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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-03-2025 NRB MinutesIV. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 3, 2025 Chairperson Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Pledqe of Allegiance was recited by all. Roll Call Present: Mr. Stadelman Ms. Ware Mr. Krauss Ms. Shellenberger (alternate) Also Present: Mr. Carrano Ms. Thompson Mr. Trinkle (alternate) Mr. Bruggen Karen Miller, City Engineer & Special Projects Director Alix Bernard, Community Development Director Felicia Gordian, Environmental Technician Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer Approval of Minutes A. May 6, 2025 -- Natural Resources Board Meeting Minutes All having indicated they had reviewed the Minutes of May 6, 2025, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of May 6, 2025 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Ware, and approved unanimously via voice vote. V. Announcements Mr. Stadelman stated that it is now the beginning of the ban per an ordinance on fertilizer spray for the yards in Sebastian, and he explained the purposes for this ban. He added that it is now the beginning of hurricane season. Mr. Stadelman stated that City Council has appointed two new alternates to the Natural Resources Board. Effective May 28, Deborah Shellenberger and Frank Trinkle were added to the Board. Ms. Shellenberger explained why she wanted to join the Board, and Mr. Trinkle reviewed his history of working with nature, advocating for conservation and putting sustainable principles into daily practice. He described the business he has which is dedicated to improving the environment. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD PAGE 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 3, 2025 VI. Agenda Modifications -- None VII. Public input -- None VIII. Unfinished Business A. Integrated Pest Management Update -- Presentation by Karen Miller, City Engineer & Special Projects Director Ms. Miller presented slides on the projector which describe the Integrated Pest Management plan and described what the City has done over the last few years. She stated she will leave copies of the plan for anyone who wants to reference them or have his or her own copy. At the end of her presentation, she called for questions or comments. Ms. Ware asked if the contractors are filling in the forms that pertain to the work they do. Ms. Miller said the contractors are doing that. Ms. Ware asked if anybody from the City is accompanying the contractors or following up on their work. Ms. Miller said it is on a case -by -case basis. During the first year of this program, the City was watching the contractor a lot. The City has been using the same contractor since. They have a contract with South Florida Water Management District, and they do this in many areas of the state. Staff have gone out there, and she went out when she first started with the City and met with the contractor. She added that there are certain areas in the City where staff have had multiple concerns from residents, and the staff actually videotape the contractor while the contractor is applying the products. Mr. Stadelman asked if there is any way of notifying the public when they are spraying. Ms. Miller stated that is one thing that is required in the plan — that staff are required to notify the public. That is done on the City's website on the Stormwater Department's main page. On there is a map that is updated approximately every two weeks. She pulled the zone map up on the screen and explained what is on the map. Ms. Bernard explained that this was a request from the Board at the last meeting -- that her department come back with an update to the plan. The staff got together and devised the slide presentation, and she was glad that Ms. Miller was available to make this presentation tonight. Ms. Thompson asked if staff is using chemical control during the wet season. Ms. Miller stated that every time the contractors are filling out their logs, there is some used in the wet season, however, it is all weather dependent. On that log, things that will change what will happen are wind and rain. They are not supposed to go out if the wind is a certain level. Thus, many times there are applications that are scheduled, but because NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING J U N E 3, 2025 PAGE 3 of the weather, those applications may get pushed out. So, many times when we are notifying the public on the City's website, it is a very broad window, because we do not know which day they may or may not make it, and they are constantly having to change their schedule because of the rain or the wind. Ms. Thompson said that, if the City is not using fertilizers during the wet season, thought may need to be given to the chemical applications. So, perhaps thoughts about implementing some best management practices or something along those lines should be given in order to keep the chemicals contained rather than washing into the waterways or actually working for the use for which it is anticipated. Ms. Miller agreed. She added that, once there is notification of storms coming, the contractors are not coming and treating. They know that when there are intense rainfall periods, that is not the time to do this. Ms. Miller added that, when staff take all of these monthly logs and tabulate that information into a spreadsheet of all the different treatments, all the different locations, the different species, etc., staff can go back and see how many more applications are happening in May -June -July versus January -February, etc. Mr. Krauss asked that, since the hurricane season is starting, when the hurricanes come through, he understands that the contractors do not go out and do certain things but does that adversely impact the spread of invasive species. If the storm tears off a roof, it may be carrying off other vegetation and sending it all over the place. Ms. Miller said a lot of the surface algae will spread easily and will spread because of the interconnectivity of the swales, the road crossings, to the ponds, to the canals. That is a big concern. As for vegetation ripping up under the waterway, she is not sure she can answer regarding that. She feels that some of the vegetation there is very resilient. That is one reason that staff is still thinking about going to some contractors for some mechanical removal of it, because the City does not have the equipment for that. Mr. Krauss also asked regarding mechanical removal. He questioned where that material actually goes after it is taken out of the site. Ms. Miller stated that regarding mechanical removal, the stormwater crew are doing that. They will take that material and have it sent to the public works compound and let it dry out. What has been done in the past is that some of that dirt can actually be separated out from the algae and other materials. Then, once it is dried, it can be used for other purposes. There have been geotechnical tests as to suitability for structural fill, but a lot of the dirt vegetation kind of mulches up and decomposes and composts over at that site. Mr. Krauss stated that he participated in the Air Potato Roundup. He stated that he had never come across such a thing as an air potato. He stated he does not recall any discussion about a beetle. He asked if it would be advantageous to the City the next time we have an air potato roundup to have the participants look to see if there are any beetles. He opined that this would be advantageous to control the air potatoes. Ms. Bernard NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 3, 2025 PAGE 4 said you can clearly see when a beetle has been there, because there are many, many little holes in the actual leaves themselves. So, you can see when the beetle has been there and started to eat the air potato. It is pretty evident with the naked eye. That is definitely something that staff could help identify and maybe make it a challenge for the youth when they come out to see who can find one that has been eaten. Ms. Gordian said staff did look into acquiring air potato beetles for that event. Unfortunately, that did not work out, and staff were not able to acquire any. Ms. Thompson asked regarding air potatoes and beetles. Because we have done the air potato roundups in recreational areas and public parks, it might also be beneficial to think about putting them in residential areas, because the amount of air potatoes she sees in uncleared residential lots is just insane. The Brazilian pepper and the air potato are problems. Mr. Bruggen stated his current area is working in the stormwater section of Brevard County. He knows that the workers are working very hard because water let- tuce, etc. keeps on growing, and tonight's presentation was very informative. Ms. Miller stated she considers it a constant battle. B. Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup -- Saturday, July 26th, 2025 Ms. Gordian reviewed a couple of small updates. In the agenda packet there is a copy of the sponsor flyer from the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast. These are all the current sponsors and site leaders that are involved in the event as of right now. She said there will likely be updates to this. She has also been in correspondence with the Marine Resources Council and the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce, and they are assisting in getting volunteers for the event. She hopes to see some members of the MRC at the event that day. She has also inquired with the MRC about some outreach materials that they think would be suitable for the cleanup event, and they provided staff with a couple of their recently developed low -impact living checklists as well as a flyer on harmful algae blooms. She related that she thinks there is a committee meeting coming up next Wednesday, and she would like Mr. Stadelman to attend that meeting with her. It is virtual, so he will not have to attend in person. Mr. Stadelman stated he is all in, and cleanup week will be Saturday, July 19th to Sunday, July 27th from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This is a self - reporting event. Your results can be reported to TCWaterwayCleanup.com. That is at the Captain Robert Hardee Main Street Boat Ramp. Ms. Gordian asked if there is anyone on the Board who knows at this point that they will absolutely not be available to assist with the cleanup that day. She then asked for a NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING J U N E 3, 2025 PAGE 5 head count of those who will be attending. Mr. Carrano, Ms. Ware, Ms. Thompson, and Mr. Krauss indicated that they would be attending. C. Sustainable Sebastian Mr. Stadelman asked that the Board members review the outline of the plan and have their reports done by the due dates. If anyone needs some assistance, just reach out to Ms. Gordian. Ms. Gordian said she would like to review Sustainable Sebastian with the returning of the Annual Poll as was discussed at the last board meeting. There is a copy in the agenda packet for tonight. This was slightly modified from the last time based on the board's comments. Mr. Krauss stated that, to the extent possible, we have incorporated your suggestions and your changes into the poll. After there are no more changes/suggestions, we need to take the next step. The intention is that this will be an annual poll, and each year we will keep some questions and dispose of some questions as well as consider adding some new questions. Mr. Carrano suggested changing the wording of Number 4. Mr. Krauss acknowledged the assistance of the staff as well as the members of the board in putting this poll together. Mr. Stadelman agreed. IX. New Business -- None X. Items for Next Aaenda and Date" Tuesdav, Julv 1 Sc, 2025 A. Sustainable Sebastian Ms. Thompson suggested including a progress update on the goals where the deadlines have passed or are approaching. Mr. Stadelman stated that part of his program is coming due in July. Ms. Thompson said she does not have anything on the agenda, but she does have a question for the board based on Sustainable Sebastian. She said that she and Ms. Gordian had a suggestion yesterday about one of the goals. One of the goals for the Sustainable Landscaping Practices was to revive the Champion Tree Program. In the past, there NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JUNE 3, 2025 PAGE 6 have been all different kinds of trees, and they thought of a question to bring up to everyone: Do we only want to include native trees or all other types of trees? There are many types of trees, and she wants to know how the board members feel about including or excluding some species. Ms. Ware suggested thinking about it and having some other questions about how that program should be done, as there are so many different species of trees. Mr. Stadelman suggested tabling this subject till the next meeting. Mr. Carrano asked if someone can define what a champion tree is. Ms. Gordian said she does not recall the official definition that we have used in the original Champion Tree Program. That is something she needs to research. Ms. Bernard said that staff will look at the original resolution and analyze it and educate the board at the next meeting about what that original resolution looks like. XI. Adiournment There being no further business, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Mr. Krauss, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m. By:Date: S� Charles Stadelman, Chairperson A