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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-07-2025 NRB MinutesNATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 I. Chairperson Stadelman called the Natural Resources Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. Pledqe of Alleqiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present: Mr. Stadelman Mr. Krauss Ms. Ware Mr. Carrano Ms. Thompson Mr. Bruggen Ms. Shellenberger (a) Not Present: Mr. Trinkle -- Excused Also Present: Alix Bernard, Community Development Director Felicia Gordian, Environmental Technician Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer IV. Approval of Minutes A. September 2, 2025, Natural Resources Board Meeting Minutes All having indicated they had reviewed the Minutes of September 2, 2025, Mr. Stadelman called for a motion. A motion approving the Minutes of September 2, 2025 as presented was made by Mr. Carrano, seconded by Ms. Thompson, and approved unanimously via voice vote. V. Announcements -- None VI. Agenda Modifications -- None VII. Public Input -- None Vill. Unfinished Business A. Sustainable Sebastian NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 PAGE 2 1. Resolution for the Commitment to the Reduction of Single -Use Plastics -- Charles Stadelman Ms. Gordian explained that part of Mr. Stadelman's job as Champion, he was charged with creating a resolution to solidify the City's commitment to the reduction of single -use plastics. She added that in tonight's agenda packet is the Resolution. Mr. Stadelman provided staff with his version. Staff has gone through and made their changes and edits, and here tonight is the version staff would like the Board members to look at and provide their feedback. Mr. Stadelman explained that a large part of this Resolution was worked on out of the Sustainable Sebastian initiative. It is part of their mandate. The Sustainable Sebastian Initiative was already passed by City Council, and this is one of the parts of that Initiative. It helps address what the Board has been trying to work with regarding single -use plastics and polystyrene. It does not include a ban, because we really cannot ban anything. We feel that this is' a good first step and puts us on the right path, and it does give the City the ability to move in the right direction in getting rid of single -use plastics. A lot of this Resolution comes from what has already been passed in other areas of South Florida. He asked the Board members to add in anything they think is missing. This has gone through the City Attorney as well as extensive input from City staff and multiple meetings. He then called on questions/comments from the Board members. Mr. Krauss stated that at the very beginning it says "... single -use plastics and polystyrene commonly known by its commercial brand, named Styrofoam..." He related an item he received in the mail, and in the box were Styrofoam peanuts. He asked if that is an individual initiative that he could contact the company and ask that they do not include peanuts in those packages. Mr. Stadelman said Mr. Krauss could do that as an individual, but this Resolution is mostly designed for City-wide use and for the municipality to do what they can. He added that it is really hard for the City to mandate or ban those types of products. Ms. Gordian added that, as part of education and outreach related to plastics and polystyrene, that may be something that we could touch on if someone comes into contact with unexpected sources of polystyrene in their own lives. Maybe they can give it a new life by repurposing it for other packages, and there are some organizations that are looking for materials like that and will accept gently used packing peanuts and things of that nature. Ms. Shellenberger asked if there is any way that this Board can encourage different businesses around here to start using some of the products that are biodegradable. Ms. Gordian stated as part of several Sustainable Sebastian initiatives, we will be looking to NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 PAGE 3 provide potential alternatives or potential solutions to the waste -stream issues to our local businesses. Another program that could fall under this umbrella is the Coastal Connections WRAP program. That is such a great program that they have already started to establish in Vero. That may, be something in conversation with them that we can open up to the small businesses of the City of Sebastian that would have those materials that would otherwise get thrown out. Ms. Ware stated that Publix does recycle clean Styrofoam at the one on Route 512, not all the Publix stores. That one has containers for recycling also. Ms. Thompson added plastic bags as well, which a lot of people already know about. Mr. Bruggen asked if this Board will be meeting with the Sebastian Chamber of Commerce to talk to them about this Resolution and to get them on board so that they can go to the small businesses. Mr. Stadelman said that is in the Sustainable Sebastian Initiative for the outreach. He said that what we are trying to do tonight is push the legislation along. We are mostly trying to get this in front of City Council at this time. With that lead, we can go to the businesses out there and tell them what we are trying to accomplish. Mr. Krauss asked if, normally when these kinds of things go in front of City Council, we as members of the Natural Resources Board attend those meetings. Ms. Bernard stated that, if you make a recommendation to approve this Resolution, a staff report will be drafted. It will be presented to City Council by a staff member. You are always welcome to attend City Council meetings, but it will be handled from a staff perspective at that point. Ms. Ware stated that she thinks the Resolution is great, and she would like to make a motion that we go ahead with this Resolution and present it to City Council. Mr. Bruggen seconded that. There were not any nays. The ayes were unanimous, approving the Resolution. B. Event Debriefs Ms. Gordian stated that it would be a good thing if this Board has any advice that we can provide for Parks, Recreation and Facilities for the next time around. This Board has hosted several events as well as participating in other events, and your perspective can help guide them into the future. 1. Touch & Tour -- Saturday, September 13t", 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Ms. Gordian reviewed that this was only the second year for this event. Mr. Stadelman NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 PAGE 4 recognized Mr. Trinkle for setting up the demonstration of how the stormwater process works. He added that there was a lot of interest shown for this demonstration. 2. International Coastal Cleanup -- Saturday, September 201h, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. For the International Coastal Cleanup, Ms. Gordian stated this was the second time that this Board has hosted a site for the cleanup. She stated that it was reported that we had 530 pounds just for our site. There was a site that exceeded us at 960 pounds. She said we did not win the trashiest location this year. Ms. Ware stated that there was no waste disposal container at our site. She suggested that in the future we definitely need to make sure that we have one present. Ms. Shellenberger said that the tools/supplies that we got from the people who were running this were not enough. They gave us four pairs of plastic gloves and two pairs of adult gardening gloves. She suggested that the organizers need to plan that there may be more people attending than those who had signed up. Mr. Krauss said there were a couple folks who could not get the medium -size gloves on. Maybe we could have a few that were a little larger and a couple that were smaller. He also queried whether we should be thinking about the boats that are leaving from the dock. Maybe we should try to give every boat that goes in the water there a quick hello and let them know what we are doing. Ms. Gordian stated that it is worth mentioning that during the Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup, that was a big push -- that they really wanted to recruit more boaters to participate in the event. She knows that in the distant past, there used to be individuals on the Board who had boats or knew people who had boats, and it was easier to find people who wanted to go out on the water and go to the Spoil Islands and make that part of the cleanup. That may be something the Board can look into in the future. She added that, for this year's Treasure Coast Waterway cleanup in July, we did have the Elks Lodge come, and one of their participants had a boat, and they were able to take folks out onto the lagoon itself. That would be a great asset if that were something the Board would like to see happen. Ms. Thompson added that there are local fishing groups that we could reach out to such as Captains For Clean Waters, and she thinks there are a couple others. th 3. Sebastian Kids Fest -- Saturday, October 4, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 PAGE 5 Ms. Gordian said that this was the first time that this event has ever been hosted by the City. Mr. Stadelman thanked Mr. Trinkle for his display for the Kids Fest. Mr. Stadelman opined that perhaps we had more kids come out for that than we did for Earth Day. He thanked everyone who participated. C. Event Preparation 1. Garden Club Park Work Day -- Saturday, October 11 th, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Ms. Gordian said that this is not mandatory, but staff would like to see some representation of the Natural Resources Board, as we will see some presence from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee at this event. This is a good opportunity to network with those folks on that Board. Ms. Thompson, Mr. Bruggen, Ms. Shellenberger, and Mr. Stadelman will be there. Mr. Carrano did not say one way or the other. Mr. Bruggen asked regarding weather conditions and if it will be postponed if the weather becomes a problem. Ms. Bernard said we will look at the weather, and it will be determined for another date in the future if there is a rain delay. 2. Christmas Parade -- Saturday, December 6th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Gordian stated that, as always, she will take an attendance tally, if there are any updates as to who will be present, and then the NRB can discuss some ideas for the event. Mr. Stadelman said the NRB will have a tropical theme in the parade this year. Discussion was held among the Board members and Ms. Gordian about handing out candy and seed packets and manning the float. One idea that Mr. Bruggen and Ms. Gordian have spoken about is the possibility of distributing the Save -The -Date postcards that we are looking to develop for the Air Potato Roundup. She asked Mr. Bruggen if he has any additional ideas since we last spoke. He said he does not have any new ideas since then. However, Mr. Bruggen did provide an update on the Air Potato Round -up planning thus far. The Save -The -Date event is for February 14th, Valentines Day. The reason for that is because the air potato leaf looks like a little heart, and he is try to make something of it to have couples come. There will be food. He suggested that there will be a new location from where they set up last time. There is another parking lot that is closer to the woods. He added he and staff met with Donna Halleran of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, and she was looking into some NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2025 PAGE 6 additional items for gifts. He offered to post some signs around town. Ms. Halleran offered to help. Returning to the discussion of the Christmas Parade plans, it was suggested that we should buy shopping bags with the Sustainable Sebastian logo on and hand them out. There was a consensus vote, and it was unanimous in favor of the shopping bags. There was general discussion regarding the date for the work day. Mr. Stadelman spoke about the Board members attending the different events, and balancing life with Board participation. IX. New Business -- None X. Items for Next Aqenda and Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2025 A. Sustainable Sebastian Mr. Stadelman recommended everyone look at their cutoff dates, and if you need any assistance, email Ms. Gordian, and we will give you any additional assistance. He thanked everyone who was involved in developing the Resolution, including City Attorney Ms. Cockcroft. Ms. Ware suggested that we might want to schedule a recycling workshop, as we are still planning on getting together with Waste Management and the Solid Waste Disposal District. That workshop should be held before the end of the year. B. Preparations for Upcoming Events 1. Christmas Parade 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 Ms. Shellenberger, and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 p.m. 11 By: Date: Charles Stadelman, Chairperson