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HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND
NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD
MINUTES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2008 - 6:00 P.M.
City Council Chamber, 1225 Main Street, Sebastian
Chairperson Koerner called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ROLL CALL:
Present:
Ginny Koerner - Chairperson
Jim Slattery
Todd Klitenic
Cynthia Schuster
Staff & Council Members Present:
Vice Mayor Sal Neglia
Council Member Eugene Wolff
Board Liaison Margie Reynolds
Recording Secretary Donna Cyr
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: July 1, 2008
Unexcused Absence:
Lynn Albury
On a MOTION by Mr. Klitenic and SECOND by Ms. Schuster, the July 1, 2008
minutes were approved as they stand by a unanimous voice vote.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Chairperson Koerner announced her resignation from the Board. She said she
made her decision because of personal issues and the fact that she feels the
board has not been able to accomplish anything in the six months that she has
been Chair. After some discussion Ms. Koerner rescinded her resignation until the
end of the meeting.
A. Elect Vice-Chair — The Board voice voted to move this item to the end of the
meeting.
PUBLIC INPUT:
No public input.
7. OLD BUSINESS:
A. Champion Tree Dav — The event is Saturday, November 15th at Friendship
Park from 9am — 12n. Ms. Schuster will email Ms. Albury to see if the high
school is interested in having the contest. Ms. Reynolds will contact N Channel
10 in Vero Beach to see if the idea of the contest is feasible. The plan is to see if
Natural Resources Board
August 5, 2008
Page Two
the high school is interested in having the environmental video contest and to
see if Channel 10 can air the winner's entry. There was discussion about the
board having a budget for signs and advertising the event. Ms. Reynolds will
bring some of the flyers she gets to distribute at the event. Rain Barrel flyers will
be available. Mr. Slattery will work on the Bat box. The members received
generic donation letters from the board secretary as well as cards showing the
members name and the name of the board.
Ms. Koerner asked if our channel 25 could run slides on "conserving" tips. She
gave Ms. Reynolds a list from the "Poor Man's Guide" for conserving energy and
water. Ms. Reynolds will contact the City's MIS dept. to see if we can do this.
B. Goinq Green —
Common Gardens / Victorv Gardens — There was discussion on the City having
a community garden. It was mentioned that there are groups in Sebastian that
would be interested in doing this.
Wind power & Solar power — Ms. Schuster noted that Oyster Point on Indian
River Drive uses wind mills on their pier to power lights. Mr. Slattery showed
pictures and spoke about wind mills in Duluth, Minnesota. There was discussion
about solar power and it was mentioned that it would be nice if a County or City
would take the chance and go solar. Ms. Reynolds brought up the problems and
costs of being a coastal community when talking about using wind and solar
power. It was mentioned that maybe the City could encourage builders to
promote solar or wind power and get tax breaks.
Recycle Bins for Citv Parks - Ms. Reynolds spoke with the City Manager about
the recycle bins and it was decided that the bins will be designed and built by the
City. The bins would be placed in Riverview Parks first to see how it goes. The
City or a chosen organization would pick up the bins.
8. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Revisit Board Goals — Chairperson Koerner talked about a new docking
material that would be better for the environment and the aquatic preserve.
Prism blocks are another good alternative. Ms. Koerner suggested that the City
change its code to reflect using the new materials. This way if there is a
hurricane that destroyed the piers the insurance companies would pay for the
new upgrade. Ms. Reynolds discussed what the State requirements are. The
City's code says the City will be as strong as the States or stronger.
9. MEMBER MATTERS:
Todd Klitenic spoke about why three previous board members resigned from the
Board. He said they told him it was because of a conflict of interest with Ms.
Reynolds. Ms Reynolds told the board that she is the liaison, and works for the
board and the City interests.
Jim Slattery —Spoke about the State of Florida selling 50 million gallons of water
to Nestle Corp. to bottle and resell to the public but residents have to water their
lawns with a drip hose. Ms. Reynolds said she read about it on the SJRWMD
website and they gave people 30 days to give comments.
Natural Resources Board
August 5, 2008
Page Three
Ms. Schuster talked about the need to get more people on the board. She feels
that the board needs to focus more on doing one thing at a time. Pick
something, present it to Council, complete it then move on.
Chairperson Koerner stated that she feels frustrated that nothing has been
accomplished and maybe another member should have a chance at being Chair.
She feels she let the board down. Ms. Koerner was praised by the board liaison
and other board members.
10. STAFF MATTERS:
Ms. Reynolds talked to the board about the Periwinkle Stormwater Park — There
will be a field trip on Saturday, September 6th at 7:30am to assist in improving
the Gopher Tortoise habitat. The board secretary will post the Notice for this
meeting. Ms. Reynolds will bring gloves and each member should bring their
own water and lunch. This would be considered a"hands on project" for the list
of goals for the board.
River Clean Up projects — There is a national River Day that is something the
board can do next year. Kayaks Etc. is always ready to assist.
Revisit Building Code for gated communities — Chairperson Koerner wanted to
make sure there is something in the building code that would protect small wildlife
from being trapped in a gated community. Ms. Reynolds told the board that
Sebastian doesn't have any "walled in" communities. Ms. Reynolds couldn't
quote the Code but explained that the City does have provisions that there has to
be buffer screening. Ms. Reynolds will look into it more.
Landscape Review — Ms Reynolds stated that the Tree Board went through the
Landscape Code and made suggested revisions as well as came up with a list of
46 trees for residents to choose from when building a home or replacing a tree.
City staff wants to revise the whole Code and these changes will be incorporated
into it. The changes need to be approved by Planning & Zoning then go onto
Council for their approval. The Natural Resources Board will not be reviewing
changes prior to approval process.
Easy Street Park — The City is going to eradicate all the Brazilian Pepper trees
from the island and replace them with bald cypress and maple trees, under-story
and grasses for groundcover, to provide habitat for the birds and ducks.
Because of the holiday it was decided to push the September meeting to Monday
the 15th at 6:00 pm.
Chairperson Koerner deferred her resignation until after the September meeting.
11. eing no further business, the meeting adiourned at 7:53 p.m.
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