Post by kncook07 on Jun 20, 2014 12:12:38 GMT -4
Some of you know and some of you don't...KIBCU has been working very hard over the last few months to get the county and Parks and Rec to do away with the beach permits. We have tried through many meetings, and have been unsuccessful. Our most recent meeting was this past Tuesday with the Parks and Rec Advisory Board and current At-large Commissioner, Jim Moran. Jim asked Parks and Rec to come up with some numbers to show the commissioners what it would cost to hire the appropriate number of rangers needed, full time, to monitor the parks and beaches. We use the word "monitor" to describe what an actual State Park Ranger does - clean the beach, maintain it, enforce rules such as no open fires or drinking alcohol and even having some environmental knowledge to educate visitors to the parks. This will include the rangers actually overseeing the beach, with the authority to ticket for polluting and other illegal activity. We suggested that the county take on the cost and get rid of the permits altogether.
We have another meeting on Tuesday, July 8th to review the Parks and Rec numbers. This is the regularly scheduled commissioners meeting...so it is public. Once the numbers return, the current board is going to give the community the opportunity to learn more about our options before a final decision is made. But I will state that the chances of the permits going away anytime soon is slim to none.
On a VERY positive note:
The County will provide 50 free annual permits for our beach clean up volunteers:
KIBCU will provide the Parks Department a list of up to 50 volunteers who have completed at least 2 beach cleanups or 8 hours of beach cleanup time. After the 2 cleanups or 8 hours is completed, we will award the volunteer with a KIBCU certificate. The volunteers will then need to complete a permit application which they can get either on line at www.parksnrec.org , at Terrapin or Matapeake Beach Parks or at the Parks office in Centreville. The volunteers can either mail it to Parks and Rec or bring it to their office, Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. They will be checking the list we provide them to assure the volunteer completed their full 8 hours of time.
We hope that this will encourage those of you who have not yet volunteered with us, to come out and see what we are all about and get your hands dirty with us. For those of you who are very upset about the permits, this gives you the opportunity to earn an annual permit and still enjoy the lovely beaches we have here on KI. In the end, we are faced with the reality that our beaches are becoming more and more popular wit out of town visitors, and it is inevitable that they will worsen overtime. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I am tired of discussing the permits. We are in an awkward spot - between you (residents/volunteers) and the county (commissioners/parks and rec). On the one hand, we see a problem and we are trying to fix it. The permits are not our fault, yet we are trying to find other solutions to make residents happy. If you are truly upset about these permits, we invite you to show up at one of the many public meetings we attend to discuss them. We hope that in the near future, we can get back to discussing the real environmental issues we deal with, rather than who likes or dislikes the permits.
The "FREE" permit program starts on Saturday, July 12th at our cleanup at the Kent Narrows Fishing Pier. If you volunteer at that cleanup for the entire time, you will already be more than halfway through earning your hours. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (410) 458-1240 or email at Kristin@KentIslandBeachCleaups.com. More posts and information to follow.
Thank you,
Kristin Cook, Founder
Kent Island Beach Cleanups, Inc.
(410) 458-1240 cell
Kristin@KentIslandBeachCleanups.com
www.KentIslandBeachCleanups.com
We have another meeting on Tuesday, July 8th to review the Parks and Rec numbers. This is the regularly scheduled commissioners meeting...so it is public. Once the numbers return, the current board is going to give the community the opportunity to learn more about our options before a final decision is made. But I will state that the chances of the permits going away anytime soon is slim to none.
On a VERY positive note:
The County will provide 50 free annual permits for our beach clean up volunteers:
KIBCU will provide the Parks Department a list of up to 50 volunteers who have completed at least 2 beach cleanups or 8 hours of beach cleanup time. After the 2 cleanups or 8 hours is completed, we will award the volunteer with a KIBCU certificate. The volunteers will then need to complete a permit application which they can get either on line at www.parksnrec.org , at Terrapin or Matapeake Beach Parks or at the Parks office in Centreville. The volunteers can either mail it to Parks and Rec or bring it to their office, Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 3:30 pm. They will be checking the list we provide them to assure the volunteer completed their full 8 hours of time.
We hope that this will encourage those of you who have not yet volunteered with us, to come out and see what we are all about and get your hands dirty with us. For those of you who are very upset about the permits, this gives you the opportunity to earn an annual permit and still enjoy the lovely beaches we have here on KI. In the end, we are faced with the reality that our beaches are becoming more and more popular wit out of town visitors, and it is inevitable that they will worsen overtime. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I am tired of discussing the permits. We are in an awkward spot - between you (residents/volunteers) and the county (commissioners/parks and rec). On the one hand, we see a problem and we are trying to fix it. The permits are not our fault, yet we are trying to find other solutions to make residents happy. If you are truly upset about these permits, we invite you to show up at one of the many public meetings we attend to discuss them. We hope that in the near future, we can get back to discussing the real environmental issues we deal with, rather than who likes or dislikes the permits.
The "FREE" permit program starts on Saturday, July 12th at our cleanup at the Kent Narrows Fishing Pier. If you volunteer at that cleanup for the entire time, you will already be more than halfway through earning your hours. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (410) 458-1240 or email at Kristin@KentIslandBeachCleaups.com. More posts and information to follow.
Thank you,
Kristin Cook, Founder
Kent Island Beach Cleanups, Inc.
(410) 458-1240 cell
Kristin@KentIslandBeachCleanups.com
www.KentIslandBeachCleanups.com