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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-12-2021 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting MinutesFEAB Novemb er 12 , 2021 M inutes FEAB MEETING MINUTES November 12, 2021 3 p.m. @ Library Board Room Member Attendees : Gary Gover, Jim Horne r, Jennifer Foutch, Amy Paulson , Ben Fra t er, Rick Speight Members not in attenda nce : Michel le Melton, Nigel Temple (excused absences unless Gary says ot herwise ) City of Fairhope : Ki m Burmeiste r -P lanning and Zoning Depart me nt Ci ty Council : Core y M artin Honored Guests : Annette Sanders , 401 North Mobile Street ; Donna Marks, reside nt M in ut es taken by Kim Bu r meister Gary ca ll ed the meeting to orde r at 3 p.m . Summary of meetin g : 1. FEAB wou ld l ike City of Fairhope to invest in the recycling program, including equipment upgrades and consider the possibility of metering garbage. 2. FEAB supports Ospre y Initiative project but would like to consider other locations. 3. FEAB has development concerns over the large subdivisions being approved for development (Harvest Green). 4. FEAB wou l d like subdivision regulations strengthened 5. Resident Ann ette Sanders h as concerns over: a. Deve l opment proj ec t s (Vo /o n to & 98) b . Bluff project at 459 North Mobile Street, and c. preservation of t h e City wooded corridor along North Mobile Street. 6 . Corey would like City to pursue Clean Marina Standards FEAB M inutes/Updates to Board: Amy made a motion to approve FEAB Octobe r minutes, approved unanimously. Rick is offic iall y a FE A B membe r now, as of October 2021 . Agenda : Amy presented an agenda for tod ay's meet i ng : A G END A THE CITY OF FAIRH OPE ENVIRO MENTAL ADV ISORY B OARD M O T HLY MEETING OVEM BER 12 , 2021 FEAB November 12, 2021 Minutes 1. Acceptance of prior meeting minutes 2 . Updates and Old Business a . Motions from last month: Gary 1. Rick Speight -approved? 11. FEAB Stormwater Infrastructure Inventory Resolution -(?Jim Homer) 111. FEAB Community Self-Assessment Resolution - (?Mike Shelton) b . Recycling: Jennifer i. Update from October 25 Council meeting on expiration/renewal of contract with ECUA? c . Stormwater: Jim i . Kim: Mayor requests review of Litter Gitter at Winn Dixie/ ABC stormwater retention pond d. Comprehensive Land Use Plan -Ben / Mike 1. Jim : Zoning, Ordinance, and Subdivision Regulations : Harvest Green subdivision case study: ii. FEAB collective comment letter or Resolution? e. Fairhope City Council: Jennifer f. Baldwin County Environmental Advisory Committee and EAC sub- committee (wetlands and neighborhoods): Kim g. Eastern Shore Watershed Management Plan : Kim h. Bike and Pedestrian Committee: Gary 3 . Postponed until next month (POC is not present at today 's meeting) a. Dyas Triangle: Ben / Michelle i. Natural Resources Inventory -Ben advocate? b . Community Resiliency Index: Mike i. Next steps to engage rescoring / receipt of FEAB Resolution c. Parking Committee: Nigel 4 . New Business Stormwater Infrastructure Inventory Jim: Thinks this item is up for Council funding approval in January 2022. Community Self-Assessment for Resiliency Amy: Thinks this item is on hold until after first of the year. Mike will need to give an update on this at a later meeting . Comprehensive Plan Meetings Corey: Community meetings continue through No vember. Page \ 2 FEAB November 12, 2021 Minutes Recycling: Corey: City Council recently approved contract with ECUA to receive materials, though Public Works can still use other vendors if better source is found . Contract with EC UA is good through 20 23 . If City cons idered se lf-so rting (which m ight provide better sou rce s for ma terial s) then there would have to be a staff increase . Ji m : There is still a possibility for county to bui ld a recycling facility in future, and city could participate . He suggests more outreach on the c ity recycling program . Corey recently received a notice about recycling, when notified about his recycling day change, but other residents at the meeting said they did not. City needs to i mprove communication outreach, including with schools . It is important to have our children involve d as they are the best communicato rs for reaching the parents . Amy: hopes City w il l invest in upgraded recycling equipm ent in the futur e, such as garbage trucks that can weigh garbage . This woul d be a way to m eter garbage and therefore could encourage an increased recycling participa t ion rate. 30% is about a national average for recycling rate, unless recycling is mandated . Recycling can be mandated by metering garbage . Litter Getter/ Osprey Initiative: Mayor would like FEABs thoughts on litter getter type devices. Kim presented a proposal by Don Bate s with Osprey Initiative as one example of how a device could be used in Fairho pe . The proposal mentio ned th e Winn Di xie, aka ABC pond as a prop osed location . Cowpen Creek watershed . The si te is a regional detention area for Hwy. 98 from Fair hope Avenue to Morphy, including three shopping center areas (Baldwin Square, Eastern Shore Shopping Center and Ecor Rouge Shopping Center). Page \ 3 FEAB No v e mb e r 12, 2021 Minutes City of Fairhope 161 orth Section St. Fairhope, AL 36532 Attn : Kim Burm eister Proposa l #P21-026 Subject: Maintenance of the Winn-Dixie Pond Scope of Work -Osprey Initiative (0 prey) will perform two tactical cleanups a month (for a total of24 events) at the Winn-Dixie Pond off Morphy Ave. in Fairhope, AL -Osprey will manufacture and install up lo 300 feel of Litter Boom at strategic locations within the pond to assist with litter collection . -Osprey will maintain these booms in accordance with Osprey's Litter ollection Device Cleanout SOP vi .2. -Any litter or debris collected will be weighed and the Osprey modified ET AP methodology will be utili zed to produce a litter profile over the extent of the project . -This data will be tracked on ET AP field data sheets and recorded in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. The data will be provided to the City of Fairhope on a monthly basis . -All materials collected wi ll be disposed of according to local regulations and applicable materials will be recycled . -Additionally , under the sco pe of services , Osprey will meet with the City of Fairhope at a freq uenc y to be determined to discuss data , field observations and how to utilize this infonnation for education and outreach efforts . Tactical Cleanu ps Inc ludes labor, materials, mileage Litter Booms Includes installation , materials, and ma int enance ~~.~.~ Osprey Ini tiative , LLC \C) Cost Estimate Units Cos t Quantity 12 months $1 ,250 .00 Sub-total $15 ,000.00 300 feet $40 $12 ,000 .00 TotaJ $27,000.00 Figure I Osprey Initial proposal Amy: There may be more optimal location s to collect more tra sh for the cost, such as HWY 13/Colony Park or Bis hop Road bridge s. There is general su pport for the ABC lot as it is wel l-trafficked and could provide educational/o ut reach service as well as have critica l plastic bag and other par kin g lot debris co ll ection value. Kim asked FEAB to email any other location suggestions-be specific. City owned property is preferred . Litter col lection and litter education is one required component of the City Page 14 FEAB November 12, 2021 Minutes MS4 program, so Osprey Initiative could he lp achieve/maintain compliance. High school art class could assist with creati ng attractive signage to have the se lected site serve as an educat iona l outreach area . They previously helped with storm drain medallion artwork. Gary asked if City would own the booms . Kim said Osprey Initiative retains ownership of the litter getter devices and booms . Gary asked Kim to gather information on how the litter getter/ trash collection items could be of economic benefit as well as an environmenta l benefit to the City (specifics on wildlife impacts, etc.). Ben: there is a lot of relati ve information on the Osprey Initiative website, many questions are answered here: https:/ /osprey. wo rld Development Concerns: Harvest Green subdivision : Jim mentioned an upcoming subdivision project, Harvest Green, to be annexed into the City Limits, Fly Creek Watershed. It w ill be north of Hwy. 104 on State Highway 181, next to and across from The Waters . 375 homes are proposed, which means about 700 additional vehicles entering and exiting from this area daily. The subdivis ion has been approved since it met standards includ in g storm water stand ards in the Sub Regs . He sa id City Sub Reg s storm water stan dards need to be tightened up and strengthened. Corey agrees with Jim and would like more dialogue on "Open Space" plans . Our new comprehensive plan will need to match our conservation goa ls. But people/ residents must be on board, not just the city counc il. Rick : has FEAB made past recommendations for zoning changes? Jennifer: Leaders prev iously tried overlays such as Greeno Road Overlay, which was not well received by the community. Overlay districts are one way to strengthen our regulations. Highway 181 corridor for instance needs over lay protection consideration . Memory Care Facility at Volanta and Hwy. 98: Annette Sanders voiced her concerns over development --specifically Volanta Avenue @ 98 (memory care center). The Memory Care Center is an approved project, but she did not know about it until land was cleared 459 North Mobi le Street bluff project: Annette Sanders voiced conce rns over the ongoing North Mobile Street project, which was begun without an approved permit, and was previously under a Stop Work Order from the City. Contractor has now resumed activity, incl uding at and near the Mobile Bay shoreline . City of Fairhope parks property, wooded corridor, intersecting the bluff project was removed by contractor. She would like to know more about enforcement. She/ Donna gave Kim current pictures of the project to share with Erik . Picture s show the damage to wetlands and curre nt activity on site and on the bluff. Page\ 5 FEAB November 12 , 20 21 Mi nutes Kim said Erik Cortinas is the main City contact for th is project. It is her understanding they are not currently under a Stop Work Order from the City and have obtained permits . Howeve r, contractor/property o wn er does have correcti v e act ions pending (wetland cleaning, restorat io n, etc .) and may have pending enforcement action coming . Erik has more specifics . An nette is also co ncerned about protecting w hat's left of t he city woo d ed co r r idor along North Mobi le Street . Kim has concern s as w el l and suggested signage to clearly de li neate City property (sp ec ifi cally "park" pro perty ). Co r ey was not awa r e of the Mobile Bay bl uff property project and c ity park impact but will fol low up with Er ik for more i nformatio n . He said a moratorium o n developme nt may be wa rr a nted soon . Change is inevitab le but we are moving fast. Many of today's projects were approv e d o v e r a year ago . Cl ean Marina Project Corey wo ul d li ke an update o n t h e Clean M ari na Project . He would l i ke City to furt her con sider pursuing t h is certificat io n. Meeting adjourned at 4 p .m . Ne xt meet in g is Fri day, Decembe r 10th @ 3 p .m. @ Libra ry Board Room FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION : Cha i rman: Gary Gover Members : Ben Frater M ik e She lt on Ji m Horner Am y Paul son Nigel Temple M iche ll e M elton Jennifer Foutch Ric k Speight CITY CONTACTS : govers@bellsouth .net ben .frater@gmail .com yaupon3@gmail.com none amy .paulson@yahoo .com 757nigel@gmail.com michelleleemeltonlee@gmail .com Foutch .jennifer@gmail .com rsp8@utaustin85 .com (251) 990 -8662 (404) 3 14-8815 (251) 270-9042 (251) 9 2 8-9722 (251) 65 4-7401 (757) 803 -3589 (423) 504-8 2 53 {618) 318 -0354 (828) 551 -3966 Co rey Martin, City Coun cil corey .martin@fairhopeal.gov Ki m Burme ister, Pl anning and Zoning Departmen t ki m .burmeister@fairhopeal.gov Christ in a LeJeune, Pl anning and Zo ni ng De p artment christina .lejeune@fairhopeal.gov Page 16