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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02-14-2008 FORT PIERCE HARBOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting Held On February 14, 2008 Convened at 3:04 p.m. Adjourned at 4:23 p.m. This meeting of the Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee (FPHAC) was held Thursday, rd February 14, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. in Conference Room #3 on the 3 floor of the Administration Building, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken. Members Present: Howard Conklin, Chairman Mary Chapman, Vice Chairman Bill Thiess, Commissioner Craft’s Appointee Gerald Kuklinski, Commissioner Grande’s Appointee John Holt, Commissioner Smith’s Appointee Also Present: Heather Young, SLC Assistant County Attorney Debra Brisson, SLC Parks & Recreation Director Bill Hoeffner, SLC Grants Director Dean Kubitschek, Fort Pierce City Marina Manager Craig Kilgore, Fort Pierce City Marina Operations Manager Christa Razem, City of Fort Pierce Grant Writer Dominick Darcangelo, Boca Ven Land, Inc Leo Henriquez, Boca Ven Land, Inc Jayne Bergstom, Tetra Tech Richard Czlapinski, Tetra Tech APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: The minutes from the January 10, 2008 meeting were unanimously approved. OLD BUSINESS: Chairman Howard Conklin brought in a newspaper article from February 13, 2008 titled “Property owner questions port plans”. The article stated, “West Palm Beach attorney Domenick R. Lioce submitted a proposal to the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency, offering to front the agency $156 million to acquire 175 acres at the Port of Fort Pierce for resort hotels and other commercial and retail operations.” Mr. Conklin supplied the committee with background information on attorney Domenick R. Lioce. Mr. Conklin stated, “Mr. Bell might be in trouble, meaning the issue of the condemnation of his property. In other words, this redevelopment agency has certain statutory powers that the County and the City don’t have. They can go in and condemn the property for redevelopment and force Bell to sell it.” Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee February 14, 2008 Page 2 Heather Young gave the committee an update on Chuck’s Seafood stating Chuck’s continues to work with the City on getting the needed approvals. Culpepper and Terpening have asked for a list of the City’s concerns. The hang-up still relates to the issue of parking. Chuck’s is proposing to lease a small portion of the fire district’s property for parking. NEW BUSINESS: Tetra Tech gave a presentation on the Fort Pierce City Marina Reconstruction and Storm Protection Project. The project components consist of: ? The outer basin marina, which was destroyed during the hurricanes. ? A storm protection system to provide a ring of breakwater protection around the outside area. ? Restore about 700’ of City Park bulkhead and main bulkhead. ? Replace the observation decks, which were destroyed. ? Perform maintenance dredging within the inner basin. The outside marina was not immediately rebuilt after the hurricanes because the City and FEMA needed added assurances that the marina and the waterfront would be protected. There have been fifty-one (51) storms within the City of Fort Pierce during the past 136 years. Fort Pierce gets brushed or hit every 2.67 years. The average years between hurricane hits to Fort Pierce are once every 5.91 years. Statistically this area should be affected again before the end of the 2008 hurricane season. An example of storm protection is from Chapter 18-21.004 (2)(f), F.A.C.: “To the maximum extent possible, shoreline stabilization should be accomplished by the establishment of appropriate native wetland vegetation, riprap materials, pervious interlocking brick systems, filter mats, and other similar stabilization methods should be utilized in lieu of vertical seawalls wherever feasible.” There have been several project studies performed: ? 2005-2006: 1.Benthic Habitat Surveys in 2005, 2006 2.Water Quality Study 3.Hydrodynamic Modeling 4.Physical Modeling 5.Sovereignty Submerged Lands Evaluations 6.Florida Master File Survey ? 2007 Additional Requested Studies: 1.25 acres more of benthic surveys (97 acres total were surveyed) 2.More sediment and water chemistry testing It was very important to the City of Fort Pierce that the project contributes to the waterfront. The latest configuration consists of a major island to the southeast. There is rock Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee February 14, 2008 Page 3 that provides protection along the southeast to the north. There are a series of islands that are basically rock structures. The tops of the islands will be flat and sandy and will be a nesting habitat for birds. The habitat islands will consist of 4,506 square feet of oyster beds, 15,895 square feet of mangroves and 54,003 square feet of lime rock, which are all part of stabilization. The wave breaks will be made out of riprap material. The “Mosaic Habitat Creation” consists of: ? The total island project is 12.38 acres ? The total habitat creation is 12.15 acres ? Oyster habitat totals 1.66 acres ? Riprap substrate totals 3.42 acres ? Mangrove communities totals 3.39 acres ? Coastal dune habitat totals 4.01 acres ? Seagrass recruitment totals 8.54 acres The City of Fort Pierce has already applied for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit. The City is currently in the middle of the permitting process. The applications were submitted in August 2007. The City of Fort Pierce has designed an innovative project that protects the marina, a public resource, and at the same time creates natural habitats to enhance the integrity of the Indian River Lagoon. Mary Chapman asked if they were going to do a whole EIS for the entire Indian River Lagoon. Jayne Bergstom from Tetra Tech replied, “What we are doing as part of the NEPA process on the FEMA side is they are doing a mini environmental impact statement.” Bill Thiess asked what the water depths would be where the islands are going to be created. Ms. Bergstom said they would be from 4’ to 7’. Howard Conklin asked if there had been any thought of putting in any mooring fields in the area between the docks and the islands. Dean Kubitschek said it had not been discussed. Currently they are worried about the environmental aspect of the project. Mr. Conklin asked how many more docks would be added. Mr. Kubitschek said they reconfigured the northern facility that was lost to incorporate seven more slips. The slips will be running north and south and the slips will be a floating dock system. The new dock pilings have to be consistent with the current building code, which is much stronger than 20 years ago. The City of Fort Pierce is hoping to have the permit by the end of the year in order to begin construction. Mr. Kubitschek stated the first $6.5 million of building back the docks themselves came from the insurance policy. After that, FEMA would take over building the docks. The islands themselves have been allocated $9.6 million upon approval of their environmental assessments and permitting. Fort Pierce Harbor Advisory Committee February 14, 2008 Page 4 Ms. Chapman asked if the public would be permitted on the islands. Mr. Kubitschek stated, “FEMA as well as DEP and all the other governing agencies are wanting to keep the islands natural.” Ms. Chapman stated, “I’d like to make a motion that as indicated and as explained by all of you all from the City Marina that we recommend approval of this by the County Commission.” The motion was unanimously approved. Mr. Conklin stated, “Based on the presentation, this project will have no adverse impact on the Port.” Mr. Conklin asked Mr. Kubitschek to review the “T” dock and provide the committee with his views on how it could best be utilized and exploited by the County. Debbie Brisson replied, “The dock was built with some dollars from grants and there are some restrictions that apply to it. There are also some public access issues and that’s why there are limitations to how far with commercial operations we can go with leasing or renting. Dean came to me and there was some interest in the Summerlin dock that would allow for some smaller boats, especially during fishing tournaments, to come in and be able to utilize it. We have received a grant to do that and we are getting ready to have that designed. That would be taking the interior section of the “T” dock and lowering it so that we can have more public use for smaller boats to be able to dock. We need to look more into legal about deriving revenue from it. There is electric and water out there.” Mr. Conklin suggest at the next meeting having clarification of the grant restrictions and then make a more detailed recommendation to the Commission on what to do with the “T” dock. There was a conflict with the July 10, 2008 meeting due to County Commission Budget Reviews. The committee unanimously decided to move the July 10, 2008 meeting to July 16, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. in Conference Room 3. ADJOURNMENT: At 4:23 p.m. the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be held Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 3:00 pm in Conference Room 3, on the third floor of the Administration Building. Respectfully submitted: Stephanie Bush