION: Member Albertson moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:15 a.m. Member Andrews seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. APPROVED: Rosalind Sv p, hair Oaklander, V' h Linda Albertson, Membe r Elizafieth Andrews, Member S san Hiles, Mem er e Jiov , Membe 1 . Elyse Rgsa, 0knber ATTESTED: R sake DeMartino Administrative Assistant Date