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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-03-2024 NRB MinutesNATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 Mr. Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Il. Pledoe of Allegiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present Ms. Ware Mr. Clifford Mr. Krauss Not Present Ms. Billman -- Excused Mr. Bruggen (a) -- (Zoom) Excused Also Present Felicia Gordian, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant IV. Approval of Minutes Mr. Dovell (alternate) Mr. Carrano Mr. Stadelman A. August 6, 2024 -- Regular Natural Resources Board Meeting Minutes All having indicated they had reviewed the Minutes of the meeting of August 6, 2024 as presented, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of August 6, 2024 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Ware, and approved unanimously via voice vote. V. Announcements Mr. Stadelman announced that Ms. Billman is excused from this evening's meeting, and Mr. Dovell will be voting in her place. Alternate member, Mr. Bruggen, will be joining the meeting via Zoom when able. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 2 Ms. Gordian announced that, unfortunately, Dr. Mosblech had to resign from the NRB. She will be greatly missed. Dr. Mosblech said she is willing to help out and continue to volunteer with the Board when she is able to do so. Ms. Gordian said that Dr. Mosblech has been greatly appreciated for what she has done for this Board. Mr. Stadelman agreed. Ms. Gordian reminded all the Board members that when you are not speaking, please make sure that your microphone is turned off, and when you are intending to speak, be sure to turn it back on. There have been some recent issues with the microphones, and we need to be sure that everyone follows this process. VI. Aoenda Modifications — None VII. Public Input Brent Wohlenberg stated that most people are totally unaware of our natural resources. He described the imbalance in the lagoon and how it has changed over time and how involved he has been in the fishing industry through the years. Vill. Unfinished Business A. Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup — Final Numbers Ms. Gordian said that in the agenda packets are the results from the 2024 Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup. Throughout the entire event across the Treasure Coast there were 936 participants, and there were 2.16 tons of trash collected. A little bit less trash was found in Indian River County than was found in Martin and St. Lucie Counties. She added that there was a fewer number of participants throughout Indian River County, and this may have been the reason that less trash was recorded here. Mr. Krauss asked if we should be starting to initiate baseline records of what is being found and what is not. He asked how much came out of the Lagoon versus how much came off the land and if there is any way of categorizing that. Ms. Gordian said she does not think that they are accounting for that in their numbers, and she can pose that as a suggestion to the folks at the Marine Industries Association, and maybe that is something they can account for in next year's numbers. Mr. Stadelman reviewed the numbers on the report. B. A Look Back in Time/Touch & Tour -- Saturday, September 14, 2024, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 3 Ms. Gordian stated that for this event, our goal tonight is to figure out who will be available for the event and what timeframes you will be available. There are three tentative time slots that are available from about 9:30 to 11:30 am, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, and then from 1:30 pm to the end of the event and breakdown. She needs assistance from a couple of Board members for setting up and for tabling at the beginning of the event. Second shift would be there just to table, and then the last shift would be a little bit of tabling, and then teardown at the very end. Mr. Dovell said he will take the second shift. Mr. Carrano said he would take the first shift. Since he was not at last month's meeting, he asked what this event is about. Ms. Gordian described the event and where it is to be held. Ms. Ware also described some of the event activities. Mr. Krauss would like to take an early shift. Mr. Stadelman will take the last shift. Mr. Clifford will take the late shift as well. C. International Coastal Cleanup -- Saturday, September 21, 2024, 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Board Member Responsibilities & Participation Confirmation Ms. Gordian stated that this is very similar to the Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup, except the format is a little different. The Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup is more freeform where people can come and go as they please; whereas the International Coastal Cleanup is a bit more structured. There is a set start time at 9:00 am. Everyone is sent out to start collecting, and everyone is required to come back at a certain time. Then, all the items will be weighed and accounted for, and then the event officially ends at 11:00 am. There is an afterparty if anyone wants to attend, but that is not an obligation. She asked that at least three Board members come to help set up at 7:45 am, two Board members assist with checking in supplies, and she would need a couple members to stay and help teardown at the end. She added that we will be partnering with the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary program who is right next door to us. Mr. Dovell said he will be out of town. Mr. Carrano asked where the event will be held. Ms. Gordian said it will be at Riverview Park. Mr. Carrano said he will be there. Mr. Stadelman said he will try to get there for setup. Mr. Krauss will be there. He prefers to be there as early as possible. Ms. Ware will be out of town. Mr. Clifford said he can be available for the duration of the event. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 4 Ms. Gordian said this group will be close to the Paul Kroegel statue in the Twin Piers area of the Park. D. City of Sebastian Christmas Parade -- Saturday, December 7t�', 2024 Float Ideas ii. Items to Purchase Ms. Ware suggested changing the theme and having the float participants dress up in different kinds of costumes. She suggested a few costumes and added that there will be the signs on the float as well. She also suggested postcards with pictures of the costumes for the kids to take home. Mr. Stadelman stated he would like to forego tossing anything off of any of the floats. He described how many candy wrappers, etc. that are always found after the different events. He would like to ask City Council to instruct the participants to designate someone to walk next to their float and actually hand out the candy. Ms. Ware made a motion that this Board ask City Council to consider no throwing of candy again at the Christmas parade. Mr. Duvall seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously via voice vote. Ms. Gordian added that staff will gather the verbiage of what we exactly want to take to City Council, and then staff will present that to the Council as the official suggestion of the Natural Resources Board, saying we would like Council to consider that everyone should be asked not to throw candy or other items from the floats during the parade. Mr. Krauss suggested calling the one costume "abominable plastic man" or "abominable plastic bag" instead of "abominable snowman." He also suggested handing out things other than candy. Ms. Gordian said Ms. Billman, who could not be there tonight, also suggested giving out some sort of stickers during the parade, and she will look into stickers that would relate to the Natural Resources Board's goals. Ms. Ware also suggested using candy wrapped in paper. Mr. Stadelman added making that suggestion on the applications of the parade participants might be a good way to get the word out. Mr. Clifford suggested some of the businesses who have floats in the parade could use reusable bags with their logos on them. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 17_Ce3:1114 Ms. Ware also suggested checking the lights for the float to make sure they still work. Mr. Stadelman stated he thinks that when the parade ends, the Rotary Club will also be doing their Brew Fest at the same time down at Riverview Park. He added the Christmas Parade will be on Saturday, December 7- 2024. E. Sustainable Sebastian Mr. Stadelman said that what the Natural Resources Board has been working on over the last five years will end on September 30t". This does not mean that this initiative is going to end then. He suspects that it is going to be updated. Progress Updates: a. Native Landscaping — Champion: Sherida Billman Ms. Gordian, since Ms. Billman was not present, filled in for Ms. Billman. She said that presently staff is going through the process of making sure we have all the procurement details that are needed in order to move forward with the Garden Club Park plantings and for the City Hall plantings, and they will update the Natural Resources Board when that process has been completed. They will then present the final plans for the Board's approval. Ms. Ware asked if there is a plan for the area between the Art Center and the Senior Center. Ms. Gordian said she has been in conversation with some of the staff from the Parks Department, and they are considering cleaning out that area and revamping it because, unfortunately, it has become a bit overgrown and does need some TLC. Ms. Ware added that she has seen gopher tortoises burrowing there. Ms. Gordian said staff is aware of the burrow that is there. They are not sure that it is currently active, so staff will keep tabs on that and make sure that the tortoise is not currently using the burrow. That burrow will be taken into consideration during the whole process so as not to impact the burrow in any way. b. Resource Conservation -- Champion: Donna Ware Purchase of Recycling Bins for City Hall & Public Works Compound Ms. Ware said she had a meeting last week at the landfill that is all the way down by Oslo Road. She met with two women, one who works for the Solid Waste Disposal District, and one of them works for Waste Management. They were very helpful, and she NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 6 furnished the Board members copies of some handouts that they provided. They would be more than happy to help us either have a seminar or a workshop here if we wanted to invite the businesses. Her personal view of this is that we need to start talking to the smaller businesses here in the City, especially those that do not recycle at all, and see what options there are. She talked to them about what the biggest obstacles are to the businesses. One of them is cost. She asked them how much it would cost. They estimated that a 2-cubic-foot container, which is mixed waste, would cost approximately $100.00 a month. The other issue they have is space, because some of these businesses are small, and they do not necessarily have room to put in a 2-cubic-yard container. She added that they mentioned that there are a few businesses in Vero Beach that share a recycling bin. For instance, say within the same block one of the businesses has a space for it and the other businesses do not have a space for it, they can combine the cost. She said that she learned that Vero Beach has an ordinance that states that the unincorporated parts of Vero Beach have to recycle. She will look into that to see exactly how it is worded. She described some other factors that are included in this and suggested some things that Sebastian could do in this regard. Ms. Gordian said that she has looked into acquiring new recycling bins for City Hall, Public Works, and any other facilities that may require them. She is presently waiting for an update from Waste Management as to specific details of the facilities that the City has that currently do not have access to recycling services and what the possibilities might be in that regard. Staff is looking into purchasing 7-gallon bins for City Hall and Public Works. The highest purchase price of these bins would be approximately $13.99 for each bin. She added that staff is still looking into how the facilities that do not have recycling access yet would be handled. The total that would be involved would be $503.64 for 36 bins at $13.99 each. There was more discussion on this matter among Ms. Gordian and some of the Board members. Mr. Stadelman called for a motion to approve the purchase of recycling bins for City Hall and Public Works Compound in the approximate total amount of $503.64 for 36 bins. A motion to purchase recycling bins for City Hall and the Public Works Compound was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Ware, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The large recycling dumpster in the parking lot behind City Hall was mentioned by Ms. Ware, and she suggested two smaller bins, one for waste and one for recycling items as opposed to the very large one that is there now. Mr. Krauss said he likes to have a measuring method to show what results are gotten, and he recommends that every office has a recycling bin. He added that, without numbers, you are just guessing whether the recycling is improving or not. c. Green Infrastructure -- Champion: Nikki Mosblech NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 I9_CC141115A Ms. Gordian said she would fill in for Dr. Mosblech since Dr. Mosblech has tendered her resignation from the Board. She had graciously helped with the park assessments. She was able to complete all the actual assessments and the site visits and was assisting with the cutsheets. She is still willing to assist as much as possible. At this time, there are no further updates beyond that. Ms. Gordian said she has yet to complete her site visits. There are a few sites that are on the larger size that she has not yet visited, and she will probably have to take another staff member or two out there to help her. She asked if there are any of the newer Board members who are interested in being the Champion for this goal. She would like to have a conversation about that. Mr. Clifford said he would volunteer for that project. d. Single -Use Plastic Reduction -- Champion: Charles Stadelman Mr. Stadelman reviewed the new environmental rules in general after which there was some discussion among other Board members and Ms. Gordian. Alternative Items for City Facilities Ms. Gordian said she has been speaking with Mr. Clifford about the possible sustainable alternatives to the current single -use -plastic items that are purchased for City facilities Mr. Clifford said that it appears that there is an agreement to go forward with replacing the Styrofoam cups with some paper cups. They are about 50% more expensive than Styrofoam. What he would like to see is also to replace the plastic utensils that are used. However, they are considerably more expensive, like 150% more. More discussion was held on this subject. There was also discussion on dog waste bags and other recyclables in general. Ms. Gordian stated that the paper cups per case of 1,000 units each is $115.00. She suggested that the motion would be that the Board officially recommends to City Staff and possibly City Council that we make the official switch away from the Styrofoam cups to paper cups. This is not a one-time action and would a long-term, ongoing purchase for as long as the City is buying from this purveyor. Mr. Stadelman suggested that the Board push for a switch from plastic utensils and paper plates to recyclables. After discussion between Mr. Stadelman and Ms. Gordian about the intent of item 'T Alternative Items for City Facilities," a motion recommending switching from Styrofoam to paper cups only was made by Mr. Clifford, seconded by Mr. Carrano, and approved unanimously via voice vote. Ms. Ware suggested continuing to study this so that the Board can go back and revisit this item. Mr. Clifford asked if, sometime between now and the next meeting, he could tour all the breakrooms the City has in order to get an idea of the inventory of plates. Ms. Gordian said yes, she would accompany Mr. Clifford and see what we have. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 8 e. No Projected Updates for the Tree Protection & Landscape Ordinances, and Sidewalks & Bikeways Preliminary Ideas for the next Sustainable Sebastian Action Plan Mr. Stadelman stated he would like to address, similar to what Mr. Krauss has said, regarding not being able to track things. He stated that at the next meeting he would like to introduce this Board to Predictive Analytics. He explained the meaning of this item in depth. Mr. Krauss stated he has mentioned noise pollution and light pollution before. They are not typically seen sometimes as pollution, but indeed they are. He has some other items that he would like to talk about. Mr. Dovell wanted to follow up on what Mr. Krauss said and on what the gentleman during Public Input said this evening. He is well aware of the value of blue crabs and the value that they bring to a local ecosystem. He believes that what that gentleman said was not anecdotal but very solid information. Ms. Ware said she would like to talk about Resource Conservation and Recycling, and she would like to be able to reach out to the businesses in Sebastian. She has already started down that path, but she wants to continue as far as education and questionnaires and so forth and have some type of presentation to the business community. Ms. Gordian said she is hoping to make this an agenda item, and she is hoping that all of the Board members can gather their ideas as to what they would like to see in the next iteration of Sustainable Sebastian. She asked if they could get their ideas to her by September 15th so she has time to compile those as an agenda item for the next meeting. Ms. Gordian said that, if the Board wants to see more of the current goals continued, that is also an idea that we want to talk about at the next meeting. She said we need to see which of the ideas of the current plan still need fleshing out, still need work, and not done yet. IX. New Business A. Police Department's Community Night Out Event -- Thursday, October 171h, 2024, 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm Confirm Board Participation NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 9 Mr. Stadelman described what this event entails and called for a motion on whether the Board members wish to participate in the Police Department's Community Night Out. A motion that the Natural Resources Board participate in the Police Department's Community Night Out was made by Mr. Clifford and seconded by Mr. Krauss. After discussion among the Board members the voice vote was 4 nays, 1 yea, and 1 abstention. Mr. Stadelman clarified that the abstention needed to be yea or nay, and so the abstention was changed to a nay vote. Results of the vote were 5 nays and 1 yea, and so the motion does not pass. B. 2025 Earth Day & Arbor Day Celebration -- Saturday, April 26'", 2025 Select an alternative time frame for the event Ms. Gordian stated that from previous meetings regarding the Earth Day and Arbor Day celebration, the consensus has been from staff and from the Board that the event is too long in time, and it might be worth it to shorten it a bit. She is proposing that it be shortened to six hours. She suggested the timeframe to be from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm instead of the standard 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This would give us a little bit of an earlier closing for the event considering everyone's concerns about the length of time of the event. She called for discussion on this item. The Board members indicated that they would like to call a vote. Discussion was held by the Board members and Ms. Gordian regarding changing the hours of the event. After this discussion, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion to shorten the timeframe of the event to 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. A motion changing the timeframe of Earth Day and Arbor Day in 2025 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm to 10:00 am to 4:00 pm was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Mr. Dovell, and approved unanimously via voice vote. X. Items for Next Aoenda and Date: Tuesday, October 15', 2024 1. Sustainable Sebastian a. Progress Updates b. Development of the next Action Plan Mr. Stadelman stated that the only thing he wants to add to the Sustainable Sebastian Plan is the Predicted Analytic Model. He would like to talk about that at the next meeting. 2. International Coastal Cleanup -- Event Debrief NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 PAGE 10 3. Police Department's Community Night Out Event -- As the Board voted against participation in the event, this item will likely not be on the next agenda after all 4. Christmas Parade Planning XI. 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 Mr. Dovell, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 pm. By: _)6""� Charles Stadelman. Chairman jg Date: %0// /2�/