Environmental Advisory Board - Regular Meeting

All right, I'd like to call the order meeting. Today is July 6th. It's 531. We're in City Hall, room 244. Roll call. Tim Drum, President.

Robin Santacente, Member. Casey McGowan.

Where's your band member? Kathleen Zimmer. And Stefan Caleb, Board Liaison. Board Special Administrator.

Very good. All right, let's stand for Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Hit the button because nobody hit it.

Nobody hit it? Yeah.

All right. So for all the board members, if you'd like to turn your mic on. And then don't touch it because it makes lots of noise. Yours isn't on either. Step on it if you need it. All right. Public comment.

Chuck English in person.

Good evening, everybody. Recently went before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and presented a proposal planning to seed And what it do is it relates to this piece of property here, which is a wetland that is just east of the Circle of Honor, which is on the left. The proposal is to incorporate that piece of property into the Circle of Honor footprint. Okay, there are several reasons why. One, it's the last vestiges of any form of natural habitat on city campus. Two, it is a unique and diversified ecosystem by virtue of the fact that it is native and shall we say, what's the word I'm looking for? Undisturbed?

No. Biodiverse? The diversity is the fact that it's naturalized.

Natural habitat and naturalized habitat. It also appears to be at the far right, that wooded area is a transitional zone of the wetland. It is the only wetland that the city could utilize as a learning tool. Parks doesn't have one with that type of ecosystem. The Parks and Rec said that they will put it on their agenda for discussion. I am seeking that you all do the same. The simplest way, the logistics still have to be worked out. There is a trail around it, it's fragmented, okay, and as I said, it's just a seed being planted. And I would like you also to put it on your next agenda for discussion. In fact, you only meet every two months now. And I need to have something prior to, I wanted to have something prior to going back to Parks and Rec, which is fine. The easiest and simplest way to protect it at this time, until logistics can be put together, is to place it under conservation. And that can be done, I believe, by resolution. And that's the spiel on that one. And I'm also going to chat about debt water. There are significant concerns there. OK. I'll come back. Thank you very much. That's the first one.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. All right. We need to approve the minutes. That's item 26-0913. Is there any discussion?

I'll make a motion to approve the April 6, 2026 minutes. Seconded.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Yes. Did you second?

I did. Yeah. All right.

What about the May 4th meeting?

I'll make a motion to approve the May 4th, 2026 minutes. Seconded.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. So they're both approved. Moving on, item six, updates. 26-0891, new environmental advisory board's member introduction. So for this, since we do have some new members, we're just going to briefly say who we are, how long you've been in the city, and why you're looking forward to serving on this board. I will go first. My name is Tim Drum. I've been a resident here since 2006. Grew up, I lived in Port Charlotte my whole life. I know the area quite well. I'm an engineer by trade, so I design lots and lots of homes around here. So I know the impacts of the environment, all the stuff that it does. So that's why I am here and glad to be serving on this board.

I'm Robin San Vicente. I've lived here for 26 years. I'm an environmental and wildlife consultant with a specialty focus on the Florida scrub jay and the gopher tortoise. and everything that goes within that. I'm also a legal research analyst as well.

Casey McGowan. I'm retired. I've lived here five years. I'm just a regular dude that likes watching birds.

Yeah, I'm Rick Vance. I've been living in the North Pole for 10 years. I've been a flyer for 16. I'm a retired police chief from Massachusetts. I served 18 years as a police chief and over 32 with law enforcement. And I've really like involved in the board because I do a lot of outdoor activities. I kayak a lot. I do a lot of fishing. So I get to see, you know, some areas of the city. We do a lot of fishing in the canals and stuff. So I have a kind of unique perspective of what's going on there. So that's really kind of where I want to get involved. I'm all sportsman too. So I'm concerned about, you know, the the wildlife, the building and city, and the impacts on the environment.

My name's Anne Lane. I've been teaching at Northport High School for five years. I started there with teaching the college-level chemistry, ACE chemistry, but now I teach ACE environmental management and environmental science. So that has been my focus, and I want to lead by example with my students, so I've joined them.

I'm Megan Taylor. I was born here in Northport. So I've been here for 17 years. And I'm a rising senior at Northport High School. And I took the ACE environmental class. I really enjoyed it. And I just love to spend time outside and would love to see Northport's natural landscape be preserved and protected.

Thank you. Well, welcome.

Welcome to the new members. Great to see you, Anne.

Nice to see you, too.

My name is Stefan Califf. I'm the board liaison. Currently, I'm the natural resources manager with the city. And I have my experience for several years in the government sector with the Sarasota County, Charlotte County, Florida Department of Environmental Protection. And prior to that, I was in the private field working for a lake and wetland management company. up in sarasota i have been in this field for about 15 years so quite passionate and always my favorite part i learn something new pretty much every day and i get to meet some wonderful people so thank you all for being so passionate and for being here very good all right moving on

Item B, 26-0892, update from the Natural Resource Division.

Yeah, thank you, Chair. So, not too many updates over the past few months. We have done quite a lot with the land acquisition program, and I am planning to update our city commission towards the end of the month. There will be a meeting that hopefully we'll be able to schedule my presentation on that agenda that is getting approved right now. So there will be an official update there, but long story short there, we have reached to several property owners and a few of them have responded back to us. There are some exciting properties and at this point we are seeking final okay from commission before we can potentially start the acquisition process. Now, please be aware that this takes some time. Usually there is an appraisal. involved and then there are several other steps after that everything can change it's dynamic so nothing certain but we are committed on our end and we will also learn a bit more about the process ourselves as well In the meantime, we're partnering and coordinating with Sarasota County. They have an entire division that deals with that. In our case, we're a bit smaller than them, but we're learning. So that's one quick update. Also, I'm not sure if you were able to drive on Sumter south of here. They were about 80, I believe 83 new trees planted. They're pretty good sized trees. They came with irrigation as well. So that's part of a excuse me, not contract, a grant that we were able to secure through the state.

I was going to mention that, promising.

So yeah, we're excited that finally we were able to put the trees in the ground. Correlates perfectly with the late rainy season that hopefully will be an actual rainy season this year. Other than this, I really don't have too much from the natural resources, but if you have any questions, I would love to answer them.

Any questions?

All right. Moving on, item C, 26-0897, discussion regarding capturing the economic benefits of the actions of the Natural Resource Division and discuss framework on how to measure such impacts.

Yeah, thank you, Chair. If I may say a few words real quick, this was an item that one of the members brought up. Actually, two members, I believe, Member San Vicente and Member McGowan. And they thought that that would be a wonderful opportunity to discuss ways to frame the environmental benefits of our work. So with that, I'll let the board.

So Fred, I sent a memo, a draft memo to the group. Probably didn't get that. Stephon, do you have that? Can we put that on the screen?

I am not sure why that didn't update.

I can email it to you. Anyway, the thought process. We all know that when you do something good for the environment, it's great. But in the realistic world of budgets and accountability to the taxpayers, I think it's real important that we start measuring the economic impact of some of these programs and activities. There's all sorts of data out there about, right? You have tree canopy as an example, what that does. to everybody that owns a home here. Flood mitigation. Anything like that has an economic benefit. resources division to have is, look, when we're putting together a big program, not only here's why it's good for the environment, but also this is why it makes economic sense. So at budget time, right, it's a zero sum game. People are making decisions on either you get to do this program or you get to do that program. And you want to be in a, I think we want our guys to be in a position, and gals. to be in a position that they can justify those programs. I mean, that's kind of how the real world is.

And if I could just add to that, I'm also interested on the actual impacts to the environment of development and what the percentage of that impact is. Let's say the percentage of wetlands that are affected through development, the loss of habitat, What exactly is the percentage of our tree canopy coverage? I think the comp plan states 18 to 30 percent or something like that. Where are we now? Like I'd love to have a starting point where we begin to start to capture the percentages of what exactly are we doing and impacting the environment and the wildlife. What is the percentage of that impact? What is the economic benefit versus the environmental impact to wetlands, to species, to habitat loss, to fragmentation? I'd love to start seeing us actually start to capture that. And I don't know the best way to go about it as far as the city capturing that. So maybe there's input from staff that you could recommend a software. I know there's plenty of tree software out there and so forth. And I'm even going to bring in mosquito management into that, too, and the browning out of our lakes, mostly from the county, because I think we're doing a better job. But I'd like to capture all of that and what is the best way we can do that and what is What is the recommendation from staff so we can actually start capturing that? How can we actually do that?

So we have a scorecard that's started. I mean, that would be the, in my mind, that's where you put something like that.

So capturing that and putting it onto the scorecard, yes. But how are we actually going to capture that?

So I think that's a great point too, right? And you'll notice that in the memo I put together, I was intentionally not specific. I wasn't prescriptive and said, it has to be this, this, this, and this. I think we want Stefan's team to kind of work through that. This is what makes sense. And let them figure it out on the run. When we started the scorecard, the things already changed some, because it's kind of a living, breathing document. And I think we're better served doing that and letting them have input. we'll lose a lot of time trying to get it quote perfect. It's never perfect.

Any input on how we can begin to start capturing these elements?

Yeah, absolutely. So I think the first step would be discuss which elements you would be most interested in knowing more about and I wanted to start with the fact that it's quite challenging to quantify certain natural resources and there are some statistical means that exist that make it much easier for more static type of resources such as tree canopy But when you get to wildlife, things get a lot more dynamic and challenging. On the other hand, just wanted to explain that as well, the good news as far as water quality, air quality, we have some data. We also are able to collect some data as far as our work with natural resources permitting, reviews, site inspections, and so forth. Yeah, it really depends. Just wanted to remind or educate the new members that the purpose of the board is to discuss these topics and potentially come up with some recommendations that you can then make to our commission. And it's not really to assign work to any staff employee, but it still can bring some great ideas. And if it's something that's fairly easy and great idea to me, I can implement it right away. But some of these ideas may require commission direction because like everything else, everything's time and money and we have limited resources. within the natural resources team. So just keep that in mind, but the environmental scorecard is a, it's going to be an ongoing evolving process as member McGowan stated. So we can make some adjustments and tweaks to capture our natural environment.

question before we start discussing the elements. So you have the permitting process and the development review.

Yeah.

So if we were to look at the permitting process so we can get let's say a percentage of the wetlands that are being impacted, can we not look at the permitting process and the development projects that are approved in order to begin to capture that percentage and In other words, we've issued this amount of permits for these amount of developments, and this is the mitigating aspect of what we've had to mitigate for wetlands. Can we not capture that through the permitting systems?

That's going to require some changes with our permitting software, which I can tell you that if possible, it will be quite costly and labor intensive and will require involvement by potentially third parties outside of the city. Something that's quite helpful here is that the state also has their mitigation tracking system pertaining to wetland impacts. So perhaps they have a good means to quantify those. We do not right now. We just take it on case-by-case basis. as we concentrate our efforts elsewhere. Everything's possible. It's just everything also may cost a good amount of resources.

But as a board member and an environmentalist, I'm concerned about the actual impacts that we're having on the environment. And I don't want to hear we can't. I want to hear, what is the best way to capture that? How do we begin to measure that? As a board, what direction do we give to staff to begin to research on how we can begin to implement some of these impacts that we're looking to see and get? So I'm assuming that the first way that we need to start is come up with what we want to actually see impacted, and then memo it out to you. And then you would then take that memo, research it, and get back to us on how or can we implement it, and this is how much it would cost to implement it. I'm just trying to cut the time in half to find the best way on how we can actively pursue this and actually get the answers we need.

Yeah. So just wanted to... to explain that this is absolutely a possibility. And yeah, I don't mean to say no like that. It's definitely not a no. It's It's a possibility a lot of these impacts can be quantified. Certain ones are easier than others. But yeah, it would start with a good meaningful discussion between the members and see what you're most interested in. I can provide feedback about the environmental scorecard because some of these may overlap. We're already committed towards the environmental scorecard. We're also going to do We're going to complete another tree canopy assessments by the end of this year That will be the most recent one. So yeah, I think that there's some overlap and for those other items You you can recommend Whatever you may see fit.

So So I view these as two separate recommendations Whatever. What I'll talk about is the end game behind that is giving these guys the tools to make recommendations on their programs in budget time. This is the impact of the homeowners versus, right? We develop this many acres of land. This is how many wetlands we wiped out. And this is what we think the species thing was.

I think those are two separate recommendations. Yeah, I would agree with that.

Because I think the economic one is pretty straightforward, and I think I laid it out there, but we definitely probably need to get our heads around what we think Correct. What about anybody?

I don't know what's on the scorecard. So I would have to look at the scorecard to see what data is being collected already. But my question would be how often is that scorecard updated? And you just talked about the tree canopy, which I would imagine is part of the scorecard. Is it? Is it not?

In part, but the process is different there. The scorecard is updated annually, and the tree canopy assessment is once per two years. Great question.

Yeah, so with the list of other things that I've heard being discussed, I don't know how many of those things are on the scorecard and what's being looked at already. So that would be a question on my mind. Can we pull the scorecard up?

Yeah, we can. I thought that it would be a good moment to just go over the memo that member McGowan sent to me real quick. So basically it speaks about quantifying the environmental impacts and providing transparency and accountability to the board. And it talks how the scorecard It will be beneficial for the scorecard to include other items that pertain to the environmental impacts of the Natural Resources Division and for us to try to quantify how these impacts increase property value, prevent flooding, healthcare costs, and lighten budget decisions. annual environmental scorecard has any number of benefits to Northport and its citizens to in particular stand out firstly as fact-based data points to leverage when making budgetary and program decisions secondly as further transparency and accountability to the taxpayers of Northport And then North Port took a leadership position by publishing an annual environmental scorecard. It has the opportunity to further that leadership. And then, yeah, Member McGowan thanked everyone for their consideration. So basically, I can pull up the scorecard, but as of right now, it does not really include the economic benefits.

Yeah, right? That's why I'm making the recommendation. This is why we It's nice when things come together like that.

So I feel like what we're being asked is to make a list of other Is that correct what I'm hearing?

Well, his is more economically based.

Okay.

Whereas what I'm trying to say is I really want to measure or how can we measure the impact to the environment, to the loss of habitat, to the loss of the wetlands. Gotcha.

The data, the actual percent change, for example, of here's where we are right now, and a year from now when we do another tree canopy, what was the change?

Yeah, well, here's the percentage of open space in acreage, let's say. This is the percentage we have now. Right. Um, is it being reclassified because we're moving development into more open space? We're rezoning it to more light industrial and so forth. Do you know what I mean?

Does the city not have in its, um, somewhere a limit of what is allowed to be built on or I don't know what the city code limitations are and where are we are we moving you know close yeah you have to look at the ULDC chapter six which is the natural resources section of the ULDC and that's online okay on the website through the building and planning tab

And then click down to codes and documents and so forth, and you'll see the ULDC. Then there's the comp plan, the comprehensive plan. Yes, I've heard about this. Which you have to look at also, because that's giving you more percentages.

The unified master plan development.

The unified development, ULDC.

ULDC. So unified land development code. Land development code, gotcha. Yes, I've been asked to review that as well.

That's chapter six you want to look at.

Great, thank you.

residential side, there's no requirements that they have to maintain a certain percentage of trees or anything like that.

Within the city, as far as piece of land, there is a limit. I'm only allowed to build a building 40% of the land, right? But does the city have a limit on the amount that they are allowed to?

Yes, they have impervious versus pervious, and the percentage, yes, they do have that. That's in the ULDC and the comp plan.

I will have to review those in my spare time.

Well, it's important. You know, it's very important to understand what we're working with.

Great.

Yeah.

Great.

And there are certain differences between what can be done on an undeveloped law compared to a developed site. And then also what can be done during or after site development. So these are a few separate. Aspects of it, but in general. A lot of these work pertains to private property ownerships where the state has certain limitations over the city. So there are certain rules that may apply on a state level that we need to follow, of course.

So do we want to make any movement on Casey's recommendation for that scorecard putting in the economic aspect of it?

I don't see a downside to having that in there as part of it. So I can make a motion to recommend to the city commissioners that we add the economic impact to the scorecard.

Everybody OK with that one?

All in favor?

Aye. Okay.

Is there anything else we need to do other than just take that vote?

At this point, the next step would be for you to, for a member to volunteer and to send me... Now, if you would like it as this is stated, you can, Casey, you can just... If you don't mind, I can use this, or if you'd like any changes made or add anything to it, and then send it to me, and I can get that moving.

I'm good with it, but there's no pride of authorship. If anybody saw anything that you thought ought to be changed, please, let's do it. I don't have a problem with it, personally. Okay. Go ahead and use it. Yep. Very good. Okay, that's good.

So do we want to discuss the other aspect as far as the impacts to the environment and to the wildlife and how we can actually come up with a list? Do we want to work on that today or do we want to table that until the next?

I would say that might be a future agenda item, Robin, because it's not exactly what you can propose it at the end under future agenda items. Just letting you know that there are a few other items that haven't gotten to the meeting yet. So it's either going to be at the next meeting or the meeting after. All right.

So moving on. Unfinished business items. 26-0893. Recurring agenda item for discussion, possible action regarding development review committee's project of environmental concern. Public comments.

Yeah. Okay. So.

I think she's going to state.

Yes. Stefan.

Yes, ma'am. One second.

Oh, you have a public comment?

Yes.

That discussion first, right?

It's going to be. Oh, we're going to. Then you discuss and then he'll do.

Oh, your public comments afterwards. Sorry. Okay. Go ahead.

So, when I emailed you regarding the DRC committee of 6-17-26, the second review of that light industrial?

Yeah.

I never got a response back because it still stated light industrial to industrial. So whoever you sent the email to that was supposed to get back to me, never got back to me. So again, I don't know if it's a typo or not. don't know so that's why I'm bringing it up because I really need to know if it's still light industrial or is a special exception industrial it is like light industrial and that's something that's worded within the attachments of the document I see it but on the

With the actual title, it's worded just industrial, which could come as misleading.

Yeah.

But the consideration is light industrial.

Okay.

So I did confirm on that, but I was hoping that someone got back to you.

Yeah, well, they didn't. So, okay. That was number one. Number two, I have a question. So when I look at all the development review committee files, and I'm looking at future agenda items and so forth and what's within those folders, is there a way that this board can request site plans, aerials of a particular project that is prelim? That's a good question. Well, the problem is all the information is not there, so I either have to attend a DRC committee in person because it's not recorded.

So this would be public records request, and you can request. it so we do have a contact and I believe that you have that email I was just wondering if as a board we can request that directly instead of having to go through a PRR I believe that it has to go through the process Robin because for some of this may take five minutes and some of it may take longer and the city wants for this time to be accounted for okay I just want the board to have their eyes ahead of the game

All right, I'll continue with PRRs.

And I think that it would be a good time now to mention to the new members especially that in Florida you can request any information that's known to the government. And if we have it, we need to provide it to you within certain number of years going back. And it's a fairly simple process. There's an email. I believe it's public records request at northportfl.gov. And you can ask for it. For certain items that may require more research, there may be some Fairly small fee that we might ask for, but absolutely, if there's any information that you would like to have, with some exceptions, but I would say 99% of it is publicly available.

Okay, I'm done.

All right, public comment?

Checking with you.

As always, it's the Development Review Committee data as it applies to the environment. I'm glad to see it's still part of your agenda process. One of the concerns I have that relates to it is I don't believe that Detweiler has gone through the development review process. Is that accurate? That's accurate. Okay. They have a long way ahead of them. Okay. And this kind of leads back to the last agenda item, is there's several aspects. First off, I support that while it's been 10 years trying to get it here. Okay. But I do have an issue where it's located, which is at the northwest corner of I-75 and Sumter. The problem I have is that it abuts the creek. which also abuts the conservation restricted zone, which also abuts the wildlife corridor, and is north of Oaks Park. These are all items that should be reviewed for their impact. Oh, I almost forgot. It also abuts our primary source of water. And these are the impacts that concern me. And you know when I'm concerned. And I believe that they should also concern this board. And part of those answers should come from the development review process. And I hope you put that on as an agenda item. And it's part of your list of?

It's on my. OK.

And I want to get back real quick to my first public comment. Just real quick. I already had meetings with staff on the project and got their input. And I am running their course of action. As I said, just putting the pieces together, planting the seed, working on the logistics. But I think the most important, quickest, easiest way is to recommend it be placed under conservation until everything is worked out. Thank you very much.

Thank you. All right, very good. Going on to new business, item A, 26-0894, discuss and possible action regarding future utilization of the Environmental Protection Fund. I believe we're just kind of kicking that down the road as more information and stuff's being.

Yeah, and I think we don't want to kick anything down the road. as the budget process is continuing I think through September we'll have better numbers so we can then really look at this that you're proposing and then start to really break it down intelligently once we have those numbers is what was what I'm thinking did you get that I haven't seen it what it is is I know yeah I can quickly some

I was just trying for accountability to the taxpayers, where the funds, how the funds are coming in, how they're going out, making sure that the funds go to what they state they're supposed to be. So most of the funds are raised via fees from tree removals. And the environmental fund says that they're used for replanting trees or going to buy, purchase, and maintain lands. Currently, there doesn't seem to be. It's not mine, but anyways. a way to make sure that that happens. Just oversight, how's it doing? So kind of like give a budget idea of saying, hey, so much goes to this tree planting or land. And this was just a starting point for discussion. So that's what this is about.

So a way to think of it would be, what do you want the size of the buckets to be? Let's put 20% in planting trees.

I'd be interested to know what the cost was for the trees for the irrigation for the planting just to get an idea of how much each one of it because these buckets are just numbers to me unless I really know how much does it really cost are the trees cheaper than the irrigation the irrigation might have to be 50% and the trees only 20% I just don't know what

And just so you know, a lot of the fees that are coming into the tree fund, which is now renamed to the environmental fund, comes from a lot of the development.

Right. That's what I understand. Yeah, there's certain breakdowns in percentages of money. If they take this much, they have to pay this much. That makes sense.

So we'll have a better idea once they finish with the budget process to really look at the numbers and then really go over this. Okay.

And in the meantime, we'll have this item on the agenda if there are any updates. If any members would like to provide any additional feedback, we can include that. And yeah, we'll see where this item goes. But I just wanted to take a second to make sure that our new members know how to access the agenda. And I know that that gets emailed to you, but you can also go on the city's webpage and let me just demonstrate for a second. So if you scroll down to the view city meetings and click on that, you will see a calendar view with the meetings that are currently scheduled for the month of July. You can go back to June if you would like. And just as an example, under June or May, let's say, you can see that in the beginning of the month, we have the Environmental Advisory Board item. If you click on that, you will see a video recording of the meeting. And you will see the agenda. And if you click on the agenda or each of these individual items, you can access not just the items, but you can access the associated attachments with the different items. So that's a good way to track back and to go back to what was previously discussed.

Where did the video of these meetings start? Technically, it's not a video.

It's a video format of an audio recording, but you can see the screen, like the computer screen. Yeah, sorry. Not an actual video. But you will be able to hear us.

Actually, I've been asking for video, not just audio. She's working on that.

Very good. Any other comments are good on this topic for now? All right. I believe we're good. All right. Let's move on to item B, 26-0896, discussion on possible action regarding the review of environmentally for its powers, duties, according to the city code. Not sure if we made this item.

Probably me. I believe that was you.

And it happened a few meetings ago, so it took me a while to get it on the agenda.

But yeah, I'm pretty sure that you made it. Well, the reason I brought it up is because if you look at the laminated sheet in front of you, according to the charter and so forth, it gives and spells out our powers and duties. But the wording, and here's where you get into the legal aspect of the wording, because a lot of it allows us to do a lot of what we've been talking about today, asking for more insight, a better handle on what's being impacted. And every time I have tried to bring this up, I'm cut off usually by Ms. Barnes. saying it's not within our purview. Well, in my mind, it is because it's written right here. It's a matter of interpretation, if you want to get into the legal aspect of it. But with that, I wanted the new members and all the members, if they're not familiar with the ULDC, with the comp plan, to get familiar with that so we know what the purview is we're operating, what's the guidelines we're operating under. And that's a continuing educational type of format that you're going to have to do on your own so that we can make better informed and intelligent decisions as a board. I don't need to get into all the specifics and go word for word on our duties. and what the interpretation really means.

Who designed these duties?

This was done through the charter, the commission.

The commission decided that these were our duties.

So within that, it's very wide open as far as what we can do. We don't have a right to be at the development review committee when they're reviewing development plans. That's staff. But I keep a handle on it, because I'd like to know what is going in. And as one of the public commenters stated, with the debt wireless project coming in, and then there's another project on the other side coming in. And again, wetlands are impacted. So we as a board need to have our eyes open more than just being kind of nonchalant, like I love the birds, I love the bees, let's plant more flowers. Do you know what I mean? Right. We need to get involved.

But we can only do that within the code, right? Within the confines of what we can actually have impact on.

We can recommend anything as a board. Okay. Whether the commission goes for it or not, that's a whole other story.

Mm-hmm.

We can't go assigning work to Stefan, because that's not within our purview. We can write a memo. We can discuss it. But we can do far more than what this board has been doing and really take it seriously, because now is the time that we're getting into data centers. That's a whole other discussion. I mean, there's a lot of things that the economic team of the city of Northport is trying to bring in. And we're looking at Activity Center 6 and 10 for a lot of that. And that's up by the Yorkshire. I don't know if you look at a map, you'll see it. So there's a lot of things coming, and we need to have a handle on it before it gets out of control. We should have some say-so as an advisory board on the environment to make a recommendation to the commission. Hey, this is A, B, C, and D. Great. So I just wanted us to really take a look at what the confines were operating under and explore that and then continue to do memos instead of just having discussions and it goes nowhere, to actually put down our feedback into memo form, submit it to the commission through our staff liaison. So there's action taken. and then follow up on it.

Right. So I went to one of the meetings last month about the land that connects where the golf course is. I don't know. It's privately owned. And he presented. what was the whole point of the recommendation if they're like, no, let's do these other things that you've already done. Let's do them again. And I was like, well, we are confined by what we can actually impact, like do. But I think the more data we collect, like what you were talking before,

We have to be able to make an informed, educated recommendation based upon factual information.

And educate the commission on why that needs to really be looked at and changed. Yeah.

If we have the facts backing up our recommendations and the statistical data that we need, then they have no choice but to look at it. And again, they can say yay or nay, but Doesn't mean we have to drop it. We can then say, well, why are you denying this? Why are you doing this? And then come back with another recommendation in order to answer that. That's within our purview.

So what are we trying to get at?

I'm trying to.

What I think I hear you saying is, here's what the current charter is. ought to be added, amended, that sort of thing.

That's the process. Well, not to the duties, because it is within our purview to make all these recommendations that impact. OK. So I just want us to be more educated, knowing the confines that we're operating within, but really looking at in a more detailed view of the impact to the environment that is based upon development loss of open space, impact to wetlands, to species. I want to be able to make informed decisions and recommendations on a specific development maybe, recommending maybe a conservation easement over a certain parcel because of where it's located. I would love for us to actually get into it more than what we've been doing. Because I think we have a good board now so far of concerned citizens that really want to take it seriously because of the growth that the city is under. I mean, the growth alone is enormous with what's going on within our city. And we trust staff to make their recommendations, but it is our obligation as an advisory board to also take a look at it and make the informed recommendations to the commission of how we feel. on a specific project, on a specific topic, and make that recommendation? Peace.

Peace. I think we're in violent agreement. Yeah. I'm trying to figure out, so what action are we going to take?

Instead of just having discussions, It's on a specific agenda item. Let's come to a decision on a specific agenda item that warrants it. Let's get it into memo form. Let's get some action on a specific item. That's all I'm trying to say is let's just start making actionable recommendations. Like what you did on that exactly. Yes.

Commission had asked of you that I think they gave you four things I think I wrote them down during that meeting was to form a coalition to actively support conservation and in my mind I was like don't know what this is supposed to be a coalition to actively support conservation so That third part of what they requested of you in that meeting last month, I don't know which date it was. There were four things. They asked you to pursue negotiations with the owner, which you had already done. They asked for the county school board plans request because it was already owned, but part of it is owned. It butts up against what's owned by the school board. The third thing was

Yeah, so that's just wanted to mention that Overall, the way that things progress with these meetings here are that if there's a topic of interest, at the end of the meeting, there will be what's called a future agenda item. And during this item, let's say if you have a topic that you would like to discuss with the board, that's something that you can bring up. So to your question, just real quick, That's exactly what they asked. As far as the coalition, the way that I interpret it is any other local, state, non-profit entities that may be interested in partnering towards preserving these parcels on Spring Haven. That's what I got out of that direction. But actually, I need to go back and re-listen to it carefully. But that was my understanding. But that would be a great topic for an item to cover, for example. So if you would like to discuss this with the board, you can. And then I'll have this item created on one of the next agendas. And then you can discuss, make recommendations to commission and everything else. So that's, that'll be a great opportunity. Just minor correction to Robin's points. Regarding the DRC, which stands for Development Review Committee, these are, these happen every other week in this room, 9 a.m. usually on a Wednesday morning. these are open meetings to the public as well so any any resident can be here and can observe the process it's pretty I'm sure you have other things to do but it's pretty fascinating to watch because each each division from the city provides the project draft and you can actually see how they need to jump through many hoops to make a project from the black and white world to the real one.

That's only attending it in person and you can't speak.

There's no public comments.

That's the problem, it should be videoed.

However, you can You can send a comment. You can provide public comment once it gets to commission. Or you can do that even through the AB. That's an opportunity for you.

Could you also send an email to one of the board members to say, hey, has your board thought about this?

You can send an email, whether that goes anywhere. Yeah. Again, it's not open for public comment. This is the Development Review Committee just looking at special exceptions, development plans, preliminaries.

And see if they follow.

And then they have comments within each department on a specific agenda item. Okay. Which is why I follow it so closely.

And from a private sector side, I can probably lean more towards Stefan's on this one. It's great to have an impact from the community, but the city has got to do their job and review it.

Right. There's rules that they just have to follow.

Yeah, so I don't think comments at that stage is really warranted, nor is it. designer, would I really care too much what someone says? I'm following the code. That's what I design by, not what someone thinks, unfortunately. But yeah. So I think probably to summarize this action item, it's more of a, to us as members, that the agenda items we'd like to discuss, that they be more substantive, and that they have a clear objective that we want to get out of it, not just a flowers and bees concept.

If I may chair I have also you know learned more about my role and the only The only time that I'll interject about a topic is if you are off topic and you are talking about something that's not the current agenda item so You can look at these roles and duties of you as board members, but any of you can bring up any topic of interest. And even if there's slight relationship to those duties, I will put it on the agenda for you to discuss. And you can make, from there, after that discussion, if you agree, you can make that recommendation. If this is your right and this is something that is part of why you're here, I am going to honor and support that and provide any feedback if relevant. But the main thing is just to stay on the topic for the current item. So if you want some, if you want to bring a certain topic, just do so at the end under future agenda items. I'll put it on my list and we'll try to include that ASAP. So. Okay.

Very good. And on that same vein, number nine, future agenda items. 26-0895, discussion and possible action regarding environmental advisory board future agenda items.

can say a few words chair so at the last meeting either last one or the one before a topic came up that it's not really clear what was previously proposed and what's upcoming and how is everything being tracked so from now on moving forward I'm going to track all past present and future I'm going to include their names and the dates when the item was proposed so as you can see here these are agenda items that have been completed or are currently ongoing these are the ones that I scheduled for this meeting and we have these ones upcoming that were previously brought up by one of you. So I'll read them real quick just so you're familiar. Discussion and possible action regarding ideas to enhance the city's natural resources and improve North Port's attractiveness to residents and visitors. That was brought up by former member Eichel on February the 2nd. Discussion and possible action regarding wildlife species and wildlife surveying in Northport. Again, same former member. Discussion and possible action regarding recycling procedures in Northport High School and other properties. That was brought up by member Taylor, April. Discussion and possible action regarding wildflower habitat to support pollinators and wildlife. Brought up by Member San Vicente in April. Discussion and possible action regarding Nona Springs and the ecological value of the springs to the City of Northport. Member San Vicente in May. Discussion regarding a Florida scrub jay litigation case in Charlotte County. Former Member I. back in May. So these are the items, and I'm sure that you may have a few more that you would like to add.

Question on that? Yes, ma'am. So under the future agenda items, how many actually get on a specific agenda?

All of them will get on our agenda.

All of them will be on the next?

Yes, ma'am. Either next or one after, depending on whether we'll have time.

Gotcha. Okay. So there's an incentive to be crisp, right? Yeah, that way we can get through, but not shortchange anything.

Yeah. OK. And so now it would be a great opportunity for any members to add additional items that you would like to discuss in future meetings.

Did you want that on the future agenda item, Ann? The Spring Haven extension, roadway extension? Because I can tell you that that meeting, that I attended that commission meeting, And when they talked about the coalition, that is what in fact they were talking about, bringing in outside entities like non-profits and so forth.

And are they looking for financial assistance from those non-profits and entities? What are they looking at? They just ask a coalition to actively support conservation.

The thing is, with the Spring Haven, this has been going on for 15, 16 years now.

I saw the presentation.

So because of those particular parcels, there's 30 or 31 parcels of the SKS development who owns those. And because of where it lays, those properties, in conjunction with the corridor by Little Salt Springs, They were trying to acquire those parcels. In order to do so, especially with budget constraints, constraints that we're under now, is there a way that we can get additional funding through grants, federal, state, local?

And you understand what was being asked of the owners and how much they were asking?

The owners forget about them. They're just way exorbitant. But is there a way? Because the city can't pay more than fair market value.

Right, but they're only paying for the land. What the owners are asking for is the improved land, the amount that they would actually realize if they improved the land. That's why there's a difference. That's why when you say, oh, they're asking for $250,000 per because that's how much they're going to make off of that lot when they build a house on it. It's only going to cost them $200,000 to make it. They're going to sell it for $400,000.

Just wanted to mention that although this is a great topic, right now we are discussing the topics that we would like to propose for discussion. So, Anne, I mean, if you're interested in putting this on the future agenda, yeah, there's no need of approval. You can simply propose it and I can include something on there. That would be up to you.

OK, I guess I'd like to move to discuss the coalition to actively support the conservation of, I don't know the name of it. Spring Haven. Spring Haven.

As a future agenda item.

No need for a vote. I will include it on the agenda.

Is there any other discussion of the board about future agenda items?

Yeah, but I forgot mine, so I'll have to bring it up at the next one.

I think we'd like to figure out a way to collect data to get the data for the environmental impacts of the actions that we take.

That's the future agenda item, I suppose. Thank you, Ann. You're welcome.

I was taking good notes.

All right.

So public comment?

I will be brief. I would dearly like you to sincerely place the proposal of turning that, placing that wetland under conservation. based on, again, it's the last vestiges of any natural habitat on city campus. And it's unique because there's no other area that parks or have any interest in, or I won't say that's the wrong term, but it's not on their plate as far as wetland is concerned. Thank you very much. God bless you.

Question, though. When that's placed on the agenda item, will there be any kind of a site plan or any kind of a recommendation that's going to go with that so we can discuss the agenda item?

Working on that. At this point, it's going to be a discussion, and if you would like to... Now, if you would like something more specific, we can definitely look into it.

I think we would need something more specific so we could actually look at it.

We can look at it. We can pull up an aerial and let the EAB discuss. I can give some of the history about it, and I think that that would be— The qualities of the parcel and all of that? Yeah. Okay. We can look at that. But it's going to be most likely an aerial screenshot of the wetlands and the area around it.

And the reasoning behind it. Right. As I stated, I've already had preliminary discussions with staff, parks, public works, natural resources. Who else was there? I forget. All right. So the logistics are being worked out. And hopefully, on your next agenda, I'll have better information.

So can we schedule that as an agenda item and then maybe a presentation at the same time? If you're going to have a lot more information for a presentation for that particular parcel?

The information I'll be gathering would be the perspective that I requested from each member that was at that meeting to share with me what their perspective

Project which they mentioned to it be gotten to be within 30 days Just one quick question, please just want to remind that we still need to follow the process here where we have the public and the members and this type of Conversations not how it should be but we I think that we heard the request to include such item for discussion and then once you discuss you may want to learn more about it perhaps we can then propose another item which could be a presentation or you may request more specific information but I will be at the next I'll be at the meeting when this will be scheduled and I can provide some of the background based on my knowledge and my conversations with Mr. English.

Yeah. Question on that is, is there a deadline that we're running against?

No. Just wanted to explain real quick. I hear the word preservation. There's no intent to develop that wetland at all. So no deadline or anything like that.

Very good. OK. So we have three more future agenda items. OK. All right.

Anyone else? All right.

So then any additional public comment? All right. With that, I adjourn the meeting.