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05/21/2003ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD CITY OF CLEARWATER May 21, 2003 Present: D. Michael Flanery Vice Chair David Rhame Board Member Alan Smith Board Member Clorinda Gilreath Board Member Also Present: Al Carrier Asst. Dir. Of Engineering/ESM Glen Bahnick Asst. Dir. Of Engineering/Production Andy Neff Public Utilities Director Thomas Farkas PBS&J Michael Micheau PBS&J 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 Vice Chair called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of City Hall. ITEM #1 Approval of April 16, 2003 Minutes Chair asked if there were any further additions or correction to the minutes from April 16th. Member Smith made a motion to approve minutes as is, and member Rhame seconded the motion. ACTION: Minutes were approved unanimously. ITEM #2 Citizens To Be Heard None Action Items ITEM #3 None Reports ITEM #4 Commission Liaison Report None ITEM #5 Stevenson Creek Member Rhame reported on the North Greenwood Stormwater Retrofit Project. He stated the results of the CDS units tested to filter out pollutants in the stormwater runoff were not favorable and the City will not be installing any more of these units. The City will continue to use more traditional methods of cleaning stormwater. The City purchased the salvage yard on the north side and about half of it was sold for a fire station. The fire station will pay the City for the land. The Army Corps of Engineering is planning to start working on the estuary restoration project in another two years. Member Rhame expressed concern at the amount of time it is taking the Corps to begin this project. Mr. Carrier provided a brief update on the Glen Oaks project. The City Commission approved the first alternative for the soccer fields and trees will not need to be removed. 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 quick update on the Potable and Reclaimed Water projects. The water plan construction continues on time. Looking at completion in August ’03. The Commission approved the Harbor Oaks project last week and in the later part of June, the Seville and Sunset Dr. Reclaimed Water project will go before the Commission. There is a funding request in the Southwest Florida Management District for the Del Oro portion of the city. Discussion Items ITEM #8 ASR Feasibility Study Nr. Neff introduced Messrs. Michael Micheau and Thomas Farkas, consultants from Post Buckley. They are the geologists who have been working on the aquifer storage and recovery project for reclaimed water. Mr. Farkas reported on their findings for the first phase of the feasibility study and answered the board members’ questions. The next step will be drilling a test well to see if it functions as intended. The test sites selected include the Marshall St. and Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plants, and City of Largo plant and the reclaimed water storage tank at Starkey Road and 142nd Avenue. Based on the evaluation of the criteria, the Clearwater Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant site was rated as the more favorable of the sites and was selected for an initial ASR test well. Permit application to be submitted to DEP for construction and testing of the ASP well is underway. It is anticipated that the DEP will issue the City a permit to construct the well in FY 2004. Construction of the test well should be completed in FY 2005 with operational cycle testing during the next two years continuing into FY 2006. The cost to construct and test the ASR test well system is estimated to range from $940,000 to 1.2 million, with most of these costs incurred in FY 2004 and 2005. This same information will be presented to the City Commission at the June 16th worksession. The Board unanimously approved a motion to recommend the Reclaimed Water ASR project to the City Commission at the June 16th worksession. ITEM #9 Downtown Streetscape Reginald Owens, Director of Economic Development & Housing gave an overview of the redevelopment strategies for downtown and the beach. The City has recognized that there is a strong potential for redevelopment of the downtown area due to the parcels that have come into the market place. As part of the development, a 150-200 slip downtown marina is planned. The roadway blocking the view of the bay would be eliminated and replaced with steps from Cleveland Street to Osceola. There would be surface parking and also a 450 space parking structure by the new bridge. As redevelopment occurs, streets will be changed from four to two lanes and made more pedestrian friendly. Mr. Owens stated that in order to attract new development to a downtown area the quality of life has to be improved. He expects that in the very near future redevelopment plans will be announced. ITEM #10 Information Items EAB members discussed the enclosed articles and Beach by Design. ESTABLISH AGENDA: Member Gilreath moved to cancel the meeting in June, have a worksession in July and the next EAB meeting on the 3rd Wednesday in August. All members voted in favor. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m.