Resources, News, and Announcements
From the Mayor’s desk – 6/13/25
Happy Friday!
Some significant and positive momentum was made this week on both of our grant projects. Stay tuned for the updates a little bit further down the page!
Police & EMS Departments:
I personally want to thank all the first responders who have put in many hours over 3 of the last 4 weekends, maintaining the peace and supporting those in need of assistance. Both PD and EMS have successfully managed multiple instances of large crowds on the beach recently for Jeep weekend, Memorial weekend, and most recently the Kappa Beach party. They were well prepared, well connected with other agencies, and gracefully maintained law and order, supplied necessary care as required, and allowed everyone to have fun in Surfside Beach. We learned a lot and plan to work improve operations for the next large beach crowds coming. Great job by PD & EMS!!
Emergency Management efforts are ramping up in preparation for hurricane season. Some activities include documentation of all city assets by department, including photo evidence. This preventative measure must be completed in case of massive losses that require us to work through insurance claims and FEMA for reimbursement. It's a good practice that should be done at every household in the Village, for similar reasons.
Both PD & EMS are fully staffed with full-time employees now. Please try to get to know our newest first responders as you see them around town.
Beach & Parks:
Road repairs have been started at Surf & Main Entrance (completed), Sand Dune Ct (half of it ready to pour), Coral Ct (also half of it ready to pour), and Bay Avenue (also half ready to pour). The rain did cause some delays with concrete work, but the crew was able to complete one intersection at Surf Drive. The barricades will be removed over the weekend to allow for full traffic flow over the new concrete intersection. Work will continue next week on the remaining three.
A few new and modified ordinances came out of this week's City Council meeting related to the beach that I will attempt to summarize. Digging Holes on the beach: it is now prohibited to dig a hole over 12" deep AND leave it unattended. PD will make contact with those digging large holes and instruct them to fill in the holes prior to leaving the beach, or they will be mailed a citation. RV Parking on the beach: RVs are now prohibited from parking on the beach. The definition of RV is detailed in our online ordinances if you want more information.
HR:
We have an open position for a Deputy Clerk of Courts. If interested, please contact City Hall.
Finance:
Our new Finance Director, Christie Briones, attended a 3-day educational class on municipal financial obligations. This class sponsored by TML helps to educate municipalities to all existing and new rules & regulations that pertain to public finance.
Budget season is rapidly approaching. The first public workshop will be held in a few weeks. This year we will balance all 4 funds, the Department Leaders and Finance will be the first to populate "desired" budgets per line item, and then Council will publicly review and approve each line item, culminating with a fully balanced budget. Then those balanced budgets will be available online and will be updated with actual income & expenses each month.
Public Works:
The rain this week caused all kinds of issues to our AIRVAC sewer system that the PW crew has been working to resolve. One flaw (of many!!) in the AIRVAC system is that the controllers and other mechanisms in the pits must stay dry. When heavy rainfall or storm surge occurs, the pits get submerged by ponding/flooding and it in turn damages controllers to a point of failure. At a minimum some maintenance must be performed on the controller, and in some cases the $500 controller must be replaced. This is one of the issues that Port O'Connor believes that they have resolved with their new sealed sewer pit and control designs. We plan to bring in a few of these new and improved pits from Port O'Connor to test in Surfside very soon.
Utilities billing is making changes to serve Surfside customers better. Starting in July, we will be switching to a new billing system called Muni-Link. It is a modern billing software system that replaces our old (1980s) billing system currently in use. There will be a new online portal where you can view bills, track usage, and make payments anytime. There will be more payment options including credit/debit card, bank transfer, and autopay. The new system will have new and different account numbers, so expect to see your account number change. We will be sending out more information soon to existing email addresses. If you would like to update your email address or have any questions, just send us a message at utilities@surfsidetx.org Property owners, don’t worry, we’ll be able to add your email after the new system goes live! We appreciate your patience during the transition and are here to help if you have any questions.
Other Items of Interest:
We moved forward on the HGAC & GLO sewer replacement grant (CDBG MIT-MOD funding) this week with Council selecting GrantWorks as our grant administrator and Lynn Engineering as our principal engineer/architect for the project. This grant is still held up by the GLO per HGAC who had previously projected its final approvals to be completed already. Once GLO approved we can begin working with both GrantWorks and Lynn to execute the project.
The Groin project also moved forward this week in a big way. We were granted authorization for extension of time for the Village of Surfside Groin and Beach Nourishment project (SWG-1998-02508). This is the permit that we have been waiting on for years now. It was held up by numerous rolls of red tape, most recently for more biological assessments of endangered species, specifically giant manta rays. Now that we have the permit in hand, we will work with GLO to finalize design documents, and then it all goes out for an open bid. Projections are for the project's start date in early 2026. Thanks to Amanda for staying on top of both of these grants and all the swirl of necessary activities that are associated with moving them forward. Much appreciated!
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.