MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The meeting of the Board of Directors of the West Galveston Island Property Owners' Association, Inc. was held on September 18, 2004 at the Galveston County Club. Jerry Mohn, President, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Directors Boyd Carr (Isla del Sol), Sidney McClendon – Pirates Cove and Jerry Mohn, Marty Baker (Pirates Beach), and Susan Gonzales (Recording Secretary) were also present. A quorum of Directors was not present. For voting issues a vote by an email meeting will be taken.
The Mayor of Jamaica Beach, Vic Pierson, and Bill Hyneck from the Parks Board were introduced. WGIPOA corporate sponsors, Bert Fineman and Claire Reiswerg from San ‘N Sea Realtors, Vic Pierson from Moody National Bank, and Peggy Zahler from the Johnson Space Center Credit Union were introduced.
The August Minutes were reviewed. Motion by Boyd Carr, seconded by Sidney McClendon, the Board approved the August 21, 2004 minutes by vote of Directors present and by email vote taken on September 20, 2004.
Jerry Mohn gave the financial report. WGIPOA has $25,603 cash on hand. There is a balance on the invoice for the Consultant for the Task Force in the amount of $16,993.
Motion by Sidney McClendon, seconded by Boyd Carr, the Board approved the financial report and the expenditure of $6,993 for the political consultant through the Galveston County Beach Erosion Task Force by vote of Directors present and by email vote taken on September 20, 2004.
Program: Linda Shead, Program Director for the Trust for Public Lands, was incapacitated due to a fall and was not able to make a presentation. The program will be re-scheduled for a later date.
Galveston Island Vacation Realtors Management Association: Jerry Mohn introduced Claire Reiswerg with Sand N Sea Realtors. Clair presented information concerning the newly formed Galveston Island Vacation Realtors Management Association (GIVRMA) whose members are seven Realtors in the rental business on the island. Claire stated that the Goal is to promote the vacation rental industry on West Galveston Island by
The GIVRMA’s first task will be to meet with the City of Galveston and the Galveston Parks Board to resolve the issues of dirty beaches. The goal is to set up a program of cleaning the trash and debris off of the beaches and to include the West end of Galveston more frequently than the once a week trash barrel pick up. The Galveston Parks Board Operations Committee is discussing the beach cleaning plan on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. in the Parks Board Office. The WGIPOA also advised they will be present at the meeting to request more beach cleaning as well. The intent of this meeting is to assure that money is placed in Parks Board budget for beach cleaning.
Members in attendance stated that they want the GIVRMA to address issues such as, excess garbage at rental units, number of persons using a rental property, large number of vehicle parking, trespassing on to non-rental residents, etc. The members believe the GIVRMA will serve a great purpose in educating the renters in this regard,
Coastal Coordination Council (CCC) Meeting – September 9th : Vic Pierson, member of the CCC stated that he sees changes in the General Land Office (GLO) in enforcing rules. The CCC is really a policy setting organization and the GLO should enforce the rules. Vic states he believes that the sand sock will become more acceptable and eventually be allowed. One rule change will be to allow sand socks on accreting beaches.
Telemedicine for the West End: Vic Pierson is working with UTMB on a project that will provide medical services on the west end. This project would be located at the Jamaica Beach Fire Station close to the EMS unit. Although this is in the planning stages, it will be a great asset for the west end. Once set up this program will have monitors at Jamaica Beach that when in use can be seen by the medical staff at UTMB and used for immediate diagnosis and treatment. The facility will also have medical supplies.
Turtle Nesting Monitoring: This program is continuing and successful. A stranded Logger Head Turtle was found on Pirates Beach. The turtle was ill. The turtle had a virus contracted from barnacles. The turtle was removed and is being treated.
Feasibility Study – Sand Sources: Marty Baker, Chairman of the Galveston County Beach Erosion Task Force, stated that the Corp. of Engineers study found a large body of sand off shore. Approximately 74 million cubic yards of beach quality sand was found just off Galveston Island. The Corp. of Engineers need to conduct more studies before the sand can be accessed. The sand was located in different areas about 1-1/2 miles from Galveston. Information on the study and site can be found on the website: www.coastalplanning.net/Geotech/Projects/Galveston/Galveston_Sand_Search.html
CEPRA: The Galveston County Beach Erosion Task Force and the West Galveston Island Property Owners Association were invited to address the House Committee on Land and Resource Management in Austin on August 25 to support increased funding for the Coastal Erosion Planning & Response Act. Marty Baker from the Task Force and Jerry Mohn from the WGIPOA made presentations to the Committee to support and to increase the funding of this important funding program for shoreline restoration projects. The House Representative spearheading the project, Juan Manuel Escobar, sent a letter to each participant that as a result of the testimony and meetings, the goal in raising $25 million per biennium for the CEPRA program appears realistic.
ASBPA Annual Meeting – New Orleans: Jerry Mohn attended the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association annual meeting in New Orleans. The WGIPOA was a $500 sponsor participant and the organization had a lot of visibility at the meeting. The ASBPA was formed in 1926 and is the leading organization in understanding, developing, and funding shoreline restoration projects. Texas can learn from the various members the different techniques to build and fund projects. Louisiana has been able to obtain since 1992 over $625 million in federal funds for wetlands restoration. In Mississippi there is a Seawall Tax; in Florida there is a transaction fee on all properties sold and $30 million each year is earmarked for shoreline restoration projects in the State. Jerry Mohn and John Lee from the County were elected to the Board of Directors. A Chapter of the ASBPA will be formed for the upper Texas coast and an effort will be made for coastal cities and counties to join.
PID: Five (5) West End subdivisions met with the GLO, City and County officials, and an engineering firm to discuss the Public Improvement District (PID) to finance shoreline restoration projects for their subdivisions. Each participating subdivision will have a service plan. At this time the interested subdivisions are looking for seed money loan from the City for consultants and lawyers and the City would be paid back when the PID is formed. The original request was $50,000 but the City believes they can negotiate the costs down to $25,000. However, due to budget constraints, the City may not be able to provide the funds even though they would be paid back because the transaction will show up as an expense. The subdivisions interested in forming the PID addressed City Council during the budget public hearings to fund the request.
Subdivisions need to make a decision whether to proceed. The cost to set up for engineering and the permits is expected to run $30,000 per subdivision. There may be a cost savings in combining the subdivisions programs.
Anchor Bay Development: The Spanish Grant Bay and Anchor Bay are pursuing a joint hydrology study to see the impact of the new development on the existing canals. They will also look at ways to improve Spanish Grant Bay canals.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 10:47 a.m.