10/16/2007 SOUTH CAPE BEACH ADVISORY Minutes

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TOWN OF AS H P E E SOUTH CAPE BEACH STATE PARK.ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes of the Meeting of Tuesday, October 1 , 2007 CommWee Members Present; Members Absent* Also Present: Jeralyn Smith, Chairman Michael Cardeiro George "Chuckle" Green, Selectman Franc Connelly, dice Chairman Carey Murphy Allan Morris, WBNERR Rep. William Martiros Lance Lambros Robert Lancaster Ben Lofchie Gus Frederick Chairman Jeralyn Smith called the meeting to order at 6010 Pull. REVIEW IEW of MINUTES The following corrections were made to the minutes of the 9104107 meeting: 1 Page 1, under Members Present, delete the name Frank Conhelly, and add his name under Members Absent 2 Page 2, paragraph 2 dine 2, substitute"Allan Morris-s with the words "The- committee„ The minutes were unanimously approved as corrected by the Cornrnittee. FUTURE E DIF ECTION of THE COMMITTEE William Martiros began the discussion by asking the question "What is the function of this committee? Is it a passive committee, or is it interested in moving forward along the issues that were brought up in the past?" Mr. Martiros stated that he was referring to the managing of the Park, and stated that the State had no rnaintance budget for managing the Part . Allan Morris stated that he is a 21-year veteran of the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, and for the past.1 3 years the parks have not been staffed to the level that they were in the 1980's and 1990's. Staffing cutbacks that occurred in the early 1990's have not come back. As far as the staffing levels for South Cape Beach, there are just two fulltime staff positions t maintain all of the 1l aquoit Bay WBNERR properties, Washburn Island, South Cape Beach, and the 1200 acres in the Quashnet area marshland. % IIIb. Martiros stated that he felt the focus on maintenance was limited to WBNERR, and that the South Cape Beach was neglected. Mr. Morris stated that there is lifter pickup on South Cape Beach State Park every day during the summer season, and during the off-season, two or three times per week. IIIb. Morris stated that during the season, there are supposed to be 5 lifeguards and 2 employees to man the ticket booth at the entrance to the beach. This past season, those staff were not hired until raid-July, and they left two weeks prior to Labor Day weekend. This is why the charging for parking did not start until after raid-July, and ended prior to Labor Day. Allan Morris stated th at the South Cape Beach overlook is in tremendous need of repair and than he is now able to execute a $10,000 contract, and has RF out to renovate the handicap ramp and deck. If the estimates for the repair are over$10,000, Mr. Mo rris will have to go to the engineering division. The Regional l Mana er, Brian Shanahan, thinks the ticket booth should be