MEMORANDUM

To: Walt Wrede, City Manager

From: Carey Meyer, Public Works Director

Date: March 15, 2004

Subject: Memorandum of Understanding between City and NERR

CIAP Grant – Beach Policy Implementation

Authorization to Contract for Ecological Study

The City received a grant to implement the recommendations of the Beach Policy Taskforce from the Coastal Impact Assistance Program. To date, the City has used this grant to:

help install cameras to monitor and evaluate sediment transport on the beaches west of the Spit
placed boulders at access points along the Spit Road to keep motor vehicles off the beaches and created parking areas
installed signage at beach access points regulating the use of vehicles and identifying areas off limits to vehicles

The remaining grant eligible task is the preparation of an ecological study and creation of a GIS data base that will document the valuable beach resources within the City limits. The attached Memorandum of Agreement between the City and the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve will provide for this work. Generally, the work includes evaluation of aerial photography to determine erosion rates along the bay within the City limits; developing a plan for monitoring salt marsh areas within the City limits, and survey of key indicator species important to healthy intertidal areas within the City limits.

Recommendation: The Council authorize the City Manager to execute the attached Memorandum of Agreement. All costs will be eligible for reimbursement by the Coastal Impact Assistance Program grant.