185 



area by prescription, dedication, or continuous use, creates a responsibility for 

 the state, in its position as trustee for the public, to assist local governments in 

 the cleaning of beach areas which are subject to the access rights of the public 

 as defined by Chapter 10, Acts of the 56th Legislature, 2nd (Jailed Session, 19o0, 

 as amended (Article 5415d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). 



(c) The provisions of this Act shall not be construed to interfere with local 

 initiative and responsibility in the cleaning, maintenance, and supervision of 

 public beaches. The administration of public beaches, the selection of personnel, 

 and, insofar as is consistent with the purposes of this Act, the determination of the 

 best uses of the funds provided by this Act, shall be reserved to the several polit- 

 ical subdivisions receiving funds under this Act. 



Sec. 2. This Act shall apply to home-rule cities having a population in excess 

 of 60,000 which are situated or border upon the Gulf of Mexico, and to all coun- 

 ties which are situated or border upon the Gulf of Mexico, provided that such 

 city or county making application for funds under this Act has within its bound- 

 aries public beaches as defined in this Act. 



Sec. 3. Any such county or city seeking state funds under this Act to clean 

 public beaches must first submit an application to the Parks and Wildlife De- 

 partment. To be approved, such application must : 



(a) Provide for the administration or supervision of the public beaches 

 of such county or city by a Beach Park Board of Trustees, County Parks 

 Board, Commissioners Court, or other such administrative- body that the 

 Legislature may from time to time authorize, and provide that such Board 

 or agency will have adequate authority to administer an effective program 

 of keeping the public beaches within its jurisdiction clean. 



(b) Provide for the receipt by the county or city treasurer, or other officer 

 exercising similar functions if there be no county or city treasurer, of all 

 funds paid to such county or city pursuant to this Act, and provide for the 

 proper safeguarding of such funds by such officer, provide that such funds 

 shall be expended solely for the purposes for which paid, and provide for the 

 repayment by the county or city of any such funds lost or diverted from the 

 purposes for which paid. 



(c) Provide that the governing body of such county or city will make such 

 reports as to amounts and categories of expenditures as the Parks and Wild- 

 life Department may from time to time require. 



(d) Provide that entrance to all public beaches under the jurisdiction of 

 the governing body of such county or city shall be free of charge. This sub- 

 section shall not be construed to prohibit the assessment of a reasonable fee 

 for off-beach parking, nor shall this subsection be construed to prohibit the 

 assessment of a reasonable fee for the use of facilities provided for the use 

 and convenience of the public. 



(e) Provide for the establishment, maintenance, and administration of at 

 least one beach park by such county or city, which shall meet such minimum 

 requirements of size and facilities available to the public as shall be deter- 

 mined by the Parks and Wildlife Department. 



Sec. 4. The department shall not approve any application which does not 

 fulfill the conditions specified in Section 3 of this Act. 



Sec. 5. (a) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the governing body of 

 any incorporated city, town, or village situated or bordering upon the Gulf of 

 Mexico to clean and maintain the condition of all public beaches within its cor- 

 porate boundaries ; provided that such duty shall not extend to any public beach 

 within its corporate boundaries which is owned by the county in which it is 

 located. 



(b) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the commissioners court of any 

 county situated or bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico to clean and maintain the 

 condition of all public beaches within its boundaries and not within the bound- 

 aries of any incorporated city situated or bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico. 

 It shall further be the duty and responsibility of such commissioner court to clean 

 any public beach owned by the county but situated within the corporate limits 

 of any incorporated city, town, or village. 



(c) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the State of Texas to clean and 

 maintain the condition of all public beaches located within state parks so desig- 

 nated by the Parks and Wildlife Department. 



Sec. 6. Pursuant to the duties established by this Act, the commissioners court 

 of any county situated or bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico is hereby authorized 



