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Home My WebLink About09-09-2022 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting MInutesFEAB August 12, 2 022 , Minutes FEAB MEETING MINUTES August 12, 2022 3:00 p.m. in the Library Board Room, 501 Fairhope Ave Member Attendees: Gary Gover, Jim Horner, Jenn ifer Foutch , Ben Frater, Amy Paulson, Darrel Williams, Nigel Temple, Rick Speight, Nicole Love Members not in attendance : None City of Fairhope: Christina LeJeu ne -Planning and Zoning Department City Council: None Honored Guests : Katy Bolton (Fairhope bike and ped committee) Minutes taken by : Christina LeJeune Amy ca ll ed the meeting to order at 3 :00 p.m . Summary of meetin g : 1 . FEAB celebrated the success of the litter gitter being approved by the ci ty. 2 . Guest speaker Darrel Williams gave FEAB the latest updates from SALT and current projects that are now underway. 3 . Discussion on native plants and the importance of educating others . 4 . Moving forward with the Community Resiliency index. 5. Certification for Clean Marina status. Page 1 FEAB August 12, 2022 , Minutes Page 12 AGI.NDAj THE CITY or FAIRHOPE £.i'(VIRONMENT.-\L ADvlSORY BOARD M O'.\"THL y MUTI.';G AUGUST 11 2021 /3-4 PM,LDIR.-\RV U PSTAIRS 1. Houseke<!ping (-5 min) a. Acceptance of prior meeting minutes -Cristina b . Membership -Kicole Lon c. Celebrate succ.esses: Resolution . That t}re City of Fairhope has voted to procure Litter Booms and Tactical Cleanups for the Plan.niJtgand Zoning Departmentfrom Osprey Initiative as Sole Source Distributor; and authorr.es procurement based on the option allowed by the Code of Alabama 1975 , Section 41.16-51(13). n1e total annual cost not. to.exceed $2 7,000.00 for Winn Dtxie Pond d . Communication -proposal to s end agenda to Lisa Hanks beginning of la st week of each month (?) to be published by City and thus communic ated to residents. Include descriptiv e summary $tatement of FEAB roles and priorities. 2 . Guest Speaker (-10 min) a. SAL Ts project updates, including backyard habitats and planting nati\·e-Darrel 3. Old Acti.on Item$ (-20 mins) a . J\11ayor )..feeting / use of Resolutions, Green~ace, CRI -A.my b. Community Resiliency Index -Nicole c . L and Use -Ben d . Resolutions ).fatrix -Amy / Corey e. Committees Partnerships : introduction to oth.ei-city committees to discuss mutual priorities and opportunities to partne1". i . Bike & Ped Committee: 7/5/22, 4-5 , F airhope Library-Gary / Amy 11. Harbor B oard: 7/13/22, 4 :30, l\fayor's Conf=ce R oom -Rick / Nicole / Gary / Jim iii. Recreation Bo ard: 7/20/22, 5 : 15, the Rec Center -Ben / Gary i\·. Should we also attend: Recycling Committee I Historic Preservation Co.mm.itte<!? f. City Council Meeting Rotation -not working out? 4. POC Status Report on FE.AJ3 Focus Issues (-5 min) LIMITED DISCUSSION -P ASS IF NO "NEWS TO SHARE a_ City Council Meeting Rotation -SEE ATTACHMENT I report out b. F airhope City Council-Jennifer / Corey c. F airhope J\11ayo r ' s Office -Amy / Gary d . Fairhope City Departments -Kim / Christina e. Baldwin County Em·ironmental Advisory Commilte<! and EAC sub-committee!: (wetlands and neighborhoods)-Kim f. Community Resiliency Index -Nicole g. Dyas Triangle -Ben h . Fairhope \ ·et1ands Protection -igel i. City goal to write w etland ordinance requirements into rubdi\·isi on regulations. i. Eastern Sh ore W atershed Management Plan and Hotspot identification-Kim / "Nicole j . Fairhope Comprehensi ·e LUP -Ben k. Recycling -J ennifei- i. Litte1" ~update -FUNDED . ii. Dumpster Guy iii. MERF update . Baldw in County I. Clean Marina Project -Rick, Jim Gary, Nicole m.. Committee Reorganization -Corey FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Page \ 3 5 . New Bu5iness / Other Interests(< 10 min) LThUTED DISCUSSION~ PASS IF NO NEWS TO SHARE a. Bike and Pedestrian Committee -Gary I Jigel 1. Guest from the Fairhope bike and ped committee -Katie Bolton 11. D.ffiA Mountain Bike Study and Greenspace -Amy / Gary / Jim 111. Single Ta.,;: Policy for FW1ding Projects to .!>.1ake Fairhope a More U topian Community -Gary b . Stormv..-ater -Jim / Rick / Kirn c. l'vficroplastics B RIEF INTRO -Kirn / Amy I Gary i. Comideration for an Earth Day 2023 / local outreach project? ii. Should Kirn engage FHS Env ironmental C lub to attend a FEAB meeting to strategize an Earth Day 2023 initiative project? d . Sustainable Community Initiati ·e5-Gary 1. School B uses -Gary l. $500 million in Federal funding to replace diesel school buses w ith electric and !ow-emission . 2 . Recommended to Baldw in County Public Schools Superintendent and our district member of the School Board (Cecil'?) 11. Energy Conserv ation Initiati\·es (climate change action) l. Solar panel roadblocb iii. Altemati\·e pa\·ements (streets, sidewalks, bike paths) n-. L iY ing Shorelines -Gary 1. Engage Master Gardeners or SALT" 6 . Inv oh·ement Opportunities -Kirn / Gary(< 5) a . ACF Green Coast Council i. Inv ite ~fark ~ to s peak at an upcoming FEAB meeting? ii. Does FEAB think COF or ~ or Fairhope Public Utilities should j oin, pass a motion of s upport b . MBNNEP Bay s and Bay ous Sympos ium, 2 023 i . January 24-25 , 2023 . i i. Theme : Finding Balance: Ecology, Economy , and Community . Tabled Until Further N otice a. Ben to arrange onsi1e fi eld trip w ith FEAB, May or, City Council at Dyas to discuss use of property. (Imi te Bike and Ped, auburn extension.)-to occur in October. b . Ben / Amy to follow up \\oith Pat White I Recreation Dept. for park planning (Colony, Dyas)? -tabled witil qfter rec meeting. c. Organize special discussion v.-ith Eric Cortinas re: w etland charette details and planning - Nigel? (See ~pecial wetlands collaboration project from Baldwin County Coalition of E.AB s) d . City W ebs ite: review for adequacy/update for wetlands and other outreach materials- icole and D arrel -confirm this is shelved for now? 8. Wrap up (< 5min) a. New action items -rev iew/lisl b . Sept meeting location -library or P W? c . Next Month's meeting topics : i. Highschool representative on FEAB -Kirn I Amy ii. l'vficrop lastics -Kirn d . Adj ourn FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Celebrate Success for Litter Gitter: Resolution -That the City of Fairhope has voted to procure Litter Booms and Tactical Cleanups for the Planning and Zoning Department from Osprey Initiative as sole source distributor. Gary asked who the project manager over the litter gitter would be and mentioned Kim as the go to person. FEAB could assist with a presentation on how to approach the project and provide information on the findings . Amy said FEAB could encourage the city to initiate a comprehensive study of the litter gitter and its relation to storm water pollution concerns for the watersheds in the city. Wetland Charette: Amy advised the Wetland Charette planning with Er i k Cortinas be put on hold for a while . She and Gary are meeting w ith Baldwin County Environmental Advisory Comm ittee to try and collaborate on a common language . Ji m advised that Hunter and Michelle have taken charge and suggested FEAB move ahead w ith the wetland , red soil , and clay Ordinance revisions . He expressed that FEAB deserves a seat at the table and should be a part of the dialogue for the Wetland Ordinances. Communication for Agenda: Amy proposed FEAB send an agenda to Lisa Hanks to be published by the city and communicate to residents . This would include a descriptive summary statement of FEAB roles and priorities . Gary mentioned getting th is to Lisa the beginning of the last week of each month . Jennifer suggested keeping the agenda short and condensed. SALT project updates: Darrel said SALT has current projects in Pole Cat Creek/Fish River and the Mary parcel/Tide swamp in Fairhope. They will be working to conserve several hundred acres to protect corridors and are continuously looking for other parcels of land . Landowners can do a conservation easement and receive a sales tax reduction . SALT is encouraging citizens to plant native species in your back yard to help the need for connectivity and not reduce biodiversity. SALT would also like to reach out and help educate local n urseries on the importance of native species . Page \ 4 FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Gary said the tree committee puts together Arbor Day and he asked Darrel if he could reach out to them and give advice on having native species available to hand out. Ben used Kno ll Park as an examp le of being restored and having rare nat ive species planted. T he butterfly garden on S. M obile Street also has native plants . FEAB cou ld help highlight city properties. Nicole shared that native species were also p lanted at the Hatch property (old K-1 Center) and the Pe l icans nest scie nce lab . Katy sai d Mayor had mentioned having QR codes to scan for learning purposes for any future nature trails in the Dyas Tria ng le property. Katy agreed it would be a great learni ng opport unity. Land use: Amy said the city needs to acquire additional par k land to conserve and use for preserv at ion purposes. It was noted that Fa irhope single ta x owns a large portion of land . Gary sta t ed t he city doe sn't wan t land unles s it has immediate use . It is a burden on public works to maintain . Nicole sai d a Steering committee would be good idea to address comprehens ive land use connectivity for the Dya s Triangle property. Darrel would like to wor k with and include the Bike and Ped Committee . Katy suggested it would be great for all boards to share common resol utions and goa ls for the triangle property. She also mentioned connecting all green spaces and being able to include the gu lli es . Easements co uld also be used to bui ld trails . Christina advised t h at some of the Gull ies in Fairhope are privately owned . Community Resilience Index: Amy and N icole recently met with Mayor to discus s community re si liency and use of resolutio ns for green spaces . It was noted Ni cole did a great job presenting to the Council and Mayo r . Mayor wa s unsure of supporting until Nicole exp lain ed starting out with th e community rating system that would be free for the city to use. Th e latest update from Hurricane Sally shows the city has already done a lot of CRI . The Counci l has agreed for Mayor to initiate the process . Gary shared an incentive to having the CRI in place is a reduction in the cost of flood insurance. Page \ 5 FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Nicole said the city needs to get the community on a voting system. It was noted Erik mentioned utilizing staff to help . Ben reported he has yet to hear any updates on the land use plan . Jim would like to work with the mayor on preserving additional properties. Resolution Matrix: Amy suggested a resolution matrix initiative to reach out to the other boards such as the Bike & Ped Committee, Harbor Board , and Recreation Board. She suggested partnership introductions to other city comm ittees to discuss mutual priorities and opportunities to partner. Clean Marina Project: Nicole shared that the Fairhope Dock s marina ha s a few items to be checked off the list before moving forward with ce rtificat ion. The estimated time frame is 3 months . As of now electrical work is the biggest hold up due to the city having to wait for the contractor. Advantages of being certified are you must fo ll ow specific rules and meet certai n requirements that can't be changed once being designated a c lean marina. Micro plastics : Amy sa id Kim mentioned microplastics as a possible theme for Earth Day 2023 or eve n as an outreach project. Should Kim engage FHS Environmental Club to attend a FEAB meeting to strategize an Earth Day 2023 initiative project? Sustainable Community Initiatives: Gary shared there is $500 million in Federal funding to rep lace diesel school buses with electric and low-emission buses. It has been recommended to Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent and our district member of the sc hool board (Cecil Christenberry?). Page \ 6 FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Meeting adjourned at 4 p .m . Ne xt meeting is Friday, September 9 th @ 3:00 p .m. @ Public Utilities Conference room FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION: Chairman: Gary Gover Co -Chair: Amy Paulson Members : Ben Frater Jim Horner Nige l Temple Jennifer Foutch Rick Speight Darrel Williams Nico le Love CITY CONTACTS: Corey Martin, City Council govers@bellsouth.net amy .paulson@yahoo .com ben .frater@gmail .com none 757nigel@gmail.com Foutch.jennifer@gma i l.com rspeight@game7publi shing .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@fairhopeal.gov Kim Burmeister, Planning and Zoning Department ki m .burmeister@fairhopeal.gov Chr istina LeJeune , Planning and Zoning Department christina .lejeune@fairhopeal.gov Page \ 7