Waterways Advisory Committee

City of Marco Island Florida 51 Bald Eagle Drive Marco Island, Florida cityofmarcoisland.com Meeting Minutes - Final Thursday, November 16, 2017 9:00 AM Community Room Waterways Advisory Committee Chair: Phares Heindl Vice-Chair: Rodger Parcelles Ben Farnsworth, Monica Pierce, Robert Roth, Steve Sokol, Sam Young City Staff: Chadd Chustz, Lisa Smith Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final November 16, 2017 Chair Heindl called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. (1) ROLL CALL Present: 4- Chair Heindl, Member Sokol, Member Pierce and Member Young Absent: 3- Member Farnsworth, Vice-Chair Parcelles and Member Roth (2) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Led by Chair Heindl (3) APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Member Pierce, seconded by Chair Heindl, to approve the Agenda. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE: Yes: 4- Chair Heindl, Member Sokol, Member Pierce and Member Young Not Present: 3- Member Farnsworth, Vice-Chair Parcelles and Member Roth (4) APPROVAL OF MINUTES ID 17-2098 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes for October 19, 2017 Environmental Specialist Chadd Chustz corrected the verbiage on page four (4) from "Chapter 13" to "Chapter 30". Board Member Young questioned Board Member Farnsworth's arrival time for the meeting and if he was present to vote for the approval of the agenda and approval of the minutes. Recording Specialist Lisa Smith will verify and email her findings to the Committee Members. (The following email was sent to the Committee Members after the meeting: Per Member Young's questioning of Member Farnsworth's attendance at the meeting, the minutes are correct. Member Farnsworth was late to the meeting and was not present for the voting of the approval of the agenda and the approval of the minutes, but was present for the last vote.) MOTION by Member Young, seconded by Member Sokol, to approve the October 19, 2017 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes as amended. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE: Yes: 4- Chair Heindl, Member Sokol, Member Pierce and Member Young Not Present: 3- Member Farnsworth, Vice-Chair Parcelles and Member Roth (5) STAFF COMMUNICATIONS a. Councilor Honig Chair Heindl provided background information regarding the Waterways Advisory Committee and their charge as directed by City Council; water quality and stormwater management. City of Marco Island Florida Page 1 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final November 16, 2017 Councilor Honig disclosed himself as not representing City Council and addressed the Committee Member's concerns on his own behalf. He is seeking to establish a better line of communication between the Committees and Council. He explained the process on how the water quality testing motion that the Committee unanimously approved did not move forward. * if the Committee has a vote that requires funding (anything that requires money is a budget matter); those requests are submitted to Council in writing for the budget process * during the budget process, Council can call for a consensus on any particular line item * water quality testing was a line item budget and received no support from any Councilor, therefore it did not move forward Following discussion, Mr. Honig recommended the Committee establish a "champion" for their Committee and suggested the Committee Members familiarize themselves with the process and rules within the Committee Handbook. He also recommended Chair Heindl set up a meeting with City Council Chair Grifoni to discuss what is necessary and desired, what kind of outcome they want and take their lead from him. Public Comment: Mr. Howard Laskau, 1739 Hummingbird Court, commented how frustrating it is to hear the lack of communication and the policy issues regarding the water quality testing. He advised his article written in the Coastal Angler contained only facts and the purpose of that article was to raise awareness that water quality is an issue that people need to be aware of. Mr. Victor Ordija, 487 Worthington Street, disclosed himself as a member of the Marco Sports Fishing Club and noted that he has seen the water change over the last few years. He is seeing more algae develop in the waters and that impacts the turbidity of the water causing a loss of sea grasses. He is in favor of more water testing in order to find out why water quality is deteriorating. Mr. Rick Woodworth, 908 North Barfield Drive, mentioned he has seen a change in the color and clarity of the water and can no longer see fish or the bottom of his canal. He asked if the Committee Members know what is happening to the water quality and if they do, he asked what is being done to correct it. Mr. Howard Reed, 1065 Bald Eagle Drive, disclosed himself as being on City Council and supports Councilor Honig's comments. He provided his background information and offered to be the "champion" for the Waterways Advisory Committee. ID 17-2110 Water Quality Testing b. Environmental Specialist - Chadd Chustz Marco Island Environmentalist Chadd Chustz gave a powerpoint presentation on the following: *red tide report - harmful aglae blooms forecast near the Caloosahatchee region *no red tide impacts are expected for Collier County through November 17, 2017 *report dead fish or red tide symptoms to Collier County Pollution Control 239-252-2502 *South Beach drone footage from Special Operations Officer Clayton Smith *Marine Officer Josh Ferris is actively discovering and marking waterways hazards *Caution issued to boaters for shoaling and shifting sandbars *Collier Creek surveyed November 6, 2017 at 1.7 feet at low tide *Failure of seawalls during Hurricane Irma *Water quaility - August and September samples have been comprised due to Collier County lab experiencing an interruption in power *Marco Island Total Nitrogen/Phosphorus/Chlorophyll -a graphs City of Marco Island Florida Page 2 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final November 16, 2017 *Enterococcus (baterial indictator) <10 mpn/100 ml *Ocean Habitats (6) PUBLIC COMMENT - None (7) OLD BUSINESS a. ID 17-2101 Seawall Manual Committee Members engaged in discussion with reference to updating the seawall manual, especially with the failure of seawalls during Hurricane Irma. Member Sokol offered to assist in updating the manual. He noted that the issue is whether or not the contractors are following what's in the manual and Ordinance. Following discussion, it was determined by unanimous consensus to place this item on the next agenda. (7) NEW BUSINESS a. ID 17-2102 Stormwater Utility Marco Island Environmental Specialist Chadd Chustz advised the Committee Members that City of Naples Streets and Stormwater Department Director Gregg Strakaluse will be available to attend next month's meeting to answer questions and concerns on how a stormwater utility was implemented in Naples. (8) COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS a. ID 17-2103 Committee Procedures Chair Heindl advised the Committee Members he will set up a meeting with City Council Chair Grifoni and newly elect Marco Island City Manager Niblock to discuss committee procedures going forward and report back to the Committee Members at a future meeting. Committee Member Young asked the Members to consider changing the order of the agenda; to keep the important items at the beginning of the meeting and have more meetings. It was determined to defer this request until all Committee Members were present. Committee Member Young also is asking to move ownership of the Fertilizer Ordinance from the Beautification Advisory Committee (BAC) to the Waterways Advisory Committee (WAC). Environmental Specialist Chadd Chustz responded the Fertilizer Ordinance is codified and does not belong to any one Committee. The BAC is responsible for the public educational component of the Ordinance twice a year but the Waterways Advisory Committee can make recommendations to City Council if they would like to implement changes. Following discussion, it was determined to place a review of the Fertilizer Ordinance on a future agenda and suggested Marco Island Police Captain Dave Baer address the enforcement mechanism regarding the Fertilizer Ordinance. Committee Member Young recommended placing on a future agenda hiring an environmental engineer to review current water test sites and make recommendations in those analyses and he will reach out to Councilor Reed and ascertain if he would like to champion this item. Environmental Specialist Chadd Chustz reminded the Committee Members to review the report issued by Turrell, Hall and Associates, a Marine and Environment Consulting firm that has results and recommendations. Mr. Chustz will email that report to the Committee Members and add it to the next agenda. City of Marco Island Florida Page 3 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final November 16, 2017 Committee Member Young also would like to place on a future agenda the hiring of an engineer to map out the existing swales, examine the islands topography and identify where to dig swales with recommended dimensions. It was determined to defer this request until all Committee Members were present. b. Waterways Presentation to City Council This item was deferred. c. ID 17-2104 Email Correspondance Mr. Jim Timmerman, 831 Perrine Court, read into the record emails of those in support of the Oceans Habitat. He is seeking support from the Waterways Advisory Committee to help enhance this project and the Committee Members unanimously concurred. Public Comment: Mr. Tom Fisher, 1024 Fieldstone Drive, asked if there is a problem or not with Marco Island waterways. He advised the Members he has an ocean habitats at his property and there has been no difference and suggested data be taken from his canal. (9) ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:57 A.M. ____________________________________ Phares Heindl, Waterways Advisory Committee Chair ATTEST: PREPARED BY: ______________________________ Lisa Smith, Recording Specialist City of Marco Island Florida Page 4