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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10022012NRB2 3 4 5 C� �� �7�I4�I�Y' � '� ��� ���� , _ . _� � ._. _.�..�� HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958 (772)589-5330 Phone NATURALRESOURCES BOARD REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2012 - 6:00 P.M. MINUTES "To improve the quality of life in Sebastian by nurturing the balanced relationship between our citizens and our environment by protecting, preserving and promoting our natural resources" Chairperson Graves called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. ROLL CALL: Present: Robin Graves - Chair Eric Spokas - Vice Chair Hank Kriss Ann Lucier Members Absent and Excused: Pat Casselberry (A) Staff Present: Ginny Sieferd, Board Liaison Donna Cyr, Recording Secretary Albert Alvarez Alan Northcott Gilbert Gordian Jr. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: September 4, 2012 regular meeting MOTION by Ms. Graves and SECOND by Mr. Gordian Jr. to approve the September 4th, 2012 minutes as written, was passed. ANNOUNCEMENTS: No announcements. PUBLIC INPUT: No public input. 7. OLD BUSINESS: A. Wrap up of International Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 15th — Ms. Graves said it was a huge success. They had a great turn out, plenty of boats, and there really wasn't as much trash to pick up as anticipated, which was a good thing. Everything went smoothly. Ms. Lucier forwarded the completed paperwork with the debris numbers on to KIRB. There was some discussion regarding Mr. Mehta and his wonderful assistance during the day. Ms. Graves wants to contact him regarding future spoil island cleanup events. Natural Resources Board Oct. 2, 2012 Page Two B. Speakers for future meetinqs — There was a request by Mr. Gordian to invite Jeff Bolling from the National Elephant Center to be a speaker and the members agreed. Ms. Cyr will send a letter to Mr. Bolling with the assistance of Mr. Gordian. Mr. Spokas had other potential speakers that he would like to invite. The board was all for it. C. Fertilizer Education Proqram — Ms. Cyr gave an update on the webpage noting that Ms. Brooke-Reese is working to pull all the information together that she was given by the board. As soon as a sample is ready it will be forwarded to the board for approval. Ms. Cyr updated the board on the progress of the PowerPoint presentation by Council Member Coy. Ms. Cyr read a letter from Ms. Coy and showed the presentation to the members. (see attached) The members were happy with the PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Coy's letter requested the board come up with nonpoint Stormwater pollution issues such as picking up pet waste, or properly changing your car oil at home, washing your boat or car in your yard, and not blowing lawn clippings into the street. Ms. Sieferd and Mr. Spokas were working on a presentation that Mr. Spokas is going to give at his Sebastian Rivers Landing Home Owners Association meeting on November 20th. He is going to explain the Fertilizer Label poster, the nine suggestions for Florida Friendly Landscaping, a top chemical and discharge list (the top one being nitrates), and show a glossy colorful poster on rain barrels. There was some discussion on swales being like small Stormwater retention ponds. They are filtration systems for the Stormwater runoff. Mr. Spokas suggested that on the NRB webpage that there be a list of all the links of environmental agencies for ease of use to the public. Ms. Graves mentioned that the agencies she spoke with would like their links as part of their information that they provided. Mr. Spokas suggested having links under a heading of "Other Useful Sites" or something to that effect for those organizations with website links. 8. NEW BUSINESS: A. FIND meetina update — Ms. Sieferd let the board know that the piece of property that was suggested to be used for the dredging project is not in Sebastian but in Wabasso, so it would be a County issue. She also read from a portion of the minutes from the FIND meeting on the topic of the dredging issue (see attached). There was discussion regarding the testing of the dredged muck and finding a spike in the mercury levels in the lagoon. Ms. Sieferd let the board know she will email them a copy of the minutes. B. Earth Day, Saturdav, April 20, 2013 — Ms. Graves said she wanted to contact a couple companies such as the local Verizon and FP&L regarding sponsorship of Earth Day for advertising money. Ms. Graves will create a slide for Channel 25 & the City's webpage for Earth Day. Ms Graves will send out a Save the Date email to the list of vendors from last year. She encouraged the board to think about possible vendors for Earth Day and let them know to save the date. Ms. Sieferd said that maybe a member could find a company that could donate some plastic barrels to be used as rain barrels. There was a suggestion to contact a local farmers market or vegetable stand to participate as a vendor. Mr. Gordian said he would contact the Sebastian High school Green Club and a local musician to pertorm. Mr. Spokas suggested contacting a fertilizer company for sponsorship. He also suggested contacting local restaurant chains Natural Resources Board Oct. 2, 2012 Page Three E 10 for sponsorships. Ms. Graves asked the board secretary to find out from the City Attorney how it would work with the City in getting advertising dollars for Earth Day. Ms. Graves is going to make some bird houses or feeders for kids to decorate at Earth Day. Ms. Cyr will ask Council Member Coy the name of her School Board contact. There was discussion regarding flyers in the schools to promote Earth Day and Ms. Cyr informed the board that some of the schools were using virtual backpacks to promote events. Ms. Cyr will come up with a flyer for Earth Day to pass out or post. She will email it to the board for their approval. The stage is unavailable this year but we will have the new sound system. EMBER MATTERS: Ms. Cyr will forward Mr. Gordian Ms. Reese's email address. He also asked about the brochure that Council Member Coy was working on. Ms. Cyr said that she didn't think it had been started yet because Ms. Coy was working on the children's PowerPoint presentation first. From there it will be easily adjusted to fit students and adults. Mr. Gordian passed out a brochure from SJRWMD, "An Owner's Guide — The Indian River It's your lagoon". Ms. Graves asked what the status was of the City's Clean Marina Program with the State. Ms. Sieferd is not aware of anything going on but she will inquire with the Public Works Dept. Mr. Gordian said our marina doesn't appear to have any problems. Ms. Sieferd will find out and get back to the board by the next meeting. STAFF MATTERS: No staff matters. 11. Being no further business, Chairperson Graves adjourned the meeting at 6:57.m. —� Natural esources Chairperson Signature � Date Page 1 of 1 Donna Cyr From: Andrea Coy Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 4:37 PM To: Donna Cyr Subject: NRB presentation Donna — Please read the following at tonight's meeting on my behalf. Read letter, then show dvd presentation. �•. �: Last Friday was the Grand 4pening of the Senior Center. I think most of yau know that I was the lead for that project. I have spent the last 6 weeks working 24/7 to get the daors open which took me away from your very important praject. On Sunday, I returned to your project and I pramise, nothing will get put ahead of it this time. You are my new priority. I decided to work on an elementary school presentation first. My rationale is that if it is sequenced properly for the lower levels, all that needs to be added is more detail for middle school and HS/adult levels. Perhaps all the recent work with seniors made children look easier. I have found lots of sites online to get the pictures I need and love using the local ones as well. This presentation is not finished, but I wanted you to see what I started and get a feel for where I'm going with this. It would be helpful if you could give me a list of the stormwater pollution (nonpoint) issues yau want to be included. Thanks for your patience, �t v�dX'e.a� �. Ccry Council Member City of Sebastian WhaYs in my water? A Dolphin's Dilemma A tale of storm water pollution and how to prevent it. The water that my friends and I live in is very important to us. My fish friends get oxygen from water to breathe. Dolphins like to eat fish. This is a school of fish for our lunch. My name is Chip. I'm a dolphin and I live in the Indian River Lagoon. My manatee friends feed on sea grass. These guys are pelicans. They eat fish and live on the water too. All my friends and I must have clean water to survive. Would you swim _ at this beach?�. .:a The oil and hazardous waste from these rusty, leaking barrels has soaked into the ground. When it rains, the pollutants wash downhill into my water. This is called stormwater runoff. When it rains. it drains. But sometimes humans do things that make my water dirty. This is litter. When it rains, this trash runs into my lagoon home. When it rains. it drains. 4 Do not litter. 4 Pick up litter when you we it. •i Politely remind others not to litter. •i Volunteer for lagoon clean up days. •i Recycle cam, plastic, and glass bottles. Some folks like to change their own oil at home instead of going to a garage. This is OK as long as you are careful not to spill the oil on the ground. When it rains, it drains. P Why is this container of dirty motor oil. abetter choice to collect dirty motor oil? w ere, wt F Uu a funnel to refill engine with dean motor al to prevent spills on the ground and in driveways. Discuss effects of fertilizers and pesticides. will also ceiebrate the 10`h year of the organization's Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program. Commissioner Barkett made a motion to approve the request from Keep Indian River Beautiful for $5,000.00 in assistance funding for their 2012 Waterway Cleanup. The motion was seconded by Secretary Blow. Chair Colee asked for any further discussion, hearing none, a vote was taken and the motion passed. ITEM 10. Indian River County Dredging Reach I Sediment Sampling Plan. Mr. Roach stated that the Concerned Taxpayers of Indian River County requested that the sediments to be dredged from Reach I of the Intracoastal Waterway in Indian River County be sampled to determine if there are any contaminants in the sediment at a level that would pose problems to adjacent land owners and residents if placed in DMMA IR-2. He stated that the Board selected the geotechnical firm of American Vibracore Systems (AVS) to be our contractor for this wark. He stated that staff worked with AVS to devise three sediment sampling plans which only differed in the intensity of the core samples. Mr. Roach stated that this plan was coordinated with several interested parties including the Concerned Taxpayers as well as Indian River County. He stated that a representative of the Concerned Taxpayers recommended that 14 sub-samples of seven of the cores, at -14 feet and 1/3 up from the bottom of the core, be analyzed in addition to the composite sample from each core as proposed in our plan. He stated that the Concerned Taxpayers had four other scientists review our plan and their proposed change and stated that no other feedback on the plan was received. Mr. Roach stated that staff recommends that the sediment sampling plan of 13 vibracore samples and composite analyses be approved along with the sub-sampling analysis of two layers in seven of the core samples. He stated that the core borings will be taken down to -IS feet, which is one foot deeper than the depth of the District's dredging. He stated that composite sampling is always done with a dredging project because the dredging process mixes the sediment. He stated that it was requested that the District sample a little deeper to capture the entire vertical dimension of the muck layer. He stated that he reviewed the as built of the Intracoastal back in 1958 and that dredging did go down as deep as 15 feet. He stated that the current sampling plan will take the � core down to 15 feet and should capture any shoaling that has occurred since 1958. He stated that the citizens have asked that the coring be photo documented. He stated that the final cost from our contractor for this sampling effort is $76,350.00. Commissioner Netts made a motion to approve the scope of services and fee quote from AVS to take 13 vibracares from Indian River County Dredging Reach I and analyze 13 composite samples and 14 sub-samples from the cores. The motion was seconded by Vice-Chair Kavanagh. Chair Colee asked for discussion. Secretary Blow asked about the District's budget for this item. Mr. Roach stated that the District has a general dredging line item and we also have funding in the Indian River Reach I Dredging line item in our budget. Commissioner Freeman asked how long this vibracore sampling process will take. Mr. Roach stated that the contractor will take 10 days to mobilize after this item is approved and we should have the results within 60 days. Treasurer Chappell questioned when this material was last tested. Mr. Roach stated that limited testing was completed in 1997. Treasurer Chappell asked about the results. Mr. Roach stated that the results were pretty c}ean, but that there was one spike of inercury. He noted that this spike was well below the Department of Environmental Protection's soil contamination standard. Commissioner Barkett asked if there is any industry or reason to believe that contaminants are leaching into this waterway. Mr. Roach stated that staff is not aware of anything and no one has identified a point source, so we are not expecting to find high levels of soil contamination. Commissioner Bowman noted that we are performing these additional tests at the request of the community and asked if the community requested anything that the District is not doing. Mr. Roach stated that the community requested that the District identify the depth of the muck and we explained that would be difficult to do in the sample collection process that is related to a dredging project. He noted that by permit, we are not allowed to dredge any deeper than 14 feet, so taking samples down to 16 feet or deeper to find the bottom layer of muck does not apply to this dredging project. He stated that the citizens are okay with this proposed compromise. 7 Treasurer Chappell asked about the process in the event some material is found with high leveis of contamination. Mr. Roach stated that once we receive the sampling results, the District will work with the environmental regulatory agencies on how to handle the material. He stated that if an area was found to have high levels of contamination, we could use a different type of dredging process in that area, isolate the material, and handle it according to the environmental regulations. Mr. Gary Kaczenski stated that during the District's initial due diligence in 1997, material samples were taken. He stated that additional samples should have been taken before the DMMA IR-2 was constructed. He stated that if this material turns out to be toxic, the citizens will not allow the District to place that material in that site. He stated tbat the citizen's consultants believe that the contamination is at the bottom of the muck and that muck should be removed. We do not want the dredging process to suspend those contaminants into the Indian River Lagoon. Mr. Frank Marshall stated that mercury comes from the atmosphere and falls into the water and settles. He stated that the citizens requested that the District take samples to the bottom of the muck depth and the District has agreed to sample two feet below the project depth. He stated that he is concerned that during dredging the mercury will become suspended in the water and contaminate the lagoon. Commissioner Barkett stated that the Dish-ict has no reason to suspect that this area of the Indian River Lagoon has higher levels of inercury contamination than any other area of the watenvay. Mr. Marshall stated that he feels that the mercury contamination could be higher because of its suspension from the recent dredging of the Sebastian River Muck Removal project. Mr. Fred Messing asked about using the current man made spoii islands for spoil placement. Chair Colee stated that the environmental regulatory agencies have determined that using spoil islands for dredging material placement is no longer a viable option. Commissioner Sansom stated that the question of using spoil islands for material management comes up frequently and he asked Mr. Roach to elaborate on the reason that is no longer allowed. 8 � Mr. Roach stated that from an environmental regulatory standpoint, the islands are too small for modern dike construction without expanding them. He stated that expansion is not allowed because of its impact to seagrass and fisheries habitat. He stated that also, from a management standpoint, a spoil island cannot be efficiently off loaded and managed for continued use in our 50 year management plan. Mr. Crosley stated that additionally, the spoil islands erode and they contribute to shoaling and water clarity. Mrs. Flo Kaczenski stated that the population has tripled from the time that the District chose DMMA IR-2. Chair Colee asked for any further discussion, hearing none, a vote was taken and the motion passed. Commissioner Sansom stated that development of these sites takes permitting, time, and money. He stated that all the District's sites have signs on them identifying them for their use. He stated that unfortunately the District cannot control population growth and development. ITEM 11. Powell Brothers Third Party Dredging Agreement, Broward County. Mr. Roach stated that as previously reviewed with the Board, there are several marine facilities along the Dania Cutoff Canal that want to piggyback on the District's dredging project and deepen their facilities. He stated that the Board previously reviewed the Third Party Dredging Agreement developed by legal counsel. He stated that a specific agreement has been formulated for the Powell Brothers facility for approval and he noted that Item 4 has been revised. Treasurer Chappell made a motion to approve the Third Party Dredging Agreement with the Poweli Brothers. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Sansom. Chair Colee asked for discussion. Treasurer Chappell asked how this work is tied to the bond that the District has provided to Broward County for the DMMA and questioned if the District is requiring the third party owners to pay those additional costs. Mr. Roach stated that the District has not required the third party partners to pay any additional bond. He stated that we do require the third party partners to pay for any additional costs related to any contaminated materials. 9