BCC Minutes 08/14/1984 W
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N/lplus, Florid.), AU<Just. 14, 19114
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners in
and for the County of Co~lier, an~ ~lso acting as th~ Board of Zoning
^ppeals and as the goverr .ng board(s) of such special districts as have
boon creatad according to law and hAving conðucted bu~lnoßs harein, met
on this date at 1:30 P.M. in Workshop Se.sion In Building "F" of the
Courthouse Complex, East Nnples, Florida, with the following members
present:
CHAIRMAN: David C. Brown
John 1\. PIstor
Fr~derick J. Voss
ABSENT:
C. C. "Red" Hollan~
M~ry-Franc~s Kruse
1\LSO PRESENT: M3urolln K.nyon. Deputy Clnrk; Bruce Anderson,
Assistant County l\ttornaYl Donald B. Lusk, County Manager; Tom Kuck,'
Acting Public Works Administrator; John 801dt, Water Management
Director; and Dr. Jane Polko·"':3kl. H"/llth Director.
AGENDA
Discussion on Wðter Pollution Control
CENERAL DISCUSSION ON WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
Dr. polkowskl stated that some gentlemen with experience on local
control pollutio~ will be spe~king on this su~j~ct, adding that they
represent both the .tate and local levels. She stated that they will
shAre pertinent points regarding the Importanca and benefits of A lOCAl
program. She reported that Collier County's water resources nre
f ragi le. Cine-eyed and sl'bject to sev<!re damage by the continuing
growth which Is from the wðste th/lt goes along with the continuing
growth and stresses on tho wat~r system. She stated that the County
must pre?are themselves to handle this matter or there may be a reverse
of the posltlva economic growth. She noted that current agencies lack
the Staff and resources to effectively monitor and control the factors
which affect the water. She noted that the goals of a local program in
Collier County would be to prevont water born illnesses and local
negative impact by prevention of biological and chemical contamination
of Collier County'. ~atQr supply, by prompt Identification and
correction of problems /lnd by assisting in acquiring adequate potable
water supply for increasing population needs. She stated that ono of
the gentlp.men she would like to Introduco! Is Mr. LArry Lukin, i!lddlng
thðt he has received a bachelors ~egree mastersln Sanitary Engineering
aOOK 082 pr.[ 684
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at the New York Poly Tech, his masters degree for public health from
John Hopkins. Sh. noted that he camo to Florida in 1963 from the New
York State Health Department ':0 bocome the Director of Environmental
Engineering and Sanitation at Palm BO/lch C04~ty. She stated that he
was Instrumental in g.ttlng a local pollution control program
e.tablished for Palm Beach County which was in '1966 ðnd 1967. She
noted that hit was the Palm Beach cou~'t~. Control·;'Officer in the newly
formed Environmental Pollution Control Board. She reported that in
1972 Mr. Lukin left the Health Dopartment to develop his own prlvðte
engineer consulting firm which he had for ten years adding thðt, since
1982, he has been with the DER In Tallahðssee in the position of
liaison and senior advisor on difficult technical matters.
Mr. Larry Lukin stated that he is pr~sent to help the Board make
dllcislons on water pollution control programs. He stated that tho
whole concept of having a local program is b~sed on the old addage that
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. lie stated that public
health by definition Is preventive and control, also by definition,
should also be preventive even though it has not always worked that
way. he stðted that the r/ltio of an ounce of prevention to a pound of
a cure !s 16 to I, but in terms of cleaning up pollution th/lt ratio
runs higher than that. He stated that If there are serious pollution
control problems, it could cost billions. He noted that It Is /llmost
impossible to determine wh~t the cost would be of cleaning up the
contamination of øn aquifer. H~ st/lted that the groundw~ter resource
is the prime source of drinking water In tho Stðte of florida, adding
that the aquifer hðs becn challenged by chemicals, pesticides, ðnd
toxic materials from Innocent householàs. Ita stlJt'!lti that if YOII have a
clean county there if: still a ne·!d for a w3ter pollution control
program to head off the problem, adding that getting organized, getting
people trained, getting Into a format and getting direction from the
elected officials as to how tho County should be hllndled takes time.
He stated that tho '}roundwct~r reRources can bec~me contaminated
through solid waste facilities, contamination from toxic chemicals,
h/lzbrdous waste, garbage dumps, pesticides, and chemicals like EDß. He
reported that EDß was used to protect the citrus crop for years and Is
no... ce>nsid~Hed carcinogenic. II'! notua w.\ter polluion control programs
are set up through the EPA in Washingte>n which then goes through a
series of district offices ~Ith a district office for this ccp.a ~eing
In Atlanta, Ceorgia. He stilted thAt tll these programs are then
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funnelad to Tallahassee and Tallahassee thæn decentralizes from the
district of fica and sets up other office3 for the area, adding that for
this area it ~.uld then be Ft. Myers which is headed by Mr. Phil
Edwards. He at "d that beyond that point, the next question is how
far can you delegate these functions, nddlng th~t history has proved
that further delegation down to the County l~Yel, there is mora
individual attention, concern and a psychologlclJl advantage. :!e noted
thAt if the County has a program, It can decantrallze which makes It
the b".t. lie stated that thlHe needs to be IIn I!nvlronmental assessment
done to find out the potential problems of the County and what it would
take to correct th"m or head them off, wh~t types of rules and
regulations are noeded to sustain them. H~ stated thnt It nl!eds to be
dotermlned if It Is primðrily ~ progr~m of environmental 3nh~ncoments,
adding that professionnl p~oplc ~re np.edad to ccme up with the tru· and
corr.ct answers. He stat_d that It is an environmental assessment of
the County and the question 15 going to be should more be spent to
protuct it or enhance It or is the County happy with it the w~y it is?
lie stated that this is a program th"t one h.1S to want to do, adding
that if there is any question of the effort that it takes, the hard
dedlc/ltion of hours and work, thcn the progrðm should not be è~ne
because It is tp.rribly frustrntlng. He st;t~d that there art' two known
methods that work for a '",ater pollution control progra.l. at this time,
adding that they both need to meet legal and legislative requirements.
lie noted thðt there would hav!! to bo ordlnancus d'Jveloped and /In
enabling Act which will comQ from the legislative delegAtion. He
stated that this program can be don~ In the Collier County lIealt~
Depðrtment which has its advantages, adding that the mode around the
State of Florida has been to go into separate pollution control
d~partment5 dlr~ctly responsible to the County Commission. He stated
that the adv~ntðqe to being in D County H~alth Department Is that there
is .ome a.semblance of a staff so all new people do not have to be
hired. Also, another advantage is bec/luse of the responsibility of HRS
under the Clean Water Act, that responsibility for the drinking water
program cannot be delegated to any othar authority, It remAins with IIns
or its agent which, in this Ccunty, Is the Collier County Health
Departmunt. lie stated that If there Is tha compute nee in the stðff of
tho! Collier County Ilaalth D~pi\rtmont, thl!n the County bðcomos A major
playvr in the drinking water progr/lm ðnd th~t sðme staff could be
utilized In watvr pollution control. 110 st~ted that It is more
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popular, however, to have water pollutiol!. 'control in a separate agency
which means that there is duplication of a professional engineer and
duplication of pe~~le that d~ the inspections and evaluations. He
stated that in II CC";nty He/llth Unit there a~e disadvantages because it
is all state controlled and the salaries of ~he State are not
competitive, adding th/lt there is a. big turnoircif.. He reported that if
! . In
the referendum is won, the agency th~~ you become a partner with has
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guidelines so that there i. not mu~h flexibility in what the County's
role is, adding that the only flexibility is to create an approved
program. He steted that the Federal EPA has its goals and objectives
as well as DEn and the County then becomes part of that team. He
stated that if the referendum Is won, th'i! County would enter Into II
general agreement with the DER, adding that it Is an agreement of
intent and establishes each one's responsibilities. He stated that
after th:J genf<ral agreement, there would he an oper/ltlng agreement that
would have to be entered into which Is between th'i! pollution control
agency in the County and the district office in Ft. Myers. He stated
that the operating agreement Indicates tho kinds of things that will be
done In concert with each other.
Commissioner Pistor qu~stioned if the referendum passes does the
County hAve to go before the legislature to allow the County to do
this, ðddin~ that thl~ would prolong ~verythlng.
Assistant County Attorney Anderson stated that he called DER
officials In Tallahassee to discuss the concept of this program, adding
that he assumed that the County only wanted to do a monitoring program
which would mean coordinðting with DER so that they do not have any
objection, adding that It would not be necessary to go t~ the
legislative delegation.
Mr. Lukin stateó that if a part of a pro<,¡rnm limited to monitoring
is done, he is not sure how that can be tr/lnslatcd Into a program that
will achl~ve anythin~. He stated thnt DE~'s number one priority for
this year is enforcement, adding that last year It was In the
groundwater progra~. He stated that the people that come to Florida
expect environmental enhancement and In order to do It, It costs mon~y
which the people have to pay.
Ur. Polkowski stated that the next gentleman to speak would be Mr.
Marvin Rowland, wh~ Is the Assistant Director of Environmentnl
Sanitation and Engineering at Palm Beach County, adding th~t he has
been with them for 11 years. Sh~ noted that he will discuss the
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activities of the local pollution control program in Palm Beach County.
Mr. Rowland stated that there arv two different type. of local
programs in tho Stat., 'ddlng th,t if you belong to a group that are
consid.red approved Count~ H~alth Dopðrtm~ntø, then you belong to ^
group that ,re approvod [tom an englne~ring staff and are able to
participate In the Florida State Drinking Water Act. He noted that if
the County belongs to a local progr~m under Chapter ~0~.lß2 of Florida
Statutes then you belong to ð pollution control progr/lm which may have
nothing to do with the drinking wnter adding that, however, If one
qualifies for the latter of th" t~~, you would ðutomaticnlly qualify
for the drinking water program. He stat~d that as ð sU<Jgestion, it
would be wise to go for th~ Intt~r program. He ~tated that in Palm
B"Acn County, they lire a department of thl! ilealth and Rehabilitative
D~rvlces organization, addln~ th~t unj~r interùY3ncy agreement ðnd
operating agre~ment with ~hP. Dopartm~nt of Environmental Regulations,
they operate a. /I Pollution Control Progrnm IInd also Issue docks,
piers, seawalls, etc. permits In behalf of the Corps of Engineers and
ov~r all of this is a blanket of acting as a pollution ~ontrol and
health department agen~y for th~ board of County Commissioners. He
noted that one of the advantages of /I local program is to have local
peoµle that they cnn go to If they have /I problem. He Indicated that
he understood that Collier County's specific goals aro for wat~r
pollution, adding that air pollution should also be considered. he
noted th~t th~ ordln~nc~s for th~s~ progrðms set up feas for
inspections and permitting r"!\.ulrements. lie explnlned some of the
typl!s of item3 that ðra cover~è In Pdlm Beach County under their
procJr.1m. lie noted that if Collier County shoulj decide to halle /In air
pollution program and qualify under It, thl! County would re(.eive $.50
for dvery automobile tag that Is sold In Collier County. He not~d t~.t
in their program In Palm Boach County, they recoivd funds from the
State of florida cAlled the County Health funds, funds from the Board
of County Commissioners for operating funds, and Federal Grant
programs. He stated that there are about 50 people In their
organization ·]nd their total budget is b"t....een $1.5 and $2 million
dollars.
In answer to Commissioner Pistor, ~r. Rowlnnd stated that wh.ther
th~ Health Department or the County decides to set up their own
organization for A loc~l program, there ßtill hðs to be an enabling Act
processud through legislation.
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August 14, 1984
Dr. Polkowski stated that Collier County does have problems here
related to the lack of resourc.s 6,1(1 to the rapid growth, adding that
the County hl'ls to think abou; ¡:repa' :ng themselves ed.quately.
Commissioner Brown questioned how many counties have this type of
a program, to which Mr. Rowland replied that there are 9 approved
counti.s und.r the Drinking kat.r Act /lnd 14 local programs under the
Pollution Control Program. H. stated thllt some of the counties are
Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Volusia, Duval, Orange, LIIke, Hillsborough,
Pin.llas, Sarasota, Manatee, and Polk.
Commissioner VOSI Itated that in Collier County there are approved
projects, plus projects that are being processed, that will produce a
population in Collier County of about 500,000 at build-out, adding that
he does not know if there il enough drinking water and enough
agriculture water to sUPrort such a population, but if the water that
the County has now Is ~ot protected there will definitoly not be enough
for such a population. Hc stated that it is a ml.\st that this program
be Itarted and that the people of Collier County realize this and
support the referendum.
There being no further business for tho good of tho County, the
meeting was adjourned by Ordor of the Chllir - Time: 2:25 P.M.
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