Beach and Parks update for July 17.
Sun, 07/18/2010 - 18:20
Our beach parks look great!! With the budget cutbacks, our team of park
volunteers are faithfully picking up trash and whatever else we can to
keep them in pristine condition. We can always use more volunteers. Get
in touch with me at apeck@fpsba.org if you are willing to put in 2-4
hours a month working in a park.
Bergalis and Surfside reconstructions are done and have been open for
about a month. Usage has increased with the reconstruction. As you recall
these are the last two parks in the 3 million dollar package allocated from
the City for reconstruction after the “04 hurricanes.
Just when I thought that we would have a calm summer, the St. Lucie
County Administrator asked all departments to cut an additional 10%
from their budgets. Jack Southard, the County Director of Public Safety
submitted a $162,000 cut by eliminating lifeguard coverage at South Beach
Park - the City’s ONLY guarded beach. Over the past few years guarded
beaches in the county have gone from 9 to 3. This latest cut would drop
guarded beaches to 2 - Pepper Park in the North and Waveland down
almost to the Martin County Line. This decision was based on annual park
usage - Pepper Park and Waveland being the top 2 and South Beach 3rd.
According to the County Administrator, “Parks and Recreation are purely
quality of life functions, they are not legally mandated or contractually
this year alone and the 136 who have been rescued in all of our guarded
beaches for the past 3 years!!
Commissioner Dzadovsky was the lone dissenter when the proposal
was presented during a budget workshop. We contacted him with our
Association’s willingness to do whatever we could to keep coverage at
our beach. To that end we asked our city commissioners to send a letter
to the County requesting a second look at this proposal. Commissioner
Eddie Becht had already sent an email to all the County Commissioners
in support. We contacted Charles Grande, County Commission Chair, and
Chris Craft who is our County Commissioner asking for their support.
The upshot, after only several days, is that South Beach will be partially
guarded - mainly on the weekends. Hopefully, this situation is temporary
and will only last for a few years until we see an upswing in our economy.
According the Commissioner Dzadovsky, this compromise is as good as
we can expect at this time.
OTHER MATTERS
The city wide Parks Advisory Committee has asked that the new Linear
Walk by the inlet and the Moore’s Creek linear area gain park status. This
puts those areas under the protection of the Park Ordinances. I doubt that
this will be an issue.
As to the Park Ordinance re-write, we are hopefully putting the final
finishing touches to the document, and will send it once again to the legal
department for review.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Arden Peck
Chair Beach and Parks Committee