Sustainability and Resiliency Committee - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody. Call the meeting to order. It is Tuesday, January 20th, approximately 12 o'clock, and we're here for the Town Sustainability Resiliency Committee meeting. And Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Chair Daniel Deitch?

Yes.

Vice Chair Patrick Manos? Yes. Committee Member Tiffany Canova? Yes. Chair, you have a quorum.

Excellent. If we could have a motion to move the Town Commission Liaison Report after the approval of minutes, and if we need to, if she's still not here then, then move it to the last, or move it after the discussion of it.

Yes, a motion to move the Town Commission Liaison Report. Is there a second?

Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Perfect. I do not see any members of the public, so we will move on to the approval of minutes. We have a motion to approve. Are there any edits that you would like to make?

No edits. I motion to approve our December 18th minutes.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, let's move on to the discussion items. The first is the Recycling Services Assessment and Optimization Action Plan. I do not know if y'all have a chance to read the email that was sent out. There was an email sent by the clerk with some feedback from a member of the public and a volunteer on bringing up activities. Having read through it, I don't disagree with much of what he has to say. If you want, I can provide specific feedback to it. But I don't think that it changes the path that we're on, which dovetails into this discussion item, which is really an assessment, not just who knows what direction the agenda item will go for the commission. But that is but one part of an integrated approach to assess our recycling program. So education and outreach, labeling, and ongoing oversight. It isn't sufficient to educate and then hope for the best. We have the ability, because of the way that we collect our recycling material, to actually flip a lid assess what's in the container, take a picture, have a conversation with the homeowner, or at least leave a document so that we are being very timely and specific in the feedback so that that family understands the adverse impact that not recycling correctly is having on the overall town recycling rate, the contamination rate, and the cost of service. So I'm gonna put you on the spot. Any update that you can provide, whether there's appetite within the town's administration to conduct a comprehensive recycling services assessment and develop an action plan for implementation?

I'm sure there probably is. We'll discuss with the town manager. But anything we can do for recycling, we're always trying to do so.

We've had, and this predates your tenure, but we've had this discussion item on at least three times with what I hope was clear direction or recommendation from this committee. But we'd like to see some action because it is what I would consider low-hanging fruit. It helps us engage with the community in the lane of sustainability and resiliency and compelling people, making the case for behavior change that will result in higher quality recyclables, reducing the reliance on landfilling, and really demonstrating environmental stewardship from the town.

And saving money for the town, right? Because aren't we charged when people are also saving money?

I want it to have some heft, because clearly it has not risen, and granted, there's been turnover in the town manager's seat, but I want our time and service to this committee to be productive. At least in this realm, I don't think it's been productive.

And I think even from a public work standpoint, to advocate for that initiative, in front of the manager just helps you in your particular area establish a goal and then have some objective benchmarks that you can work towards and even speak about as one of your milestones or one of your accomplishments or successes. the percent of material or the percent of contamination could go down. Those are things that are measurable that would fall under you. And yes, the manager has oversight, but coming up with a plan that is layered, that has... education involved for the staff that has an assessment portion from the leadership going out on the trucks doing random audits and then an education portion with the citizens of this town is a multi-layered approach but it would really put a spotlight on you and and your desire to want to improve the time that you work in but also speak to your to your abilities

Yeah, I know in the past we've put something in the Gazette, just kind of educating the resident as what is Our guys do talk to most of the residents as it relates to what, you know, our recyclables sometimes, but we can always do more, so.

How can we support you? You know, like we were talking about the youth council getting involved too, so like how can we, as our two committees, help support Public Works with this education process? I mean, obviously we're talking about the flyers to educate, but, you know, I mean, But if a resident continuously is not doing things right with the recycling, can they be asked to attend an education class? And I don't know. Is that something that could be not mandatory?

We've tried over the years of hosting forums to engage the community. Poor attendance is being challenged. But we have the opportunity through our vendor contract. We've talked about that in many meetings, but suggestions were shared, and hopefully that will find its way. We host a lot of special events. That's another opportunity to meet people where they are.

But what's the consequence? Because the person across the street from you is still definitely... Not following.

Well, it's the tragedy that comes. It ends up being... Is there a code compliance component?

Is there a code compliance component? Like, hey, if there's three violations, you get a warning, and then you get a fine? I don't know.

Currently, there's... I'm not going to say there's a... What we have done in the past is ask code to go there also and talk to the residents, because I remember one resident, I don't remember the street, but it was because they didn't know. I would say they didn't know. But their garbage can is gone now again.

It's gone. There's no garbage can. It's just a recycling bin.

And that's what was happening. They were putting everything in the recycling bin. We had to tell them to get a regular garbage can and only supply the recycling and what the recycling is for. So we have had that with at least one resident.

And do you recall is this, yeah, do you recall is there something that code compliance actually annotates and then follows up on to see if there's improvement or is it just a conversation, it's hearsay?

Well, once, when code goes there and code gives them a courtesy notice to say, hey, this is what is going on for you to correct this. Once the violation is corrected, they'll take it off their books until it happens again, so.

Sorry. No. There's opportunity. I mean, you get the three long, long secret fix notifications about waste bins overflowing in the business district. There's obviously an opportunity to improve waste management on the oceanfront. To me, it falls squarely into its quality of life issue. To most people, garbage is in sight but out of mind. If there's garbage, they'll look at it, they'll note it, The likelihood of them bending over and picking up a piece of waste that they see on the street and putting it in the proper receptacle is low. But it's an opportunity to elevate the Surfside experience. We're small enough. I consider us a fun-sized community. We have the opportunity to try lots of experiments to see what works and what doesn't work. So just to put an exclamation point on it, Maybe an affirmative recommendation to perform a recycling services assessment and develop an optimization action plan. And I'll make myself available. This is what I do every day. I'm more than happy to help you outside of these meetings to brainstorm and even walk the streets.

Can we have like a resident reporting line? Because this is a thing, it was really windy last week or whatever. Their garbage was blowing down the street into the bay. So we're doing all these beach cleanups and literally boxes are being blown into the bay because they're not in a container. And garbage, I mean, it's just, it's so hard for me to watch it every day. And I'll go down the street chasing, but why am I doing that? You know, I mean, I'll do it.

Some of it may be changing the standards. If you have a waste receptacle, it has to have a lid.

It's a simple thing.

Well, that's a separate issue. That's a code issue. But reminding people, we have side yard service. You do not need to move the waste from the side yard. Because that's, again, quality of life. It conflicts with vehicular traffic. There's a great opportunity to get our arms around this. And I realize it's not the only matter that you're responsible for. But we are ready, willing, and able to support you. to support the town in whatever way is necessary because it ultimately positively affects our quality of life. Okay, so if we could have a motion to... Which part?

Can we do a resident hotline where people can report people violating? Maybe people would get to act together. It's actually the C-Click Fix.

But I can tell you when I drive around, I happen to be, I think it was a week or two ago. No, it was a week or two ago and there was a pile of grass clipping in the middle of the street. And it's a Friday. And it was early enough in the afternoon, late enough in the afternoon, but early enough that I could contact the manager. I took a picture, I sent it to the manager, like, can I get someone to clean this up? So I have that privilege of being able to message the manager. Okay, so that's the place to do this.

I'll do it every day.

But by the same token, the vegetative waste is supposed to be, well, A, if it's a commercial service, they're supposed to take it away. So there's a compliance.

And I have no idea. It was like a broken bag in the middle of the street and the grass was getting everywhere. So maybe it fell off the truck.

And it ends up in the curb and gutter and eventually in the bag.

Yeah, so I closed it in and I passed by later and it was like the bag was picked up but there was still...

I mean, how do you see one falling off of a truck? That's one thing if it falls off a truck where the other one is going to resonate just completely blatantly.

I'm a little naive and a bit of an optimist. If you educate the customer, then it becomes a conscious decision whether they want to follow the guidance or not. But that's the role of, ultimately, code compliance, to make the case or tell the story, why is this important and what can you do? to do that.

And it also builds a sense of community. I have family that lives in the Netherlands, and you would never see this. I mean, people comply in individual towns and neighborhoods. And so one portion is public works, but where's code compliance without us having to engage them? Are they doing their rounds? And are they being proactive about stopping? Or are they waiting for someone to have to call them from public works? I mean, it should be in their purview as well. And for the town's interest. And so, you know, I don't know if that's through the manager, but, you know, are you having those conversations with code compliance to have a keen eye for these type of things that were that will elevate the quality of life, keep rodents and pests away, sanitation wise, etc. So through the chair.

get the calls sometimes because a lot of times one of the challenges that we're having about solid place is they'll put the garbage out after the truck has passed and you know for example on a Friday we're not picking up on a weekend so you want to pick up for the commercial on the Saturday not residential.

Oh I didn't know that changed. Maybe residents don't know that it changed.

Because it used to be Saturday. No, that sacred cow has been eliminated. It's been sacrificed.

Okay, but I didn't know that. Because we used to have Saturday pickup.

Years ago.

Oh, well, I guess.

Like, 2008.

No!

Really? I mean, there were wholesale changes that were made. This is the walk down memory lane. Garbage collectors used to get the day off when they finished the run. And it was changed by an administration that didn't like that. So public work staff would then repurpose to other functions around town so that they worked a full day. One of the issues at the time was the garbage trucks would speed from stop to stop because they were incentivized to finish as early as possible. So that, and the process later.

Okay, then I'm in the minority of not knowing that.

I mean, we all need to have eyes on the town. So if the call comes in, waste has been placed out after the time. If you wait until the next day, even that's too late. I mean, the timeliness is critically important. And to have a record that you can leave with somebody. There used to be a garbage tag. I don't know if there's one for recycling as well.

They do have the garbage tag. I might have to redo it, you know. to come to what is going on now to include the recycling, but they do have a garbage tag that they use.

Okay. And just to sort of tie back to what was shared with us from the plastic fisherman, he's absolutely right, but the labeling is one component. What we're talking about is a comprehensive assessment and action plan that understands the role of the visual to help people, right, when you get to the recyclable container, If that's all we relied on, we'd be fooling ourselves that it's going to be as effective as we want it to be. That's why we're talking about a comprehensive assessment. If we have a motion that expresses our committee's sense of urgency to the town administration to perform a recycling services assessment and optimization action plan.

So I will motion expressing this committee's... And the assessment within the next 60 days. Just so we can make it time-bound. Yeah. Yes, so I will motion that this committee is requesting for the administration to conduct a waste management assessment within the next 60 days as part of a complex initiative to improve the lives.

And to develop an optimization action plan that hopefully can be implemented sooner but no later than next fiscal year.

Right. And to develop an optimization plan that could be implemented before the next fiscal year.

I second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Mr. Chair, is this something you want on the agenda for the commission or is this something that will be handled administratively?

If it is not handled administratively, then yes, we want it. Again, the goal is not to call anybody out. It's to call the issue out and direct the administration to take action. that it has greater it will achieve better outcome by directing the motion to the Commission then we will certainly amend it to do that well the motion is directed to the administration I can speak with administration to see if it's required to go before Commission I mean obviously the plan would probably go before Commission If there's any policy matters, then it should go to the commission, at least for situational awareness, that this assessment will be coming back as a report, and then an action plan, and if there are financial implications, that it will be budgeted appropriately.

And again, as you said, count on me from a project management perspective, even if it came to what's part of this assessment, like what are we looking for, I'd be more than happy to meet with you and help you brainstorm the different things that we want to assess, just so that we're very comprehensive in our approach. I'll speak for all of us.

I don't need to be a part of this. I will help and support and I will do whatever I need to do to help the situation. Awesome. Next item is the fiscal year of 2026, sustainability and resiliency initiatives. Similarly, we've talked about a lot of these over the past many months, and we're really just hoping, I was hoping that someone could provide us with an update. While you're scanning, I will tell you that I did review the solicitation for dune project, and the resiliency dunes, the devoted dunes, are part of the project. So if it is awarded, this item, the second item on the list will be addressed.

Are you aware that there are these piles of sand that were left at the entry to the beach? The former manager claimed those were diverted dunes. I was like, these are not diverted dunes. They need to be removed.

Yeah, there's only two. One is at 96th Street. Surfside built half of a diverted dune. We could not get Bell Harbor to build the other half or allow us to build it on that portion of the land.

And then... And behind the Fendi. Right. Well, no, when they were... I don't even know how it came about because they were doing the beach path, which is done incorrectly. And then these piles of sand were left, I want to say, in front of like between 90th and 91st and maybe another one at 90th. And it was just a big pile of sand blocking the entry. It went on 92nd, too, I believe. And the former manager claimed those were divergents. And I said, these are not divergents.

There's more than just a pile of sand. No, exactly. It needs to have CO2 planted or something planted that will hold the sand in place.

And then it would serve as a... No, I know that was incorrect. Is there a way we can remove those piles? I don't know if they were supposed to be, but it's definitely just a pile of sand. Like somebody dropped it off. Just a big mound. I mean, I have pictures of it. And I just, when I was told it was a dark diver, I was floored because I know the one behind the Fendi and they're not the same thing at all.

that do exist. The town partnered with the Youth Environmental Alliance. There's a gentleman named Lee Gottlieb who is the point of contact. But they are a tremendous resource. So if you have any questions about the river dunes. But again, the current project that's on the street, I haven't looked at the specifications, but hopefully they're not just mounds of sand. They are noted, I just didn't look at them. They are reflected on the plans. I did not look at the notes to see if it was a complete project for those portions, but I would encourage you to make sure that it includes planting stuff like that.

What I'm talking about are mounds of sand just left there. It was done by the previous administration.

Any movement on a Chief Resilience Officer?

Well, that hasn't been budgeted, right?

No.

So you're asking for a budget?

It's sort of a rhetorical question.

I was like, wait, did I miss a meeting?

I'm trying not to have a drip with snark.

Is it posted and we're interviewing?

Well, speaking of that... Vice Mayor, maybe it would be beneficial to just have a discussion item for the commission for their situational awareness of what this committee has identified as priorities for this fiscal year.

Okay.

I mean, I know we're in a weird political time. We have an election around the corner, but we give of ourselves to try to help the town move forward. It's a little frustrating that the initiatives that we identify and give recommendations for are languishing.

Well, I have two items on the agenda. I have the Every Bottle Black. And I mean, it wasn't discussed. is to do the letter of support, not to do the reso. Because you can always come back with the reso and get more funding. I don't think we should give it all away at once. That's fine.

I just don't want to be distracted by other opinions. I think that having proper labeling is part of a solution. It's not the solution. And the guidance that we've been given over our tenure is if we can find somebody else's money to pay, that makes a project possible.

My concern and the reason for the other opinions is that when I the two people, they said, and it's the issue of, you know, accepting the plastic bottles. We know they're bad, but now we're accepting them and saying they're okay because we're going to get you to return them.

Well, but I think that's a stretch. I would love for the town, I mean, we've talked about it, the town eliminating single-use plastic bottles at town events and in town facilities.

I tried. I got there to a point. We're not there fully. I've try again, maybe with recommendations of different bottle types. I think the aluminum is the best way to go.

I would say reusable is the best way to go. Oh yeah, of course. We can cure it, but we also have to be cognizant of people like easy. Yeah. And I was at a Chamber of Commerce event last week talking about solid waste management in Broward County. So there's Bean Fur who, the young commissioner, but is the champion for Broward County. Jack Seiler, former mayor of Fort Lauderdale and a lifetime in public service, was the moderator. Also on the panel was the League of Women Voters. Well, I get to the table and there's a single-use plastic bottle.

Yeah.

So I brought my own so quickly. I moved it away and I spoke to the event organizer and said, you know, it sends a long signal.

Yeah. And I think that goes, it ties all back to the assessment portion because I know that like Tiburon County, which is one of the gold standards in the United States and California, they have, they hold their residents to such strict standards rules, but then it was recently in the news where a lot of the staff and even a lot of residents are doing exactly the opposite of what they say they do. That's not the message that I want. I want us to lead from our leadership and be an example for the residents so that it's contagious, so that people follow in our footsteps. Why are we saying that we're doing all these things and then we don't adhere to it ourselves, or we don't believe in the why. And so with this initiative, with the labeling, yes, I don't want any plastic at all, but being that we're not there yet, this is going to help so that the plastic that we do have hopefully goes into the right place. Until we get to this point... And then you can reassess what our initiative is then, but not doing anything seems a little more harmful.

I get that, and that's why I will recommend the letter of support. Coming ground. We're not celebrating the use of plastic bottles.

We're taking the money from this group to print our educational materials that we can get out.

And that's why I feel the Renssel goes too far, the letter of support. vendors so we just didn't get to these items hopefully we do so i can add The dune management should be on there. We're waiting for the bids. So that will be on there.

So I'm not certain that beach renourishment funding is part of our, I think it's part of our legislative priorities because it was just copied over from last year.

Yes, the manager is very concerned about our shoreline. So he's looking into what we can do. Okay.

So, one is Tallahassee, the other is Miami-Dade County. And, so years ago, you may recall, there was a Mayor's Beach Alliance that was formed because the county was, Jimenez was the mayor at the time, and he was joking us around, oh there's no money, and blah, blah, blah. He found a way, because pressure was applied. And within a few years, So it does require a full court press, and I would suggest in at least two directions, county, state, but also partnering with other units of government.

But the manager has identified that as a priority in a short time.

Were you able to attend the South Florida Regional Climate Compact?

I only attended once during my term. I did go to the, it was a sustainability summit in Key Biscayne, I went to that one. That was recent.

So again, that's in the category of increasing intra-governmental cooperation and engaging with our other units of government, so either we're identifying opportunities, learning the lessons from other implementation, and working together because we've shown the value of that type of approach to get to a better outcome.

Can you remind me, how did Bal Harbour qualify for the federal renourishment?

They pulled sand from the other side of Haulover. They get what's known as bypass sand, and that's like an annuity. It will accumulate in however many years it takes to reach that critical mass. Because it's considered navigable, it has to be cleared out, so they simply pump it from The good news is we'll eventually get that sand, it's just not placed where we want it. But it will migrate. Reef protection, so this is on Mia. I'm going to reach out to Brandy and see if we can get her to present at the next meeting, which we'll talk about the scheduling of that meeting.

The Resort Checks Board was looking into having a reef built. We're working with the U of M, but so far it's kind of stalled. The last I heard is that they said we could do permitting because the permits take a long time. However, if they don't get the project funding, because we were trying to say, well, if you don't get funding, we could fund it ourselves because it was through the resort tax board. It's kind of a little bit out of standstill because they may go forward with the

What kind of reef are they? I mean, are they talking about the reef line type installation or an artificial reef, either with construction demolition debris, concrete, or taking a decommissioned vessel and sinking it?

No, it was neither of those. I'm not quite sure. I had gone to U of M, and they toured us and showed us different coral, how they were rebuilding coral that was becoming extinct, basically. I guess I can find out more information. We're working with... Sorry, his name escapes me at the moment.

Any information you could share with this committee through the clerk, that would be fantastic.

Okay, I could share an email trail of where we left off.

Wasn't there a discussion of continuing the Miami Beach project?

That's the reef line.

We did send the resolution. This is something separate?

Oh, that's for the line that will keep vessels.

Oh, I thought they were doing the column. That's the reef line.

But we had a presentation many, many months ago about designating the area. Oh, got it. And then what? The barrier. Got it.

So that hasn't been approved yet is what we're saying. The latter. Well, the committee asked for a resolution. I did get that done. It was a difficulty at the time. As your chair knows. But we did get it done. We did send a result supporting that project. So I guess there's a few different things going on. Yes. Because, yeah, the Resort Tax Board, it was a specific reef, and it was with the University of Miami. Okay.

So I'm just going to put it in the form of a motion because otherwise it sometimes disappears. But we have a motion to have the information from the tourist board meeting or meetings related to reef development shared with this committee. Oh, geez, that's a lot. I'd like to take a motion.

This is so moved.

Oh, so moved. Okay.

Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye.

I want to be repealed.

Okay. Bringing the town operations, that is what we talked about, but the Vice Mayor indicated that they're moving forward with special event contracts, which addresses this. I spoke with Francisco Torres yesterday, and I've committed to him that I would raise Our interest, as we've expressed in the past, to engaging with Compost for Life or a similar service provider to provide compost and services for waste that's generated at town facilities. Maybe it starts at the community center, maybe it starts at town hall, but it is something we can lead by example and let the town show the community What is possible, I would also encourage engaging with the representative from the Surfside Community Garden because that's another location that has people that are willing to get involved.

I just wanted to clarify that the items on the agenda hasn't been discussed yet regarding the contracts with the vendors. So it's a waiting direction. Essentially it's a waiting commission direction.

I'm sorry, regarding the compost for life, would that require public works to engage in negotiating a contract with them to enable their services?

However the town manager wants to handle it, but I would certainly... advocate for having public works at the table.

Okay. Because if, for example, in the community garden, if we establish a contract, it would be to have a compost hub, so to speak, at the community garden?

It could be, or it could simply be bring your food waste there, and Compost for Life or a similar company would pick it up and take it to them. That would be wonderful. I know that most of the companies... Earlier this week, he was meeting at the surf club because they are looking to become a customer. Good for the surf club, but I believe the surf side should be winning.

The amount of waste in individual households combined in the United States, I had to do this for my master's thesis, is out of control. The amount of food that we're wasting and the food disparity and hunger that there is in the world there's so many things that people don't even know that they could put into that compost that are then used to re-nourish our earth, right? That we need food for our future generations. So this is such a special thing that we can do, and not just for our interests, this is for hundreds of generations coming forward. If we could really speak to, because I know I've also met with him. I went to the sustainability meeting at the Carillon that was sent. I think maybe Vice Mayor mentioned it. I went there and he presented and a lot of people were excited. The hotel itself is doing a lot regarding sustainability, many sustainable practices, including their chef and their restaurant. So if we can be that gold standard here in this town, I think that would be wonderful.

That's the kind of town I want to live in.

Oh, definitely.

Through the chat, I know I had seen, I guess it was a video webinar, Pinecrest has initiated composting, where they actually have the, I think they got a grant, and they actually have the little bins, people can get them at their houses, and they have a space they deposit it at. So that's...

week to get grant funds it's something that the town can do exactly and require our town vendors to do it yes we're hosting the market on the weekends rather than having that food waste go to landfill let's say we didn't get composted so you're saying starting with the surfside driven

events and our town.

I'm saying start with Surfside Facilities.

Right, start with Surfside Facilities and events, and then when we can figure out the resident portion, we'll figure that out.

But let's start... Let's just advertise the service and let Francisco market it for residents. But I find it easier if the town leads by example. Right, we're doing this. We're presenting this as an opportunity. We're not telling you how to do it, but look how easy it is and look at the benefits. rain barrel workshop we talked about has there been any movement and reaching out to the county to schedule a rain barrel workshop in town In the last week we talked about increasing the rainwater pooling resiliency on the hardpack and walking path and what was shared is that the town has ordered the appropriate sand so we can do some work ourselves but also there are development projects that's creating part of the problem

To the chair we have, for example, Ocean House. I've spoken to them before. They have done some of the restoration of their property. We're trying to get some of the other developers to actually maintain the hard pack while our guys still do some work.

Maybe poke them a little harder. Let them know that we'll be submitting claims for dirty dogs and dirty sneakers and they can contribute to a fund. It's dangerous.

It's dangerous, yeah. It's a not level ground to walk in. We have some seniors and we have a lot of tourists and residents and we want to keep them safe besides just having an aesthetic look. It's dangerous.

Recognizing that sometimes there's a gap between having the available resources to do it. One thing that the former public works director would do is they would paint around the edge of where the puddle is. That way if it evaporates or... dries up quickly, you still have, and I wouldn't paint that as safe for the environment, but that way that you know a couple days later where you're going to practice.

Okay. I will have them practice that too. That's a good idea. And I recognize that a lot of things are coming back to you, so I don't know, through the clerk, if there, I'm sure there was an invitation for our town manager, but just if we can have I don't know if this is something that would be in your scope, but to kind of prompt him again to invite him for next meeting or to stress that the committee would really like to have him here for support and to kind of have a dialogue so we could move some of these things and we can all think together. I think this is the appropriate forum for that to happen. Thank you for listening. I'll take that answer.

an omission on my part. I thought it was clear in the agenda items, but sometimes what's clear in my head is not clear to others. So in the past, I've reached out to Clark to be very specific that we're looking for the town manager to address matters.

The town manager is in Tallahassee today. He's advocating for the town.

Understood.

There's lots of reasons why, but sometimes if you think you're communicating, but it's not being received, then it's really on the, it's the responsibility of the communicator.

I mean, is that something we want to move the meeting, our meeting for, if we know who's going to be in Tallahassee at a certain time?

I think it's particular because session just began.

Through the chair, yes. For like last meeting, we wouldn't have known he was going to go for sure. Got it.

Yeah, this was decided at our meeting about a week ago. Got it.

And when the town manager is away, is there an acting town manager or he's still on call? To the chair, basically.

I don't know. I mean, he is the acting town manager, but I don't think there's no assistant town manager that would take his place yet.

He's really just away for overnight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Thank you.

So I think in terms of direction, we could have a motion to direct our liaison to bring this information to the town commission so that they have insight into what we've been talking about and what this committee could prioritize. Do we have a motion to that effect? Motion. Second. Second.

Chair, if I may, if you could just specify the motion, exactly what it should be.

The motion is to request that the liaison or vice mayor bring the Attachment A, and if you want to bring, it's not the longest item, but... if you want if you're going to include a cover letter and you need any assistance i'd be glad to help craft the cover letter but at a minimum to ask our liaison vice mayor to move forward by placing a discussion item on the next commission meeting that identifies the our recommended fiscal year 2026 sustainability and resiliency initiatives okay is that acceptable yes And we move your item, which is the liaison report, to after the discussion item. So let's have the floor is yours.

Thank you. So some of the things that I mentioned regarding the agenda items, the other thing is good news that we are going to have our first kind of tiles seawall at 96th Street Park. Something.

Yeah, that is, I mean, just speaking for myself, it's been one of the frustrations of this committee. We think about it and we have conversations. Every month. And a lot of what we've been talking about, we're still talking about. So it's not a criticism, it's an observation. And maybe we're not approaching it the right way. So if you ever have feedback of how we can be more effective... We're not going to offend us. We would rather know that there's a better way to move items forward.

Even if there's things on our priority initiatives list that you're like, look, that's not going to happen. I'd rather know that and not discuss it. This we can move forward with and this is how you can support me. It's just getting hard for us to meet every... And I know that's not my walk in the climate, the climate walk and talk. I did connect Tiffany and the director. Oh, where do I put this on the agenda?

You could have a motion to add it under new business. Okay. So you can discuss it. Okay.

Can I make a motion to add to the agenda? I was hoping he was going to be here, but... update on the climate walk and talk I'm scheduling the climate walk and talk I connected them so I connected them and I just I can reach out to him directly I guess to see if they followed up but I didn't To Rudy. To Rudy, Rudy. Yeah, so I connected Tiffany Troxler with Rudy through an email. I don't know what's happened since then, so I just want to give the community an update that I'll just follow up. I was lucky to be here, but, so I'll just follow up to see what the status is, so.

a request for it for the clerk if there are any action items that any of us around the table today and in the future have make commitments if you could just capture that as an action item and if you could get that to us before we get the agenda package because that often drives putting other items on on the agenda so let's say within a week of of any given meeting if you're going to send us a bullet list of action items that way we can keep track of it a little easier like as in if a committee member said they would do something then i added to this i'll give you an example i'm committing to reaching out to brandy reddick from reefline to see if she is willing to come to our next meeting

Okay. So then I would remind everyone.

Send it out to everybody. Otherwise.

Like a week in advance?

If the action items can be shared with this committee within a week, a week following each meeting.

A week following. Okay.

Because that gives us two weeks to actually deal with it because the agenda needs to be submitted.

So I'll follow an action item for me is to follow up with Rudy to make sure he's connected with Tiffany Troxler. Okay. Resilience 305, right? That's what it's called. Resilience 305. The other things, and I don't know if this could be, I don't know where it is. I know I committed to submitting something and I couldn't find it for an agenda item and I couldn't find it in the minutes and I totally... What was I supposed to submit? Was it about the lobbying for next year?

Through your chair, that would be for next meeting. So I can also add that to the action items that you were going to submit an item talking about the... For the February meeting? Yes.

I can't remember what I committed.

We could check in the minutes. It's in there. Okay, I was trying to find what I said I was going to submit.

I thought you committed to writing the next sustainability... No, I definitely did not.

I know I did not commit to that, but you did convince me to submit an agenda item, and I was looking for it in the minutes, and I couldn't clearly find what it was supposed to be, but I think it was something about the lobbying.

Yes, it was in there. It was for the February meeting. For the February meeting.

If you can pull that out, that would be great, and I will submit that, I promise.

Yes. The email I forwarded this morning was sitting in my draft box for a week. There you go. I had another draft, and I said, oh, it was never sent.

Oh, I have a question. Do you have a contact or how do we go about, is that something that's administratively taken care of? I noticed that there's not some garbage bins on the path in certain areas. Specifically, I noticed by the Grand Beach Hotel, there's no garbage bins there. at the entrance of the beach.

It's the county that's responsible, but the town can advocate.

You know, we had that issue when we first had the chair service behind the community center.

The bins were moved.

I noticed there's no bins there, and I asked, can you move the bins back, because I think Maybe they had moved them. I'm not sure.

Because that's a high traffic area. There's a lot of tourists going out to the beach service there. So there's a high potential of trash. There's a lot of trash right there. And there is trash there.

I walked back there. I thought it gets bad by us. It's quite worse over there.

It's an aspiration. We're not there yet. But wouldn't it be nice if we also had a recycling receptacle? Oh. But the confidence is low that people would use it for its intended use. But again, let's set these audacious goals because one of our opportunities and challenge is we're not just the residents of Surfside. We're a tourist-based community. So there are lots of people who are cycling through. And we want to be clear visually and in words what we're committed to and what we're expecting of folks.

Through the chair. Just to mention, we just renewed the beach raking contract. And I requested information because raking used to be done by the county. And the schedule was in there from what the company does, but apparently, I don't know if the county, you know, I was trying to see are services being dissipated? Are we raking too frequently and that's causing the depletion of the sand? so i did uh and we approved the contract but i did request additional information to see where we are as far as uh where the two meet okay you just bought yourself an action item if you could report back what you've learned that would be great i i mean well i know you were mayor during um we we never had raking service it was always the county correct so it that changed in the past two the past uh

I should say yeah and I think the clerk forwarded an article about the Sargasso management yes where other coastal communities are working with the county I just want to make sure the intention is to make sure that we are part of the conversation so I'm not left behind because if there are opportunities to beneficially use that awful and I'm trying to find out where we are because we're

I'd love to get the information.

I'd love to get the information. I'll give myself an action item. I will reach out to Commissioner Cotto again to see if he's looked at the applications for our committee, for members that are interested in our committee. I've talked to a couple citizens in our community that said that they've applied and have never heard back. And then I will reach out now for a third time to Commissioner Velazquez, which has not answered any of my emails to see if she has anyone that she'd like to interview for appointment. And if I don't hear back, then I'll escalate. I don't know if it's to the mayor or if you just don't do anything about it.

Please do.

But there should be an escalation path if the commissioner's not getting back.

If I may make this, perhaps because it's their appointments, the rest of the commission doesn't see the applications. If we see the applications, then maybe we could make a recommendation to them.

Sounds like Angie just earned an action item. If you could circulate those applications to the entire commission, then maybe it's going to be Sandra's responsibility.

Because the problem is they said they haven't had time to review it or they don't have anybody, and I have no idea who applied. Oh, that would be wonderful.

I wouldn't... I wouldn't want the excuse to be made, oh, you know, the election is in two months or less. Let's push it forward. So an action item for Sandra is to distribute those to the commission and add, unless it would have to be through the manager, to add the appointments to the agenda. It's on there.

Yes, it's always on there, but then sometimes it doesn't get heard, right?

No, it's at the beginning, so it does get heard, but... They say they don't have any buyers.

So if all the applicants could be forwarded to the entire commission so that somebody can troop the power and say, well, you've had X number of candidates.

No, they say they haven't had time to review it or they don't have anybody. So we get both reasons, but we don't know who.

But if everybody has them, you could say, you know, what a privilege. I've reviewed the applicants, and I just want to... recommend this person, make it easy for them.

More transparent.

Any other new business items? And my apologies, I have a conflict next meeting, February 19th. And I know for certain my schedule generally, and I would like for me if she heard me saying this, I have a number of projects that are all hands on deck and I'm getting called into meetings. So I'm going to ask if we can change the meeting because at the current rate we won't have a quorum anyway. So I'd rather aim for a date that is good for everybody. And I'll offer my apologies in advance if I'm scheduled for a meeting beyond my control. Understood.

Okay, so I'm just checking to see what other dates may be better. Maybe.

And I can be flexible on time depending on what the day is.

Okay. So we could put forward either Monday, February 23rd or Wednesday, February 18th. The 23rd is great. The 18th is great. So for the 18th, we have the special master hearing, which ends usually right at 12. So if you wanted that day, maybe we could move it a little bit later, 12.30 or 1. Or for the 23rd, if you want to keep 12.

Both work for me. Both work for me. The 23rd, I think, works a little better.

The 23rd works better? Is there any way we can do it in the morning?

Like, right here? Like at 10 or 10.30? Yeah. Does that work for you on the 23rd?

Yes. Yeah, that would be great.

Then I only have to move one meeting.

If you could share that. Or if we have a motion. Yes, there's been a motion.

A motion to move our February meeting to the 23rd of February at 10 a.m.

Okay.

For a second?

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Any opposed? If you could send out a notification. Yes.

I'll update the... the invite and then we'll update the agenda deadlines too. Thank you. Awesome.

So I don't get your invites.

Really?

Sounds like a personal problem. I know.

I put them in my calendar myself, but... You're included in the email distribution.

I know. I get your emails. I don't get... Did you actually send a meeting calendar invite or no?

Yes, we sent... I think it's like a mass invite at first, like at the beginning of the year. Including all the dates?

I don't get those. It's like an Outlook thing. I know, I'm an Outlook. Trust me, I work with like 12 different organizations. I get all of theirs.

It comes from Genesis?

Right. She's the one who distributed it. But she sent it to the committee in general.

What email address do you have for the meeting invite? Maybe it's a typo. Let me check. I mean, I do it myself, which is fine. I don't mind doing it myself, but I'm getting a little left out. That's not really true.

It's just your tiffanycanava at gmail.com. Tiffany Canava. Is there two N's in Canava? Yes. It seems to be right.

Okay.

I could also forward them to you if that would help. That's okay.

But I'm not getting anything else done either. If we're invited to youth council or something, I don't get those.

Did you get the items forwarded this morning? I'm getting the emails. Just not the calendar.

I just don't get the calendar invites. Check this down.

Sounds like you need a millennial to help you out. And when you're done, send them on a ride.

I'm telling you, I get everybody else's.

I could include you separately if maybe that would help.

Can you do two email addresses in the committee for me?

Or no? I could ask if we could add you twice. No, but then yes. No, okay.

Or maybe a different one? TiffanyCanava at gmail.com is what you have. That's so weird. Okay, forget it. It's okay. I don't want anything subpoenaed from my work email address. All right.

I'll figure it out. So as I'm winding up to ask for a motion to adjourn, I just hope that the... Can I ask another question after we adjourn, just on the process of the election and stuff? If it's outside the purview of this. I think so. I hope that our discussions are not seen as an attack. We're ready to roll up our sleeves and help in whatever way. And just see it as an opportunity to engage with the community in a more meaningful way in terms of resource stewardship and align that with the practices we have.

I motion to adjourn our meeting. Second. All in favor? Aye.