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CAC Minutes 01/09/2003 RJanuary 9, 2003 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE COASTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Naples, Florida January 9, 2003 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Coastal Advisory Committee, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 1:30pm in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Members: Gary Galleberg David Roellig James Snediker Ron Pennington William Kroeschell Ashley Lupo Collier County: Ron Hovell, Joe Delate, Murdo Smith, Paul Kwa The City of Naples: Dr. Jon Staiger Page 1 NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN OF A COLLIER COUNTY COASTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING IN THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BOARDROOM, THIRD FLOOR, W. HARMON TURNER BUILDING (ADMINISTRATION), AT THE COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT COMPLEX, 3301 EAST TAMIAMI TRAIL, NAPLES, FLORIDA AT 1:30 P.M. ON JANUARY 9, 2003. AGENDA o Roll Call Additions to Agenda Old Business a. Approval of minutes for December 12, 2002 b. Hideaway Beach Progress Update c. Proposed TDC Category 'A' Grant Application Form d. 10-Year Plan Discussion New Business a. TDC Grant Application for South Marco Beach Parking Gates b. Request from Coastal Protection Inc. Audience Participation Schedule next meeting Adjournment ADDITIONALLY, THIS NOTICE ADVISED THAT, IF A PERSON DECDES TO APPEAL ANY DECISION MADE BY THE COASTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WITH RESPECT TO ANY MATTER CONSIDERED AT THIS MEETING, HE WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND THAT FOR SUCH PURPOSE, HE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS IS MADE, WHICH RECORD INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. January 9, 2003 THE COASTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE County Commission Boardroom Building "F", 3ra Floor 3301 Tamiami Trail Naples, Florida 34104 MINUTES January 9, 2003 The meeting was called to order at l:30pm. ATTENDANCE: -Mr. Galleberg noted, for the record, that Mr. Pires, Mr. Stackich, and Mr. Strapponi were absent. II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA -Mr. Hovell added the Sand Search Update to the agenda after Item 4A. III. OLD BUSINESS 3A) Approval of minutes for December 12, 2002 -Mr. Kroeschell made a motion to approve the minutes as written. It was seconded by Mr. Roellig. The motion passed unanimously, 6-0. 3B) Sand Search Update -Steve Kein, Coastal Planning and Engineering, stated that they began the first phase of their field investigation in December 2002. -Jeff Andrews, in charge of the Sand Search Update, reviewed the preliminary results with the committee. He explained that a bathymetric survey and jet probe testing were used. He showed sand samples of the areas that were investigated. The fifteen areas investigated were in the southern part of the county (including the ridge off Marco Island), areas off the northern part of the county, and Marco Pass. The northern and southern areas showed a courser grain of sand, while Marco Pass showed a finer grain. He informed the committee that there was a variety of sand samples and choices that they would be able to choose from. He explained that they will be Page 2 January9,2003 determining a rough quantity in each area at a later point in the investigation. Mr. Kein added that choices will have to be made about what grain size they want to use and discussions will follow on the consequences of these choices. Mr. Andrews stated that from an engineering perspective they prefer a courser grain since it lasts longer. Additional jet probing and vibracore studies will be done. -Mr. Kein summarized that no decisions needed to be made at this point, but they will likely concentrate on the Marco Pass as a possible borrow area. He added that they should identify two to three areas as potential borrow areas for the county. -Mr. Andrews stated that they would like to recommend Tom's Hill as a possible borrow source. 3C) Hideaway Beach Progress Update -Mr. Humiston, Humiston and Moore Engineering, provided a preliminary draft for the design of the Hideaway Beach. He explained that there are a number of things to finalize before they submit for permitting, including the sand source information. The scope of the project consists of beach restoration and an erosion control element. The erosion control structures will be addressing the two known areas of high erosion stress. They believe that by using the structures, they will be reducing the future re-nourishment costs, and that with these savings the structures will pay for themselves in approximately ten years. The design was based on 250,000 - 300,000 cubic yards of sand. The actual quantity will be determined immediately prior to construction. The preliminary cost estimates are approximately $4 million, half this cost is for sand placement and the other half is for the structures. Included in the cost estimate is a proposal to place a jetty at the entrance of Collier Bay. They requested that more information be gathered on the sand source at the northern part of Big Marco and Capris Pass. The concern is to avoid damage to the Sand Dollar Island shoals. There will be a more detailed discussion at the next meeting when the sand source information is available. Mr. Humiston added that they will be in the position to complete an application with the state in four - six months and the permit should be able to be attained six months to a year after submittal. -Mr. Hovell clarified that they should be considering approximately $4.5 million for the cost estimate due to the additional costs of engineering services, construction monitoring, post construction surveys, reports, etc. -Mr. Hovell gave the committee an update on the "trucking" at Hideaway Beach. He informed them that they hope to be completed with the project in the following week. They will come close to the original estimate of 40,000 tons of sand. They had to stop past the fourth T-groin due to the need for a state permit to do vegetative trimming and the absence of an erosion control line, Page 3 January 9,2003 (ECL), in some areas. He added that they will review and establish the ECL with the state in time for the major re-nourishment project. -Due to the issue of the ECL, Mr. Galleberg was concerned that they were using tourist funds to truck sand onto private land. Mr. Hovell stated that he would obtain a written opinion from the County's Attorney's Office. -Mr. Pennington made a motion to request that staffmake a determination of the appropriateness of what has been done and how to proceed with the extension of the ECL. It was seconded by Mr. Roellig. The motion passed unanimously, 6-0. The committee added an update on the Marco Island beach grass and discussed item 4A at this time to accommodate staff. Update on Marco Island Beach Grass -Joe Delate, Collier County Parks and Recreation, explained that he had surveyed the recently graded parts of Marco Island Beach. They determined that the grasses were native beach-type grasses. These grasses were also growing in the adjacent dunes along Marco Island. This grass was less than an inch tall in the recently graded area and they expect that this will emerge through the sand in the near future. He explained that it can be submerged in saltwater and may propagate from small root "pieces". Mr. Hovell clarified that due to this propagation style they will not be able to "disc" the area. Further analysis will be done to determine a way to control the growth and a photo of the current condition will be supplied at the next meeting. -Mr. Pennington added that this was a very large beach, 500-600 feet wide and the grass was just inside the mean-high water line. 4A) TDC Grant Application for South Marco Beach Parking Gates -Joe Delate showed photographs of the renovated beach walk access, the renovated restroom facilities, the South Marco Beach Parking area gates and the proposed future gate renovations. Since the upgraded facilities and the boardwalk, vandalism has become a problem. Also, the current gate system is inoperable due to erosion from time and salt air. The request for gate renovations will be for a system that will control vehicular access at night. They feel that this will help to alleviate the problems of vandalism. The grant request is for approximately $16,000. The gates would close approximately a ½ hour after sunset and re-open at dawn. A car will always have the ability to leave, but not enter. Mechanical gates were chosen because it will cut the cost and manpower needed to control the situation through police services. -Mr. Galleberg stated that he believed this is an issue for the City of Marco Island, he added that he would recommend the city should put in a grant for this money. Page 4 January 9, 2003 -Mr. Delate used photographs to update the committee on the use of past grant money for the Gulf Shore Beach Access, the signage at the entrance, a concession facility, a boardwalk, and landscaping. At 2:47 PM a ten minute recess was taken. 3D) Proposed TDC Category 'A' Grant Application Form -Mr. Hovell changed the location of signature block as requested at the last meeting. He also added a "location" field in the description area. He noted that the TDC Approved the form at their last meeting. At the next meeting the committee will provide feedback on the grant applications in draft form. -The committee requested that "program element" replace the word "activity". Mr. Hovell made the change. He stated he would put the change on the next agenda for the TDC. -Mr. Pennington made a motion to approve the form. It was seconded by Mr. Snediker. The motion passed unanimously, 5-0. (Mr. Roellig did not return after the recess). 3E) 10-Year Plan -Mr. Hovell explained that the "draft" listing at the bottom of the page showed that it was not the official yearly approved plan. Mr. Galleberg requested that the approved 1 O-year plan be available for review during the grant approvals. Changes since the last approval and this draft are: 1) The major re-nourishment - $6 million to the current $9 million 2) Hideaway Beach Re-nourishment - currently listed as $5 million 3) Tourist Tax Collections (Oct.-Dec.) -up 16% from last years numbers, but lower than FY2001 -Jack Wuerte, the new Director of Tourism, gave a brief introduction and expressed enthusiasm for present and future cooperation with the CAC. Mr. Pennington stated that the CAC were in favor of no changes that would decrease the percentage of tourist tax dollars that go towards beach maintenance. 4) Interest funds/Cash on hand - currently being shown as zero -Paul Kwa, Public Utilities and Engineering Department, reviewed some ideas for categorizing and prioritizing the grant applications. He distributed a form that listed three categories for Fund 195; (category A - Permit Required Activities, category B - Beach Re-nourishment and Maintenance & Tourist Attraction Items, and category C - Non Permit Required or Non Tourist Attracting Items). Page 5 January 9, 2003 -The committee was concerned that this would not organize the items in order of priority. They requested that a system be developed which could address the issues of priority, importance to the county, the timeframe that it must be completed in, cost/benefit analysis, and the number of people who benefit. Mr. Hovell stated that they would continue to work on this system. 5) Catastrophe Reserves - the format was changed to show specifically which beaches were being shown, the previous years amounts were carried forward until more specific research on cost is available. -Mr. Galleberg stated that they should make a separate line for sand search. -Mr. Hovell stated that they need to decide how much funding should be set aside for annual maintenance after the re-nourishment is complete. The committee discussed historical factors that they could refer to for this figure. -Mr. Galleberg asked why "Beach Maintenance" line continues to go up, considering their new policies on beach raking. Mr. Hovell explained that they are still paying the same cost of labor, because although the equipment has changed, the number of people necessary for the beach cleaning has not. Mr. Staiger stated that the two county employees and the two city employees, who maintain beach cleaning, compliment one another. Mr. Galleberg asked Mr. Staiger to look into this matter and see where they stand. Mr. Staiger stated that he would do so. -Mr. Hovell summarized that for the next few meetings he will work on the beach raking line item, research a new way for estimating the annual maintenance after a major re-nourishment, and review the catastrophe reserves. 4B) Request from Coastal Protection Inc. -Mr. Hovell included a copy of the company's web-site and photos in the agenda packet. The company was interested in making a presentation to the CAC on the benefits of building a dune- fence. The committee stated that they looked at this type of fence a number of years ago and due to the "flatness" of the beaches here, the fences would be considered unsightly. Also they might run into problems with the "turtle issues". They informed Mr. Hovell that they want to "pass" on this one, but they would like to be advised of the future requests in the same manner so that they may have a similar informal discussion to determine whether or not to have a presentation. 5) Audience Participation -There was no audience participation. 6) Schedule next meeting Page 6 January 9, 2003 -The committee determined that there was no need for extra meetings to address the grant applications, but if this changes they will adjust the CAC schedule. -Mr. Hovell stated that he has not yet written the letter to the City of Naples regarding the cooperation of the outflow on the beaches, but he will be working on this. -The next meeting is scheduled for February 20, 2003 at 1:30PM. 7) Adjournment was at 4:05 PM. Page 7