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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02192014 +' ,~.~ , ,. _ - -' ; .~, __ `` . _ INDIAN RIVER LAGOON NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM ADVISORY BOARD MEETING WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2014 SJRWMD PALM BAY OFFICE MEMBERS PRESENT Drew Kendall, Co-Chairman, US Environmental Protection Agency; Jeff Prather, Co- chairman, Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Andrea Graves, The Nature Conservancy; Chuck Nelson, Brevard County Commission; Doug Bournique, SJRWMD Governing Board; Douglas Daniels, Volusia County Council; Rebecca Elliott, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Layne Hamilton, US Fish and Wildlife Service; William Kerr, Member Emeritus; Deborah Peterson, US Army Corps of Engineers; Kevin Johnson, Florida Institute of Technology, TAC Co-Chair; Ed Fielding, Martin County Commission; Martin Smithson, Chair Citizens Action Committee; John Windsor, Member Emeritus; Dennis Hanisak, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute; Joel Steward, TAC Co-Chair PROXIES FOR MEMBERS Jason Bessey for Chris Dzadovsky, St. Lucie County Commission; Janet Zimmerman .for Mark Crosley, Florida Inland Navigation District; Kathy LaMartina for Kevin Powers, South Florida Water Management District SIGN-IN SHEET Terry Clark, Mary Oakley, John Williammee, Graham Cox, Pat Stahl, Rob Kirby, Mike Cunningham, Robert Day, Dana Maira, Marc Virgilio, Mary Sphar, Jenni Lamb, Peggy White, Amber Steigerwald, Jim Waymer, Lorraine Guise, Jessica Cove, Vince Lamb, Amy Adams, Keith McCully, Alexis Thomas, Judy Orcutt WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIO • After 10:00 am, Drew Kendall, Co-Chair, commenced the meeting, and all in attendance introduced themselves. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA • Mr. Kendall asked for any requests for additions to the agenda, and the following were offered: -Mr. Kerr requested a discussion of water quality and nutrient loading in the IRL; -Mr. Kendall requested the status of current 2013-2014 Work Plan projects; -Ms. Peterson requested a discussion of the beneficial uses of dredged material; -Mr. Bournique requested time to discuss water farming APPROVAL OF MINUTES Upon a motion by Mr. Bournique, and seconded by Mr. Smithson, the minutes of the October 30, 2013 meeting were unanimously approved as distributed. CONSIDERATION APPOINTMENT OF DR. KEVIN JOHNSON TO THE BOARD Mr. Rice advised the Board that the appointment of Dr. Johnson to the Indian River Lagoon Advisory Board requires atwo-thirds approval vote of the Board. Pursuant to Section 112.313(12), FL Statutes the following disclosed conflict is provided: Dr. Johnson is employed by the Florida Institute of Technology and his employer is a participating partner with the St. Johns River Water Management District on several research projects in the Indian River Lagoon. Dr. Johnson will serve as Technical Advisory Committee Co-Chair. Upon a motion by Mr. Fielding, and seconded by Mr. Kerr, Dr. Johnson was unanimously appointed to the Board. APPOINTMENT OF JOEL STEWARD TO THE BOARD Mr. Rice advised the Board that the appointment of Mr. Steward to the Indian River Lagoon Advisory Board requires atwo-thirds approval vote of the Board. Pursuant to Section 112.313(12), FL Statutes the following disclosed conflict is provided: Mr. Steward is .curre'ntly considering employment with Dredging and . Marine~Consultants; which is a possible contractor for the St. Johns River Water Management District on projects in the Indian River Lagoon. Mr. Steward will serve as Technical Advisory Committee Co-Chair. Upon a motion by Mr. Fielding, and seconded by Mr. Kerr, Mr. Steward was unanimously appointed to the Board. ADDITION TO THE AGENDA Update of 2013-2014 IRL Work Plan projects: Mr. Rice provided the Board with an update of 2013-2014 IRL Work Plan projects. Chairman Kendall advised the Board that funding should be allocated and expended as quickly as possible to remain in compliance with EPA expectations. Mr. Rice noted that the two projects not yet under implementation are the State of the Lagoon Report and the Indian River Lagoon Web Page. He reported that the State of the Lagoon Report will require coordination with many partners and that he hoped to initiate this effort during the Spring and Summer for release in the Fall of 2014. Ms. Peggy White, SJRWMD Continuous Improvement and Strategic Deliverables, explained that the SJRWMD will complete the IRLNEP web landing page. Chairman Kendall asked Ms. White if the web landing page would be available for presentation by the April 30~ Board meeting? Ms. White assured the Board that the web page would be finished by then and that she would present it to the Board during the April meeting. NEW BUSINES • IRL NEP 2014-2015 Work Plan Development: Mr. Rice provided an update of the competitive proposal acceptance and review process in support of the 2014- 2015 IRLNEP Work Plan, reporting that the initial ranking of proposals by volunteers of the CAC and TAC was invalid because these presentation meetings where not legally noticed. He reported the proposal rankings would be re-done by a new group of TAC and CAC volunteers and these scores will be available for the work plan subcommittee to consider in April. Mr. Rice asked for Board volunteers to serve on a work plan development subcommittee. The following Board members volunteered: Bill Kerr, Rich Paperno, Doug Daniels, Kathy LaMartina, John Windsor, Ed Fielding, Marty Smithson. Mr. Rice reported that the work plan subcommittee would review the proposal rankings in a public meeting and develop a work plan recommendation to the Board for the April meeting in order to submit the work plan to the SJRWMD Governing Board in May and to EPA by the June 1 deadline. IRL NEP 2014 Communications Plan: Kathy Hill, IRLNEP Education Coordina"tor; presented the Board with the draft IRLNEP 2014-2019 Communications Plan. Following additional comments from Mr. Smithson, the 'CAC Chair that had met with staff to review the draft plan, the Board agreed the plan was very comprehensive and well organized. Ms. Hill reported that she would like to present the draft plan to interested members of the lagoon's education community to solicit any additional input and would then bring the plan back to the Board for approval at the next meeting. Indian River Lagoon Counties Collaborative -Update: Martin County Commissioner Ed Fielding gave the Board an update on activities of the Indian River Lagoon Counties Collaborative, and asked that IRLNEP staff be allowed to continue administrative support of Collaborative meetings. Upon a motion by Mr. Fielding, and seconded by Dr. Windsor, the Board voted unanimously to allow IRLNEP staff to continue administrative support of the Collaborative. • Allocation of 2013 Unexpended Cooperative Assistance Funds: Mr. Rice advised the Board of X17,000 in unexpended federal funds that were carried over from the IRLNEP FY 2012-2013 Work Plan and asked for ~ 15,000 those funds to be used in the current FY 2013-2014 Work Plan. Two items were discussed for Board consideration and funding: -The first item discussed and considered by the Board was the "Be Floridian" fertilizer education program. Mr. Rice reminded the Board that this education program had been previously presented to the Board by the Tampa Bay NEP Program in 2013, adding that Be Floridian has been very successfully implemented in many Gulf Coast communities as a popular and `friendly' campaign to educate residents about Florida friendly landscaping practices and compliance with local fertilizer ordinances their communities. Mr. Rice added that over 20 local governments in the lagoon's watershed including Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties have each adopted a strong fertilizer ordinance that includes the summertime application ban from June 1 -September 30, and that he has gotten confirmation from 11 local governments and NGOs so far wishing to participate in the Be Floridian Program, in addition to numerous residents in the watershed who have been working to get the local governments to adopt the strong ordinance to bring the campaign to the lagoon prior to the rainy season's start. Upon a motion by Mr. Smithson, and seconded by Mr. Bessey, the Board voted unanimously to expend X10,000 on the "Be Floridian" program during the FY 2013-2014 Work Plan year. -The second item discussed and considered by the Board was to expend X5,000 on purchasing IRLNEP Promotional materials. Mr. Rice explained this would include giveaway items such a stickers, pet waste bags, and several Program banners with different messages for use at outreach events, and a factsheet to accompany the Natural Treasure booklets that updates readers about the loss of seagrasses since 2011. Upon a motion by Mr. Smithson, and seconded by Mr, Bessey, the Board voted unanimously to expend X5,000 on.'the IRLNEP Promotional materials during the FY_2013-2014 Work_Plan year. ,,. • Authority to Support the 2014 Indian River Lagoon Rnvirothon: Mr. Rice advised the Board of the history of IRLNEP support of the Indian River Lagoon Envirothon. After Board discussion, upon a motion by Dr. Windsor, and seconded by Mr. Fielding, the Board voted unanimously to expend $1,200 on the IRL Envirothon during the FY 2013-2014 Work Plan year. ADDITION TO THE AGENDA • Discussion of the beneficial uses of dredged material: Deborah Peterson, US Army Corps of Engineers, led the Board in discussion of identifying target areas in which dredged material may be used in ecosystem restoration. • Water quality and nutrient loading in the IRL: Mr. Kerr led the Board in a discussion of water quality and nutrient loading in the IRL system. After Board discussion, upon a motion by Mr. Kerr, and seconded by Mr. Steward, the Board voted unanimously for the IRLNEP to draft a letter urging the Florida Department. of Environmental Protection to expedite the TMDL process in the IRL system. Rebecca Elliott abstained from the vote. 4 • Water farming: Mr. Bournique discussed the timeliness and importance of water farming in support of restoration of the IRL system, as well as potential uses in the St Johns River system. PRESENTATIONS- The following presentations were provided to the Board: • Florida Tech Indian River Lagoon Research Institute - Dr. Kevin Johnson, FIT • SJRWMD Algal Bloom Investigation -Update - Dr. Chuck Jacoby, IRLNEP/SJRWMD PUBLIC COMMENTS/CLOSING REMARKS • Chairman Kendall opened the floor for public comments, and none came forward. ADJOURN • The next meeting was scheduled for April 30, 2014 at a location to be determined. • There being no further business, Chairman Kendall adjourned the meeting. 5