Resources, News, and Announcements
From the Mayor’s desk – 5/30/25
Happy Friday!
It was a busy weekend wrapping up Monday with Memorial
Day. As always, the beach was jam packed as were the roadways in and
out. All in all, we did a great job managing the crowds, maintaining a
safe and fun beach, and responding to incidents as they did occur. I’m
grateful to, and proud of, all the employees of Surfside that worked tirelessly
over this long weekend to serve and protect our community and visitors.
Police & EMS Departments:
Lots to summarize from the long weekend. I want
to start with acknowledging an unfortunate incident on Monday afternoon where
one swimmer was rescued, but another went missing. Rescue efforts
continued through the storm and into the night, to no avail. Since then,
we have partnered with EquuSearch and the Coast Guard in potential recovery
efforts. At this time we still have a missing swimmer last seen in the
water near Sandpiper Ave.
In total we had 30 EMS calls that varied in severity,
and were handled very well by our team. PD was also extremely active on
the beach and responding to calls at “party” houses as well. Again, in
total the First Responders did a fabulous job maintaining peace and responding
to unrest in order to calm those storms. Great job by everyone!
Beach & Parks:
First and foremost, welcome to our new Beach Crew Team
Leader, Jason Easterling. If you see Jason out running the beach and
roads crew, please stop and say hello!
It was also a very busy weekend for the entire beach
crew. Beach booths, cleanup crews, and everyone that managed the command
center at Stahlman Park. Traffic flow went about as good as can be
expected at the entrances with large volumes, especially on Sunday. The
beach pass revenue far exceeded the same period for 2024, which is great
news. We are on pace to creating a surplus that can be used to fund beach
maintenance and road repairs on those that serve as access to public walkovers
and drive on entrances to the beach.
Good news from the GLO this week. They are in
favor and approve of the use of Beach Funds to help pay for the reconstruction
of Beach Drive to include permanent walkovers down to the beach. This
funding along with FEMA category B disaster relief should be able to pay for a
major improvement to Beach Drive. Lots of planning, engineering, and
support from council members required before we get close to approving this
project, but GLO approval is a great first step.
The cement work at the three intersections, Coral Ct,
Bay Ave, and Surf & Main entrance is scheduled to begin on June 9th.
If the cement works at these spots, we will continue to resurface other
intersections in the same manner.
HR:
We have an open position for a part time Water Meter Reader
in Public Works. If interested, please contact City Hall.
Public Works:
We finally received and installed the 2nd vacuum
pump on the AIRVAC sewer system. All 3 lines are officially up and
running and the mobile vacuum truck can now be used to maintain problem sewer
pits and not entire lines of multiple pits.
Pompano lift station had major trouble shooting this week on
pumps, electrical, and VFDs, all based on repeat failures experienced
recently. We found that the VFDs are not electrically compatible with the
entire system design required to run the pumps properly. New VFDs will be
installed and tested early next week which will resolve the issues.
On the potentially good news front, Port O’Connor officials
reached out to our own Alderman at large, Jon Gerber to inquire about visiting
Surfside to discuss issues that they have experienced with AIRVAC sewers and
their resolution steps taken over the last 9 years. Jon, Erick, and I
hosted them last Friday and heard about their troubles (they matched ours!),
attempts at solutions (some matched ours!), and most recently the design
changes that have worked on their vacuum sewer system. In addition we
discussed their new RO water systems that were installed on their water wells
in attempts to solve similar water issues as Surfside experiences. Port
O’Connor has invited us to visit them next week and see everything in
person. So, Jon, Erick, and myself plan to trek over there and see what
we can bring back that could benefit us. Hopefully we can have an update
to share at the next City Council meeting about what we learned.
Other Items of Interest:
An update on the ongoing FEMA disaster relief
process. So far, we have only been paid about $100,000 from Category A,
with an additional “check in the mail” for $295,140 supposedly on its way
now. In addition, we have submitted and have agreement with FEMA on
Category B ($895,000), Category E ($177,424), and Category G ($268,232).
From past experience, we should be about 1-3 months out from receiving any
disaster relief funds from B, E and G. Once received, these FEMA relief
funds are earmarked to pay for large road repair projects, and restore the
health of our System and General Funds that were depleted to pay for expenses
related to Beryl. We will also be setting aside hurricane relief $ to
prepare for the next occurrence. Hope for the best but plan for the
worst!
As always, I hope that you have a great day and enjoy the
weekend in wonderful Surfside Beach!
Thanks,
Zach
05/01/2025
SCAM ALERT: Beware of Fraudulent Emails Posing as City Communications
The Village of Surfside Beach has been made aware of scam emails being sent to residents, falsely claiming to be from official city departments. These emails may request personal information, demand payments, or contain suspicious links.
Please Note:
- The City will never ask for Social Security numbers or bank details via email.
- Official emails from the City will come from addresses ending in @surfsidetx.org
- If you're unsure about the legitimacy of a message, do not click any links or download attachments.
If you receive a suspicious email claiming to be from the City, mark it as spam. When in doubt feel free to call the City first. 979-233-1531
Help us spread the word by sharing this post. Stay alert and stay safe!
— The Village of Surfside Beach
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
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.