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2020.07.01_NRPB_Minutes_RegularTOWN OF HIGHLAND BEACH ® TOWN VIRTUAL NATURAL • RESOURCES PRESERVATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Town Hall / Commission Chambers Date: July 01, 2020 3614 South Ocean Boulevard Time: 9:30 A.M. Highland Beach, Florida 33487 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Maral called the meeting to order at 9:35 A.M. 2. PRESENT UPON ROLL CALL Member Susan Amerling-Stern (joined the meeting at 9:39 A.M.) Member Steven Parks Member Diane Matthewman (joined the meeting at 9:38 A.M.) Member Jack Halpern Member Katharina Braun Chairperson Nievecita Maraj Administrative Support Specialist Ganelle Thompson ADDITIONAL STAFF PRESENT Town Planner Ingrid Allen Town Clerk Lanelda Gaskins ABSENT Vice Chairperson Dario Tertan 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Board Members led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Chairperson Marai asked if there were any additions or deletions to the agenda. Hearing none, called for a motion to accept the agenda as presented. MOTION: Member Parks moved to accept the agenda as presented. Member Halpern seconded the motion, which passed (4-0) unanimously. Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Date: July 01, 2020 Page 2 of 6 5. PUBLIC COMMENT Chairperson Marai opened the public comments stating it was the designated time for the public to speak, allowing each person to speak for three minutes addressing the board through the presiding officer. Town Clerk Gaskins stated that there were no public comments, and that no one had preregistered to give comments. AM;j0=[+9=1►11r_rIN1►I:] A. There were no presentations. 7. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. January 08, 2020 - Regular Minutes Chairperson Marai asked the if there were any corrections to the minutes of January 08, 2020. Hearing none, she called for a motion to approve the minutes as presented. MOTION: Member Halpern moved to approve the January 08, 2020 Regular Minutes as presented. Member Braun seconded the motion, which passed (6-0) unanimously. 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Discussion on Recycling and Conservation - Member Halpern Chairperson Marai read the title into record. Member Halpern introduced this item. He talked about the numbers he received from Town Manager Labadie as it related to the Waste Management tonnage reports. There was discussion about recycling and conservation involving Styrofoam, distribution of reusable Highland Beach bags to the residents, and a plan for implementation of the recyclable bags. ACTION: The Board made a recommendation to Commission to allocate sufficient funds to provide them with the opportunity to purchase and distribute bags to the general community which would promote the environmental resources they wish to conserve and facilitate a public response to the need to recycle products in Highland Beach with the logo of Highland Beach and a statement. Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Date: July 01, 2020 Page 3 of 6 B. Recommendation on the Natural Resource Threatened Activities in Highland Beach Chairperson Marai introduced this item and asked if anyone could elaborate on this item in order to remind the Board of the previous discussion, at the January 08, 2020 meeting. Member Halpern spoke about the threatened activities such as the loss of dunes, loss of beach front, loss of wetlands in town, costal rise, the beach renourishment projects. He stated basically anything that is seen from an environmental perspective that is threating the Town. Further discussion was had about the list of threatened activities in Highland Beach and prioritizing threats to the top three threats that the board should focus on trying to find solutions to fixing. The Board agreed that they would list trash on the beach and dune restoration as top priorities on the list that they are providing to Commission. Member Parks suggested proceeding with Member Matthewman's bucket idea (that she proposed at the January 08, 2020 meeting) in order to encourage the residents to pick up debris on the beach. Additionally, the Board discussed the possibility of hiring an additional employee within the Public Works Department to facilitate the cleaning of the beach as well as how to proceed when it comes to ordinance violations on residence with cleaning their beaches. 9. NEW BUSINESS A. Nomination of Chairperson Chairperson Marai introduced this item and called for a motion to nominate a member as the Chairperson to the board. MOTION: Member Halpern moved to nominate Steven Parks as the Chairperson to the board for one year ending July 02, 2021. Member Braun seconded the motion, which passed (6-0) unanimously. B. Nomination of Vice Chairperson Member Marai introduced this item and called for a motion to nominate a member as the Vice Chairperson to the board. MOTION: Chairperson Parks moved to nominate Nievecita Maraj as the vice chairperson to the board for one year ending July 02, 2021. Member Matthewman seconded the motion, which passed (6-0) unanimously. C. Beach Clean Up and Maintenance Vice Chairperson Marai read this title into the record. Town Planner Allen discussed Chapter 5 — Beaches and Boats from the Town code of ordinances and sec. 5-9 (c) related to private beaches. She also showed a PowerPoint presentation of the varying locations of the property lines in the Town of Highland Beach. Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Date: July 01, 2020 Page 4 of 6 Chairperson Parks suggested that the Town Manager's office look into the deeds of the owners in order to determine if there were provisions in place to allow residents to access the beach up to the dunes as opposed to the high tide water line. Discussion ensued about a hiring fulltime employee as an Environmental Resource personnel to clean the beach. ACTION: The Board made a recommendation to the Commission to consider the prospect of hiring an Environmental Maintenance employee whether that is someone who is currently involved in the maintenance department or has to be hired separately who will designate a significant portion of time each week to ensuring the beach is properly policed for garbage and debris, and effectively keep an eye on what amounts to be the condition of the properties that are associated with the beach. There was further discussion about placing bucket trees on private property beach access points, creating a budget for the implementation, and purchase of the bucket tree and bucket. D. Discussion on preserving dunes in ocean front properties - Chairperson Maraj Vice Chairperson Mara" introduced this item. She spoke about correspondence she received from Dan Bellante where he proposed meeting at a dune site as there were several locations in Highland Beach that had recently been restored so that members could see first-hand what would need to be done. Member Halpern discussed the possibility of presenting a self-assessment questionnaire which included self-analysis to residents that would answer questions such as; What do their dunes look like; What do they think it does; What has happened there over the years; Would they be willing to spend a certain amount of money for dune preservation and restoration? He also suggested hiring someone, possibly, Dan Bellante to walk the beach and perform an assessment of the dunes. Based on those results, the Town could host a virtual meeting with the residents with the proposal of doing vegetation on their property. Member Braun commented on the cost of a restoration project and stated that the prospect of beach restoration was on at least one of the commissioner's radar. At the request of Member Halpern, Town Planner Allen stated that she would confer with the Town Manager about implementing a questionnaire that would go out to the residents concerning the condition of the dunes directly outside of their homes. Member Halpern then elaborated on the questions that would be included in the survey to the residents per Town Planner Allen's requests. He emphasized finding out whether or not their dunes had been receding, and would residents be willing to spend funds to ensure stability of their dunes. He also suggested adding a number range for residents to choose from based on the condition of their dunes. Vice Chairperson Mara" asked if it would be possible to allow the PowerPoint presented by Dan Bellante to be available for residents to view. Town Planner Allen advised that being that it was presented at a meeting it is public record. Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Date: July 01, 2020 Page 5 of 6 ACTION: The Board made the following recommendations to Commission: For Town staff to send a questionnaire to residents in response to the dunes in front of their property. For Town staff to put Dan Bellante's PowerPoint presentation on the Town website. To consider hiring Dan Bellante to do a survey of the dunes in highland beach to see if properties fall into one of three categories: 1. Eligible for dune restoration; 2. Structural changes would need to be made for dune restoration; and 3. Not suitable for structural rehabilitation or vegetation. Additional comments were made concerning Dan Bellante's experience as it pertains to evaluating the dunes in the Town and his ability to educate the residents about the condition of their dunes. Discussion ensued about possibly providing additional contacts to residents of companies who could access and survey their dunes. E. Discussion on placing buckets on the beach for trash clean up — Member Matthewman The Board discussed this topic during item 9C. and the following recommendations were made. ACTION: Based upon Member Matthewman's recommendation that we encourage the same type of citizen participation that is currently underway in Boca Raton, the Board asked the Commission to provide funding and support for placing a bucket tree at the main entrances to the beach easements that are currently enjoyed by the citizens in Highland Beach, to place appropriate signage asking them to collect whatever loose debris they see on their travels along the beach, and to deposit it in the receptacles that are associated with their easements. WIWI�I161111 L44u1=ILIk&I A. Virtual Town Commission Special Meeting B. Virtual Town Commission Meeting C. Virtual Planning Board Meeting D. Financial Advisory Board Meeting E. Code Enforcement Board Meeting July 02, 2020 - 1:30 P.M. July 07, 2020 - 1:30 P.M. July 09, 2020 -1:30 P.M. July 09, 2020 - 2:00 P.M. July 14, 2020 - 2:00 P.M. F. Virtual Town Commission Special Meeting July 21, 2020 - 1:30 P.M. Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Advisory Board Regular Meeting Minutes Date: July 01, 2020 Page 6 of 6 11. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Vice Chairperson Marai adjourned the meeting at 11:50 A. M. APPROVED at the September 23, 2020 Virtual Natural Resources Preservation Board Regular Meetirff - STEVEN N. PARKS (Oct 6, 202019:43 EDT) ATTE ST Ganelle Thompson J Administrative Support Specialist Ig: 09/15/2020 baw: 09/16/2020 Steven Parks, Chairperson Transcribed by Ganelle Thompson Administrative Support Specialist Date Disclaimer: Effective May 19, 2020, per Resolution No. 20-008, all meeting minutes are transcribed as a brief summary reflecting the event of this meeting.