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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6-10-26 ESC Adopted MinutesMINUTES Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) Meeting Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 6:00 PM City Hall, Commission Chamber 800 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 Present: Anastasia Houston, ESC Member 1 Amy Palmer, ESC Member 2 Sarah Boren, ESC Member 4 Matthew Mattila, ESC Member Bruce Andrews, ESC Member 6 Daniele Giovannucci, ESC Member 7 Christina Kelcourse, ESC Member 8 Amy Franqui, ESC Member 9 Absent: Todd Miner, ESC Member 3 Also Present: Amanda Askew, Neighborhoods Department Director (NDD) 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA A. Approve minutes of the May 13, 2026 regular Environmental Stewardship Committee meeting. MOTION: To APPROVE the May 13, 2026 ESC Minutes. Motion: Amy Franqui Second. Sarah Boren Motion passed 8 to 0. B. Approve minutes of the May 27, 2026 Tree Environmental Stewardship Committee Bruce Andrews requested to defer approval of the tree subcommittee minutes until the next meeting due to insufficient review time. Chair Palmer clarified that tree subcommittee minutes should be approved at tree subcommittee meetings rather than regular ESC meetings for proper governance. C. ESC Member Update Reports Chair Palmer presented her informational report and the updated agenda template, which combined elements from both regular ESC and tree subcommittee templates. Sarah Boren suggested moving certain items to the consent agenda and combining agenda items 7 and 8 to reduce the number of sections. Palmer explained the template followed Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) June 10, 2026 Page 1 of 5 city clerk guidance and included a section for unfinished business borrowed from commission agendas. 3. COURTESY OF THE FLOOR (5 MINS.) Chair Palmer announced that Nancy Staats had requested to address the ESC but would be late due to another meeting. Palmer proposed establishing a consistent process for candidates during election season, allowing 5 minutes for public comment and 5 minutes for Q&A, with staff serving as timekeeper. Sarah Boren suggested inviting all qualified candidates after the Friday qualifying deadline. The committee agreed to this approach. 4. CONSENT AGENDA There was no discussion regarding this item. 5. CHAIR REMARKS Chair Palmer noted that Bruce Andrews would be the ESC representative at the June 22nd commission meeting and discussed potential governance issues with the new meeting structure. 6. COMMISSION AND/OR STAFF REPORTS A. Commissions' approved priorities - FINAL Chair Palmer reported that Commissioner Ring had added completing work on chapter 23 as part of fiscal year 2027 priorities, with work beginning prior to the fiscal year start. B. Commission Calendar - Budget Workshops Chair Palmer announced budget workshops scheduled for June 29th, July 20th, and August 19th at 6 p.m. in the commission chamber. Director Askew noted additional workshops could be added as needed. Palmer suggested ESC members attend the neighborhoods department focused workshop. C. Governance: quorum/voting for Tree Subcommittee meetings Chair Palmer raised governance questions about the new meeting structure, noting she may have inappropriately made a motion during the tree subcommittee meeting despite not being a subcommittee member. Director Askew reported that City Clerk Donna confirmed only tree subcommittee members should make motions and vote during tree subcommittee meetings. Sarah Boren suggested either conducting double votes when both bodies have quorum or having tree subcommittee business come to the full ESC for approval. Bruce Andrews expressed preference for treating the second meeting as an ESC meeting focused on trees rather than an official tree subcommittee meeting, citing complexity of the governance structure. The committee discussed various approaches to resolve the procedural issues. D. Tree Ordinance Discussion Director Askew provided an update on landmark tree protection efforts. Staff presented a memo to commission creating a definition for landmark oak trees with a recommended Environn►ental Stewardship Committee (ESC) June 10, 2026 Page 2 of 5 20 -inch DBH threshold. The proposal included discouraging removal, requiring third - party arborist review for hazard claims, and attempting relocation on-site or off-site at applicant expense, with commission approval required. Anastasia Houston expressed concern that the focus on only the largest trees missed the broader goal of saving canopy coverage. She noted the tone was focusing on "biggest, baddest trees" rather than overall canopy preservation and suggested private meetings and demonstrations to change this approach. Dan Giovanucci reminded the committee that existing ordinances already protect canopy through mitigation requirements and noted this initiative began with specific large oak removals like the Marsh Oaks incident. He emphasized the need for balance given diverse property rights perspectives in the community. Bruce Andrews questioned language about third -party arborist review of state statute claims and relocation requirements, suggesting the relocation provision lacked practical substance. Several members discussed the importance of protecting multiple species rather than just oaks and maintaining reasonable DBH thresholds to achieve meaningful canopy protection. Nancy Staats, attending as a mayoral candidate, was given 5 minutes for public comment plus 5 minutes for Q&A. Staats expressed strong support for tree protection, advocating for the city's arborist to examine trees for free and suggesting current fines were too low given rising property values. She opposed limiting protection to only live oaks and supported a moratorium until comprehensive solutions were developed. 7. OLD BUSINESS -ONGOING A. Environmental Awards Anastasia Houston reported on planning for November environmental awards, potentially combining with ARCC awards at Marsh Oaks Community Center. She discussed investigating ticketed events for catering and suggested coordinating with the facility's grand opening celebration. Sarah Boren recommended requesting $3,000 in budget and noted the potential cost savings of combining with the grand opening event. B. Minecraft Extension Activities Christina Kelcourse provided updates on the Minecraft challenge extension. Both Atlantic Beach and Mayport Middle schools sent invites to parents. A guest speaker from Jacksonville's winning team will present at Marsh Oaks on July 11 th at noon. Students have until August 1 st to submit videos, with ESC serving as the judging committee through a Google Doc voting system. The committee discussed prizes for winners, suggesting local gift card sponsorships and multiple award levels. Sarah Boren emphasized using Minecraft excitement to gather community input on community center programming and structural attributes, with potential workshops at town hall meetings. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) June 10, 2026 Page 3 of 5 8. NEW BUSINESS A. ESC Accomplishments - Review of content for presentation/presentation constraints Chair Palmer presented bulleted content covering ESC accomplishments from January through June 2026, organized chronologically. Staff recommended decoupling the ESC accomplishments presentation from the tree permit report, with Bruce Andrews and Dan Giovanucci presenting the tree report on July 13th and Palmer presenting accomplishments on July 27th. Amy Franqui requested adding specific dates and photos from various events. Sarah Boren noted missing pages from the commission priorities document and provided additional budget workshop dates. Sarah Boren expressed strong objection to the 5 -minute time limit for presentations, arguing it was insufficient for meaningful two-way communication with commission. She suggested organizing content by priority rather than chronology and emphasized the need to address pending recommendations and funding issues. 9. 90 DAY CALENDAR AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE METRICS A. Speaker series - July Amy Franqui reported on the July speaker series event, moved from July 4th week to July 9th to improve attendance. The event will feature a prerecorded presentation from Douglas Tallamy on "The Nature of Oaks" with live Q&A from Ixia chapter president Jody. Three Doug Tallamy books will be raffled. Twenty-two RSVPs have been received. B. Motion Tracker and Life Cycle of a Motion Matt Mattila indicated he still needed to connect with city staff about the motion tracking process. Sarah Boren reported meeting with the city manager about ESC recommendation processes and shared a draft decision tree to improve staff input timing and prevent late -stage feasibility issues. C. Organizational Excellence Improvement Metric for 2026 MOTION. That the committee adopt following through on ESC committee assigned leads or ESC lead commitments as the organizational excellence metric for 2026. Motion: Sarah Boren Second. Anastasia Houston Motion passed 8 to 0. Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) June 10, 2026 Page 4 of 5 D. Film Series - evaluation Sarah Boren provided evaluation of the recent film event, reporting $350 cost for 23 attendees with 4 panelists, 5 ESC members present, 8 new attendees, and 3 people requesting free trees. She noted challenges with Thursday night timing for family - friendly films and suggested weekend afternoons might be better. The committee discussed the ongoing value of the film series and budget considerations for continuation. 10. ESC MEMBER REPORTS, REQUESTS AND/OR CLOSING REMARKS A. Review Submitted Lead Summaries Chair Palmer thanked Amy Franqui, Dan Giovanucci, and Sarah Boren for submitting their lead planning documents. She clarified the priority and sub -priority categorization system, explaining that priorities referred to recommendations to commission/staff, outreach, and organizational excellence, while sub -priorities referenced specific focus areas like chapter 23 and parks master plan. Sarah Boren requested direction on realtor/title company roundtables, suggesting informal sessions rather than noticed meetings for candid feedback. The committee agreed to this approach. Sarah Boren also sought direction on private tree inventory, proposing a hybrid approach using aerial technology and ground-truthing in priority areas. Dan Giovanucci suggested various aerial data sources including military -grade access and Google Earth nonprofit programs. The committee supported further research into this hybrid methodology. 11. RECAP OF DECISIONS, ACTION ITEMS AND NEXT STEPS There was no discussion regarding this item. 12. ADJOURNMENT Chair Palmer adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:08 p.m. Attest: /1-0 ��. manda Askew Neighborhoods Director Amy Palmer, ESC Chair Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) June 10, 2026 Page 5 of 5