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Home My WebLink About12-11-2020 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes... FEAB MEETING MINUTES 12/11/2020 3:00 p.m. Fairhope Civic Center Delchamps Room, Fairhope, AL Member Attendees: Gary Gover, Ben Frater, Jim Horner, Mike Shelton, Amy Paulson Members not in attendance : Jeanine Normand (warranted absence); Tony Pritchett (unwarranted absence) City of Fairhope: Kim Burme ister, Christina LeJeune (Planning and Zoning Department) City Council : Corey Martin Honored Guests: Michelle Melton -FEAB member candidate ; Nigel Temple-FEAB member candidate; and Suzanne Sweetser (Thompson Engineering). Minutes taken by: Kim Burmeister Gary called the meeting to order at 3 :05 p.m. FEAB MINUTES: Mike opened the motion for September 2020 and October 2020 minutes to be accepted as is ; Jim seconded the motion . Minutes were accepted as is. There were no minutes to consider for November as there was no quorum . DISCUSSION OF ITEMS: FEAB Membership/By Laws: Currently FEAB has seven members : Jim Horner, Mike Shelton, Gary Gover, Ben Frater, Tony Pritchett, Jeanine Normand and Amy Paulson . According to FEAB by-laws, 9 is the maximum membership allowance . There are two vacancies. City of Fairhope has received three applications for new FEAB members : Michelle Melton, Nigel Temple and Jennifer Foutch. Gary went ove r the resumes/qualifications for each of the candidates . Two were in attendance (Michelle and Nigel). Motion was made to accept the membership of Michelle and Nigel. Jennifer Foutch is encouraged to attend as an honored guest until a vacancy is available on the board . Gary said he would like to revise the by-laws in the future to allow for 10 members i nstead of 9 . Amy made a motion to accept Michelle and Nigel as members . Jim seconded the motion . Board approved unanimously. -FEAB DECEMBER 2020 Meeting time: Gary sa id Fri day at 3 p .m . appea rs t o be a bad tim e for most me mbers a nd city employees to atte nd . He asked everyon e t o offer t heir sugge sted time / day of t he week for revision to th e current time (2 nd Fr id ay at 3 p .m .) Absences : Gary mentioned the new by -laws refe r e nce t o attendance . More th an 3 un warranted absences wi l l revoke membersh i p . Gary offe r ed a d efinitio n t o be used as g ui dan ce on warranted v s. u nwarrant ed absenc es: me mber mu st con t act the b o ard w ithin 24 hours for absen ce t o be warranted : Board Member Attendance Policy Purpos e This policy is intended to su ppo rt full con tri buLion of all board members . All board members receive a copy of thi po licy. The policy is reviewed once a year and ma intained in the Board Manua l. The policy has been reviewed and authorized by the board (see signature and date below). Board member.; are expec ted co defend re gu lar mcrt ing times in the ir person al ca lendars, and to avoid sched uling other meet ings dur ing that time , Bo.ml members occas ionally miss a meeting due to ci r- cumsumces beyond their co ntrol such as illness, travel schedules, jury duty, or holidays . The e w ill generally be con si dered "excused'' ab enc:es. In all cases , board membe rs ,ire expected to notify the board of meetings they know they will miss . Occ as io nal anendancc by remote communication for par- tici pation is acceptable, as in the case or emergency or acute illn 51 _ In the event that board members fin d they are una ble 10 participate to the exte nt necessary, they should consider resigning from the board. i\ Boc1rd Att,ndance Problem A board,auendance problem ocC'llrs if the following condition exists in regard to a board member's at- tendance to board meetings: a member has unwarra nted absence from three regu lar board meetings in a twelve-month period. A warranted absence means the member did make contact in the organization before the upcoming meeting to indicate they would he gone fro m the meeting. Missing a meeting without contact a da y or more in advance is unwarranted. A member with unwa rnnted absence from th ree regula r board meet ing s In a twelve -mont h period shall have r $igned their appointment to the board. Secretary Date Kim said that when doing th e minu t es, she will in clude "warranted" or "unwarranted" so t hat absences can b e t r ac ked . FEAB DECEMBER 2020 Gary made a motion for the language above to be used as guidance for warranted /unwarranted absences . Michelle seconded the motion. Board approved the motion unanimously. ACE Program, AL Communities of Excellence: Corey verbalized his support of the ACE program and encouraged FEAB to draft a resolution/motion he can present to City Council. He said the city was des ignated as having completed the program in 2015, but it is now due for recertification to keep the accreditation. Recertification is due every 5 years . Corey said this program, while it does not have environmental components, is a good way for Fairhope to progress towards a more unified comprehensive plan . Community resilience is one standard for the ACE program . He said he will support Fairhope's current certification for this program . Corey said many municipalities carry this accreditation. Target areas for the program would be : Recreation areas, Industrial Parks (airport) and technology parks . He recently participated in the League of Municipalities meeting where this was discussed. Corey said this program will help Fairhope create specific action plans toward strategic planning . He will be happy to endorse the motion if drafted. Ji m said the city Planning and Zoning Department has $600K to put towards creation of the new comp plan. Mike asked if City Planning and Zoning Department or staff should take the lead on this. Corey said ultimately, yes, but he wants to put the motion before Council for immediate consideration and acceptance . Ji m said FEAB needs to make sure Mayor and Council are fully aware of the details of this accreditation. Cory said this can be worked into an upcoming Work Session with Council, possibly January 2021. Cory will discuss with Hunter Simmons, Planning and Zoning Manager, before the Work Session. He en couraged FEAB (Gary?) to reach out to Hunter as well. Gary said he would reach out to Hunter. Ji m made a motion for FEAB to ask City to pursue current accreditation for the ACE program . Ben seconded the motion . Board unanimously accepted the motion. Fly Creek Watershed Management Plan, update Amy introduced Suzanne Sweetser, Thompson Engineering, who discussed t he upcoming Fly Creek Watershed Management Plan . The plan will encompass two sub - watersheds: 1. Fly Creek and 2. Unnamed tributaries to Fly Creek . The area will encompass the Eastern Shore shoreline from Boudreaux's in Daphne to Big Mouth, Pelican Point in Fairhope . Jim said this is a lot more than what Fairhope considers the Fly Creek watershed . Kim said th is study appears to also encompass in addition to the Fly Creek watershed ; Point Clear Creek , Stack Gulley, Tatumville Gulley, Volanta Gulley, Big Mouth Gulley, Rock Creek, Red Gum Campbell Gulley watersheds of Fairhope . FEAB DECEMBER 2020 Wetlands Ordinance Amy said the discussion on the City wetland ordinance will be held over until the City Building Official can attend , since he is the regulator of the ordinance. Kim said Erik may be able to attend in January . Meeting adjourned at 4 :00 p .m. Motions passed: 1. New FEAB Members, Michelle Melton and Nigel Temple 2. FEAB by-laws absence policy language to use as guidance for warranted and unwarranted absences 3. ACE accreditation recertification for City of Fairhope Next meeting is Friday, January 8th , 2021 , 3 p.m . Fairhope Delchamps Room (*subject to change*) FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION: Cha i rman: Gary Gover Members : Jeanine Normand Tony Pritchett Ben Frater Mike Shelton Jim Horner Amy Paulson Nigel Temple Michelle Melton CITY CONTACTS: govers@bellsouth .net drjnormand@aol.com apritchettassoc@gmail .com ben.frater@gmail.com yaupon3@gmail.com none amy .paulson@yahoo .com 757nigel@gmail.com michelleleemeltonlee@gmail.com (251} 990 -8662 (251} 928 -2284 (251) 990 -5185 (404} 314 -8815 (251} 270 -9042 {251) 928 -9722 (251} 654 -7401 (757} 803-3589 (423) 504 -8253 Corey Martin corey .martin@fairhopeal.gov Kim Burmeister, Planning and Zoning Department ki m.burme ist er @ fai rh o p eal.go v Christina LeJeune , Planning and Zoning Department christina.l e jeun e@ fa irh o p ea l.go v