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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20110222CRCMinutes.pdf Approved: April 18, 2011 Page 1 of 4 COMMUNITY RESOURCE COMMITTEE Minutes: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 MEMBERS PRESENT: Libby Bacon, Jim Burke, Lisa Callahan, Don Ernst, Rusty Fleetwood, Frank Kelly, Karen Kelly, Shelly Krueger, Tommy Linstroth, Pat Locklear, Judy Miller, Mallory Pearce, Freda Rutherford, Brad Sherman, Paul Wolff MEMBERS ABSENT: Sandy Major CALL TO ORDER: Rusty called the meeting to order at 4:27pm. MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 18 MEETING: Judy made the motion to approve the January 18 meeting minutes with a few recommended wording changes. Freda seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Water Committee – Water Fair Outcomes: Judy Miller Judy said her computer has been down. Rusty confirmed the feedback he has heard is that the Water Fair was an enjoyable event. They are looking to do it again next year due to its educational need and success. Judy did an outstanding job. Beach Showers: Don Ernst The committee is going to regroup within the next 60 days. Ty wrote PSAs that are running on WRHQ and Clear Channel. He set up a donation tiered sponsorship level which will launch by summer. They will go back to the original plan to seek donations for rainwater collection via rain barrels. Don confirmed that the Kelly’s have a 365 gallon tank to give. Tommy has a barrel if needed. The full scale botanical cell project cannot be done without $70,000. He will continue to look for additional sources of funding and foresees that SCAD will lose enthusiasm. Freda asked about available grants and mentioned Tom Cannon. Don will call Tom. Paul suggested Groundwater Guardians. Karen suggested the committee move forward. Don confirmed that the committee will meet again in March to discuss Plan B. DNR did not accept the grant because they considered it a construction grant. Paul confirmed a building permit is necessary to hang gutters. Rusty requested Don have a co-chair because he will be in and out of town with his job. Karen offered to help. Rusty discussed the upcoming City budget includes Royal Restrooms for North Beach. Freda encouraged others to attend the budget meetings. The next Beach Shower Committee meeting will be March 16 at North Beach Grill at noon. Pat mentioned that RDC had money for restrooms at the beach at one time. He suggested Don pursue that avenue. Paul confirmed it is now called the Coastal Regional Commission. Chantel confirmed they do have a grant writer. Approved: April 18, 2011 Page 2 of 4 Water Resource Task Force: Rusty Fleetwood Rusty reported that Pat, Jim and he met a couple of weeks ago to discuss the agenda for the force. They reviewed a list of objectives and the primary one is to ensure the availability of potable drinking water for Tybee Island. He spoke with State Geologist, Dr. Kennedy at the Water Fair. Dr. Kennedy had a perspective on the salt water intrusion threat. He felt that salt water intrusion is the least threat to the City’s water supply because salt water intrusion is going to take a long time to show up here barring any geologic accident, earthquake and / or the like. The type of intrusion the island would have would not be as sudden as what Hilton Head has experienced. It would be a gradual combination of vertical migration pressure from the salt water pushing down and the horizontal migration. It will likely take place in twenty years. Lisa confirmed with Rusty that one person’s word is not the only source. Rusty confirmed there are two more immediate threats to Tybee’s potable water, which are storm damage to the system and limitations by DNR to Tybee’s pumping potable water. We are in the red zone, as classified by DNR, and the City needs to adhere to certain standards with conservation plans in order to receive the same limits as 2004. Paul confirmed the city permit has been updated. Lisa reported that Joe Wilson gave her a report that he is doing a ground water monitoring with the Army Corps. She has a copy of the preliminary report. Paul reported that the city just signed a contract with USGS. They are upgrading the four test wells and we now have real time salinity data which will help with early warnings. The committee suggested that the Water Task Force Committee delve further into these threats to confirm them and develop plans accordingly. The committee also discussed that it may be proper to have a Water Sewer Task Force similar to the Beach Task Force. This group would work to protect the city’s water supply and sewer system and do long range planning for water / sewer situations. The Infrastructure Committee is comprised of council members, staff and engineers and it may be proper to have this committee separate for continuity. Discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons. The CRC would work with the Water Sewer Task Force in conservation. Freda mentioned that Tybee is committee driven and people are spread thin. She recommended a compromise could be that a liaison from CRC serves on the Infrastructure Committee. Paul welcomed one or two CRC members to serve as ex-officios on the Infrastructure Committee. Jim suggested that the committee have more experts involved to provide opinions and information. Discussion ensued about appointing others in an advisory role. Rusty made a motion that the committee request Council appoint members of the Water Task Force to serve as ex-officio members on the Infrastructure Committee effective immediately. Judy seconded and all were in favor. Energy: Freda Rutherford Freda reported that the Energy Committee met before this meeting. They created the following goal statement: To create a baseline greenhouse gas audit with the intent of reducing greenhouse emissions on Tybee. The first steps are to work on the actual data collection, based on 2008 to 2010, of municipal use for electricity and propane, traffic and street lights, solid waste facilities, waste water facilities, water delivery facilities, vehicle fleet fuel consumed in gallons, and an estimate of employee commutes. The collection of electricity usage for municipal government and data collection for the community as a whole is the second part. Waste by total tonnage to the landfill with recycling tonnage separated is a component. The estimation of fuel consumption will Approved: April 18, 2011 Page 3 of 4 require a separate meeting. They developed a to-do list and by March they plan to have the data collected. Tommy is consolidating g the data and Paul is collecting the meter information. Transportation: Frank Kelly, Libby Bacon Libby reported that city is successfully implementing a biodiesel partnership with SES Biofuel. She discussed a way to quantify the carbon emissions savings and they will work with the energy committee. The program consists of biodiesel being produced from restaurant’s vegetable oil. SES Biofuel does not know if the participating restaurants will be enough, but they do have the capacity to currently supply Tybee with 300 gallons per month. Tybee is converting their off road vehicles to biodiesel. If all goes well, they will look at converting all of their diesel vehicles. In one year, the goal of reaching 20% emissions reduction can be evaluated. As this point, Tybee’s need is unknown. Joe and Ed were meeting again to determine the need. As SES grows, then hopefully the capacity will be met. The program is being promoted on channel 7 for more to participate. Ed Hoffman is responsible for contacting the restaurants. Visuals are encouraged. Chantel suggested the restaurants put something on their menus. Frank has been working on green fleet policies from other cities. Frank reported that he wants to set up a meeting. He spoke with Dale Williams about his bicycle exchange program on the Island, but Dale was not able to attend this meeting. Frank hopes the energy information is available for the meeting in two weeks. Libby suggested the meeting take place the same day as the water committee meeting. Solid Waste: Karen Kelly Karen reported that she has not received the report about the solid waste that leaves the island. Waste Pro has offered Tybee an option to recycle more and charge less. Commercial recycling is a plus. Containers have been put out at the end of crossovers. She went to the city to have them consider making those containers a different color. She wants others to join her to help get businesses specifically in the Southend to recycle in case Waste Pro does not supply a means to recycle. Karen stressed that a bottle crusher is needed. Freda recommended attending the budget meetings and advocating for such. Rusty asked Karen to set a meeting for recycling. She will email him a suggested date and time. Green Space: Mallory Pearce Mallory will write out a report and submit to the committee. He discussed various nature reserves and parks that currently exist. Conservation easements are another option. Easements do not necessarily allow for public access, but are protected. There are 20 acres by Lighthouse Point and he is the spokesperson for this property. Rusty asked if anyone has an inventory of vacant land / open areas on Tybee. Freda confirmed Jimmy Brown did an inventory approximately seven years ago. Mallory confirmed he has information in his head and will review with Jimmy Brown. He will write the reports with a map designating private and public areas. Libby commented that she has asked the city for this list and was told it did not exist. Libby confirmed she will assist Mallory and that there may be grant opportunities for unopened roads. Approved: April 18, 2011 Page 4 of 4 NEW BUSINESS: GHG Baseline Audit: Tommy Linstroth (Tommy left for another meeting prior to this agenda item.) OLD BUSINESS: N/A ADJOURN: Freda made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:58pm. Frank seconded the motion. The motion was unanimous.