10/29/2008
BROWNFIELDS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES
CITY OF CLEARWATER
October 29, 2008
Present: Joyce Gibbs Chair
Ryley Hunter Board Member
David Jaye Board Member
Jamie Andrian Blackstone Board Member
Patrick O’Neil Board Member
Sioux Hart Board Member
Arthonia Godwin Board Member
Absent: Wallace Smith Board Member
Phyllis Franklin Board Member
Also Present: Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney
Diane Hufford Economic Development Coordinator
Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter
The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall, followed by a moment of
silence and the Pledge of Allegiance.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not
necessarily discussed in that order.
3 – Action Items
a) Introduction of new members – Arthonia Godwin, Godwin Upholstering and Interiors
b) Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting - October 3, 2007
Member Hunter moved to approve the minutes of the regular Brownfields Advisory
Board meeting of October 3, 2007, as submitted in written summation to each board member.
The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
4 – Introduction of Barbara Caprita & Matt Robbins, Region 4 EPA
Region 4 EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) representatives Barbara Caprita and
Matt Robbins discussed Clearwater’s Brownfield efforts.
5 – Presentation
:
Miles Ballogg of TBE Group and Suzi Ruhl, Senior Attorney and Director of Public
Health & Law Center, Environmental Law Institute, District of Columbia reviewed the September
17, 2008, Public Health Monitoring Workshop at the Main Library. They provided a PowerPoint
presentation that discussed a description and features of Brownfields.
Clearwater’s Brownfields area, the first State designated Brownfields Area, includes
7,000 properties on 1,842 acres that extend over the North Greenwood Community, Gateway
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area, Downtown/CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) area, and south Clearwater
communities. The area has many low income and minority residents. This 244 regulatory listed
sites include abandoned gasoline stations, 100 petroleum contaminated sites, junkyards,
vehicle lots, dry cleaners, and landfills. Since 1997, the City has received $2,621,000 in EPA
grant funding.
The Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund supports cleanup and removal of
contamination. Environmental Technician job training providers receive $200,000 annually.
The program provides health and safety training for residents within Brownfields Areas. The
EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant supports Public Health. Grant funds can be used to
inventory/identify/assess and for cleanup planning within communities and provides assessment
and cleanup planning to support the development of health care facilities. Ten percent of the
grant can be used for Public Health monitoring. The EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant is to
remove contamination from communities and support health care related redevelopment.
State Brownfields incentives to support Public Health include a Brownfields bonus refund
for each new health care job in a Brownfields Area, a building materials sales tax refund to
encourage affordable and workforce housing alternatives to substandard housing with lead and
asbestos issues, and a VCTC (Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit) for affordable housing, health
care facilities, and eligible solid waste removal costs and targeted site assessments. The VCTC
provides up to 75% tax credit on cleanup for health care facilities in Brownfields area and
cleanup to identify and remove contamination from communities. The Brownfields Loan
Guarantee provides loan guarantees of up to 75% for primary lender’s loan for affordable
housing/health care providers and facilities.
The PowerPoint reviewed Clearwater successes: 1) CNHS housing project of two quality
affordable single-family units followed removal of arsenic and petroleum contamination from the
community. Project provided alternative to substandard housing with potential lead and
asbestos issues and restored fabric of neighborhood; 2) Greenwood/Palmetto Park Apartments
project remodeled 192 units and removed asbestos and lead and provides safe housing
alternatives. A neighborhood renaissance followed; 3) Central Florida Auto Salvage was a
junkyard for more than 40 years in a low income and minority area, its location resulted in
environmental justice and equity issues, and it had potential impacts to Stevenson Creek. Also,
Fire Department emergency response times to the area were too high. Project resulted in
construction of Northwest Fire Station, which improved life safety by improving emergency
response times to underserved community. Project removed environmental blight from
neighborhood and potential contamination sources from adjacent residential community and
Stevenson Creek; and 4) Willa Carson Community Health Resource Center - land needed for
health care provider for underserved community had abandoned gasoline station with out of
state property owner. Environmental issues included 500-gallon waste oil tank, 4,000-gallon
gasoline UST, 2,000-gallon gasoline UST, 500-gallon kerosene UST, hydraulic lift, oil-water
separator, and 450 tons of contaminated soil. The project, a vision of Willa Carson, removed
contamination and blight from low-income, minority community, provides free health care to
underserved community for more than 4,000 uninsured annually, and resulted in a national
Brownfields to Public Health model.
Brownfields redevelopment and community sustainability require overlap of health,
governance, economy, and environment. Brownfields programs of assessment and cleanup,
redevelopment and reuse, and long-term management and stewardship protect public health
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and safety by creating community wealth though community health. Brownfields impact public
health via social and economic issues such as blight, crime, reduced local social services,
impact the environment via site contamination, groundwater impacts, and dumped waste, and
impact safety via abandoned structures, open foundations, compromised infrastructure or
equipment due to vandalism and lack of maintenance. Brownfields redevelopment have
positive impacts on Public Health: 1) environmental justice; 2) contamination abatement; 3)
urban greening; 4) site safety & crime reduction; 5) job training & workforce development, and
health promotion and disease prevention.
Clearwater’s Brownfields Public Health Monitoring Project, a component of City’s
Brownfields program, seeks to assess and redevelop Brownfields sites to promote community
health, the environment, and economy. According to Federal Brownfields law and public health
monitoring, local governments can allocate 10% of their grant to monitor health of population
exposed to hazardous substances and monitor and enforce institutional controls to prevent
exposure. Public Health Monitoring is the collection of health-related qualitative and quantitative
data of relevance to Brownfields communities and hazardous substance exposures.
Types of Public Health Monitoring activities related to environmental include examining
site access patterns to determine pathways of contamination, mapping site features that affect
human exposure (e.g. private wells), monitoring air, soil, and water during cleanup, reuse, and
long-term stewardship, and collecting baseline environmental and health measures for planning.
Activities related to health include examining vital statistics in areas near Brownfield sites,
monitoring health as part of community wide inventory activities, asthma surveillance study, lead
screening at childcare facilities, assessing community progress in meeting Healthy People 2010
objectives, planning and visioning to achieve optimal health reuse of Brownfields, and
increasing access to health care (e.g. health clinics).
Public Health challenges in Clearwater: 1) Disease/health impact response related to
mental health, dental care, preventive care; 2) Capacity of provider related to use of emergency
room for clinical and primary care and lack of care options after working hours; and 3) Patient
dynamics including recurrent challenges of County indigent health care system e.g. access
(distance/buses), language barriers (Spanish, Laotian), affordability, especially for ages 18 – 64,
changing dynamics of patient population, and accessing health care in crisis/critical care mode.
Challenges related to environmental health include lead in older homes and eating utensils used
by Hidalgo population, asbestos, and homeless living in abandoned warehouses. A model for
community sustainability combines Brownfields redevelopment and public health to reduce
pollution, disease, poverty, and crime.
Ms. Ruhl requested that board members consider: 1) Major health concerns of City
residents; 2) Environmental health challenges in Clearwater; 3) Sources of data which describe
these challenges; 4) Ways in which Brownfields redevelopment can address these issues; 5)
End uses for remediated Brownfields; 6) Role members would like to play in addressing public
and environmental health challenges through Brownfields redevelopment; and 7) Who else
should be involved.
Mr. Ballogg said there have been improvements in dry cleaner association efforts to
prevent pollution. Mr. Robbins said the State is aggressively targeting dry cleaning pollution.
Mr. Ballogg said they are working with the County to cleanup the junkyard across the street from
the Northwest Fire Station.
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Discussion ensued with comments that green teams promote healthy behaviors. It was
recommended that the City consider community gardens. Concern was expressed regarding
medications in the groundwater. It was suggested that NASA be contacted for support as they
loan out engineers for local projects
It was recommended that student housing, not SROs, be developed in the East Gateway
for SPC (St. Petersburg College) nursing, Fire Department, and Police Department training.
The housing would be in a central location, upgrade the area, increase the number of local
nurses, and health care students could receive college credits by staffing local health facilities.
It was stated that PTEC (Pinellas Technical Education Center) students also could participate.
It also was suggested that foreclosures may provide an opportunity to address asbestos and
lead issues. It was noted that the homeless provide a large health challenge. It was suggested
that churches that support homeless social programs tie in with health care programs regarding
stressors related to homelessness. Ms. Ruhl suggested a regional effort would attract
congressional money. It was suggested that members speak to the community to offset the
lack of public awareness regarding Brownfield problems and solutions. Mr. Ballogg said efforts
are being made to obtain funds to improve health care in Brownfields areas. Ms. Ruhl reported
a program in Jacksonville helps youth, who are aging out of foster care. Discussion ensued
regarding the need to educate youth who may not qualify for the college experience.
6 – Staff Agenda
:
a) Discuss Clearwater Auto and AAMCO.
In his October 22, 2008, Project Progress Report regarding the Clearwater Automotive
Salvage Yard, Terry Griffin, of TBE Group, reported soil excavation and confirmation sampling
had been completed, the Interim Source Removal (ISR) Completion Report had been prepared
and submitted on October 21, 2008, and final “clean-up” site work regarding additional fill
material and grading, fence repairs, seeding, and debris removal had been discussed with
contractors. All milestones had been met. Potential extra work items included additional backfill
to be brought to the site to provide better grading prior to seeding, and possible samplings
and/or soil removal should FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) request it.
Anticipated work to be performed during October/November 2008 included oversight of
additional fill and grading and final approval of site conditions.
Development Coordinator Diane Hufford said staff is meeting with neighborhood groups
regarding uses for the Blue Chips bar property. TBE is performing a feasibility study on the
East Gateway. The soup kitchen, which is the biggest area issue, will not relocate.
b) Grant application due November 14, 2008
Staff submitted an application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for $200,000
hazardous materials and $200,000 petroleum assessment.
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c) Thanks to advisory board members who attended "Restoring Neighborhoods through
Brownfields Redevelopment, Community Justice, Health and Wealth," on November 6, 2007 in
Orlando.
Ms. Hufford thanked those who attended last year's meeting in Orlando.
d) 11th Annual Florida Brownfields conference and exhibition, Tradewinds Resort, St. Pete
Beach. October 27 - 28. 2008
Ms. Hufford reported on the recent Brownfields conference held in St. Pete Beach.
7 - Public Comment: - None.
8 - Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
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