December 2008 Meeting
Thanks to Bill Chino and the folks at Plaza Grill for hosting us! Between 35-and-40 people showed up for our first official meeting as the new chapter.
Chair: Stacy Campbell
Vice-Chair: Jennifer Savage
Secretary: Colleen ("Bean") Clifford
Treasurer: Bill Hoopes
Volunteer Coordinator: Kalei Coleridge
Treasurer report:
The Shindig netted $622. That combined with the $950 from National (from previous chapter) equals $1,572 total on hand.
Additionally, we will receive a percentage from local members sign-ups – always make sure you choose "Humboldt" when joining.
Volunteer/membership summary:
We signed up 31 new members at the Shindig, bringing us to 190 Humboldt members total – yeah!
People can sign-up on the web, at Greenhouse Boardshop, and at all events and meetings.
New Business
Road Clean-Up: We want to start cleaning up our stretch of highway in Trinidad again, at least twice a year and hopefully four. Equipment and uniforms are available; sign-ups were taken.
Showers: Coordination with Miller Farms and BLM is underway to repair the Jetty shower. Slow going, but progress is being made. National has a fund from which they will pay repairs.
We're also exploring how to get the shower at Moonstone working again, hopefully as part of a larger and nicer "surf shack" sort of thing. Bill Hoopes is the point man on this project.
Dock Blocks: At least a dozen "dock blocks" have been sighted on beaches from the North Jetty to Stone Lagoon. They pose an environmental risk: being concrete outside with a styrofoam/fiberglass core, they float, wash up to shore, the deteriorate on shore and water. Originally, they belonged to the City of Eureka, but when the city redid the old dock, the blocks were apparently given away – to Comtree? Tracking down the responsible party hasn't been easy, but we're pursuing the matter and Humboldt Baykeeper has offered to help. (Thanks to Pete Nichols for showing up.)
We'd like people to help inventory the blocks by reporting sightings on our blog. We also recommend contacting your Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District representative, as some discussion of this matter has taken place at those meetings.
Beach Clean-Up: We'll coordinate with other organizations for the Coastal Clean-Up Day, which takes place on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, but also clean up after big local holidays at popular sites: i.e., Mad River Beach after HSU graduation, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, etc.
Trash Cans at Camel Rock: Per requests, we're looking into installing trash cans at Camel Rock and also possibly recycling, dog doo cans. We need to work with County (who also picks up at nearby Moonstone and Lufenholz) on this, ideally before the dog doo proliferation leads to a "No Dogs" situation.
Kalei has been told trash cans on the peninsula are discouraged because people end up dumping all their household garbage in and around the cans, making it easier/cheaper to pick up garbage and litter by hand, but maybe just recycling is possible.
Along those lines, perhaps we could install signs to help prevent littering or place stickers, like in Ventura, and Santa Cruz. Monty suggested "eyes" and a sign noting the rules of the beach.
Events: We need volunteers to help table with Surfrider info and sign up members. Contact Kalei to be part of things! Including The NPK benefit, Jan. 16 at Hum Brews.
We're planning a Wave Energy Forum in February. Email Jen with questions or to participate.
We're also planning a day-long Water Quality Forum, co-hosted with Humboldt Baykeeper in April. Email humboldt@surfrider.org with your concerns so we can better prepare.
Other/comments: Scott, advisor, introduced Sky Barker, an HSU student who started back up the Humboldt Surf Club on campus.
Debbie Topping, a non-surfer, but beach-lover, suggests we put the word out to other groups (like Explore North Coast) to help share and get help with projects.
Concern about Mad River Beach and Bay Street messes inspired an idea to get a contractor's magnet sweeper to pull pallet nails up from the sand.
Give Surfrider Memberships as holiday gifts!
Community Trash Pick-Up outreach: start picking up 3-to-5 pieces of trash each day, start telling others to do so, too. Run PSAs. Post before-and-after pictures.