2006 April Meeting

Called to order at 1:15 PM by President Andy Lang.
Mildred Coker, Kathy Love, Marie Garrett, Leonard Tatar, Andy Lang
Advisory Director Louis Conrad and Guest Deborah Cross

1. Minutes of the April 9, 2006 meeting were approved as distributed.
Mildred Coker reported that there was $65,000 in the bank and it would cost an approximated $35,000 to complete the year.

2. Outstanding maintenance fees: Front row 2 lots Harrigan, 1 lot Ott and 1 lot Sweeney for the past year. Sweeney had paid for the lot and security fee for the house on BB Dr. Beck still owed $150 for mowing

3. FM3005 property sale: Mildred has met with the new owners of the property along the N side of Bermuda Beach. They now own the two corners that Bermuda Beach uses for their sign. In the meeting they advised Mildred that they were planning on landscaping the corner with fountains and plantings but would display the Bermuda Beach entrance. Andy suggested that we send a letter, that he will write, asking for first opportunity to purchase or lease one or both corners and that we would like to approve any new sign for Bermuda Beach. Changing the sign would be at the expense of the new owner if they choose not to use the existing one.

Entrance Lights: Marie mentioned the lights at the front entrance were out. Workers had been doing some construction on the little house by the road and may have cut something. Andy moved and Kathy seconded a motion for Mildred to call West End Electric to identify the problem and repair or replace lights prior to the 4th of July weekend. Marie is donating new rope lights for the palm trees.

Oleanders: Mildred discussed the need to trim back and replace the Oleanders along Pabst Rd due to a fungus. Leonard moved and Andy seconded a motion for Mildred to get bids and choose between the two companies if less than the original bid from Tom Thumb Nursery.

Seaweed was not raked by our normal contractor this week. Spanish Grant had asked our contractor to do some work on their beach. He left our job to rake at SG. (This was later explained).

Mildred will telephone Neal Thomas and let him know that we were first to contract him and our beach should be maintained in the manner we originally requested, without a break in service and with the driver we trained. Louie later clarified that he asked Mike to always try to work during the low tide. If it is high tide and the surf goes out it just leaves more seaweed. This incident happened during a high tide and Mike felt it was actually in our best interest to go ahead with SG and then come back to during the low tide. Unfortunately during that time he suffered a mild heat stroke and a substitute driver completed the work. We have instructed the contractor that we want only our trained driver in the future, to work during low tide and complete our job before going to another beach.

4. Front row moratorium - discussion & possible letter - tabled for discussion at the end of the meeting.

5. Tele-medical how much to pledge? Discussion & vote on pledge - Marie will check with the WGIPOA to see what they suggest so that we will be in line with other pledges. They fully look for this to be self sufficient once it gets going. There will be a demonstration of the Tele-medical (Doc - in a box) on Saturday June 17 at 9AM at the Jamaica Beach Public Service building 16628 San Luis Pass Road.

6. Green Line experimental project - Kathy has been in touch with a group that is proposing an "Irrigation" project on a private front row lot. This type of project does not need board approval but does need a beach construction permit through the City and State. Kathy was advised that the company has been presenting the project as if it were a Bermuda Beach project. Kathy will write to the company and let them know that we are not part of the project and we do not wish our names be advertised as part of the project. We are interested in the results but we do not want a conflict with the City or the GLO if they are made to believe that this is a subdivision funded project. It is not.

7. Beach Restoration Inc CIAP project - Andy & Marie - tabled for discussion at the end of the meeting.

8. CEPRA IV (Coastal Erosion Planning & Response Act) Emergency PGS - Kathy has submitted two emergency grants to the GLO. 1 for a buy in at $25,000 dune restoration project that would result into a $100,000 project 2. $25,000 nourishment that would result into a $100,000 sand project. We were asked to submit "emergency" projects and that there was $1 million plus possibly available because of "unused" funds. These funds were identified prior to the June 6 decision of the GLO to use those same funds in an effort to help the front row move. We do not know if they will still consider the emergency project goal summaries.

9. The nominating committee is just starting to request applications for people interested in being on the board. Kathy Love requested that Louis Conrad "trade places" with her. Kathy will remain as an Advisory Director and Louis, a full time resident and BBIC Advisory Director who has served on the board for a year will replace her name on the October ballot. Leonard will interview other individuals that have shown interest and make his recommendation to the board at the next board meeting.

10. The next BBIC meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 27

4. Front Row Moratorium was discussed. Debbie Cross discussed what she would like to propose and what she expected of the home owners association. Louis reminded Debbie of a document that all new homeowners purchasing property on the front row had to sign acknowledging that they knew they were "at risk" due to natural causes. The big question is if our erosion is caused naturally. The GLO has acknowledged that the 5 mile levee constructed by the Army Corp of Engineers is what has caused the west end of Galveston to melt into the Gulf. Property rights issues are being fought at the State and Federal levels as to the legality of the "Open Beach Act".

Debbie Cross agreed to chair a Front Row Property Owners Task Force representing the front row homeowners and liaison to the board through Andy Lang. Front Row property owners should direct all comments concerning the request to move from the front row to Debbie. 281-304-8337 debicross@msn.com

The homeowners association cannot take a stand on this issue without a vote taken from all property owners. Andy explained that the homeowners association would like to help them as much as we can but has no authority to act on behalf of these property owners in any legal undertakings that they may pursue as individuals or as a group.

11. CIAP (Coastal Impact and Assistance Program) Marie Garrett attended a special meeting requesting subdivisions to band together and present large projects for the first phase of CIAP money for the upcoming year.

Andy and Marie attended two additional meetings during the past two weeks. The Galveston Erosion TASK Force meeting and a special meeting with Spanish Grant and Heresy Beach. Marie suggested a pilot project that she has been involved in and has proven positive results in other states. Information on this type of shore nourishment device can be seen on www.beachrestorationinc.com Spanish Grant and Heresy Beach voted that Marie would be their liaison in representing Spanish Grant and Heresy Beach with the GLO and Beach Restoration Inc. and would fill out all the necessary paper work to apply for a nomination of the first phase of CIAP. Application must be submitted by June 20,2006

Andy explained that at the June Beach Erosion TASK Force meeting that he and Marie attended, it was stressed that subdivisions and the city and county should submit as many plans as desired because it was difficult to predict which proposals would be favored.

Motion carried: Kathy moved and Leonard seconded that BB would like to be included in that proposal and that Marie would also represent Bermuda Beach in all meeting pertaining to CIAP and a Beach Restoration Project Motion carried unanimously. It was agreed that in the proposal we would show a $25,000 + buy in if a contribution was needed. Spanish Grant and Heresy Beach will show similar amounts based on the length of their respective beaches.

Motion failed: Andy moved that we submit an addition CIAP application that would add the purchase of the front row homes to the beach restoration project. Discussion that adding that to the beach restoration project might diminish our chances of getting the BRP. Motion failed. There was no second.

Motion failed: Andy moved that we submit an additional CIAP application that would just cover the purchase of the homes at not less than appraised value. Motion was seconded by Kathy but was withdrawn after a discussion as to how the CIAP money would be distributed and the short time from to get the paper work completed. We will investigate further the possibly of a nomination for the purchase of front row homes for the second phase of CIAP.

One clarification that Marie wanted to make sure everyone understood was that her company does represent Beach Restorations Inc. It is because of this affiliation that she has become avidly involved in beach issues in Texas, Florida and other states. It has also given her first hand knowledge as to the success of this type of devise. Marie was concerned about a conflict of interest but because she owns property that is on the landward side of Bermuda Beach Dr. wants to see protection of the beach. Marie offered to resign from the board to handle this project so there would be appearance of a conflict. We feel very fortunate to have someone with the knowledge and energy to pursue such a positive project on our behalf. We unanimously agreed that Marie should not resign.

Meeting Adjourned 4:30 PM