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04/19/2000ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD CITY OF CLEARWATER April 19, 2000 Present: Freda Drake Chair Dennis Kelenberger Board Member David Rhame Board Member Alan Smith Vice Chair Allan Stowell Board Member Also Present: Tom Miller Asst. Director Engineering/PD&E Leslie Dougall-Sides Asst. City Attorney Elliot Shoberg Engineer II, City of Clearwater Cyndi Hardin Assistant Planning Director Gina Clayton Senior Planner Ken Sides Traffic Calming Engineer Michele Smith Staff Assistant II To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. Unless otherwise noted, no action was taken regarding items. I Administration The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. ITEM #A Approval of Minutes - January 19, 2000: Member Rhame moved to approve the minutes of March 15, 2000 as submitted. Member Smith duly seconded the motion. ACTION: Approved. Carried unanimously. II Board Updates ITEM #B1 – Commission Liaison Report – F. Drake - Chair Drake advised that a town meeting regarding downtown development will be held at Harborview Center on April 27, 2000 and April 29, 2000. ITEM #B2 – Stevenson Creek Update – D. Rhame – Member Rhame requested that staff update the board on this project. Staff discussed possible stratification of sediment in the estuary and possibly having the EPA or the Corps of Engineers conduct the study to verify stratification for the permit. Layering of sediment may help to identify sources of sediment. Bimonthly meetings will be scheduled with Parsons Engineering Science to provide updates on the project. Parsons has specifically been asked to help identify causes of erosion and flooding problems associated with Stevenson Creek. Mr. Miller mentioned oversight of Land Development Code update. At future meetings Member Stowell will provide the board with an update. A handout of an ordinance to go before the Commission on April 20, 2000 was provided to the members. Member Stowell agreed to table the update until next month’s meeting. III City Correspondence ITEM #C1– Letter to Nanette Holland, TBEP – As requested by board members, a thank you letter was sent to Ms. Holland for her presentation at the March meeting. ITEM #C2 – Dimmitt Option Properties Press Release – The EPA was recently in Clearwater to discuss Brownfields program. The EPA has granted the City of Clearwater $100,000 to continue to improve brownfields clean up efforts. ITEM #C3 – Connolly Property Dumping (K. Killian Memo) – At last meeting board requested City of Clearwater to help facilitate clean up and tree protection on this property. Summary of steps taken to further assist with clean up was provided. This issue is currently in litigation through the State Attorney’s Office and the Department of Environmental Protection. IV Monthly Site Plan Assessment Review Summary ITEM #D - Monthly Site Plan Assessment Review Summary of April 10, 2000: - Staff provided a memorandum detailing a proposed office building located within the Park Place Development of Regional Impact. Proposed development does not cause the removal of any specimen trees or stands and has met Urban Forester’s approval. V Old Business ITEM #E1i – Watershed Plan Cooperative Agreement (E. Shoberg) – Stevenson Creek project is already underway without interlocal agreement with SWFWMD. Agreement to reduce Clearwater’s cost of project is set to go before Commission. Staff asked that EAB recommend approval of this agreement. MOTION: Member Stowell moved to approve recommendation. Member Rhame seconded. ACTION: Approved. Carried unanimously. ITEM #E1ii – Status of Water Advisory Board Funding (E. Shoberg) – Stevenson Creek project has met requirements for grant funding. Application is currently waiting for governor’s approval. ITEM #E1iii – Approve Land Development Code Changes (G. Clayton/C. Hardin) – Staff provided examples of 25% removal rule and detailed the Tree Removal Fund. Staff from the Urban Forestry Department discussed the City’s reliance on the Tree Fund for purchasing trees and landscaping materials as well as staffing the department with personnel to maintain environmental health of vegetation within the City. Approval of the Code was tabled until after the Citizen Agenda portion of the meeting. MOTION: Member Stowell moved to approved Code changes. Member Rhame seconded. ACTION: Approved. Carried unanimously. VI New Business: ITEM #2i – Radisson Hotel Docking Facility (T. Cuba, Delta Seven Environmental Consulting) Mr. Cuba is contacting all regulatory boards and citizen interest groups to discover issues and concerns related to this proposed project in order to resolve them during the design process. An arial photograph of the proposed site detailing grass beds was displayed for the board. Ecological, societal, and navigational issues have been brought up by other groups. No plan or design has been set to date. Some of the issues and concerns included bottom dredging, safety, grass beds, and target user group. ITEM #2ii – NPDES Cooperative Agreement (T. Miller) – NPDES permit was issued to City of Clearwater 6 years ago under the clean water act and requires stormwater quality maintenance. This agreement allows Clearwater to jointly solve problems found in the stormwater system with other local agencies. Agreement is going before commission for their support and approval. Changes to agreement include effective dates of term (Section 8), general responsibilities (Section 2), and notices (Section 7). Staff requests board to recommend that commission approves agreement to provide joint control to local municipalities in accordance with NPDES permit. MOTION – Member Stowell moved to approve. Member Kelenberger seconded. ACTION – Approved. Carried unanimously. ITEM #2iii – LAP Certification (K. Sides) – FDOT has tentatively certified City of Clearwater for LAP certification for environmental purposes. Staff briefly explained LAP certification rewards and processes. LAP allows local government to track programs with assurance of adherence to provisions required to receive federal money. City of Clearwater will be able to control schedule of projects instead of relying on DOT work program. Design, hence the City will also control some cost of the project. This will enable Clearwater to implement aesthetics into road projects thereby beautifying surroundings. VII Citizens Agenda Anne Garris, a previous EAB member, requested that money in the Tree Fund be used to purchase properties with endangered trees on site. She also discussed the report on Pennies for Pinellas funds that demonstrate how many environmentally important issues have been removed from the project list. Requests that EAB ask that this be remedied. Regarding the Radisson dock project, Ms. Garris feels this will be a safety hazard to children learning to sail at the Sailing Center. Chair Drake invited Ms. Garris to speak at future meeting regarding Pennies for Pinellas. Jack Alvord, president of Historic Bayview Association, spoke regarding tree protection in the neighborhood. He also discussed the clean up of the Connolly property stating methods and equipment used were harmful to the trees. Mr. Alvord requests a code or an addition to an existing code to protect trees during clean up of such sites. Loren Westenberger, certified arborist, also spoke regarding clean up of the Connolly property stating that clean up has caused extensive damage to the root system. At this point Chair Drake advised all citizens to address comments regarding Connolly property to the DEP, as it is no longer within the City’s jurisdiction. Mr. Westenberger also is happy with the new land development code except for the 25% removal without penalty. Mr. Westenberger also invited the EAB to attend a seminar being held by the International Society for Arboriculture. Chair Drake asked that invitations be sent to the EAB through Tom Miller’s office. Early Sorenson, member of Historic Bayview Association, expressed concerns about the tree fee and the effects of tree removal and global warming. He also briefly discussed the Certified Florida Yard program, available through the Pinellas County Co-op. Mr. Sorenson requested that the EAB invite Dale Armstrong from the County Co-op to speak at a meeting and recommend him to the commission. Joe Calio, a Sand Key resident, provided the EAB with a copy of the original denial by the county for a docking facility at the Radisson hotel. He was concerned that the dock would lead to increased glass and other trash as well as endangering children using the area to learn to sail. He also provided a copy of an article about manatees coming back after mullet fishing was banned. Mr. Calio believes the dock will cause too many sociological and ecological problems. Gary Folden spoke regarding the Radisson dock proposal. He feels that a dock cannot be designed that will be safe for boaters and windjammers in the area because boaters’ actions cannot be controlled as they ingress and egress the dock. Mr. Folden says the proposed area is not deep enough to accommodate large cruising boats and as a result will become another place for day users. He expressed concerns that signage at the dock stating it was private property will be insufficient to deter the general public from using the dock. Increased boat traffic in this area will cause heavy environmental damage. Richard Howard, a charter boat captain out of the City marina expressed concerns for the seagrass that will be near the proposed dock. Boat traffic will not always be able to see the grass beds and will go right over them. Mr. Howard also had fears that the dock will become another Shepard’s type establishment. Jay Stagg, commodore of the windjammers, spoke for himself, not the windjammers. All the powerboats using the proposed dock will present a safety hazard to sailing boats, specifically the ones using the Sailing Center since the area is so narrow. Creating a water path to the docks at the Radisson will limit sailing because they will not be able to set their course across the path. Safety of sailors is really in jeopardy by having powerboats coming in through sailing area. Member Stowell shares safety concerns for children and sailboats. He is also personally very against another Shepard’s style establishment on Sand Key. VIII Future Agenda Cooper’s Point field trip The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.