Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) - 14 Oct 2020 - Minutes - Pdf
MINUTES
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
Meeting
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - 6:30 PM
Via Video Conference
Present: Bruce Andrews, At-Large Member, ESC
Amy Palmer, At-Large Member, ESC
Linda Chipperfield, At-Large Member, ESC
Sarah Andrews Dark, At-Large Member, ESC
Tony Pooley, Chair, At-Large Member, ESC
Mark Gabrynowicz, District 1307 Member, ESC
Daniele Giovannucci, Vice Chair, At-Large Member, ESC
Sarah Boren, District 1306 Member, ESC
Romy Vann, At-Large Member, ESC
Deborah Andrews, District 1308 Member, ESC
Barbie Brooksher, District 1312 Member, ESC
Also Present: Amanda Askew, Planning and Community Development Director (PCDD)
Brian Broedell, Principal Planner
Candace Kelly, Commissioner - Seat 4 (District 1306)
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
2. COURTESY OF THE FLOOR (5 MINS.)
3. REPORTS
A. LEED Subcommittee Report - will report under Agenda Item 5A.
B. Outreach Subcommittee
Amy Palmer said the Committee is in need of more members and help with
social media.
Sarah Boren suggested they establish a working group task force for social
media.
Daniel Giovannucci asked Amy Palmer to put together a bullet list of needs and
he would help find a person or group to meet this need.
Barbie Brooksher asked what Amy Palmer was looking for.
Amy said they need help promoting activities and events, getting people
interested in the goals of the committee, building the AB loves trees culture and
other miscellaneous tasks.
Barbie Brooksher offered help with video production.
Bruce Andrews recommended that each ESC member be on a Sub-committee.
Amy Palmer spoke about different ways of promoting tree plantings. She said
she wasn't sure what Arbor Day would look like this year due to Covid.
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Amy Palmer asked when Commissioners were seated. Commissioner
Anderson responded that they are seated in November.
Mark Gabrynowicz asked if they had been granted their requested budget.
Amanda Askew said she would let them know the exact amount at the next
meeting.
Amy Palmer said that Linda Chipperfield was working on the tree trimmer
training. She said that Mark Gabrynowicz was working with Public Works to
have an environmental exhibit at Arts in the Park. Amy Palmer is also wanting
to add tree plantings to special events similar to the recent tree planting for
graduates. She asked Sarah Dark to update them on the joint meeting they had.
Sarah Dark gave an update on the Tree Sub-Committee adding that they weren't
able to do the joint meeting. She said that they had gone out to identify public
places to plant some of the COJ trees. Sarah Dark said they would like to start
a database for this. There was discussion about the hindrances of planting in
some areas.
Sarah Dark responded to Tony Pooley's question on where they were at with the
list of criteria for prioritizing where to plant trees. She listed some examples of
what will be on the list.
Bruce Andrews asked what the status was on grouping requests so that COJ
will be more likely to plant trees in bulk.
Linda Chipperfield responded and said they put some text and images together
and gave to Kevin Hogencamp. She that COJ wanted them to identify small
communities and HOA's so that they could plant the tree's all at one time.
Bruce Andrews said they tried something similar a few years. He thinks that
they are going to have to take this task on themselves.
Linda Chipperfield said that information would be going out in the bill stuffers,
in the welcome kit and on social media.
Sarah Dark suggested that Dan Gabrynowicz approach the editor of Atlantic
Beach Living. She said she would like to schedule a joint meeting for the
Outreach and Tree Committees. Amy Palmer suggested the Tree Sub-
Committee attend the upcoming Outreach Committee meeting.
Romy Vann suggested they incorporate AB Elementary and send something
home with the kids.
Mark Gabrynowicz reminded the committee of their 5 year plan. Sarah Dark
agreed that the plan was to have places lined up for when funding became
available.
Romy Vann said she would like to attend that meeting and introduce a
stormwater tree tool that she has discovered.
C. Workplan Update
Mark Gabrynowicz said he received the City's standard contract bid and
standard terms and conditions from Public Works. He said the committee can
look at his comments on the Workplan spreadsheet. Mark Gabrynowicz went
over some of the inconsistencies and concerns. He recommended the City have
a more specific and clear set of conditions for the different types of work that
gets bid on.
Tony Pooley said that Dan and Romy were assisting him with the Tree Canopy
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project. He said they are updating the tree canopy data so they can track when
tree's are removed and determine where tree's need to be replaced.
Daniele Giovannucci said he thinks the Committee will be impressed with the
potential these tools that Romy found will have to on planning, policy and
education.
4. OLD BUSINESS
At the end of the meeting there was discussion about Ramstar. The Committee wanted
to know if it would be brought up again.
Amanda Askew said they have reached out to Gary Moore and they are planning on get
the information from Gary Moore and then Staff would look it over. She will let the
Committee know when they have more info.
5. NEW BUSINESS
A. Sustainability / GreenWorks Plan - DRAFT
Sarah Boren gave the Green Works Community Action Plan presentation as
seen in the agenda. She went over the goals, background, task force, focus
areas and public outreach plan.
Barbie Brooksher said she is optimistic about getting feedback from the
community.
Dave Lambert, a citizen advisor, said he is excited to see Atlantic Beach taking
this on.
Romy Vann felt like it was going to be a lot of information for people to take in
at first and explained that a lot of energy went into simplifying everything as
much as possible.
Tony Pooley said that in simple terms, this is all about thoughtful planning and
decision making, measuring it and managing it. He said it is about helping the
City be proactive about things that we might face in the future around climate
change.
Bruce Andrews complimented the task force for the amazing work they had
done. He said that after reviewing the matrix he thinks that when going it out to
the public it may need to have a little less detail. Bruce Andrews gave other
suggestions on how to present it to the public. He added that there needs to be
an attempt to add costs and benefits to some of the items. This was discussed
further.
Sarah Boren said the cost and benefits idea was great. She talked about some
ideas that they already have when presenting this to the public. Sarah Boren
agreed that it won't be successful without community buy in. She said she has
already received some great feedback from the community.
Barbie Brooksher talked about the survey and said it will be simplified for the
community.
Daniele Giovannucci acknowledged the task force for the impressive work they
have done.
Romy Vann said she thought it was good to go for some big ideas and see what
gets dwindled down.
Commissioner Kelly thanked the task force for their great work.
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Sarah Dark said she was impressed with this document. She agreed with the
concern that it might be a lot to take in for citizens. Sarah Dark liked the idea
that Bruce Andrews had in bringing people into the process and addressing the
cost and benefits.
Romy Vann thought it might be helpful to have a section in the survey with
questions and answers.
Mark Gabrynowicz agreed to have all 3 recommendations go to Commission.
He asked if the first recommendation regarding LEED recertification would
dove-tail with going to the next level of their LEED certification. Mark
Gabynowicz understood the concerns previously mentioned and said those can
be addressed as they come up.
Sarah Boren responded to the question saying that the current LEED
certification was under the pilot program and this one would be much more
robust. She said it would be beneficial in applying for grants.
Bruce Andrews said he couldn't support the matrix as presented. He gave an
example of how to approach the community and guide them with questions,
suggestions and education. Bruce Andrews said there were certain items that
he did not feel should be part of the ESC (i.e. reducing diabetes by 95%...).
Deborah Andrews agreed with Bruce Andrews's assessment. She suggested an
executive summary with easily digestible information. Deborah Andrews said
the table was hard to read. She supports moving on with the process.
Linda Chipperfield said that in creating the survey it would be good to
communicate the benefits to the community and she would like to help with this
process.
Sarah Boren said there is a section that will highlight achievements.
Romy Vann said the task force looked at other cities similar to Atlantic Beach
that have already had success.
ACTION: To APPROVE all goals as written:
Motion: Mark Gabrynowicz
Second: Sarah Boren
Bruce Andrews wanted to know if any of his suggestions were going to be considered.
Deborah Andrews explained that she understood that since the document was living
there can still be changes.
Sarah Dark suggested it be broken down into 3 different motions.
Bruce Andrews said he would vote yes on one but not the others.
Danielle Giovannucci asked if some of the previous suggestions will be address.
Sarah Boren said absolutely. She said they want to educate, hear, listen, recalibrate and
get to where the community is and wants to go, or it won't work. Sarah Boren said the
goal it to get the City to be resilient, healthy and sustainable.
Barbie Brooksher agreed and said the task force had worked really hard to get to this
point and will work just as hard to get to a point where everything can be digested.
Bruce Andrews expressed his support but he would like to see the changes made and a
revised presentation before voting yes.
Sarah Boren felt that if it was passed with the current Commission it would have more
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credibility and longevity.
Bruce Andrews said it could become a political issue.
Romy Vann asked for clarification on whether this was going to Commission as a draft
and then getting public feedback which would be added to the draft.
Sarah Boren said that was correct. The vote continued after being seconded.
Mark Gabrynowicz (Moved By) For
Bruce Andrews Against
Amy Palmer For
Linda Chipperfield For
Sarah Andrews Dark Against
Tony Pooley For
Daniele Giovannucci For
Sarah Boren (Seconded By) For
Romy Vann For
Deborah Andrews Against
Barbie Brooksher For
Motion passed 8 to 3.
Sarah Boren said that she took notes and will take the concerns that were raised back to
the task force. She asked the Committee to help establish processes for current and
future outreach to the community.
Barbie Brooksher added that she will be a part of the Outreach Sub-Committee.
There was further discussion on what was voted on confirming that the current draft
will go to Commission as is.
Amanda Askew told the Committee that they should present the current draft and then
tell the Commission why they didn't have a unanimous vote. Then the Committee can
present the editorial changes based on the suggestions discussed at this meeting.
Bruce Andrews said that the changes cannot be presented as being approved by the
ESC.
Daniele Giovannucci said he was of the understanding that changes could be presented.
Bruce Andrews agreed with Amanda Askew's suggestion of how to present this to the
Commission.
Daniele Giovannucci asked Commissioner Kelly to weigh in.
Amanda Askew explained the way the Committee was going to present this to the
Commission.
Commissioner Kelly said that they could present both versions. She said that the City
has applied for a sustainability grant. Commissioner Kelly agreed the the cost will
probably be questioned.
Sarah Boren said she understood that the Committee doesn't have a problem with the
concept but they have issues with some of the goals and the need to simplify the
language.
Sarah Dark agreed and also wanted more information on certain items (i.e. reducing
diabetes by a certain percentage). Where did that figure come from, how does that get
done, what is it going to cost, etc.? She asked if that should even be included.
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Sarah Boren said these were ideas that can be reworked.
Commissioner Kelly said they have had professional scientists make the matrix. Now
the Committee needs professional educators and communicators to make it presentable
and palatable to the general population.
Daniele Giovannucci agreed that it would be good to remove the things that might bog
down the process or become political.
Bruce Andrews told the Committee to let him know if they needed his help. He
suggested removing some of the items from the matrix.
Sarah Boren explained all the data was taken from many sources and she believes it
needs to have clearer definition and made more easily digestible.
Bruce Andrews said he just didn't want certain items to become barriers to the ultimate
objective.
Romy Vann and several Committee members explained that good health would be a
co-benefit of more fresh food, community gardens, etc.
Bruce Andrews told the Committee that Commissioner Kelly just posted the
sustainability information on social media and there should be a variety of feedback
coming from that.
Daniel Giovannucci left the meeting.
B. Lilly Street - property update
Amanda Askew explained the Lily Street Park Concept and gave a
presentation. She said the appraisal was done by the request of the
Commission.
Bruce Andrews was of the understanding the River Branch Preserve wouldn't
allow a dock. He felt like the money could be put toward improvements to
Tideviews.
Commissioner Kelly said the Commission voted to buy it due to resiliency.
She said that stretch of marsh will protect the homes behind it. Commissioner
Kelly said the park and dock were secondary to protecting that area from rising
waters and storm surge.
The Committee asked why this was before them.
Amanda Askew said it was due to the prospect of a park.
Deborah Andrews spoke in favor of it.
Sarah Boren agreed that the cost of not doing this would be greater than the
purchase. She commended the Commission for taking this step.
MOTION: To support the City's purchase of this property for all of the environmental
reasons that have been discussed:
Motion: Deborah Andrews
Second: Sarah Boren
Bruce Andrews said the amount was too high.
Tony Pooley said it hasn't sold because there isn't enough developable uplands and it's
too much to mitigate for.
Sarah Dark asked what the Commission had approved.
Amanda Askew said a purchase agreement would have to go back through
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Commission. Staff was asked to negotiate terms for the purchase and sale. She said it
would then go back to the Commission for approval.
Sarah Dark would like more information before voting.
Bruce Andrew asked if a dock could be put in.
Commissioner Kelly said a dock cannot be put in.
Bruce Andrews said he would need more information.
Bruce Andrews Against
Amy Palmer For
Linda Chipperfield For
Sarah Andrews Dark Against
Tony Pooley For
Mark Gabrynowicz For
Sarah Boren (Seconded By) For
Romy Vann For
Deborah Andrews (Moved By) For
Barbie Brooksher For
Motion passed 8 to 2.
6. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, Tony Pooley declared the meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m.
Attest:
Tony Pooley Amanda Askew
Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC)
October 14, 2020
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