I have posted this in the sandbar and in hot spots west. I am not sure if this has been covered but here it is.
This is straight from the horseÂ’s mouth or at least a city council womanÂ’s mouth to my ears this past weekend.
The city council has now given the sheriffs department power to close the channel if CO2 levels get to high. A system has been put into place to monitor and display the current level of CO2 in the channel using DEFCON type levels. I was not clear on the colors or how many there will be but I can be sure of this. The sheriff now has the power to close and clear the channel if the CO2 levels in the channel reach what the council says is unacceptable.
The council woman said they heard all of our pitches for one-way traffic, limiting parking, closing some beach, banning personal water craft ect. She went on to say that this seems to be the best way to make it safe for now. If you ask me it just empowered the sheriff to close AND clear the channel of desired. I was left with the impression that there is also no back up policy or agency to confirm that the channel is actually dangerous at the time they close it. So I guess we can all just hope it does not get closed due to over crowding and covered up under the cloke of CO2 levels.
Timmy
My feelings are . ....If CO hits a dangerous level (which it most certainly will) the boat cops will more than likely just Stop the flow of traffic for awhile untill the level drops down to a safer level.
It wouldn't make since to have all the boats fire up their engines and move out.
My feeling is that they have the ordinances in place to just "shut it down", and I believe that will happen, CO or not.
With the "crush" of this first Holiday, I can bet that they will close off the channel, just like they do with Copper and the Sandbar, and will allow only the commerical vessels through or those moored at the London Bridge Resort.
Hope I'm wrong. Looking at some of the pictures from last year, I'll bet it goes down.
First of all, the City doesn't have the authority to empower to Sheriff to do anything.
It is true that the City Council has passed an ordinance that will give the Chief of Police the authority to take any number of actions is the CO level gets too high.
They can either:
1) Close the channel to all but commercial traffic.
2) Institute one way traffic through the channel
In addition, the ordinance says that boats may not idle while beached and they must keep moving through the channel, rather than just float with the engine running.
The Chief of Poice won't have to close or otherwise restrict the channel if boaters abide by the other portions of the ordinance.
But.... people who support all the conspiracy theories will claim that the only reason all those people got tickets for idling their boat on the beach and other violations of the ordinace was to make money for the City.
It's all about the money, you know.
The Air Quality Advisory System (AQAS) that will be in use in the Channel every weekend this summer consists of two large (8' X 8') signs placed on the Island side of the south Channel (north of London Bridge Beach). The sign displays four levels of air quality:
HAZARDOUS (maroon)
UNHEALTHY (red)
MODERATE (yellow)
GOOD (green)
This system is based on the EPA's established Air Quality Index system as it relates to carbon monoxide. The city has placed six electronic, datalogging CO monitors in a zig-zag configuration across both shores of the south Channel. These monitors will be inspected at one-hour intervals by Fire Department personnel and the average of all readings will be used to determine which of the conditions on the sign the black arrow will point to.
Using the data gathered last year, averaged over the three holiday weekends; if this system had been in place, we would have seen a 'green' condition until about 2pm. Then it would have gone to 'yellow' until about 5pm, then 'red' until about 7pm, then 'maroon' until about 8:30pm. Then it would have gone back to 'yellow' until about 11pm, at which time it would have gone to 'green.'
The police department's goal is to initiate actions when it becomes obvious that the air quality in the Channel will continue to deteriorate beyond the 'yellow' range. Actions may include limiting or stopping new traffic from entering the Channel, prohibiting "cruising," or generally only allowing boats to leave the Channel until the air quality improves. The chances of the police evacuating the Channel are very slim, but not out of the question under extreme conditions.
A nice breeze can also help in a hurry.
So, if you are approaching the Channel and get waved off by the boat cops, come back in about an hour and things may be back to normal. ('normal?!)
Charlie
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