Loading...
2021-04-29 SRC Minutes SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCY COMMITTEE MINUTES DATE: April 29, 2021 TIME: 6:39 PM Council Chambers I. CALL TO ORDER Mr. Ockert opened the meeting and welcomed all members to the meeting. II. Present: Mr. Daniel Suman Mr. Thomas Johnson Mr. David Brown Mr. Darren Ockert Ms. Marjorie Weber Ms. Patricia Pappaterra Absent: Mr. Juan Pablo Ortega Also present: Mr. Travis Kendall, Director, Planning and Zoning Ms. Mariana Gracia, Recording Secretary III. Minutes – October 8, 2020 Motion to approve minutes by Mr. Johnson, seconded by Ms. Pappaterra and the Motion was approved 6-0. IV. BOARD MEMBERS INTRODUCTIONS: Mr. Travis Kendall introduced himself and gave a background of his duties as a Planning and Zoning Director and he offered his expertise available to the Committee. Mariana Gracia, Board secretary introduced herself to the Committee. Mr. Suman introduced himself and gave a brief background of his experience. Ms. Weber introduced herself and express concern with environmenta l issues. She is happy to serve on this committee. Mr. Suman – Introduced himself and gave a brief overview of his professional background. Ms. Pappaterra introduced herself. She is looking forward to working with the Committee. Mr. Brown introduced himself and gave an overview of the different organizations where he has served. He is honored to be in this committee and offered his help. Mr. Johnson introduced himself as a retired architect that has spent a large part of his professional career on encouraging the practice of design with the environment in mind. Mr. Ockert gave a brief introduction of his experience. He would like for this committee to do a great job. He recognized that there is a lot of talent in this group. V. DISCUSSION BY THE BOARD AND STAFF - Presentation of 5 items per Committee member to generate starting point for points of discussion. - Mr. Kendall spoke about: 1. The leaf blower ordinance 2. The resiliency on the seawall – 2 ½ feet higher than it is now for sea level rise. 3. Fema – Fermaps – Miami Shores will be working with FEMA to agree or disagree with some of the proposals. Flood damage due to Sea level rise. 4. Sewers being installed 5. FEMA – wall from south Miami through Miami Shores to prevent water intrusion. Questions from the members took place at this time. Staff explained that transparence is really important. FEMA – Staff said that it’s very challenging to refute anything that FEMA put out. 5 Items per member being discussed. Mr. Suman: 1. Alternatives 2. Storm water retention funds. 3. Seawall –living Shore lines. 4. Funds to extend. 5. Fertilizer ordinance for the Village to adopt. Ms. Weber: 1. As a consumer she is concerned about the quality of drinking water. We need to inform the public of the quality of drinking water. 2. Education is key in the community before we can legistlate. 3. Recycling has been a bit unclear. Not too much clarity on how to do recycling at the Village. 4. Insurance – What is the best way to provide insurance- address cost of insurance to help our residents? 5. Options for solar – Be on the cutting edge rather than wait on the side lines. Mr. Johnson: . 1. "Protection of clean water is my main priority. The existing public sewer system is only treating effluent once before discharging it into the ocean or into underground wells. We need new wastewater treatment plants urgently before thinking of connecting more users to a broken system." 1. Selling a house – re occupancy certificate. Awareness about this issue needs to be done. 2. Welcome package for people that buy in Miami Shores. Maybe a Kiosk at the Library to educate the public. Ms. Pappaterra: 1. She agrees with Ms. Weber that education is key. Work with adults and kids. 2. Recycling – Education for kids/adults. Mr. Brown: 1. Education and awareness is very important and Ms. Weber’s points resonate with him. 2. Kiosk – easy to do for all kinds of info. 3. Agrees with Ms. Pappaterra about engaging the children. Children then teach the parents. 4. Community events – Awareness and education is key. Mr. Ockert: Educating the community is important. 1. Recycling – Trucks are the same. Public Works don’t know what is being recycled. Public Works does not know if glass is being recycled. Transparency needs to be a priority with the public. Video of examples of how to recycle would be good. Putting leaves in plastic bags does not make sense. 2. Gas leaf blower – glad is being addressed. Noise and pollution is a concern. There should be some transition – Landscaping companies can market saying that they are environmentally friendly. 3. Fertilizer ordinance. Staff reports that it is at 2nd reading at Council. Sprinkler’s watering the pavement early morning is a concern. 4. Roof tile material for Miami Shores Village. Lead the way when it comes to sustainability. 5. Swale degradation to accommodate parking – Swale is the Village’s property. The owners maintain it. Mr. Kendall – there are vast areas excessively paved – The issue is that they can be repaired but it’s hard to replace them – 2% is the compromise. There is a lot of negative feedback from the public. Mr. Ockert opined about Staff’s input – He thought it was a great suggestion. Mr. Kendall: 1. Fertilizer ordinance – 6 month draft – unable to get on the Council agenda yet. 2. Biscayne Bay. 3. Drinking water education is a great idea. 4. Recycling – will fall on top of the list of priorities. 5. Insurance – subsidizing by FEMA – the Village participates – Will reduce flood insurance by 50% currently an 8. Review is about 60 days. - Solar recipient – permits costs 0.00 for solar. - Sewer issue - dilapidated system – Education is key. - Elevation Certificates are required and available online. - We don’t currently have a Sustainability and Resiliency ordinance. How can we have things that could be measurable? - Trackable based on other communities. - Measurable results to encourage the public. Mr. Ockert: - Standard is ISO – S.D.Goals. The Village is signed on to UN sustainable. Create a 5 year plan that can be measurable. Ms. Weber: - Suggested to let the stores know that we object to plastic packaging. Mr. Ockert – passed the ordinance around to the members. He proceeded to read in Section 3 – Duties and functions of the Committee. #4 – join with vicinity cities. #6 – utilities barriers – none seen by Staff. Staff – Charging stations doesn’t meet requirement. Focus on sustainable LED Street lights 50/50 Program. Mr. Ockert continued reading Section 3 of the ordinance – Discussion took place at this time. - Sunshine law was discussed by the Chair. - Staff suggests to stay focused on spending time on the various discussion points previously mentioned. - Staff explained how communication between the Board and Staff takes place. - Staff will work on the ordinance and bring to the Board before next meeting. Motion to direct Staff to draft an ordinance for a 5 year plan for Resiliency made by Mr. Ockert, seconded by Mr. Johnson and the Motion was approved 6-0. Next meeting will be the Third Wednesday in June 2, 2021 at 6:30 PM at Village Hall, Council Chambers. The meeting adjourned.