Fall Meeting of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation Meeting Minutes October 26, 2007 Meeting Fifty Surfrider activists participated in the Autumn meeting of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of Surfrider Foundation on October 26, 2007.  Aqua East Restaurant in Montauk provided the meeting site. Chapter Chair Tom Naro opened the meeting with a brief review of recent Chapter activities: Members of the chapter assisted at the annual Rell Sun Surf contest in August.  Volunteers used this opportunity to talk with people on the beach about sand erosion, sea walls, the Lighthouse and other topics. On August 8th both Surf Movie Night and Great Caesar’s Ghost fund raisers were held and generated over $2000 for the Chapter.. Chapter members gave an educational program at Hayground School in Bridgehampton in September as part of World Monitoring Day:  http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/.  We set a chapter record for new member sign-ups with 166 new members joining our chapter since June. Tom Naro announced that Barefoot Wines has donated $10,000 to be used in our Move the Lighthouse campaign.  Additionally, an anonymous donor provided $1,000 to be used in the legal defense of eight surfers who have received tickets for surfing on the north side of Montauk Point. The Chapter approved the organization of a fund raising event with the proceeds to be used to pay the tickets for those eight surfers, in the event that our legal defense falls short of its objectives. Tom introduced our guest speaker:  East Hampton Town Supervisor, Mr.  William McGintee.  Mr.  McGintee addressed several important topics; The Town has, to this point, remained “neutral” regarding the Army Corps of Engineers’ (ACE) plan to construct a seawall at Montauk Point.  However, he expressed concern about the ACE’s reliability in projecting the erosion impact of it’s projects.  He indicated that the Town is seeking greater exploration of the feasibility of re-locating the Lighthouse.  The Town has not yet been approached about the use of Turtle Cove as a “staging area” for construction of the seawall. The Town has offered to help expand the wetlands and drywells to improve runoff filtration at Havens Beach.  This strategy has been successfully employed is several areas around Montauk including Fort Pond, Lake Montauk, and Ditch Plains.  The Town is planning more drywells and catchment basin to reduce pollution from runoff in Montauk. East Hampton has implemented an incentive plan for those removing in-ground fuel tanks and for those up-grading septic systems in the Harbor Protection District around Lake Montauk. Several options are being explored to address the erosion risk to Montauk village, including the risks associated with the opening of the dune at the end of the roads that run south to the beach.  The Town has been successful in convincing the ACE to address the erosion risk to Montauk as part of its Montauk to Fire Island Study. The plan for utilization of Turtle Cove is being finalized.  The number of parking spaces will be limited to eight, two of which will be designated for handicap use. Mr.  McGintee fielded several questions from attendees regarding the five initiatives he outlined. Tom Naro asked the Chapter to approve appointment of the following individuals to the positions indicated: Tom Naro and Mara Dias  Co-chairs  Jay Fruin   Vice chair Jay Levine  Secretary Steve Matzen Treasurer Mick Hargreaves Volunteer Coordinator  Thomas Muse Environmental Director Eugene Alper Chapter Advisor Joe Warren Education Coordinator Gene Gentile, Bill Lucey, and Annee Elliot Special Event Coordinators Aime Bland Awareness Coordinator The vote was unanimous!! Mara Dias provided a brief up-date on Broadwater.   It is expected that by the end of the year the NY Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation will determine if the Broadwater proposal is consistent with the NY State Coastal Zone Legislation.  The Chapter has been active in opposing Broadwater. Thomas Muse briefed the Chapter on recent and planned activities regarding the ACE plan to construct a seawall at the Lighthouse.  The Chapter has organized a critical meeting to take place on November 9.  Meeting participants include key local elected officials:  Assemblyman Fred Thiele, State Senator Ken LaValle, Congressman Tim Bishop, County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, and Supervisor McGintee, as well as Chapter representatives.  The focus of the meeting is to request that all local elected officials take a position to require the ACE to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility of moving the Lighthouse as an alternative to constructing the seawall.  Fred Thiele has been instrumental in helping to organize this important meeting.  Thomas then showed selected scenes from a video documenting the move of the Hatteras Lighthouse. Eugene Alper and Joe Giannini wrapped up the meeting by reviewing recent developments in our effort to legalize surfing on the north side of Montauk Point.  Key topics included the following: A September 11 meeting with NY State Parks officials and members of the fishing advisory committee yielded no progress. Joe was able to consolidate the eight tickets into one proceeding.  He will file a motion to dismiss the case in early November. November 28 has been set as the court date, although the date may change. Eugene reminded everybody to be respectful of the surfcasters and to “Keep the Peace on the Beach”. Tom Naro closed the meeting by thanking all who attended the meeting and reminded everyone to check the chapter's website www.surfriderli.org frequently for the latest information on chapter affairs. A date and location for our next meeting will be set shortly.