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.

 

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  • Normal Business hours 7:30am to 4:00pm
    Calls for service

    • Utilities Clerk: 979-233-1531 Ext. 104
    • Director: 979-480-3522
    • Utilities Supervisor: 979-799-5087
    • Public Works After Hours: 979-248-2085 (Please Text)

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Tue, 14 May 2024
The Regular City Council meeting is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall located at 1304 Monument Drive, Surfside Beach, Te...Read more...

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