Environmental Advisory Board - Regular Meeting

Is it okay?

Going. Okay. Call to order. Is that better?

Bit of an echo.

Yeah. Feel like Jimmy Hendrix. Call to order, mid October 6, meeting at the Northport Environmental Advisory Board. Roll

call. Paul Jackman.

Casey McGowan.

Tim Drum. Jessica Aye. Stephan Califf, Board Liaison.

Great. Pledge? Flagship. Pledge Is there any public comment? Item 20Five-two861 approved the 09/08/2025 EAB meeting minutes. Need a motion?

I'll make the motion.

I'll second.

Everyone in favor? Aye. Unanimous. Good. Next item, 20 five-two 887, presentation and discussion regarding potential future development projects in Northport. Farm?

Think, Chair, if you could give me two minutes to set the presentation up here. Alright. Sorry about that, Chair. Yeah. No worries.

Board.

It's all good.

So as before previous meetings, I will go over some of the projects that have been recently reviewed by the Environmental Advisory Board for the month of September. Now please keep in mind that these are few of the projects that we have looked at. Others have been disapproved at this point. So any disapproved, I am not including them to this presentation. I am just including the ones that have been through the preliminary review for our team is disapproved projects, they usually go significant changes before they actually before the site plan reflects what is proposed to be developed indeed.

So if you have any questions about any of these, please let me know. Also, just a reminder that this presentation is available in your agenda. If you follow the link, you'll get to it. As part of the presentation document, you can see the PID and you're able you can easily track the location of each of these projects. So the first one is a master concept plan for a large area within Activity Center 5.

This is a very early type of review that shows the overall intent of development for this area. This is near Toledo and Price. Some people may know this lake as Gold Barrel Lake and it's a beautiful area. However, there's significant interest of developing this property. So just a reminder, this is a master concept plan.

So that's a very early level of review without any specifics pertaining to the current condition of the site. So no environmental assessment at this point. No wetland delineation. It's just an overall 30,000 feet above ground level look of what's to come for this area.

Right. This is what we want to do. We want to test your temperature on it and then get down to the nitty gritty, right?

Exactly. So the next project, Toledo Village, that's at the end of Toledo Blades and the applicant is requesting an approval for an off-site then, second to over to And when I'll you see this comment meets requirements with conditions, the main condition is that an environmental assessment needs to be conducted ninety days have I

And the one can then,

any And other specifics pertaining to wetlands, heritage trees, those also need to be addressed by the applicant. So this is another large development North Of I-seventy 5. It's located to the Northeastern part of the city. It's called Village Of Star Farms. At this stage, again, that's an early review process.

We have identified significant efforts by the applicant to avoid wetlands and they also have plans to relocate some heritage trees even on this site. One of the statements by the applicants really impressed us. I believe that from this for this entire area, something close to 95% of the wetland should be remaining. So it's something that we always appreciate seeing where the applicants demonstrates this context sensitive site development and takes into consideration the natural resources on-site and concentrates the development towards these other areas. And for this parcel, there's some pasture lands, some open lands and a significant amount of those wetlands will be avoided.

So similar this is review for the same project. It shows more details of what's provided and what will be impacted. Okay. So this project is called Southern Crossing Car Rental. It meets the requirements with conditions, fairly smaller projects, open land here.

However, they still need to make sure that we don't have any gopher tortoises on-site. Additionally, anytime we have a project, which boundaries overlap with existing trees, we strongly recommend for the applicant, if possible, to save some of the natural vegetation instead of and use it as part of their landscaping buffer. Okay. This project is called Broken Plate I. Don't recall the exact intent of this, but yes, the location is near Charlotte County and you can see the parcel here.

We have the PID and the Just South Of Orlando. Say that again?

It's just it's at right on Veterans. Right? Just South Of Orlando. Right.

Okay. Another project, Price Crossings. This is for a commercial development that includes a dental office, approximately 4,100 square feet and they bank. So this is, I believe, by 41 in price. Already a developed parcel.

No really concerns as far as the environmental impacts. The applicant needs to take into consideration the existing oaks there and potentially enhance their landscaping plan based on the Unified Land Development Code requirements. So these are the projects that I have for this month's presentation. And we can if the Board would like, we can discuss these or I can answer any questions that you may have.

Any questions, okay? No? Sounds like we're good.

Thank you. All right. Thank you.

All right. Moving on. Cue business. Item 20 five-two thousand eight hundred eighty five, discussion and possible action regarding electing a new vice chair to the EAV. Might be worthwhile to maybe review kind of what that process is.

Yeah. Thank you, chair. So as you all know, this position has been vacated for two or three months now. So we finally have that opportunity. At this point Heather, please correct me if I'm wrong, but at this point, I believe that any member can propose any other member that have in mind to nominate for the position.

And then each not nominated member can vote for this one member who's nominated. So it would, of course, there would also be a discussion, which is always recommended. And then this vote takes place. Ultimately, whoever gets the most votes will get nominated for the position.

Only one point of clarity. Actually, everybody can vote, even the person nominated.

Thank you. Yes. Everybody I must vote apologize.

Even the president of The US gets to vote

for himself.

Very good. So do we have anybody that wants to nominate anybody? Or is it cool to ask for volunteers? Is there anybody that wants to do it?

I think that's a good start.

I don't have much left in my term. Three years, is it?

Sure. We would have to double check.

Okay. Yeah. I think I have enough left.

All right. All three So all three are volunteering. Right? I mean, do we have to formally nominate everybody and then have a vote? Or how would that work?

Works is somebody should nominate somebody for it. And then more than one person can nominate somebody, which is perfectly fine. However, you get your nominations, then you create your nominations, and then you vote in the order. So if one person gets the unanimous vote, then obviously you would not vote on the other two nominations because that person already won.

And is it a public or a private vote? It's public. Thank you. Yes. Alright. I'll nominate Jessica.

I can nominate Paul.

I refuse the nomination. Thank you. I'm going turn down the nomination. Thank you.

Can I now pay more than one?

What was that?

Can I nominate more than one person? Okay. All right. We have a nomination for Jessica. Any others?

You're not allowed to nominate yourself, correct?

And I'll nominate Can nominate yourself? I'll nominate Tim. There.

All nominates Tim. Okay.

So I would say at this point, it would be time to discuss or vote. Yes.

All right. Anybody want to discuss?

I just joined, so I have several years left on my time here. I have expertise in the environmental side of the process. So I think I'd be a valuable asset in that regard.

Very good. Jessica, anything to add?

Well, I'm very passionate about Northport and our development and our city of Tree City values. And I've been here for a while putting in the work. I haven't just dropped in.

Very good. Paul, any comments? No, sir. I don't have any either. All right. Time to vote.

Time to vote. Time to vote, chair.

The first vote is going to be on your first nomination, which was for Jessica.

Got it. All for Jessica. That's two. Boats. Two votes.

So what happens for the tiebreaker?

We haven't done it yet.

Well, let's

Scott, take the other vote, please. That's fair.

I'd You're have to have myself right. Chair.

Second vote. Vote for Tim Drum.

Aye. Okay.

We have two votes.

So Both candidates have two. That's why I was asking.

Both of them actually failed. Because if it's a tie vote, then it fails.

Okay.

So I

would recommend some board discussion to figure out you would like. Because you only have one person. So

Well, what did the duties of the vice chair involve?

Nothing. I mean, literally, I was vice chair before this. And what do is you have to read the agenda if the chair isn't there.

Yeah.

Need read agenda and lead the meeting if the chair isn't there. That's the role. Sorry. Go ahead. No.

No. You you said exactly. I took myself out of the running due to the fact that I'm chair on Parks and Rec and the liaison between the two boards. Jeez. It's enough right now. I'll do it.

I mean, if you want it when your term's up, I guess we could vote again when she's done. So if she really wants it, it's fine.

Jessica, do you know how much time you have left?

I think I I'm not quite sure. You are until June 2026. Okay. So, yeah. That's enough time to try to get it.

But when was the original when were you elected?

January. Right? March. Because this this is It's not January because I remember thinking that If I'm if I'm not

mistaken, this is about January when We're

exactly. I think it was March when I was

We're filling the hole left by our original, which is for this term, which is only from now until next March, if I'm not if I'm correct, Heather?

We are gonna try this coming year to get all boards to elect their chair and vice chair on the very first meeting of each year.

Okay.

So that's what our intent is going to be so that consistently each year is gonna be at the same time.

So we're we're only talking about a three months then anyways at this point in time, correct?

Yes. Actually, you got three meetings.

That's correct.

We can revoke, I guess.

All right. Let's revote. All in favor, Jessica? Aye. It's unanimous. Unanimous vote.

Thank you.

Good. Does that close the item?

Yes, sir.

Congratulations. Just hang on. Okay. Item 20 five-two 707, discussion of possible recommendation regarding Northport's tree mitigation process. This was a popular topic last time. Right? I'd recommend that we try and figure a pathway to some level of recommendation, which is actually what our charter is. So Jim, I know you were pretty passionate about this. Would you like to kind of like start off on some thoughts?

Yeah. Since I'm in the industry and know of surrounding government agencies and how they do things, I know Northport's fees and assessment is a little on the heavy side, which is cumbersome to development and costs. Raising costs just increases all the costs for everybody, which actually hurts development overall. So I definitely think it should be looked at. And if we can make items to lower the fees or put a cap on it that's a lower cap, that would be my recommendation for us to look at and talk about.

Okay. I'll offer a different viewpoint. Right? Because, yeah, peace. In my perfect world, we wouldn't lose another tree. Love all the empty lots in my neighborhood. It's great. I hope that we never see another house put up in those single home lots. And that's nothing against No, no, no. Personal or anything like that. I'm just speaking as a guy that lives here. I would just like

to point out if we'd get rid of all of those fees, we would have no natural resources department, which I think is integral to managing the city

They can have that on department if it comes from a budget. Just like the building department, they have a budget. They could the city could put a budget item for department.

100%.

I think it's a little lopsided that the people that are running the department also are the ones who get the fees associated. It looks a little suspect.

Didn't have a department until.

I'm very aware. But the people that go out and say which trees need to be removed and what those fees are, those fees are tied to their salaries too. That, I think, is a conflict of interest.

That is well, it also benefits your industry to have the trees removed with a lesser price cost. So that's also

My industry is just development.

No. I mean, development development. It also favors developers. And it's very extremely difficult to control developers in Florida. Everything is geared toward development.

It is.

If they had their way, they would pave everything in this state. Nope. And we are tiny little group of people saying, hold on a minute.

I'm not saying So But do you know what the difference amounts in fees are between one area to the next? And and that's that's what I'm trying to get at. Like, the

if Why are those? You mentioned that last time too.

So, like, in Charlotte County, $500. You can basically clear

what like a single

Single lot.

Lot. Charlotte County doesn't have a city. It's not a city.

So Well, let's hold on. Hold on.

Let's let him finish. Yeah. Let's

go finish. Even Sarasota County, like, the amount that they get is a whole lot. It just I know you don't like development, but what happens to the environmental department if no more permits come in? You guys go away too because your fees are coming from this.

Let's go back a second. Hold on. I'm interested in you mentioned the difference between Charlotte County and here. Let's deal with some facts first. Yeah. Yeah.

So, like, in Charlotte County, like, the fee is $500. If you have any heritage trees that you can't relocate, you can plant the trees to to offset it. So a standard lot in Charlotte County, you maybe are paying $500 to $2,000 for a lot.

If plant your own trees, I got one second. So when they say you can plant your own trees, is there like a minimum height that that initial planting has to be? Or do you get around it with sticking a twig in the crowd and saying

They do have some diameters

Okay.

Requirements. But, yes, it's it's not a lot. And like I said and I granted, I like trees. Don't get me wrong because trees do provide structural benefits and stuff. But when it costs anywhere between 8,000 to $10,000 more to develop a lot in Northport versus Port Charlotte or Sarasota County, when people, clients come to me and I'm like, hey, where do you want to build? I'm like, not Northport. It's going to cost you an extra 10,000 to $15,000 because of all the other regulations.

And how many empty lots are

left in front? I may real quick, Port

Charlotte. A

lot. Normally, I would not do this because I respect these team members' discussion. I want to remind you of why we're here in the Environmental Advisory Board and what the charter of the Environmental Advisory Board is and how some of the points being made here relate to serve the city as a resource of ways to protect, conserve, enhance, and raise public awareness of the city's natural and environmental resources. The Environmental Advisory Board shall advise the city commission on matters pertaining to preserving and promoting clean air and water quality, promoting wildlife and habitat protection and advice on state and federal environmental regulations that may impact the city and consider environmental concerns raised by citizens. So of course, also identify educational and outreach community opportunities, but the main the key point here is on how are we going to improve the environment in Northport.

This is the charter of the Environmental Advisory Board. So I don't mean to interject here. It's a healthy discussion, and I respect each member's background, but I need to remind you of why we're here. And challenging the fee process, in my opinion, that doesn't contribute towards the environmental well-being of our city.

So I might disagree with It's

not just a tree.

Birds,

animals, everything. Closed caption that it does. So only one person can at a time.

All right. So let's

Go ahead.

Okay. So I'm coming at this from a different direction than Tim is, right? Because as I've thought about this and again, it's very selfish. And I understood why somebody would want to try and advocate for their business. 1000% have done it. But if I said, I'd like to make a recommendation that we triple the fees, that would certainly be in line with helping the environment.

If those fees go towards environmentally related activities, technically they would.

Right. So I guess my point is that I don't think the discussion is out of bounds. I think it's right, we're not. I think it's worth having.

Well, Okay. Let's ask the question. Do you believe that development contributes to the environmental protections of the city or the environment in general. We think more obviously, more houses and buildings, plazas and everything that we all enjoy and occupy. We think that contributes to the natural environment because it's not just a tree. It's everything a tree supports our air quality, our wildlife, our animal life, the soil.

I am acutely aware of all those matters.

I'm you I'm sure you are.

Very

detailed. And we understand your objections financially. But the point is, do your objections contribute to our agenda?

If you They have a tough audience.

No, no, no. And that's fine. I have no problems with that. If we believe these boards, that the environment and fees and cost, those are two separate worlds, I would encourage you guys. You're foolish.

I agree with that.

They're they're they're tied. And if you don't want any development, yeah, jack up all your rates, and then do see what happens. Like, I've been here thirty three years. My company has developed more lots with single family residents than any company. I know this area. I love this area. I live right there. The hospital's being built behind my house. I hate it. But there's nothing that I can do about it.

But if you want to have families that still come and increase your tax base and do all these things which help take care of the trees, the roads, the utilities, all of it, you have to look at things from a holistic point of view. If we look at it just from a single item of just the trees, this is what our board is doing, and you're missing so many other elements. I think it's a foolish way to handle a board in my assessment.

Well, what I think that would cause a call for, like, a city commission meeting discussion, not here in this board.

If we're to advise them on things, we should have an opinion to help advise them.

That's right.

That's what we're here to

do. Recommendation.

That's right. That's why I'm trying to get a recommendation. I think they should look at the fees, look at the ones because I know what, they were sold because I had conversations with the commissioners. What they were presented is not reality. And what they voted on is not truth of what goes on for the standard single family residence.

And if I may, Member Drum, just to explain, there is no issues with the Board making recommendations that may seem sound. The thing is that it may seem sound to a even more than one member. However, if those recommendations don't relate to the charter of the Board, those recommendations should not be made through the Environmental Advisory Board. They can be made as public comments. And there are other boards that perhaps relate differently and provide a different perspective, but the Environmental Advisory Board would not be the proper channel to have less environmental regulations.

That would not be the the channel to relay that message.

I'm not asking for less environmental regulations. It's the fees that I'm talking about. So if you believe fees aren't part of the environment, it doesn't discourage. It just raises costs, which then hurts everybody involved.

Okay. Anybody that works for the city or knows anything that's going on here knows that developers would rather pay fees than save trees or save they are like if they're forced into a corner, Okay? There are ways of building. You brought up grading, Okay? Yes, some places need to be elevated to be built upon, not every place. And when grading is involved, you can still work around it.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay? And so this is what we're trying to encourage by having heavy fees is saying, stop and think. But there's so much money that developers have. My father was a homebuilder, worked for developers that built half of Boca Raton fifty years ago. So I've seen it with my own two eyes as a kid. It's horrible what goes on. I remember when they made canals in Boca and blew up all the birds and mangroves and everything else. It was disgusting. The guys, from his shift, from his work, came back crying because of the gore involved in doing this.

Okay?

So it's not

And

something I mean, this is something that's like since I was a kid.

No. No. And You know?

And I don't disagree with anything you're saying. And most of my comments are regards to residential single family knots, not necessarily larger developments. I think you're referring to larger developments.

I'm not. I'm referring to, like, there was Boca Harbor and Golden Harbor and all those aisles and Camino Gardens and all the rest of it. Yeah. He wasn't a developer. He was a home He was a

home builder. Single family lots. Okay. So saving trees.

I mean, they had they did the same thing over there. They bulldozed everything. You know? And then almost everything he built was bulldozed again, and now there's, like, Spanish faux Spanish mansions and everything.

So I'm from my understanding point a thousand percent about Yeah.

I understand. But it's like, let them stop.

That's like a thing. The growth is happening regardless of the single family lots.

Can I propose because there is no incentive to save trees? Because once you get to the zero on the mitigation, you don't pay anything, but you don't get any money back from the city or reduction in fees. So if you do save trees, just so you know, there's a formula that once you hit zero, that there's no benefit for you to save any additional trees. So if it's our intention to help encourage to save trees, I think we should somehow reward the people I to keep trees

said this, say, you know

Can you reduce impact fees if we save more trees?

But I think we could, but it wouldn't involve money necessarily. It would involve recognition. Do we have But that's what it would enough for them.

Readily available that we could all look at? Do we have Right now, we're just kind of talking all over.

Yeah. But we're not in charge

of money. We're not that's

not our house. That's not budgetary.

Wait. We at a

time, please.

Sorry. Sorry.

You gotta love our enthusiasm. I'm sorry. But No. No. That's not my job. We don't control the budget, right? We're here to use the budget to do things, to save the environment.

So listen, we can make a recommendation on fees as it relates to the environmental board and well-being of the city.

Right.

Right? This is not a far stretch at all from the charter. In fact, I would argue it stays in there. It's quite in there, right? So we can make a recommendation. But I'd like to see what the formula is.

And that's something that can be discussed either here or I can provide that additional information to the board. In a nutshell, as member Drum mentioned, there if you save certain amount of trees, eventually you get mitigation credit. That credit offsets the costs of the mitigation of the site of the area that's being cleared. So Member Drummond is mentioning that when you get to when the mitigation credit covers the mitigation costs, at this point, even if you save more trees than that, you will not get a permit credit any further than zero. So if you're at zero, maybe you would like to save few more trees, that amount will still be the same.

You will not be charged anything. But Member Drummond is implying that the city should potentially credit a fee to the applicant. But I wanted to stress the other benefit. The benefit is that you're saving trees on your lawn. So that is the benefit.

If we're this is let me

just

please. If we're going to get to an intelligent recommendation, in my opinion, we got to see the formula, right? Because then we can say, Okay, this is kind of how it is. And if we're going to make a recommendation to the commission, right? Look, this is what it is today. This is what we'd like to see it as. Boom. But until we get there, we're just whistling in the

wind. Okay. That's fine.

So that's what I'm saying. Do we is it like easily accessible We

have the fee schedule. We have the unified land development code. Usually people who are in the field, in the industry, they're well familiar with the fee. But that's something that can be provided to the Board as an educational item of how the fee structure works.

And

that would not be an issue because I can handle that. I can explain how this process works. And this would be for the information of the Board members. The part that, again, I want to stress is that any recommendation should relate to the mission of the Environmental Advisory Board.

100%. No argument. I think we're we're on the right path.

Yeah.

And I like I said, part of the environment concern is also the finances. If you Yeah. You can't separate the two of them. Because if so, then they should never assess fees with it because they're separate. But because you guys have assessed fees to them, you've already married them together and already stated they're connected. So for us to say as a board, they're somehow not connected when we talk about them, but they are in the field, It's a double standard.

Well, just because they're okay. Just because they're connected does not mean that your suggestion benefits our boards.

The the point is that the fees are the fees are present now. Suggesting to waive the fees means that

Never suggested to waive the fees.

We haven't recommended anything yet because we don't know what the flipping thing is.

I just want can I just say my idea for an incentive? That's what I'm waiting for. Can I get that? It doesn't involve money. But if you do if a builder does get to a zero with mitigation, we could say, this builder is environmentally friendly.

And we could have an award. And that person could post it on their development things that we care about the environment and use it as a selling point and sell your single family homes for more money because they have trees that are safe, that aren't going to dig up roots, that is safe for somebody to live in and provide shade and provides for a good environment. And believe me, that is a selling point for a lot of people.

Yes,

ma'am. Nobody likes So to come down and see a bare I think that if we would award people who do get to zero, we could give I think that I would pay more money for decent shade in my backyard. Correct.

And I'm not disagreeing at all.

So I'm saying that the city could develop a plan to encourage builders to do this. Doesn't involve money, but you do save on removal costs and some fees. And certainly, most developers are big enough they're going to not care at all that they're environmentally friendly. But smaller builders would get a break. And a homeowner, one person who buys a single lot and goes through this process, I think, is a whole different ballgame than plowing 2,000 acres under that they're talking about in one of those projects up there at Toledo or wherever it was, Blade.

No, the farmland, Star Farms thing. So, you know, I think we can pinpoint individual build into people who are just buying one lot and building a home as opposed to big developments. And we could give those builders, you know, we could concentrate on those builders and then build out from there. Right? Alright. I I mean, certainly, we're not going to give it to Doctor Horton or whatever. They have plenty of money.

So what do I need to do to make sure this is on next month's agenda and has a what I think I would like to see is what the current formula is, right? And then maybe if we had like if we even came up with one pseudo example that says, right, here's single family line. If they had x number three, blah, blah, here's the thing.

So I think that's a great question. What we can do is a presentation to the members for for next for next time, and then we can potentially have this item continued as well. So have a separate presentation that goes over the fees.

Is one month gonna be enough for you to get it get it together? Oh. I mean, I don't wanna rush you.

I can give you five, six jobs. Just pull them up from my database.

Right. And, so it can start with the, you know, with the overall of how the fee structure works Got it. For the city, and then we can provide some examples, and then the members can

also discuss talk about, like, 30. I'm saying, like, what? Just so we can get our right. Everybody could be on the same page.

This is deep Get their head around. Don't you think this is sort of all derailing our purpose?

No.

Oh, you would be in favor of cutting fees?

I'm not saying. No. I'm I sat here and said, I'm the counterpoint to Tim. I said, I wanna see another lot developed. Not even know why I love them. Okay.

I don't even know why

it's But I think it's worth reviewing what the structure is. Right? It's a direct impact on the environment.

So, yeah, that information I can provide, and I can answer any questions now also. But just to explain, everyone's

kind

of on the same page, the way that structure and the process is designed to have to account for trees removed. And then for each tree saved, some of that tree removal fee would be offset. Once you reach zero, there are zero mitigation fees that the applicant would be responsible for. However, that doesn't mean that they're not responsible for other fees and whatnot. You know other This

isn't just right. So I think part of this discussion too was around Gopher Tortoise relocation.

So that's a state thing. There's nothing the city can do about it. Just want

to make sure.

Exactly. And Gopher Tortoise is that's a completely different fee structure. Also other permitting fees, those are structured differently. Different funds go to different pools, but the mitigation impact fees, those go into the Environmental Protection Fund. So and we've discussed the overall structure of the fund before where this money usually gets spent towards. So that's where that money goes entirely into.

Really, Look. It doesn't even have to be a presentation. What's the formula?

Yeah. I

wanna see the facts.

Next month. And it's

Great piece. That's what I'm saying. It doesn't have to be for a presentation for next month.

Yes. And it can be I would say a quick presentation will probably be the best way because there's some specifics. As Tim probably knows, it can vary from between different tree species, palms, there's different criteria, heritage trees. So each of these may affect that end number that we may get to. And Timmy is spot on.

The value would be for residential lots. We have seen values from $8,000 $9,000 $10,000 to $0 and everything in between. And also, wanted to point out, it is for smaller parcels. It is not uncommon, but it's not common, but it also could happen to where the fees are brought to zero. However, because of the limited size of the parcel and the projects that we usually see and the associated infrastructure, that mitigation is higher than zero.

And that's all I'm trying to say because I know how the commissioners represented the information. They were shown bigger developments where you can save trees. I don't think they were given the information of a single family lot, how this works, And that's all. But I just want to make sure the board's aware, so when we make recommendations, you see both sides of it.

100%.

That's

all. Right? Things aren't in a vacuum, to your point. Correct? Everything is interconnected. So yes, 100%.

Absolutely. And I agree that the main part here is for the Board members to have as much information as possible to make the decision. Just my job as a liaison is to ensure that we're staying on track and we're not going beyond the charter of the Board. Okay.

So do I need to say, I want this on the next agenda? How does this work? Sometimes we got to make a motion. And sometimes we don't. And I'm not bright enough to be Not

for this item, Chair. Will have It's a style going to be like Paul said, it's going to be short and sweet and then the members can discuss it.

Good. All right. So everybody put your thinking caps on before you come in next time, right? Good. Any other comments on that?

Great. Okay. Moving on. Item 20 five-two 886, discussion of possible action regarding tree placement and site compatibility.

All right. I believe that member Drum wanted to have this item and have a discussion about this.

Yes. So my concern was in regards to more of disabilities along street and roads. I live off of Salford, and there's trees planted all along Salford that during hurricanes, they fall. They brought the roads, which are unsafe. Most of the times, they do die. I don't believe it's a standard of practice to plant trees like that that close to the road. So I just wanted to be like, hey. Are there rules in place for what type of trees, where they're located in regards to visibilities for safety of drivers and things like that?

Yes. So I can only speak on the behalf of the trees that we are planting as a division, natural resources. And also, know that some of these projects have happened some time ago. And I know that there are different circumstances with how some of these plantings have occurred. As far as what we do is we want to make sure that we're staying far from any underground utilities, any infrastructure.

We want to plant the right tree in the right place. We when we plant, we want to consider the tree upon reaching maturity, which we all see it here in areas where perhaps the wrong tree was planted in the wrong place and what the outcome of that is, which is nothing good usually down the road as this tree grows and matures. So it's something that we take very seriously, and we have an expert who has been doing this for a long time. And that's something that we definitely take into consideration. I don't want to speak on behalf of any other departments.

However, in my experience working with Public Works and their team, I know that the approach is quite different how it's done these days. They have conducted some surveys and studies of where exactly the utilities are, including underground, and they planned foreseeing twenty five years ahead in the future, thirty years in the future of what this three will look like and how it's going to impact the infrastructure and whatnot. About some examples, the examples that you brought up, I don't really have much to say because those plantings may have occurred some time ago, but any tree that's planted now, that's definitely taken into consideration.

Having proper planning done is, excuse me, is great. I'm not one that that's driven. I don't drive Salford all the time. And due to price being closed, I've hit North Salford a lot more than ever before. I don't like doing it, but but I've noticed the trees going back, looking if you were to take a drive down into Charlotte County, oak trees between Elmira Boulevard and the sidewalk, and the sidewalks are all buckling causing a very you know, trees are nice.

It has its dual purpose, but it's also causing safety factors. You know, person can trip and fall, and that's city property.

And just visibility, driving, someone swerves off the road, hits the tree where I don't believe there should be a tree because it's not a safe condition.

Yeah. Yeah. Your point about, right, it's what you guys are doing now. Now compared to IFRS. Versus that strikes me because in my mind, right, it's not like your group's going to be here forever, right?

Fifty years from now, who knows who else gets in, This is why process is important in my estimation. I think maybe what we ought to talk about as a potential recommendation to the city is, hey, this should be a process. This should be we should have a checklist of any time we plant a tree, where it is, what's impacted. Yeah. And then that way, not that the current people aren't doing it right or whatever, this is about laying something out that can be forever very clear.

It's not to the whim of the department head or whatever, right? I'd say that's right smack dab in the middle of our charter. All right. So we're going to need an initial recommendation off of this, right, to at least discuss.

That's correct. If you would like to discuss further or you can consider topics to recommend.

Well, the city has a new program. You know? Like, you know, maybe we'd be able to have more information on that program in reference to, you know, where they're planting trees near infrastructureroadways?

We could do that. But what I'm thinking is regardless of what's going on now, right, we're going in my mind, you would put together a recommendation that says, look, your process needs to consider all these things today, tomorrow, one hundred years from now.

Right, which we need arborist information. We need geologist information. We need all educational stuff that weighs way beyond this board. Yeah. Not trying to not trying to not not trying to bash this, but, I mean, it's like, we wanna make these type of recommendations if there's a lot of information that you we need to have before.

There's standards for roadway design in regards to certain safety barriers, curbing to protect people from hitting stuff. I don't think we have to have every facet understood. Like I said, I don't think currently going forward there's issues, but I know there are issues. Live all this out there. So I see it every day.

But we don't know who's coming after Stephan.

Yeah. And and here's what I just wanna point out. So the board can provide recommendations in the form of ideas and goals of what they would like accomplished and what they would like to see, and these must follow the charter of the EAP. The board should not really direct employees of what to do and how to do their work. I'm just just explaining.

Yeah.

And but any ideas that are favoring the mission of the EAP are always welcomed and encouraged.

The recommendation is the city ought to have a process for all this. We're not right in the process. At least that

in place. Again, I cannot speak of how things were done some time ago, but it's a highly structured process. Professionals are usually involved.

Yeah. But I'm good.

There are studies done of existing infrastructure. So a lot a lot has occurred in my opinion, but there's always perhaps opportunity to learn and do better.

Okay. I'll take a stab at a draft and present it next time. A draft recommendation for that. Any other thoughts? I

don't think it falls within our purview. That's my opinion. I'm just putting it out there for the record.

Why is that, Jessica?

I don't see where it advances our mission. Now you are trying to expand what our mission is. I can understand wanting to do that. I guess that's within the realm of discussion. And I'm just saying I disagree with expanding our mission.

I think it's very hard for us to meet the goals that we already have, which is to, encourage good environmental practices and, not to worry about traffic and home building and all they have plenty of advocates, okay? And they have plenty of departments that deal with these things. And our department has to do with do we have any wildlife crossings? No. I bring this up all the time.

Can we pick up trash on the roads? No. You know, that's not within our purview even though beautification is within our purview. Public safety has their own rules for things. And, I'm not it's free speech. That's fine. I'm just saying, I don't agree with these things furthering our mission. I think they're off topic a little bit. Yes, it's somewhat complex, you know, that we exist in nature and we have our things within nature. Nature, you know, provides and nature also takes away, you know, with the hurricanes and everything else.

I understand that, you know. But hurricanes blow more than trees down. They blow shutters all around the neighborhood, parts of lanais and everything else that's artificial, not just trees. So I think that trying to say, oh, a tree falls on trees falls on roads everywhere. They fall on roads in big cities.

That doesn't right on But the what I'm saying is that, oh, if the sidewalk is buckling, well, did a flying leap on Punta Gorda's brick sidewalks. And just because they were bricks, and I my toe and you know, really banged up my leg bad. I'm not going to sue the city, you know, just because I'm a klutz, you know? But it didn't help that they were brick, you know Right. Kind of thing.

So, yeah, I mean, I just I just think that, you know, I think we should be talking about trees and wildlife and just not, you know, traffic and home building. You know? I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not sure this is the venue for it. How about, you know, zoning and that kind of thing? That's not their department. Exactly.

So this is the department for it. Because zoning doesn't talk about trees. It's the environmental board. Correct? Zoning usually

The zoning and planning. Right?

Yep. With planning, that conversation may come up with public, you know, public works department, the utilities. Sometimes their work relates to trees, but they take into consideration the infrastructure as their priority. What I wanted to mention is that I think that's a great discussion really with many different perspectives, and it's actually a pleasure to listen to you all. I believe personally where that can align the topic that member Drum brought up is that ultimately, when we place a tree in the proper location with the status of the tree taken into consideration many years in the of the community and it contributes to the well-being of the tree as well.

But ultimately, Jessica, you're also making, in my opinion, a great point that sometimes trees fall down, sometimes infrastructure gets damaged. The stance of the city Unified Land Development called and comprehensive plan is that if a tree may be next to infrastructure, but the tree is healthy, we should not assume that the tree will fall down as in an active God event or extreme weather event, that may be the case. But if the tree was planted incorrectly in the first place, that may lead to issues, including health, well-being, safety. So there's an overlap. And I think that there's fantastic perspectives.

Yeah, not right. Clearly trees will fall. What we're trying to do is decrease the odds of that happening.

Well, then don't have any at all. That would decrease all of the odds.

No, no.

Really, my point was just making sure that there's standards in place to safeguard sarcastic. The trees and the people. Because I I I like, if the board only looked I don't know how any boards can say, I look at only one area and miss the other stuff. Because if you do, you're not a well rounded you're you're like I said, this is your view. You don't see the other aspects, how it affects everything else. I'm trying to bring other aspects to the board

as I an example where other boards did other things. There's a little park type area at the right before 41 and Sumter on the left. And it's actually I thought it was a park, but it was actually on it's public works, takes care of it. But there's a little gazebo there. And there, at one point, on the little bridge that you used to cross over the pond, there were two small oaks planted on each side along with the other vegetation.

They were natural oaks. I'm pretty sure they were planted because they were right there and stuff. And one day, I came along and the gazebo had been started to be occupied by homeless people or people who just messed it up, lived there. There was vandalism and stuff Well, the Oaks were gone. And I thought, well, why would they do that? They were, you know, kinda nice and everything. And there's birds that nest there and raise their young and all the rest of it.

And so I and I thought about it and

I thought, oh, I bet they just wanna see what's going on from the bridge into the gazebo, and that it was probably police or somebody. But anyway, those trees were removed. And they weren't by us, and they weren't by a developer. They were removed for presumably public safety. It was just those two trees, and they were taken out and the ground covered up. It wasn't vandalism or anything. So yeah, there are other departments that do tree removal without us knowing anything about it. It's only something I noticed.

If I may, to Jessica's points, certain projects also are exempt from review of natural resources based on specific status such as a hospital project, a school project through the County School Board. And that's also that I'm just explaining the process. And the part that kind of touches to this subject that I want to make sure that everyone understands is that many people look at the Natural Resources division as just regulators, but we have some expertise as part of our team. And for example, the arborist and the urban forester, they have been doing this for a long time. And they coordinate with other departments on different projects.

Let's say, Parks and Recreation are interested in a project or a planting. We're always available as a resource. And we interact with Public Works, we interact with other teams to ensure that things are done at the highest standard possible because there's nothing more frustrating for us personally, Natural Resources is to see an unsuccessful planting project, be it three years after planting, seeing trees dying can be extremely upsetting for us. So it's something that we're passionate about. We have the I'm just explaining that we have many procedures in place to do the right thing when it pertains to tree planting.

Got you. Any other thoughts on that? I will come with something for everybody to react to and we'll use that as the stimulus. Good? Okay. Item 20 five-two 892, discussion of possible action regarding approval of the EAV meeting scheduled for 2026.

So chair, for this item, we have the schedule of the upcoming meetings for the next year. So if the board would like to review these proposed dates and discuss in both whether they approve them or not.

Yeah. Everybody have a chance to look at those or not?

No. Did not. I mean,

go ahead.

I have it in my files, but I haven't

read It would be the same exact schedule as what we have every Monday, first Monday of the month at 05:30PM. If it falls on the holiday, it would be the next Monday.

Yeah. All right. I think yeah, right? All right. Motion to approve? Second.

No, you need a motion to approve. You can't make the motion.

Why don't I get to make

the motion?

You're the chair.

I need to make the motion to approve the schedule for next year's EAB meetings. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. Future agenda items. Paul?

Jim? No, sir.

Jessica?

In light of Tim's concerns about what we do, perhaps we could have some of our natural resources people make short presentations about their role that they do. Or I would extend an invitation if they would be willing to do a fifteen minute ten, fifteen minutes kind of thing. And we could spread it out over several meetings that we could just make a blank area. I don't know what you all think about something like that. We would know more about specific areas of expertise and give them a chance to make their case for their role.

I have no problems with that.

All right. So think about it maybe in terms of like a section of the meeting and instead of we only get one of these a month. Maybe it's like ten or fifteen minutes, one at a time or something like that. I'm saying don't make it don't have it be a burden.

Yeah. No. I do not want to burden your staff. We This is true.

Again, short and sweet, spread to the point. It's there's I I actually I appreciate the board bringing this up. I think that there's a lot that can be shared about how the division functions. And yeah, I will work with my team, and we can come up with something.

Great. Thank you.

That'd be great. Good idea. Can I

ask a question? Yeah. Yeah. The funds and the amount of because I know part of the charter for the funds is replanting trees and buying properties. Can we get an update on those items that's been done by the city with the funds?

Yeah. Yeah. So would you like that as a separate item or as part of because that'll probably be more of a

I think that would be a separate item. Okay. Yeah. Even if it's just a, hey.

100%.

We bought these lots. We planted these trees just even if it's not 100 accurate, but just because I know part of the money is supposed to be going to that.

Very high level. Right?

You can just tie that to the development report. We ought to be looking at that once a month.

I believe so. To see where the funds are going.

Absolutely.

Great. Good. Jessica, did you have anything else? That was great.

I know it's unbelievable, but no.

I'm good also. Same here. Any public comment? Maryann? I said, I adjourned. Thanks, everybody.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.