Notices

AMENDED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON TAX INCREASE 9/16/2025

Resources, News, and Announcements 

I’m looking forward to Spring in Surfside Beach.  The weather is getting nicer and we have a couple of fun weekends upcoming.  First up, next weekend, the St Patrick’s Day parade festivities.  It is always so much fun and the St Patrick’s Day volunteers do a ton of work to make it happen.  A big thank you to those volunteers for everything that you all do!

Human Resources:

We will be welcoming William Cox to Surfside Beach on March 16^th.  He will officially start onboarding as our very first Village of Surfside Beach City Administrator.  He plans to be here for the March 20^th/21^st Surfside Sunset & Sound celebration and once he gets settled at City Hall, we will schedule a meet and great at Stahlman Park so everyone in the community can get to know Mr. Cox and help him become a part of Surfside.  More to come.

A reminder that Beach Booth hiring continues.  Weekend staffing up to Memorial weekend and then we will operate 7 days a week from that point onwards.  We are hiring beach booth employees now and they qualify for the $500 seasonal bonus!  If interested, apply at City Hall.

Public Works:

There is a significant item on next Tuesday’s City Council agenda, sponsored by Alderman Jon Gerber, pertaining to new and improved vacuum sewer pit designs.  This could be a game changer for our current system that falls victim to sewer pit controller failures with any heavy rain or flooding.  An innovative component redesign by a local company has eliminated some failure mechanisms, and they will share their details and future possibilities for Surfside on Tuesday.  I encourage you to listen in to hear about the proposal that would really improve our current system uptime and reduce our maintenance costs.  I could really get behind this infrastructure investment for sewer improvements.

Grants & Major Projects:

We have secured $123k in CDBG grant funds for infrastructure improvements, but there is a hurdle to clear first.  The projects are only available to areas of benefit for low-medium income residents.  Meaning that upon survey results, at least 51% of those residents qualify as low-medium income.  The project area we have selected is a water line replacement along Seashell Drive.  Those residents on the north side of Seashell Drive from Texas to Oyster will be contacted by our Public Works Utilities Clerk who will ask several questions required to fill out the income survey.  These will include:  is this your usual residence? How many people live here? How many people in your family live here? What is your annual income?  Please talk with Breana who will be calling and emailing to ask these questions.  Your answers are used only to complete the survey, and your information is submitted directly to CDBG grant management staff.  It goes no further.  We are required to get 80% respondent rate as one hurdle to clear, and then we need to achieve the 51% of the respondents at or below the low-medium income levels.  Again, if contacted please speak with Breana to help us potentially gain $123k in grant money to complete a necessary water infrastructure project.  If you know someone living on the north side of Seashell Drive, please encourage them to participate in the survey to get these grant funds.

PD:

On Tuesday March 10^th our very own Chief Philip Hester will be celebrating his 1 year anniversary as Surfside Beach’s Chief of Police.  From Hester, “this past year has been an incredible journey, and I could not have done it without the support of our dedicated city employees and the amazing citizens of Surfside Beach.  Your encouragement, trust, and partnership have made this first year a true success”.  To show his appreciation, Chief Hester will be making and serving banana splits for everyone who would like to stop by from 6-7pm at City Hall.

Emergency Management:

First off, the Emergency Management team would like to extend a warm welcome to William Cox.  

Preparedness is a shared responsibility.  The EMC team encourages all residents to review their family emergency plans, stay informed during severe weather events, and take advantage of the resources available in the Village.

Courts:

Reminder that the warrant roundup is upon us.  If you or someone you know have any outstanding legal issues that need to be addressed, please visit our Court Clerk at City Hall to clear it up before it becomes more complicated and costly from the roundup.

EMS:

EMS would also like to welcome William Cox to VOSB.  

Our Surfside Beach EMS is now fully staffed.  We had three team members out for “repairs” and are all healed up and ready to serve the community at full capacity.  Our Community Health Check Program continues to be available to residents who may need a little extra assistance.  Whether it’s a wellness check, blood pressure screening, or simple guidance on navigating healthcare concerns, we are here to help out residents and visitors. 

Beach & Parks:

The barn on Ft Velasco had a cement wash pad installed this week.  We have transitioned to performing nearly all the vehicle maintenance in house to reduce expenses.  Previously, the Village rented equipment at a high cost, and then paid large fees when we returned them due to salt corrosion.  Now we purchase used equipment at a discount, maintain it to a higher standard, and reduce the overall costs to operate in all departments.  This wash pad will be an additional maintenance tool that will prolong the life of every vehicle we operate.  As most of us know, if you thoroughly wash vehicles daily with hot water and salt-away, it will extend the life.

The VOSB funded projects to resurface the intersections of Seashell & Texas Street and Seashell & Angel Wing Street will be completed early next week.  This project was planned last October to be completed in late February/Early March when our income stream from property taxes started to be received from the Jan 30^thproperty tax due dates.  It’s important to understand that our budget is set for the full year starting Oct 1^st, but in reality the income streams don’t flow in immediately, nor evenly.  For example, the beach income obviously doesn’t flow in heavily until June, and property taxes are due and received in late January.  As a result, most larger projects must be planned months in advance of their execution when income funds are available to spend, and then we have to hustle to complete them all before beach season crowds flock to the Village in June.  February - May are busy and productive months due to these facts.

A reminder that later this month Brazoria County Roads will complete our largest road project this year to overlay asphalt on 2 miles of roads in the Village.  This is an interlocal agreement with Brazoria County that Toby & I negotiated and signed in 2025 to repair up to 2 miles of roads annually, where VOSB pays for material costs only.  This is our largest single investment this year in roads for this large project.  We will spend in excess of $200,000 just for the materials to complete these roads.  Like the above road project, we submitted our work request back in October to resurface the following roads:  The entirety of Ft. Velasco Drive, Thunder Drive between Monument & Surf, and the entirety of Starfish Street.  Based on availability of VOSB funds and the availability of the County work crew, the entire multi street repaving job was scheduled in October 2025 for a March/April completion, and here we are in March.  It’s go time!

In addition, two other planned jobs from back in October will be kicking off before beach season really ramps up.  The beach entrances at Bay and Seagull will be filled and graded smooth next week.  Plus the cement mounds that exist at many of the beach entrances will be smoothed out to remove the cliffs that exist today as you drive onto the beach.  Those cliffs should be removed and smooth by the end of the week as well.

To be very clear, these road repairs had been budgeted and planned since October 2025 with several referenced in these Friday letters in the past.  Execution of the large road repair projects were scheduled for completion between February – April.  That time is now upon us.  After they are completed and in combination with the other VOSB labor crew repairs in the first 6 months of this fiscal year (Oct-March), we will have invested more money into roads and have done more road work than we have ever completed in any single full year in Surfside Beach.  Stories can be entertaining, but it’s best to convey the facts about the reality of our road repairs, the process, the funding, and the execution.

Tourism:

I hope that you have seen the announcement on social media and printed posters for the Surfside, Sunset, and Sound Market & Music Festival to be held near City Hall & the Timeline Fence, kicking off our new outdoor stage.  This is our first full scale test of our partnership with a professional advertising firm to use social media to promote an event designed to bring in tourism to Surfside Beach.  It will be a good test!  Get ready for two days of coastal vibes, local talent, and family fun.  A free admission Market and Music Festival taking place March 20^th & 21^st.  Gates open at Noon, with festivities running until 8pm both days.  Plenty of parking will be available at the Public Boat Ramp near the Coast Guard Station.  Look forward to Fort Velasco and history museum tours, live music, food trucks, a scavenger hunt for kids with prizes and giveaways each day.

There are plenty of opportunities to help out and volunteer for this fun event on the 20^th & 21^st.  If you want to get involved or just offer your services, please contact David at tourism@surfsidetx.org.  Be part of the fun!!

As always, I hope that you have a great day in wonderful Surfside Beach!  

Thanks,

Zach

Notice

Notice About 2025 Tax Rates

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.