Loading...
2013.12.12_BSAB_Minutes_Special - "o`�.•''' TOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH MINUTES OF THE ~ ' BEACHES & SHORES ADVISORY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING Thursday, December 12, 2013 9.30 AM Members Present: Chair Rosalind Svenstrup; Vice Chair Ira Oaklander; Member Linda Albertson; Member Jim Jiovanazzo; Member Elyse Riesa; Member Elizabeth Andrews and Member Rhoda Zelniker. Also Attending: Mayor Bernard Featherman, Town Manager Kathleen Weiser, Commissioner Sheridan, Commissioner Stern, Administrative Assistant Rosalie DeMartino and members of the public. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair SvenstnM 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 Svenstrup called for additions, deletions or acceptance of agenda. Chair Svenstrup — Under New Business would like to discuss having Dr. Rusenko attend our March 18, 2014 meeting to give a presentation on the Sea Turtles and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. She also would like to discuss sending a letter to the Commission requesting that we be more involved with any issues regarding the beaches and shores. Member Elm — She is not sure if a letter is the way to go and would like to discuss ways to communicate with the Commission letting them know that, as a Board, we would like to get more involved with any decisions regarding the beaches and shores, and offer our opinions. Chair SventstnM felt a letter could not hurt since it would be in black and white coming from the whole board. By consensus, the Board accepted the agenda as amended. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REOUESTS: Robert Patek, 4217 S. Ocean Blvd — Mr. Patek read from his notes ( "Exhibit A "). He is concerned about the amount of debris on our beaches and the beach cleaning companies that bury part of the trash, and move it from one location to another. He is also concerned about the many dogs that run unleashed on the beaches and the owners not picking up after them. Since these dog owners do not obey the leash law, Mr. Patek would like to see dogs banned from our beaches. Boca Raton is opening an unleashed dog beach at the north end of Spanish River Park and feels it Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Page 2 of 7 will have a negative impact on our beaches. He mentioned the dangers to the turtles because of these conditions. Chair Svenstrun indicated that this Board is very concerned about our beaches and keeping them clean. She suggested that if he sees something on the beach that is overwhelmingly bad, call the Town Manager or Code Enforcement. If there is a problem with the dogs, take a picture with your cell phone and contact the Police Dept. She has seen police presence on our beach. Chair Svenstrun informed Mr. Patek about the MSTU (Municipal Special Tax Unit) study that was done a few years ago. It was brought before the town and the Mayor placed this item on his resident's survey as to whether or not the people would be willing to pay for beach cleaning. It was voted down 3 to 1. The Beaches and Shores Advisory Board has sponsored a Town -wide Beach Cleaning Day, with the help of the Town, and there are very few volunteers who are willing to help. Mr. Patek continued to read his suggestions on how the beaches could be kept clean and that the Town should be responsible in doing so. Chair SvenAW explained that the beaches in Highland Beach are private and owned by individual homeowners or condos. The Town is not responsible for beach clean up. Mr. Patek disagreed with that statement. Chair Svenstrun suggested he go to a Commission Meeting to voice his concerns. Harald Braun, 2727 S. Ocean Blvd — My wife and I walk the beaches on the weekends and over the last couple of months we have seen what my predecessor has talked about here. There is a tremendous amount of garbage on the beach. He stated that it is very important that we all consider the environment, and it is not important whether the beach is private or public. It is caused by owners and beach clubs. His point was to make sure we have all the resources to collect all the plastic debris on the beach. He and his wife pick up as much as possible when walking the beach; but it gets more and more. He agrees that the tractors only dig the plastic under the sand and then it comes back. Mr. Braun asked that an action be created with whomever possible to address a beach walk with a purpose. Saying the beach is private is not enough and would be happy to discuss any possible solution. Everyone should be responsible. Regarding the dog issue, some of the dog owners do not care. He called the police several times and they did not show up. Vice Chair Oaklander also mentioned that the Board has sponsored volunteer beach clean ups and almost no one shows up. Mr. Braun asked how much debris is picked up. Chair Sventrun stated there are hundreds and hundreds of pounds. Mr. Braun wanted a solution to the problem. Chair Svenstrun advised him to go before the Town Commission and request to meet with someone. Perhaps the Town would put someone in charge and bring in the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board. Member Andrews thanked the residents for coming and contributing to the meeting. She indicated that the Board is very sympathetic to their cause, has tried very hard to help our beaches; but is limited to what they can and cannot do. She also suggested going to the Commission. 4. PRESENTATIONS • Announcement: New Member Rhoda Zelniker Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Pau 3 of 7 Chair Svenstrun welcomed new Member Rhoda Zelniker to the Beaches & Shores Advisory Board. Member Zelniker thanked the Commission for electing her to the Board and stated that she is honored to serve her community. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: • June 11, 2013 —Regular Meeting MOTION: Member Albertson moved to approve the June 11, 2013 Regular Meeting Minutes; seconded by Member Jiovanazzo Motion passed with all in favor. 6. OLD BUSINESS There was no old business. 7. NEW BUSINESS A) Sea Turtle Liaison Susan Hiles' Report on Turtle Season 2013 Susan Hiles, Sea Turtle Volunteer gave an update on the 2013 turtle season which began on March 1 St and ended October 31 The Loggerhead Turtle nests have increased over the years; but are still not out of the woods. The Green Turtles on the other hand have gone berserk. The results of the nests are as follows: Loggerheads — Nests in 206 were 537. Nests in 2013 were 1,400. The majority of Loggerheads are in Florida. Green Turtles — Nest in 2012 were 158. Nests in 2013 were 530. The Green Turtles are an endangered species all over the world. She explained that these turtles were almost extinct and how they were brought back to Florida from Costa Rica. Leatherbacks (The largest of all the turtles and the rarest) — Nests in 2012 were 18 but decreased in 2013 to 8. Susan Hiles stated that she is in Zone One, which is at the south end of the beach, and looks after the beach and cleans it every day. However, a lot of the plastic bottle caps keep coming in from the ships at sea. She also mentioned that there was a rare species that nested in her zone. Back in 2007 a Hawksbill nested in Highland Beach and in 2013 one nested in her zone. Most Marine Biologists hope that we are beginning to see the results of our conservation efforts. Several more years are required before we can feel confident about the potential of an upward trend in Loggerhead nesting. The monitoring of sea turtle nesting and lighting ordinances are vital. Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Page 4 of 7 B) Discussion on Dr. Rusenko attending our March meeting. Chair Svenstrun stated that she feels people would take greater interest in the beaches if they were fully aware of the turtle program; keeping the beaches clean and getting ready for the turtles. Member Elyse suggested we find the proper way to communicate this out to the community so the people would be aware of this. Administrative Assistant DeMartino will reach out to Dr. Rusenko to see if he could attend our March meeting and give a presentation on the sea turtles. If so the Board can discuss ways to reach out to the community. Q Discussion regarding beach cleaning. Member Jiovanazzo asked if there were any regulations regarding dogs on the beach and keeping the beaches clean. Chair Svenstrup stated that there is an ordinance that dogs must be leashed on the beach and ordinances regarding keeping your property clean. She stated that if there are serious violations that any member of the Board or resident sees, they can report it to the Town's Code Enforcement Board. Member Riesa stated that we have a tremendous Police Department and questioned whether they could patrol the beaches to address the unleashed dog problem; such as once or twice a day and see where there is a consistent problem. Also, have the Maintenance Dept. do the same to look into the garbage situation on the beach. She asked the Town Manager if this could be a possibility. She is also concerned about the Boca Raton unleashed dog park at the north end of Spanish River Park which abuts Highland Beach; the affect it may have on the turtles and having people walk their dogs on our beach. Can an official of Highland Beach report back to Boca Raton if this becomes an issue? Chair Svenstrup — She heard the Mayor of Boca Raton speak at the Coffee with the Mayor and indicated that this is on a trial basis and they are going to closely monitor it. Member Riesa wants an official of our Town to report back to the Mayor and not rely on Boca Raton itself. Town Manager Weiser — I first heard of the dog beach when it was in the paper. When you are discussing what you do as a Board, this is a really good topic where you can discuss it; make a vote to recommend to the Commission and the staff that we increase patrol on the beach. It doesn't mean it is going to happen since we have to look at it as a staffing situation, and is something that would have to fit into the schedule. By all means you can take a vote and recommend to us that Code Enforcement and Police presence be upped on the beach. Member Riesa asked if Highland Beach would consider hiring trained volunteers with the Police Dept. to monitor this situation. Town Manager Weiser — This is something we would have to discuss with the Police Dept. You could recommend that we look into that. Member Reisa suggested they all attend a Commission meeting. Vice Chair Oaklander feels there is no monitoring of the beaches or the Intracoastal and that the concentration is on AIA. Town Manager Weiser suggested the Board appoint one person to work with staff to put together a report to up code enforcement on the beach. We will look into the issue, report back to you, and then you would make a recommendation to the Commission that they look into it. Everything you are talking about is money and we have looked into this before, and it is a lot of money. The Mayor took the survey and two out of three people in Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Page 5 of 7 town do not want to pay for anything on the beach. Member Riesa questioned the dog issue in Boca Raton again. Town Manager Weiser also has a concern and is going to ask the Police Officers to keep an eye on it, and send our Code Enforcement Officer when it takes place. She indicated that when the dog beach is opened on the weekends, the Code Enforcement Officer is not on duty. MOTION: Vice Chair Oaklander moved to elect Member Riesa to meet with Town Manager Weiser and staff to discuss Code Enforcement on the beaches; seconded by Member Andrews Motion passed with all in favor. Member Albertson felt the issue Mr. Patek had was not with us cleaning the beach; but the contract that is signed with the beach cleaners. They rake it up to his property line or someone else's property line. She believes that is a contract issue and should be taken up by the individual contract holders who pay for that. Vice Chair Oaklander asked if the contractors should be called in for one of our meetings so they could explain how and why they do what they do with the seaweed. Chair SvenstgM suggested a special meeting in January to discuss beach cleaning and have that as the only item on the agenda. Member Zelniker wanted everyone to be aware that the coral reefs in Highland Beach have been damaged due to the beach re- nourishment process in Delray and Boca. There was a discussion regarding policing the Intracoastal Waterway and working with Boca. Town Manager Weiser stated that they have approached Boca and they are not interested. Member Albertson stated that they have tried numerous times to do something about the wakes and it has failed. The cost of having a boat police the waterway is very high; the cost of the boat, insurance, maintenance, gas, man hours, etc. The Town does not want to take any new taxes on to do any of this. She feels the Board should take on things that they can accomplish as an advisory board, and not think the big picture that we can't. Member Riesa suggested having a volunteer do this. Vice Chair Oaklander asked that there be a separate committee to work on the issues with the Intracoastal. He volunteered to do this. Town Manager Weiser — You can have this as a separate issue; but again everything you have said is things that we have looked at before. Even if we could put a boat on the waterway, we cannot issue tickets. We have no jurisdiction on the Intracoastal. The Commission has said that at this point they are not interested in spending money on it. If you have specific ideas for the Intracoastal then you can set up a committee. A special meeting of the Beaches and Shores Advisory Board will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Page 6 of 7 D) Election of Officers: • Chairman: MOTON: Member Jiovanazzo moved to re -elect Rosalind Svenstrup as Chair; seconded by Member Albertson. Motion passed with all in favor. • Vice Chair: MOTION: Member Jiovanazzo moved to re -elect Ira Oaklander as Vice Chair; seconded by Member Albertson. Motion passed with all in favor. E) Review and approve the 2014 Meeting Schedule: Meetings will be held on a quarterly basis: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 Tuesday, June 10, 2014 Tuesday, September 09, 2014 Tuesday, December 09, 2014 All meetings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in the Town Commission Chambers. A special meeting is called for Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. MOTION: Member Jiovanazzo moved to accept the quarterly meetings plus the January 14, 2014 meeting; seconded by Member Albertson Motion passed with all in favor. 8. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Svenstrup called for a motion to adjourn at 11:00 a.m. MOTION: Member Albertson moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:00 a.m. Member Jiovanazzo seconded the motion. Motion passed with all in favor. Beaches & Shores Advisory Board December 12, 2013 Page 7 of 7 AP OVED: Rosalind Svenstrup, C it h r, ' r r:K' er eincJ4 Albertson, Member Elizabe Andrews, M m e o a Zelnir_ J es Jiovan7qA ember Elyse e ember 7 1, ATTESTED: Rosalie DeMartino Administrative Assistant Date: