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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-06-2025 NRB MinutesNATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 612026 I. Chairman Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present: Mr. Stadelman (Chair) Mr. Dovell Mr. Carrano (Vice Chair) Ms. Ware Mr. Krauss Mr. Bruggen Ms. Thompson (Zoom) Also Present: Alix Bernard, Community Development Director Felicia Gordian, Environmental Technician Jeanette Williams, Recording Secretary IV. Approval of Minutes: April 1. 2025 Meeting Minutes A. April 1, 2025 — Natural Resources Board Meeting Minutes Mr. Stadelman requested for a motion to approve the Minutes of April 1, 2025. A motion was made by Mr. Carrano and seconded by Mr. Dovell, and the board unanimously approved the minutes with a voice vote. V. Announcements Ms. Gordian advised Ms. Thompson will be joining by Zoom. A. Mr. Stadelman stated he joined the Natural Resource Board because one couldn't go shellfishing in the lagoon; just received report our area is open for shellfishing, which shows the benefits of what the board has been doing. VI. Agenda Modifications — None VII. Public Input Brent Wolhenberg, Fellsmere, mentioned how shellfishing was an exciting time and individuals made a great deal of money from it. He stated from what he sees, he guarantees people can do it again. Mr. Wolhenberg described his history of seeing the removal of shell and gave an example of clams coming back after putting calcium NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 612025 PAGE 2 carbonate over the road. He described his excitement for the future of fishing activities for the youth. Mr. Stadelman thanked him for his comments. Frank Trinkle Sebastian, described the chemical herbicides used to control vegetation along canal. He stated people use this water to irrigate lawns, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. He also stated the water might be unknowingly sprayed on kids' play areas. He described there is no indication of the types of treatment and stated the lack of transparency is concerning. He mentioned the process should be more transparent, and public disclosure of what is used since this is a vital shared water resource. Mr. Stadelman thanked him for his comments and mentioned the importance of public comments from residents. Mr. Stadelman recounted the time spent in creating a herbicide and pesticide protocol (Integrated Pest Management Plans). Mr. Stadelman added the protocol is available at City Hall at any time. Mr. Stadelman suggested to come and ask for the spraying schedules which describes the spraying process and chemicals used. Mr. Trinkle mentioned it would be helpful if it was posted where the public could see. Mr. Stadelman stated that we will ensure the IPM information has been posted. Mr. Carrano mentioned he has not received update on spraying activity from the Parks Division. Mr. Carrano requested an arrangement with the Parks Division at a future date. The Community Development Director offered to obtain a response on that for the next month's meeting. VIII. Unfinished Business A. Earth Day & Arbor Day Celebration Mr. Stadelman spoke on the presentation of the poster contest awards, the chalk art contest awards, and a debriefing of the event. Mr. Stadelman thanked everyone who came out and participated on the board. He congratulated the Charter School 6t' graders and mentioned the passion for environment shined through. Ms. Ware and Ms. Gordian began presenting the awards. i. Poster Contest Awards — Ms. Ware thanked the Sebastian Fine Arts and Music Festival organization for providing the award prizes. She advised posters are on the city's website and on the COS TV channel. The following winners were called forward to receive their prize. First place winner Hannah Second place Ketch Third place Olivia Merit Winner Bella Merit Winner Eliza Merit Winner Emma Merit Winner Graham Merit Winner Max NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 6, 2025 PAGE 3 ii. Chalk Award Contest — Sponsored by the IRC Natural Resources Department First place Ava Second place Madison Third place Eden Mr. Stadelman thanked the parents for support and encouragement of the kids. He appreciated those that participated for making Earth Day so special. Mr. Bruggen seconded this. He thought the posters were nice and topics that he learned after moving here five years ago are being represented well pictorially. iii. Earth Day Debrief Ms. Gordian thanked all the board members who were able to participate. She thought the event was overall a great success and turned out wonderfully. Ms. Gordian would like to hear feedback from the board for this event for improvements to next year's planning process. Mr. Dovell said he had nothing to add at this time. Mr. Carrano said he missed . this year's event. Mr. Krauss said he will participate more next year. Ms. Ware said she thought it was a good turn out and appreciated the park's water bottle filler. Mr. Bruggen was not able to attend this year but will next year. He spoke with his neighbors on it and they enjoyed it. Ms. Thompson chimed in at 6:22 p.m. on Zoom and said she thought it turned out well. She saw the kids were engaged and there were a large number of visitors to the Natural Resources Board booth. Ms. Thompson gave kudos to posters and art work. She noted the advanced topics represented. Ms. Thompson suggested getting more involvement in the scavenger hunt. Mr. Stadelman asked if anyone had any further comment. Mr. Dovell commented that the aluminum water bottles were excellent, especially for the refill station. Mr. Stadelman gave thanks to ORCA doing the buffered shoreline planting, Ms. Gordian, Ms. Bernard, Bub, Sebastian Police Department, and all involved. B. Public Environmental Feedback Poll, Matt Krauss Mr. Krauss stated the second iteration of the poll which he and Ms. Gordian completed. He discussed how they dropped and broadened on a couple of questions. He mentioned options were provided so citizens would not have to guess. As a result, Mr. Krauss stated it does make the poll longer when adding potential answers. He said if board members have any comments, they will try to incorporate them and work from there. Ms. Ware suggested removing the first sentence for question five. Mr. Dovell suggested reducing the repetitive verbiage in question seven. Mr. Stadelman requested to add a question referencing septic -to -sewer connection and if the citizen would be willing to connect. Mr. Bruggen asked on question five, if they were referring to the whole lagoon or just our section of it. Mr. Krauss stated it would be the lagoon in its totality. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 612025 PAGE 4 Mr. Krauss said he will make the suggested changes and come back one last time. Mr. Stadelman mentioned the questions created can be used in other ways for the NRB's other projects. IX. New Business A. Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup — Saturday, July 26th, 2025 Mr. Stadelman announced the clean-up date. Ms. Gordian said the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast is getting committee meetings ready. She asked if the board wanted to host a site using the Capt. Robert Hardee Main St. Boat Ramp. Ms. Gordian also asked for a champion from the board for the event. Mr. Stadelman called for a vote if the board wanted to sponsor the event and it was approved unanimously via voice vote. Mr. Stadelman asked if a board member wanted to consider themselves for champion. Ms. Gordian described the role and mentioned this would be on top of their responsibilities as a Natural Resources Board member. Mr. Stadelman offered to be the point person. Ms. Gordian stated the time frame of the event will be 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. B. Sustainable Sebastian Ms. Gordian asked the board if they have thought of what the next immediate step is going to be to tackle the assigned goal or which goal the board member is particularly interested in tackling first. Ms. Gordian and Ms. Bernard will plan to have meetings with each of the board members individually to discuss what the plan moving forward is to tackle each of the respective goals. I. Support the Overall reduction in the Use of Single -Use Plastics by the City and its. Business Community by Assisting and Promoting Keep Indian River Beautiful's (KIRB), Keep Brevard Beautiful's (KBB), Litter Quitter (LQ), and Surfrider Foundations' Ocean Friendly Restaurants (OFR) Programs and Through the Identification of Alternative Products Goal 1: Increase and/or Encourage the Use of Environmentally Friendly Products at City Hall — Mr. Standelman said, other than what was already done regarding circularity, the board voted on removing single use plastics in the break rooms. He will develop a list what restaurants could buy and replace. Mr. Stadelman said he plans to incorporate the reduction of single -use plastic at city events into the master park plan. Goal 2: Creating Incentives to Reduce the Cost of Single Use Plastics — Ms. Ware said she was concerned with the Dec 31, 2025 deadline because they have to do outreach before having a recognition program. She suggested to create steps and Mr. Stadelman said he has faith in Ms. Ware that she can make it happen. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 6, 2025 PAGE 5 Goal 3: Lead the Charge on Cleaning Up the Local Environment and Support the Leave No Trace Ethics Program — Mr. Dovell plans to participate with the Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup and the Leave No Trace Ethics program. Ms. Gordian will discuss with Mr. Dovell what steps are needed on that end, and then see on the staff side what might be needed. ii. Support Landscaping Practices Which Promote a Healthy, Native Ecosystem by Assisting and Promoting KIBB's Lagoon Friendly Lawns and University of Florida's (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Services (IFAS) Florida Friendly Landscape Programs Goal 4: Recognize and Encourage Local Residents and Businesses that Actively Utilize Native, Lagoon -Friendly, and Florida -Friendly Landscaping Principles — Ms. Thompson said on Zoom she does not have knowledge on the Champion Tree Program but appears the end goal is to revive it. She agrees with Ms. Ware's assessment of needing outreach prior to initiating the recognition program. Ms. Thompson suggested the subgoal for number 4, developing a landscaping recognition program, would be a good concurrent goal. Goal 5: Educate the Public on the Benefits of Implementing IFAS' Florida Friendly Principles into their Landscape — Ms. Thompson mentioned how 5a could be used to promote other goals. Mr. Stadelman suggested to reach out to Ms. Gordian with any questions since Ms. Thompson is taking over this role as Champion for this part of the implementation plan. Ms. Ware remembers Jane Schnee coming to one of the council meetings asking about neighborhood landscaping ordinances and grants to educate the public. Ms. Ware discussed how she recalls Jane speaking on educating the public on friendly landscaping in their homes. Ms. Ware would like to go through the meeting minutes to find that information and Mr. Stadelman agreed. III. Provide Recommendations for City Policies and Codes Related to Natural Resources Goal 8: Assist City in Revision of the Tree Protection and Landscape Ordinances— Mr. Carrano said when staff is ready, let's sit down and have a meeting. Goal 11: Explore the Use of Predictive Analytics and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Sustainability Efforts — Mr. Stadelman said he's involved in exploring the use of predictive analytics for artificial intelligence. He is working on the Al model and what companies he can present as options. Mr. Stadelman suggested the need for a citywide Al model. He said he will be prepared for when the time comes to present. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 61 2025 PAGE 6 iv. Reducing the City's Operational Footprint by Promoting Sustainable Energy Resources Through the Implementation of Sustainable Technologies, Where Practical Goal 13: Increase Recycling Awareness and Availability to the Public— Ms. Ware reached out to Waste Management (WM) for a meeting. She said the goal would be to do a workshop with them in the fall. Ms. Ware noted she will work with the city to get a list of businesses to invite to the workshop. Mr. Stadelman described how busy the shredding event was during the Earth Day celebration. Goal 14: Increase Opportunities for Resource Conservation and Maximize Recycling Availability Within City Operations— Mr. Dovell asked if there is any plan to extend recycling in the future for Earth Day. Mr. Dovell discussed his experience with recycling on Earth Day and observed some civilians unable to recycle their items due to WM staff not being there. Ms. Bernard stated staff can discuss the time frames for the next event. Mr. Dovell inquired about incentivizing or encouraging local businesses to have more ways to recycle plastics at their establishments. He provided an example of going to a bagel shop and not having a place to recycle his packaging. Ms. Ware stated this topic is something about which she is going to speak with WM. She also mentioned part of problem is the business needs a place that accepts it, mainly finding a business that's recycling a particular type of plastic. Ms. Ware explained the smaller businesses will have a smaller recycling bin and the business will need to find place for the bin. She informed it will be a cost to the smaller business as well. Ms. Ware suggesting finding other incentives for the businesses and Mr. Dovell concurred. Ms. Ware disclosed she will be reaching out to other cities that have programs in place already for the businesses. Mr. Carrano stated of how a majority of items to be recycled ends up in waste and imagines recycling in a restaurant would almost be impossible due to the food contamination. He described how the market for recycled material has disappeared and the majority of the items citizens believe are being recycled, are not. Mr. Stadelman agreed. Ms. Gordian believes this point is a great place to expand upon for educational opportunities. She suggested addressing this topic via educational workshops for businesses and citizens. Goal 15: Increase Equity City -Wide and Improve the City's Overall Resiliency by Addressing Food Insecurity Issues— Mr. Bruggen noted he wished to talk to Ms. Gordian about some items. He discussed a grant opportunity of up to fifty million dollars for food bank operations and food bank infrastructure. Mr. Bruggen stated he has been to the food banks at Fellsmere and Vero Beach. He stated the need to meet with other city staff regarding facilities around town. Mr. Bruggen indicated he wanted to meet with Ms. Gordian within the next week or so. v. Protect and Restore the Water Quality of All Our City's Stormwater Program in the Creation of Toolkits Emphasizing Best Management Practices (BMP), Low Impact Design (LID), and Green Infrastructure NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 6, 2025 PAGE 7 Goal 16: Provide Support for Approved Stormwater BMP's— Mr. Dovell asked if Ms. Gordian is familiar with the Stormwater Fee Credit Program. Ms. Gordian responded she is to some degree but the program is currently with the GIS Technician, Mr. Kelley. She stated together they can speak with Mr. Kelley about the program. Goal 17: Assist in the Creation of Toolkits for GI BMPS and Planning LID— Mr. Carrano had no questions, he is familiar with his assignment. Goal 18: Increase Educational Signage at City Parks and Stormwater Features— Mr. Bruggen will speak with Ms. Gordian about it. Mr. Stadelman commented that it will be an ongoing thing, indefinitely. vi. Promote the City's Overall Livability Through the Promotion of Active Transportation, Increasing Connectivity Among Trails and Pathways, and Promoting Nature -Based Tourism Goal 19: Seek Opportunities to Cross Market the City's Parks and Green Spaces— Mr. Dovell stated he has nothing to add at this on this topic. Goal 20: Increase Awareness of Our Local Ecology and its Relationship to Our Way of Life Here — Mr. Krauss stated he had two things to mention on 20b and 20c. Mr. Krauss described how he provided Ms. Gordian definitions for both noise pollution and light pollution to provide on the city's website. He then mentioned he provided three areas to investigate to give civilians information on each of the topics to also add to the website. Goal 21: Assist in Planning Community Presentations & Workshops from Guest Speakers and City Staff to Promote Environmental Stewardship within the Community — Mr. Stadelman commented Ms. Ware has already been planning workshops with city staff and environmental stewardship within the community. Ms. Ware said she is planning to go back to cities that have programs established. She discussed how programs in other cities are already established and strong. Ms. Ware intends to adopt some of the ideas from those programs. Ms. Gordian stated that staff will create a list for each board member so their individual responsibilities are more clearly outlined, aside from the full action plan. Ms. Bernard said she was thankful of the Earth Day weather and looks forward to getting the board members the lists for the June meeting. Mr. Bruggen asked Ms. Gordian if it was in February that Sebastian has the air potato roundup. He then questioned on under number II, 7A if the plan was to stay with air potato or to include different species around the stormwater system. Ms. Gordian stated it is something they can discuss in the one-on-one meeting but is not relegated to just the air potato. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 6, 2025 X. Items for Next Aaenda and Date: Tuesday. June 3. 2025 A. Sustainable Sebastian Mr. Stadelman asked if he should add about asking for money for the artificial intelligence. Ms. Gordian replied it would be more so as part of the one-on-one meetings discussing what the next steps are for Sustainable Sebastian. B. Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup XI. Adiournment There being no further business, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion for adjournment was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Mr. Dovell, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m. By: iW44- Date: Mr. Charles Stadelman. Chairman