Waterways Advisory Committee

City of Marco Island Florida 51 Bald Eagle Drive Marco Island, Florida cityofmarcoisland.com Meeting Minutes - Final Thursday, September 16, 2021 9:00 AM Community Meeting Room Waterways Advisory Committee Chair: David Crain Vice-Chair: William Trotter Committee Members: Steve Sokol, Philip Thompson, Michael Welty, Martin Winter, Eugene Wordehoff City Staff: Jason Tomassetti, P.E., Tracey Barnett Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final September 16, 2021 (1) CALL TO ORDER Chair Crain called meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. (2) ROLL CALL Present: 5- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain Absent: 2- Member Thompson and Member Winter Also Present City Staff: Michael McNees, City Manager Jason Tomassetti, Storm Water Engineer Martin Luna, Video/Broadcast Technician Tracey Barnett, Administrative Assistant Public Works Department (3) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Chair Crain. (4) APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA MOTION by Member Wordehoff, seconded by Member Sokol, that the Agenda be Approved. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 5- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain (5) APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES ID 21-1756 Approval of the Meeting Minutes from August 19, 2021 The Committee noted an error in the Minutes relative to the attributed street address for a member of the public who came forward to offer comment at the August meeting, and passed the Amended Minutes by Consent without a formal Motion and Vote. (6) STAFF COMMUNICATIONS a. ERD Report Update (Jason Tomassetti) Mr. Jason Tomassetti informed the Committee that Environmental Research & Design's report is final and posted on the City's website. There will be no discussion regarding the report until after the next City Council meeting on September 20, where it will be explained by Dr Harper. b. Water Quality Sampling Per Mr. Tomassetti, the monthly testing is available to view on City's webpage, done by Advanced Environmental Laboratories. Chair Crain suggested that more testing around Goodland and the Isles of Capri should be considered. c. Ordinance 21-12 City of Marco Island Florida Page 1 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final September 16, 2021 Mr. Tomassetti explained the modification to Ordinance of 21-12. Marco is a CRS (Community Rating System) community which means that the National Flood Insurance Program recognizes and encourages community floodplain management programs that exceed the minimum requirements and therefore premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk. This rating makes requirements more clear for consultants and developers on what the requirements are for flood management and storm water management but does not include single family homes. In the future if Council approves single family residences, the Ordinance can be modified by deleting one sentence and the Ordinance will apply to the entire island. d. City Manager Mr. Michael McNees, City Manager, explained that the process for addressing the findings brought up by the ERD report takes time. All of the recommendations need to be studied and decision criteria need to be developed around priorities. Also, there are many variables to be considered, such as costs, treatment options, disposal options and cause and effects... all which need to be considered in the decision of which avenues to take. e. Questions/ Comments None at this time. (7) PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Rick Woodworth, previous Chair of the Committee, shared his comments on the ERD report summary page. He highlighted line items that prior Committee members proposed years ago, those of which the City will now take seriously. Mr. Chris Hansen, (Shenandoah Ct.) spoke of water quality and his take on the Comprehensive Plan. He thanked the Committee for what it does. Mr. McNees offered his perspective on the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Jack Williams, (Colonial Ave) says he respects the Committee for all that it is trying to do. Addressing the City Manager directly, he believes that the City is not doing enough for the quality of life which is the "water" in his opinion. All of ERD's findings have been brought up have been brought up before in prior years and the City has not done anything about it. Mr. McNees defended the City and explained what has and is being done as directed by the City Council. The Council wanted to look at options and make smart cost-effective decisions that can generate the best outcome for the City and it's residents. (8) PRESENTATIONS None. (9) OLD BUSINESS a. Residential Stormwater Discharges- Community info & Education Update (Chair Crain) ID 21-1783 Residential Stormwater Discharges- Community Info & Education Update Chair Crain updated the Committee on his five full days of canal cruising to survey illegal water discharges. After reading the ERD report, he feels that he may be wasting his time. He observed about 500 illegal discharges on about 60 % of the Island that he has covered. He can pick back up on the canal surveying if the Committee still feels it is necessary after addressing the ERD findings and City of Marco Island Florida Page 2 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final September 16, 2021 recommendations. b. Water Quality Presentations (Chair Crain: Member Wordehoff) ID 21-1784 Water Quality Presentations Member Wordehoff presented the results of his Marco Hypoxia Investigation. The Committee raised its concern on the accuracy of the figures from Advanced Environmental Laboratories and how the samples are handled for testing. Also Member Wordehoff's use of the word "impaired" needs to be removed before this report can be made public on City's Website. Only the Department of Environmental Protection can characterize water as "impaired", and Marco Island has not been designated as impaired for dissolved oxygen. (10) NEW BUSINESS a. Water Quality Update (Member Wordehoff) ID 21-1785 Water Quality Update The Water Quality Update was included in Member Wordehoff's presentation under item 9b above. b. Public Education/ Social Media (Member Sokol) ID 21-1786 Public Education/ Social Media Member Sokol reported on his conversation with Police Chief Tracy Frazzano on educating the public via social media. Email Blasts are currently sent on behalf of the Police Department on a "Did You Know" and "This Is What's Going On" basis. Member Sokol feels that this would be the best avenue on how to reach the public on educating and helping the waterways. It was suggested to wait until after the ERD report has been explained so that the email blasts and the key topics can be prioritized. The Committee will return to this topic at a future meeting. (11) COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS a. Member Availability for Next Meeting October 21, 2021@ 9:00 A.M. All members of the Committee indicated their intention to be available for the Committee's next meeting on October 21, 2021 @ 9:00 A.M. b. Sharing of Thoughts on Topics of Committee Interest (All) 1- The Committee discussed it's remaining budget for Fiscal Year 2021 and no suggestions were brought up on how to spend it. 2- Mr. Tomassetti will request a presentation by Dr. Harper from Environmental Research and Design to meet with the Committee and to discuss his report further. 3- A Motion and Vote for uploading the Marco Hypoxia Investigation report onto the City's website with correction of the word "impaired" was raised. MOTION by Vice Chair Trotter, seconded by Chair Crain that the Marco Hypoxia City of Marco Island Florida Page 3 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final September 16, 2021 report submitted by Member Wordehoff without the word "impaired" be uploaded to the City's website, be Approved. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 5- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain (12) ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Committee, Chair Crain adjourned the meeting at 10:49 A.M. ___________________________________________________ Tracey Barnett, Administrative Assistant Public Works Department City of Marco Island Florida Page 4