HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-14-2022 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting MinutesFEAB October 14 , 2022 , Minutes
FEAB MEETING MINUTES
October 14, 2022
3:00 p.m. in the Public Utilities Conference Room, 555 South Section Street
Member Attendees: Gary Gover, Jim Horner, Ben Frater, Amy Paulson, Nigel Temple, Rick
Speight, Nicole Love , Darrel Williams, Jennifer Foutch
Members not in attendance :
None
City of Fairhope: Kim Burmeister -Plann ing and Zoning Department; Jessica Walker,
Specia l Projects and Grants Manager
City Council : None
Honored Guests : Anna Keene Miller, Keen Living
Minutes taken by : Kim Burmeister
Amy ca lled the meeting to order at 3 :00 p.m .
Summary of meeting :
1. Amy will draft tentative schedule for FEAB members to attend Work Session
and/or Council Meetings in the future .
2. FEAB cou ncil representative needs to be alerted (by FEAB) prior to Work Session or
Council Meeting if there are agenda items of relevance to FEAB
3. City has not approved park management plans at this time but FEAB ad visories for
park management plans, including Colony Nature Park, are in the comments
section of the Comp Plan draft. FEAB hopes city will consider adopting park
management plans .
4. Ashley Campbell with Baldwin County is working with the Joint Environmental
Advisory Committee to draft standardized buffer and wetland ordinance. City of
Fairhope Planning Staff is working on subdivision regulation amendments draft as
we ll as wetland ordinance amendment drafts .
5 . Anna Keene Miller (anna@keenlivinq .pro ) has information on grant moneys for
green energy I energy efficiency projects for municipalities and public utility
companies .
FEAB Minutes:
September min utes were approved as written.
Agenda provide by Amy:
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FEAB October 14, 2022 , M i nutes
jAGE.11."DA
THE an or F AIRHOPE E .iVIRO J'<"!II iT AL AD\1SORY BOA.RD 1\'1O:-ITHL Y !\[[[TI .G
0CTOB1!:R 14, 202:2 / ~ PM, Pueuc W ORKS COl\TIRl!:NCE Roo11
I . Housekeeping (-10 min)
a. Priority Setting and Engagement, 2023 -Amy
b . Biweekly attendance at Council Meetings -Amy
2. POC Starns Reports on FEAB 2022 Priorify Focus Issues and Old Action Items (-20 min)
LIMITED D ISCUSSIO~ -PASS IF NO NEWS TO SHARE
a, City Liaisons
i. City Counc il -Corey , Jennifer
IL Mayor -Amy, icole
111-City Departments -Kim, Christina, Jessica
I\". Baldwin Co unty Em: Advisory Committees -Amy , Kim
1. Wetl ands (red clay , LID, etc.)
\·. Fairhope Committ ees ' Joint Projects
I . Bike and Ped, Harbor Board, Recreation Board, Recycling Committee,
Historic Preservation
b. Greenspace (Cornprehensi\·e LUP , and COF Boards Joint Subcommittee for Greenspace)
-Ben. Darrel
i. LUP Comments / Engagement -consolidated FE.AB strategy needed?
ii . Greenspace Subcommitt ee
c . Wetlands Protection -Amy
i. Bald\vin County initiative
ii . Schedul e engagement wi th COF -o\"ember
d. Community Resiliency Index -icole
e. Eastern Shore Watershed Management Plan -icole
f. Recycling and Trash-Jennifer
3. ew Business / Other Interests ( < 5 min)
LIMITED DISCUSSION -PASS IF O NEWS TO SHARE
a.. Stormwater -Jim / Nigel
b . Earth Day 2023 and local outreach project partnerships -follow up from last month?
4 . Io\"Oh·ement Opportunities(< 5 min)
5. Wrap up (< 5 min)
a.. ew action items -revievi ist
b. ext Month 's meeting topics :
i. V. etlands discussion re : Baldwin County Coalition of EABs standardization
effort
c. Adjourn
FEAB Priorities for 2023
This w ill be discussed at next m eetin g. M e m bers encou raged t o draft id eas .
Council/ Planning Commission Attendance:
Amy opened discussions on the id ea of creating a schedule for FEAB m embers to at tend
Counc i l Meeti ngs , and/or work sessions . Prev iously no t everyone was in support of being
on a schedule fo r council atte nda nce . Am y said it is impo rt an ce not ju st for informat io n
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FEAB October 14, 2022, Minutes
but for FEAB to have an appearance at the meetings . She thinks presence at council is
important. Council meetings are 2x / month .
Jim suggested Work Session attendance since these are a set time (1 .5 hours) whereas
council meetings can last several hours.
Ben suggested member in attendance should be in accordance to the agenda items, if
any are pertinent to FEAB topics. Ben also suggested FEAB draft a procedure on how to
immediately address topics at Council if member is called on to speak (particularly if FEAB
has not passed a formal motion on its position on said topic). Ben said City Clerk might
consider including FEAB member discussion in the work session and/or council agenda if
Corey pre-approved .
Agendas are usually presented on-line Thursday prior the meeting, per Jess ica . Jessica
encourages work session attendance, and suggested council representative (Corey) be
given a heads up by FEAB on their opinions of any pertinent topics . Corey may elect to
have FEAB speak at the work session . Also , let Corey know ahead of time who from FEAB
will be at the work session (and/or council meeting).
Nicole suggested, if schedule is drafted, everyone do their best to keep on schedule . She
also suggested a checklist for member to help prepare, prior to council meeting, and/or
work session .
Action plan: Amy will draft a tentative schedule for consideration prior to the next FEAB
meeting. She will include draft procedures as mentioned by Ben and checklist as
suggested by Nicole. This will be further discussed at November's meeting.
Park Management Plan
Amy mentioned recent frisbee golf development at Colony Park . She asked Jessica the
status of park management plans with the City ---specifica lly Colony Natu re Park. Jessica
sai d FEAB 's comments on park management plans are included in the Comp Plan draft,
and she will check to see if there are any other updates. Otherwise, Pat White would be
the person in charge of Park Management .
Kim referenced the recent FEAB Motions spreadsheet (attached) which mentions status
of FEABs advisories on park management plans. The Motions spreadsheet also notes
FEAB's recommendation on park management plans as a budget priority for 2023.
Gary referenced the 2010 Park Management Plan for Colony Park. Kim mentioned that
this was a park management plan from Single Ta x (previous property owner) and was
never officially approved by City of Fairhope . Mayor and staff are both aware of the
previous park management plan and the desire to devep park management plans for all
city parks . Ben stated park management plans are likely on hold until comp plan is
approved , since this might likely be a component of the new comp plan .
Jennifer asked for details of the 2010 Park Plan for Colony Park . Nigel said it mainly
invo lves mowing and maintenance practices, since this park sits on a tributary to Cowpen
Creek and within a flood plain .
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FEAB October 14, 2022, Minutes
Comprehensive Land Use Plan:
Ben is on the Steering Commi ttee for the comp plan as the FEAB representative . Recent
meeting in October was postponed, due to incomplete information in the draft per
Jess ica .
Jim is disappointed the comp plan does not appear to address projected growth (10 -20
years). Daphne's include s projected growth. Je ssica enco uraged Jim to submit this as a
com ment from FEAB when meeting is rescheduled (Ben can mention thi s on behalf of
FEA B).
Wetland Ordinance/ Subdivision Regulation updates:
Amy said Ashley Campbell, Baldwin County, is working with Joint EAC on drafting
language for standard wetland regulations across jurisdictional lines. This will inclu de
standard buffer languages.
Kim p rovided an overview of Fairhop e's buffe r language from the subdivision regu lation s
an d suggested it would be helpful to have a standard buffer width for all critical areas
i ncluding wetlands and gullies . The current language is confusing . Buffer language below
for review . Hunter and Michelle are con si dering language rev is io ns for the Sub Regs and
environmenta l ordinances, incl uding Wetland Ordinance.
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FEAB October 14, 2022 , Minutes
4.
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Figure l City of Fairhope Subdivision Regu lations (2022)
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FEAB October 14, 2022 , Minutes
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FEAB Octobe r 14, 2022 , Minutes
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Figure 3 City of Fairhope Subdivision Regulation s 2022
FEAB subcommittee on greenspace:
Darrel and Katie (Bike Ped Committee) are working on greenspace regulation review.
They are in conversation but have not formerly met yet. Amy suggested main objective
of the meeting be to look for compatible areas for moun tain bike trails within the city of
Fairhope . Airport authority has a lot of undeveloped property per Ben . Jessica said there
may be restricted use s on airport property.
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FEAB October 14, 2022, Minutes
Energy Efficiency
Anna Keene spoke about upcoming grant opportunities for energy assessments and
upgrades . Building Code s offeri ng "stretc h codes" is one application, offering incentives
to builders who voluntarily elect for more stringent standards . There are other
municipalities in the SE who are offering "stretch code " incentives . There also may be
grant money for public utility projects targeting low income areas for green energy/
energy efficiency improvements.
Jim stated Babcock Ranch is a very large home development NE of Ft. Myers . It was
barely damaged by Hurricane Ian . It would be very i nstructive to get a copy of their
building codes to learn how they achieved such a high degree of resilience .
Neighborhood-Design-Guidelines-Revised--2821 (civicplus.com)
Babcock Ranch , FL : Q&A Discovery Center Ph .#: 941 235-6900
Meeting adjourned at 4 p .m .
Next meeting is Thursday, November 10th @ 3:00 p .m . @ Public Uti liti es Conference
room . **November's meeting date is on a Thursday because of upcoming holiday
November 11th (Veteran 's Day, city facilities will be closed)
FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION:
Chairman :
Gary Gover
Co-Chair :
Amy Paulson
Members :
Ben Frater
Jim Horn er
Nige l Temple
Jennifer Foutch
Rick Speight
Darrel Williams
Nicole Love
CITY CONTACTS:
govers@bel I south . net
amy .paulson@yahoo .com
ben .frater@gmail.com
none
757nigel@gmail.com
Foutch .jennifer@gmail .com
rspeight@game7publishing .com
da rrel@southa la bama la ndtrust. org
nlove@thompsonengineering .com
(251) 990-8662
(251) 654-7401
(404) 314-8815
(251) 928-9722
(757) 803 -3589
(618) 318-0354
(828) 551 -3966
Corey Martin, City Council corey.martin@fairhopeal.gov
Kim Burmeister, Plan ning and Zon ing Departm ent kim .burmeister@fairhopeal.gov
Christina LeJeune , Planning and Zoning Department christina .lejeune@fairhopeal.gov
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