SFBA September 96 Newsletter

Crissy Field Update and More

Thanks to everyone who took the time to write GGNRA Superintendent Brian O'Neill about the importance of Crissy Field and the need to preserve and enhance windsurfing access in the heart of San Francisco Bay. SFBA's public comment letter has been reprinted as a special insert to this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions with regard to SFBA's direction in this effort, please let me know.

The public comment period for the proposed Crissy Field Plan closed on August 15th, and NPS planners are busy addressing the comments and preparing their response, which will undoubtedly include some subtle changes/modifications and other recommendations. NPS planners will provide their response to the general public and the Advisory Commission, and on September 18th the Commission is expected to make its recommendations to Superintendent Brian O'Neill. At that point, it's up to Brian O'Neill to make the final determination regarding the future of Crissy Field (e.g., tidal basin or no tidal basin), and publish his formal Record of Decision (ROD) in the Federal Register.

But our work isn't even close to being complete. After the ROD, it's up to groups like SFBA to ensure that Crissy Field receives the funding it requires and the attention it needs in terms of final design, construction and daily use. Suffice it to say, few projects of this magnitude and public significance are completed without some snafu or inconvenience due to the costs and unpredictability of construction. And once the irrigated turf, restrooms, showers, safety tower and other amenities are in place, it'll be up to SFBA to ensure Crissy is enjoyed and maintained with care. And though most Crissy windsurfers are safety conscious, beginning early next year expect to see a greater SFBA presence in terms of safety, awareness and focus on each individual's responsibility to each other. Expect to see Jay Valentine leading this initiative, as well as founding figures such as Steve Yong and others. (Steve, I knew you'd say yes!?)

That's it for now. To get the latest on Crissy and hear more about parking at the west end (old Coast Guard Station) and possible launch improvements immediately across the Bay at Fort Baker, plan to attend the SFBA season finale party at the St. Francis Yacht Club on Friday, October 11th. We'll hold an SFBA members meeting and question & answer session beginning around 7:00 PM. As usual, I can be reached at (415) 885-4357 in the evenings, and email at "lvev95a@prodigy.com" anytime. Other members of your dedicated Crissy Field Committed include John Obrien, Jay Valentine and Jeff Bunch, so feel free to bend their ears also. And keep the email, snail-mail and phone calls coming, without your interest and participation SFBA wouldn't exist, and without SFBA, much of today's Bay Area access wouldn't exist either. So be involved and let us hear from you!

Bill Robberson,
Crissy Field Committee

P.S. - We're looking for SFBA volunteers to work with us on membership issues, Newsletter coordination, Bay Area safety awareness and training, and other access initiatives (including a Treasure Island windtalker and launch site). If you have an interest and or an aptitude for any of the above, and you can keep commitments and be even half as productive as Erin Block was before she took off for Wash., D.C. (via the Gorge), please let me know.

Dismal Dues

As of August 19, 1996, 72% of the SFBA Membership had not paid their 1996 membership dues. That is some 1,100 members out of 1,600 total members. If no additional dues are paid, this year will go into the records as the second lowest dues response. So if you haven't paid you 1996 dues, please cut us a check today!!

The SFBA is a 100% volunteer association. The dues have remained at $10 per year since the association was founded in 1985. Rather than raise the dues to pay for professional services to help collect membership dues, we rely on our volunteers to get newsletters out, attend public hearings & planning sessions, manage our mail list database, maintain our windtalkers, conduct beach cleanups, handle our banking, and keep the association running. So if your mailing label still says "1996 dues outstanding" and you know you sent in you check, please don't get upset with us. Somebody probably up at the Gorge for awhile or over in Maui. We'll get to it just as soon as we get back.

But if you haven't sent in your 1996 dues, please do it now!!!!

Season Ending Party

The 1996 Windsurfing Season is nearing completion, and things just wouldn't be right if we didn't have our season ending party at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Come join in the fun at our annual season ending party, scheduled for Friday, October 11, 1996, 8:00 p.m., at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

This party will be a combined with the season ending racing awards ceremonies for both the Friday Night Series and the Cal Cup Series participants. Registered racing participants will be admitted free. There will be some interesting awards to some of the best Bay Area racers, and there may be some prizes given away by some of the local racing sponsors. Come early to check out the festivities and to see some of the local favorites.

Admission to the party for non-racers is $10. You do not have to be a windsurfer to attend, so bring your friends. The St Francis Yacht Club is a beautiful facility and a good time is guaranteed. The party will also be a great opportunity to also pay your 1996 SFBA Dues. We have had a horrible response to our requests for dues, and it would be great to get in some money so we can afford to increase the number or newsletters during the season. We are also considering hiring a service to handle dues and memberships so that we can be more responsive to our members' needs.

Mark your calendars now, Friday, October 11, 1996, at 8:00 p.m. There will be live music at the party following the awards, and snacks and appetizers to munch on. We will have a few kegs of beer, and when that runs out, there is a no-host bar for drinks and other beverages.

See you there!

Keith Epstein/Bill Robberson

THIRD AVE UPDATE

The Good News: Rick Navarro of Foster City Public Works Department says that the first phase of the improvements should start soon. This will consist of a paved access road segment and a row of gravel-surfaced overflow parking next to the golf range running parallel to Third Ave. The second phase, paving and expanding the existing parking area, is waiting for a BCDC permit. The third phase, an access road connecting from the signalized intersection to phase 1, is waiting for a permit from the Corps of Engineers.

The Bad News: Foster City intends to reinstall No Parking signs along the access road and thereafter begin ticketing illegally parked vehicles, including those double parked. Be forewarned if you see those signs go up. The City has looked the other way for a long time, but the situation is getting out of hand for all concerned.

Golf Ball Fallout: Golf balls continue to drop into the Third Ave parking and rigging areas, though at a reduced rate from when the range first opened. Foster City is working with the range operators and BCDC to arrive at a solution. A canopy over the parking area and extending the nets are alternatives being discussed.

Cooperation: Also, the City implores users (who they recognize may include people other than windsurfers) NOT to tear down the fences. This only jeopardizes our increasingly positive relationship with the City. Finally, the police have noted that people have been urinating in the parking area. Not only is this anti-social behavior but its a serious legal offense. Please remember and warn others that this is isn't Baja! Use the restroom! (The City has been informed that the restroom has not been cleaned regularly at times).

Access Ramps: SFBA will be formally requesting that Foster City makes fixing the ramps a part of the parking lot improvements they are planning. The sandbagging efforts have not worked out and concrete ramps similar to the one at the old launch site seem to be the best solution. This is beyond our capabilities as a volunteer project, though we might be able to help, both with labor and finances. We hope that by next season permanent launch ramps will be in place.

Randy Anderson

Flying Tigers Now History

By the time you read this the September 5 vote of the San Francisco Bay Commission will have approved the San Francisco Airport's permit for a vast array of construction projects. Based on the BCDC staff recommendations the permit will officially allow the permanent closure of the Flying Tigers launch. Although BCDC staff recognized the loss of the site for windsurfing, the contribution of $1 million for public trail and park improvements elsewhere was deemed adequate compensation for the loss of access. Thanks to those members who wrote letters to BCDC, but you were two few to turn the enormous political tide. If there is a lesson here its that we need to make a bigger fuss at the time sites are closed if we want to see them reopened. Its too hard to get people excited about a site they haven't been able to use for five years.

Randy Anderson

Coyote Point Site Utilization Study Previewed

The consultant-prepared study commissioned by San Mateo County and the City of San Mateo turns out to be focused on ways to improve the golf course, but it included study of problems and opportunities in all areas of the park. Not yet a specific plan, the study's only recommendation concerning windsurfing is that the swim area ropes (should they be replaced) might be pushed back at an angle so as to reduce conflict with the windsurfers (an idea that was proposed years ago by windsurfers and shot down by local swimming groups). In the long term, the study could be related to the ultimate design for the undeveloped portion of the park near Airport Blvd. SFBA will keep tabs.

Randy Anderson

A Chlorination Dilemma at Third Avenue

The two wastewater treatment facilities discharging in the vicinity of the Third Ave. launch site are proposing a chlorination reduction study that may adversely affect the quality of waters in which we sail. In an effort to lower operating costs, the treatment plants plan to reduce the a-amount of chlorine bleach they use in their treatment processes. A reduction in chlorine means a corresponding increase in pathogenic bacteria discharged to the Bay, an obvious threat to public health. Plant operators do not believe their proposal will negatively impact beneficial uses in the Third Ave. area, in fact they claim the reduced chlorine levels will benefit aquatic habitat. Water quality authorities have previously allowed similar permit amendments, but notably only in areas where water contact recreation (e.g. windsurfing) has not been a concern.

The San Mateo Water Quality Control Plant (SMWQCP) and the South Bayside System Authority (SBSA) both discharge large volumes of treated wastewater directly to the Bay in the vicinity of the Third Ave. launch. The San Mateo plant alone discharges roughly 12 million gallons a day, treating sewer flows from the cities of San Mateo, Foster City, Hillsborough, and portions of Belmont. The discharge enters the Bay through a submerged outfall on the west bank of the deep water channel located some 5O yards north of the San Mateo Bridge. The Clean Water Act requires that the effluent undergo a complex biological treatment process designed to remove conventional pollutants, such as oxygen depleting organic material, settleable solids, oil and grease. The Clean Water Act also requires that the effluent be disinfected prior to discharge to remove a plethora of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, including E. Coli, Enterococcus, and even HIV. Both plants utilize chlorine bleach for this purpose. The chlorine is removed from the final effluent through a dechlorination process prior to release to the Bay. Residual chlorine levels in the final effluent range in the order of 2 to 5 milligrams per liter.

Califomia bacteria standards for surface waters are set in discharge permits and enforced by the Regional Water Quality Control Board to protect beneficial uses around wastewater outfalls. San Francisco Basin Plan limits for fecal coliform bacteria and total bacteria are quite strict, specifically intended to protect water contact recreation as the primary beneficial use of concern Exceptions to Basin Plan objectives have been granted by the Board in the past, but only if it can be established that beneficial uses (windsurfing) will not be compromised.

Board policy places the burden of proof on the discharger. If the SMWQCP and SBSA permits are to be amended to allow bacterial discharges to exceed current Basin Plan limits, plant operators must first conclusively establish that the water quality and the health of water contact recreators will not be jeopardized.

SMWQCP and SBSA are conducting background sampling studies to detemine bacterial levels which currently exist in the vicinity of the outfalls. Beginning in mid-September through perhaps the "rainy-season", sampling will be increased as chlorine levels at the treatment plants are reduced. The amount of pathogenic bacteria in the final effluent is expected to rise substantially. What effect this will have on the water quality we sail in, remains a question? Designated sampling sites will be tested twice weekly during the period of reduced chlorination. If monitoring results establish that receiving water quality remains unaffected, the treatment plants will likely be granted their permit amendments.

While it is premature to be sounding a three alarm bell and storming the treatment plant gates, this is certainly an important issue worthy of our careful attention. As members of the affected public, we must ensure that no decisions are made without our knowing consent. Lowered operating costs and reduced chlorine handling are meritorious goals, but not at the expense of public health. Other more effective and environmentally friendly disinfection processes exist, processes which would neither compromise existing water quality nor subject us to an increased risk of adverse health effects. Stay tuned as future developments unfold….

Peter Candy

Windsight Pager System

Bouy Reports: All the bouy reports will be given three times a day including the swell in size, time separation, windspeed, and direction.
Forecasts: Forecasts twice day and reports as the forecasts change.
On-site Wind Reports: Mobile reporters that call in with reports from on the beach.
SFBA News: News on events, possible parking problems, water hazards, and any other related SFBA information.
Free Membership: Being a member of the SFBA you will get a discount on the pager service. The regular price of $21.00 is reduced to $20.00 per month. The money you save will more that pay for your annual SFBA membership dues. This includes the personal pager and all the Windsight information. No Service Charge to Start: All that is needed is a deposit of $50.00 and the first month's pager service fee. The deposit is refunded when the pager is returned.
A Minimum Commitment of only 3 months: Most pagers require a one year commitment. Windsight allows you to turn the pager off for the winter months with no fees.
Free Pager: If your pager is lost or stolen, the only cost to you is the $50.00 deposit. You will never have to purchase another pager if it is lost or damaged. As new pagers come out, you will be able to turn your in for the newest model. There is no need to purchase the pager each time there is an upgrade.

To sign up for service or for more information contact us at 1-800-934-2278 or visit us on the WEB at http://www.windsight.com

Sell Your Used Boardsailing Equipment

Last year we tried publishing a Classified Ad / Swap Meet listing of SFBA member's used boardsailing equipment for sale. It seemed to be a great success, but after realizing the many hours of unpaid, volunteer work it took to process the ads and get them published, the idea faded. Many of you have asked us to revive this service. Perhaps we can discuss the possibility of reviving the Classified Ad / Swap Meet listing service for next season at the Season Ending Party. If there is enough interest we might be able to offer ads published on the SFBA Website and Newsletter.

Updated - 8/30/97

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