Waterways Advisory Committee

City of Marco Island Florida 51 Bald Eagle Drive Marco Island, Florida cityofmarcoisland.com Meeting Minutes - Final Thursday, March 17, 2022 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 March 17, 2022 (1) CALL TO ORDER Chair Crain called the meeting to order at 9:00 A.M. (2) ROLL CALL Present: 6- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Winter, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain Absent: 1- Member Thompson Also Present Councilor Rich Blonna City Staff: Jason Tomassetti, Storm Water Engineer Martin Luna, Video/ Broadcast Technician Trace Barnett, Administrative Assistant for Public Works (3) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Chair Crain. (4) APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chair Crain requested that the Agenda be amended as follows: 1) Add a presentation by Councilor Blonna on the dredging of Big Marco Pass under Item 6. 2) Add a discussion by Member Sokol, on a Resolution for the construction of seawalls under Item 10. MOTION by Member Wordehoff, seconded by Member Sokol, that the Agenda be Approved as Amended. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 6- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Winter, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain (5) APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES ID 22-2141 Approval of the Minutes MOTION by Member Wordehoff, seconded by Member Sokol, that the Meeting Minutes from February 17, 2022 be Approved. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 6- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Winter, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain (6) STAFF COMMUNICATIONS Councilor Rich Blonna advised the Committee that the Big Marco/Capri Pass dredging project has not happened yet. In numerous email comunications, it was learned that The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put in monies for this project from The Federal Infrastructure Bill and that the monies were since removed because the priority for the dredging is for ports and passes that experience the highest Commercial tonnage. Marco Island's passes did not make the list. He was told that the Coast Guard was to make sure that the current channel is marked properly, but the Coast Guard buoys are temporary and they shift and move. The Coast Guard doesn't want to put in permanent buoys because it believed that the channel City of Marco Island Florida Page 1 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final March 17, 2022 was getting dredged. After researching, Councilor Blonna found that the County spends money to dredge Clam Pass, Wiggins Pass, and Doctors Pass with money that comes from two funds: 1) the County Wide Capital Projects Fund and, 2) the TDC Beach Replenishment and Pass Maintenance Fund. Marco Island was always under the responsibility of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers, so a White Paper is being written to present to the Marco Island City Council, requesting the County's help for this project. Councilor Blonna also complimented the Committee on it's good work on tasks related to the Dr. Harper study, and the way it works as a team. Also discussed was: 1) the water treatment, and 2) supporting Isles of Capri being put on sewers. (7) PUBLIC COMMENT None. (8) PRESENTATIONS None. (9) OLD BUSINESS a. Recommendations to City Council (All Members) ID 22-2170 Recommendations to City Council Chair Crain reviewed the Committee's recommendations to the City Council, and the Committee made a few more minor changes. (10) NEW BUSINESS Member Sokol proposed a Resolution for the construction of seawalls to include: 1) the resumption of seawall inspections, and: 2) review of ordinances related to construction, installation, and inspection of those structures. MOTION by Member Sokol, seconded by Vice-Chair Trotter that the Resolution be Adopted. MOTION CARRIED BY THE FOLLOWING VOICE VOTE: Yes: 6- Member Sokol, Vice-Chair Trotter, Member Welty, Member Winter, Member Wordehof and Chair Crain (11) COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS a. Member Availability for Next Meeting April 21, 2022 @ 9:00 A.M. This was not discussed. b. Sharing of Thoughts on Topics of Committee Interest (All) Member Winter raised a question about Atons and Patons being inspected, and if they are being replaced by the City of Marco Island annually when needed. Member Winter also mentioned that he was asked to give a presentation to the Marco Island Yacht Club on the Waterways, but he wants the Committee to endorse his message and presentation. It was suggested that, after the Committee's recommendations to City Council are submitted, those recommendations can then be used as the presentation. City of Marco Island Florida Page 2 Waterways Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - Final March 17, 2022 Member Welty shared a flyer that he received in the mail entitled "Protecting Florida's Water", suggesting it was from Senator Passidomo's office. After some research, he noted there is a bill in the Florida Legislature to possibly undermine what is already being done to clean up Lake Okeechobee. More research will be done by Member Welty, and he will be discussing this further at the next meeting so that the Committee will be able to take a position on this proposed bill. Chair Crain expressed his concern of publicly posted articles by Members of the Committee. Suggesting that they should be posted as an opinion, he proposed that those articles not mention the WAC at all. Even though the examples that he cited was signed as a resident, the WAC was still mentioned in the article. This could lead readers to make the assumption that the information and conclusions are the opinion of the Committee. (12) ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Committee, Chair Crain adjourned the meeting at 10:43 A.M. _____________________________________________ Tracey Barnett, Administrative Assistant for Public Works City of Marco Island Florida Page 3