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04/16/2003ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD CITY OF CLEARWATER April 16, 2003 Present: Rev. Sandra Jamieson Chairperson Alan Smith Vice Chair Clorinda Gilreath Board Member D. Michael Flanery Board Member David Rhame Board Member Also Present Al Carrier Asst. Dir of Engineering/ESM Andy Neff Public Utilities Director Terry Finch Environmental Manager Elliot Shoberg Stormwater Engineer Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney Norma Skinner Staff Assistant II APPROVED 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 4:05 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. ITEM #1 Approval of February 19, 2003 Minutes Chair asked if there were any further additions or corrections to the minutes from February 19. Member Gilreath made a motion to approve minutes and member Rhame seconded the motion. ACTION: Minutes were approved unanimously. ITEM #2 Citizens To Be Heard None Action Items ITEM #3 Nomination of Vice Chair Member Gilreath moved to nominate Michael Flanery as Vice Chair. Member Flanery accepted the nomination. Member Rhame seconded the motion. ACTION: The motion to nominate Member Flanery as Vice Chair was approved unanimously. Reports ITEM #4 Commission Liaison Report Chair did not have anything to bring forward from the Commission. ITEM #5 Stevenson Creek Mr. Shoberg gave an update on the Stevenson Creek Watershed Management Plan implementation phase and the estuary restoration project. The first project is the Palmetto Street improvements project. The existing storm system consisting of an 18” pipe is being replaced with 54” pipe running from Highland Ave. to Stevenson Creek. Construction is expected to begin within the next 6 months. A project from the Watershed Management Plan is the Palmetto Street sediment sump, located at the outfall to the storm system. This is the last stop where sediment and pollutants are removed before the water goes out into the estuary. The other project is at Spring Branch by Sunset Point and Kings Highway. The City purchased about 6 acres from Sunset Baptist Church four to five months ago. The long-range plan is to build a big retention pond there. The Glen Oaks project will be going back to the Commission on May 15. There are no stormwater issues. The issues are mainly about the soccer fields. Changing the location of the soccer fields will cause some trees to be removed. The City has been working with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the past three years on the estuary restoration program. The Eco System Report has been completed. The next step, after all comments have been addressed, will be to start the design phase. ITEM #6 City Comprehensive Plan Member Smith did not have anything to report regarding the Comprehensive Plan. ITEM #7 Potable and Reclaimed Water Mr. Neff gave a status report on the Potable and Reclaimed Water projects. Bids have been received for the Harbor Oaks project which is scheduled to go before the City Commission on May 15, 2003. The duration of this project is expected to be one to two and one-half years. The Drew and Union Street project has been split into two components. The pipeline project is currently out for bid and as soon as a successful bid is received, it will go before the Commission. The booster stations will be bid separately. There were budgetary issues with the booster station project and in order to make sure there was sufficient funding, an additional 1.1 million was secured from Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). In order to make the timing and funding agreements work consistently with what SWFWMD had to do, the project had to be attached to the Del Oro project. The Seville project will be presented before the Commission along with a Work Order to execute the design portion of the project, as soon as the Agreement is received from SWFWMD. The water plant construction continues with no major issues. Mr. Neff suggested that the Board members tour the site sometime in the near future. Public Utilities is still working on a public communication notice to inform the community about the potential changes in the water consistency because of the RO process. Public Utilities is also working on the replacement of old water service lines. The first phase of the project is now underway in the beach area, and they are currently developing the second phase, which will be presented to the Commission soon. The feasibility study for the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project is near completion. Mr. Neff would like to invite someone from the consulting firm working on this project to give a presentation at the next EAB meeting. Mr. Neff plans to present the Commission with an update on the ASR project in June and has requested that the EAB provide another endorsement showing their support. Member Flanery pointed out that there has been a lot of environmental concern regarding ASR due to springs being polluted. Mr. Neff also mentioned that they are upgrading the digesters at the water treatment plant. There has been a lot of concern regarding treatment of the sludge that is removed and deposited elsewhere. It is expected that the rules are going to become more stringent in the future and the water treatment plant has to be ready to meet the new regulations. Discussion Items ITEM #8 Glen Oaks This item was discussed under No. 5. ITEM #9 Beach by Design Mr. Carrier mentioned that he discussed Beach by Design with Gina Clayton. Ms. Clayton said that she is governed by the Beach by Design Ordinance the Commission has adopted. The issues in question were height, density, traffic, water, wastewater, parking, both public and private. That is all covered in the Beach by Design Guidelines. The chair expressed concern about the impact to the north beach. Mr. Carrier will obtain copies of the Beach by Design booklet for the members so they can look it over and generate some specific questions. ITEM #10 Protection of Manatees Terry Finch was recognized by the Chair to give a brief report regarding the preservation of manatees. New rules regarding protection of manatees are supposed to come out May 5th and she offered to do further research on how these rules will affect construction and implementation of projects. There are studies being conducted to determine whether to move manatees from the endangered list, which carries a higher level of protection, to the threatened list. In response to member Flanery’s question, Ms. Finch stated that there are no actual statistics on the exact number of manatees; the number of manatees is estimated by aerial photography in the areas where they accumulate such as near the Crystal River plant. ITEM #11 Impact of Seminole Boat Ramp This was basically covered under the Manatee issue. The Fresh Water and Game Commission has put a hold on all environmental reviews required prior to the issuance of any boat ramps or additional parking for boats. We won’t know anything regarding the new rule until May. ITEM #12 Raucous Noise The county commission passed an ordinance regarding raucous noise, but we couldn’t find anything on it. We will need to do further research. Assistant City Attorney Leslie Dougall-Sides stated that the City has a noise ordinance that was amended in ’03. She read the criteria, as stated in the ordinance, used to identify and prohibit raucous noise within the City. ESTABLISH AGENDA: Aquifer Storage Presentation Beach by Design Glen Oaks ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.