101. 10:01. I will call a meeting to order of the uh Fort Myers Beach Marine and Environmental Resource Task Force Advisory Committee. Uh, with that, I would like to have everyone rise and
give a pledge of allegiance to the flag we found. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. Okay, with that here's our roll call. Bill Alto here. Sharon Haggstrom here. Robert Howell here.
David Nesbomb is here. Ed RDE here. Jennifer Rusk present. And uh that completes our roll call. No. Leo. Leo Sandez uh determined that he would not return. So he did not put his name
in. So we have an opening. on the advisory committee. With that um we do have a quorum. So the first item is
uh because we are starting a new season, we have to uh elect a new chair and vice chair for the committee. So with that, I will open nominations for chairman. I nominate Dave Nusbomb.
I nominate Dave Nusban to continue the great leadership from last year. I second that. Yes. Okay. Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, I'll close nominations and I'll call for a vote starting with Mr.
Alto. Um, yes. Mr. RD. Yes. Yes. Hstrom. Yes. Yes. And I am also a yes. So that's unanimous. Thank you. With that, I will
open the uh nominations for vice chair of the committee. I'd like to nominate Jennifer Rusk. I'll second that. Okay. Nomination made and seconded for Jennifer Rusk. Uh are there any other
nominations? Hearing none, I'll close. Mr. Alto. Yes. I Mr. RDE. Yes. Miss Hstrom. Yes. Mr. How? Yes. I'm a Yes.
I'll accept. Thank you. Yes. Okay. With that, we're done. All right. Congratulations. All right. Moving right along. Next, we have to approve the agenda for today's meeting. And I will accept a
motion for approval of the agenda. Motion to approve the agenda as written. I will second. Okay. Made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. I'll close that. All those in favor signify by saying I.
I. I. I. opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Okay. Next on the agenda is approving our previous meeting minutes which were drafted from Tuesday, September 18th.
So with that, I would like to have a motion to approve the minutes of our September 18th meeting as written. I would make that motion. Okay. Sharon Haggrren made the motion.
I second it. Mr. RDE made the second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. Thank you very much. Okay,
that gets us out of the formal business. All right. Public comment on agenda items. Looking at the massive crowd, um, seeing no one raising their hand, always overwhelmed,
I will now close public comment and we will move on to the next item on the agenda. Okay, current items. First item is the U, Mhallen Award. And just for those
that are watching and for the benefit of the uh committee members, uh our town clerk Amy had received an additional uh application for the
uh Malhallen award and she did not include it in our packet for consideration at the last meeting. And so to be fair, we have to open up the consideration. And I believe Chaff Chad has the
application. And if you'd be so kind as to read it just because I read the one from last month, and Yes, sir. So, we have Bill and I apologize for if I mess
pronounce his last name. Bron Bron sort isn't it what Miss Sharon said. Uh Mitch Fusk uh nomination car Tuniskin over at 1300
Ster Boulevard nominated by Mr. Dave Nusbomb. And I can read the uh well we we read it into the minutes from last meeting. Sorry. What would you like me to do then? Uh read Mary read the read the one that was not written in from last month.
All right. That's a second. So we have Miss Mary Rose Spalta nominated by Steve Johnson. So the nomination reads, "Since becoming a resident of Fort Myers Beach, Mary Rose Spalta has devoted her personal time to volunteering and advocating on
behalf of the preservation of natural resources on our island. She has provided direct support of involvement in town government and nonprofit organizations. Mary Rose continues to provide practical experience, knowledge, and awareness to the natural community
and brings both value and economic benefits to our town. Please consider her please consider her compelling contributions of service and stewardship. former active member of the community emergency emergency resource team,
nine-year member and vice chair of the MURF advisory board or MURF marine environmental resource task force. 12-year volunteer under turtle time and permitted sea turtle stewards. present board member of the Matanzis
Pass preserve. Uh the UFAUS Master Naturalist Program, Coastal and Freshwater Systems, active memberships, active memberships in the Friends of Moundhouse, Fort Myers Beach Historical Society, Fort Myers Beach Garden Club,
Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation, and crew. I'm not sure what crew is, but it's a it's like SECF. Gotcha. stewardship. What does that stand for? Crew. Oh, might have been crow and a bit of typo.
Uh, there's both, but both do good things. I'm looking up exactly what crew stands for. And I apologize to my crew friends for not knowing. Don't yell at me. It's a It's a land and trust. I think it's just called crew. I don't know if it's an acronym. It's crew uh bird rrookery and
swamp trails. Land and water trust. radio. Okay. Thank you. Um before we get into uh discussion on this, I would like to
just uh offer this for consideration to the advisory committee. Um we kind the town itself had its hands full over the last three years.
uh rebuilding as evidenced after the storm and we did not the committee uh for the last three years has not actually gone out and given any MURF award.
So rather than Mahalan award pardon meal Mhalland award I'm sorry um and that's what happens when you're extamperinius. you know, your mind is going faster than your brain.
Um, the I I thought it would be kind of a great recognition for both nominations and because there is no rule against it that we can award one for the previous year and one for this year.
I actually totally agree and I was thinking the same thing. I think that's a fabulous idea. If the um committee uh agrees, I motion they both get it. Yes. Yeah. We can award Mary Rose for because there
has to be a date and that can be last year and the founders of Tunisin for this year. I don't Yeah, that's nice. That way it's gives both parties recognition
and and I think you know we were a little remiss as a committee last year for not getting on top of it. So this is kind of a makeup from a committee standpoint and I think that would be what we should advise the town council.
We don't bestow the award. It's the town council that that does it. Do you see any issues with that, Councelor King? I do not foresee any, but you do have a motion on the floor. Okay. And I will second that motion.
Okay. And with that, is there any further discussion among committee members on the motion? The only qu the only question that I have u there's been some previous discussion about um
giving awards to uh committee members and so um last year Mary Rose was a actual actually actually she was a member of the committee and so we would be awarding her a an award the Mullen award uh for the same
year that she was on the committee switching We can either switch it or the fact that the Mull Hullen Award is actually being awarded after her term on the committee. So, we're just recognizing it.
Just that's fine. I just wanted to make everyone aware, you know. And was that discussion about the MURF award, Murphy award or the Mahal? It was the Mah was about the Murf award, but an award is an award. So, I was thinking you apply either way, but that's I just I just wanted to mention it. I
say we just switch the year for like confusion that that comes back that I don't think it matters. They're both amazing and they've both done amazing things. So yeah, agreed. We'll just switch them that way there's no, you know, well that would that would keep it from setting a precedent. Good point. Good idea.
Good point, Mr. Tunis and then Mary Rose this year. Rose this year. Okay. Because tuna skin for the past couple years has been amazing in our community. So last year would be perfect for um Tuniskin and this year for um Mary Rose.
Okay. Okay. So would you whoever made the amendment, would you like to amend your uh the proposal? Would you like to amend your proposal? Wasn't there? I made the first motion. Okay. Yeah, I made the So, I motioned that um Mayor
Risetta get the Mahalland award for this year and Tuniskin gets the award for 2024. Okay, second. Made and seconded. Any further discussion? Okay, hearing none, I'll call a vote. Um
I think we can do a voice vote on this. Okay. All those in favor of recommending to the town council the um proposal say I I I I oppose. Motion carries unanimously.
Thank you. I will uh try and get in front of the town council at the next meeting and so advise them. Okay. Next on the agenda is sea turtle cards. Yes.
And I brought this up. I need I brought this up because I saw at least two different cards and they both were I lent them out to someone and I never got them back. but they're from the east
coast and they hand them out and they're little plastic cards much like um a small uh business card and you hold it up on the beach and it goes it's got a
little square about the size of a quarter just like that and you can look through it and determine whether or not the light is turtle compliant or not turtle little compliant that makes Has anyone look through this? This is
really amazing because if you look through it, you'll see the lights are blue, but you know, we have a red light camera. Pass it down. Look at the red light. So, the the the thing is though, I want I want to be really clear. Um, so I'm making these. This is this is um one that I just put together
um with help from Turtle Time. And then also, um, if I could get permission from the town to put the town of Fort Myers Beach's logo on it, I'll add that to it when I finalize them. Um, this is just a rough draft. It's been beat up a little bit. I've been trying to put it through the ringer cuz they get beat up. But the
thing I want to be really clear about is the color of your lights is not what will deter or attract the turtles. It's the wavelength. So when you hear amber lighting or red lighting and things like that. So in here, these are all bright
fluorescent or LED lights except for that one little red light that says we're on air, it is it is a different wavelength. So that's why it isn't showing up the same um in here. But just because it's red or just because it's orange doesn't mean it's turtle friendly.
Um they're looking through mine, too. I had my little one. But here's here's a big version of it so you can see with both eyes. My my point is is um I'm going to make these and then get a finalized um finalized design from everyone. Um this has the Turtle Time info on it. Um
I'll if if it's okay with Chad and Fort Myers Beach. I'll put the town logo on it and also um the beach patrol phone number. Um, so all those that information can be readily available and we can either have those here or I can have some at Pink Shell for visitors um
and and um islanders to to come get. And what Jen had just handed me, if you were wondering, is a big roll of the blue tint that is specific for okay the viewing. So when I make the cards, there's going to be a little eyehole. You hold it up to your property or any
property, look through it, and then you'll know if it's turtle friendly. Can I make Can I make a suggestion? Go ahead. Oh, I would make it a little bit bigger. Bigger. Yeah, just because it it's kind of Yeah, especially with kids. I had I had a I didn't have a big role.
I had a thing. So, it was a big preservation there. Did you um happen to discuss this with FWC or Turtle Time Inc.? I talked it with I I did discuss it with Turtle Time Inc. many much of what is on there I designed with her um and with
with Eve the head of Turtle Time Inc. and um all the facts and everything have been have been run through with them. I did not talk with FWC. I didn't see the need to. I think this information and these tools could are good for everybody to have and it's not going to be a hindrance to any
anything. No. And I and I think the whole purpose behind this is not to turn, you know, 500 code compliant people with little, you know, uh, visors out there on the
beach. It's to allow every homeowner to take a look at their home, the opportunity to the opportunity to look at it and say, "Hey, because there are some I mean, I will be very honest. We our property
manager purchased lights off of uh the internet that claimed to be turtle compliant lighting and they weren't turtle compliant. They were amber lights and it's you have to look at the FWC rating on it
and I told our property manager you you have to look for that. Just because it says it's turtle compliant doesn't mean it's turtle compliant. And that's why I've been kind of behind this because I think a lot of people have the assumption that if they buy something
online that claims it's turtle compliant, it may not be turtle compliant. I have a question. Um, do they say turtle compliant or do they say turtle friendly? They say turtle compliant and they're not.
I mean turtle who says what's turtle compliant? I mean, and that's and that's where that color type of thing comes in where it's red, so it's friendly, but that's not the case. But yeah, there's um is isn't there a specific organization that gives the okay for what truly is?
Well, FWC. Yeah, that's But I didn't know if there was a national like Noah. I know stuff with it, but locally in Florida, it's FWC. Yeah, it's FW FWC. And they have a list of the approved companies and brands that are turtle truly turtle friendly
on their website. There's another organization out there called Sea Turtle Conservancy and they've helped us out cuz we bought turtle friendly lights or turtle compliant lights and she came down and took a look at them and said, "No, you've got
I may have the CL coating wrong, but it was like a phosphorous coating that gave it that yellow orangey tint, but she said you can still see it." Y So, but we did get the manufacturer to swap them out. Good. So now we've got uh the right
ones. Very good. How many of these do you plan on producing? Um quite honestly, as many as I can. So she just gave me a big roll. Plus with that other She'll probably keep that one, but if I need more, I can get more of these of that film
and as many as needed. Honestly, I I think it's it's come to a point now where, you know, we all have the most powerful tool ever invented in our pocket all the time. So the more information we can have, the more tools that we can use to help instead of, you know, beach patrol or other people
holding each other accountable when we can start taking a few things into saying like, "Oh, I can I do know what's going on. I have these I I have the information that I need to make the right decisions and I have the tool to have the tool to help it." Yeah. And honestly, every time I do a release and I've got big a lot of families and
kids, kids love it. I mean it's amazing how much you know they learn from it and understand. Okay. So my question is financing this can we is there any grants from either Turtle Time or the Turtle Conservancy that we
can ask for as far as I mean so far I plan on doing it out of my pocket as a thank you for taking enough time and care to do this. You know, if if you care enough to come and get one of these and you're going to use it in a positive way and not an accusatory way, I I think it can only help. And
I know, but there's there's two or three thousand homes on the beach, you know, that's that's a lot of out of your pocket. It it it will be. Yeah. Well, we can look into that if I mean if you really feel the need to, but as as of right now, I I've seen the demand with
a few and not not not the many. And I hope that does change. I hope it comes to a point where it's like, hey, I do need help cuz that means more people care. Very good. All right. Any further issues on sea turtle cards? Thank you very much, Rod. Of course.
Super. I can't wait. That's great. I mean it. I wanted to check mine. And I ran I ran that one because I'm I'm testing different kinds of laminate papers to be waterproof. So I ran that one um through the washing machine. That's why it's all beat up. You did? Yeah. Just to see how it would work. Held out pretty good. That's amazing.
All right. At least that's your story and you're sticking to it. That's exactly right. I I didn't forget it in my pocket. That's what I That's what I tell my wife every time I wash my cell phone. Yeah. I'm just testing it. Just testing it.
Well, I I guess I'll piggyback on the card and lights is uh just to give an update. I know in the last meeting I had mentioned that we had a a light um at Newton Park that was shining right on the beach uh o over the bathrooms. It
has been turned off. It hasn't been removed. I'm not sure who put it up there, but uh we obviously don't need lights because the bathrooms aren't open at night or they open they close at sun down and open at sunrise. So we certainly don't need a light, but if we
were to have light, it should definitely be an amber uh solution to any lighting in that area. Um well, and officially sea turtle season is ended October 31st. However, I think
between the end of sea turtle season and the beginning um next year, it's it's not a time to, you know, forget about it. It's a time to prepare for it, correct? For the next season. And but we still have um some the town
or some somebody with the town put lights at Veterans Park. We had the proper lighting before Ian. Um but someone put solar white LED lights and they haven't been on which is good because they shouldn't be. Um but uh we
need to u maybe address that at the next meeting. If um chair, you could put that on our agenda to uh discuss making sure that all of our lights on our parks are um you know uh go with the lights that
FPL are putting up so it's nice and all even. Okay. Um, so any lights at Newton Park, Veterans Park, town property should have all amber solution lights
or not be used during turtle season, but we need light even in offse. So they might as well be turtle friendly all year. Yeah. So or or ones you could switch out. But we still have wildlife that needs to
be protected. Even No, I know. I'm saying switch out. You can switch them out. I I think to Jen's point, she's just saying like migratory birds are affected by lighting, too. So, might as well make it. We're a wildlife sensitive island. Even though the law is there for turtle, it's like the dog leash law. It's not just for the birds. It affects a lot of
things. Okay. So, if you could put that on the We could bring that down. The turtle conserving agenda. They refuse to let us for 10 years. We can't change the light bulbs on our building. Wow. They have to stay amber year round. Yeah.
Okay. I think the more information that comes about about how positive it is to have um less intense lighting in at different wavelengths um for a lot of things. It's there's a lot of science being done with it right now and it's it's there's a lot of things being learned.
And one more question um in regards to lights u I notice that there are shields being put up on the side street lights that are already there and maybe you can help me out with this Chad. Do you know why they would put shields on the lights if they're going to change them out to
all amber? Uh, no ma'am. I do not, but I can ask our public works director. Thank you. I appreciate that. And then you'll get back with us at the next meeting with that. Uh, yes ma'am. We'll do my best. Thank you. Okay. Next item on the agenda is beach
access signage. Oh, that's me. I actually found two dogs, no dog signs, inside of a the pump room. But no, I'm not allowed any keys to get into any of the rooms, but there are two signs in there at Castle Beach.
Can you pass? Sitting against the wall, but I can't I'm not allowed in any room. I already got a notice on what you're not allowed. They're horrible to me. Pass those down. Everybody gets one. Pass them down. I see. You can't have all of them.
There we go. Well, no. I think that's mine. I can't. So, FYI, would you guys Okay. So, beach signs, we um were talking about uh dogs that were off
leash at the last meeting and really code compliance, we can't really enforce anything unless we educate people first as they're entering our beaches. So, I think it's really important that we get our signs back up. Um,
and that way we can, you know, in start enforcing the way the beach should be enforced and just once we get the okay that the town um is uh going to do that and start
putting signage back up at the beach entrances. Now, this one that I'm showing is actually welcome to Newton Park beach access. And this is the the sign that used to be there. And then if you turn it over, there was um a bench that used to be at Connecticut that had
another sign that was really well done. Maybe we can incorporate uh this uh the information on the sign on the second page in with uh uh some other beach signs at the entrance. But uh I just
wanted to get the conversation started. You know, we're a blank canvas right now. We unfortunately went through a really terrible three years and we are a blank canvas and we've got the opportunity now to rebuild and and make
sure that um our beaches are safe and clean and uh and it starts with education, right? So signage is really important. So okay, go ahead. So um I just wanted to start the
conversation. Now some of these pages that you're looking at are another discussion. Those are different. Oh, there is a I think Chad made this years ago or someone at the very back is notices all dogs must be unleashed. Yeah.
With little tags. And uh I'm I I just thought I would print it out and and show it to you because it's something that maybe we can hand out to people or you know I don't know. Do you remember this Chad? Uh no ma'am I can't take credit for that
one. I'm sorry. Okay. So, I have a couple of questions and um Chad, perhaps you can answer this. At the corner of this um handout that Jessica handed or that Jennifer
handed out, uh it's got the beaches of Fort Myers Beach and Santael tourist development council. Is this something that the tourist development council would pay for if we
just took the welcome to Newton Park off and just had uh a a blanket beach access sign and just put them up at all the beach access. Welcome to our beach.
Uh I believe the TDC budget includes the signs regardless of whether it says welcome to Newton Park or not. and um we can tailor, you know, the park signs versus the the other access signs. Um I mean, you're I guess what I'm getting
from your statement is that some cost savings if we just made it the same all around versus one sign and put it on every beach access. Yeah. I mean, I guess what I would suggest is as a committee, maybe get a consensus on how you would like the
signs and maybe some kind of mockup. can be just mock up on a piece of paper and present that to council for council to give direction to the town manager. So, that's actually um I I wanted to also tell you that I found out that we still have all the graphics for all of
the signs. It's at the mound. It's being stored at the moundhouse. All the CDs are there. So, we really just need to print them out. I mean there is a couple changes that uh I was uh told would would be best for especially this sign
and it would be um let's see if I can remember the lantern release should be fire lantern release that's in the code because it could be anything lantern release doesn't specify but in the code it's like um fire
lantern release um and then also should one more other change uh to this the the verbiage but uh you know once we can figure out that we have the money I think you know it will have to go through the process of
uh of people making sure that the the literature is is uh correct. Yeah. like electric vehicles instead of electric bikes or just any kind of motorized I mean over it but I think the start of the conversation of just getting um the
town to uh look into seeing um if we can put up these signs is the first step and but I think it's really great that we've got these CDs and all the graphics all ready to go um at the moundhouse. So QR code still works
great. That's great. If you if you recall from last meeting, you asked me to go to council and check on some things for you and I did. Um it was about this committee. Um it was about the dog signage and uh according
to Jeff Higy, director of public works, uh those are included as part of the beach access signs and public works is in the process now of getting those together to be put back at the beach accesses. I'm not sure where in the process they are. So, if you want to
have some specific input, uh, I would suggest somebody get with Jeff to do that. Um, you also asked about enforcement. Uh, I checked with checked with Tom Yazo with our, uh, gosh, Chad, can you remember? They used to be rangers. Now, what are they called? We call them
rangers. Well, they used to be beach patrol. Now they're rangers. Rangers. Okay. Um, rangers do not have the authority to ticket uh dogs running on the beach. That's a Lee County Sheriff's Office thing that has to be done through them. Uh the rangers do educate the folks about dogs running
loose on the beach. Uh so that's that takes care of that. And the last one came from Leo Sand wanting information about uh dogs the leash law or ordinance with short-term rental contracts. And I
put that forward to those folks to address that there as well. Thank you. Okay. So, Senator, if they're if they're working on the signage now uh to replace the signage,
um is there is there any way we can take a look at what's going in or are they just putting the old signs back up? My guess is we may already have some of the old signs made and they're ready to be put up, but again, I can double check with
Jeff. I'm not sure how much input there um there may be at this stage. I feel like I've seen these signs waiting to be put up already, but I'll I'll double check that. Well, um, if if they're if they're going if
they're made and getting ready to go up, then I guess the opportunity may have slipped by, but we can take a look at revising signs as they come in for replacement or whatever. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know,
a little bit of marketing signs, you know, you you know, they really only you really only get people don't read a lot. It's kind of what they see in a in a one second passing or less is kind of what they take home. So, less can be more. I
think uh this committee in years past has talked about signs that you can change out to kind of mix it up. you know, you just have something that you hang that's a little bit more seasonal and pertinent to what's happening. You know, you only really need to do the stingray shuffle during the summer. You know, it's when there's more of an
issue. Maybe dogs are more um pertinent during shorebird season around the CWA, especially um you know, it's not that any one of those things is not important, but some things may be more pertinent at different times of the year. And then that way you have kind of the most
important messages that you're putting front and center and maybe you know five words or less to kind of right drive that message home. Whereas we have you know the billboard with um the encyclopedia right here. Yeah. And and I always look at
prohibitive activities and that's that just has such a negative connotation. I thought the same thing. It's like welcome to government here. You can you can come here, but here's what you can't do. What's the sandwich method? Good, negative, good. It's kind of like the guy, you know, you
get a five minute shower and this is not a spa. Yeah. Just to put it on record, I just wanted to um I had a conversation with Eve Hersfield and uh she would like uh FWC
put on these signs in case of a injured uh animal. Not just crow. Not just No, turtle time is on here. No, I know. But right now it has crows on. She would like turtle or FWC before turtle time in the report dead or
injured sea turtles because she gets calls from all over otherwise. So yeah, she it's really should be FWC um you know and then and then turtle time fang. Yeah, FWC reaches out to us if
if needed. So yeah, call FWC instead. Yeah, that I think that and then see is there a statewide ban on cigarettes in Florida smoking on the beach?
I know that was not that I'm aware of. I think Lee County just instituted something and I believe would down the road probably be looking at that as well. Yeah, it was being talked about at one point. So I was just wondering whether or not that was having that in here specifically. those cigarette butts may
be not necessary, but if it's not a law now, and is this just for the public parks or is this all of Fort Myers Beach? So, the signs are different. Uh the signs were different at the u the public
beach accesses, but this was specifically for Newton Park sign. It was there was a lot of really cool educational signs at our parks. Um Newton Park had quite a few. I've got them and I can I'll send them to Chad so he can send them to you all. Um very
similar to on page two with the the you can help our sea turtles and shore bird sign. It was just educational and and uh fun facts that you would find at Newton Park. Okay. And I think Lyn Hall
Park has some too, but that was through the county. But no alcohol is is specifically for Newton Park. I believe it's all all parts. Yeah, I think that's the whole the whole beach. Whole beach? The whole beach? I don't think it's in forest.
The whole public beach. Yeah, it's not really in forest. I hope not. At least in my backyard, not my backyard. Okay. So, I think
so. who is going to get with uh Jeff Hogy and look over what signs. Again, I would encourage the committee to work through the proper channel, advise town council, and let it let it
go that way. Uh get direction from the council. I think that that's a better way to proceed. Okay. We're all we're all busy and um Sorry, I thought you said to someone should get with Jeff on that. Well, I I I understand what Councilman King said,
and I'm not trying to uh be disrespectful to that, but I do think that that's just being a staff member. Um it it seems to flow better that way when it comes from our boss. I'll I'll bring it up at council at their next meeting on my report. Uh,
do we move a motion to uh go to town council with um maybe some changes to signs or to at least uh get some sort of eyes on the signs before? Yeah. F firstly, I I I I motion to go to
council and find out where we are currently with whether they're in storage, whether they are being redesigned. I was going to suggest I can I can get with Jeff and next next meeting we can have a presentation of all the signs. Yeah. Uh and then go to council after we have
a we're up to date on I think that would help. That'd be good. Excellent. So you're moving a motion? Yeah. I motion that um we hold tight until we get the report from Chad as to where we are exactly and then you don't need a motion. Yes. Okay. Well, I say we do that then.
Okay. I I concur with that. I think we should follow protocol and let let the staff do what the staff does and then we can advise council after we've taken a look at where we are in the process. In in the meantime, maybe we can each
take what Jen has prepared and like have our ideas for what we think could be added, taken away, made more happy, friendly, welcoming, um, and educational. Okay. Yep. That's great. All right. Thank you everybody.
Thank you Jen for bringing this in. Yes, that was very helpful. Very, very welcome. Next item is uh Arbor Day, January 16th. And I asked to put this on the agenda. I can think of nothing that we as an
advisory committee can do more to help bring stability for the island and greenery back in the island than the turnaround and promote Arbor Day. And every citizen, every homeowner here
should should be encouraged to go out and plant a tree. That's what Arbor Day is for. And if we did that every arbor day for the next decade, we can replace every tree that got destroyed by Ian and
bring back a lot of foliage there. So, um I would like to advise the town council um to do what we can to
encourage support and acknowledge Arbor Day and even if it means u having some of the counselors out watching a tree get planted and and make a big deal out of it. Let's let's bring
our home back. Let's plant some trees, get some green back on the island, and get some stability on the sand. Um, we don't have to dictate a tree. We can just say you can plant a palm, you can plant an oak, you can plant whatever you
want, but everybody should plant a tree. And that's not asking too much for any homeowner. As long as it's a native tree. Uhhuh. A native tree. Yeah. Noninvasive native. Non-invasive. Yeah. We'd really like
like not to have an invasive pine. Okay. So, if the committee is in support of that, I would like to also take that in front of the council on my next report.
Well, what is it we're taking? We're going to advise the council that we'd like them to um recognize Arbor Day rather than just having it as a day on the calendar and
make it a Fort Myers Beach Arbor Day for for us to be I see what you're saying. You just want to bring a light to it like say, "Hey, we're encouraging people to do this." Could we um is there something in our budget where we could purchase some trees from the native
plant store or a a native place, little saplings or whatever size and have them available for people who are interested. So, and back in I think 2020, Murf actually did that. We the town bought some trees and you would call up or or
come to the town hall and show that you're a resident and that you would like a tree. And I believe we gave away Gumba Limbos. What was that name? Maybe Crave. See? No, it wasn't Crave. It was another tree. Anyhow, we had two to choose from.
And people loved it. and we met up at Bay Oaks and people would come and and uh the town gave away a free tree to anyone who wanted one and I think it's amazing and we need that more than ever and I think that's a great idea. However,
having watching the budget meetings, you know, in length, I don't think this is a good year for us to go to the town and say, "We'd like to see if you can spring some cash to buy free treats for Could we do a fundraising event for I
know everybody's strapped and I'm not I'm not I know it's touchy subject. Is there a fundraising event um for like a lot of people that you know vacation here or some some kind of fundraising where we can raise donations and then with whatever we raise that's how many
trees we buy and then we make that available to whoever is interested. I can I can reach out to uh both of the uh publications that are on the beach and see if uh what
kind of traction we can get on that. and I'd be more than happy to contact Beach Observer and Beach Talk Radio and and see if there's something we can do to help generate some funds, get some get some trees and
try and put them in. Councelor, do you see any issues with that from the town council? I would uh suggest getting with uh the town attorney because uh there are I know when the Anchorage Fiser Committee was doing a fundraiser, they had to get
certain things cleared through the town attorney. Okay. Uh and I believe the funds actually go to the town and then can be dispersed back to the committee. Okay. And and I'm sure with something like that, I'm not sure, but I would hope that something like this um wherever we
get the plants too, they would give us a nice deal because most of the people and the foundations that run those places are very pro, you know, doing these kind of things. Get cash first and then you negotiate. Yeah, that's that's great. Okay. Now, just to again piggyback on
that, I just wanted to ask Chad there or to bring it up to the committee, too, is that we have a lot of dead trees uh on the north end that's on the sidewalks and that area. We don't own the sidewalks on most of the island, but we do on the north end. And we have a lot
of dead um palm trees. I think roughly about 17 dead ones that should be taken down. and I would like to see it replaced. Um, but maybe that question is for you. Are you familiar with Yep. We're working with public works.
That's on the list to do to uh get the um dead and damaged uh trees out of there and get them replaced with some trees we got a grant for from FDAS. Did did you guys um did the town actually replace uh in front of Dolphin Inn, I
believe it is, or Dolphin Resort those queen palms? There's like 10 of them. Uh I think that those are royal palms. Royal Palms. Um and I believe that that was done by the I'm assuming by the cond, but I'm not aware of the uh inner workings of
those installations. So, the private property owners uh can act can plant what they want in those areas even though it's town property. I mean, do they have to get a permit or do they have to go through the town or do they just have access to plant whatever they want?
I can check to see what the policy of the town is for you. Okay, cool. You're giving yourself a long list there, Chad. Okay. Um, that pretty much takes us uh to the end
of the items. So, now we'll start with member items. I'll start down with Mr. Alto. I'm good right now. So, a few months ago, we had the discussion about the Australian pines. I
I'm sorry to keep beating the drum on this, but I've got three of them in my backyard. They're over 20 ft tall. Um, and I see them from my yard going down towards the north. Um, the last time we discussed it, um, we thought it would be
best to schedule something after turtle season, after November the 1st. Um, so I would like to um get that in the works of some of some sort so that we can start uh figuring
out what to do and how to do it and get it done uh before uh February. You mean removed? You want the Australian pines on your property removed? I want them removed. They're all down the beach. Oh, they're they're extremely not just your property, the whole
um that we need to we need to we're going to need to approach it from a couple of different uh perspectives. Um there's going to have to be some type of a survey um where they where they are. We have lots of private property uh lots on both
sides of a sterile boulevard that have been um cleared out. There were no longer any dwellings there or any any any any any uh structures and for some reason since in they seem to have just taken over. I mean they're coming up
everywhere and I see them I see them 10 15 20 foot tall all over the island. Those private property owners somehow the the town is going to have to contact them and ask for permission for them to be removed. Um the beach area I think is
is under the town's jurisdiction. Um the critical wildlife area, it's my understanding FWC only has jurisdiction over the critical wildlife area during the beginning of bird season through the end of turtle season. And outside of that,
the town still has jurisdiction over the over the critical wildlife area. So, if we could get something organized, um, you know, I I think that in a couple of weekends, maybe it could be done. Um, they've got these little battery powered
chainsaws that have a little blade on them about this long. Um, I've talked to a couple of uh of arborists. Um, the the trunks, you can't just cut them off. You have to kill the you have to kill the stump. And so what I've been
told is you drill a hole down through the middle of the stump after you cut the tree off and you put uh something in that in that hole. So you've got to have you somehow and it has to be done.
The town can do it, but it has to be done by someone that's licensed to use the chemical. an individual that's not licensed can't use um um um yeah the chemical that would kill the that would kill the tree. So So we would have to
get a a chemical company that deals in in in herbicides and and such to to um u uh possibly get involved also to go around and um um and and and put the put
the the the the poison in the stump. Um, as far as as far as uh uh identifying the trees, I mean, it's they're very very easily recognizable. Um, they could all be marked with a with a with a
ribbon of an orange or a pink ribbon and uh to be cut and as the property owners are contacted and and and the town gets permission to to to take them out. Um, I can't imagine there'll be a few people that object to it. They're like, "Oh,
well, they're pretty. I want to keep them." whatever. Well, if they're on private property, I don't Chad, correct me if I'm wrong. If they're on private property, I don't think you can force them into allowing you to cut them down. But if it's a uh multif family or commercial
per chapter 10 of the LDC, uh we do have some teeth there. Um and we've been putting that into our permits. And in general, they, you know, whenever they do the development, uh that happens regardless. and we have the conditions in there to maintain it in
perpetuity as it states in the in the code. Uh not so much with private property. I can I can get with the town attorney to see her interpretation and the planners to see their interpretation. The LDC uh to see if the that particular snippet of code would
apply to uh single family residences. But um I you know in the past we've we've done it and it's it's it's on the list to get it done in the CWA as we've done it in the past and um I I'm aware of some of the properties that you're
mentioning the private properties especially along the beachfront that have been inundated with um Australian Pines and uh it's also on my list to get in touch with them and either with uh um I think uh uh Keep Lee County Beautiful
or Sysma or some of those organizations that uh may have some volunteer forces to help us out. Um as well as friends of Littleero if y'all um uh had some um elbow grease to share and uh well that's that's one of the reasons
why I was mentioning it too because because during the winter uh a lot of my neighbors are there all through the winter and so we we have a lot more manpower in the winter as far as volunteers. And I want to make one thing clear too. Um, I'm not advocating that
we be like the Gustapo. Um, everyone here knows my history and and how protective I am of everyone's personal property rights. And so, um, but that being said, if if there was someone that
objected to to to having them removed from their property, um, um, I would encourage them to to take care of it, to manicure it, to to to, uh, uh, uh, the seeds are quite noticeable when this thing starts seeding. Um, um, you know,
to to some way to to to keep the seeds from going on getting all going all over everywhere, whatever. They can be I believe they can be managed, but right now they're they're just everywhere.
They're they're covering up everything. Yep. I'm in agreement. Work with, not against. And uh I hear you loud and clear. That's all. That's the only thing I've got. Okay. Thank you, Ed. Nothing.
Um, not much for me other than I just wanted to draw attention the um the planting that has been done on the BMS now dunes is looking really good. Um, I still see um vehicle tracks over them here and there. Um, some people still walking over. I'm not really understanding that, you know, that's not
going to help them. But otherwise, I think it looks great and I'm really excited to see that coming along. Yep. Earth Balance. I'm I'm very satisfied with the quality of plants um that they provided and they've really uh benefited from the recent rains that
we've had and they're coming along. Um uh you know, thus far the community uh vast majority has been very supportive. We've had um a couple of uh push backs and and reconfigurations and we're we're
working through that and but overall the project has been a success. Um, something that I was researching, I know there are property owners on the island, um, and a lot of them said no to the burm and no to the no to the dunes and the planting. Um, and I I I encourage
those property owners, they a lot of the reason they say no to the dunes is because of the view. Um, they're afraid it'll obstruct the view of their property. Um, and I just a couple things I wanted to educate about that. the dunes that you get up in New New England
or in the Carolinas that are, you know, 10, 15, 20 feet tall, that can't happen on our island. The topography just is not the same. Our dunes at most will get what, three, four feet maybe at the
highest. Uh, no, they can get taller, but but they're not going to get 20, you know, they're not going to get 10, 15 feet like those. Um um anyway, I was I was looking at the topography and they're not going to be
it's not it's not going to be the same look as a North Carolina dune. Sure. And and my my point is is just as as these new dunes and and the BMS are coming in, take a look at them and and just rethink it a little bit because it is it really is for the benefit of
your property and the island that we have a strong beachfront. That's my point. I have a question too. remember when uh Professor Daly came and spoke with us in the beginning of the year. Do any of you all remember that? Yes.
They had said that they were going to um give the town that's on my report. That's on my thing that I'm going to ask Chad when I get to my turn. Oh, well that's all that's all I have to say. So, go ahead. Take it away.
No, since you have it, Chad. No. Do have we had any contact from the professor and getting the results of the uh I haven't but I I think I have uh a meeting or a workshop with over at FGCU
regarding climate change or resilience or both um with Dr. Saves soon. It's on my calendar. I don't recall the exact date. Back to Rob's point, um, what I found
most compelling to property owners to getting them to buy into that new management plan is um them not feeling forced. It's the regulatory liability. It's much like mangroves. They have it on their property and then they can't control it
and it's mitigation dollars and lack of control. Once they read the dune management plan, they understand that, you know, that dune can grow, it can expand, etc., and they can bring it back to that line that
we're going to create in the asbuilts via GIS technology. They realize that they have control, and it's not somebody telling them what they have to do. They have control over it. And it's just a human psychological condition that whenever somebody's telling us what to do, we don't want to
do it. Right? whenever we have control, who cares? So, um, that's been probably the biggest selling point. Um, so I continue to encourage property owners, we're going to continue to manage the beach and place sand on the beach. We have it in our permit to do hotspot maintenance and
add sand to the beach. So, if you're concerned that your property has lack of elevation, lack of um uh you know, just protection from the Gulf and surge waters, which those dune
vegetation um can and will help in the future, please just reach out. Um to Rob's point, um more vegetation is better. Uh those dune plants will collect sand and that's just like interest in the bank.
uh for whenever it does come uh come time to pay the piper of uh mother nature. So, um, more plannings is better and just if you do want to get onto the program and be able to enjoy the benefits of the dune management plan,
which include maintaining your vegetation in place if you so choose, maintaining maintaining the dune height, uh, rope and ballard without needing uh, a permit because it's already permitted in our JCP from the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection. uh just send me an email or reach out, give me a call and we're happy to work through the concerns. Well, since we're on it, can I ask you a question or is it is it my turn? Okay. In regards uh I gave you a packet in
regards to the dune plants that were put in. If we could if you could turn to page three. This is a picture taken about each point and uh the
They've got it all marked off to give those little plants a chance to grow. If you turn the page, this is at Newton. And you can see we don't have anything to protect those those gene plants that
were just planted. In fact, in this picture, you can see tire tracks that people went right over those plants. Turtle Time was gracious enough to donate those yellow stakes to Bowic and to Pink Shell. And I don't want to speak for them, but there's there's a lot of
those stakes. And I don't know if um if we could just maybe even, you know, talk to council and see if it would be okay or the T or town staff to see if we could just do, you know, at the entrances just to Yep. So, that's already in the works. We've already gotten stakes and public
works has already been out there and they are marking off the vegetation. That's what I was going to say. ST I also do we still have a projector? Does the town have a projector so the public can see what we're talking about? You know the pictures and any
information that we have. We used to have a projector that we could actually I'm not sure. We do have TVs. Um, I think if we can get maybe some electronic files in time, it it could be possible for our it to place it up on the TVs and and click the toggle button
for the display. Yeah, if we can we can if anyone on the committee is planning on bringing in something that we're discussing, they should submit it to Chad ahead of time.
Yeah, definitely. um don't take my uh precedence and uh timeliness in uh submitts. Get it in maybe a week ahead of time and that way we can that way the staff can prepare it so that it's on an overhead and I don't have to print it all.
So you don't have to print it all and that way it's Yeah, PowerPoints work well, PDFs work well. Um, we may be able to make JPEGs work, but uh I know PDFs, no no JPEGs, PDFs and
PowerPoints are are best. So, submit that and um and I can work with uh Josh and our fabulous IT team to have it available to the public. Okay. Is it still my turn or you go?
Your I have a lot. So, let me just Before I get into my list, I have three cards here. We uh did receive um two checks from the Alex King group
and it was just perfect amount for it was a check for 2,000 and a check for 300. So we have now um I believe about 8,900. I wrote it down somewhere, but we have
just enough to print 20,000 books and pay Macy Null, the graphic artist. You can buy a lot of trees with that, too. So, this is just an idea. I mean, if I had it my way, I would print a million
books, children's books, but it is not my book. It's the Murf book. And uh so if for $15,000 we would uh have an additional I think $1,700.
I don't know how many trees we can buy or say you buy a couple trees, but you know we have to be able to offer Well, I guess we can do a limited amount. That is something that you guys I can't make that decision because I of course want all the money to go towards children's books. But we can print
15,000 books and then use uh the remainder for plants or whatever we can get for the remainder for Arbor Fest or Arbor Day. But that's Were there any conditions on the money coming in?
No, I mean Well, yeah. I mean, they I think they all were hoping that the money would go to the children's books. I mean, that's what uh why they gave it to us, but I also they it's to MURF. So, that is it's our discretion how we how
we spend the money. Okay. And 15,000 is still a lot. And I've been told by other people on the island that moving forward they're going to continue to give us contributions, which is really amazing because we're not a 503c1.
It's not a tax writeoff. We are uh the town. So by giving this money, they're not gaining anything except uh maybe their name on the back of the book with a QR code. So if we do What did you say? 15,000.
Uh 15,000, I believe. Okay. I've got it. Hold on. It's amazing. Just love that book. Very worth it. Okay, so for 15,000 just pulling up the quote.
You can just round it up. I think it's like 6,800. Okay. For 15,000 and then um and then for 20,000 it's about 78 7,900.
And what what do we have? So it's about n,900 would be the difference. 1900 to 20,000 would be the difference, okay, that we would have left over if we went with the 15,000. Then I would I would
I would make a motion that we print 15,000, use the balance of the funds uh to be determined at the next meeting in case we want to either go with turtle cards if we need it or if we want to put
some towards Arbor Day. Okay, I'd second that. Yeah. Okay. Any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor of having another
15,000 and using the money at a later date say I. I. I. Opposed. Opposed. Okay. All right. Didn't mean to rain on your parade. Well, I'm the one that brought it up and
I I actually thought about that, too. I'm just, you know, what what do you think it should be? Oh, I just, like I said, I just want all the books. Yeah. As many little hands that could have a book, the better. But I I do understand it's a
committee. It's not, you know, we have to, you know, come together. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for going against my wishes. Just kidding. Okay, but I'm not done. So, I do have three cards. Uh, also with the books that we're getting, I have
been really nervous. I think I mentioned that last um meeting about ordering them because I store them in my garage and you know with the three floods in a couple years. I've been really nervous about that. Well, um the library kindly
uh offered uh to store them all. Excellent. Yes, but I will need some help getting them up and we've got So any volunteers once we get the books to help me, you know, get them up in the elevator and and in the storage room
would be greatly appreciated. I have three cards I would like uh everyone to sign. A thank you to the library. Thank you to Alex King for donating $2,300 towards the books and or plants or whatever we decide. and uh one for the
chamber who also donated over $2,000 towards the books as well. Okay. Okay. So, if I could pass these around, just say thank you. Nobody gets to leave unless you start them down there. If you need a pen, I have one.
I'm still not done. I still have lots on my list. Not to go back or go against the voter or anything. Do you think who gave us that money would be upset if we didn't use them on the books? I don't think so. I mean because it's all you know really okay I mean most of it 200
is very little compared to so I I think they would be happy with with whatever because if we do arbor day we'll we'll definitely give them a thank you for for their contribution towards giving out a plant or educational material.
Okay sorry moving along don't do that. Okay. So, then there's another picture and this is and I've already brought it up to I'm on the Anchorage Committee. I already brought this up and this was uh this picture I walk by there every
morning and this picture this what I saw was very disturbing to me and it was a holiday. Uh so keep that in mind. These what you're looking at is uh the garbage cans for the Moringfield people and it's underneath the bridge.
As you can see, these garbage cans are filling up and overflowing right on the waterway. All it would take is a bird to get into that, break a bag open, and that garbage is in our waterway and causes
major damage to our our ecosystem and our waterways. Do you think having a dumpster would be a better opport opportunity? No, I brought that up to the committee and uh I I I don't know if there was any if the town has uh thought of something
else, but it is a Lee County ordinance and our own town ordinance that all receptacles and garbage cans and and uh uh recycle bins need to be contained, shielded. You should not be able to see
this. I mean, our our visitors and our people walking by should not see this. This is this is Anchorage. This is part of the Anchorage. Yes, sir. Okay. So, I I brought it up to him, but I'm bringing it up to you because it is an environmental issue and I'm I'm just
honestly just putting it out there and I want to put a little pressure on people to get this taken care of so it can't be seen. This garbage should not be seen. It shouldn't be overflowing. It should have been
not an issue. So, I'm just letting you all know. Thank you. Yep. Okay. Um 35th annual American Sand Sculpting Championship and Beach Festival. Murf was invited to participate. We are going to be participating. We're going to have a
popup there on just Saturday. It'll be from 10:00 to 5:00. I've broken it off into two uh sections. So, like a 9 to1 one and then a 12 to five and I need hands and and people to help me that would be you know educating talking
about anything we talk about we just have to be remind ourselves that we are uh have to follow the sunshine law so it's important that if we are talking to people that we're not doing it in front of each other but if you know someone else that might want to help me that
would be great too well let's think about the sunshine law Jennifer what you cannot not discuss is things that would come before the committee. Correct. You can have people there to discuss whatever uh as long as it doesn't come before the committee. Correct. As a vote.
Exactly. And then uh I wanted to So that's a 22nd of November. Not so just to let you know 22nd of November. Uh then we also have the Four Meer Speech Women's Club 8th annual Christmas
tree festival and auction on December 12th and 13th. And I'll have a tree there, not for Murf, but for turtle time. Oh, I also wanted to just uh to inform everyone uh Matanzas Pass uh park, the
trail is uh being uh redone. Super exciting. I love that little trail. And I noticed the other day when I drove by that they have it they have a fence. It's all fenced off so you can't get to the historical house and or Matanza's
past preserve right now until they fix it. I do want to ask about the Veterans Park lights. Do either you um Chad or Councilman King know who put those lights up? Frankie's in the audience.
Maybe he knows. Do you know who put those uh solar lights up at Veterans Park? founded for public safety. Good morning. Frankie Kapachic, director of community development. Um the town did put some solar lights up for public
safety. um they're going to stay up until we can find suitable lighting to replace that with the influx of people downtown area uh this time of year and going forward until we have concrete lighting put in which the project should be kicking off here uh to close after
the holidays. Um that's the best solution that we can come up with. So you'll be replacing it with the same lights that were there before which is November. We're going to be replacing it with suitable lighting that meets the the town's lighting code that was never there before.
No, we have amber lights that were there. They were, but they were the wrong wavelength. They were not. So, it'll be the proper am all amber solution wavelength. Yes. Lighting. The same fixtures that we're going to use on Old St. Carlos from Bayside Veterans all the way through Time Square
are the same fixtures that uh Aspire and FPL are providing the town right now. Thank you. Yeah. Any ideas, uh, Councilman King or Chad, about the garbage cans underneath the bridge? I thought you brought that up last month and Curtis addressed it
when he was here sitting in for Chad. He didn't, you know, he didn't address it. I mean, it was it I'm talking about a better solution on on how to store our waste. So, this this happens not only in Fort Myers Beach, but anywhere where you have
holiday traffic that you don't necessarily expect. I have full confidence in Kurt's team that they'll look into it and add additional capacity in the future and address these problems. Okay.
I'm not I'm not this is in no way a you know a a dig at staff. I'm just wanting to know why it is all restaurants have to conceal. We need to lead by example and I just feel as though having garbage
on near the bay is is a bad thought. We hear you and we agree and we will address the problem. Thank you. And I think I think that's it for me. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Um I just have a few quick things. Number one, um the town council at their last meeting gave us approval to use the Fort Myers Beach logo on our
newly created MURF award and we thank the council for that. Um, it's it's a it's a wonderful uh thing and uh we had I believe four that the friends
of Little Eststero Boulevard had purchased uh that we could uh pay it forward. And uh I would like to publicly go on record and say I would
like to give a a $500 donation to Friends of Little Eststerero Boulevard for the express purpose of buying additional MURF trophies so that we can award some to pass for recipients
and uh have enough going forward for at least however long $500 lasts. So, we we appreciate it. All right. And that's the only item I have. So, um, did everyone sign the card? It's the It's the Friends of Little
Eststerero Island. All three. Friends of Little Eststerero Island. Yes. Sorry. It doesn't matter. Library, Chamber, Water, and And that's and that's all I have. Oh, house. So, with that, that's the end of our
members items. Staff update. Aren't they cute? Chad, you're up. All righty. So, uh we are complete with our beach reourishment. There are some hot spots and lowlying areas that are within the template
uh that the contractor uh didn't do as well as we'd liked, but given the timeline and the overages, um they had outstayed their welcome and we were ready to button it up and get moving on. So, we will be addressing
that in a uh trucking project that uh going to work with our finance director and see how much budget we have and uh with our our grants that we have available and see what we can get done. Um
we have planted some 160,000 uh dune vegetation plants uh across Asterero Island uh wherever we could. We're uh very happy with uh the properties that have taken advantage of additional plantings. Um, we've had
several including uh Island's End, uh, Bermuda Dunes, uh, Leonardo Arms, uh, the, uh, um,
uh, Newton Park also took additional plantings and, uh, Diamond Head as well. So, very proud of those properties. Um it's it's great for resilience, especially in those areas that are more erosional. Um that again is is just putting sand in
the bank for when we need it. Uh when when rough weather arrives. So um again, I encourage any residents if you notice that you didn't get dune vegetation, you want it, please reach out. um happy to help and get some dune
plants in there so that we can uh uh get a more resilient beach, stabilize the uh investment in sand that the town has made um and help protect the upland property and infrastructure. Um
we will be uh coming back with additional phases of uh dune vegetation for properties that want to take advantage of that. So, please again reach out to me if you are interested in that. I am uh drinking water through a fire hose right now with the workload.
But if I don't get back to you right away, um uh just, you know, don't feel bad for calling me, emailing me, and then um uh doing it again. It's it's no worry. But there definitely encourage people to
take advantage of the vegetation and a big thank you to the state of Florida uh for all the grant funding that's making this possible. Um, uh, other than that, just, you know, reviewing developments and permits for,
uh, lighting and landscaping and getting us, uh, built back, uh, better and, uh, better for the environment. So, that's all I have.
Okay. Thank you. Where'd you get your shirt? uh Island Trends, which is located on Marco Island, which happens to also be my dad. Thank you for asking. All right. Thank you, Chad.
Chad, I have a Go ahead. Chad, a question. On the south end, it seems like there's a bunch of tracks from trucks and maybe gators or golf carts. Where at? Sorry. On the south end of the island. It may have been me. All right. Did you come up the dune,
too? There seems to be uh um I've been using the accesses. I don't drive over the plants. So, if it's over the plants, that's not me, but I have been patrolling those plantings um to see how they're taking and uh noting any issues. Unfortunately, in front of one
house, I think somebody pulled out half dozen or so of the uh gallon uh uh seats, which was unfortunate to see. You know, it looked like it was just I don't know. It could have just been a kid that started yanking them out until mom said stop. Who knows?
But um uh overall uh everything's looking really good. But yeah, just patrolling that and seeing how things are looking and um seeing where there's uh gaps and making sure that uh everybody's happy.
One set of tracks is right on the dune though. So that's why I wouldn't think that would be you. Where where at? Uh in front of our condo. Yeah. So where so the berm that you don't want planted correct? That's correct. Yeah. So that was Yeah, that was me. Okay. The one covered with weeds. Is
that what that is? Um so there are the majority of that um vegetation is the crow's foot which is a invasive um uh grass. Yeah. Okay. All right.
But it does help stabilize and it's pretty hardy. Okay. Okay. And we're still working on uh actually had a call with FWC this morning uh with regards to the uh vegetation alignment along the CWA. Okay.
Whenever you get a chance, will you get the answer? Let me know. Yes, sir. You'll be the first to know. Okay. All right. Any any other questions for Chad? Just another update. Yeah. Uh, I know there's been some questions about um
sand spurs um as you know, as well as the stakes. Um, we already uh addressed the stakes. So, town staff is banging in yellow stakes and some other wooden stakes um to delineate the
uh the dune plantings and asking people to stay off. Uh I'm in two minds about whether or not you put uh some sort of string across it. Um because whenever something happens and all of a sudden you're knocking over um a lot of the stakes instead of you
know most people understand what you know if somebody's going to walk across it they're going to walk across it no matter what even if the stakes are there. Um but I think the yellow stakes do help delineate both where the vegetation is and where the accesses are. Um so we are working on that. We've
focused on the um downtown area where we have the most foot traffic first and um going to start uh banging in stakes down the accesses and uh any other problem areas that we see. I'm not sure if um it's necessary to
put, you know, seven miles of stakes out there. Uh, I think down south it's um, you know, it's that's mostly residents and you know, as visitors come back and um, we'll we'll address problems as we see if we see a lot of foot traffic
across the the dunes, we'll we'll we will certainly address it. But, uh, getting back to the sand spurs. So, uh, public works staff, there's been some infestations of sand spurs, especially in the 7,000 and 8,000 blocks. So, uh there's that little U-shaped hoe, which
you can be pretty um surgical with, uh drooing those sand spurs and putting them in the uh supplied some some husky, uh trash cans and and getting those sand spurs and removing those out of there. That is a one-time deal. Um we're not,
you know, we're not saying that public works and town staff are going to maintain that in perpetuity as the doom management plan um stipulates. it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain their property in accordance with the dune management plan. But um I
thought it was important to uh make it clear uh not only where not to walk but also to make it clear where you can walk and clear out the the accesses that were made. um as well as remove those sand spurs so that people can enjoy that, you know, the runway that's behind the
lagoon um and traverse the beach and enjoy that that lateral access. I've definitely noticed um more sand spurs even just you know walking on my driveway and I don't have any but I think the wind carries them and sure
growing you know and on not just the beach side but on you know on the streets where the where the lots aren't being kept up they're growing like weeds. Yeah. There's a little U-shaped toe um that is uh very efficient in pulling out
grasses and and that and the best way to get rid of sand spurs is remove the sand the the the seed bankank. So um it may take a few iterations of getting rid of them and once you get an eye for what they look like even without the spurs
being uh present um you know within a a month or two especially in the dry season you can get rid of them. Okay, that's good to know. You know, I just thought of something. Might want to turn on that microphone. I don't know if you're being heard. Yeah,
it's on. Yep. Yep. I'm just not hearing you like I'm hearing me. Okay. So, I had a I had a um I volunteered with the community foundation. Thank you, by the way, for hosting the coastal community uh um
clean the beach day. And uh we had a lot of people show up, which was awesome. It was at the school and they went on the beach and they said, well, there wasn't much garbage to pick up off the beach. The town does a great job at going and
picking up all the garbage every morning. So, I just wanted to put that out there that it's awesome, but a lot of people said it your beaches seem pretty clean. It's your side streets and the construction lots that are filthy. cigarette butts,
food containers, plastic water bottles. I mean, the the garbage was galore and um and that was the feedback we were getting. And I thought to myself, you know how if it's a construction site, maybe if it's a large construction site,
they have to have the the outouses or what do you call them? The you know, the poop cans. Yeah. Portaotties. Do they have to um also supply a garbage can? I know that they have like debris uh uh canisters to put debris in, but
you can't just put just anything in those uh dumpsters. It just is uh construction debris. Do they when they get a permit, do they also have to provide uh their workers with a garbage can? Yeah. So, this is an issue that uh in my
years of working with municipalities has it's been an issue. construction sites, the subs that come in and out and are not as uh cognizant of litter as you would hope and just throwing stuff everywhere. Um
it's an issue. And then even when they throw it in the dumpster where it's open air, you know, crows and birds getting in there and going after food and whatnot, um is an issue. And you'd always wish that they'd have a separate can where they it
would be a closed wildlife proof lid. Um that's not something that we require to my knowledge. Um, but I will definitely acknowledge that that is an issue and you know, we can certainly work with the building official and their team to
maybe get a public service announcement out to the contractors and be more cognizant of a uh a uh construction site maintenance expectations of the town. And we can also make our uh code people
cognizant of that so they can at least educate whenever they see it and having other conversations with the contractors and their subs. That would be awesome because I started paying attention a little bit more after I received all that feedback from people and I rode my bike up and down and and
you can't walk on people's property without, you know, uh approval to go pick up garbage. So, you're looking onto someone's property and you see a ton of litter, but you can't go on there to pick it up and yet that's going to get blown away or washed away in a storm.
Uh, so it's it's disheartening because we're trying to build back. We're trying to beautify our island again. And so, I really appreciate that, Chad. If you could do what you just said, that would be amazing. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Um, moving on. The next item is public comment. Do we have anyone in the audience for public comment? Seeing none, I'll close public comment.
Mr. Chair, uh, we did skip the Florida Sunshine Law Training set for October 22nd from 10 to noon. Yes. And Chad, were you going to talk about that or we will have a Florida Sunshine Law
training on October 22nd. 22nd. We'll tend to noon. We'll send we'll send y'all an invite and that's here. Uh theoretically. Yes, sir. Okay. So, that that should be everyone on the committee should come in.
Okay. And attend the meeting. Thank you. All right. We come in closed. Murf award. Oh, I would like to um
see if um I'd like to nominate um and I apologize. I left my phone in the truck. Um the two and I don't know how to do this. Chad probably would know. The two girls, the two FWC girls, Brianna and her helper. Um, I don't remember
Brianna's last name and I don't remember her helper's name. Um, I had him on my phone. Um, but as I said, I left the phone in the truck. I don't know, um, if we could, um, I'd like to nominate them for the award. I don't know if we can
give one award to two people. They're a team. I guess they work together. They've done it in the past. Yeah, they've been working u behind our houses on the south end. Uh they were out there relentlessly all June and July
and probably in August. Um I left was gone most of August. Um in the heat. Uh they were their uniforms. I went out there a couple of times while they were out there. Uh they were hauling traps. that were going all the way down to
Carlos Pass, hauling traps all behind the condos up to where the critical wildlife area starts. Uh the poor girls, I mean, they're hauling those traps and making two and three
trips and ringing wet with sweat and they're setting the traps out trying to catch the iguanas. I guess the iguanas eat the bird eggs or something. Is that what the is that what why they're trying to Okay. Anyway, I don't know how successful they are they were with that with that endeavor, but anyway, um um
and then they were they were relocating traps every few days. Um I I gave them permission. I told them that that they could use the walkover. I told them to park it that there's a vacant lot across the street uh that I know the gentleman that owns that property and and he
certainly wouldn't mind. I told them to park over there and come across the street and use the walkover because the walk over goes right out to the very end of the critical wildlife area and they didn't have to go all the way to Big Carlos Pass. But anyway, long story short, I don't know if if if we would
give each one of them an award or if we would if I would nominate the two of them together for one award. I'd like a little bit of input on that. But anyway, nonetheless, I would like to nominate nominate them whether it's an individual award or
joint award for pictures. Did you get pictures? A picture of of them of Bri and and her assistant. I didn't get a picture of them and and Chad knows their names. What are their names, Chad? Uh, Brianna Frankle. And I have not met
the um assistant. I I I believe I have it in my email, though. Okay. I could uh maybe anyway we we can get the correct name and and and and sort that out. But anyone that's who I'd like to nominate.
I I know that when I received the Murf Award, it was with another person, two of us at the same time. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I have a nomination. Okay. Okay. It's uh they're the college hunks.
Is anyone familiar with College Hunks? They actually have a Halloween. Well, yes, I am. Thanks for asking. Just wait. I saw that look on your face. I do have pictures, by the way. Uh they came and they have helped out many areas
of Lee County. They uh partner up with uh Keep Lee County Beautiful and they at any beach clean up, at any you know clean up in Lee County and even uh in other areas, they go and take their time and go and pick up all the garbage and
dispose of it. And here's a picture and you can go ahead and hand it down. What were their names? And they're really sweet. Well, I can I can read you. I have their information. And I have all their names in the picture and they were lovely and they did such a
great job and they do it out of the kindness of their heart. They really do. Is it a nonprofit? College Hunks. No, it's a business. It's a business. Well, I mean you Yeah, but they volunteer their time to come and pick up garbage and super.
And they're Looks like a misnomer to me, but a what? Looks like a misnomer to me. Okay. Any other nominations? All right. I'll close that. And well, we have to decide.
Closing the nominations. Is there any discussion on either one of the nominations before we take the vote? Um, I I have a question for Ed. I love I love Bri. I've worked with Bri many times. Is
um She always goes above and beyond. Is there anything specific that she was doing out on your in your area that like really drew attention to like why? Well, just that we're overrun with
iguanas down there. I shot five of them a couple weeks ago in one week. Um um and I had no idea that there were that many of them around. Um but just the sheer ju just the sheer amount of effort uh
just her work ethic and yeah and the and the heat you know and the humidity you know in in in in July and August and and they have a uniform they wear I mean they're fully they're they're um you know they're not dressed for the heat that yeah you know and um
um and the effort that they put into it and they and they're and they were not only hauling them and setting them. They're moving them every day and they're out there out there almost every day checking them. And um I just thought that you don't see
you typically don't see that kind of dedication from someone that has a that just has a job that gets paid to do and that was my question because like I I when you know if if people are just doing their job that's awesome if they're doing their job when they go above and beyond you know and the volunteer stuff that's what
I like to hear. Well, and and I'm just going to Gwen. It's uh Brianna Frankle and Rebecca Schneider. Oh, it's not their boss. Oh, it's um
Okay. Well, that's Who's What's the other lady's name? I can't I can't I can't think of it. It's It's her assistant. It's Brianna's assistant. Can I see that real quick? Kelly.
No, it's not in Kelly's in Kelly's in at the at the at the main office, Alexandra Mchugh or Emily Moss.
You can find out, I'm sure. Nicholas, all we have we can just ask Brianna. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, here's my thought on it. I I think these people have done a tremendous job over the last year in
number one passing information along to the residents. I know there were there was a tremendous amount of animosity um several years ago during shorebird season and today versus what it was
years ago um is night and day and they have gone above and beyond what I would consider any uh FWC person in warming up to the community on the south end and
talking to them and and getting everybody's support for the shorebird nesting. And we have a tremendous story on the south end of the island as far as the shorebirds and the nesting and the fact that we have four
endangered species and we're unique in the state of Florida in that regard. So it becomes, you know, I I was absolutely amazed at where we are today versus where we were three or four years ago where people were,
you know, just very upset at at having to lose their beach for 6 months and now now they're happy. So, it's it and it's all because of those two coming through and working with the people on the
beach. So, I hardily endorse your proposal on it. Can I put my nomination in the bank then? Yes, you can. Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion on this?
We'll have to get the exact names on it. Um but well and I apologize for that. Okay. And try to get a picture of them and get a picture. But with that of them, um if there's no further discussion, uh how
do we want to vote on it? Uh the FWC personnel, Mr. Alto, pardon me. Um how do you want to vote on FWC personnel? Absolutely. I'm for that. I obviously
and I'll be an I and you can bank yours for next next Yes, sir. Okay. And then I'm an I as well. And I'm an I as well. So it's unanimous. Thank you. Okay. All right. Set agenda for next meeting.
I would like to uh bring back my favorite topic and put the uh toxic disposal of substances back up so we can earmark the dates that are coming up in
2026 so that we can get a little more exposure from the town and the art committee and anybody else to take advantage of this because I think it's it's a critical environmental service
that we can do and it gets a lot of stuff off the beach, old paint, old varnish, everything. So, that's my I want to talk about that. Um, can we please leave the uh turtle cards on there? I'll bring a final one
in for approval for the town that you can take to them with their logo. Okay. Uh, signs. All right. Just update update on the signs. Anybody else?
Three items. That's pretty good. Yeah, we can add if we need to. Does anyone need these? They're the manatee help protect manatee stickers for your boats if anyone needs any. I'm also getting things from STC uh the
window clings u to give out. So if you need some, they're sending you a big roll. I don't um what's our date going to be for that's what we're looking at right now. That would be
Is it the second Wednesday or second Thursday? November 12th. No, not ne November. I was told by um Amy that November would be I think on a Thursday as well and then moving forward the second Wednesday of every month.
Okay. Okay. But don't you know I don't correct that I hope so. So November 13th. All right. November 13th. Yep. Okay. November 13th will be our next meeting date at 10:00.
And with that agenda set. I'll accept a motion to adjurnn. I motion to adjurnn. Second. And motion made and seconded. All those in favor say I. I. stickers or magnets and opposed. Nay, it is 11:46.
The meeting is over. And thank you all for coming and those of you on the audience tuning in. Have a nice day.