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PBSD MSTBU Minutes 10/30/2023PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION CLAM BAY COMMITTEE MEETING OCTOBER 30, 2023 The Clam Bay Committee of the Pelican Bay Services Division met on Monday, October 30 at 1:30 p.m. at the PBSD Office in the Truist Building, 801 Laurel Oak Drive, Naples, Florida 34108. In attendance were: Clam Bay Committee Denise McLaughlin, Chair Michael Rodburg Rick Swider (absent) Pelican Bay Services Division Staff Dave Greenfield, Supervisor -Field II Neil Dorrill, Administrator (absent) Karin Herrmann, Project Manager I Dawn Brewer, Ops. Support Spec. II (absent) Lisa Jacob, Project Manager II Chad Coleman, Operations Manager Barbara Shea, Admin, Support Spec. II Darren Duprey, Supervisor — Field I (absent) Also Present Jennifer Bobka, Earth Tech Jeremy Sterk, Earth Tech Mohamed Dabees, Humiston & Moore APPROVED AGENDA (AS AMENDED) 1. Pledge of Allegiance 2. Roll call 3. Agenda approval 4. Approval of 5/2/2023 meeting minutes 5. Audience comments 6. *Approval of draft plans for proposed 2024 dredging of Clam Pass a. Update on U.S.A. C.E. activity 7. 2022 Clam Bay Water Quality Report 8. Adjournment ROLL CALL Mr. Swider was absent and a quorum was established. Mr. Rodburg motioned, Ms. McLaughlin seconded to approve the agenda as amended with the addition of item #6a. The motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF 5/02/2023 MEETING MINUTES Pelican Bay Services Division Clam Bay Committee Meeting October 30, 2023 Mr. Rodburg motioned, Ms. McLaughlin seconded to approve the 5/02/2023 meetine minutes as presented. The motion carried unanimously AUDIENCE MEMBER INTRODUCTION Ms. McLaughlin introduced Mr. Kymani Prince, PBF Beach Manager. Mr. Prince commented that he has been with the PBF for 16 years, and that he is the Beach Manager of both the north and south beach facilities. APPROVAL OF DRAFT PLANS FOR PROPOSEll 2024 DREDGING OF CLAM PASS Dr. Mohamed Dabees, IV i gneer with Humiston &Moore, provided an update on Clam Pass conditions and his recommendation for a maintenance dredge of Clam Pass as follows. • October tidal ratios at .64 look good. • Hurricane Idalia shifted the inlet northward toward South Beach, while maintaining a westward component. • A survey of Clam Pass will be completed sometime during the first 15 days of November. • Preliminary dredge construction plans for a maintenance dredge were included in the agenda packet. This is not an emergency dredge. This maintenance dredging project will not be scheduled during turtle nesting season. • A hydraulic dredge will be the preferred method of dredging for this project. The project specifications will allow the Pass to be closed for a maximum of 10 days. A hydraulic dredge will cause minimal effects to the beach. If the contractor uses a decent size dredge, then the project could be completed in 2-3 weeks. • Any restrictions in the bid specifications will raise the price of the project. • 10-15,000 yards of sand are expected to be dredged. The PBF will pay for any sand placed in front of the South Beach Facility. • Early April is the latest the dredge project could begin. If the BCC and TDC project approvals cannot be obtained in time to allow for the contractor to complete the project before turtle nesting season begins, then the project will be delayed until after turtle nesting season (Nov. 2024). Dr. Dabees and staff will work with County Procurement staff to hopefully expedite the bid and approval process. Project bids must be received back prior to obtaining TDC funding approval, and then a BCC project award approval would be required for the project to move forward. • The engineer's estimate of cost is $400,000 - 600,000. • The Clam Bay Committee reviewed the construction plans and agreed to recommend to the full board to move forward with the maintenance dredging project to take corrective actions to include dredging shoaled areas within the Pass and adjacent beaches. • Dr. Dabees will provide an updated set of construction plans for the Clam Pass maintenance dredge project for the Nov. 8 PBSD Board packet. The Nov. 8 PBSD Board agenda will include a vote to approve the project. Ms. McLaughlin motioned, Mr. Rodburg seconded to recommend to the full board to approve the attached plans for maintenance dredging of Clam Pass. The motion carried unanimously. Pelican Bay Services Division Clam Bay Committee Meeting October 30, 2023 UPDATE ON U.S.A.C.E. COASTAL RESILIENCY PLAN ACTIVITY (ADD -ON) Dr. Dabees reported that U.S.A.C.E. public meetings on coastal resiliency plans continue, and that they are still on schedule to produce a draft of the Collier County resiliency plan by the end of 2023. He commented that the U.S.A.C.E. is now looking at the coastline from the northern border of Collier County to Gordon Pass in total. U.S.A.C.E. is looking at substantially increasing the narrow strip of mangroves along the beach in Outer Bay. Mr. Sterk suggested that newly installed mangroves in this area may not survive. Dr. Dabees commented that an additional area of mangroves would reduce Outer Bay's surface area, resulting in a reduction in the amount of water exiting out of Clam Pass. He suggested that if this proposal moves forward, that small amounts of mangroves are added at a time, so that the effects of the incremental mangroves can be closely monitored. 2022 CLAM BAY WATER QUALITY REPORT Mr. Jeremy Sterk, Environmental Consultant with Earth Tech, provided a discussion of Earth Tech's 2022 Clam Bay Water Quality Analysis Report (included in the agenda packet). He noted that resident Susan O'Brien provided a suggested correction to the second paragraph, the second sentence, which should read, "Water quality data results were analyzed individually and reported for overall compliance with state criteria..." Mr. Sterk reported that phosphorus levels exceeded state criteria by 40% of samples collected, nitrogen levels exceeded by 16% of samples collected, dissolved oxygen levels exceeded by 22% of samples collected, and chlorophyll -a levels exceeded by 33% of samples collected. Copper results were very good, with only 5 out of 108 out of compliance samples collected. Mr. Sterk noted that there was a high spike in the monthly copper results at station CBI, the northernmost site, which was the area most affected by Hurricane Ian. Mr. Coleman commented that Bay Colony completed a Vizcaya Lake excavation project, which included dewatering and an installation of a new bladder, during July/August/September 2022. This project likely affected the monthly copper readings at this station. Mr. Sterk commented that Clam Bay experienced two major disturbances in 2022, including the dredging of Clam Pass (Feb. through Apr. 2022) and Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28, 2022, which potentially contributed to increased nutrient loads and decreased dissolved oxygen levels by stirring up sediments. Mr. Sterk commented that these major disturbances make it difficult to pinpoint definitive causes of exceedances. He noted that the report does not include a lot of recommendations or conclusions, as a result of the external influences of these two major events. Mr. Sterk commented that (1) nutrients in the lake bottoms, (2) fertilizer entering the system, and (3) decomposition of dead plant materials all affect nutrient levels. The number of exceedances of the analytes being monitored are expected to decline in 2024, as the water quality conditions recover and improve over time. Ms. Herrmann commented that the PBSD published a series of educational articles on best practices for nutrient pollution prevention in the last four issues of the PB Post. She commented that she will continue publishing these educational PB Post articles and will also provide educational material directly to our PB Property Managers via email. Dr. Dabees commented that the PBSD will continue monthly water quality monitoring, in accordance with the Clam Bay Management Plan, and that we should only be concerned about any unusual adverse trends of any of the analytes. He also noted that lake bottom sediment dredging is not recommended as the sediment is considered toxic waste and the permitting for disposal is extremely difficult. Dr. Dabees commented that our Clam Pass dredging permit will expire in 2027, and suggested that Earth Tech provides any recommended changes/amendments to our permit during 2024, in preparation for the renewal of our permit. i Pelican Bay Services Division Clam Bay Committee Meeting October 30, 2023 Mr. Sterk provided highlights of Earth Tech observations and data collection in Clam Bay during 2023 as follows: • A new gopher tortoise survey confirmed 19-22 burrows; Hurricane Ian caused 90% mortality of our tortoise population. FWC (Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission) has approved the addition of the Clam Bay NRPA to the list of possible waif sites for the relocation of gopher tortoises which have been rehabilitated at the Conservancy. Earth Tech is in the process of scheduling a site visit and obtaining a permit to enable future relocations. • Hurricane Ian did not cause quite as long of a negative impact on our mangroves as Hurricane Irma. The health of the mangrove plots dipped immediately after the storm, and then recovered fairly quickly. • A multi -spectral drone is now being used for vegetation indexing, which provides drone photos with multi -colored mapping. This tool will provide a more cost-effective method to obtain additional data (multiple views) to monitor any areas of stressed vegetation/mangroves. This replaces procuring an infra -red photograph. A recent drone photo of the Strand area shows an area of stressed vegetation along the east side of the roadway along the beach. • A picture of coastal scrub at the end of 2022 showed significant dead vegetation. Hopefully the coastal scrub will recover in 2023. • Invasive scaevola which was mostly wiped out by Hurricane Ian is recovering in 2023. • The 20-day closure of Clam Pass during the 2022 dredging project caused some stress to our sea grass. The overwash of seawater, containing contaminants, during Hurricane Ian, also negatively affected sea grass. A rebound in sea grass is expected in 2023. • Reintroducing oysters in Clam Bay is not an option, as the existing turbidity and salinity in the bay does not appear to allow for their survival. The meeting was adjourned at 3:16 Denise McLaughlin, Ch i Minutes approved Vas presented OR [ as amended ON ? / `i t date