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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-12-2022 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting MinutesFEAB August 12, 2022 , 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, Jennifer Foutch, Ben Fra t er, Amy Pau lson, Darrel Williams, Nigel Temple, Rick Speight, Nicole Love Members not in attendance : None City of Fairhope : Ch r istina LeJeu ne -Planning and Zoning Depa rtment City Council : None Honored Guests : Ka t y Bolton (Fairhope bike and ped committee) Minutes taken by : Chri stina LeJeune Amy called the meeting to order at 3 :00 p .m . Summary of meeting : 1. FEAB celebrated the success of the litter gitter being approved by the city. 2. Guest speaker Darrel Wi ll iams gave FEAB the latest updates from SALT and current projects that are no w underway. 3. Discussion on nativ e plants and the importance of educating others . 4. Moving forward with the Community Resiliency index . 5. Certificatio n for Clean Mar ina status. Page 1 FE.A B August 12, 2022, Minutes Page 12 A G E.NDAj rm. CITY Of FAIRHOPE E N\IJRONMENTAL AD\1SORY BOARD M O'.\"THL Y ~lEETL"iC AUGUST ll 2-0lZ / 3-4 PM, LIBR.Un' UPST MRS 1. Housekeeping (-5 min) a . Acceptance of prior meeting minutes -Cristina b . Membership -Nicole Love c . Celebrate successes: Resolution -That the City of Fairhope has voted to procure Litter Booms and T actica/ Cleanups for the Planni11g and Zoning Department from Osprey Initiative as Sole Source Distributor; and authori:ies procureme11t based on the option allowed by the Code of Alabama 19 75, Section 41-16-51 (13). The total annual cost no/- to-exceed $2 7,000.00 for Winn Dtx.ie Pond d . Communication -proposal to send agenda to Lisa Han1cs beginning of last week of each month(?) to be publislled by C ity and thus communicated to residents . Include descriptiv e summary statement ofFEAB roles and priorities. 2 . Guest Speaker (-10 min) a . SAL Ts project u pdates, including backyard llabitats and planting nati\·e-Darrel 3. Old Action Items (-20 mins) a. May or ).foeting / use of Re.solution s, Greenspace, C RI -Amy b. Community Resiliency Index -Nicole c . Land Use -Ben d . Resolutions ).fatrix -Amy / Corey e. Committees Partnersli.ips: introduction to 0th.er city committees to discuss mutual priorities and opportunities to partner. i. Bike & Pe d Committee: 7/5/22, 4 -5, Fairhope Library-Gary / Amy ii. Harbor B oard : 7/13 /22 , 4 :30, :May or 's Conference Room -Rick / Nicole / Gary / Jim Ul. Recreation Board: 7/20/22 , 5:15 , the Rec Center-Ben / Gary i\·. Should we also attend: Recycling Committee / Historic Preservation Committee" f. City Council Meeting Rotation -not working out? 4 . POC Status Report on FEAB Focus Issues (-5 min) LTh.fi TED DISCUSSION -PASS IF N O rE\VS TO SHARE a . City Council Meeting Rotation -SEE ATTACHMENT / report out b . Fairhope City Coun cil -Jennifer / Corey c. Fairhope Mayor's Office -Amy / Gary d . Fairllope City Departments -Kim I Christina e . Baldwin County En viro.nment al Advisory Committee and EAC sub-committees (wetlands and n eighborhoods)-Kim f. Community R esiliency Index -N icole g . D yas Triangle -Ben h . Fairhope Wetlands Protection -Nigel i. City goal to write wetland ordinance requirements into subdivision regulations. i. Eastern Shore \V atershed Management Plan and Hotspot identification-Kim / Nicole j . Fairhope Comprehen siv e LUP -B en k . Recycling -Jennifer i . Litter ~update-FUNDED ! ii. Dumpster Guy iii. MERF update -Bald~ ·in County I. Clean Marina Project -Rick, Jim Gary, Nicole m. Committee Reorganization -Corey rEAB August 12 , 2022 , Minutes Page 13 5. N ew Business / Other Interests (< 10 min) LTh.fITED DISCUSSION -P ASS IF NO )l.'"E W S TO SHARE a . B ike and Pedestrian Committ ee -Gary / Nigel 1. Gues t from the F airhope bike and ped committee - K atie B olton ii. Thffi A Mountain B ike Study and Greenspace -Amy / Gary / Jim ii i. Single Tax Policy for Funding P rojects to :Make Fairho pe a Mor e Utopian Community -G ary b . Sto rmwater -Jim I Ric k / Kim c . IV!icroplastics B RIEF INTRO -Kim / Amy / Gary i. Comid eration for an Earth Day 2023 / l ocal outreach project? ii. Sho ul d Kim engag e FHS En v ironmental Clu b to a ttend a FEAB meeting t o strategize an Earth Day 2023 initiativ e projec t ? d . Sustainable Community Initiativ e s-Gary i . School B u ses -Gary 1. $500 million in Federal funding to replac e diesel schoo l b us es with electric and Jow-emj:;$jon. 2. Recommended to B aldwin County Public Schools Superintendent and o ur d istrict member o f the School Board (C ecil'.') 11. Energy Cons en-ation Initiati,·es (climate change ac tion) 1. Solar panel roadblocks m . Alternati\"e pa,·ements (m eets, sidew alks, bike paths) I\". L i,·ing Sh orelines -G ary 1. Engage Master Gardeners or SALT" 6 . Inv oh-ement Opportunities -Kim I Gary(< 5) a . A CF Green Coast Council i. Inv ite Mark ~ to s peak at an upc oming FEAB meeting" ii. Does FEAB think C OF or ~ or Fairhope Public U tilities should join, p ass a m otion o f support b . MBNNEP Bays and Bay o u s Symposium, 2023 i. J anuary 24-25 , 202 3. ii. Theme : Finding Balance: Ecology, Economy , and Community. Tabled Until Further l >lotice a. Ben to arrange onsit e field tri p w ith FE.AB , 11ayor, C ity C ounc il at Dyas to d iscus s use of property. (In,·ite B ike and Ped, a u burn e xtens io n .)-to occur in Oc to ber . b . Ben / _A,m y t o follow up w ith Pat White / R ec reation D ept . for p ark planning (C olony, Dyas)? -tabled until qfter rec meeting. c . O rganize speci al discussion with Eric Cortinas re: wetland c harette d etails and planning - N igel? (S ee s pecial w etlands collaboration proj e ct from B aldw in C ounty Coalition o f EAB s) d . City W ebsite : r eview fo r adequacy /u pdate. for w etlands and other outreach materials - Nicole and Darrel-confirm tl1is is sheli:edfor now ? 8 . W rap up (< 5min) a.. N ew actio n items -review/list b . Sept m eeting location -library o r P W? c . ext M onth's meeting to pics : i . H ig h school representa tiv e on F EAB -Kim I Amy ii. IV!i croplastics -K im d . Adj ourn re.AB 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 sa id FEAB co uld encourage the city to initiate a comprehe nsiv e st ud y 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 Erik Cortinas be put on hold for a while . She and Gary are meeting with Baldwin County Env i ronmental Advisory Committee to try and collaborate on a common language. Jim advised that Hunter and Mic hell e have taken charge and suggested FEAB move ahead with the wetland , red soil, and clay Ordinance revis ions. He expressed that FEAB deserves a sea t at t he table and should be a part of the dialogue for t he Wetland Ordinances. Communication for Agenda : Amy proposed FEAB send an age nda to Lisa Hanks to be published by the city and commu ni ca t e to residents . This would inc lud e a descripti ve sum mary statement of FEAB roles and prior ities . Gary ment ioned gett in g this to Lisa the beginning of the last week of each month . Jennifer suggested keeping the agenda sho rt and condensed. SALT project updates : Darrel said SALT ha s current proj ects in Pole Cat Creek/Fish River and the Mary parcel/Tide swam p in Fairhope . They wi ll be working to conserve several hundred acres to protect corridors and are continuously look in g for other parcels of land . Landowners can do a conservati on easement and receive a sales tax red uction. SALT is encouragi ng citizens to plant native species in your back yard to he lp t he ne ed for connectivity and not reduce biodiversity. SALT wo uld also like t o reach out and he l p ed u cate local nurseries on the importance of native species . Page \ 4 FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Gary said the tree comm ittee 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 Knoll Park as an examp le of be i ng restored and ha v ing rare native species planted . The butterfly garden on S. Mobi le Street also has native p lants . FEAB could help highlight city properties . Nicole shared that native species we r e also p lanted at the Hatch property (old K-1 Center) and the Pe li cans nest sci ence lab . Katy said Mayor had mentione d having QR codes to scan for learn in g purposes for any future nature trails in the Dyas Tria ngle property. Katy agreed it wou ld be a great learning opportun ity . Land use: Amy said the c ity needs to acqu ire additiona l park land to conserve and use for preservation purposes . It was noted that Fairhope single tax own s a large portion of land. Gary stated the city doesn't want land unless it has imme diate use. It is a burden on public works to maintain. Nicole said a Steer i ng committee would be good idea to address comprehensive land use connectivity for the Dyas Triangle property. Darrel would like to work with and include the Bike and Ped Committee . Katy suggested it would be great for all boards to share common resolutions and goals for the triang le property. She also mentioned connecting all green spaces and being able to include the gullies. Easements cou ld also be used to bui ld trails . Christina advised that some of the Gullies in Fairhope are privately owned. Comm unity Re silien ce Index: Amy and Nicole recently met with Mayor to discu ss community resiliency and use of resolutions for green spaces. It was noted Nicole did a great job presenting to the Council and Mayor. Mayo r w as unsure of su pporting until Nicole exp lained starting out with the community rating system that would be free for the city to use . The latest update from Hurricane Sally shows the city has already done a lot of CRI . The Council 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 I f l ' rE.A.B August 12, 2022, Minutes Nicole said the city needs to get the community on a voting system . It was noted Erik mentio ned 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 committees to discuss mutual priorities and opportun it ies to partner. Clean Marina Project: Nicole shared that the Fairhope Docks marina has a few items to be checked off the list before moving forward with certification . 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 follow specific rules and meet certain requirements that can 't be changed once being designated a clean marina . Microplastics: Amy said Kim mentioned microplastics as a possible theme for Earth Day 2023 or even as an outreach project. Should Kim engage FHS Environmental Club to attend a FEAB meeting to strategize an Earth Day 2023 ini tiative project? Sustainable Community Initiatives: Gary shared there is $500 million in Federal funding to replace 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 school board (Cecil Christenberry?). Page \ 6 .. ' .. FEAB August 12, 2022, Minutes Meeting adjourned at 4 p .m . Next meeting is Friday, September 9th @ 3 :00 p.m . @ Pub li c Utilities Conference room FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION: Chairman : Gary Gover Co -Chair: Amy Paulson Members: Ben Frater Jim Horner Nige l Temple Jennifer Foutch Rick Spe ight Darrel Williams Nicole Love CITY CONTACTS: govers@bellsouth .net amy.paulson@yahoo .com ben.frater@gmail .com none 757nigel@gmail.com Foutch .jennifer@gma i l .com rspeight@game7publishing.com da rrel@southa la bamala ndtrust.org nlove@thompsoneng i neering.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, Planning and Zoning Department kim.burmeister@fairhopeal.gov Christina LeJeune , Plann i ng and Zoning Department christina .lejeune@fa i rhopeal.gov Page 17