Sustainability and Resiliency Committee - Regular Meeting

Okay, so welcome everyone to the first Sustainability and Resiliency Committee meeting of the 2026 to 2028 term. It is 12.03 p.m. on Thursday, August 20th, 2026. My name is Angie Alcala. I'm the Assistant to the Town Clerk, and I will be calling this meeting to order. So, and then I'm going to call the roll. So, Committee Member William Blumenkrantz?

Here.

Committee Member Tiffany Cannava? Here. Committee Member Daniel Deitch? Here. Committee Member Rachel Krasna?

Here.

And then Committee Member Dalita Shuba is absent. So there is a quorum and we can proceed. So the first item we have is the agenda and order of business. If anyone would like to change anything on the agenda or add any items, That would be the time.

Did you mention who you are? Did I miss that? Was I talking?

I didn't say anything. No? I'm the junior operation manager. Thank you.

Got it. Okay. Nice to meet you.

9295? 9293. Oh. So, thanks.

Did you find it?

You got the agenda? Well, it just says agenda and order business. Is this the agenda? Yes.

I have it on my phone anyway.

Yeah, when you click on an item, then you can just go right back. So I think... So this is the agenda.

All right.

That is the agenda.

Okay.

There's going to be a quiz at the end of this.

I'm going to fail every time. I need to be reminded.

Maybe today I'll pass, but today I won't. Okay. So no changes right now to the agenda? No.

We're just starting out again, right?

Okay. Then there's no commissioner liaison yet, I believe. no commissioners can identify I don't think anyone I don't think so anyway they couldn't be here yeah I think they they can volunteer or they have to they can just select and then I'm not sure that has to be voted on I don't think so

So Tina's obviously not available. No. But Jerry is.

And the minutes or the meeting agenda that was sent to us,

The last time it was reviewed was in February, you mentioned?

Yeah, we're almost there. So number four would be public comments. We have no members of the public present. And then item number five would be approval of minutes. So I would need a motion. Yes, the last meeting was in February, which Dyche and Kanava were both part of the committee at that time. Okay. but I will need a motion to approve the minutes. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Our first discussion item is introduction of committee members. You could go ahead and introduce yourselves, talk about your qualifications.

Hi.

Are you Ms. Teshuga? Yes, I am. Okay, so I would need you to fill this affidavit out before to be able to participate in the meeting. Okay. So if you could give me one.

Let me do it outside, sir.

No, you can do it.

Sorry.

You guys can introduce yourselves.

My name is William Blumenkranz. I was born in Surfside, so I've lived here my whole life. When I was growing up, we had a lot of empty lots in town. We had a lot of small motels on the beach. We didn't even really have a beach. It was about maybe 10 yards wide. It was a whole different setup than it is now. Always been concerned about the environment. It's just something I've always been into since I was a kid. My wife and I walk the community every night for the last 20 years, and we literally pick garbage off the streets while we're walking. I mean, anything I can do, I will do to help Surfside stay clean and stay resilient. I don't have any formal education in resiliency, but I've had a lot of experience just by living in the town my whole life And I think I have a lot to offer because I know what the town has been through. I know what we can handle. I know experience with past storms. I was here for Hurricane Cleo in 1964. I was here for Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Those were the only two storms to really directly affect Surfside with water. So I know what can happen in this town if we even get a near miss. So I'm prepared to hopefully make some changes if possible to keep our town resilient and I think I have a lot to offer and experience.

I'm Rachel Krasna. I'm a marine biologist and environmental scientist. I was encouraged to join this committee and I'm excited to be a part of it. I have two young kids. We've been in surfside since 2021. We love it. We hope to help sustain it. Kind of like what I was just mentioning, like picking up trash, like Kids live and breathe the beach, and I'm happy to see my little generation is carrying that forward. I think there's a lot of amazing existing policies, ordinances, procedures that are things Florida-wide, state-wide, county-wide with Miami-Dade that we can adapt or bring in to Surfside. So just happy and ready to be active and make some changes.

Hi, I'm Tiffany Ganava. I, like you, don't have direct experience, but I am a consultant to nonprofits in Miami, and so my clients are Everglades Law Center and Miami Waterkeeper. So I know just from working with them, and I work with Cleo, too. And friends of the Everglades, actually. They're an active client right now. So anyway, so just because of me helping them bring in unrestricted dollars, like that's what I usually help them with, is to build their fundraising capacity. I also learn about the work that they're doing and what's happening. And I really see Surfside as an opportunity to be a cultural community that is small in footprint. So to say to people, we could really try some really cool things here and test it to then bring to other communities. So I feel like this is really the perfect opportunity in Miami. A lot of people agree, so it's kind of like, OK, what can we do here to really show the world what is possible, and that's what I'm excited about. And if there's a way for me to help raise money to do it, I would love to do that. So still not quite sure how that would work for a municipality, but I'm game to try to bring in money to help make this the most resilient community in the world.

You have to set an example. That's one thing I wanted to say. I forgot. We should be able to set an example for other communities. And we can do that. We definitely can do that.

Miami Beach, Saniya, it's too big of a footprint. We could do it. So let's do it.

Hello. Daniel Dodge. And... I've previously served on this committee and I'm very excited to continue some of the work that we've started. By way of background, I work as a solid waste planner. So I work for an environmental consulting firm and I work with municipalities and governments and the private sector of this country. I have a career all over the world. very much focused on the environment, involved with non-profit organizations, focused on the environment, the Cleveland Institute, the American Foot Coalition, the Coastal Corridor, that is a case district for energy records, and so it's an issue. We are a fund-sized community. There's a lot that we can do, and I hope that we can continue the work that we have been doing.

You're one of our great past mayors. You're a little humble. I know you're humble.

That's okay.

I haven't closed the door.

Because you sound like tender, right? I remember. Okay, fantastic. Hi, I'm Delita Shuba. Sorry I was late. I was in the middle of work and I dashed out. I am currently a director of operations for a company out in New York. It's a not-for-profit. I've been working there for about 20 plus years. At some point I was an executive director. I was in a repositioning when it was possible. I guess my focus would probably be more of a fiscal focus. I am passionate about the environment. I do care about the certified cleanliness. I've taken pictures in the past and sent it to the office. It's about the alleyways and just garbage all along. So that's something that I do care about, obviously, sustainability and so on and so forth. And I was asked to join. I wasn't really sure what I was joining, but I'm here. And I'm willing and happy to contribute whenever I possibly can to Surfside.

Perfect.

And then our next item is going to be the appointment of the committee chair and vice chair.

I nominate Daniel Weitsch. I second that. He was a chair before. He runs a very efficient meeting. But anyway, anyone else want to be nominated? I don't know. Take it. It's all yours. It's all yours.

Okay, and then can I have someone second the nomination?

I second. Okay. And then all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Nomination is received for chair. for a chair. And then I'm gonna need to do the same for the vice chair.

So, if anyone wants.

So the chair has to provide me with the agenda items. Any committee member can submit an item, but the chair would, he usually creates the memos and he sends them to me. He's like the one who communicates most for the board, for the committee. And then the vice chair would act in place of the chair if they can't be here.

Like we're on the meeting, if the show's not here. You interested?

You've been here previously, though.

I love being a committee member.

I'm still learning. I'm very much in the learning mode.

You seem to have the longest standing here.

In that respect, yes, I do. I don't know what, I mean, like I said, I'm still learning. I'm a fast learner. William, if it makes you feel any better, we're all equals.

We're equals. Other than the administrative elements, all the chair does is orchestrate the meetings.

I'd be happy to take the responsibility.

Okay. I have no problem with it. William, however he says his last name. to vice chair. Okay.

Does anyone second that nomination? And then all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Nomination, so you will now be the vice chair. And then I also want to explain that Mr. Deitch knows the chair can't make motions. So if he can present a motion and one of you can move it, but that's one thing. So the vice chair can make motions, but if the chair is present.

So it's just in this commission. Yes. It's the same format, same rules and procedures.

Makes sense. But the chair can pass the ballot. Right. Make a motion.

Exactly. Okay. So then the next item is going to be the 2026 committee meeting dates and agenda deadline. So you guys can click on the item to be able to see those. We're coming near the end of 2026 now, but.

So I only see the February. Let's see.

I also see February.

When you go on the committee meeting dates on the item. Click the PDF? Yeah. Where did you go down to?

6A or 6C?

Yeah, 6C. And then. Oh, okay. All right.

Yes. Wait, I saw that. That's in the PDF you sent.

Yeah, in the agenda.

Yeah, I saw it already.

So. 917. Yeah.

How many do we need to have a meeting? The quorum is three.

According to our town code, it's not allowed for anyone to join remotely for committees, for boards and committees. Like I was telling them before, that would be something that would have to be amended by the commission. Yeah, we're going to put it forward. Yeah, right.

So I agree. How do we put it forward to the commission about considering Zoom attendance?

I mean, I can speak to Sandra about it. It would probably have to be like a commissioner would bring it forward as a discussion item, and then they would have to decide if they wanted to move forward with that.

And if they need a separate channel, like a Google Meet instead of their traditional Zoom one, like whatever is the acceptable... public, outward facing. I think it's fine.

The issue they run into is the other committees will want to do it.

Well, why not?

Yes. I'm just sharing my insight with politics that there may be some resistance to changing the status quo. But if you could try the soft channel. going directly to the clerk or the acting town manager. If that is unsuccessful, then we can bring a discussion item forward and make it a formal request. And then sometimes it's helpful if the representative or representatives show up at a commission meeting to make the case. This doesn't particularly occur at the end of the meeting or the beginning of the meeting, so it is a commitment to go with the representative. So let's try the soft channel first, and then we can go with the formal request.

Right. So going back to the agenda deadline dates, if you could look at them, I have, we've presented this before. We always do it in November. We create for the entire year that's coming up, we create agenda dates and deadlines with the meeting dates. So we have the meeting on the third Thursday of the month. And then we post the agenda a week before. And then I believe it's the Friday before, the Friday before we post the agenda, we request that the items be submitted to us just so we have enough time. So you could look them over and I would need a motion to approve these deadline dates for the rest of the year.

So what if we know that we're gonna be out of town for a meeting?

Then you can, under the next meeting date, you can request to move it, or if it's a few months in advance, you can also, as soon as you know, you can bring it up. You can bring it up, and we can alter it accordingly. Who wants to, do you want to make the motion?

Oh, I'll make the motion.

I'll second the motion.

Good.

Thank you.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Okay. And then the next item would be new business, which there was no new business added. I'd like to ask you a question.

And I think you can answer.

I'm going to take the gavel back if we have a few seconds.

What?

Oh, I'm sorry.

A second. And the reason you want to do that is so a meeting's never canceled?

No, no, just so we can have a general discussion.

Oh, okay.

And then through the chair, I would ask that that usually be done under the agenda and order of business, just so we have it from the beginning.

Okay. So I second that request. All in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Great. So... I was wondering what has this committee actually established for Surfside in the past? Just to give me a general idea of where we're going in the future, there's been a lot of changes in Surfside for sure, but I don't know how many of them this committee was actually responsible for. I just want to get an idea of how far our reach is in the community. Very little. Very little. And it's frustrating.

to help bring everybody up to speed on where we left off with the last committee, I will bring a discussion item forward for next month that identifies the priorities of the last committee. One of the other things that we have influence over, or at least we have a voice, are the town's legislative priorities. So we'll also put an item on the agenda that deals with legislative priorities. Not that everything that we advocate for will become, because there's only so much that junior Tallahassee is seeking, But we certainly can offer our thoughts, and it's better to do it now before the legislative session begins so that information can be coordinated with the lobbyists. In the past, the town's lobbyists have presented to us on Zoom, which is part of the justification. If it's good for others to engage with us virtually, then why shouldn't we be able to? But, yeah, we'll bring those items forward. There is one major one that is in the works.

At least you did. Operation manager for Public Works.

So it may be coming your way. And that is the town received a grant from Beverage Association to have a sticker affixed to every recycling cart, which is nice. But if it is not balanced by a concerted education and outreach program, and again, we're a fund-sized community. So to my thinking, that's a knock on the door, introducing folks introducing themselves to our resident. We're going to put a sticker on your card. This is why we're putting the sticker on the card. And then an ongoing monitoring program to keep non-recycled materials out of the recycling cart. And so that work has begun, but it really needs attention. And you're absolutely right. There have been so many changes over the last few years.

That sticker idea was in my head years ago. Because they always had a sticker with the dates And then I said, okay, but that's not enough. That's great. I didn't even know you guys put that forward. I had no idea.

It took us the better part of a year to get the grant accepted by the commission.

I would have made them myself. I would have walked the neighborhood and put them on the cans myself.

That's what we were saying. We can all help with the education piece. We just need to get the go-ahead with the youth council, with us. There's plenty of people that want to do it. It's just we need the approval to do it.

Does the group ever facilitate a quarterly or annual meeting with the residents? Whether they're... mentors, owners, just to like bring them up to like, hey, we have this arm through town of suicide it's a great idea it just takes yeah effort we're not limited yeah let's not consider ourselves limited yeah we will be told if we're moving outside of our lane yeah just like any place there's going to be a mixed bag and mixed flavor of priorities when it comes to approaching nature sustainability resilience and everybody at the end of the day i think cares about like the so what factor where is my money going as an owner of a condo? Why does it matter to me to do doom restoration? Why does it matter to fund or build back up my HOA to maybe get these incentives and these grants to build safer barriers to protect my home? So I think when we're able to build messaging that then reaches people, and they can come and be like, oh, OK, great, good job. Time to sort of tie that resume together.

It's something I'm going to touch on in a moment, but any ideas that you have, bring them forward. One of the challenges that we run into is when there's a new commission, we have a new commission every two years, there's a lot of change. So we run into a capacity issue from the town manager's office. We're in that same transition period now. We have an acting town manager, and it's going to take some time before we have a permanent town manager. So I want to be sensitive, too. what we're asking of the administration, but we should keep the ideas flowing, and I'd rather have a backlog of ideas than that can be taken at a pace that contributes to the impact.

And I think one suggestion that I would make is I think that's a great idea, but if we had a schedule set, and then we can book, because for me, I had that the walk and learn. Walk and talk. Walk and talk. I had the speaker who was going to come do it for free, everything. It took so long, and it never really got confirmed. And now their grant is done, and now they can't do it anymore. So it was like a six-month, eight-month thing, and then we stopped meeting. But that was a perfect example. It was going to be like leaders in the field. They were going to literally take a walk around Surfside to show it, and we missed that opportunity because we couldn't make it happen. So maybe if we have on the calendar every quarter there's going to be a guest speaker, then we're filling in the guest speaker and not getting approval for it to happen and then so the climate walk and talk could have just been slotted in versus trying to coordinate, you know, whoever had to be coordinated, I don't know. But I love that idea and so I would suggest getting approval that these are the dates and then this committee can help slot in who the speaker is. I think that would be the best way instead of trying to get each one approved just to get a consistent schedule, so. So next, for next month,

coordinate with the clerk to get out the list of priorities, which doesn't mean that has to be the priorities for the committee. Just to share with you where we're at. Let's try to do that this week.

Yes, to send it.

I put them in, you mean like, oh, they're all available on the website. They're all available on the website. And the minutes from the prior meeting are in this agenda as well.

So here's my ask of all of you. That if, that I'm encouraging you, please bring discussion items forward. And generally the order is, of operation is bring a discussion item forward, and then we can figure out how it fits into our plan. There is a template for a discussion item that I found to be very helpful so that if you look at a commission agenda, sometimes in the discussion items, it's just a title. I mean, who knows what the intention is, let alone where the discussion may go. So it's very simple. The form has a title that goes in the agenda, the objective, what do you as the person bringing the item forward want to get out of it, and then consideration and then a recommendation. It doesn't have to be long, but just something so that we can all understand, because we're bound by sunshine, we can't talk about a matter that we can reasonably assume will come before us outside of these meetings. So it's really, that is the only chance that you have to show your thinking before the meeting begins.

Can she reshare the template to this? Yes. So the priorities that we, so Angie's going to share the priorities we set as a committee. Yeah. They're warm.

The discussion items, all the discussion items. And for all you Seinfeld fans, it's like the coffee table book about coffee tables. Yeah. there were the legislative priorities and then was it fiscal year priorities as well for the so I don't know if it was a one page or two page that had all of our initiatives and then prioritized by time frame? Yes.

I have it from past agendas, yeah.

So whatever the most recent one is, maybe the legislative priorities from last year?

Yes, okay, that's what I was.

I have a question. The 5Gs will be doing a poll under this committee. 5Gs? Yeah, the one that went up on Harding and stuff. Does this committee have anything to do with that? 5Gs on the 5Gs. What is that? The cell towers. Is that something this committee would deal with? 5Gs.

Ah, the new building is called 5Gs. No, no, no.

Cell towers.

Oh, cell towers.

Harding and 92nd, yeah. Harding and 92nd, yeah. Because I spoke to him and I was like, oh, you're on the right side. I'm like, really?

Hello. Hi.

How are you doing?

I just wanted to say hi really quickly. Hi.

Sorry to interrupt. I'm Genesis Guevara. I'm the deputy town clerk. So I just wanted to say hi to the ones that don't know me. And I just want to say that whenever she's not here, then I'll probably be covering this meeting. But yeah, I just wanted to introduce myself real quickly. And you guys can get going.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to see you. So I spoke to them before they came in.

So I'm not sure how much influence the town has. It may just be permitting that comes through. But If there's something that you want to discuss on it or you want the town to provide information, just put together the discussion item on it and then work.

It's more of a, I know I spoke to him and I looked into it, it's more of a state situation. And I understand, I think it was another town you called. It was, I don't know, what are you saying? I don't know if you know anything about them. I'll be more than happy to send you some videos of the radiation.

As far as I know, I'm not sensitive to whatever electricity it's sending out.

So you're coming from a point of radiation, not a point of how it looks.

No, I don't care what the static is. I mean, the static is not pleasing, but the radiation that's... I have a dosing meter, whatever it is, and you can just see the radiation that it emits.

Well, there's several types of radiation.

They all say it's not awful, I know. I've heard it.

But some people are sensitive. That's why I raised the issue.

I'm very sensitive to it, yes.

Wouldn't it be the same that comes from the phone?

See, like what I have? I don't let that thing touch me all the time.

through the chair so everybody in their thing you could also bring a discussion item on that for next month if you if you would like to discuss it further yeah so we don't necessarily need to do the research you can bring a discussion item that says we would like the administration to provide an update on who is responsible for the towers and what's the so we And then we can see if there's anything that we can do about it as a committee. One of the challenges is we do better on matters that are within the purview of the town. And even then, it's a process. Just for the benefit of this committee, not only currently do we need a quorum in person, if we don't have quorum after 15 minutes of the meeting starting, the meeting's canceled?

Yes. If there's only one or two members present, then the meeting will be canceled. But usually we confirm that we have enough people who said they were coming. Sometimes they can't make it on the day, and then we would have to cancel after 15 minutes.

And then the other reason why meetings have been canceled is because nothing was submitted for the agenda. But then we kind of... went around that by saying we're gonna be discussing the priorities and to put that on every agenda. So no meeting is canceled. Can we do that again? Do you guys understand like if nobody submitted anything, then it's like we had no submissions, the meeting's canceled. And we're like, but wait a second, we didn't know nobody was submitting anything. Like I would've submitted something. So, cause we always have the priorities to discuss and get updates from the town manager if he's here the liaison to the commission. So there was always something to discuss because we had the priority list, which had like 15, 20 items on it. So there's never not a discussion. So we just made that as a permanent agenda item so the meeting would never be canceled. So do I make a motion to do that again? Can I make a motion that the committee priorities is a permanent agenda? is a standing agenda item for this committee moving forward.

So you can say I second that. Okay, sorry.

Thank you. I'm sorry. It's okay. Refresh.

Yes. Added as a standing agenda item. I guess not. All right.

Some things will just deal with a voice, and sometimes if it's more substantial, we'll ask each person.

I have another question. I'll gear it towards you since you've been doing this. What are some of the things that were on the agenda in the previous committees, just so we know, at least some thought, about what you guys accomplished? Just a few things that you... I don't feel like...

And I feel like we've accomplished a whole lot.

Well, you were towards completion or whatever it is.

I don't know if this is the latest update, but.

So one thing that I thought was productive is we had a joint meeting with the Youth Council so that we could identify synergies. So there was legislation of working on the domain, but the town is now part of a consortium. We helped identify metrics to document our progress towards it. But that may be something. I'm not sure what their schedule is and whether it makes sense. Once we get organized a little bit better, then maybe we'll have a joint meeting with them and see where the work is going to begin.

Were the freebies or any of the electric vehicles part of this committee? That was just the town and the town?

Yep. Same thing with the improvement of the walking path. That did not come to us.

That walk didn't happen over the summer, right?

It's been happening for a long time. Because I just came back and it's been a while. Has the town ever submitted comments to the Corps of Engineers about additional requirements or additional terms that they would want to see?

No.

Once it left this committee as a recommendation, it's really the commission's responsibility. But you're right, re-featuring it doesn't happen by itself.

Right, it's kind of dangerous. It should be coordinated with other units of government, our neighbors.

There was a feature in 1999, 2000, somewhere in that timeframe. It's challenging to find a funding source. It was Mayor Levine at the time, we convened a mayor's alliance, had a press conference in Miami Beach. All of a sudden, Mayor Jimenez, out of time, said, oh, I think I found someone. Because Surfside doesn't pay for it, it's a state, it's federal, state, and county. But yeah, so to the point of, we should be looking for opportunities to coordinate with our neighbors. Yeah. But our voice only has so much impact, whereas speaking with multiple voices. That's true. Okay, good to know.

I stopped printing stuff out at some point because I was doing it on my iPad, but now my iPad isn't working. What was something that you guys were most proud of convening? So it sounded like that joint. Sorry.

Yeah.

We really only met for one year because it took. It took almost a year to get the committee together. And then in February, it stopped. So we really only had 10 meetings. Because before this committee, it had been ended. So there was no sustainability resiliency committee for a few years, probably three years. So we just took on when the last commission came in. It was reestablished. But then we probably only had eight or nine meetings. And then it stopped again until now. So hopefully this stays on so we can continue our work and there's not like a break, you know, six month break, you know? So I feel like we had some momentum going on things and then it just kind of just stopped. So, but it was the, the, um, what were those things that were put on 96th street park? That was something that we met with the, um,

The seawall?

The seawall. So this committee, we got that presentation. Vice Mayor Paul was at that meeting, and she took it back and got it voted on. So that's something we were involved in. Like a nature-inclusive design? Yeah, that was like attached.

A living seawall.

A living seawall.

Which is now allowable.

Right, yeah, I saw the ordinance. So we were involved in that. We were involved in getting the approval for this sticker to go in the recycling bins, but then we haven't met. since that, so we haven't been able to execute on that. So we got that, you know, and they came and did presentations of what they can do and, you know, they'll pay for it. So we had meetings about it.

Another example of intergovernmental coordination, Miami Beach wanted to move the buoy line to create a larger swim zone. keep motorized vessels away from the near shore reefs and but we have not carried that forward they were going to go through the permitting process governmental process but that's something that we should pick up again as I mentioned reef line is eager to extend world class installation consciousness raising installation

You know, on that note, when I was a kid, before they extended the beach, there was a reef right off the surf side that was covered. It's really under the beach now. You only had to go out maybe 30, 40 feet from the original beach. There's a beautiful reef there with all kinds of fish. It was marvelous. It really was incredible. Gone. It's gone. But The beach itself is actually more, I hate to say more important for protection than that little reef was. It was a small reef, but it was a reef nonetheless. It was a shame, but that's progress. Yeah, but we had no beach, so it was like six of one, a half dozen of the other, which is more important, the extended beach to keep storm surges or preserving the reef. Couldn't do both.

But maybe we can put a new reef line down.

Yeah, I mean, that would be nice. It would be nice.

And I need you to do that currently with the reef line. So if we can follow that model that the beach did, whether it's reef line or another reef restoration company or something, you know, a group, what does that look like to put a, because Surfside's one mile. So how does it look like to put one mile of a reef line? It wouldn't be a mile. It would be an installation.

So like a cluster of the tiny cars. What you find is these sunken concrete vehicle shapes, and they made a cool artificial reef for people to dive and look at and see what's growing on it. I'm a little hesitant to concrete being in the water just because, but maybe if there's another company that can come in and make a mixture composite and put it on there to make stuff actively grow on it, I think that'd be cool.

So if you haven't spoken to the folks at Prefine, I encourage you to, because they have gone through all the requisite, not just permitting, but investigation of the impact of the material substrate. But by all accounts, it has been just a wild success in terms of attracting the foreign law that was intended to raise income.

It takes a while, but it does evolve. Maybe 20, 30 years from now, whatever they put there is going to be unrecognizable. It'll just be overgrown and look natural. It takes a while, but it does happen.

These were all things we were working on.

We will send out the list, and it really has a point of reference, but please don't be Please talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends. You are the conduit for the community source.

I just had a question about the recycling. Does the town actually enforce this stuff?

So that's... Because I don't think they do. This is the world that I live in every day. And that's why I say the town is fun-sized and we're fortunate. So years ago, the town, we used to outsource the collection of recyclables where we all... I'm going to say always, but in the 20-something years that I've been here, we have collected our own waste in packer trucks.

They converted a packer truck. So the packer truck is the rear-loading.

They converted one for the recycling range. So it's dedicated for recycling. But what that means is that our staff are walking to the sides of homes, physically bringing the cart. even though a lot of people leave it at the curb themselves, they don't need to. It's disgusting the way they do it. This is an opportunity to educate.

Like when taking out the bags, leaving it on the floors, then coming back in two hours. I'm only talking about recycling. Now I'm like, you got me into that.

We'll deal with solid waste later. But when the cart is brought, they have to flip the lid before it goes into the vehicle. It gives them an opportunity to see what's inside the container. And that's where we have the opportunity So we have the sticker, so we're engaging people with the information, but then in real time, we have the opportunity to engage, whether it's taking a photograph and leaving a note or knocking on the door, saying, hey, we found this non-recyclable material in your cart. Do you know what that means for the town's recycling program? Because we're backcharged for contamination above a certain level. So it's an opportunity to have a conversation, and through that, we'll increase the likelihood of behavior change. as opposed to just collecting it and spreading the cost of that contamination across all customers.

So it's a real opportunity. You know, it goes both ways. when the landscapers make a big pile of debris, you know what you see thrown in there half the time? The water bottles and the lunch styrofoam cases and the soda cans right on top of the... That's a different issue because commercial landscapers are prohibited from... Of course they are, but they do it all the time. They do it all the time. But that's a code compliance matter.

And neighbors don't want to report their neighbors, and I get that, but that's why the town has the function of a code compliance group to be aware of that.

Of course, the landscapers tell their customers, well, we'll take it away, but we've got to charge you another $40 over what you just paid us. And of course, the homeowners are going to say, no, you know what? Second thought, just leave it there. But also the placement.

You're right. If it is placed on the road... And there's a rain event.

Yeah, of course. Not only that, the small debris leaves, if they're not banned, and they're just piled on the road after heavy rain, they're all washing right down to the sewer line and clogging it up.

So either people don't realize that. I don't know how many people in Surfside realize that what goes down that drain is literally going out into the water.

Not only that, we have a problem. with hedges, this new hedge that they've been doing the last couple of years with the big round leaves, you know. Calusa, yes. They're planting them right next to the curb and they drop leaves like crazy.

This is also illegal.

Yes. Now these drop their leaves all year and you look on the curb, it's loaded with those leaves and as soon as the rain comes, it's worse than any ground cover could have been Because we have rules against the ground cover has to be six feet away from the curb or five feet. But the bushes are dropping all this debris that are even worse.

It follows that rule. Everyone has to follow it to the curb almost.

It used to make us rip it out if you did this.

I think it comes back to everybody educating and understanding why does this matter to me? And financially, is there a financial incentive for homeowners that exist in Florida. I don't know if you can look into that.

Don't forget, politics is a popularity contest. Sure, sure. Nobody wants... I've witnessed it. Electeds don't want to be seen as being punitive. So the goal should always be compliance. But there shouldn't be a law that's not going to be enforced.

Right.

That can be a voice. If you're not going to enforce this, then get rid of them all.

Right. There is an incentive for that to keep people from planting their hedges next to the curb. If you tell them, you plant your hedge next to the curb and you pull up in your car, if you have a passenger in your car, they're not going to be able to open the door and get out. So you've really killed your parking spot. Why would you want to have a hedge right up on the curb?

Yeah.

And there's plenty of examples of that. They can't park their car there with two people. You can't get out.

And also, if it blocks the water from getting down the drain, you're going to flood. You're increasing your chances.

Why would you want to do that to yourself and kill that parking spot?

Perfect segue to at least, I think, the last point that I read today. We have been granted space in the Gazette. to write a thought piece. So you've probably seen the sustainability forum. We have a volunteer, but she's not at this meeting. And she's still going to do it. I can check with her. But she's not a resident. She may not be a citizen, which affects her ability to serve on this committee. She has been great at putting items together. But I want to challenge all of you and encourage you. this privilege um it's an opportunity to share your thoughts much like the commission corner you are speaking on behalf of this committee um but you work with town staff and they can help craft it i don't need to be in the middle of it and you can do it yourself just remember you're running it on that so should we all approve it what's that we're gonna have to review it or

One of the main items, as you know, in town is the flooding. Big issue. And everything we discussed here really goes back to the flooding. It's worsening or hampering the situation of drainage. It's all part of the problem. You can't just build a bigger pipe and say, okay, we're fixed. There has to be a maintenance factor in there. And people have to realize... they're ruining what we're trying to improve.

It's, it's, it's, Of course, if you have debris, it's not going to drain. And no one picks it up and nothing gets cleaned.

So that, that is another opportunity, right? Again, we're a fun sized community.

Things can get done.

We could have a, you know, a neighborhood cleanup that is championed by this, by this committee. We don't have to do all the work. We find block captains. And then we just make it. Adopt a street.

I think kids have to also volunteer in the school or something. Yeah. And then give them the hours. Sign off on them on the high schoolers.

So again, bring it forward as a discussion item.

But again, that's just a building we will do. Doesn't this town have street cleaning or something? There is a street. I don't think they're doing it anymore. I haven't seen it.

Is the street sweeper still active?

Yeah, but you know how people don't move their cars, so they're driving around with their cars. It's not really cleaning.

It's not really effective.

It's not effective. It's blooming. Yeah. Is there a cleaning?

They don't move their car. So that's like an easy communication method.

Like, you need to do, like, I don't know, move your cars in this state or the left. Just like in New York. Move it to the other side. Like, yeah, in New York, they babysit you there, but, you know.

But in New York, people are responsible for their own walkway. When it snows, they have to clean their sidewalks. in front of their house. They're responsible for that.

My dad's garbage because he's like paranoid. God forbid I put the wrong thing in the wrong place. And it's like a whole scene.

People should be responsible for what's on their curb in front of their house. It doesn't take but a minute to clean your own curb. Really doesn't. You get a big grove and you go right down the curve and it's done. I do it all the time. It takes one minute.

I think it comes down to education. Like I would hope that people understand if a bottle is in front of your house, it's going to go down the drain and into the ocean. So instead of let's focus on beach cleanups.

There's also nails everywhere. With all the construction, there's always a nail rolling. So I always check, but like every time I go to the construction, there's always nails everywhere. But I don't know. I think the town needs to do something about the street cleaning.

There's nails all over Miami.

What?

They're all over Miami. Everybody has nails. No, the nails. I check every time. Their nails are everywhere.

I walk down the neighbors and I pick up their nails. Oh, yeah. It's a disaster. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah, they're out there.

Let their kids walk barefoot with that stuff on the ground.

Thank you for picking them up. So, for example, the sustainability corner. Did you know the town still provides street sweeping? Did you know that it's less effective when you don't move your car on the day that it's...

But we need to know what's happening. I know, but... Can we get the schedule for it? It's happening.

We can put it in the... Do people move their car if no one's moving their car? And then I have all these people from the malls parking anyways... In front of my house.

That's a separate issue. But these are all components.

But, like, if I knew what was happening, I'd move my car. I would move my car, too. So let's start there. I didn't even know. I've literally worked since, I don't know, 2012. I've never seen two people. If I did, I'd see them once or twice, and they'd just go around the cars.

Well, unfortunately, a lot of homes have three cars and a two-car driveway. So it's not like they're going to be able to move it. Yeah, I know.

It's not going to be long, right? I mean, how often does it happen?

It could be musical cards, you know. He said daily. It's Monday through Friday. Every day?

The Shriek Cleaner? It's such a waste of money because you're not paying anything. It's always the Shriek Cleaner?

It's not on there. It's always the money.

It's always the talent because the car's on booth. The car's on booth. He's just driving around. Burning gas, sticking up the town. I don't think it's being cleaned.

I can also tell you, like, he's doing, like, whatever we can do is being done. Because most of the time, he has to go dump at least twice a week. So he's picking up trash. But, yes, cars always park.

Is that something that could be changed? What's that? The garbage pickup? Meaning? It's a sacred cow. No, because five days a week, and then Saturday, Sunday, now I'm in a building, it stinks. You smell the garbage from the pipes already. There's so much garbage.

Monday, everything I already know.

I'm like, no one's really home. I'm not home at least Monday through Friday, so why can't you take one day from the middle of the week and move it to the weekend? We used to have Saturday. Instead of having all this, normally, it's just a waste to have five days of kickoff.

It's a sacred cow. Like when I was six days a week, I went to five days. No, just these five. There was outreach.

Yeah, I agree. It's been part of Surfside Heritage. We're very proud of our daily pickup.

You can't swap Wednesday for Tuesday for Saturday. When everyone's home and your house is piled up.

What we can do, or I'm going to challenge you, put a discussion item together. I'm going to. And then we can discuss it.

And I have a problem with the sweep clean because it's disgusting. They're not cleaning it. Put a discussion item.

It's a waste of money.

So I just want to clarify, how do we actually put a discussion item? Because I'm not sure about the future.

She's going to send you the form.

It's going to be a form?

Okay. Yeah, it's just how to submit it. It's like just a format. Okay.

that describes what goes where on the form. So it's a template. Think of it as a template.

It's a template. It's a discussion item for this meeting. For the upcoming meeting.

And it has to be submitted any time before the meeting? No. There's a deadline.

On the deadline dates, I could see. That's what you need to submit it by.

Agenda distribution. Okay. Not the distribution.

The deadline date before the distribution? Because we have to post the agenda a week before we have the agenda.

Agenda deadline. Yes.

So usually it's the Friday before.

And then you distribute it on that day.

Right.

Got it. Got it. Well, and then when the agenda package is distributed.

Through the chair, one conversation, one person at a time. We can't have side conversations.

So any other, so this was sort of an open discussion.

It's going to be a bit more structured in our next meeting. Anything else that anybody would like to raise?

The water situation, I'm going to bring you back. They put their garbage on the floor. It leaves space for all the debris from the back. And it just stays there. And I've seen it stay there. I think the garbage is a big issue if you're worried about flooding.

On the floor?

Meaning on the streets, on the curbs. Because what they do, they take the garbage out of the can and they just leave it there for God knows how many hours. And then they come back around and they take the bags.

They cluster the bags. So the truck only has to stop at one stop.

But they take it out of the can and then they put the bags on the ground. And sometimes there's loose garbage and it stays there. Go ahead. Oh, you're the person for this? Yes.

So what they do is they send a guy ahead of the... I've seen it. Maybe a block or two. And he puts... Like he says, the sacred cow. They want side yard service. They want side yard service. It will be easier for us if you put the can in the front. Oh, so yeah. But they want side yard service, so the guy has to go ahead and take the garbage out from the can.

But my garbage is in the front. That's your garbage. He still takes it out.

You have a community that's just not yours. There are several other people we have to service.

But then that causes garbage to be left on the ground that never gets swept because everyone parks their cars.

The biggest issue is the boat trash. I watched the entire week. two loads a day, and you go out today, this morning, or around the community, and it's like he didn't pick up anything.

Like apartment furniture. Furniture. Landscaping.

So, this is what I would suggest. A discussion item that says we should be revisiting our solid waste collection program and see if there's appetite from the commission to empower us to... provide our insights and recommendations to them. All of this sort of hinges on policy direction. The manager, and we're in an inward manager status, only has so much capacity. So the commission sets policy. There's the town manager and then all of the administrative staff. So the town manager takes direction from the commission, not from this committee. So that's why when I talk about policy direction, that's from the commission. to the town manager and then to each of those.

You want to walk me through what needs to happen?

I'm going to let this down.

This is the template. This was the template last year. So she's going to send it without, but that's how it filled out.

And then we decide and then it goes to the commission.

If we agree that it does.

Usually there's a commission rep in this meeting and then they say they will take it to the commission, but we don't have a liaison right now. but usually there's a commissioner in the city, and then they take it. Yeah.

So now I have it clear.

And if I may, you would bring it first to the committee. You always bring it to the committee first, and then you discuss it.

Can I add also that that almost sounds like something you could take directly to the commission at Good and Welfare and just speak it there.

You could.

It probably would have more of an impact if it's that kind of problem. It Because that's more of a speak your mind to the commission directly thing than discuss here and then present. At least in my opinion.

This committee is recommending it.

If you bring it to their attention, you'd be surprised. If it's something that they can fix. If it's something they can fix. Like Daniel said, it's been a sacred thing. Our garbage collection has been well established after decades and decades had to do it. And it's been that way forever. And there's always going to be problems when it comes to garbage. Let's face it, garbage stinks, smells. People are going to put stuff in their garbage that shouldn't be there. It's going to leak. They probably put paints in there, old paints, old oils and grease and who knows what's in there. It's just... There's only so much you can do because it's coming from the homeowners. And you can't really pin it on them because you can't say, hey, you, you put this in that garbage bag. How dare you do that? It's got to start with the homeowners. They just got to realize what they're doing and be more careful. Use a good bag with no holes. Not a cheap one. A lot of people use Publix. The public's grocery bags. You can't be putting your garbage in there. You know what, I mean, you can't.

Maybe we can also suggest a compost center. We've talked about that too.

We've talked about compost at length. Of course. But no matter what you're saying, there is a Miami Beach. Maybe at the community center, maybe at the park. Right here. We talked about right here, a compost center. So there is one, and that's Jerry really did a lot of research on that. There's one in Miami Beach, very close by, that we can bring composting to, but they're paying for it. So the idea was to bring it here and to educate people that there's one here, but we had presentations.

And then what we're going to do is just close it or something? No, it's a subscription service. You can all do it.

Sure.

Contact Francisco at Compost for Life. What we were talking about was something that I believe the town should lead by example. So one of the items was put, I don't think we're ever going to go to the second floor in the community center, put solar panels on that building. Put solar panels on the facility at the new park. Put solar panels on the tennis center. The town has the opportunity to lead by example, show people how easy it is for them to take action. For example, when the town fixed the seawalls. We created an opportunity for residents to piggyback on the town's contract so they wouldn't have to pay for the mobilization because the contract was already there. It was eligible under PACE financing. So the town should be looking for ways to make it easier, but also by leading by example.

So for example, we have a Surfside event. have a compost, like show the residents, here's the compost, here's the recycling, here's the garbage. And then that compost is then here, like there'd be a compost place here that at least everything the town was doing was composting, but then the residents could bring their compost to that.

messaging to be less smelly garbage, maybe.

Or are you... Free fertilizer for everybody.

I'm just trying to, like, think of, like, the so what factor again. Like, how do you make it tangible or interesting to anyone?

If, like, all the town locations did it, then at least people are learning about it. Like, you know, this is how you do it at a town event. But, anyway. But these are all things you tell me, you know, it only goes so far. It's disgusting meaning and not

and definitely would. I have them on my house. I knew you did. I thought you did. I thought you did.

In fact, I think...

I feel like my day runs on sunshine.

Daniel, I think I talked to you when I was putting mine in. I think you gave me some good advice. I put it in about five years ago. I think I did talk to you about who you used. I think I was talking to you. Yeah, I did it. I did. I'm like you. Mad. I'm not off the main line, but it feels like you are. It feels like you're independent. It really does. It's great.

Okay. Everybody understands that we have an opportunity in the Gazette. You can bring discussion items forward. So any ideas that you have, just follow the memo that Tom Clark will share with you.

If I may. Also, we had a discussion item on new business now, but usually we stick to what's on the agenda. So we don't have like a lot of side. Yes, just so everyone knows.

We were just educating the committee on what has been discussed. Get some context. And so moving forward, we will submit it as an agenda item.

I think there's a lot of good topics we brought up that we can really discuss at the next meeting.

Much like we referenced, Townhouse has a court compliance department. I'm the code compliance for this meeting. I'm the presiding officer with backup from the clerk. So I won't be rude, but there are times that I may have to constrain the conversation.

So I will do it with peace and love. On the agendas, if someone already puts on the agenda something like that, I was going to put on the agenda, you don't have to duplicate it. If you already see someone already brought it up, fine, it's already there. Great.

Right.

Okay. Okay. Yeah.

So I don't approve what goes on or not on the agenda. Anybody can put it on. But I just ask, don't ask to have something added without a discussion item.

If I see that two of you have submitted the same item, then we can either combine them or I can speak with both of you, too. And it doesn't usually happen, but, yeah. Good. People usually have their thing. Or you can discuss it before at the meeting and then decide who wants to submit it.

See what the priority list is, though, like when that's sent out, because all those things will be discussed at the next meeting by default, right? Correct. So if you want to discuss something that's not on the priority list, submit a discussion item. Otherwise, we're going to discuss everything on the priority list to clean it up for this year. So that will help with submission items. All right.

An hour and a half. Okay, fine. Or until you guys finish. Next item is the next meeting date. I'm out of the country.

So will you guys have quorum without me? Lucky you. And I rarely leave out of the country, but I will be out of the country. So have a blast.

September 17th.

September 17th at 12.

I just want to make sure you all will have quorum without me. Otherwise, we should probably move the meeting because it will be canceled.

I'll be here. Okay. And I apologize. I need to head out. Okay. If we could have a motion to adjourn.

We need a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn.

She's out. I'm sorry. I'm swapping my husband. Nice to meet you. Anyone second the motion? Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Adjourned.