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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-06-2024 NRB MinutesIV. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING February 6, 2024 Chairman Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. Roll Call Present Mr. Charles Stadelman (chair) Ms. Donna Ware Mr. Thomas Carrano Dr. Nicole Mosblech (zoom) Not Present: Ms. Sherida Billman Ms. Sarah Haggerty (alt) Also Present: Felicia Gordian, Environmental Technician Alix Bernard, Community Development Director Barbara Brooke -Reese, MIS Manager Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Nick Ladyman, AV Technical Assistant Dominic Adams, AV Technical Assistant Catherine Walker, Recording Secretary Approval of Minutes All Board members indicated they reviewed the minutes of January 02, 2024. Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion to approve the minutes of January 02, 2024 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Ware, and approved unanimously via voice vote. V. Announcements Ms. Ware announced that the Sebastian's Art Studio Tour will be held this Saturday, February 10, 2024 10 am-3 pm. She explained that visitors would have to pick up a map to visit each stop. The map will be on the Sebastian Art Studio Tour website. The Environmental Technician introduced Ms. Walker, Deputy City Clerk, to the board. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 6, 2024 VI. Agenda Modifications - None VII. Public Input — None Vlll. Unfinished Business A. Tulip Pond Project -FL Arbor Day Planting Event -Friday January 19th 2024 i. Event Debrief PAGE 2 The Environmental Technician stated City staff and volunteers from the public planted with the help of the Mayor Dodd and Council member Jones. She was very proud to mention Nickie Munroe the Environment Horticulture Agent, Master Gardner Coordinator of Indian River County and OF/IFAS Extention did a wonderful job in leading the charge. The next planting event will be at the end of April. This will be the second phase and she will let everyone know the tentative date and details. Mr. Stadelman reviewed the details of the Tulip Pond Project; adding, projects like this may count toward tax credits if used commercially. It is good for storm water drainage, and the park is for the public to use. He also thanked the Mayor and Council member Jones for coming out to the Event. B. Sustainable Sebastian i. Staff update The Environmental Technician presented the results of the staff Sustainability Questionnaire Survey. The survey gathered information from December thru January. The survey was regarding environmental practices in the workplace. Charts and graphs were used to illustrate each category. Including energy use, water consumption, output, and discarded trash. In addition, there is a summary of responses, related to areas of improvement, for each category. The Technician asked the board to review the survey so next steps of the Sustainable Sebastian Action Plan could be determined. The Community Development Director mentioned that they would be presenting the results and updates to the Council in April. The Environmental Technician advised that all staff were given reusable water containers. It was reported that the City maintained the Tree City USA Recognition. The City has held the status for 22 years. It was also reported that water bottle refill stations were installed inside the City Parks as well as 16 new bike racks. It was mentioned that the board worked with the Marine Industries Association to host the Treasure Coast NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 6, 2024 PAGE 3 Waterway Cleanup for the past three years. Sustainability was incorporated into the City of Sebastian Comprehensive Plan 2040. She reviewed that the City is transitioning to LED bulbs to phase out the old bulbs. She stated there would be a packet in the Earth Day event guide for vendors that will give them an opportunity to transition away from single -use plastics along with tools they can use to get started and a list of suppliers. She also mentioned to implement this for all events in the future, with the approval of the Board. Ms. Gordian proposed two date changes for the Sustainable Sebastian Action Plan: February 21, 2024 for the employee workshop and Tuesday March 5, 2024 for the education program, this would fall under the single -use plastics goal. Mr. Stadelman approved changing the dates for the workshop and the education program. ii. Reduction of single use plastics -Champion Charles Stadelman a. Presentation by Mr. Stadelman Mr. Stadelman reviewed how single -use plastics harm wildlife and pollute the oceans and the lagoon. He mentioned the idea of having the City implement policies, procedures, and corrective legislative action. He also wanted to invest in recycling infrastructure. He added that reducing the single -use plastic would create an economic advantage. He reviewed the Sustainable Sebastian Initiative goals for single -use plastics reduction. He asked the board to review the concept of banning single -use plastics. Ms. Ware called for a motion. A motion to prepare a survey for the residents similar to the staff sustainability questionnaire, was made by Ms. Ware, seconded by Ms. Billman, and approved unanimously via voice vote. iii. Native Landscaping Ms. Billman stated that she and the Environmental Technician schedule a meeting with Mr. Blankenship regarding how they are going to proceed with the planting. She also wanted to ask if the Environment Horticulture Agent Nicki Munroe would be available to provide guidance for planting in the demonstration gardens. iv. Tree Protection & Landscaping Ordinances Mr. Carrano said he would like to get together, after Earth Day, to see how the permit application process works from the beginning to the end. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 6, 2024 v. Resource Conservation a. Outreach Materials Ms. Ware reviewed the information for outreach programs in different counties to see if we could get different ideas from other surrounding communities on supporting conservation programs. She reached out to the 4H program and asked if they would come to the meetings and have a presentation on conservation. She also mentioned reaching out to Waste Management to find out what programs that they offer. The Environmental Technician and Ms. Ware discussed the idea of having an electronics recycling area to be located at the Municipal Airport. She offered to look into having a community garden and suggested entertaining the idea of having a community - composting site where residents could get compost and mulch. vi. Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development Dr. Mosblech stated she visited three parks, Blossom Street Park, Schumann Park and Hardee Park. Many of the observations were the same as in previous visitations to other parks in the past months. She did not see any evident wildlife diversity. She also reported no visible diversity with trees in any of the parks. When she visited Blossom Street Park, she did not report any use of the park. She reported that Schumann Park's Tennis Court was popular. She said that Hardee Park was busy and the wooded trails along with the amount of people being present even while it was raining was impressive. It gave her the idea to place educational signage there since the park was utilized more than most of the parks she visited. Ms. Billman stated she wanted larger native shade trees, specifically our southern live oak trees, in all of the parks landscaping. She added that we are losing our shade trees and raised a concern about losing the status of Tree City in the future. She added it would be nice to walk through the parks under the shaded area as she had experienced in other places. vii. Sidewalks & Bike paths Mr. Stadelman stated there would be no discussion regarding this item at this time. C. Earth Dav & Arbor Dav Celebrations- Saturdav April 20, 2024 Mr. Stadelman announced that the Earth Day and Arbor Day will part of the centennial celebrations for the City of Sebastian and added if everyone would visit the City of Sebastian Centennial website there will be events posted for every month through the year. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 6, 2024 PAGE 5 The Environmental Technician stated approval of beer in the park and added that Community Development is going before council for pizza as well. She also mentioned that the Indian River County Natural Resources Department would be attending the event. She mentioned that last year there was some concern from vendors only wanting to participate in multiple days instead of one day. Vendor applications have some in, though she has not had anyone respond yet. She said that there was a possibility of speaker sessions in addition, added there was interest from local organization potentials. She mentioned the Gopher Tortoise Alliance confirmed they would be at the event. She reported that there would be a meeting on February 8, 2024 with Waste Management for a household waste and shredding event. Mr. Stadelman reminded everyone to work on the vendor list and it will be on the agenda for the next meeting. IX. New Business Mr. Stadelman stated there would be no discussion regarding this item at this time. X. Adiournment Being no further business, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:17 p.m. It was made by Mr. Carrano and seconded by Ms. Ware, and approved unanimously via voice vote. B 600'..,Date: Y• Mr. Charles Stadelman, Chairman