Resources, News, and Announcements
From the Mayor’s desk – 3/7/25
Happy Friday!
First and foremost, at the Special City Council Meeting last night, Council voted and approved the addition of Philip Hester to the position of Chief of Police. He will be sworn into that position and interim Chief Marsh will remain on the force as 2nd in command. Continuity is very important and I want to personally thank Marsh for stepping in at a time of need for the Village and holding things together in PD. His character and commitment are commendable, and he deserves our gratitude.
As a Council, we decided to employ the Texas Police Chiefs Association to recruit, vet, and interview candidates for Chief of Police. The interview panel was made up of myself (Mayor), Jon Gerber (Council), Dick Petree (Citizen), Richard Rennison (9yr part-time resident and retired Supervisory Special FBI Agent for Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, Ft. Bend, Matagorda and Wharton counties), Gene Ellis (Executive Director Texas Police Chiefs Association), and Janet Solis (Surfside HR). Four candidates were interviewed and the panel unanimously selected Philip Hester. Last night in Special Session the Council heard debriefs from the interview panel with Q&A, a debrief of the background check completed by Freeport PD, and also were provided face-to-face interview time with candidate Philip Hester. After this extensive process, Council reconvened to vote and approve Philip Hester as our next permanent Chief of Police.
Without going into too much detail, Mr. Hester has been part of this area for 45 years. He is recently retired from Matagorda County Sheriff's Office, where he had 11 years of beach patrol experience. He had experience as S.W.A.T. commander in Clute where he worked for 10 years. During my own background check, I received praise and recommendations for Mr. Hester from our Pct. 1 Constable along with our region’s Texas Ranger. I thought that was very telling as I value the importance of having solid working relationships with other agencies. I am excited about Mr. Hester joining the Village of Surfside Beach and looking forward to his first PD town hall meeting to meet the community.
Public Works:
Amanda & Erick are working together with a non-profit grant writing agency from Austin to get a submission on 2 HMGP grants for a fixed generator at City Hall & Police/EMS building and a portable generator for Utilities. This grant would pay 90% of the costs of each.
Human Resources:
Hiring and orientation have started for seasonal employees on the Beach. More to be hired, so if interested, please contact City Hall. Don’t forget the $500 bonus if you stay the whole season!
EMS Director position will be reposted. We had a lack of qualified candidates and want to repost expanded to some new websites.
There will be an open position upcoming in April for a Finance Director. This posting will be active very soon. If interested, please contact City Hall.
There is an opening for Deputy Court Clerk posted. If interested, please contact City Hall.
Beach & Parks:
The 2 pallets of EZ Street Asphalt that is designed to work in wet applications, was delivered this week. Beach & Parks crew will be applying the materials next week to potholes on Ft Velasco, Surf, and Jettyview in anticipation of the St Patrick’s Day parade next weekend.
Spring break starts the beach season today and we are geared up to support the beach for the summer. The booths will have attendants selling beach passes starting today for the summer season. As promised, here are some of the results of the Beach Management meetings held with City Secretary, Beach & Parks, and PD. The goal here is to reduce litter and glass on the beach, maintain a safe beach environment for everyone, and engaging with beachgoers to ensure that everyone is having some fun.
Beach Patrol and Enforcement: 1) Dune side parking from the Main entrance to Fin Alley. Past that point we need to maintain a roadway wide enough to safely allow ambulance to pass. 2) Beach passes are required and will be enforced by PD. 3) Minor infractions for glass, litter, leash laws, etc. will get warnings first and citations will follow if not corrected. 4) One way traffic (excluding golf carts) will be turned around, and citations will be written based on officer discretion of cooperation, 5) 15 MPH speed limits will be maintained, and major infractions will result in citations at officer discretion, 6) Any golf cart/UTV without the required license, slow moving sign and lights will receive a citation. Lastly, golf carts may receive citations for violation of one way from other police forces (Sherriff, DPS, etc.). Please be aware of that reality.
Other Items of Interest:
Plenty of questions about the heavy equipment around Parkview and the Jetty area. This is not our project. The County Parks Department is doing some work to repair damages from the hurricane(s) and restore the walkover in that area. For more details, please contact the Brazoria County Parks Department.
The Beach booths are officially open, so that means this is the first unofficial day of Summer in Surfside. Get out and enjoy it!
Have a great day and I hope to see you around the island this weekend!
Thanks,
Zach
Notice
This year's levy to fund maintenance and operations expenditures exceeds last year's maintenance and operations tax levy. The following statements must be included in the ordinance, resolution, or order setting this year's tax rate. The statements must be in larger type than the type used in any other portion of the document.
VILLAGE OF SURFSIDE BEACH ADOPTED A TAX RATE THAT WILL RAISE MORE TAXES FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS THAN LAST YEAR'S TAX RATE.
THE TAX RATE WILL EFFECTIVELY BE RAISED BY 3.50 PERCENT AND WILL RAISE TAXES FOR
MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS ON A $100,000 HOME BY APPROXIMATELY $-1.99.
Notice: Warrant Round Up
The City of Village of Surfside Beach will be among
law enforcement agencies across Texas participating in this year’s Warrant
Round Up. Local law enforcement will join other regional participants in this
annual event to locate individuals with outstanding warrants. The Round Up is
scheduled to begin Saturday, February 22n, 2025.
Municipal Court officials are encouraging individuals
with warrants to contact the appropriate court to resolve their cases
voluntarily.
COURT PAYMENTS
Payments
are accepted by phone, online and mail.
You can pay for your court ticket online:
https://www.govrec.com/home/surfsidebeachcitx
·
Please
remember when entering the citation/ticket, you need to drop the zero in front
of the citation/ticket number.
·
If
paying by credit/debit card by phone, contact the court during business hours
8:00 am – 5:30 pm.
·
If
paying by cashier check/money order by mail, (PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH) send it
to the mailing address:
Attention: Surfside Beach
Municipal Court
1304 Monument
Dr
Surfside
Beach, Texas 77541
Contact Information:
Surfside Beach Municipal Court
Janet Solis – Court Administrator
979-233-1531 Ext. 105
Under Texas Law, individuals who appear before a court and
make a good faith effort to resolve their outstanding Class C Warrants are
afforded safe harbor and not subject to arrest. Additionally, if a judgment is
rendered against an individual who is unable to pay the judgment, the
individual may request a judge assess their ability to pay and offer
alternative means to satisfy the judgment.
Once the arrest period begins, officers will aggressively
seek out wanted individuals. Arrests can take place at any location, including
the defendant’s home, school or workplace.
For more information about warrants, defendants must
contact the appropriate court.
Notice
Public Works After Hours: 979-248-2085 (Please Text)
Notice
If you need help obtaining a WPI-1 for Windstorm Inspection, feel free to call the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Angleton Office at 800-248-6032, option 4, then option 3; or you may hire a Texas Certified Windstorm Engineer.
NOTICE OF DEADLINE TO FILE AN APPLICATION FOR PLACE ON THE BALLOT