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BCC Minutes 03/06/1990 W Naples, Florida, March 6, 1990 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners in and for the County of Col]ter, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the Governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 3:10 P.M. tn WOR]~SHOP SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAn,: VICE-CHAIRMAN: ABSENT: Max A. Hasse, Jr. Michael J. Volpe Richard S. Shanahan Anne Goodnlght Burr L. Saunders ALSO PRESENT: Carol McClenathen, Deputy Clerk; Neil Dorrill, County Manager; David Wetgel, Assistant County Attorney; and William Lorenz, Environmental Services Administrator. Page March 6, 1990 AGENDA WORKSHOP - CREATION OF A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD COUNTY MANAGER DIRECTED TO CONSOLIDATE THE EAC AND ~4AB INTO A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD CONSISTING OF SEVEN MEMBERS Mr. Bill Lorenz, Jr. P.E. Administrator, Environmental Services Division, briefed the Board on the consolidation of the Water Management Advisory Board and the Environmental Advisory Council to create a new Environmental Advisory Board which would be the advisory board for Environmental Services as mandated by the Growth Management Plan. He said the major issue of this proposal is the degree the new EAC will be involved with Land Development Reviews on a project-by- project basis. He said that the proposal will eliminate the new advi- sory board from reviewing projects through the normal process, however, the projects will be reviewed administratively. He noted that any stipulations will come through the public hearing process which is currently is not the case, adding that stipulations are now forwarded through the Collier County Planning Commission to the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Volpe indicated that the EAC has matured since the 1970's and his feeling is that staff could be relied upon to provide the technical review required, leaving the reviewing process to the CCPC. He said that he favors charging the new advisory board with long-range planning review. When Commissioner Hasse ques~ioned the number of members on this board, Mr. Lorenz indicated that there would be seven (7), with the criteria for membership coming from technical disciplines, such as zoology, biology, botany, ecology, environmental science, etc. He further indicated that the first members of the new board should be drawn from the consolidation of the existing boards, and as the mem- bers terms expire, new members with technical backgrounds will be added. Commissioner Hasse then inquired whether Mr. Lorenz would prefer Page 2 ~arch 6, 1990 another means to establish this board7 Mr. Lorenz suggested mem- bership be advertised with existing members applying for membership. Commissioner Shanahan discussed the review of land development projects by the EAC. He noted there has been considerable resistance by the existing board to be abolished and ~ new board created. Ta~e #5 Commissioner Vo]pe stated that the new as well as the existing EAC will be extremely useful and instrumental in development of policies and presentations in public forums. Commissioner Goodnight Indicated that since the EAC set the rules they will be involved. Commissioner Saunders reiterated that there are ordinances written and exceptions brought before the board all the time, adding that he feels that this advisory board should be involved in the petition regarding exceptions because it is an exceptionally strong group of people. Ms. Barbara Cawley stated that she worked with Mr. Lorenz on a number of items involving the EAC, noting that she feels the make-up of the board is extremely important and called for an equally balanced group including technically based members as well as general members, thus avoiding any accusation of the taking of rights. She endorsed the idea of a smaller 5-7 member board. Commissioner Hasse inquired of Mr. Lorenz whether this new EAC would be making presentations to the Collier County Planning Commission or to the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Lorenz indicated that they would most likely make presen- tations to the Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Cawley indicated that she supports an EAC formed through application and not by appointment by the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. David Addison, representing the Conservancy, read a letter (copy not provided to the Clerk) in which the Conservancy supports a Joint board as a logical move, stating that the EAC was originally Page 3 March 6, 1990 intended to be a separate and distinct group, but the Conservancy does not object to a new EMA serving as a TAC, provided it could effectively undertake the new responsibility without impacting the current project review activities. He said if this is not possible, the Conservancy recommends forming a separate committee. The Conservancy is not enthused about loosing the project review aspect because of the importance of the review function, Mr. Addison stated. Commissioner Hasse inquired if the new Board would be reviewing petitions like it has in the past, and Mr. Addison said according to his understanding the new board would be reviewing the structure of the new ordinances which will be going into place under the new Comprehensive Plan. He said that ordinances for environmental po]i- cies will never be strong enough to prevent problems the EAC will have to address. The final point Mr. Addison made was to encourage the Board of County Commissioners to leave discretionary power to the staff in order for them to decide which items need to go before the board. Otherwise, he stated, the new advisory board could get backlogged with items to be presented to the board. Commissioner Volpe asked if the staff would be allowed to make these decisions. Mr. Lorenz indicated that he does not have an environmental review staff, noting that the Staff in Development Services reviews these matters. Mr. Lorenz stated he is in charge of developing the rules and Guidelines, and discussed an alternative of creatinG a technical advisory committee with the WMAB and EAC still continuing their current funct.[ons, or, possibly, creating a technical advisory commit- tee and a consolidated committee of the WMAB and EAC; thus, havinG two boards with one servinG as an appeals board. He said the final prop- sal, which is tt,e ~ubJect of today's workshop, is to have a new board involved in ~ule de%~elopment with no need to be involved in p~oJect review. Commtosioner Hasse questioned if a rule development board would Page 4 March 6, 1990 limit environmental protection in any way? Mr. Lorenz indicated there would be problems no matter which way the Board decides to go, because of environmental stipulations put on the project. He said that if a new board is not involved in the land review process, staff will still not have the authority to require certain stipulations and wi]] always have to look at the BCC to require stipulations, adding that without stipulated improvements, there will not be a great degree of protection because of the way the stipulations are interpreted in the enforcement lines. Mr. Addison noted that this Board is simply an advisory board. Commissioner Volpe commented regarding a need for a connection and Mr. Addison indicated there is a diagonal connection. Mrs. Charlotte Westman, representing the League of Women Voters, indicated that the League supports the unification of the two boards and has for the past two years. She said she is concerned with overlapping of services. She indicated that her recommendation is to start with a new board and new members who are representatives of spe- cial fields. She also went on record as endorsing, for the League, the suggestion that some of the members should be representatives of the public. Mr. Bob Roth, Chairman of the Water Management Advisory Board, spoke in favor of combining the two (2) boards but not in favor of the board losing appeal authority. Commissioner Volpe voiced his concern about the expense of having two (9) boards in relation to ~equired time and personnel. Commissioner Hasse stated that he wants to be reassured that environmental control will not be lost regardless of which style EAC is approved. It was the general consensus that the County Manager develop language that will consolidate the two(2) boards into one which will consist of seven (7) members with the replacement of members to be the decision of the Board of County Commissioners and to include language that will allow the petitioner, a pro3ect review appeal. Page 5 March 6, 1990 There being no further business for the Good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by Order of the Chair - Time: 4:10 P.M. Page 6