WEST GALVESTON ISLAND PROPERTY OWNER'S ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the West Galveston Island POA was held on July 18, 2009 at the Galveston Country Club. The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m. by Jerry Mohn, President. A quorum was present. Directors present were Bill Moll – Spanish Grant Bayside, Bill McFarland – Bermuda Beach, Carole Stewart – Sportsman Road, Boyd Carr – Isla Del Sol, Carolyn Farmer – Terramar, Marty Bilek – Dunes of West Beach, Tom Boothe – Condo, Debra Phelps - Pointe San Luis and Peggy Zahler – Spanish Grant Beach, and Sam Morella – Acapulco Village.

Guests in attendance were: Bryan Lamb – County Commissioner; Karen Mahoney - City Council Member; Jim Schweitzer – Judge; Brandon Wade – Deputy City Manager; Joe Jaworski - former City Council; Juan Pena – former City Council Member; Sergeant Brett Luck, Police Officer.

Mayoral candidate Joe Jaworski and City Council candidate Juan Pena gave short introductions about their candidacy.

The minutes were sent out by email. Upon motion duly made by Tom Boothe and seconded by Peggy Zahler, the following resolution was adopted by unanimous vote. RESOLVED THAT, the Board approved the minutes of the June 20, 2009 meeting.

Marty Bilek gave the treasures report. Total Assets are $39,735. Expenses for the year are $24,428 with net income of $1,180. Upon motion duly made by Bill McFarland and seconded by Boyd Carr, the following resolution was adopted by unanimous vote. RESOLVED THAT, the Board proved the treasurers & collection report.

Jerry Mohn recognized Corporate Sponsor Peggy Zahler for the Johnson Space Center Credit Union.

District 6 Happenings – Karen Mahoney, City Council Member: Karen advised the city does not have any money. The budgeting cycle for fiscal year beginning October 1, 2009, begins this week with all day sessions and reviews.

Golf cart issues – police are issuing tickets if the drivers drive recklessly. There are new regulations coming out for golf carts. A Bill passed this 81^st Legislative Session that allows golf carts on the beach for people with disabilities. It becomes effective September 1. Karen hopes to have more information on the new regulations soon.

County Commissioner Bryan Lamb: Talked about the $10-12 million bonds voted last year for road improvements throughout the County. Galveston will participate with the widening and paving sections of Stewart Road where Dead Man’s Curve is located to 8 Mile Road. These improvements will make this area safer.

Bryan advised the County will be building a new fire station at the Justice Center, which will help the west end.

The county will be starting their budgeting process in 2 weeks and do not anticipate to lay off any employees.

West End Infrastructure – Brandon Wade – Deputy City Manager: Brandon advised FEMA is now paying 90% of the costs for debris removal. They hope FEMA will eventually pay 100%, which would help the City’s finances. FEMA has established 9/13 now as the cut off date. Dealing with FEMA is frustrating and difficult. They always say no and then after a period of time, change their minds and agree. Right now they are arguing with FEMA about repairs for the lift station and the MUD 1 building. Bermuda Beach and Spanish Grant Beach has been a very trying event with FEMA; they just approved installing bollards and improving the beach road with gravel. The City did this in March!! The City is still trying to get the roads back and working with US Fish & Wildlife and FEMA.

Using CDGB funds to build the Jamaica Beach Water Tower, which will hold 2 millions of water. If the west end is damaged by future storms, there will be water available. Also, approval of CDBG projects should be made next week.

Buyouts: Should know FEMA’s decision this week. Once the decision is made, FEMA will close the buy out in 90 to 120 days. Right now, a new home cannot be added to the buy out list, which there are 67 for the west end and 11 in Jamaica Beach. If a home owner would like to be added to the buy out program, wait for the second round of CDBG funds.

The Planning Department and City Attorney are reviewing all the development ordinances and will try top come up with a development code.

Robert Webster, Texas A&M at Galveston – two research studies:

1. Investigation of the Impact of Beach Raking on Beach Accretion/Erosion:
   West End Beaches of Galveston Island, Texas, 2007/ 2008

• Analysis suggests that anthropogenic methods, such as raking and or grooming do contribute to beach erosion. Pirates Beach, which experienced frequent raking of the beach during the summer months, lost approximately 15% of its aerial beach from September 2007 to January 2007. During the same period, adjacent Pirates Beach West, which does not rake, lost approximately 12% of its aerial beach. These losses occurred after the sargassum season had ended

• 12 different sites were tested. Compared sites adjacent to each other. Jamaica Beach had erosion while the State Park next door had accretion.

• Coastal erosion is the wearing away of land or the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage

• Beach Slope – average for the west end is 3% and the beaches with greater slopes always came back to 3%. Slopes measured during the study for the west end beaches were as follows:

• Sea Isle 4%
• The Dunes 3%
• Indian Beach 5%
• Jamaica Beach 5%
• Galveston State Park 3%
• Pirates Beach West 4%
• Palm Beach 5%
• Pirates Beach 5%
• Beachside 4%
• Bermuda Beach 5%
• Spanish Grant 4%
• Dellanera Park 4%

• 2007/2008 Beach Profiles

• Beach Raking on wet encrusted sand appears to increase beach erosion
• Beach Raking on dry sand appears to have no influence on beach erosion
• Time series beach profiling produces a more accurate representation on beach elevation

• Summary - Beach Raking Strategies

• Avoid raking on the wet or lower portion of the beach face
• Suspend raking activities previous to predicted flood tides
• Suspend raking activities when predicted near shore wave heights exceed five feet

• Post Ike Slope Studies: After the storm, most beaches had a 1% slope but the sand bars helped to build the sand back onto the beaches. Beaches are now almost fully recovered with a 2.7% slope. In a short time, they will be back to the normal 3% slope.

1. A Historic Investigation of Sargassum Accumulation along the Texas Coastline. The sargassum hitting the Texas coast is called Pelagic Sargassum

• Early studies defined the boundaries of the Sargasso Sea. Krummel (1891)
• Krummel's chart was revised and improved by Winge (1923)
• Quantitative data southwest Sargasso Sea at 1.08g m^-2 from a series of collecting cruises between 1933 and 1935 by Parr (1939)
• Quantitative data southwest Sargasso Sea at 0.055 g m^-2 from a series of collecting cruises between (1977 to 1981) by Stoner (1983)
• There is a significant difference between Parr's and Stoner's results in the southwest section of the Sargasso Sea

• Research Questions and Answers

• Are sargassum beach castings a long term maintenance issue? No, Historic newspaper records suggests that there is a 35 year cycle between heavy outbreaks of sargassum. These outbreaks last on average of 8 years

• Are there trends that could be used to predict future beach castings of sargassum? Yes, These records indicate that during those years with heavy beach castings that the outbreaks start at South Padre Island and move north along the coast

• Are there indicators that could be used to determine the amount of sargassum that invades the Texas coastline? Yes, Average North Atlantic Temperature variances appear to effect the amount of sargassum bio-mass that moves into the Gulf of Mexico

• Research Tools

• Index cards and 150 years of micro film
• NewspaperARCHIVE.com is the world's largest online provider of fully searchable historic newspaper articles.

• Galveston Daily Newspaper
• Rosenberg Library
• Galveston and Texas History Center

• Other Contributing Newspapers

• Brownsville
• Corpus Christi
• San Antonio
• Port Arthur

• Sargassum’s Aliases

• Seaweed
• Gulfweed
• Holly weed
• Ironweed
• Iodine weed

• Seaweed References (newspapers)

• Galveston 1866-2008 1800 references
• Corpus Christi 1930-1977 842 references
• Brownsville 1900-1977 645 references
• Port Arthur 1921-1977 362 references
• San Antonio 1883- 1977 1702 references
• Total 5351 references

• Valid Complaints (people and newspapers complaining about the seaweed)

• 12 complaints
• 1931-1936 18 complaints
• 1954 16 complaints
• 1962-1969 35 complaints
• 1989 20 complaints
• 1999-2007 36 complaints

• Sargassum Peak Years

• 32 years 136 complaints
• 104 years 28 complaints

The West Galveston Island Property Owners Association presented a check for $1000 to TAMUG to continue the excellent research program on beach profiles and sargassum.

Other Topics discussed:

Cell tower: The Planning Commission will review a general use permit and specific use permit at the July 21 meeting. Verizon/GTE Mobilnet would like to install an 84 foot tower in Sea Isle. The other tower, Pointe San Luis, the City is working on a contract to allow Verizon/GTE Mobilnet to use the water tower.

Buy Outs: The City has 67 houses on the west end for buy outs. Jamaica Beach has 11. FEMA will make a decision shortly on the homes that will participate in the program. If anyone is interested in the list of homes with addresses to contact Jerry Mohn

Anchor Bay: Bill Moll brought everyone up to date on the last Planning Commission hearing to excavate canals in the development. Planning Commission denied the application until a cumulative environmental impact assessment is completed. The WGIPOA addressed the Planning Commission in support of Spanish Grant Bay to deny the request.

There being no further business the regular meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

Special meeting of the Board after the meeting:

Amicus Brief: The GLO requested the WGIPOA to file an amicus brief in the Severance lawsuit to support the GLO’s position. They would pay and prepare the brief and the WGIPOA would review before submitting. This is a very contentious lawsuit and the Board preferred to stay neutral and not do anything. The GLO understands the WGIPOA situation.

ASBPA: The President requested the WGIPOA to be a sponsor at the upcoming ASBPA conference in St. Petersburg, FL, October 14-16, 2009. The President plans to attend.

Upon motion duly made by Peggy Zahler and seconded by Tom Boothe, the following resolution was adopted by unanimous vote. RESOLVED THAT, the Board approved the expenditure of $500 for a sponsorship at the ASBPA conference.

Plaque: Discussion was held concerning the purchase of a plaque to give Craig Eiland, who will be the guest speaker at the August 15 meeting. Upon motion duly made by Marty Bilek and seconded by Bill McFarland, the following resolution was adopted by unanimous vote. RESOLVED THAT, the Board approved the expenditure of a plaque for Craig Eiland.

Special Board Meeting adjourned at 11:15 AM.

Susan Gonzales
Secretary