Goleta Beach Master Planning

Working Group

January 8, 2004

 

MINUTES

 

1.

Welcome and Introductions

2.

Public Comments

There were no comments from members of the public.
 

3.

Member Comments

 

  • Mark Holmgren, at the table as an alternate for the Coalition to Save Goleta’s Beaches, said that the use of photos to demonstrate the loss of the park and beach should have reference points so the photos are not misleading.

    Coleen Lund (Parks Dept.) indicated that the Park Dept. is placing flags on the Pier to note erosion lines over time. They are using aerial photos that do not indicate the tidal conditions at the time the photos were taken. She will see what they can do to determine this information.

  • Other Working Group member comments:

  • Ed de la Torre suggested that a matrix be created of the synthesis of solutions- showing the upside and downside of the solutions, impacts and associated costs.

  •  Dan Secord mentioned that he had two videos- “The Beaches are moving” and the “Rivers of Sand” available if members would like to borrow them to view. Lynn suggested that the group view these together, if interested.

4.

Updates and Background

 

a.

Minutes of Meeting #1: The minutes for the meeting held 12/11/03 were reviewed.  No changes were made.

 

b.

Updates by Parks Department Staff – Coleen Lund:

  • Rock revetment - The permit applications are out for the extension of the rock revetment. The Coastal Commission will be meeting on Jan 14 in Laguna Beach at the Montage Resort hotel to vote on this. The staff recommends leaving in the rock for 30 months from the date the permit is approved. Depending on the working group efforts, this rock may remain, be removed or another alternative solution. This goes beyond the Board of Supervisors recommendations of two years (from last year’s date of approval)

  • Jurisdictional boundary determination - On Feb 2nd, the State Lands Commission will make its determination on the jurisdictional boundary for Goleta Beach. (In Sacramento).

  • Revegetation near decks - The re-vegetation on the northern boundary decks will begin next month.

  • BEACON project - The sand loss from recent storms has been relatively small. At the west end, the material deposited by Flood Control, 14 feet laterally was lost. Towards the pier, where the BEACON sand was deposited, 5-7 feet were lost, which is fairly typical.

  • Links to maps and figures from the Long Term Beach Restoration and Shoreline Erosion Management Plan and the Environmental Carrying Capacity Study/Management Plan for Goleta Beach reports are available on website. Contact Coleen at County Parks (568-2470) if you can’t download the pdf files.

c.

Charter Review:

There is a change in the wording relating to supporting the recommendations of the Working Group and to remove the signature page. 

 

d.

Role of Alternates

  • Alternates are all notified of the meetings via e-mail.

  • They are limited to attending a maximum of two meetings in place of the member. They are welcome to attend all of the meetings if they are interested.

  • If any of the four at-large public members are unable to continue to be on the Working Group, the Steering Committee will go back to the original process, and Susan Rose will select their replacement.

e.

Committee Binders

Copies of the binder will be available for viewing at the Goleta library, the Parks Department and at Susan Rose’s office. It was suggested that one be available at the UCSB library as well.

 

5.

Discussion – Formulate Questions for Science Panel

 

  • Visioning sessions suggestions - Lynn asked the members to take a look at the Final Report on the visioning sessions in the binder; the “additional research needed” questions developed by participants. This section provides the working group with a starting list for questions to the coastal experts.

  • Park users - It is important to know who is using the park.  Through the Parks Dept. reservations system, we should have some indication of who is reserving the group areas at the park.

  • “Card table” survey - It was suggested that visitors to Goleta Beach be surveyed by setting up a card table (like Jack O’Connell used to do) and asking several questions of visitors about their experiences at the park. 

  • Visitors to the Park - Some members commented that park usage should not be based on the number of cars since a number of UCSB students park there.  Is the number “over a million accurate?” How was this calculated?  An intern with Gary Griggs from UC Santa Cruz did a survey at the beach in August.  Colleen will send these results out.  The restaurant also keeps records of its patrons.  The Public Health department takes water quality samples.  Do they make other observations as well?

  • Working Group questions for experts – The group developed a list of questions to submit to the coastal experts (science advisors).  These will be compiled and Art Sylvester will review the compilation of questions that staff prepares, make any changes and forward them to the experts. 

    • Art Sylvester will give an overview of what is happening with UCSB beach at the field trip next Thursday, Jan. 15th.  Robert Norris did a study on the Isla Vista beach Where he took property line measurements, and retook them years later to give an indication of beach loss (an example of the use of appropriate reference points

6.

Next Meeting Date and Time

 

Site visit Jan. 15th - The site visit to Goleta Beach will be held on Thursday, January 15th at 3:00 p.m., rain or shine. Meet at the group area nearest to the play area. Photos/drawings will be provided, with rock revetment references, utility locations and flags on the pier to show the beach location at different time periods.

 

Science Advisors Workshop: Thursday, January 22, 2004, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – (box lunch provided for Working Group members and staff.)

 

Science Advisors Include:

  • Bob Battalio-Coastal engineering - from the SF Bay Area- Phillip Williams Associates

  • Ed Keller-UCSB - geology

  • Arthur Sylvester-UCSB – geology (Working Group liaison)

  • Jenny Dugan- UCSB – Beach ecology

  • Dave Hubbard- UCSB – Coastal ecology

  • Chris Webb – Coastal engineering - Moffatt and Nichol

  • Dave Revell – UCSC Graduate Student – coastal geology

The group agreed that it would be useful to audiotape the science advisor workshop on Jan. 22nd.

 
  February Meeting Dates:
 
  • Thursday, February 5th    from 3:30 –5:30  p.m. at the Airport administrative conference room.
  • Thursday, February 19th from 3:30 –5:30 at the Airport administrative conference room.
  The meeting was adjourned at 5:50pm