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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060119BeachTaskForceMinutes.pdfTybee Island Beach Task Force Minutes January 19, 2006 Members Present: Berta Adams, Cecil DeLorme, Helen Downing, Amy Lanier, Henry Levy, Mary McCracken, Wick Searcy, John Wylly, and Lou Off Ex-Officos Present: Jason Buelterman, Mayor; Paul Wolff, City Council; Hampton Spradley, ACOE; Jan Mackinnon, DNR; Pat Farrell, County Commission Members Absent: Richard Grosse, Dick Magune, Freda Rutherford, and William Sprague Visitors: Michael Sullivan, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography Lou Off called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. He introduced our guest, Mr. Michael Sullivan from the Skidaway Institute. Berta Adams made a motion to approve the November and December Minutes with a name correction in the December Minutes from Susan Ivester to Susan Rees. Wick Searcy seconded that motion. Both sets of minutes were approved with the correction to the December minutes. Lou will be attending the Florida Shore & Beach Preservation Association Conference in Sarasota, FL February, 1-3 and will give a report at the next Task Force meeting. Jason Buelterman announced that he is putting together a group of people to review our hurricane plan and he asked if anyone would like to be a part of that to let him know. Fred Rutherford has already volunteered. Lou stated that he would like to be a part of the group also. Lou, Berta, Jason, and Paul will be meeting our Senators and Congressmen in Washington, D.C. to discuss our Beach Re-nourishment on February 14th. The Administration budget is announced on February 6th. We will probably not be in it, but at that time we will find what the ACOE has budgeted for us. The Top Beach Nomination has been submitted - many thanks to Dee and Todd for getting all the information together. Lou asked if there were any comments for the 2005 accomplishment list of the Beach Task Force that was given out at the last Task Force meeting. No comments were added at the meeting, so Lou stated that he would forward these accomplishments with a letter to the Mayor and Council. The Chamber of Commerce Day at the Capital was in the Sunday newspaper, January 8th, and they have a list for 2006 Legislative Agenda and we are #2 on that list – funding for Beach Re-nourishment on Tybee Island. Trip Tollison from the Chamber has been to several Task Force meetings and he is very much in support of our Beach Re-nourishment. HB 727 Lou asked what had happened since the November 27th meeting. Hampton replied that it was his understanding that the COE was waiting on what quality of sand that Tybee was willing to accept. Jan stated that Brad Gane was waiting on a response from Erik Olsen on that definition. Lou asked who needs to be pushing for this. COE, Tybee, DNR?? Hampton stated that a team was established with Alan as the representative for the COE. Jan stated that regarding the MOU, Dan Parrot, went down the list of the responsibilities of the COE and DNR and someone was assigned for each task. People are in place for that. She stated that once Eric confers with Brad on the definition of beach quality sand then that information can be transferred to the COE then that’s when the implementation will begin. Lou asked if - Tybee/ Beach Task Force – needed to do any coordinating. The Mayor has allowed for the COE to maintain the harbor this year without the Federal Consistency since NOAA did not get that in on time. What we don’t want to happen in Oct of Nov of next year and say that it is already in the works. At the very minimum by summer time, we’ve got to have someone saying that there is Federal Consistency on the maintenance of the harbor. Jan is to check with Brad. Erik will be at the conference and Lou will check with him at that time. Lou stated that Tybee needs to see some progress on this and he will have it on the agenda every month. Berta stated that the new City Manager should be the one to push this forward. He or She is the City Administrator and should make sure that the COE, the State, and everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Jason stated that the City Manager should be announced at the end of February. There was some discussion on exactly what Tybee wanted as beach quality sand. Hampton stated as he remembered he thought they were trying to decide what was acceptable to Tybee either on the beach or the near shore area. Lou has copies of the sand that is available out in the channel in different places. Every time they bore is another $10,000. There are a number of categories of sand. DNR working with Erik Olsen was going to recommend to the COE what type of sand was acceptable and that is where it is at the moment. Berta wanted another step in that Mayor/Council should approve. Lou stated that everything that we do has to go through Mayor/Council for approval. Paul stated that is would be helpful for visuals. Those that were doing the experiments could provide samples. Jason added that if time permits that this would need to go to the Beach Task Force first so that they could make a recommendation to Council. The Channel Impact Study (North Beach Study) Hampton stated that at the last meeting they provided a PMP (Project Management Plan) which Tybee reviewed and sent comments back to the COE in early January. He, Lou, and Dan Parrot had a teleconference Tuesday afternoon, to clarify just where Tybee stood on this Impact Study. As it stands now, the COE believes that Tybee’s wishes are to concentrate on just studying the impact of the Federal Channel to the existing Tybee Federal Template only. Not to look at the North Beach area because it is not part of the Tybee Federal Project at this time. Berta asked why the Impact Study doesn’t cover the whole island. It seems to her that the Federal Channel is affecting all of Tybee. There was much discussion. Lou stated that this is what the COE is telling us that they are going to do. In the many meeting that we have had it is going to cost us a couple of million of dollars in 2 or 3 years of time. Do we want to put that much effort in the North Beach for one re-nourishment which is about $500,000? The PMP there is no engineering analysis for North Beach. Berta stated there is all that analysis for the rest of the beach and it should not cost that much. Lou stated that we have gotten the PMP down to about $300,000 to $400,000 dollars. Berta stated that she thought that it was $900,000. Lou agreed, but subtracting out those we do not need reduces that amount. Hampton stated that the COE will study whatever Tybee wants them to study, but this is what he came away from the teleconference understanding. He said that Part A of the study could be the results and percentages. It may come back that the federal channel is affecting Tybee 95% or 40%. After the result and percentages are gathered, have a group meeting – the Task Force, COE, Erik etc and see if it is worth pursuing alternatives to mitigate for those impacts such as adjusting the cost sharing to some type of periodic re-nourishment, changing on impractices or pumping sand from Jones’s Oyster Bed. There are all kind of alternatives out there which would be Part B. Lou stated that in the PMP there is a section of 5 different alternatives. There are things in the study that are not needed and with the advice of Erik; he had it taken out of the study. We now have a pure project for the Front Beach, the South Tip, and the Back River. The study at the cost of about $300,000, $400,000 to $500,000 will give us once and for all the percentage of the Channel Impact on Tybee Island. Hampton stated that the COE is looking at four different time periods – before there was even a channel, after the structural improvements, the existing channel, and the future deepen channel. Henry asked if we were contributing to all the studies. Lou stated 50%. Actually to this particular study GPA has given us $375,000. Henry asked could be get it from more competent people for less price than the COE. Lou stated that question was raised to the planning people from Mobile at the last meeting. They said that the COE has to do their own studies. Hope Moor stated that the ATM study done by an outside firm was not acceptable to the COE and they have to start all over. If we want a Section 111 then it has to be done by the COE and the COE’s method and we have to take the good with the bad. Henry then asked if Lou could provide a dictionary for all the Acronyms. Janice provided a sheet with all the acronyms and what they stand for to Henry. Hampton continued the Channel Impact Plan. He stated that the COE met with the delivery team and gave them the new direction of the revised the PMP that was provided last month. The revised plan with the revised schedule and the revised cost will be available by the next meeting if not before. Once the PMP is approved and signed the next step is the feasibility cost share agreement then the work can begin. He would like the cost share agreement signed by the end of February. Lou asked all the Beach Task Force to read the PMP so that other people besides him could make comments. LRR – Limited Re-evaluation Report The LRR was submitted at the last meeting to Tybee. Tybee has until the first of January to make comments. The comments were received and incorporated into the report. The report is being routing around the Savannah District for final signatures. It should be FedEx to Mobile in the next day or two for their signature and sent back to Savannah for Council review and for the Colonel’s signature and then to the Atlanta Division. Berta stated that this is the engineering study for the re-nourishment. Berta questioned if it doesn’t get to Washington before the end of February then how will Congress know what to budget? Berta stated that the reason she asked that question is that a group is going to Washington Feb. 14th and lobby for the re-nourishment. Prior to or after the meeting the aids will be contacting SAV for information and she wanted to know will anyone be able to discuss what’s in the report. Hampton brought 4 copies for the group to take to Washington trip so that they will one. Hampton stated that the paper work for the LRR is in place. Unfortunately they went out and did a survey to the borrow area and found that there is not enough sand, but the good news is that they placed a contingency in the report for expanding that borrowed area. At the November 28th meeting, Erik Olsen indicated that there are berms out there in the area that serve no purpose and could be tapped into. With that volume of sand and use it for the beach, would not have to go into that much new area. Berta asked if there was enough money to find another area. According to Hampton, if the COE had to go to a new borrowed area would be a lot more difficult than just expanding the old one. Helen asked when the last time we took sand from that area was. Lou answered that it was in 1999 or 2000. Henry stated that there are waves breaking just north of the Channel and that there must be a sand bar which is closest to the beach. Lou noted that for future reference, but that area would need to be studied before it is used. The LLR is essentially done. Jason Buelterman asked when the work would actually start. Lou answered that is would probably be the winter of 2007 thru the spring of 2008. There was discussion on why Congress would budget this in 2007 and not in 2008. Lou stated that the last LRR had 2007. At the November 28th meeting, Dan Parrot explained the budgetary process being 2 years. The LRR could not be a 2007 because in essence this is requesting funds from the administration so they were directed to change it to 2008. Lou has a letter from Dan Parrot saying that if they get money from Congress for 2007 then the COE will be ready to start the work in 2007. Lou stated that we need to get this in the 2007 budget as soon as possible which will hopefully be next July, August, September so that the COE can start in November or December. Hampton did not have enough time to run a budget update on the money that has been spent thus far, but will have those numbers at the next meeting. Monitoring Carol Abercrombie made a table showing the areas where sand had decreased or increased from latest survey results. There were no surprises - continuing to lose on that from beach, but some gain on the South End, South Tip, and Back River. Widener Project Hampton stated that the plans and specs are at about 90% and environmental clearances are done, but there is no money for it to date. Berta asked if the sand was beach quality sand that they were going to place off shore. Paul understood that it would be everything and that beach quality sand would drift on shore. Hampton agreed. Lou stated at the moment we are waiting on DNR for the definition of beach quality sand. Skidaway Institute Michael Sullivan, External Affairs Manager from the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, shared with the Task Force members what the Skidaway Institute does and what type of expertise they have that could perhaps help the Task Force answer questions from time to time. They are educators not coastal engineers. They are an autonomous unit of the university system with about 50 to 60 employees. They primarily do oceanography research. They focus 80 -90% on research 10 – 20% on education with an additional effort towards public service as a state agency. They are not advertising for something to do, but if an organization needed a question to be answered, study to be done, or something to be monitor they are there to help. Berta asked if one of the staff could come and talk with the Task Force about wave action, currents, northeastern, ship traffic etc. Michael said he would contact that person and have him to call Berta to it up. Beach Master Plan Lou sent a letter to Mayor Parker and to the Council. Paul stated that they did receive the letter, but it was never on the agenda to approve. Jason stated that it could be on the next agenda for the Jan. 26th meeting. Lou asked Jan if Susan had gotten the letter also. Jan said she had not seen it. Funding Sources Lou and Hope have a meeting set up to talk about concerns. Election of Officers If anyone wants to be Chairman or Vice Chairman, please give Lou a call. Vote will be taken at the next meeting. No Old Business No New Business Meeting Adjourned