From the Mayor’s desk – 3/13/26

Happy Friday!

Tomorrow is the St. Patrick’s Day parade and the unofficial start to the summer beach season in my opinion.  It is a great day where residents, part time beach house folks, and tourists from all over the country (world?) gather in Surfside Beach to enjoy a fun, and just slightly “Surfside” take on celebrating the Irish holiday of St. Patrick’s Day.  I’m personally extra excited this year as our daughter is bringing two of her friends who just happen to be from Ireland.  I can’t wait to hear what the Irish lasses have to say about our Surfside Parade Day!!

Human Resources:

We will be welcoming William Cox to Surfside Beach on Monday.  He will officially start onboarding as our very first Village of Surfside Beach City Administrator bright and early on Monday morning.

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:

From the City Council meeting this week, Erick has been tasked to get an engineering design for 2 potential infrastructure projects.  First is a 6” water line loop to service the existing and potential new development that extends up around the Coast Guard station that would improve water pressure.  The second is a sewer project working with Vacu-Tex to retrofit a section of our existing Air-Vac sewer with new and improved controller components.  We have one of these retrofit sewer pits installed for test right out front of the Jetty Shack in that low lying area.

Grants & Major Projects:

A reminder…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.

No updates on the Groin and Beach nourishment grant project.  The final drawings are completed and Coast & Harbor has submitted the final project manual to GLO for approval.  Then GLO has 5-6 months of work to complete before we get a construction contact in place.  The construction activities start date is still estimated to be 10/4/26.

PD:

A hearty congratulations to Chief Philip Hester who celebrated his 1 year anniversary with Surfside Beach.  I hope that I can speak for everyone in the Village to say thank you for taking on this important position, and another thank you for the job that you have done in the last 12 months.  We are in a much better place today as a result of your efforts Chief Hester.

Beach & Parks:

Reminder that asphalt overlay will be happening in a few weeks on the entirety of Ft. Velasco Drive, Thunder Drive between Monument & Surf, and the entirety of Starfish Street.

Another smaller road repair project to be completed before the heavy beach crowds get here in June will be the annual cleanup of Bluewater Highway potholes that develop slowly over time.  The labor crew will be identifying areas that need to be filled along our 3 miles of highway that run through the Village.  Then they will be working for probably a few weeks progressing one repair at a time all the way down to the city limits sign.

Tourism:

Another reminder that next weekend will be 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!  Get out and see all your friends and neighbors on Saturday.  Enjoy the sunshine.  Stay safe and have all the fun that you can handle during the parade!!

Thanks,

Zach