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04/18/2018 Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 18, 2018 City of Clearwater City Hall 112 S. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33756 Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 18, 2018 4:00 PM Council Chambers Environmental Advisory Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 18, 2018 Roll Call Present 4 - Chair Jared Leone, Vice Chair Mark Wright, Board Member John Thomas, and Board Member Candace Gardner Absent 1 - Board Member Ashley Wilson Pimley Also Present: Laura Mahony —Assistant City Attorney, Sarah Kessler— Environmental Specialist III, Patricia O. Sullivan — Board Reporter 1. Call To Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve meeting minutes of the Environmental Advisory Board from January 17, 2018. Member Wright moved to approve minutes of the January 17, 2018 Environmental Advisory Board meeting as submitted in written summation. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda Bryan Beckman, of Ready for 100, encouraged the City to update GreenPrint, stating solar energy costs had decreased by more than 50% since its creation in 2011. He complimented the City for installing LED street lights and suggested replacing florescent tubes in all City buildings. He encouraged the City to communicate its efforts to residents. Kathleen Beckman encouraged the City to reengage GreenPrint . She suggested the City recognize resident and business owner sustainability efforts re GreenPrint goals, volunteered to write short narratives for the City's website to highlight positive actions, recommended mandating new construction to require bids for solar with analysis of costs and benefits, and said Imagine Clearwater was a perfect time to advocate green energy for a healthier environment. Discussion ensued with comments that it may be time to review GreenPrint, a living document, highlight what it achieved, and reassess and update its strategies and goals. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Water Quality Presentation by Stacey Day Stacey Day from Pinellas County's Watershed Management Division will Page 2 City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 18, 2018 present information about water quality in the County and specifically Clearwater. Stacey Day PhD provided a PowerPoint presentation on the County's water quality monitoring program. Environmental Specialist Sarah Kessler will email the Tampa Bay estuary water quality monitoring chart and PowerPoint to the Board and attach it to the agenda. In response to questions, Dr. Day will check pollutant numbers and provide additional information on Stevensons Creek. She said pollution numbers upstream from the wastewater treatment plant were higher than downstream. She said the County monitored septic systems but had not digitized the locations, making homeowner compliance with County ordinance difficult to track, bacteria in many County streams was associated with septic tanks. She said new water quality standards were based on a pass/fail system requiring 2 samples over a period of time. She said a sample was taken to assess plankton levels when calls were received about red tide. A retired water quality specialist encouraged promotion of clean water, expressed concern re consequences of failed septic systems, and said weather conditions affected sample collections. 4.2 Single Use Plastic Resolution Language Discussion by EAB Members Review and discuss the resolution language. Ms. Kessler reviewed updates to the single-use plastic Resolution drafted by Assistant City Attorney Lauren Mahony based on Board input. Eight citizens spoke in support of the Resolution, made recommendations, and expressed concerns: 1) replace plasticware with biodegradable utensils, 2) restaurants should provide drinking water only on request, 3) businesses should have recycle bins, especially for Styrofoam; 4) Resolution actions should be mandatory, 5) City beach access lighting was not turtle friendly, 6) City events should be Ocean Friendly and provide sufficient recycling bins, 7) City event vendors should be held accountable for adopting Ocean Friendly practices, 8) the City should prohibit plastic straws and bags; 9) significant plastic waste, including cigarillo plastic tips, were present on Clearwater Beach and in City waters including the gulf, harbor, and ponds, 10) plastic waste tortured marine life, 11) citizens should refuse plastic bags, drinks served in plastic or Styrofoam cups, and plastic straws, 12) the cost of biodegradable silverware was competitive with conventional items, 13) small environmentally positive actions had a ripple effect, 14) educational efforts would create awareness, 15) eliminate to-go utensils whenever possible or offer biodegradable items made from bamboo for example, 16) Clearwater Beach should catch up environmentally with its best beach moniker, 17) beach cleanup and turtle friendly lighting requirements should be struck, 18) City should enforce Page 3 City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 18, 2018 current turtle friendly lighting laws, 19) to retain a young environmentally conscious workforce, the City needed to be competitive with other Tampa Bay community environmental practices, and 20) additional restaurants and bakeries were working on Ocean Friendly certification. Shari Heilman said the Beachcomber Restaurant was the first Clearwater Beach business certified as Ocean Friendly. She reviewed restaurant efforts and accomplishments, discussed positive customer feedback, noted tourist complaints that Clearwater Beach was not ecofriendly, and reported the restaurant had attracted new customers due to its Ocean Friendly certification. Consensus was to remove the turtle friendly lighting requirement. Discussion ensued with suggestions to add to Section 1 that City events will be Ocean Friendly and the City should encourage businesses to be Ocean Friendly. It was stated the Resolution was a great first step. Ms. Heilman was congratulated for qualifying for Ocean Friendly certification and leading the environmental movement on the beach. Member Wright moved to adopt the Resolution with changes as noted. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 4.3 Current Litter Pick-Up on Public Beach by Sarah Kessler Information provided about current litter pick-up on Clearwater Beach Ms. Kessler said she spoke to the Parks & Recreation Department re trash cans on the beach. The department made recent changes to its pickup schedule and added a second shift during special events and holidays. A trash truck started emptying the 135 wire baskets at dawn and tried to empty them twice a day depending on traffic and accessibility. Two beach tractors removed trash in the morning until it was too crowded. A 4X4 vehicle policed trash in the sand wall area. The department also emptied 60 trash cans on BeachWalk, 45 trash cans at street ends, and 45 trash cans at beach parks and facilities. Solid Waste serviced the solar panel compactor. The department was still assessing needs to determine the best way to empty trash containers quickly and safely and make them secure. Discussion ensued with concerns expressed that trash in wire baskets drifted onto the beach via wind and birds and should be replaced with compactors, there were no trash receptacles by the free parking lot by the Sand Key Sailing Center, that Clearwater Beach medians were filled with trash and not properly maintained, and the City depended too much on volunteers to deal with its responsibility of keeping City streets trash free, especially along rights-of-way and street medians. It was noted that trash Page 4 City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes April 18, 2018 receptacles on Mandalay Avenue often overflowed. It was recommended that City officials greet visitors on the beach with friendly reminders to use trash cans. It was felt the current trash pickup schedule was not working and left the area trashy and disgusting. Two citizens spoke stating there were no recycle bins on the beach south of Sand Key Park, trash cans on walkways by street ends often overflowed, more trashcans were needed, trash patrols should be organized, a volunteer program could organize resident commitment to empty trash cans when full, and based on demand, PSTA (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority) would place trashcans at bus stops and empty them. It was stated many cities in the country provided compartmentalized trash containers, it was recommended that similar containers be located where people exit the beach and that the City provide volunteers with mesh bags and biodegradable gloves for beach cleanup rather than plastic/latex. Ms. Kessler said it was difficult to get equipment on Sand Key beach due to lack of access. It was stated that volunteer efforts saved the City$8 million annually. It was commented that many events were scheduled during the Great American Cleanup from March 1 — May 31. It was recommended the Board invite Friends of Pinellas to speak at the next Board meeting. It was requested the City contact FDOT(Florida Department of Transportation) regarding cleanup of junk and trash along US 19. It was noted a 20 minute trash pickup by a retention pond yielded a 30 gallon can worth of trash. 5. Old Business Item: None. 6. Director's Report Ms. Kessler encouraged the Board to attend the City Council Work Session when Planning Manager Lauren Matzke reviews GreenPrint. The City Council will discuss the scope and size of an update. She will advise the Board when the update is scheduled. It was recommended that GreenPrint include bicycling as a transportation component. 7. Board Members to be Heard Member Thomas expressed interest in bicycle transportation around the City as a whole, adding connections throughout the City and for Clearwater to encourage residents to bike to the beach and provide information on bicycling safely on beach streets. Member Gardner requested a list of Board member contact information. Member Gardner recommended that Ms. Heilman address the Chamber Page 5 City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes 8. Adjourn Atte : oard Repo - City of Clearwater April 18, 2018 of Commerce re her Ocean Friendly efforts to promote awareness. Chair Leone announced the upcoming City tree giveaway. Chair Leone introduced Nemo, his new service dog in- training. The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Chai Env ronmenta Page 6 Advisory Board