Resources, News, and Announcements
From the Mayor’s desk – 11/14/25
Happy Friday!
Beach & Parks:
Our off season projects are moving forward. Some of the larger ones include, Beach entrance work at Main, Ocean, Yucca and Seagull entrances. Beach entrance work includes removal and smoothing of the concrete mounds at Main, Ocean & Seagull, and street repairs at Ocean and Seagull entrances. We plan to contract out one set of engineered designed beach access cement steps on Beach Drive for installation before summer, depending on Groin project execution calendar. We will pour a cement pad at the Ft. Velasco City Barn and install a hot water wash system for daily salt removal to vehicles. Lastly, a new shower to be installed at the Main Entrance. All of these projects are funded by beach pass sales. We also have many other smaller projects, repairs and improvements planned for this off season.
The hay bales near the stoplight will be distributed and staked down in front of the dunes next week. They are not for personal use for fall yard displays. The plan is to place them along the entire length of our beach and allow for space to add Christmas trees with the help of SOBA in January. This is what has been agreed upon with the TxGLO. The dunes are looking really good with vegetation growth and accumulation of sand from the hay and Christmas trees from last January. Sure, a year without storm surge helps!
Finance:
Christie shared the new monthly financial report this week at our City Council meeting. It included current balances for each of the 4 major funds, current balances of all of our other accounts including out TexPool interest bearing accounts, and she highlighted all of our current outstanding unpaid accounts payable. In addition, she shared the monthly income and expense details for the 4 major funds for October. This much improved version of financial reporting will be available to all and routinely shared at City Council meetings each and every month. Finance is taking great strides forward thanks to both Christie and Mindy.
PD:
Chief Hester introduced three new officers at this week’s City Council meeting. Welcome to Leslie Hernandez, Benjamin Birdwell, and Casey Thomas who have all joined the Surfside PD in the last month. In addition, he swore in another new officer at the meeting. Miss Clare Dunn was sworn in as an honorary officer of Surfside Police Department. At 100 years old, she will be the senior officer on the force!
EMS:
Both our Surfside PD and EMS responded to the motorcycle accident last weekend that claimed 2 lives. I’d like to thank our First Responders for their daily dedication. It is tough business working through a traumatic multi-injury call that in this case ended in multiple fatalities. I personally know that I couldn’t do that work and I am very grateful that we have professionals working in Surfside that can. Be sure to thank your PD and EMS staff when you see them out in the community. They really deserve it!
Public Works:
Erick and I were visited by a company rep as the result of a contact made at the TML conference a few weeks ago. The company refurbishes, repairs, and resurfaces water tanks in Texas. We have multiple water tanks in VOSB that are in violation with TCEQ and need to be brought up to code. This year we plan to do just that, starting with our large hydro tank at the Oyster water plant and then moving on to the elevated water tank (water tower) at Yucca water plant. We also have hopes to manage the budget allotted this year and have funds available to address other ground storage tanks in need of repair at both Oyster and Yucca water plants. These are items that have been in violation with TCEQ for several years that will be addressed in 2026. Thanks to Erick for making this a priority and fighting to get this work funded this year. He deserves a lot of credit and praise for improvements made and still to come in our Village utilities services. More to do, but positive progress indeed.
This week, City Council approved new customer billing matching the new modified garbage pickup service from Waste Connections. If you remember, starting January 1st the garbage pickup will be once per week on Monday. This once per week schedule will continue until March 1st when we will return to twice per week, on Monday & Thursday. Twice per week garbage pickup will continue until the end of September, at which time we return to once per week again. This will be the new trash collection schedule going forward. The new rates will be as follows: Customer household trash pickup will be reduced from $20.81 to $19.59, and the cost of an extra trash can will be increased from $5.35 to $9.50. These monthly prices will be effective January 1st, 2026.
Human Resources:
We have started an active search for a new City Secretary. The open position will be actively accepting applications for a few weeks before a candidate slate will be assembled for panel interviews. We hope to fill this position before the end of the year to allow for some transition with Amanda.
This week, City Council approved hiring Clear Career Pro recruiting company to help us recruit the new City Administrator. We will be kicking off this process next week. Realistically, this new position will be filled in late January or February due to the extensive, but necessary, recruiting process ahead of us in conjunction with end of year holidays.
Other openings include: Police Department (1), EMS (1), and Beach & Parks (1). As always, if you have interest in any of these roles please contact City Hall.
Other items of interest:
We achieved a major milestone in the Groin Project this week. One major hurdle that we’ve struggled to overcome has been full authorization and permission to plan and construct the East Groin at the location where 332 ends at the Gulf waters. It took several months of asking for that permission from TxDOT to finally get an acknowledgement that they were not the owners of the road that extends from the stoplight at Ft Velasco/Bluewater Hwy & Hwy 332 to the Gulf waters, or what we were calling “332 Terminus”. Our next step was to have legal documents drafted by our City Attorney and then approved by TxGLO legal department. Once approved by TxGLO, these documents then required official acknowledgement by signature, from representatives of TxDOT, the Brazoria County Commissioner, the Brazoria County District Attorney’s office, and finally the Village of Surfside Beach. Once signed, the documents would legally remove all rights of ownership of the 332 Terminus roadway and any associated right of way of 332 Terminus from both TxDOT and Brazoria County, providing clear, legal ownership by VOSB. To give you an idea of the uphill climb ahead of us, upon review of the documents, the TxGLO legal department actually commented that if we could get this done, “we would have achieved the impossible”. Challenge accepted!! Well, at the end of the day yesterday we collected the final signature from a TxDOT representative and achieved the impossible. We will assume ownership of the roadway and right of way that extends from the light to the water, and in turn grant the TxGLO permission to build the East Groin on our property. Next step, I believe... we need to formally name this new road as the current description, 332 Terminus, doesn’t have a great ring to it. This marks a significant breakthrough that has been holding the Groin project execution. We are moving along!
As always, I hope that you have a great day in wonderful Surfside Beach! Get out this weekend and enjoy our little slice of Texas heaven.
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
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