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Home My WebLink About01-08-2021 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting MinutesFEAB MEETING MINUTES January 8, 2021 3:00 p.m. Fairhope Civic Center Delchamps Room , Fairhope, AL Member Attendees: Gary Gove r, Be n Fr ater, Jim Horner, Mi ke Shelton , Amy Pauls o n, Nige l Temp le, Mic helle Melton Members not in attendance : Jeanine Norma n d (warranted absence); Tony Pr it c hett (unwa r ranted abse nce #2) City of Fairhope : Ki m Burmeiste r -Pl annin g and Zoning De p art ment; Erik Cortinas, Buildin g Offi cia l/B uil ding Depart me nt City Council : No ne Honored Guests : Jenn ifer Foutch , Baldwin County Board of Realtors; Jim Wat kins , Fa i rhope Times M inutes taken by : Ki m Burmeist er/ Mike Sh e lton/ Amy Paul son Gary ca ll ed t he meeting to order at 3 :0 5 p .m . FEAB MINUTES : December minutes were approved with o ne change : Reference to To ny Pr itchett's absence from the December meeti ng : "not warranted " was change d t o "unwarra nted " per Ga ry. DISCUSSION OF ITEMS : FEAB Attendance/ membership : Ga ry said th at Tony appears to have self-res igne d sin ce he has had unwarranted absences . Ki m w i l l check and see if h e has missed t h ree unwarr anted absences . She is und er the im p ression he has two unwa r ranted abse nces (December 2020 and January 20 21) si nce the new by -l aws went in effect October 12 , 2020 . The r e was no q uorum in November. Jim suggested Gary co ntact Tony so To ny is aware . Gary introd uced a pote nt ia l new m ember candida t e, if t he r e is a future vaca n cy : Jenni f er Fo utch . FEAB By-Laws : Gary propo sed new language for t he FEAB by-laws whic h addresses number of FE AB membe rs -increase to eleven-and all ows time of meeti ng t o be cha nged as FEA B sees fit . Am y noted t ha t th is change w ou ld cha nge quorum from five to six in attendance . M i ke , Am y and Nige l l ike the cu r re nt t im e of t he meeting (3 p.m . o n Fri day). Jim l ikes the idea of n ot sett ing t he time in t h e by -la w s. Al l agreed to w ait on req uesting new me mb er FEAB JANUARY 2021 increase until after qual ified and reliable people to fill the new slots have been id entified / recruited (to avoid quorum iss ues). By -l aws draft amendment was propo sed as a motion by Gary : Jim seco nded the motion and the draft language was approved to be presented to council/ Corey Martin. DRAFT DRAFT ORDlNANCE NO._ AN ORDINANCE AMEND! G ORDINA CE 0 . 1689, THE BYL W OFTHE FAI RHOPE E VIRO ME.NTALADVJSORY BOARD AS FOLLOWS : ART! LE II. MEMBERSHIP, Seclion 2. The board will con i t of eleven (ll) members . Mem bers may be nom inated by the mayor, city council or by olher member . Members will be appointed by the city council. A member with unwarranted absence from three (3) regular meetings shall have r lgned lhcir appointment. ARTICLE Ill. OFFI ERS A D M £TINGS , Section 4. Monthly mttdngs will bt held at a time detennlnN:1 by the Board as necessary to provide for regularity and greate51 partici pation by th e members. Other special meet ings may be called as needed. Effective Date -This Amendment hall take effect immediately upon its du adoption and publication as req uired by law. ADOPTED THIS _ DAY OF ___ . 2021 ATrEST: Lisa Hanks , MMC City Jerk ADOPT DTHIS _DAYOF ___ .. 2021 Figure 1 By --Law amendment, draft Motions: Jack Burrell, Council President Sherry Sullivan, Mayor 1 . By-Jaws amendment increasing membership to 11 (TABLED) and changing time to allow for time changes without council approval {PASSED) FEAB JANUARY 2021 Wetlands Ordinance Erik Cortinas, City of Fairhope Building Official , said he is organizing a one to two-hour charrette with City staff and stake hold ers for Wetland Ordinance review . He prefers to wait until a non -Z oom meeting can be organized. He is unsure if this will be a public meeting or a precurso r to a future public meet ing . He is hoping to clear up and/or amend some of the gray areas within the ord ina nce . Current gray areas within the ordinance includ e but are not lim ited to jurisdict iona l versus non-jurisdictional wetland s which have impact ed the protection of Grady pond s; some Grady ponds are being improved to be used as drainage areas; also lo gging activity is currently exempt to some extent within the current Wetland Ordi nance . Erik noted that the City of Fai rho pe's wetland ordinance is stricter than the Corp of Engineers and most other municipalities. Gena Todia, Wetland Consu ltants, is usua lly called on as a third -party consultant for expert advice on wetland impacts and permitting . Kim said most Grady pond s are isolated wetland s, sometimes non-jurisdict ional , and therefore exempt from some wetland permitting requirements . Amy mentioned the recent fill of a Grady pond on CR 13 at Manley Road . Erik sai d the property owner followed all wetland permitting procedures, including offsite miti gation credits, in order to fill this property. Amy asked Erik how FEAB can help him with enforcemen t . Erik encouraged FEABs involvement in the upcoming charrette and welco mes their advi ce. Erik will ma ke sure FEAB is notified when a time and date is set. State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP} Discussion (per Amy) Amy discussed this program. The SCORP is a national program that serves as a guide for all public outdoor recreation in urban and rural neighborhoods, cities, and regions for a given state. Each state must prepare a SCORP every 5 years to be eligible for funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was established by Congress in 1964 to fulfill a bipartisan commitment to safeguard our natural areas, water resources, and cultural heritage, and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans. The Alabama SCORP planning is led by Universi ty of AL (Brian Rushing). They have already designated 1,100 participants to be in their research panel, which includes Baldwin County an d its municipalities. On Dec 18, 2020, they sent a Facility Inventory questionnaire and o pinion survey to these participants. The Opinion Survey is due 1/25, and the Inventory is due 3/26. Amy recommended that the FEAB figure out who are the local SCORP participants and help encourage them to take this engagement seriously and respond to the surveys in a timely manner. Money could come to our area to enhance public greenspace development (Dyas Triangle, other walking/biking/jogging trails, etc.) or other recreation facilities. In particular, Amy recommended that Fairhope needs to consider not just water recreation access, but a variety of recreation options that serve all residents and is commensurate with growth projections. In this way, the SCORP can tie into the Land Use Plan and Watershed Plan for recreation and greenspace planning and development des i gnations. FEAB JANUARY 2021 Kim recommended Pat White, Recreation Director for the city and would likely have an inventory of all parks/may be the POC for the SCORP due-outs. Kim noted the city "Par ks Brochure" drafted by FEAB 10+ year s ago as a good starting point for the inventory. Parks Brochure does not include the Dyas Triangle property. https ://www . fa i rho pea I .gov /h o m e/s howpu b l ished docume nt ?id =6408 ACTION ITEM : Amy will contact Jessica Walker and Pat White to determine who are the respondents for the 2021 AL SCORP review. 2021 Priorities Discussion (per Amy) Amy recommended that the FEAB select and focus on a handful of priorities in 2021, organizing our agenda, actions, labor, and discussions around making real progress on these select initiatives. To begin the discussion, Amy recommended each member consider the following issues: 1. Meaningful participation in ongoing City planning efforts, including designating FEAB liaison to participate in/report on the following 4 Plans: a. Climate Action Plan b. Watershed Management Plan c. Land Use Plan d. Alabama Community of Excellence (ACE} designation 2. City of Fairhope Wetlands Ordinance enforcement -already underway; Erik Cortinas intends to facilitate a public information charrette later th is spring and will request FEAB involvement 3. Dyas Triangle action (see follow-on discussion notes, below) 4. Rescoring of Community Resilience Index (CR!} ACTION ITEM : Amy will prepare slides for the FEAB to discuss at the next meeting and ultimately present to the Mayor to introduce her to our Board. The slides will unify/organize us around the following elements : mission, vision, and 2021 priorities, including issue background, proposed outcome, action items, POC/issue lead. Dyas Triangle Property: Amy recalled that at the Dyas meeting in Feb. 2020, Mayor Wilson stated that the Triangle at Highway 104 & Vete ran 's Drive had been officia lly designated as "park" lands . A parks designation perpetually d es ignate s it for park use, whereas it cannot be so ld or re-desig nated without due process . Mike sa id if this is true than the city would not need to pursue putting thi s property into a conservation easement, which does the same thing. FEAB would like to have a copy of natural resource inventory conducted by Gena Todia as a Triangle Conservative initiative . FEAB JANUARY 2021 ACTION ITEM: Amy to forward to Michelle all the documents and research she compiled last year when she wrote the Resolution. ACTION ITEM : Michelle will look up I confirm the deed and designation info for the land. Michelle will also contact the Dyas Triangle Conservancy; objectives of the call are: 1) touch base with them on any progress or current initiatives/involvement, etc. 2) extend "informal" invitation to our meeting next month/or future month where we hope to continue a discussion of next steps, 3} please request the most recent Todia Inventory/Natural Resources Survey, and maybe 4) let them know we are designating REAL MOVEMENT on this issue as one of our priorities for 2021 (-Ben urged caution here, though as they are intertwined in some of the subject baggage and we don't want to appear necessarily as partners as we go forward with the City, Minutes taken from Mike Shelton, after 4 p.m.: 1) EAB members discussed at length past and present aspects of conservation of the Dyas Triangle (Triangle) and the need for gathering additional information. Melton stated the need for the Council to officially designate the Triangle as a park thereby designating a use that is not easily re-designated for some other use . Members discussed the need to acquire plans and studies from both the City and from the Triangle Conservancy . Discussion continued regarding the need to involve the public in the decision -maki ng process and to explore existing proposals like longleaf pine restoration and mountain bike trails. Members expressed the need to hear more from the Triangle Conservancy group and the need to have a representative be invited to the February meeting. No official action taken . 2) Gover initiated a discussion about how the EAB could be more effective in its advisory role . a. One item discussed was a joint meeting of some or all members from every City board/committee to learn abou t what each does and how they conduct their advisory roles. Amy ha s s ubmit ted a pro posal to councilman Marti n and Je ss ica Walker outlining the purpose and request for suc h a meeting, both of whom were excited by the idea and said they would take it up with the Mayor in early 2021. b. The EAB discussed the need to attend other board/committee meetings and have members of other boards/committees attend the EAB meetings. c. Gover expressed the need to have the City seek advice from the EAB on environmental matters which is something that rarely occurs. d. (see discussion above on 2021 priorities): Gover, Horner and others added the need to identify iss ues that can be worked on by the EAB . Item s includ ed the clima te action plan , an energy audit and the Community Resilience Ind ex (C R/). Shelton remin ded the EA B that the instrument had bee n updated. The EAB then talked about capturing the effects of storm like Sally that caused so much urban tree damage and damage caused by fallen urban trees. No official action taken . 3) James Watkins from the Fairhope Times was introduced to the EAB. Jenn ifer Foutch, Baldwin Realtors Association was introduced. FEAB JANUARY 2021 4) EAB members were given assignments . a . Shelton to bring CR/ instrument for review. b. Paulson is preparing some slides for the EAB to discuss at the next meeting and ultimately present to the Mayor to introduce her to our Board. The slides will unify/organize the EAB around the following elements : mission, vision, and 2021 pri orities, including issue background, proposed outcome, action items, Point of Contact (POC} or issue lead. c. (see discussion above on 2021 priorities): Melton assumed the POC for EAB Triangle activity. Melton will look up the deed of Triangle and designation info for the land and contact the Triangle Conservancy. Melton will seek current status and planned activities, inform them of the date of the next EAB meeting, and seek a copy of most recent resource inventory/survey Meeting adjourned after 4 :00 p.m. Next meeting is Friday, February 12 th @ 3 p.m . Fairhope Delchamps Room (*subject to change*) FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION: Chairman: Gary Gover Members: Jeanine Normand Tony Pritchett Ben Frater Mike Shelton Jim Ho rne r Amy Paulson Nigel Temple Michelle Melton CITY CONTACTS: Corey Martin govers@bellsouth .net drjnormand@aol.com apritchettassoc@gmail .com be n . fr ater@gma i I .com yau pon 3@gmai l.com no ne 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) 504-825 3 corey .martin@fairhopeal .gov Kim Burmeister, Pl anning and Zoning Department kim .b u r m e ist er@fairhopea l.gov Christina LeJ eune, Pl anning and Zon ing Department christ in a.lejeune@fairhopea l.gov