Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) - 14 Dec 2022 - Minutes - Pdf
MINUTES
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
Meeting
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 - 6:00 PM
Commission Chamber
Present: Anastasia Houston, At-Large Member, ESC
Patrick Nobles, At-Large Member, ESC
Mark Gabrynowicz, ESC Chair, District 1307 Member
Daniele Giovannucci, Vice Chair, At-Large Member, ESC
Barbie Brooksher, District 1312 Member, ESC
Sarah Boren, District 1306 Member, ESC
Bruce Andrews, District 1308 Member, ESC
Absent: Amy Palmer, At-Large Member, ESC
Linda Chipperfield, At-Large Member, ESC
Romy Vann, At-Large Member, ESC
Also Present: Amanda Askew, Director of Planning and Community Development
Candace Kelly, Commissioner, Seat 4
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mark Gabrynowicz called the meeting to order. Members went around the room to call roll.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Approve minutes of the November 9th regular Environmental Stewardship
A.
Committee meeting.
Mark Gabrynowicz asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. He stated the
numbers were out of order. A motion was not made and a vote was not recorded. There
was no dissent to approving the minutes.
3. COURTESY OF THE FLOOR (5 MINS.)
There were no speakers.
4. CHAIR REMARKS
A. LEED GOLD certification
This item was discussed under Item 5.C.
B. City celebration on Jan. 23rd at 6pm for LEED GOLD certification
Mark Gabrynowicz stated there is an open seat. He encouraged committee members to
start thinking about electing a Chair, Vice Chair, and Subcommittee chairs in January.
He reviewed Sarah Boren's request to change the format of the agenda to mirror format
of Commission agendas.
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
December 14, 2022
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Mark Gabrynowicz stated the celebration for LEED Gold certification is January 24th.
Discussion about the event ensued.
5. REPORTS
A. Outreach Subcommittee (note new start time 4:45pm)
Barbie Brooksher gave the Outreach Subcommittee report. She reviewed the work being
completed in preparation for arbor day including choosing a tree location at Atlantic
Beach Elementary School (ABE), finalizing the scavenger hunt and education packet for
ABE students, and flag raising logistics. Discussion about Arbor Day ensued.
Sarah Boren suggested doing a monthly newsletter in which organizations would write
articles to notify AB residents of information. Discussion ensued.
Daniele Giovannucci proposed planting fruit trees in public spaces for the community to
enjoy. Members were in support of the idea. Amanda Askew advised that there are
restrictions on where trees can be planted on public property. Sarah Boren and Daniele
Giovannucci volunteered to come back with more details.
B. Tree Subcommittee
Bruce Andrews gave the Tree Subcommittee report. He reported on litigation for trees
on 19th Street, discussion about protection of trees on construction sites, and a Heritage
tree nomination.
Sustainability and Resiliency Committee (formerly known as the LEED
C.
Subcommittee)
Sarah Boren gave the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee report. She discussed
news reports about the LEED Recertification, working groups, building a contact list to
inform and reach out to citizens, doing a call for volunteers, and including demographic
data to board applications.
Mark Gabrynowicz requested the news report done by Mayor Ford be posted on the city
website. Sarah Boren said they will have to wait for the formal recording to be released.
Barbie Brooksher encouraged members to get together to create more Facebook Live
videos.
6. MAYOR/STAFF REPORTS
A. 2023 Monarch Butterfly pledge
Patrick Nobles reported the city must meet 3 of the 27 tasks to uphold the Monarch
Butterfly pledge. He stated there are multiple tasks that the city is already doing. Amanda
Askew stated she submitted the report for the 2022 Monarch Butterfly pledge and the
Mayor must sign off on renewing the pledge.
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
December 14, 2022
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MOTION: to recommended the Mayor renew the city's Monarch Butterfly pledge for 2023.
Motion: Mark Gabrynowicz
Second: Patrick Nobles
A vote was not recorded. There was no dissent to the motion.
7. OLD BUSINESS
A. S&R Community Action Plan Priorities
Mark Gabrynowicz presented a PowerPoint (which is attached hereto and made part of
this official record as "Attachment A") and reviewed priority setting process for the
Sustainability and Resiliency Action Plan. Amanda Askew suggested making a motion
to recommend to Commission to include around 5 priorities in their 2023 priorities.
Sarah Boren stated she received direction from the City Manager that tasks that require
money, significant staff time, policies, and ordinances shall go to Commission. Mark
Gabrynowicz reviewed the PowerPoint he prepared which showed the cumulative top 5
- 10 tasks selected by committee members and staff. Discussion ensued about priority
setting.
Bruce Andrews expressed his concern that there was only one top priority addressing
trees. Sarah Boren suggested expanding "Promote and educate about the benefit of trees,
tree ordinance, tree planting and pervious surfaces" to include implementing the 3-year
maintenance period, providing Heritage tree incentive money, and complete the tree
canopy assessment. Bruce Andrews said he felt the actions were vague. Mark
Gabrynowicz responded and said these were the actions that the Commission voted on
and approved.
Discussion ensued about "Consider best practices for sustainable principles into
neighborhood planning and redevelopment". Members agreed to include bullets to the
action about floodplain management and pesticide control. Bruce Andrews reviewed the
committee's responsibilities as outlined in Chapter 23 and stated he did not feel some of
the actions in the CAP do not address those responsibilities. Discussion ensued.
Mark Gabrynowicz stated the committee needs to come up with 3 top priorities to give
to commission and they could come up with more specific actions at a later day. Daniele
Giovannucci suggested Sarah Boren take the top 3 ranked actions and come back with
more actionable items that integrate the desires of the committee and Chapter 23 tasks.
Sarah Boren said she can do this but wanted more direction from ESC on the top 3
actions.
Sarah Boren reviewed two of the priorities are trees and neighborhood planning. She
asked for a third priority. Mark Gabrynowicz suggested "natural systems and ecology".
Sarah Boren asked members to send her additional "sub-bullet" areas to the 3 top
priorities which she will go through and limit to maximum 5 sub-bullets each. Mark
Gabrynowicz said 15 priorities will be a lot to give the Commission. Amanda Askew
said she can set up a survey monkey to condense the priorities.
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
December 14, 2022
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Attachment A
8. NEW BUSINESS
A. Use of Working Groups and Subject Matter Experts
Mark Gabrynowicz and Sarah Boren reviewed the structure of working groups.
Discussion ensued about the structure and proposed working groups.
B. ESC Monthly Speaker Series
This item was not discussed.
9. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, Mark Gabrynowicz declared the meeting adjourned at 8:18
p.m.
Attest:
Amanda Askew Mark Gabrynowicz, Chair
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
December 14, 2022
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