Meeting Minutes July 13, 2005 Meeting The Eastern Long Island Chapter “Summer’s Here!” meeting was attended by over 50 members on the evening of July 13, at John Duck’s Southampton Restaurant. We were fortunate to be joined by three Surfrider staff members. I  Call for Volunteers Eugene Alper, Chapter Chair opened the meeting with a summary of up-coming events and a request that individuals sign –up to assist with the events, which included: Saturday, July 16. Live music at Rick’s Crabby Cowboy, Montauk. Performers include Mara Hogan’s band, The Bastards of Boom. Monday, July 18. Screening of “Endless Summer” by the Southampton Parks and Recreation Department. August 10. Surfrider movies night at Guild Hall, East Hampton. August 11. Redsand Surf Clinic, Main Beach Surf Shop, East Hampton. August 12. Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, performance by Great Caesar’s Ghost, to benefit the chapter. August 31. West Hampton Beach surf movies night, chapter membership table. September 10. Clean Water Paddle Out. Location to be confirmed. Mid-October. Northeast Regional Surfrider meeting in Montauk. II  Education Programs Joe Warren is an oceanographer on the faculty of Southampton College and will soon be on the faculty of SUNY Stony Brook. Joe has organized a fascinating Beach Mapping Program, involving students from 8 years old, through high school. His educational program involves students collecting data on sand and sand movement on selected east end beaches. The data will be organized and analyzed by high school students and various avenues are being explored for disseminating the results of the study. Joe is seeking additional schools to participate in the study. Please contact Joe if you are aware of other schools that might have an interest in working on this important research study. III  Jim Moriarty, Surfrider Executive Director Eugene introduced Surfrider’s new executive Director, Jim Moriarty, who addressed the meeting. Jim scored some early points with the Chapter by announcing that he grew-up in the north east and lived for a while in Brooklyn. Although he has been on the job for only 6 weeks, Jim outlined his agenda for Surfrider: Industry marketing studies indicate that there are 2 million surfers in the US. Surfrider’s membership is 40,000, which is only 2% of surfers. Jim understands that numbers equal political influence. Ie, the larger the number of members, the more political influence Surfrider will generate. Surfrider needs to adopt a more aggressive Public Relations posture and become “the undisputed voice of the coast”. Surfrider will develop linkages and alliances with other surf-related organizations that share Surfrider’s values and agenda, in order to leverage the combined resources of multiple organizations. Surfrider will adopt national and international agendas, since many of the issues we address cross international boundaries. IV  Chapter Up-date Eugene provided a brief up-date of recent issues of interest to the chapter. Sagaponack. Some residents of Sagaponack have begun an initiative to form an incorporated village, which would in effect end any possibility that the Dunehampton initiative will re-surface. Surfrider members will remember that there was a real fear that the Dunehampton initiative represented an effort by some residents to circumvent certain environmental and other rules developed by the Town of Southampton. We should monitor the Sagaponack developments since their intentions regarding coastal issues are not clear. Georgica Groins. The three groins are causing down-drift erosion. Since the groins represent a sensitive environmental issue and since the groins have contributed to a good surf spot, the chapter welcomes consideration of alternative strategies to maintain the beach and the surf spot. Camp Hero. As previously reported, surfing permits are no longer required. However, there has been no official announcement regarding surfing restrictions during September and October. We will continue to monitor this situation and keep member appraised. North side of Lighthouse. Surfing is still prohibited on the north side of the Lighthouse. The chapter is reluctant to address this issue until there is a permanent solution/full surfing access at Camp Hero. V  John Weber, East Coast Regional Manager Eugene introduced John Weber, our new East Coast Regional Manager, who addressed attendees. John has been active in the Jersey Shore Chapter for many years and has recently joined the Surfrider staff. He described his key responsibilities as: Assisting the 7 chapters in his region to coordinate their activities on issues of mutual interest. Helping to expand Surfrider membership. John introduced Steve Blank who is Surfrider’s Development Director. VI  New Chapter Leadership After serving 2 years as Chapter Chair and committing many hours to Surfrider, Eugene nominated a panel of three individuals for chapter leadership positions: Tom Naro-Chair. Mara Hogan-Vice Chair. Thomas Muse-Environmental Spokesman. Chapter members voted unanimously for the panel of nominees. VII  Other Topics Eugene led a discussion of other topics of interest to the chapter. Teenager arrest. A 14 year old boy was arrested by Southampton Village police after the police were called to clear surfers out of the water, in the vicinity of a private beach club’s swimming area, during July 4th weekend. It was not clear why the boy was arrested; however the arrest raises many issues such as: Private beach club jurisdiction below the mean high water line. Beach access by non-beach club members. Police jurisdiction. Need for surfers to be sensitive to beach/swimmer safety. A group of new Surfrider members agreed to study the issue and report back at the next chapter meeting. Beach Driving Tim Behringer reported on a bill introduced to the NYS legislature that gives the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation the authority to regulate various uses of the beach including beach driving. If enacted, this legislature could exclude local communities from controlling beach access. The bill has been passed by the Assembly but has not yet been voted on by the Senate. A vote is expected in the fall. Turtle Cove The Town of East Hampton has proposed a 12 car parking lot at Turtle Cove. Since this nature preserve and beach had originally been federal land, the Town must develop and comply with a federally approved Plan for Utilization. Accordingly, the Town has drafted a second Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to accommodate the 12 parking spaces. The first EIS was quickly dismissed by the Federal Government. We hope the second EIS meets a similar fate and that the nature preserve remains protected. Camp Hero Thomas Muse’s parking plan has been approved and relocation of the parking area and re-vegetation are expected to begin this fall. Lighthouse The Army Corp of Engineers revetment project is still in process. Eugene is looking forward to working with another Surfrider volunteer who is willing to take on this issue. East Hampton Coastal Zone Erosion Hazard Act. Several of Carolyn Zenk’s recommendations have been embraced by the Town attorney and other Town officials. Beach Fill Projects The chapter is monitoring beach fill projects to assess their impact on surf spots and to inform our position and ultimately our strategies. Amsterdam Beach The State, County, and Town have collaborated on the acquisition of this large tract of land in Montauk. Since Amsterdam Beach has many attributes in common with Shadmoor, Surfrider has encouraged that this new park be managed in a manner similar to Shadmoor, i.e., limit parking to an area adjacent to the highway, encourage pedestrian access, and keep the beach open to surfing. A date and location for our next meeting will be set shortly. Check www.surfriderli.org for details.