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02/20/2002ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD CITY OF CLEARWATER February 20, 2002 Present: Rev. Sandra Jamieson Chairperson Alan Smith Vice Chair Allan Stowell Board Member Clorinda Gilreath Board Member David Rhame Board Member Also Present: Tom Miller Assistant Director of Engineering/E&SM Al Carrier Stormwater Manager Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney Andy Neff Public Utilities Norma Skinner Board Reporter Jack Alvord Bayview Historic Association 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. Administration The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. ITEM #1 Approval of Minutes – January 16, 2002 Ms. Gilreath moved to approve the minutes of January 16 as submitted. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve Minutes. ACTION: Approved. Carried unanimously. ITEM #2 Citizens to be Heard None. Action Items ITEM #3 – Historic Bayview Environmental Service Award Chair recognized Mr. Jack Alvord of the Historic Bayview Association to gave a brief presentation on the Bayview area, after introduction by Mr. Miller. The Bayview area is on the list of environmentally sensitive lands and is important for a number of reasons, but mostly because of it’s tree canopy. The Historic Bayview Association, under the direction of Mr. Jack Alvord, has worked for many years on this project, to protect it for the citizens of Clearwater. Chair requested recommendation to approve the award to the Historic Bayview Association to be presented by the City Commission. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Having complied with the EAB award criteria, recommend the EAB approve an award to the Historic Bayview Association for presentation by the City Commission. Alan Stowell recommended approval. Mr. Smith seconded the recommendation for approval. ACTION: Passed unanimously. Mr. Miller will contact Clerk’s Office to make arrangements to schedule the presentation of the awards at the next Commission meeting. Awards will be presented at this EAB meeting, and if permitted, also at the City Commission. The EAB presented Jack Alvord of the Historic Bayview Association with a Service Award. ITEM #4 – Save Our Shade Canopy Environmental Service Award Chair recognized Mr. Leroy Chin, project manger from Parks & Recreation to present an overview of the Eddie C. Moore softball complex tree preservation project showing what the staff members were able to accomplish under his direction. The slide show presented by Mr. Chin showed how the tree protection project progressed from beginning to end. The innovative design provides air, water and drainage to the trees, plus barriers were built around the tree trunks for protection. RECOMMEND ACTION: Recommend the EAB approve an award to the City Parks & Recreation and Public Services Urban Forestry Departments, for presentation by the City Commission, for implementation of innovation tree aeration techniques used during renovation of the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex that resulted in the most successful tree protection project ever undertaken on City property with 240 inches of Live Oak Trees saved. Mr. Stowell made a motion to present EAB service award at City Commission Mr. Smith second the motion. ACTION: The motion passed to present the EAB service award at City Commission. Mr. Miller asked to put on record that with the award comes a certificate of achievement as well as individual free passes to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for the recipients of the award. The Chair stated there was one more award to be presented. This award was presented to Tom Miller for his many years of service and contributions to the EAB in the preservation of the environment. Reports ITEM #5 – Commission Liaison No new information to report at this time. ITEM #6 – Stevenson Creek Liaison To be discussed under Discussion Items. ITEM #7 – City Comprehensive Plan Chair asked if we have had a presentation on the Community Development/Comprehensive Plan. Tom stated the plan is updated every five years and was done about a year or two ago. ACTION: Mr. Miller will talk to the Planning Services Dept. and determine when it can be brought up for discussion. ITEM #8 Potable/Reclaimed Water To be discussed under Discussion items ITEM #9 - Arsenic Chair inquired about the Arsenic issue. . Mr. Stowell said he read the articles regarding the ban on arsenic. Mr. Stowell stated a concern about the playground at Long Center that is on City-owned property. Lab testing of the ground and the levels of arsenic were higher away from the playground area then at the playground. This was possibly caused by pesticide. Mr. Miller stated this is timely because the NPDES report is due in May and one of the areas they are interested in is what has the City been doing to diminish the use of pesticide and herbicide and what other alternatives could be used to reduce the harm that may be caused to the environment. This Board could take leadership action and make recommendations. We can receive NPDS credit if they see the Board has taken action. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Mr. Stowell recommended that the EAB be provided with copies of the recent soil tests from the Long Center Soccer Field and to further consider this issue at the next meeting. ACTION: By EAB consensus, Mr. Miller agreed to revisit this issue with the Board and to provide the requested information. Discussion Items ITEM #10 - Reclaimed Water master Plan Update The chair recognized Mr. Neff to give a slide presentation on the Reclaimed Water Master Plan Update, which included the current status of projects, explanation of funding and fees. Island Estates was completed in 1999. North Clearwater Beach in 2000 and South Clearwater Beach in 2001. Staff is currently constructing intercoastal transmission line replacement under Clearwater Harbor, also working on pumping and storage facilities at the northeast plant. Reclaimed service lines are under construction along the north Greenwood corridor. Staff is currently trying to pick up large businesses in the downtown area and getting ready to initiate design in Harbor Oaks. This program is set up to match with the way SWFWMD parcels out their grants. The total cost of implementing over the next 20 years totals a little over $100,000,000. Seville will be the next area after Harbor Oaks. At this point, supply and demand will be about equal. After that we will need to look into restrictions in the use of reclaimed water, seasonal storage or combination of the two. Reclaimed water revenues fund only 10% of the City reclaimed water program. The balance is funded by water and sewer (over half) and SWFWMD grant funding for the balance. Rates are comparable to other communities in the area. Mr. Rhame questioned the use of aquifers for storage. Mr. Neff explained briefly but stated that there will be a presentation on aquifers in the future. Stevenson’s Creek Update Mr. Miller introduced Mr. Al Carrier, who will be replacing him as liaison for the EAB. Mr. Carrier is the Stormwater Manager for the City of Clearwater and directs all engineering activities dealing with the stormwater program and now the environmental program as the Interim Director of the department. Mr. Carrier related that the Commission has received questions from citizens of Clearwater about the Stevensons Creek Watershed Management Plan. The plan is on our web site and has received quite a few hits from citizens who are very interested in what the city is doing with the program. We are preparing a presentation for the Commission in early March. Mr. Carrier provided a slide presentation on Stevensons Creek, the largest and most urbanized watershed in the city. ITEM #11 – Establish Agenda Chair asked to establish an agenda for the next meeting. Items for next agenda are: arsenic soil testing at the Long Center Comprehensive Plan update, Community Development Code. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.