Meeting Minutes November 10, 2006 Meeting On a warm autumn evening, after a couple of days of excellent surf, about fifty Surfrider activists met at Aqua East in Montauk for the final 2006 meeting of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of Surfrider.  Chapter Chair, Tom Naro kicked off the meeting by introducing two guests from the Montauk Historical Society, Bill Wilkinson and Richard White.  Bill and Richard provided insight into the Historical Society’s perspective regarding the Montauk Lighthouse.  Among the points they made were: The Historical Society is opposed to re-locating the Lighthouse. The New York State Office of Historical Preservation and Conservation has decision authority over the Lighthouse and has determined that the Lighthouse will not be moved. The lighthouses on Block Island and Cape Hatteras were easier to move due to the topography at those sites. The Lighthouse site on Turtle Hill is as important, historically, as the structure itself. Bill and Richard then answered a few questions and Tom Naro thanked them for their presentation. Tom then provided a brief update of Chapter activities since our July meeting.  Surfrider Executive Director, Jim Moriarty was our Chapter’s guest at the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum’s Annual Luau benefit in July.  Our fourth Surf Movie Night at Guild Hall was a great success.  Tom mentioned that next year, we need to be more aggressive about managing our costs.  Tom and Mara Hogan-Dias attended a workshop sponsored by the Nature Conservancy at Stony Brook University. The workshop brought together environmental groups & local elected officials to discuss “Coastal Management for the 21st Century”.  Mara Hogan-Dias and Thomas Muse attended Governor Pataki’s forum “Ecosystem Conservation Management in New York State” also at Stony Brook University.  The forum generated ideas from many stakeholders for implementation of the newly enacted NY State Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act.  Chapter representatives met with Congressman Tim Bishop to brief him on our position regarding the Lighthouse revetment.  Jay Levine gave a presentation to the East Hampton Rotary Club introducing them to Surfrider and our mission.  The Chapter initiated a letter writing campaign to Bernadette Castro, Commissioner of NY State Parks, asking her to open up Montauk Point State Park to surfing.  A sample letter is on our web site for those who have not yet written to Ms.  Castro and wish to do so. Tom mentioned that NY State Parks wants to wait until the end of fishing season before revisiting discussion about surfing at Montauk Point State Park.  We hope to convene a follow-up meeting with State Parks officials during the next few weeks. Tom also encouraged attendees to pick up the current issue of “Surfer’s Path” & check out Joe Giannini’s story. Much of the remainder of the meeting was devoted to a presentation by Thomas Muse during which he outlined his White Paper on the proposed revetment at Montauk Point.  Key elements of Thomas’ presentation include: Saving the Lighthouse and saving the wave are not mutually exclusive. Surfrider Foundation is concerned about the unintended consequences of the Army Corps. of Engineers’ (ACE) revetment plan, including scouring of the beach and bluff at the revetment’s edges which could lead to narrowing of the beach to the north and south and eventually create “Montauk Island”, interruption of sand transport to western beaches, and creating backwash during storm surges that would likely affect the wave at Alamo and possibly alter water currents all the way through Turtle Cove.  The contractor who re-located the Block Island lighthouse has indicated that moving the Montauk Lighthouse is feasible. The proposed revetment is a “major action” within the ACE Fire Island to Montauk Study.  Major actions within an ACE study area are usually not permitted until the Study is complete. Thomas wrapped up his presentation by indicating that over the long term, re-locating the Lighthouse is a more cost-effective use of taxpayer funds than building a revetment.  The revetment is only predicted to last for 50-70 years, while moving the light house would protect it for 300 years. Thomas also showed the chapter a local example of an Army Corps project that has gone awry at Culloden Shores.  He indicated that we need to avoid a $14 million ACE mistake at the Point.   In response to a question, Thomas suggested that the surfcaster organization could be approached to determine if they would support our initiative to re-locate the Lighthouse. Tom Naro led a discussion of other topics including: Trash.  East Hampton has removed the trash barrels from the Trailer Park parking lot, resulting in an accumulation of trash on the beach and the parking lot.  Chris Poli has agreed to draft a letter to the Town asking them to replace the trash barrels and continue trash pick-up during the winter. Off-shore drilling.  Chris also spoke about the public comment period (which expires on November 27) regarding the US Department of Interior’s plan to provide 5 year oil & gas drilling leases off the coast of Virginia.  Information is available and public comments can be submitted at:  http://ocsconnect.mms.gov/pcs-public/do/ProjectDetailView?objectId=0b011f80800d06e8 Mara Hogan-Dias provided several up-dates.  Surfrider’s “Sea to Summit” film has been shown at East Hampton High School and she is seeking to expand our Chapter’s in-school education program. A public hearing on East Hampton’s proposed coastal legislation was held in August.  Four of our members attended and written comments were submitted. Surfrider’s letters to the Town are available for review on our web site.  The Town Board is now preparing responses to the public input received. Mara and Thomas Muse attended a public hearing on the Ocean Beach Resort’s application to build a stone revetment on the dunes in front of their hotel.  Arguments, both written and oral, were made against this proposal.  Our chapter asked the Zoning Board of Appeals to consider the protection of our public beaches over those of private property interests. The ZBA will now decide whether they will require an Environmental Impact Statement to be prepared for this application. Our Chapter sent a letter to the Town Board seeking a moratorium on the construction of hard erosion control structures, until a decision has been made on the proposed Coastal Legislation.  That letter is available for review on the Surfrider web site.  There is growing concern about the increase in the number of beach fires and the associated trash and coals that are left behind.  If the public doesn’t start cleaning up after their fires, we may lose this privilege.  There may also be an educational opportunity here for the Chapter. Tim Behringer provided an update on the beach driving issue, indicating the judge concluded in a recent law suit involving beach driving/access, that the Town of Southampton has the authority to determine its own rules governing beach driving and access.  This is an important victory for those concerned with public access to our beaches. Finally, John Weber, the east coast coordinator for Surfrider made two points.  Surfrider Foundation is seeking “150 Chapter Victories by 2010”. Our Chapter is on track to acheive our share of that goal. The Massachusetts Chapter is sponsoring a Snowrider Project at Sugarbush on January 27-28.  This event will include an educational booth at the lodge and reduced lift tickets for participants.  Anyone interested in participating contact John Weber at jweber@surfrider.org. Have a great holiday season!  Tom A date and location for our next meeting will be set shortly. Check www.surfriderli.org for details.