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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-06-2021 NRB MinutesNATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JULY 6, 2021 Chairman Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledae of Allegiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present: Dr. Carrier (a) Mr. Carrano Mr. Stadelman Ms. Lovell (Zoom) Ms. Callaghan (Zoom) Mr. Bradley (a) (Zoom) Ms. Valenzuela Absent: Dr. Mosblech — Excused Ms. Ware — Excused Also Present: Ms. Kim Haigler, Environmental Planner Ms. Lisa Frazier, Community Development Director Mr. Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Ms. Janet Graham, Technical Writer (Zoom) IV. Aooroval of Minutes — Mav 4. 2021 All Board members having had a chance to review the Minutes, Mr. Stadelman called for a Motion. A motion to approve the Minutes of May 4, 2021 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Callaghan, and approved unanimously via voice vote. Announcements A. Welcome New Board Member: Alesandra Valenzuela Ms. Valenzuela introduced herself and gave a summary of her history and stated her reason for volunteering to serve on this Board --helping to preserve the City's natural resources. Mr. Stadelman explained to Ms. Valenzuela the workings of this Board and reviewed the written material that will be provided to her. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2021 B. Treasure Coast Coastal Cleanup on Saturday, July 24, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Ms. Haigler reviewed that this Board participates in this event every year. She described what is done during this event such as cleaning up trash, etc. She will send out a notice to the Board members and solicit volunteers. She will also post the event on the NRB website. On the date and time listed above, volunteers will gather at the Sebastian boat ramp and spread out from there. Ms. Callaghan inquired whether this event will be held as an independent, virtual event that will be held over a week as well as the July W event. Ms. Haigler said it would. Ms. Callaghan volunteered for the virtual event. Ms. Haigler said there will be a gathering and BBQ afterwards for the volunteers. VI. Public Input There being no one in Chambers who wished to speak and no one on Zoom who wished to be heard, Mr. Stadelman moved to the next item on the agenda. VII. New Business A. Sustainable Sebastian Updates Review Latest Updates to the 5-year Action Plan Ms. Haigler stated there are some big things happening: There are 16 water -bottle refill stations that have been purchased. Four have been installed at Riverview Park, Main Street, and the Bark Park. Future installs are planned for City Hall, Police Department, and the other City parks. Sixteen green recycled plastic bike racks have been received. They have been installed in the parks during last week and this week. Ms. Frazier spoke regarding the Comprehensive Plan. Two weeks ago at the City Council meeting the final Comp Plan was approved. She thanked everyone for their participation throughout this process. It was a learning experience for many. Now the City can get down to applying all those ideas into its ordinances and policies. The final version is available online. Ms. Frazier thanked Ms. Haigler and this Board for their hard work and their input on the Conservation and Coastal Management sections. She appreciates the time they took to read this document. Next is the job of going over the City ordinances to make sure they are all compatible. She realizes this will be a big job, and staff will be coming back to this NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2021 group again to ask them about specific ordinances and have them look at them, specifically the landscaping section. • Ms. Haigler reviewed that the Sustainable Sebastian initiative was approved less than a year ago, and 29% of its listed tasks have been completed or are in the process. Ms. Frazier reiterated how appreciative she is of this Board and its help with the work on the Comp Plan. • The Stormwater IPM Plan is in the process and will be completed at the last meeting on July 19th. Next it will be presented to the NRB at the August 3rd meeting for final approval, and then it will go on to City Council. The Parks and Properties Integrated Pest Management Plan has already been completed and is in place. • The Waste Management event has been held. Ms. Haigler described exactly what this event entails. Waste Management is contracted to do one annual event in Sebastian. Ms. Haigler has been working with Waste Management so that they will let City staff know of any other events they have in the County. Anyone from Sebastian is permitted to participate in those events also. She will list those dates on the webslte. Mr. Stadelman acknowledged all the work that has been done by Ms. Haigler, Ms. Frazier, and this Board during the year of the pandemic and how the pandemic restrictions affected everyone. Determine which items to pursue next Regarding the demonstration garden outside City Hall, Ms. Haigler is asking for help in planting and weeding. Ms. Haigler said that once we get through the Stormwater IPM Plan, work can be started on the landscaping review project. It will be a long process, as there are many things that have to be looked at. In September, discussion will be started on what is entailed and who wants to be on the sub -committee, which will be somewhat akin to what was done on the IPM plans. Staff will do an introduction about what all is going to be involved before volunteers are solicited. At the end of October, Ms. Haigler is taking a class on low -impact development and green infrastructure. She has suggested that at the December 71h meeting this Board could start in on the green infrastructure, BMPs, and the LID toolkit. That will be a good time, as the stormwater master plan process has been started. She suggested doing a workshop for the December 7� meeting and making it a public workshop similar to how the Comp Plan was done. That will take this Board to the end of the year as far as meetings are concerned. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2021 B. Sustainable Sebastian Budget Discuss potential use of remaining funds Ms. Frazier reviewed that last year approximately $16,000.00 was put into the budget for the Sustainable Sebastian project. The City was fortunate that the FEMA COVID dollars were able to be expended for the touchless bottle fillers. Thus, the City was able to install them throughout the entire City, including the Police Department and City Hall, as opposed to the few that the City was going to get as a demonstration type. These are COVID safe, and they provide protection from any virus while also reducing the use of plastic bottles. She approximated about $5,000.00 was expended on the recycled plastic bike racks. They have been distributed throughout the parks as fast as the parks maintenance personnel can install them. She noted that there is $11,300.00 left in the Sustainable Sebastian budget. So she and Ms. Haigler have been looking into what would be applicable. Interestingly, everything that they have looked into someone else in the City is already doing. One of the items she has been emphasizing in her department is to minimize the City's paper use. She made it mandatory that there are narrow margins used, that back and front of the pages are used, and that an 11 font be used. It is interesting because the cost of reproduction has gone down significantly in her department. Now there is the opportunity to reduce it even more. It came to her from Sebastian's Building Department, who had gone to the MyGov website, that they have been reducing their paper waste astronomically because they went to online permitting. This was especially important as COVID struck because they could continue the permitting process without the public having to come to City Hall, as the process could be done online. Using that model, the County is now going to MyGov. She would like the applicants to go to MyGov so that the amount of paper waste is significantly reduced when applying for permits, etc. Ms. Haigler stated that the use of paper in the Building Department has been reduced at a minimum of 50%. Mr. Stadelman asked how the NRB can participate. Ms. Frazier stated that after looking at how the Building Department utilized this process, it was decided that this could be a compatible use. Thus, the City got a quote from MyGov to incorporate the planning and zoning portion, and it is about $11,000.00 to $12,000.00 to initiate this. So staff thought that this may be something that this Board might agree that those remaining funds could be utilized for this purpose. That would be entirely up to this Board. Ms. Frazier and Ms. Haigler are strongly in favor of it. Ms. Frazier also reviewed that staff is looking at setting up an electrical vehicle charging station, but that is going to take too much research and planning at the present time. That is something that may be looked at in the near future, as it will involve a lot of research, planning, and input from other communities. Mr. Stadelman stated that there are several methods of getting funding for those charging NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGES MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2021 stations. There was general discussion regarding this subject, including making certain that, if these plans are put into practice, City staff have the equipment that is compatible. Dr. Carrier suggested making sure that there are no other items to be funded from this money prior to the end of this fiscal year. Ms. Haigler stated she could think of no items that will need funding before the end of this fiscal year. Mr. Stadelman spoke in favor of Implementing the MyGov application. Mr. Stadelman inquired of the members of the Board if they would like, after discussion, to vote on this matter. It was the consensus of the Board members that they would like to vote on this matter tonight. Following much discussion of this matter, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion approving the expenditure of the remaining funds in the Sustainable Sebastian budget for this fiscal year for the MyGov application in order to reduce the use and costs of paper for the City of Sebastian was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Dr. Carrier, and approved unanimously via voice vote. At this point, Ms. Frazier left the meeting. Vill. Old Business — None IX. Member Matters Ms. Callaghan reviewed that she attended the July luncheon for the Marine Resources Council today. This was regarding the use of bottlecaps for nutrient removal in the Indian River Lagoon. She has the link to the meeting that she will provide to Ms. Haigler. Ms. Haigler said she would be happy to forward it to members who wish to have it. Ms. Callaghan reviewed that bottlecaps were put in the Indian River Lagoon muck. They were able to put some microfilm onto the bottlecaps and because they can be buried in a layer of the sediment, it is not thought that the wave action, etc. introduces the microplastics into the water. They are looking for other communities to perhaps join in the reuse of bottlecaps to help reduce the nitrogen levels that are seen in the water. They even thought about introduction of them into baffle boxes that are a part of stormwater. They encouraged anyone who is interested to reach out to them. Mr. Stadelman thanked everyone in their participation over the past year. X. Staff Matters Ms. Haigler thanked everyone for their support. She noted how much less paper is being used now with just the steps that have been taken so far. She stated she has the planning done for the next Sustainable Sebastian projects, as she has done some research and NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF JULY 6, 2021 PAGE 6 knows what those projects will entail. She suggested that by the end of 2021 at least 50% of the tasks involving the Sustainable Sebastian program will have been completed. XI. Items for Next Aaenda A. Stormwater IPM Plan Presentation Mr. Carrano asked Ms. Haigler if she could get it to the Board members ASAP, as it is going to be a "big read." Ms. Halgler said she would do that. XII. Joumment There being no further business, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Callaghan, and approved unanimously via voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. /! !! :— jg Date:.z , anat