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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-04-2025 NRB MinutesNATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 4, 2025 Chair Charles Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. Ill. Roll Call Present: Ms. Ware Mr. Carrano Mr. Krauss Mr. Dovell Mr. Stadelman Ms. Thompson (late arrival) Not Present: Also Present: Felicia Gordian, Environmental Technician Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer IV. Approval of Minutes A. February 4, 2025 -- Natural Resources Board Meeting Minutes All having indicated they had reviewed the Minutes of February 4, 2025, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of February 4, 2025 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Mr. Dovell, and approved unanimously via voice vote. V. Announcements A. Mr. Krauss stated he has been working on his goals. One of his goals was to create a poll for the citizens of Sebastian to fill out. He was hoping that, if any of the rest of the board members has any questions that they would like to be included in the poll regarding their particular areas, to please let him know. If they do, he asked that they be sent to Felicia, and that way everyone will have an opportunity to have those questions included in the poll. Mr. Carrano asked if that item could be put on next month's agenda. Ms. Gordian said yes. Mr. Krauss said he did submit his first draft to Ms. Gordian, but he would like other NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 4,2025 board members to review what he has included so far. Mr. Carrano asked if those could be distributed to the board members in an email. Ms. Gordian said she will do that if there is nothing that precludes her from doing so. Mr. Stadelman made announcements as follows: B. As of February 11, 2025, Ms. Sherida Billman has tendered her resignation from the Natural Resources Board to pursue other opportunities. C. As of February 12, 2025, Ms. Laura Thompson was appointed by City Council as a regular member of the Natural Resources Board, filling the vacancy left by Sherida Billman's absence. There are currently two open alternate member positions on the Natural Resources Board. D. Mr. Dan Bruggen may be attending Zoom tonight if he is able. E. At the February 26t', 2025 City Council meeting, the Sustainable Sebastian Acton Plan 2.0 was approved. F. Post Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebrations, staff is to schedule with each of the board members meetings on the goals they are championing. G. City staff has made headway in the Garden Club Park Native Landscaping project, which started with Ms. Sherida Billman as part of the Sustainable Sebastian Initiative 11. Tim and Anna Harrison and their team at Native Butterfly Flowers will be installing the plants next week. VI. Acienda Modifications -- None VII. Public Input Brent Wohlenberg, Sebastian. He commented about his being the only member of the public at these meetings and asked, would it be better to listen to one person who is implementing a sound plan to restore the lagoon and bring tens of millions of revenue into Sebastian, or have this room packed with people who will say or do anything to get you to waste taxpayer dollars? He stated that right now people's jobs are a waste of taxpayer dollars. He would like to think of it as a time of transition —new jobs people will love doing because they will see with their own eyes unbelievable positive results. Henry Flagler removed all the shell from St. Augustine to Miami, and it needs to be replaced. He stated he put 200 crabs around 8 different fish -cleaning tables locally, and they ran off the NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 4, 2025 PAGE 3 unedible catfish. This needs to be done throughout the state. When these areas are overrun with catfish, you can see them wiping out the babies of other species in the spring. He also described the self-cleaning after the storms here, and where the shells are back on the shore the water will be crystal clear. That is a cleaning reaction happening on the shore. He also explained some of the chemistry that is involved. Mr. Stadelman suggested that Mr. Wohlenberg may want to talk to ORCA in Vero. He added that the fishermen have put their blood and sweat into the industry, and he thinks the money should be diverted to the fishermen. Vill. Unfinished Business A. The Great Air Potato Round -up Debrief Ms. Gordian reviewed some highlights of the event, and she thanked everyone who was able to participate on February 8th. She said there was a great turnout, and the partnership with the Pelican Island Audubon Society is one that we hope to continue to pursue in the future. There were upwards of 50 participants. Over 200 pounds of air potato bulbs and vines were collected. She showed several photos on the screen of the activities and participants in the event. The Audubon Society set up a few signs indicating some other native and non-native plants to help people better identify plants when they are out and about. She thanked everyone for their help that day and their help in getting the word out. She asked for any feedback from the board members. Donna Ware said that on the flyers that go out it was suggested that, in the future' participants bring protective gear like gloves and garden cutters/pruners to help. Mr. Krauss said he had the 11:00 to 1:00 shift, and it was significantly quieter than the morning shift. He suggested that if this event is held again, there might be ways to smooth out the attendance. There were a lot of folks participating in the morning, and his shift was fairly quiet. B. Earth Day and Arbor Day Celebrations Mr. Stadelman said this event will be on Saturday, April 26, 2025. He called on Ms. Gordian for her comments. Ms. Gordian stated that, other than what she has on the flyer that is attached to the agenda, she stated that we are hosting the Waste Management shredding event at Riverview Park, but this year it will be held in the Overflow parking lot as opposed to the Cav Corp parking lot to the north. She described the traffic pattern for this event. She added that the spring-cleaning event for the larger household items will still be held at the Barber Street Sports Complex. She stated that we will be partnering with Bike Walk of Indian River County again this year to collect bicycles that maybe cannot NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 4, 2025 PAGE 4 be used anymore, but they can be either scrapped for parts or can be completely recycled in order to support local cyclists. They will also be attending the event as a booth organization, so they will have a spot in the park. She stated that, just to clarify, in her discussions with Bike Walk and Waste Management, the shredding event and the household waste event will both be held at the normal standard time, as it has been in previous years. It will be from 9:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., which is a little different from our window of the event this year, because we did push the event back by an hour. So, the Celebration starts at 10:00 a.m., and that is one of the big differences this year. Ms. Gordian stated that, as far as the entertainers, staff has been working on getting those contracts ready to go out to our entertainers so that they are locked in for the event. She stated that, as mentioned at the NRBs last meeting, the applications are online and are available for people to fill out. Staff is still getting more in, and since she initially wrote the staff report that is attached to the agenda, staff has gotten more vendor applications in. She asked the board members that, if they know of a food vendor that might be interested in coming to this event, please invite them. Send them the link to register, and to please contact her if they have any questions. There was discussion between Ms. Ware and Ms. Gordian regarding what will be needed for the event. Ms. Ware also asked if the board members can access the list of vendors and organizations that Ms. Gordian has. Ms. Gordian will send the board members a list of those who have applied so far. Ms. Ware also asked if we are going to do the seed packets. Ms. Gordian asked if the board members want to do seed packets again. If they do, she will make sure to have all the seed packets ordered as well as picking a time to work on the seed packets. Mr. Stadelman and Ms. Ware stated that they were of the opinion that it was agreed recently that the board would do the seed packets. Ms. Gordian suggested that the board members consider what their availability might be for everyone to get together for that workday. Mr. Krauss said he thought that there should be a couple things added to the seed packets with printing saying, "Seeds Provided by the Sebastian Natural Resources Board," and then put the website on the packet as well. Ms. Gordian stated that in the agenda packet for this evening there is the ORCA Buffered Shoreline Planting flyer. She stated that this is going to be our big volunteer event for the Celebration. This goes along with the Living Shoreline project that was done in November. This will be everywhere between the north side of the kayak launch all the way up to the sidewalks where there is a little bridge that connects to the rest of Riverview Park. She will be giving everyone a copy of the full event overview map at the next meeting so you can see where everything is going to be laid out. There will be four volunteer shifts. ORCA is going to ask participants to register again, so the link is listed on the flyer attached to the agenda, and there is also a QR code if anyone wants to go to their website. She said if there is anyone who any of the board members NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 4,2025 PAGE 5 thinks might be interested, please invite them to join. She also has a PDF version of the flyer for anyone who wants one. The biggest item on the to-do list is making sure that we have enough vendors, particularly the food vendors. She added that there will be further discussion of the event at next month's meeting. Ms. Gordian stated that, if any of the board members is interested in participating in one of the shifts for the Shoreline Planting, to let her know. IX New Business Mr. Stadelman introduced the new board member, Ms. Laura Thompson. Ms. Thompson introduced herself and stated that she is a local Sebastian resident and is happy to be on the board. She said she is an environmental scientist, and she does have a background in oceanography and marine science and has worked on different environmental projects throughout Brevard County. Mr. Krauss stated that Ms. Thompson is a new member and was not here when the various goals for the Sustainable Sebastian project were apportioned out. He suggested that Ms. Gordian make sure that Ms. Thompson has seen them all and maybe picked one or two or more that she would be interested in doing. Ms. Thompson said she assumed that she would be taking over Ms. Billman's goals, and that is fine with her. Ms. Gordian added that there may be other opportunities to assist other board members with their goals. X. Items for Next Agenda and Date: Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 A. Earth Day & Arbor Day Celebration Planning XI. Adiournment There being no further business, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:35 p.m. was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Mr. Dovell, and approved unanimously via voice vote. By: 4, Date: 7-thaffiles Stadelman, Chair IM