Sebastian Inlet Tax District
114 Sixth Avenue, Indialantic, FL 32903
(321) 724-5175, FAX (321) 951-8182
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 4:00 p.m.
Regular Commission Meeting
Minutes
Present at the meeting were Chairman Jenny Lawton Seal, Commissioners Michael Rowland, Dave Pasley, Beth Mitchell and Ann Perry. Also in attendance were Administrator Martin Smithson, District Staff Dave Kershaw and Nedra Maxwell, District legal counsel Jack Kirschenbaum, Bryan Flynn and Don Deis of Atkins, James Gray of Indian River County, Mike Donovan of Sea Diversified and Indialantic citizen T.J. Marshall.
Under Agenda Item I
Call to Order –Chairman Lawton Seal called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
Under Agenda Item II
Approval of Minutes – Commissioner Mitchell moved to approve the minutes of the December 10, 2014 regular Commission meeting with Commissioner Rowland seconding. Motion carried 5-0.
Mr. Smithson introduced Dave Kershaw, the District’s new Sr. Contracts and Accounting Manager who replaced Ms. Knowles. Ms. Knowles resigned in January for personal reasons. Mr. Kershaw has a long history of government contracts and grant writing and will be a great asset to the District.
Chairman Lawton Seal changed the order of the agenda to accommodate Ms. Goode with Carr, Riggs and Ingram. Ms. Goode presented the independent annual audit report for FY 2013/14. The District received an unmodified audit report, which is a clean audit. The audit was performed by Ms. Knowles before her resignation and everything was done properly within the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Ms. Goode reviewed the statement of revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balance. Ms. Goode then reviewed the schedule of revenues, expenditures and changes in general fund balance, budget and actual. A new report is required by the Auditor General to examine the compliance on investment policies. The District was in compliance.
Commissioner Pasley thanked Ms. Goode for the comprehensive report which was thorough and easy to read.
Mr. Smithson noted that the District is ready to receive $2M from the State in cost-share money that will require a second single audit.
Under Agenda Item III
Information and Discussion Agenda
A) Media and Information – There was no discussion of the media packet.
B) Executive Director’s Reports
1. DMMA Sand Excavation, Screening and Beach Placement – The beach placement project is going extremely well. The placement is a little different than projects in the past, but with the fronts that have been coming in, the fill in the berm is taking the brunt of the weather. The Davis Mine is delivering up to 2,000 c.y. per day. On the consent agenda under IX, A is authorized work for Dickerson to place 6,250 additional c.y. of sand from the DMMA onto the beach, per the contract adjustments. Dickerson was also authorized to screen additional material necessary to ensure that all remaining sand in the DMMA is free of rock. The
volume will be determined by survey and added to the work order at the current rate of $1.50 per cubic yard. There is more material in the DMMA than anticipated. Having it all cleaned
and ready to place on the beach while the contractor is in place will be cost-saving and
beneficial for future beach placement.
2. Update on Channel Marker # 19 – Rob Williams of Wilco Construction checked the
marker which is stamped 40’ and is 24” by 24” which brings the weight up to over 25,600 lbs.
and is over the weight limit of his crane. If it is a true 40’ it would take a full day just to cut the pile off. Mrs. Maxwell has been reviewing the minutes and found a reference to authorizing the manufacture of a piling in 1968, but hadn’t yet found a reference to the installation. Mr. Williams forwarded the information to the City of Fort Pierce where there is some marina work taking place by a company out of Jacksonville who has the equipment to pull it out of the rock. They will be asked to pull the piling on their way back to Jacksonville if it’s within the scope of the not to exceed limit of $15,000 authorized by the Commissioners at the December 2014 meeting.
3. Update on FSBPA February Conference – The take-away from the conference was
Dr. Jenkins presentation and meeting with Ralph Clark. Ralph Clark with DEP will be working to update inlet management plans of eight inlets over the next few years. The District was not on his list but he mentioned that he would be willing to look at Dr. Zarillo’s inlet data in order to update the plan prior to his retirement. Dr. Jenkins believes it would
be beneficial for the District to take the lead on updating the plan.
The State has completed a study on the amount of money beaches bring into the economy. The beaches are going to become the State’s product; it will no longer be citrus, etc. The Amendment 1 trust fund created some talk along with the DEP reorganization. Inlets continue to get more focus and it was a very good conference. Chairman Lawton Seal noted that after Dr. Jenkins’ presentation, a party inquired if all inlets had a DMMA to which Dr. Jenkins answered no, she was hoping for a follow up discussion.
4. Additional Items – James Gray of Indian River County reported on the Sector III project that
is taking place. A six mile stretch of beach is being repaired from the Hurricane Sandy
damage. The project is approximately 85% complete and they have about 40 -50K c.y.
remaining to place on the beach. Mr. Gray’s hopes are to be finished by March 15th. IRC’s sea turtle biologist has stepped down and is leaving February 20th. The plan is to hire Ecological Associates to perform the additional turtle monitoring required after
March 1st.
Commissioner Rowland inquired about the near-shore artificial reef program. Mr. Gray
reported that a 3,700 acre site had been surveyed and an additional 1,500 acre site had been
identified as useable for artificial reef sites. After the beach project is completed, Mr. Gray
will begin working on permitting for the reefs which should take about 18 months to complete.
The reefs should be ready for installation in 2017.
5. Discussion of Consent Agenda - Items on the consent agenda were discussed under agenda
Item II, B-1.
Dr. Mike Jenkins presented an abbreviated version of his FSBPA presentation of the sand trap excavation, expansion and dredging project. Dr. Jenkins’ presentation included the history of the sand trap, historical drawings, goals of the project, technical issues, DMMA necessity, and the District
Commission’s foresight to build the project. Dr. Jenkins presented the project in phases; the first was the beach placement of clean beach compatible sand, two was beach screening and third was the DMMA discharge and post-dredge condition of sand. Phase four was the DMMA screening of the
remainder of the sand left in the DMMA which created quite a bit of rock to be disposed of which the
State Park wants to use for road beds. The sand trap capacity is at approximately 200,000 cubic yards now and the numbers calculate 5 – 6 years between dredge projects, given no major storms.
Under Agenda Item V
Overview of 2014 IRL Seagrass Monitoring – Don Deis, Atkins – Mr. Deis gave a seagrass update following his meeting with Harbor Branch Institute and the SJRWMD. The Commissioners asked him to return with an update following the meeting. The non-recovery places at the Inlet are mostly on the west side of the Lagoon and the cause is believed to be wind driven sand movement. The north and south side of the Inlet are recovering nicely. Harbor Branch Institute has a three sites they focused on for transplanting, the Pineda Causeway, Wabasso and Melbourne. They had areas that were caged (protected) and uncaged. Animals were eating the grasses and caging became necessary in the Melbourne and Pineda areas although the grasses died off at the end of the season in spite of them. The Inlet grass has come back so well, it isn’t necessary to cage them. The Melbourne site was recaged with higher fencing but needs to be cleaned of debris often which hopefully will prevent die off. Fencing alternatives for sand movement and sunlight are being researched along with the impact of drift algae as well. The drift algae die-off which created the phytoplankton was the beginning of the die-off of the grasses in the lagoon. There is a lot of seagrass coming back into the lagoon except the center in the Melbourne and Pineda areas. The Sebastian Inlet grasses on the shoals began to die off in 2011; they lost 81 acres, a 44% loss. In 2012, only 9 acres were left. In 2013, 43 acres came back and in 2014 a total of 84 acres had recovered.
Under Agenda Item VI
Park Matters – Kevin Jones – Mr. Jones was unable to attend the meeting but Mr. Smithson had talked with him regarding the work in the DMMA. Mr. Jones was concerned about the entrance road with the trucks pulling in and out, the edge of the asphalt is breaking down. Mr. Smithson said he would talk to Dickerson about their responsibility and if it is unsatisfactory with the Park, he suggested the District step in to make sure it is up to the Park’s standards since our DMMA is within the SISP boundaries.
Under Agenda Item VII
Legal Counsel Update – Jack Kirschenbaum, Gray Robinson – Mr. Kirschenbaum had nothing new to report.
Under Agenda Item VIII
Public Comment – There was no public comment.
Under Agenda Item IX
Consent Agenda – Commissioner Mitchell moved to approve the consent agenda with Commissioner Rowland seconding. Motion carried 5 -0.
Under Agenda Item X
Commissioners Items – Commissioner Mitchell welcomed Dave Kershaw and thanked Dr. Jenkins for representing the District so well at the FSBPA Conference. Commissioner Pasley is thrilled that other inlets are looking at the District as a model in efficiency.
Under Agenda Item XI
Unfinished Business – There was no unfinished business.
Under Agenda Item XII
New Business – There was no new business.
Under Agenda Item XIII
Adjournment – Chairman Lawton Seal adjourned the meeting at 5:40 p.m.
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Secretary/Treasurer Date