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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-08-2020 IPM MinutesINTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FL DECEMBER 8, 2020 Call to Order -- The meeting was called to order by Mr. Benton at 2:00 p.m Pledae of Allegiance was recited by all. Roll call Present Dr. Cox Mr. Carrano Ms. Callaghan (Zoom) Not Present Ms. Munroe -- Absent Ms. Lovell -- Excused Mr. Stadelman -- Unexcused Also Present: Ken Griffin, Stormwater Manager Bran Benton, Leisure Services Director Barbara Brooke -Reese, MIS Manager Janet Graham, Technical Writer (Zoom) IV. Announcements -- None V. Public Input Mark Bondy, 997 George Street, Sebastian. He is looking for information concerning the contract for the "study on the stormwater system." He stated in 2019-2020 there was $200,000.00 put into the budget for that study. He questioned whether that contract for the study has been let and, if so, what is the amount of that contract. Eugene Wolff, Wimbrow Drive, Sebastian. He stated that the day before this meeting he observed the commencement of spraying on the Collier Creek Canal. Mr. Benton advised that the subject should be addressed under Item B, New Business, which will discuss Aquatic Vegetation Control, Incorporated. Bob Stephen, 150 Concha Drive, Sebastian. He was under the impression that the goal of this Sub -Committee was to plan on how to address the spraying. He stated it INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING looks like the City Manager has already been given permission to hire someone to do the spraying. Mr. Benton stated there was one question in regard to the Stonmwater Master Plan. He asked Mr. Griffin to give an update on that. Mr. Griffin stated there is $200,000.00 in this fiscal year's budget to put towards doing the Stormwater Master Plan. For a really comprehensive stonmwater master plan that integrates all the other issues that are fairly complex and large would take more than that. The City anticipated that need and applied for a state grant to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. He has yet to hear what the response is. That agency has a number of issues that are delaying how timely they are in reviewing and making awards of this competitive grant program. So, although the City has gone through a detailed consultant selection process and selected a firm, staff has not been able to sit down with them and negotiate a scope of work and price because the City does not know whether it has $200,000.00 to deal with or somewhat more to do thejob the way it really needs to be done. So the emphasis presently for that effort is to try to secure that grant. Staff is making an all-out press to see if that can be achieved. Seeing no one else in Chambers who would like to speak, and hearing from no one on Zoom, Mr. Benton moved to the next item on the agenda. A. Current Use of Whack -Out -Weeds (WOW) i. Current sites sprayed and when ii. Primary species treated iii. Observed efficacy so far Mr. Griffin reviewed that City staff is still in the process of evaluating potential test sites for use of this organic, non -registered pesticide. It is a non -regulated pesticide. Purchase of the product has been made, and different sites are being evaluated which will provide more information on WOW. It has been proven to be fairly effective for the City's parks situation, and it is part of the IPM Plan for parks. Staff has moved quickly on the other effort that follows, which is direction from City Council to proceed to attempt to get the stormwater system, including canals and ponds, back in shape. Mr. Benton called for questions/comments from Sub -Committee members on Item A. Dr. Cox: • Stated it has been known all along that WOW has not been tested for the aquatic environment. He asked what sort of testing areas are being investigated that will INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING show what works and what does not work. Mr. Griffin stated that there was a moderately successful effort a number of months ago with the small amount of material that had been purchased for the parks to try. Staff is looking to try it in other situations with other species, this time with a surfactant to see if there is more efficacy. One of the benefits of the product is that it is a safe product. Staff is continuing to look for sites and results so that intelligent decisions can be made on the comprehensive nature of the program. • Regarding surfactants, Dr. Cox stated that one of the problems with glyphosate is that it was stated that glyphosate itself was safe, but not the surfactants that were added to it. He asked if it is known what surfactants will be in use in this program. Mr. Griffin stated staff has not purchased a surfactant yet. He will report to this Sub -Committee what staff finds. Ms. Callaghan: • Is also interested in the surfactants. She reiterated that she had involvement in looking at all sorts of risk -assessment studies on all sorts of organisms when surfactants were used in the BP Oil spill 10 years ago, and she would be very interested in what product is selected. Mr. Benton stated staff will look into that and will bring that back for the Sub -Committee to look at in regard to surfactants. Mr. Benton called for public input regarding to Item A. Diana Bolton, George Street, Sebastian. In reference to WOW and any other products that will be used during experimental spraying, she suggested it should be known what their target species are, whether it be plant or animal, and what species are going to be protected. Also, what is the measure of success. It should be known whether the product is a blanket killer or a selective killer. Her concern is what are the long-term consequences and what are the unintended consequences and is there going to be a baseline study done. It should be known what was there before the spraying and what is living there after the spraying. There being no one else from the public who wished to speak, Mr. Benton called on the Sub -Committee members for comments/questions on Item A. Ms. Callaghan: • Regarding Ms. Bolton's statements, she stated the current WOW study was apart of City Council voting for it. Her understanding is that City Council, at the meeting INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING which she attended, gave this Sub -Committee permission to proceed with this test study and purchase of this product. As soon as this Sub -Committee comes up with its IPM Plan, then the City will begin to follow that Plan. She asked for clarification of this. Mr. Benton stated there have been a number of meetings during which this item was discussed regarding WOW and treating the canals and waterways within the City. He opined that at the first Council meeting when it was discussed, the discussion was to approve the purchase of EcoMIGHT WOW to be used within the system. That was at a meeting in early October. Staff then purchased that product, and staff was working on qualifications in order to have staff certified in aquatic usage. B. City Council Directed Emergency Pest Management I. Aquatic Vegetation Control, Inc. ii. Summary of services being contracted Mr. Gruen reviewed that at the last City Council meeting, Council voted to direct the City Manager to direct staff to immediately secure the services of a qualified, licensed herbicide applicator to put our canal and stormwater system back in shape, including stormwater ponds, and to do so quickly. Staff took that direction and secured proposals from a number of firms. When qualifications and timeliness in terms of being able to meet the timeframe that City Council expected were considered, staff found one fine that emerged, and that was Aquatic Vegetation Control. A scope of work and price were negotiated with that firm, and last Friday a work order to proceed was issued to them. They proceeded to do the initial work on portions of the canal and one of the stormwater ponds yesterday, and they continue to work this week. Mr. Benton called for questionstcomments from the Sub -Committee members. Dr. Cox: Asked if the contractor was given specific instructions dealing only with herbicides, or are they being instructed to use whatever means to clear whatever obstacles that are there. Mr. Griffin stated this was for a herbicide application project. The specific instructions, besides indicating what the stormwater system is exactly, were that they will not be considering use of glyphosate until and if it is part of the stormwater IPM that is being worked on presently. Dr. Cox asked if diquat is allowed, and Mr. Griffin said that product is allowed to be used. Staff specifically indicated that they did not want to use glyphosate despite some recommendations that that would be the most effective and the safest chemical in terms of some control situations. The contractor agreed to that, and so they are not spraying any glyphosate. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING • Suggested that it seems to be a case that there is a solution in search of a problem when permitting spraying without really looking carefully to see if that is the most effective way to treat whatever they have identified as the problem. Mr. Griffin stated that they are proceeding with the effort that is underway today. Staff is committed to taking this through to a quality Integrated Pest Management Plan. Council gave clear direction to lift the moratorium and to proceed to put the stormwater system back in good shape while this process was occurring. The City Manager was the one who provided the additional direction to staff and to the contractor that during this period of time glyphosate would not be used. Dr. Cox asked for a clearer definition of the use of the phrase "in good shape." • Asked if there is a time limit on the contract that the City has with Aquatic Vegetation Control. Mr. Griffin said there is a dollar limit for the initial workload that was provided. The contract amount is $50,000.00, and that amount is not to be exceeded. The initial work order is $28,000.00. Ms. Callaghan: Recalls that when the IPM Plan for Parks and Properties was completed, there was a data collection sheet included. Not knowing what the standard operating procedures are for the stormwater group, is there going to be a data collection sheet so that when this company is proceeding to do these activities some of the data will be collected that this Sub -Committee will likely want to put into this stormwater IPM so that there will be some useful information that the Sub - Committee can get. Mr. Griffin stated that was one of the items included in the scope of work, that staff would have regular reporting. In this case, it is daily reporting of the chemicals used, the quantities used, the species targeted, and the areas that were treated. So there is much more detailed information being collected on an ongoing basis than has been done in previous contracts. Ms. Callaghan asked if that includes concentration in addition to the volume that was sprayed and how it was sprayed, i.e. directly, etc. She is not sure that this will be all of the data that is desired, but she is glad that some is being collected. She wants to be sure that data is collected stating what it looks like pre- and post- treatment. Mr. Griffin stated that one of the reasons this firm was selected was that they regularly collect detailed data on everything to do with their applications. So the City made that a requirement of the work that they would proceed with. Mr. Benton added that staff does have some sample documents of how the information will be reported to staff. Ms. Haigler will send that information out when she gets back from vacation. He also stated the Stormwater IPM Plan will be on the Stormwater website, which is separate from the Parks and Recreation website. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING As far as the treatments are concerned, she asked if there is a definition for the endpoint, i.e. how good is good enough, or what is considered an acceptable level to return to what is desired for the stormwater system to be working as it is intended to do. She stated it might be helpful to have a definition for that stated in the IPM Plan. Mr. Gruen stated staff provided the contractor with before and after photos showing when the system was well maintained and then a number ofphotos of the system as it currently exists as well as site visits. Ms. Callaghan asked if the definition would be how the system is displayed on the photos when the system was well maintained. Mr. Griffin stated that is accurate. She suggested that those photos be made available so that the Sub -Committee can use them in implementing the Stormwater IPM Plan. Mr. Griffin stated that will be done. Mr. Carrano • Is concerned that there has been no environmental review, no assessment of the impact of what is going to happen to groundwater and downstream. He wonders why the Sub -Committee is here if they are not going to be part of the process. Mr. Benton opened up Item B(i) and (ii) for public input. Eugene Wolff, Wimbrow Drive, Sebastian. He reviewed what the weather report was this past Sunday evening and detailed the herbicide application activities he observed. Mr. Wolff was concerned to see an operator on City waterways without protective equipment. In the litigious society that we live in, in the event these operators ever go back to sue their former employers for medical conditions that they receive, they would likely come after the deep pockets of the City of Sebastian. As a taxpayer, he is concerned when he sees anyone on the City's payroll or working in the public areas who is not wearing protective gear because that opens the City up to any type of lawsuits in the future. Once that boat had proceeded on, he then saw a pickup truck in Lake Hardee Park itself on the jogging path. Mr. Wolff said he watched this truck pull off the jogging trail and go to the edge of the mitigation wetland area. The driver then began to spray herbicide out of the cab of the pickup truck over the entire mitigation area to the water's edge. He further stated that today he noted a neighbor raking out a large Hydrilla island from around his dock, unbeknownst to him that that had been sprayed. He feels that the City should post some type of warning noting that some product has been applied to prevent exposure of anyone to the herbicide. Diana Bolton, Sebastian. She feels that "good shape" should be defined. She stated concern that the herbicide application is in violation of the City's Stormwater Ordinance. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 7 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING How does it make sense to create more muck, and then there will be more money spent to clean it up? She stated that the County has brought in aquatic vegetation in order to filter the water through their stormwater park. She added that the material data safety sheets specify what the weather conditions can be when spraying is done. She feels that the spraying that is being done is breaking the law. She related that City Council stated that staff/contractors would notify people when there was spraying to be done. She also addressed the many lawsuits that are being filed throughout this country because of the contact poisons that are being used. The City needs to be sure that these people doing the spraying read the safety data sheets and that they understand and can read a weather report. Bob Stephen, 150 Concha Drive. He lives on two of the canals. He is concerned that laws are being broken. The permit states the City is supposed to tell the residents when spraying will be done and what is being sprayed. The spraying is to be done when the winds are right and it is not raining. He opined that the canals need work with physical work and some machinery. He asked if the $50,000.00 that was allotted is for one time. He also asked about the muck and the nutrients that are being added to the waterways. He also called attention to the report card that came out today on the state of the lagoon. He states the bottom line is to stop using herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer, and stop building too many houses on small lots. He asked that something be done to stop this. Tim Glover. He identified himself as the President of the Friends of St. Sebastian River. He understood that this Sub -Committee was to come up with an Integrated Pest Management Plan that would identify the issues and come up with alternatives for maintenance of the canals. He suggested that the City ought to look at the canals as being more than just an engineering project. The Marine Resources Council did issue their annual report card on the health of the lagoon today. According to the parameters that they measure, the water quality has increased slightly, but the overall habitat of the lagoon is continuing to decrease. That is measured by the measurement of seagrass. Obviously, all the stormwater drains into the St. Sebastian River and then ultimately into the Indian River Lagoon. It did say that the water quality in the St. Sebastian River is worse than the lagoon itself. The City ought to be conscious of that fact and not send their troubles downstream. He questions why it is felt that something needs to be done now, without taking into consideration what this Sub -Committee is working on. He is confused. He thinks this Sub -Committee should be allowed to do its work. If not, it sort of makes a mockery of its effort. Seeing no one else from the public or on Zoom wishing to speak, Mr. Benton called for comments from the Sub -Committee members. INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 8 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING Mr. Benton wanted to clarify for the Sub -Committee that, in regard to Osprey Park in Vero Beach, at the Indian River County November 6 County Commission meeting, they did approve a $71,500.00 work order to provide exotic vegetation control and elimination services at Osprey Acres flow way and nature preserve. Mr. Griffin asked what kinds of methods those were. Mr. Benton quoted the exhibit provided from GK Environmental on the flow ways. "GKE is to provide on -site maintenance for 11 months for invasive exotic plant control, GKE will coordinate labor, herbicide equipment, materials and incidentals necessary for the maintenance treatment. The site will be visited twice each month with treatments as necessary to control undesirable growth within the flow way, three trails, and inside fence line. All Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council listed exotic nuisance native species will be cut and/or treated in place with EPA -certified herbicides to preserve the desirable native vegetation." Regarding the shallow marsh, it says: "Bimonthly maintenance of shallow marsh site, bimonthly maintenance, two visits per month for 11 months with boat spray, backpacks, equipment, chemicals, and crew" for $38,500.00 of the $71,500.00. Hearing nothing else, Mr. Benton moved to the next agenda item. VII. Old Business A. Physical, Cultural, and Mechanical Control Methods I. Each member presents methods specific to their class of vegetation (emergent, floating, submerged) ii. Discussion of each method's feasibility by stormwater asset classification (ditches, canals, ponds, structures) Mr. Benton stated that the Sub -Committee should continue to work on developing this IPM Plan. The Parks and Properties IPM Plan was really successful. He does not want to take a negative approach on this right now. He wants to continue to move forward on the plan. He wants the Sub -Committee to discuss all the possible control methods. He stated that he and Mr. Griffin discussed earlier today that this Sub -Committee is going to see this IPM plan through. It is going to include all of these items, and once all that data is completed, use that as the IPM Plan for the stonmwater properties. He stated that each member will present his or her methods specific to his or her class of vegetation and each INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 9 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING method's feasibility by stormwater asset classification, such as ditches, canals, ponds, and structures. Mr. Benton read the report from Ms. Haigler and Ms. Lovell on algae. (SEE ATTACHED) Dr. Cox stated the definition of emergent includes rattails, phragmites, purple loosestrife, flowering rush, torpedo grass. The characteristic of a lot of these plants is that they have rigid stems, so spraying them is probably ineffective. The mechanical, physical hand system of dealing with them is laborious but can be selective. The problem with plants such as cattails is that they are both good and bad. They filter and soak up a lot of the nutrients in the soil and in the water. If they are cut out, that reduces a lot of their nutrient absorption capacity. Aside from those just listed, there are at least 90 emergent plants to be dealt with, and probably a lot more than that. He presented a paper outlining other emergent plants. (SEE ATTACHED) The common element in dealing with them is getting them down below the water and cutting them by hand or mechanically. The follow-up to doing that is spraying with glyphosate. He finds it very disturbing that in dealing with these plants, in due course you get down to spraying. The spray of choice is glyphosate. He hopes that in the discussions that this Sub -Committee has, it does not keep coming to that same basic solution. A lot of these plants were introduced from other parts of the world, and we do not have the biological means to control them. It is somewhat futile to come up with biological controls. The torpedo grass is almost impossible to eradicate. After other methods fail, unfortunately, the solution that we keep coming to is glyphosate in terms of cosUbenefit. Mr. Benton asked if when Dr. Cox stated "we," was he referring to what was in his research, or was he referring to we, the City, continues to say we do not have the resources and just go to glyphosate. Dr. Cox said he was not referring specifically to the City, but in general terms. He also stated it bothers him that we hire companies specifically to spray without really thinking about all the other ways of going at it. That is the general tone of all the material that he has read on how to deal with emergent —we do not have the resources, so let's just go out and spray. Mr. Griffin observed that the purpose that we are all here today and will be here for another month or two to complete this effort is to come up with a truly integrated plan that integrates different methodologies. Even the reporting is on one or a few methodologies, the end result, he hopes, being an integrated plan that includes a number of methodologies. It will differ on the circumstances and differ on the invasive species that need to be controlled. He is quite hopeful that this Sub -Committee will come up with a meaningful, workable step forward in terms of an integrated approach. Dr. Cox agrees. Mr. Carrano had floating vegetations. He found the same things that Dr. Cox did, that there is no easy way to get rid of this material. Most contact herbicides do not work, so the recommended procedure to get rid of them is to use systemic herbicides such as INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 10 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING glyphosate and 2,4-D. Mechanical removal can work, but it is labor intensive. It is expensive. Again, as there are no biological controls, there is not much than can be done. He stated these plants all have benefit to the water body. They absorb pollutants, they absorb nutrients, they produce oxygen, they produce habitat. So the question really is, is the environment better off by removing them or is it better off by the do-nothing option. The free-floating macrophytes are the plants that do not root in the bottom. These include duckweeds, mosquito fem, water meal, giant Salvinia, water fem, and water lettuce. For most of these plants, there are no biological controls. Grass carp have been known to feed one some of these plants. Some of the contact herbicides work. The systemic herbicides work really well. Mechanical removal is difficult because these are floating vegetations. He stated that, although we know we can remove them with chemicals, the question is whether we should, whether the plants are doing enough damage and reducing water flow. If they are reducing water flow, we have to act. Mr. Benton said Mr. Stadelman's species was submerged vegetation. He is not here today, so he will report on that at the next meeting when he is in attendance. At this point, Mr. Benton called for public comment for Old Business, Item A. Diana Bolton, Sebastian. She understands that when talking about integrated pest management, the last resort is spraying. That is the most harmful method that can be used. She advocates looking at other means of control first and spraying as the last means. When talking about cost, she asks if we are talking about just today, or are we talking about next year or years into the future. She suggests that spraying is the most expensive way of approaching this problem, as it has affected the fishing industry. It has affected some of our economy here. It has caused huge health issues in some people who were exposed to these toxins. She stated that the stormwater fee was doubled two years ago, and there should be sufficient funds to address this problem. We need to look at the overall cost of addressing this problem. She asked if the company that has been hired is capable of doing manual clearing. She suggested that spraying is the worst thing we can do to our economy, the worst thing we can do to our health, the worst thing we can do for the future of our children and our grandchildren. She does appreciate what this Sub -Committee is doing. Hearing no additional comments/questions from the public or Sub -Committee members, Mr. Benton moved to the next item on the agenda. Vill. Sub -Committee Member Matters Dr. Cox commented regarding the company that has been put under contract. From the brochure that has been provided, they seem to have a lot of expensive equipment to deal INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT SUB -COMMITTEE PAGE 11 MINUTES OF DECEMBER 8, 2020 MEETING with these problems way before they get to the herbicide spraying. He would like to see how the equipment that is shown in this brochure works in the canal and in the ponds in the City. It has been discussed all along that, if we can do it using mechanical means to get clearance of these chokepoints, that would be the best way of doing it, and use any kind of herbicides as a very last resort. Mr. Griffin stated staff gave the contractor the broader picture of the important work that this Sub -Committee is doing, and that staff expected significant results to come out of this Sub -Committee, and that there may be further discussions with them as part of the overall effort. He stated staff did not get any more specific than that at this time. Dr. Cox asked if someone could contact some of the places that this contractor has worked and find out what other things they did besides herbicide spraying and what other things they have done that have been effective in controlling the aquatic vegetation. Mr. Benton stated that he believes that in the Council agenda for the next night there are references from other places. Dr. Cox stated those are the places he would like to contact. IX. Staff Matters Mr. Benton stated the next meeting is set for December 21st at 2:00 p.m. here in council chambers. He reiterated Mr. Griffin's statement and his own that this Sub -Committee is going to continue to work through this IPM Plan. X. Items for Next Aaenda A. Table of Biological Control Methods B. Tables of Other Non -Chemical Control Methods, Organized by Asset Classification Mr. Benton stated that Ms. Haigler sent a note that the Sub -Committee members do not have any homework. He stated that during the next two weeks staff will work with organizing the tables and will also be bringing back the beginning portions of the IPM Plan that Ms. Haigler presented at the last meeting that there were some notes on. XI. Adiournment There being no further business, Mr. Benton adjourned the meeting at 3:25 p.m. By: CJIA.�' Date: / /17�.?L12.� jg — 7 /' p/