Suncoast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
Meeting Minutes
May 4th, 2010
Location: The Garden
217 Central Avenue
St Petersburg, FL
Call to order: 7:15pm by Thomas, chapter chair
Thank you for coming, great crowd! Attendees filled the room to maximum capacity and spilled
out into the hall.
Thomas advised of the Surfrider Mission Statement: For the protection and enjoyment of
the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people using C.A.R.E, conservation, activism,
research, and education. The Suncoast Chapter proudly upholds the Surfrider mission statement
and this chapter has been active on the Gulf Coast since 2007.
Guest Speaker: Phil Compton Field Organizer for Florida of the Sierra Club.
Phil advised when looking at red tide pollution in the waters, “ it’s simple math; fertilizer on
lawns plus summer rains equals red tide. The good news. Proponents to the fertilizer ban
influenced the passing of a new bill stating “in the West Coast of Florida, no retail stores will be
permitted to sell fertilizer products during 4 summer months of the year starting on June 1st,
2011“. Opponents lost by one vote. Tampa Bay will see improvements in water quality shortly
after the program begins.
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Phil advised, statistics show that the spill in the Gulf of Mexico
off the Louisiana coast is today about the same size as the Exxon Valdes in the eighties. That’s
just one difference in circumstances. Another difference? The warm water and muddy bottom of
the Gulf.
Phil said "Clean up our Gulf Coast, Clean up our Energy". The Sierra Club along with
Surfrider Foundation and several other organizations are asking the senate to reconsider drilling
of any kind in the Gulf. “We are proponents of the Climate Bill; we just want it the right way.” Phil
said.
He informed the group “Reports have it because of the spill the State of Florida stands to
lose 3 billion dollars in tourist revenue.” Tourists, unaware of Florida's layout, may cancel their
vacations when they hear of a disaster in our state no matter where it is geographically or what
kind of disaster it is. For example they hear of a disaster in Pensacola the cancel their vacation
plans in Miami.
Phil ended an Action Alert. Bill Nelson may be coming to the Tampa Bay Area for a rally
at the beach. "It would be great", said Phil, "if we could have Surfrider there, Sierra Club, Bill
Young. Check Sierra Club website for more information.
Katy Swanson of Repower America was also on hand as a guest speaker.
She said Repower is pushing towards 100% clean energy. Their target is Senator Lemiux, and urged
everyone to write a letter to the senator telling him you're against off shore oil drilling. Katy told
the crowd they have student activists going into the senator’s office to speak to him about the
issue. Katy handed out letter head, envelopes and pens for people present to write a letter.
Upham Beach:
Jessica advised she writes a blog to be published in Creative Loafing Magazine on the
Upham Beach Issue. It's an ongoing project outlining the faults in the t-groin project. The first
article is due out any day now. It's a giant step forward in the Chapter's Upham Beach project.
Ron then asked Jessica to give a brief synopsis of why Upham Beach is an issue in which she
informed the group that Upham Beach is the one of the worst eroding beaches in Florida,
according to the D.E.P. And its erosion issues are due to several factors, one of which is the
placement of the vacation condos too close to the water and the halting of the naturally migrating
pass. The place used to be one of the best surf breaks along the Gulf Coast of Florida, with long
peeling clean lines for 200 yards south.
Jessica continues to do a tremendous amount of research and logging many hours on
Upham Beach. She's always ready to take on volunteers! So don't be shy and step up to
research or do other tasks this issue requires as we continue towards the goal to "Free Upham".
Send her an email and jnjrespondek@verizon.net. Thank you Jessica!
Rise Above Plastics
Victoria is heading up this initiative for the Chapter. Suncoast Chapter will be the first
Florida Chapter to take on this important campaign. Rise above Plastics is about plastics
elimination in the environment. Plastics are people pollution. What we do today effects tomorrow.
The committee will to push towards imposing a plastic bag fee on all grocery type plastic bags.
The committee will also do education and outreach program to the public. Volunteers are needed
to report and count plastic items found at cleanups as well as just recording where you find plastic
bags and what grocery store brand is on the bag.
Education is key to make this work. Tell everyone to limit your plastic use.
Volunteers interested in this initiative should get with Victoria about Rise Above Plastics.
On a side note, Phil mentioned the great pacific garbage patch. There are actually 5
patches found so far in the world.
Jason reminded everyone that it takes oil to make plastics.
Not the Answer
Thomas went to the Vinoy hotel to join other protesters outside the hotel as Newt Gingrich
spoke inside. Right now the oil spill in the Gulf dumps about as many gallons as an Olympic sized
swimming pool can hold everyday. Now’s the time to continue a strong effort on the Not the
Answer campaign on off shore oil drilling.
LocalS
Scott Orsini heads up the LocalS campaign. The project began last summer with an
etiquette quiz. Reward stickers were given for achieving a passing score. The test involves
ethical training for local surfers on how to and not to behave out on the waves. Show respect for
each other. Share the stoke. The committee aims for signs posted at the more popular breaks
along the west coast.
Secretary position on the board needed to be named.
Thomas nominated Josh Nash.
Anyone else? No.
The chapter voted Josh in by a show of hands.
Website
Chapter website is fully up and running. Thank you Steven Combs from Atlanta chapter
and our own Jake for setting it up! Traffic is up on the site, receiving about 450% more hits than the
old site. Jake asked that everyone plug the chapter site on their Facebook.com pages to help
drive traffic to the site.
Every meeting the board will recognize a volunteer of the month and a Retail Member of
the month. For the month of May, the board selected Julie Pappas. Thank you Julie for stepping
up with the spring fest events and the Bradenton Beach adopted shore. And the Retail Member of
the month goes to Lenny’s SurfShop on St. Pete. Beach. Thank you, Lenny, for being a real force
in the Upham Issue. Each member selected will have a short article and picture featured on the
website.
Bradenton Beach Adopt a Shore
Much success with the clean up in April at the chapter’s adopted shore in Bradenton
Beach. Great turnout! To keep the honor of being the “foster” for this beach, the chapter cleans
the beach 3 times a year. Spring and Fall are the big ones with a summer time cigarette butt
count. Because of the butt count, the chapter is proud to say that butt cans are now available at
the boardwalk on 4th Street South at the beach.
Dick Dale Concert
In the planning stages. The chapter is working with Creative Play, a not for profit adult
care center, to see about setting up a concert at the end of the summer. More details to follow.
The “Cove” Screening
5-15-10 at Baywalk. Attend a q & a and a reception. 6pm
Money
Thank you Jason for doing all that you have. Jessica is taking on the treasurer position.
The chapter shows $9737 in cash in the bank. Added to the assets the chapter has just over ten
thousand dollars. Four surfboards and lots of t-shirts make up a bulk of the assets.
The chapter is thinking about doing another Texas holdem tournament. The 1st one was
successful. Looking for volunteers to work on the fund raising committee, or to do any number of
things throughout the chapter. Many hands make light work.
ISD Sunday June 20th
St Pete Beach
The list of things to do on ISD!
Starting at 9am…Yoga on the Beach with Mike Meehan. 1 hour bring your towel.
Beach cleanup sponsored by Lenny’s Surfshop of St Pete Beach.
Stand up Paddle board demo by Suncoast Surf Shop of Treasure Island.
Concert at Surfshack from 3pm-10pm on St Pete Beach.
Jimmy Hoffman is working on getting a surfboard raffle on a donated board for this event.
Looking for a great turn out! Tell your friends.
Working on Jack Johnson Concert
August 25th is the date the chapter is headed for. Jack Johnson is coming back. This
event will be broadcast on radio. The event focuses on mass transit. The chapter is working on
getting public busses to take Surfrider to the concert. There is planned a pre-private party with
Jack Johnson. Note to Thomas, get with Mike about Janus Landing.
The chapter with Victoria on the lead is building a life sized wave out of clear plastic
bottles. Donate your clear plastic bottles to the chapter for this project. But first, wash them out,
peel the labels, and on blue paper put a message in the bottle; your promise to the environment.
Chapter is seeking a summer intern
Check out the chapters website for details www.suncoast.surfrider.org
Christian Surfers represented by Keith want to join Surfrider to help clean the seabirds if
the Bay area is affected by the spill in the Gulf.
Julie volunteered to rescue birds during the 1993 spill in the mouth of Tampa Bay. She
and her husband worked in the bird camp on Fort Desoto for a week. She worked during the day
on a wash crew. And he worked at night as a guard against raccoons. Julie passed around
pictures at the meeting. To read a full account of the rescue please visit
http://www.iosc.org/papers/01875.pdf
Anything Else?
Give a donation of $15. Tonight and get a chapter t-shirt.
Give a donation of $20. And get a Not the Answer t-shirt.
Thank you guest speakers, thank you everyone for coming.
Adjourned: 9pm.