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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1-28-26 ESC Adopted MinutesMINUTES Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) Meeting f Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - 6:00 PM City Hall, Commission Chamber 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 Prescnt: Anastasia Houston, ESC Member Amy Palmer, ESC Member Todd Miner, ESC Member Sarah Boren, ESC Chair Daniele Giovannucci, ESC Member Christina Kelcourse, ESC Member Amy Franqui, ESC Member Absent: Bruce Andrews, ESC Member Also Present: Chris Delk, City Arborist Payton Jamieson, Principal Planner (PP) 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. COURTESY OF THE FLOOR (5 MINS.) A. City Arborist Introduction - Chris Delk Chair Palmer introduced Chris Delk as the new City Arborist and invited him to share his background and experience. Chris Delk began his introduction with enthusiasm, saying, "Unfortunately, I thought I thought about how I want to go that route. Right? So, I figured I'd come talk to you guys, this forum and have some fun with you guys." He explained his educational background, stating he had a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Oregon State University. "Go bees, love Oregon," he added with pride. Delk outlined his professional certifications, emphasizing his ISA Board Certified Master Arborist credential. "It's a really hard test, routinely, like, hours and hours, and you have those points to even have the option to take the test," he explained. "So, it's like, 2 percent of people currently hold certifications have it. It's brutal. It's but it's also fun. It's cool and all these other good aspects." He detailed his additional certifications, including ISA municipality specialist, which he explained helps him "work around city stuff, and I understand infrastructure a little more, and I can play with it. Right? I can understand how to incorporate it more into our systems and policies and codes." He also mentioned his ISA Tree Risk Assessment Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 Qualification (TRAQ) certification, explaining how it allows him to assess trees for risk rather than simply recommending removal. Delk shared his passion for "other plant nerdy stuff," including permaculture and native plant landscaping. He then described his seven years of public sector experience, beginning with three years in road landscaping where he "was out there in public works, getting my hands dirty, working on trees along roadways." He followed this with four to five years working in parks, which he described as involving "community outreaches where you get to really connect with everybody." Among his proudest achievements, Delk highlighted securing a grant for a community - supported arboretum where "every year, the city reaches out to the community and picks up a tree to put in the arboretum." He expressed particular enthusiasm for edible landscapes in parks, sharing how he started with blueberries and strawberries in playgrounds, noting "we had not a single 1 go to waste." When asked about his current mandates and priorities, Delk responded that permits and development seemed to be the immediate focus. "That's what the focus seems like since I came in running," he said, explaining his role in managing mitigation and ensuring developers comply with tree protection requirements. He mentioned working on tree inventory through grants, stating, "I can't manage what I don't know." 3. REPORTS AND/OR REQUESTS FROM ESC MEMBERS AND STAFF Chair Palmer began this section by addressing the length of meetings. She recalled that the committee had previously decided on two-hour meetings but noted they tended to go over, especially given the volume of business from combining what used to be three subcommittee meetings and two meetings per month. Todd Miner strongly advocated for maintaining the two-hour limit, stating, "I think that we should focus on getting through that content efficiently and sticking to 2 hours for a lot of reasons. But through my priority is staff. I don't think that we should allow ourselves to go beyond the allotted time because it's their evenings as well." Christina Kelcourse agreed, saying, "I really liked it when we got the notification ahead of time that it was going to be a long meeting because then we could prepare." She explained the difficulty of extending meetings without notice due to family commitments. Daniele Giovannucci concurred, adding, "I think the challenge for us in being efficient is to really dole out the work and allocate the right amount of time. Not everything can always be done." The committee reached consensus to maintain the two-hour limit with the possibility of announcing longer meetings in advance when necessary. Arbor Day debrief Christina Kelcourse reported on the Arbor Day activities at the schools. She shared that at Atlantic Beach Elementary, "the kids that read the script did excellent" and that students in classrooms were paying attention when the message was broadcast. At Mayport Middle School, Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 the script was read over the announcements. She also noted that both school principals offered to send out city announcements in their newsletters with a week's advance notice. Daniele Giovannucci briefly addressed the heritage tree celebration component, explaining that due to various circumstances and timing issues, "our particular Arbor Day in early January, other than the excellent work that that Christina did, was, you know, a little muted." However, he noted they had three properties with five trees coming up for heritage designation. CDB meeting debrief Daniele Giovannucci reported on his presentation to the Community Development Board. "They had an extraordinarily long night, much longer than any of them, I think, anticipated, so they were there pretty late," he began. Despite the late hour, the board members were receptive to his presentation about the ESC's work and intent to listen to their concerns for incorporation into chapter 23 revisions. He summarized the CDB's main concern: "they perceive that people of lower income our residents of lower income find that some of the penalties when they are combined as a not, we didn't know you needed a permit, and we took down the trees. So, there's double permit cost and then double mitigation costs." Giovannucci acknowledged this concern while noting that ignorance of the law isn't typically an excuse, drawing a comparison to traffic violations. The discussion emphasized the need for education as a priority to prevent such situations. Community Input Gathering debrief Todd Miner expressed concern about the sequencing of community input gathering relative to the March 2nd priority -setting meeting with the commission. "My goal would be to either have input gathered to bring to the priority setting meeting or to not force it," he stated. He emphasized that gathering input after setting priorities would miss an opportunity. Sarah Boren advocated offering opportunities to hear from the community broadly, saying, "I think it's personally more important to offer opportunities to hear from them, and then we can absolutely try to hone down what we heard from the community to incorporate into the process and priorities ESC presents to Commission." After extensive discussion, the committee agreed to explore holding a community input session from 5:00-6:00 p.m. before their February 25th meeting, with Sarah Boren volunteering to coordinate with staff on logistics and Todd Miner taking the lead on the event itself. Member survey results Sarah Boren sent the member survey results that afternoon. Given the late distribution, Chair Palmer suggested the committee digest the information and discuss it at the next meeting. Boren explained she had summarized all responses by question and highlighted items scoring below 3.0 for potential organizational improvement focus. Daniele Giovannucci expressed surprise at some results and suggested the raw data needed to be "chunked down into something more manageable" for productive discussion. He also noted concern that two members hadn't completed the survey despite it being identified as a top priority. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 4. ONGOING - OLD BUSINESS A. Priorities - 2026 and 2027 Chair Palmer introduced her draft of priorities for 2026 that would blend into 2027. She explained her approach of creating a one-page document that includes the ESC's two main charges and lists major initiatives in a simple format for easy commission comprehension. "I think if we just have it in a simple format that they can just, at a glance, understand what we're doing," she explained. Sarah Boren clarified the difference between this working document and what was previously presented to the commission, explaining that the work plan was requested by former City Manager Killingsworth after the commission chose their priorities. She appreciated Palmer's format for elevating the committee's second purpose. The committee noted that the first four items on the priority list all related to trees, and Chair Palmer suggested organizing activities under their two main purposes could provide "a little more bang for our buck." B. Chapter 23 • Meetings with commissioners • Preparation for joint workshop Todd Miner reported on the recent commission meeting where Mayor Ford "started talking about protecting our oldest trees and essentially, like, put forward an argument that we should be protecting them through legislation or through code." The city manager had asked what was preventing the ESC from putting forward a resolution on this topic. Miner explained he had drafted something, but it hadn't made the current agenda. He emphasized the need to act quickly, stating, "I think it behooves us to do that as quickly as possible so that they can so the city so the commission can then act on it too or at least sort of listen to that and make some decisions." Anastasia Houston shared that she had been researching other municipalities' codes, identifying provisions that could strengthen Atlantic Beach's ordinances despite state law preemption. She mentioned examples such as requiring public notice and community input for tree removals and allowing cities to require lot redesigns when large trees are present. The committee discussed various municipalities with strong tree protection codes, with Todd Miner suggesting terms like "landmark trees" for trees of certain size and age. He proposed that trees over 30 inches (roughly 100 years old for live oaks) could require additional review, potentially by a tree advisory board. Chris Delk offered his perspective from Oregon, where heritage trees were tied to property deeds, though he acknowledged this might not work in Florida. He supported the committee's approach of researching other municipalities' codes. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 C. Next Events/Communications - preparation • Film - The Lorax 2.21.2026 • Handouts to schools — free trees Discussion of The Lorax film on February 21, 2026, revealed some confusion about responsibilities. Sarah Boren clarified that Jordan Leslie from the recreation department was the staff lead, and that the ESC needed to provide panel recommendations for their two films in the series. The film would be shown at 4:00 p.m. at Gulliford Hall in the Adele Grage Cultural Center. Amy Franqui provided an update on the Weed Wrangle event, reporting on a successful planning meeting with Amanda, Andre, and Chris. She detailed the advertising efforts including city Facebook posts, recreation newsletter inclusion, and ten yard signs placed around Howell Park. She was also recruiting master gardener volunteers to serve as educational leads. Christina Kelcourse gave an enthusiastic update on the Minecraft challenge, announcing "we got our funding in. So, we're in." She explained the game would feature characters at the beach lifeguard station who would welcome players before teleporting them to the Marsh Oaks Community Center for the challenge. The committee members would appear as characters in the game. She noted the challenge would run from February 9 to April 1, with opportunities for city representatives to participate in the April live event as volunteers or judges. D. MOTION: Youth Council Chair Palmer explained this motion had been carried over from the last agenda and originated from a community member's request for a separate environmental committee for youth, which evolved into incorporating environmental stewardship into the existing youth council. MOTION. To approve the motion regarding Environmental Stewardship and Youth Council integration. Motion: Sarah Boren Second. Todd Miner Anastasia Houston For Amy Palmer For Todd Miner (Seconded By) For Sarah Boren (Moved By) For Daniele Giovannucci For Christina Kelcourse For Amy Franqui For Motion passed 7 to 0. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 5. E. MOTION: Revised tree list on free tree yard planting application https://coab.us/DocumentCenterNiew/13480/Atlantic-Beach-Free-Tree-Planting- Program-Application?bidld= This motion, also carried over from the previous meeting, addressed updating the species list on the tree planting application. Discussion clarified that the list should specify "preferred native species" in the title rather than labeling each species as native. Daniele Giovannucci acknowledged that Anastasia Houston's new Community Canopy Program would eventually replace this application but suggested updating the current form in the meantime. MOTION. To "take the current application, add the word native between preferred and species in the title of the species, make the selections more generic for both oak and elm as they are currently for holly, maple, and pine and cedar, and that we intend that this be updated and or improved or supplanted by the hundred year community canopy work that Anastasia is has pulled together." Motion: Daniele Giovannucci Second. Todd Miner Anastasia Houston For Amy Palmer For Todd Miner (Seconded By) For Sarah Boren For Daniele Giovannucci (Moved By) For Christina Kelcourse For Amy Franqui For Motion passed 7 to 0. NEW BUSINESS A. 1798 Selva Marina Drive TREE26-0004 (Dee Reiter) Ms. Dee Reiter, resident at 1798 Selva Marina Drive, made a public comment indicating she had applied for heritage tree designation last spring and wanted to ensure her application was moving forward. She expressed concern about trees being removed in her neighborhood and her desire to be a good steward of her tree for the community. Chris Delk explained that after the committee's approval, the applications would go to the City Commission, likely at their February 9th meeting. He encouraged applicants to attend the Commission meeting to support their applications. Amy Franqui suggested organizing a photo opportunity when the trees are officially designated, particularly for trees on private property, to help publicize the program. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 6. B. 375 Atlantic Boulevard TREE26-0005 (Petway) C. 395 Poinsettia Court TREE26-0006 (Xavier and Elizabeth Rozas) MOTION: To pass all 3 Heritage Tree Applications covering 5 trees. Motion: Sarah Boren Second. Daniele Giovannucci Chris Delk confirmed he would notify the applicants and encourage them to attend the February 9 commission meeting to support their applications. He mentioned existing plaques for heritage trees and that owners could name their trees. Daniele Giovannucci noted that one of the applications was from realtors who wanted to use it as an educational opportunity, and another was from a UNF professor who could potentially be recruited to the ESC. Anastasia Houston For Amy Palmer For Todd Miner For Sarah Boren (Moved By) For Daniele Giovannucci (Seconded By) For Christina Kelcourse For Amy Franqui For Motion passed 7 to 0. RECAP OF DECISIONS, ACTION ITEMS AND NEXT STEPS Chair Palmer discussed the motion tracker process, explaining she was working with Kevin and would be meeting with Amanda to establish a more effective system for tracking motions through to commission action. "They will go to Kevin. They will go to commission, and then we will find out what happens with them," she explained. Sarah Boren had sent out a comprehensive list of past motions that afternoon to help track their status. The committee confirmed their next meeting would be February 11, with an agenda deadline of January 29 due to the city's technology changeover the following week. They would explore adding a 5:00-6:00 p.m. community input session before the February 25 meeting. Chair Palmer thanked everyone for a productive meeting despite going five minutes over the intended end time. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 Attest: ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Amy Pal r, ESC Chair Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) January 28, 2026 Page 8 of 8