Beach & Coastal Resources Advisory Committee (BchCRAC)

To send an e-mail to the Beach & Coastal Resources Advisory Committee members, please contact the City Staff Liaison, Kathryn Grigsby, Environmental Planner: kgrigsby@cityofmarcoisland.com

Mission Statement:

The City of Marco Island’s Beach & Coastal Resources Advisory Committee (BchCRAC) is charged with identifying short and long-term issues that impact the beach and coastal environment, evaluating potential solutions and recommending policy and practices to City staff for administrative or Council action. 

Our current Lightning Warning system can be checked from any smartphone at the following address:  http://marcoisland.thormobile8.net/.  RED alert means it is not safe to remain at the beach.   

The Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee (BchCRAC) meets the third Wednesday of every other month at 9:00 a.m.in the Fay & Bedford Biles Community Room, at Police Department. The BchCRAC is “charged with identifying short and long-term issues that impact the beach environment, evaluating potential solutions and recommending policy and practices to City staff for administrative or Council action.” All public is welcome to attend. See attached meeting schedule.

As a committee, the BchCRAC feels it is important to raise public awareness of beach issues, rules and projects and is actively working to fulfill past goals and move forward with new goals. The Marco Island Beach Steward program is part of the solution for regular monitoring and educational outreach. 

Past issues that do need ongoing attentions include beach erosion in the South Beach area, water quality, ordinance compliance, beach maintenance, and beach debris. We continue to address the necessity of having more trash receptacles along our beachfront and for regular beach clean-up campaigns. Monthly Clean-ups, sponsored by volunteers, community organizations, and local businesses, have been established to combat the debris issue. Each month, the participating businesses with BchCRAC volunteers, walk the beach from South Beach to Tigertail Beach, picking up trash and debris. We have had many successful clean ups with hundreds of bags of trash removed. All public is welcome to join in! 

Beach maintenance is a vital part of Marco Island. Without the regular raking and tilling, free-standing water presents a problem, particularly on the north part of the beach. Sands build up as small dunes, or berms, stranding high tidal waters further in toward the buildings and vegetation begins to grow. One remedy that was tested was moving increments of sand from this berm above high tide line landward to lower areas of the beach. Due to sea turtle nesting season, this activity can only occur between November and April of each year. The BchCRAC strongly recommends laser grading of the beach to improve the gradient and slope of the beach to help with better percolation and less standing water areas. 

Water quality is monitored for bacteria and nutrients within the island waterways. This monitoring and reports are compiled and reviewed by the BchCRAC. Collier County Parks and Recreation Rangers do a twice daily “beach condition” report. More information on water quality can be found at www.mote.org/beaches. 

There are seasonal issues to be dealt with when shorebird and sea turtle nesting seasons begin and areas of our beach are posted. Collier County has a Shorebird Steward Program which is designed to educate beach goers to share the beach with our nesting shorebirds. 

BchCRAC distributes educational materials to beachfront condominiums and hotels regarding the Loggerhead Sea Turtle nesting and hatching and asks all residents to respect the “lights out or shaded by 9:00 p.m.”, per the City Sea Turtle Protection ordinance. 

Meetings are held the Third Wednesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. in the Community Room (First floor Police Department).

2024 MEETING SCHEDULE