Loading...
9-11-24 ESC Adopted MinutesMINUTES s ` Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) Meeting Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - 6:00 PM City Hall, Commission Chamber 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 Present: Bruce Andrews, District 1308 Member Sarah Boren, District 1306 Member Mark Gabrynowicz, Daniele Giovannucci, At Large Member Anastasia Houston, At Large Member Todd Miner, At Large Member Amy Palmer, At Large Member Heather Markaj, At Large Member Absent: Patrick Nobles, At Large Member Also Present: Amanda Askew, Planning & Community Development Dir. (PCDD) 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Sarah Boren called the meeting to order. Anastasia Houston volunteered to be the Secretary for the meeting. She called roll. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Daniele Giovannucci asked to add a discussion about roles and responsibilities within the Committee. Item was added after the consent agenda. Bruce Andrews requested to add the water quality report to Item 9. 3. COURTESY OF THE FLOOR (5 MINS.) There were no comments. 4. CHAIR REMARKS Sarah Boren reminded members who have not completed the Sunshine Training to do so. She gave an update on Jacksonville's Resiliency Action Plan. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of Consent agenda MOTION: to approve the consent agenda Motion: Mark Gabrynowicz Second. Anastasia Houston Bruce Andrews For Ln%ironmentaI Stei%ardship Committee(ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 1 of 6 Sarah Boren For Mark Gabrynowicz (Moved By) For Daniele Giovannucci For Anastasia Houston (Seconded By) For Amy Palmer For Heather Markaj For Motion passed 7 to 0. B. Review of Responsibilities Daniele Giovannucci reviewed the spreadsheet of responsibilities and asked members to sign up for tasks by the next meeting. 6. 90 DAY CALENDAR Sarah Boren reviewed the 90 day calendar. 7. COMMISSION AND/OR STAFF REPORTS A. Chapter 24 and 23 Update Amanda Askew reported that the Chapter 24 update is going to the Community Development Board on September 17 for recommendation to Commission, then first read by Commission will be September 23. Discussion about the Chapter 24 updated ensued. Bruce Andrews gave an update on his report to Community Development Board about Chapter 23. Discussion ensued. Bruce Andrews went over the proposed tree fund budget and Chapter 23 redline. Discussion about Chapter 23 ensued. MOTION. We recommend approval of the changes to Chapter 23 recommended by staff and reviewed by ESC including 2 additional areas • Protection during construction in regard to tree roots • Modified language in regard to severe pruning eg. hat racking Motion: Bruce Andrews Second. Sarah Boren Sarah Boren stated the City Manager asked her if the ESC would approve of using tree fund money to replant trees at the Seminole and Atlantic Blvd entrance and for the edible tree garden. Sarah Boren brought it to the board for discussion. Discussion ensued. Bruce Andrews (Moved By) For Sarah Boren (Seconded 41q For Mark Gabrynowicz For Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 2 of 6 8. Daniele Giovannucci For Anastasia Houston For Todd Miner For Amy Palmer For Heather Markaj For Motion passed 8 to 0. MOTION. Given that the current changes in the permeability allowances, do not appear to fully consider the real-world permeability findings in our community (e.g. independent assessments such as 331 7th Street paver flooding) and that the potential consequences of the adoption of new permeability rules into Ch 24 will be difficult for City staff to enforce over time (e.g. paver sealing is easy and invisible) and could exacerbate or even cause future community -level flooding that negatively affects neighbors, and may even require multi- million dollar public investments and concomitant tax burdens for the A.B. community. Given the seriousness of these implications, we propose that Commission and the CBD take prudent action by waiting for the forthcoming overall Stormwater Management Plan or considering, at a minimum, having a trigger that re -opens the specific regulation addressed overall Stormwater Management Plan prior to finalizing the Ch 24 Ordinances. Motion: Daniele Giovannucci Second. Mark Gabrynowicz Bruce Andrews For Sarah Boren For Mark Gabrynowicz (Seconded By) For Daniele Giovannucci (Moved By) For Anastasia Houston For Todd Miner For Amy Palmer For Heather Markaj For Motion passed 8 to 0. B. Additional Staff Updates Sarah Boren asked for an update on the recommendations from chuck Lippi about protecting trees on Plaza adjacent to Jack Russel Park. Amanda Askew said there were concerns from the Public Works department about organic materials getting into the street. Discussion ensued. Sarah Boren volunteered to work on a budget for the proposed stabilization and send to staff. Bruce Andrews suggested getting a second opinion. Amy Palmer suggested having a plan to mitigate parking concerns. Discussion ensued. OLD BUSINESS Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 3 of 6 9. A. Awards Sarah Boren provided a brief status update on the call for nominations and the award ceremony budget. She reported she is in contact with the City Manager to work out details on sponsorships and fund raising. B. Fleet Assessment Todd Milner gave a fleet assessment update. He said he has done his own research on small towns with EV fleets and also asking our parking attendants at the corner and whether they like the vehicle. He stated that in FL you would have to either go for a full-size EV vehicle with air conditioning or go with a smaller vehicle that is open air (not closed in like the parking meter small EV vehicle). He passed along that the consultants would like to know about annual mileage from our City's fleet. His plan is to get the information back from the consultants and then use that to come up with a tailored approach and recommendations to send to the City/Commission. Mark suggested that the ESC also look into E -bikes instead of full vehicles. C. 10/19 ESC Community Meeting Todd reported the ESC will be piggy -backing on the 10/19 Town Hall for a community meeting focused on Environmental priorities that we will integrate back into the CAP with community involvement. He has a community survey to deploy within the next week that will remain open through the 19th and for some weeks after. NEW BUSINESS A. FDEP State Parks Development Plan Sarah Boren reported out that our commission made a unanimous vote to make an opposition statement against the development of Anastasia State Park. Amy Palmer would like to recommend that we make a public comment as an ESC body in opposition to the development of the State Parks. MOTION. that Amy passes along the information to each of the ESC members to contact the associated people individually if they so choose Motion: Daniele Giovannucci Second: Todd Miner Bruce Andrews For Sarah Boren For Mark Gabrynowicz For Daniele Giovannucci (Moved By) For Anastasia Houston For Todd Miner (Seconded By) For Amy Palmer For Heather Markaj For Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 4 of 6 Motion passed 8 to 0. MOTION. Florida's state parks are representative of FL's diverse and special ecosystems and provide vital habitat for native plants and animal species. As such, they should remain wild. Golf and disc golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts and the like do not belong and those recently proposed plans should be abandoned forever. Motion: Amy Palmer Second. Mark Gabrynowicz Bruce Andrews Against Sarah Boren Against Mark Gabrynowicz (Seconded By) For Daniele Giovannucci Against Anastasia Houston Against Todd Miner Against Amy Palmer (Moved By) For Heather Markaj Against Motion failed 2 to 6. 10. SIGNIFICANT MATTERS ARISING IN SUBCOMMITTEES This item was not discussed. 11. MEMBERS CLOSING REMARKS Bruce Andrews discussed the recent water report and asking if there is anything we can do better as ESC as an overseer of reviewing the report and finding ways to improve our City's water quality. He suggested that the ESC invite Troy back to our meeting to teach us more about water quality processes and issues. Sarah Boren also suggested inviting St. Johns Water Management Company. Anastasia Houston suggested an agenda item for next meeting to create a community survey about what our AB "lifestyle" and unique community actually means. Sarah Boren reported the next How -To series is Eat Your Yard Jax and we should be promoting this for huge attendance. 12. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:21 p.m. Attest: Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 5 of 6 /IAM JJA,/AllIWrI'.L Sarah Boren, ESC Chair Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) September 11, 2024 Page 6 of 6