It is December. >> Okay, it's December 10th. This is the scheduled meeting of the town of Fort Myers Beach Marine and Environmental Resource Task Force Committee Advisory Committee. And I'm calling the meeting
to order. Could I ask everyone to please rise for the pledge of allegiance? 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. Everyone may be please be seated. >> We have some guests today and we'll get to that right after we call the roll. And with that, I will start. Bill Alto >> here.
>> Uh Todd Zacharelli. >> Zachelli. >> Zachelli >> here. >> I knew I'd screw that up. Sharon Haggstrom >> here. >> Robert How >> here. Ed Rude has an excused absence. Jennifer Rusk >> here >> and David Nusbomb is here. We have a
quorum. So this is an official meeting of the advisory committee. With that, next item on the agenda is approving the agenda and we have a couple of additions we'd like to make.
Uh yes, chairman, if we could add uh FWC staff uh Shortbird staff uh will be coming in via Zoom and uh member Rusk has asked if we could uh recognize the is it college hunks?
>> Yes, >> college hunks hauling John. >> Okay. Um, do we have the FWC people on Zoom right now? >> I believe so. Yes, she's called in uh via phone. So, >> excellent. So, are there any other
additions to the agenda? >> All right. All those in favor of approving the uh revised agenda say I. >> I oppose. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you everyone.
Okay. Um, next item on the agenda is approving the previous meeting minutes. There's uh two of them from October and from November. And I'll make a motion to approve the minutes as published >> uh for both meetings.
>> Okay. >> All right. There's been a motion made and seconded. Is there any discussion before we take a vote? >> Hearing none. Motion car. All those in favor say I. >> I. I oppose. Motion carries. Okay. Uh
before we get to public comment, do you want to go through and present the award? Z. >> Yes. I would like to uh last month we um all voted uh to uh for my nomination of
college hunks hauling junk and moving. And they were out uh helping keep Lee County beautiful a few months uh back. uh for the coastal community uh cleanup efforts and this is the day that I met them. They did an amazing job and that's
why I nominated them and why we all voted for them to win the Murphy Award. Uh College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving has been servicing Lee County and Charlotte County since n 2018. Beyond offering full service, moving and
removal, College Hunks volunteers their resources and team members to participate in almost every cleanup event put on by Keep Lee County Beautiful. The combined effort has resulted in over 25 tons of refuge to be
removed from our Florida coastline. So, I would like to, if you wouldn't mind, just stand up and come to the podium. Announce your name. >> I'm Andrew Perry. >> I'm Colobby Charlton.
>> Hi, Colobby. Hi, Andrew. So, I would like to formally from on behalf of uh the Marine Environmental Resource Task Force, I would like to congratulate uh the College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving Company. uh for winning uh the
MURF award. And I'll hand it over. Sure. Maybe we can get a picture. >> Oh, yeah. >> Take a picture. >> Let's see here. >> We get a picture. So, somebody's got to get the camera out.
>> Yes. >> Oh, Scott. Okay. He's good. >> Yes, flex. Yes, absolutely. Maybe all of us can flex. >> Not flexing. >> Muscle's blocking me. >> Yours and thank you so much for your
service to the community. Really >> Thank you. Although um I believe I had spoken to Casper. I um am in in need. I should probably get you can go back to this. So gentlemen, I would also like to thank
you. I know I spoke uh with uh your boss Casper this morning. Uh we are receiving our um Flippers and Feathers ch uh Best Friends Forever children's book, the town's children's book, and uh they have graciously offered to help uh uh get
them up into the library today at 1:00. So if anyone is listening out there and wants to come by and help us move 200 boxes up to the library, I would surely appreciate it. But thank you again so much for your service to our community.
Of course. Thank you guys for having us. >> No, you don't. >> No, you really don't. You're good. >> Unless you have public comment. >> You want you want to do FWC? >> Thanks, guys.
>> Keep it up. >> Uh yes. So, we have uh FWC shorebird staff uh Brianna Frankle and I believe uh the new uh regional biologist uh Brianna's boss I have not met yet and perhaps the
uh FWC biologist in charge of predation control as well. Uh Brianna, are you with us? >> Yes, I'm here. Sorry about that. >> No, you're right. Thanks for making yourself available. So, we're all we're all here.
>> Perfect. And just to clarify, I'm here. Our predation management biologist, Kaylee Pearson. Um, she is also here in attendance virtually. And our new boss, her name is Monica McKenzie. She has been introduced to some people so far in
Fort Myers Beach, but she has taken over the regional shore biologist position that Kylie used to hold. So, um, she will hop on as soon as her previous meeting finishes up. >> Okay. Thank you. U, we also wanted to
reach out to FWC and the staff u the, uh, individuals working the south end of the the island during the shorebird nesting season. uh in the opinion of Ed Rude and and a
couple of other committee members thought that their work during the season went above and beyond you know what was required. Uh it was hot, muggy. They were dragging traps out to remove
the invasious uh lizards from from attacking the eggs. Um, and he he ran out numerous times just to see if they needed water or anything. And he said, "I can't believe
these people are are going the extra mile that they're doing." And uh, we thought even though it's part of their job responsibility, that as a committee we would uh, recognize and honor the individuals in
charge. So, we nominated them to receive a MURF award and the committee voted on it and I have here your MURF award that we will send to the office to you and
you can uh share it with the individuals there. But we think uh shorebirds remain a vital part of our uh island both from a um
resource standpoint and also from a an aesthetic standpoint. We have thousands of people that come here yearly just to photograph and be part of it. And we are happy to have such dedicated people
working in FWC for the preservation of >> shorebirds. And with that, I will present the award uh virtually and we'll try and get it up to your office. >> Thank you very much. We we sincerely appreciate everything that you all have
done for us and with us and truly it's made a remarkable difference for both the people involved and the shorebirds as well. So I really can't thank you all enough for bearing with us. As you know we try to move forward positively in the best possible way for all of our
beachgoers, our stakeholders and community members as as well as the wildlife. So thank you all. We really do appreciate it and I wish I could have been there in person today >> as as do we but here's thank you very much from the committee.
Okay, now award ceremonies are done and moving along. U we now have the uh public comment looking at the expansive vast of people not seeing anyone with their hands up.
We'll move along. And going to current items. Oh. >> Um, did we want to allow Brianna to just uh review the successes we had this past Shorebird season and uh talk about it a
bit? >> I think that would be wonderful. Thank you, Chad. >> Yes, sir. >> All right, Miss Brianna, you're back up. um if you can just tell us about uh our uh the past uh shorebird nesting season uh the good, the bad, and uh and uh
anything that you would like to share with the community. >> Yep, absolutely. So, overall, this nesting season in general for Fort Myers Beach was extremely successful. Um we had four out of five Imperial Beach
nesting bird species that successfully nested. We did have oyster catchers present on the island, but they did not nest, which is perfectly fine. Um, interestingly enough, nesting this year shifted a little bit. Um, whether it was
locations or time of year. So, our first nesting began in early April. Previously, this was more a mid-March to late March start date. So we saw a shift in the beginning of nesting season which
was kind of interesting but you know based on environmental factors and that type of thing were not the most surprised. Weather was a lot better this summer for them this spring and summer than previous years. We this year did not have any overwash events. The milder
temperatures even allowed birds to stay off their nests during the hottest parts of the days. The wind speed was actually very good in comparison to last year. There was a lot better flow and low rainfall overall. So, in general, the conditions were much better, which you
know helps to lead to more success overall. Um, a couple things that we loved this year, we had a wonderful Ottabon Stewart. His name was Santo. I don't know if any of you met him. He's stationed down at the south end of the critical wildlife area and he made a lot
of really good connections and met some of you I believe and did an amazing job educating people and you know bringing them into the fold. So that was great. We also had our predation management biologist Kaylee, she's the other one on here today, keeping eyes on some of our
nesting sites and she had a couple interesting finds uh as far as you know the beach use by various animals. So, for the most part, we really only caught a couple instances of people trespassing
into posted areas. From what we saw, quite a few of them had large cameras. So, it seemed more like they were trying to find nesting locations and whatnot for photography use instead of, you know, accidentally just trespassing.
But, um, things went okay as far as that goes. Obviously, there was still minimal beach activity. So, we have no idea how beach activity is going to affect nesting as it increases as more and more people come back. But we're excited to
see because obviously there's always concerns about how much space the birds take up and we obviously just want to let people know that depending how many people are using the beach, you know, the birds will shift to where they're nesting. So while they seem spread out now, as soon as people
come back, there's a good chance that the birds will nest in a much smaller location. So that was fine. We had overall positive communication and engagement with stakeholders. We really didn't have issues this year. It was it
was phenomenal. Our species successes kind of showed that as well. Um some of our colonial birds, the black skimmers and the lease turns, there were less adults than last year, but we had a lot of new satellite nests popping up across
Lee County and across Southwest Florida. So, we had a good colony over at Lover's Key State Park. There was a new lease turn colony on Big Hickory Island. There was successful lease turn and black skimmer nesting on the Santaal Causeway. So, all things considered, absolutely
phenomenal. Um, hold on one second. Okay, so as far as our other nesters went, last year we had quite a few re nesting attempts or failed nesting attempts by our snowy clover, which are obviously one of the most critical species that we have on Fort Meyers
Beach, but this year we actually had a 100% success rate from three different nests. Um, every single nest hatched, there was no re nesting. And of the nine chicks that hatched from the snowy
povert nests, eight of them fledged. So that is an increase in productivity beyond what we ever thought could be imaginable after so many nesting attempts and failed nesting attempts last year. And as far as our Wilson's clovers went, we
had eight total nests and 10 chicks fledged with only two re nesting attempts. We did see obviously some people within posted boundaries near where some of the failed nests were. On top of that, obviously there's uh various predators all over the place,
whether it's iguanas, uh domestic cats. Um there was an incident of a great horned owl taking chicks this year on South Fort Myers Beach um within the colony actually, which we confirmed. So overall, absolutely excellent. And I
know there are some questions about our herbicide application and herbicide treatments um within the pre-treated area. So we did a pre-posted area. We only herbicide treated within that area and it was more of a spot spray the
areas that had vegetation that had emerged. We had less than 3% regrowth in that entire area which is absolutely phenomenal. You know, not only does it reduce the need for any of our beach rakers to go and have
to do the physical work, it prevents additional growth of certain species that we're trying to avoid. Now, in the areas where we didn't do any of the herbicide treatment, we did have about 70% vegetation growth throughout the
season, much of which is invasive plant material. Um, and a high percentage of that was sand spur related. So, I did have some good conversations with the Perry's about some potential herbicide
application treatments this year and how we can best try to mitigate the sand spur issue because obviously that's bad for animals and for people. Nobody wants those sticking in their feet, their clothing, any of their beach gear that they use regularly. So, um, we have a
pretty good attack plan for this upcoming year. And I am just waiting on final approval before I send out our draft of, you know, basically what we did and how we'd like to improve it going forward to
best benefit both the condos and the stakeholders and then obviously also the wildlife. So, overall, excellent season and I can't thank everybody for getting involved in that and and being a part of that. It really makes a huge difference.
>> May I say something? Um, there have been hardly any sand spurs and that's incredible. And so obviously that herbicide did do its job with the sand spurs. People are walking all over the place with bare feet. I'm at 80 8,300
and I don't see anybody, you know, being stuck by them. So, thank you. Yeah, I appreciate you saying that because actually Kaylee and I during the season we actually went out into the colony and we handpulled
what would be hundreds of pounds worth of sand spurs and put them in, you know, the big brown paper gardening bags to physically remove from the beach. Because the way the herbicide works is it works on the plants but it doesn't kill the seeds themselves. So when the
seeds actually get lodged down in the sand are introduced to water or whatever other environmental factors help them to grow, they still grow. So Kaylee and I went out before they even emerged from their seed pods and as they were
emerging from their seed pods, successfully removed um 11 full like heaping bags of sand spurs. So that was a very intense physical um you know thing for us to do but outwardly you can see the difference
that it makes you know and preventing those seeds from spreading and whatnot and that's where the parries can come in and help as well because manual removal is one of the best ways to manage sand spurs along with herbicide. It's kind of a dual focus approach there but you know
they did an amazing job helping us with with a lot of that too. So, um, thank you for saying that. We love to see positive outcomes in beach management practices and, you know, we're we're looking forward to see how we can improve it even more over the coming
years. So, you know, >> okay, >> any other questions? >> Um, I know one year does not make a trend. You were saying the birds nest at late. If the birds were to start coming
in more consistently later in the year, would you consider changing the start of this season, the endangered bird season from 215 to later in the year? >> So that is a Florida wide
um that's a Florida wide decision. So, specifically for us, um, it stays that way because our snowy clovers are some of the earliest nesters that we have, and they have nested in early March and
late February previously. So, we wouldn't necessarily be able to change the start date of our imperel beach nesting birds um, season. But what I did this year that was a little bit different than previous years is we
pre-posted the area for herbicide treatment in late March and you know with the goal of we didn't want anything posted on the 8,000 block beach earlier than April 1st that you know we were trying to avoid that unless there were
solitary nests. And then on top of that, I actually did not close off or fully post any of those areas until there were eggs on the ground this year. So, we did not end up posting until midappril, u
mid to late April. And that's kind of what I would like to continue practicing is, you know, not removing beach use from people until necessary. And then this year, I don't know if any of you all saw it, depending on where you live or or you know, what vacations people
had and whatnot, but I started reducing the size of our colony as quickly and as early as possible. So, I widened our walkways as soon as birds were done nesting there. I shrank the colony. um
you know even by late July August the colony was about 50% of what it originally was. So you know all those things put together you know I'm trying to maximize beach use for all of our stakeholders and visitors while also you
know protecting the birds as well. But unfortunately we can't we can't change the season dates based on the fact that it's all Florida statute. But I do appreciate the question. >> I like the latitude that
the adjustments that you're making. So I appreciate >> Okay. Um as a committee, as you know, we're an advisory committee to the council. Is there uh basis your
uh re revised plan on uh the adjusted use of herbicide? Is there anything you would like us to go forward and approach the council giving giving our recommendation? Is there anything the
town has to approve uh for your for your revised plan? I don't believe there's anything the town would need to approve. It essentially would be the same plan that we had for this past year, just on a
wider scale. Um, and this is still something, you know, I I mentioned that I'm I finished writing up the document for it. Um, I'm waiting on final approval to be able to send it out. But essentially what I would be asking is
instead of just doing the small pre-posted area because we've seen how beneficial the herbicide management can be. It would be utilizing the past couple years maximum footprint of our colony which you know we post a small
area to begin and then every single year for the past three plus years the colony has ended up at about four acres four to five acres total. So instead of just pre-treating one to two acres, we
actually pre-post and treat the entire footprint or most of the footprint since that's what ends up getting posted anyways. And then hopefully it would prevent additional beach cleanup after the birds have left or as I'm shrinking
postings or whatnot. It makes it immediately usable for any beachgoers and stakeholders. So the only thing that would really change is the size of the area that we would consider for herbicide treatment. Does that make sense?
>> Yes. And as soon as the revised plan is put together, if you could send it down, uh we have a meeting in January, we can review it quickly and perfect >> go out in front of the council with our advisory recommendation
uh supporting it uh if that's the vote of the committee. >> Okay. Yep. I can absolutely have that to you by the end of December. >> Excellent. Thank you. And again, thank you and your entire team for a
successful season and working with everybody, uh, stakeholders, uh, town personnel, uh, everybody because it is a community effort and you should all be very proud.
>> Thank you very much. That means a lot and I'm glad that we've made such significant strides with everybody over the past one to two years. Yes, we have. Thank you. Any other questions? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, you're
free to listen in for the rest of the meeting or sign off your leisure. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> All right. >> Um, I'll listening in for a little bit. >> Thanks. Bye. >> Bye. >> Bye. Bye. >> Okay.
Moving on down to current items. Arbor Day. Um, I received one response u on reaching out and it was for mango trees. I'm not sure mango trees are
something we want to put on the island. Um, looking at Chad I, you know, they said they'd they'd sponsor a lot of small mango trees. Uh, but I was unsure
whether or not mangoes would fit in the um >> plan. >> So, they're a tropical tree. Uh, they will survive here. Don't do well with saltwater overwash. Grapefruit,
not native. Um, so, uh, I have a mango tree in my yard. Um, I wouldn't say no to it. It's not It is Florida friendly. It's pretty drought resistant. Um but as far as for an Arbor Day um event, uh I
was looking to try and uh procure uh some trees maybe over at Wastist and Away and try and organize an event around that. >> Okay. But we should we turn down the arbor the the mango trees or I mean I'm I'm
deferring to you our ex resident expert. >> Yeah, I don't I don't have any issue with mango trees being planted. My only um caveat would be uh the fruit can attract rats. So if you're a uh a snowbird and uh you have a mango tree,
they typically uh fruit in the summertime and uh they would need to be uh upkept for uh uh rats and that kind of issue. >> Okay. >> So let's vote. You want to take a vote on
this? Should we should we move forward with mangoes or not? >> There are some mango trees on the south end of the island. >> Are there? >> Yeah. Back in the neighborhoods. >> Mike Con, Bill. >> Sorry. Uh yeah, when because I walk
through all the side streets when I do walk when I'm down here and there are a uh a number of homes that have the mango trees out there and tree rats are very real. But they they were flourishing.
There were people stopping by and just picking to their hearts content >> really >> including our local constables. >> Okay. Well, >> okay. So, anybody else have an opinion
on this? >> I I I to kind of to Chad's point, I think if we're doing an arbor day, it should be for native plants. In my opinion, we could take this instead of saying no to it, um maybe use it for a different event of some kind. Um, but there's countless native fruits and
native plants that can give back to your property that I think would be better for something like that in my opinion. >> Well, okay. >> The only thing that grew on the plantation were mango trees. Now, you could get five different kinds of mango trees, but that's >> I'd looked them up and they that's all
they grew was mangoes. >> Yeah. Or or we could combine it with uh some native offerings as well instead of turning it down. >> Okay. All right. So, Bill, do you have an objection on mangoes? Yes. No. >> Not at all.
>> Okay. >> Dad, >> I'm on the fence on that, so I'll say not at all. >> I agree. >> I'm an A. >> I'm an A. >> Okay. Then I won't pursue it. >> Okay. >> Seems like we have a consensus.
Okay. We do have two Arbor Days. one in February as I said at our last meeting >> January >> January and one in April I believe and so the one in January Chad you had said that uh when we discussed this you
had some plans on this >> uh yeah I'd like to uh I'm going to do my best to try and procure some trees uh for some of our beach accesses uh including waste and away and uh maybe try and organize an event around that if
um if I can get everything in line in time. >> Okay. If we can do that, I can try and get some publicity down there and we can at least make it a here's an Arbor Day event for the town. >> Sounds great. >> Okay.
All right. Um the one thing I do want to rem remind everyone is uh February 4th of 2026 is our hazardous waste pickup that will be at the Bay Oaks area. Um, and again,
if you have any paint primer, uh, any hazardous substance that's been sitting in your garage or closet, this is an excellent opportunity to get rid of it. Um, Lee County will have their collection equipment there and it's no
cost and it gets it off the island and out of your closets and out of the rusting paint cans. So, and I will again um advise the uh new public information officer
of it so that we can get it out to the people. >> Okay. >> Where would that be held? >> Bay Oaks, I believe. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Where was >> Yes. Okay. Um, the other item on the agenda
is the comp plan that uh the town recently spent lots of hours on. And I'm going to hand this down. Each goes down. Chad had sent out >> Okay, here we go.
>> Chad had sent out the u uh draft version from I guess a couple of meetings back and it didn't contain everything that I thought we should take a look at as a committee.
And if you look at the first page, and I'm sorry I did it in black and white, so the highlighting didn't go through. This is >> um but if you look at the first page under 10 A1
U on the comp plan, they went through and said the they are expanding the purview of the marine resource task force to include sustainability of recreational
use of marine resources along along with the activities described in the conservation policy 6A4 and I didn't go through 6A4 but again if you go to the next page
that I highlighted where it says objective ROS1B sustainability develop policies to promote sustainability in the parks and if you skip down to RO1B2
two, it specifically mentions the marine task force. Expand the purview of the marine resources task force to include the sustainability of recreational use of marine resources. And then keep
skipping down to policy ROS1B4. It gets a little more specific. establish a task force on ecoheritage tourism to develop and implement the town's ecoheritage program. The task
force would work closely with the marine resource task force to advise the town on appropriate components of the statewide plan of the governor's advisory committee on eco heritage tourism were adopted. Then the last
page, if you look at it on policy 10f2, establish a task force on eco heritage tourism to develop and implement the town's ecoeritage program. And then the task force would work closely with the marine resource task
force to advise the town on appropriate components of the statewide government's task force. So were mentioned in the plan and these are the three that I pulled out cuz I was reading it. But
um I would like to sit down and uh have a discussion with Will before our next meeting and get his thoughts on where he believes uh we should be going as a committee. Uh
I had to look up specifically what the governor's task force said and that's why I included the uh the comment on uh ecoourism which basically
you know if you boil it down it's it's sustainable tourism activities that utilize both uh the assets of the beaches or marine area and the island itself, including, you
know, the nature walk, including kaying on the back bay, including uh the mount, you know, visiting the moundhouse and and so on so forth. And possibly putting up some self-guided tours and
plaques that that could be stationed throughout the island. and actually having walkounds where you could go through and and read. We used to have a tremendous um sign at Bodage Point where it talked
about where the sand came from on the beach and the history. And if you rem read it and rem recall it, it stated that all of the sand coming down here, a lot of it came originally from the
Appalachia Mountains and is granite based, which is why the sand is very ptery and and uh unique to this area. It came down from the Ohio into the Mississippi and then washed over and
created the the beaches here. And there was a beautiful long sign that talked about it and that's disappeared. And I think that that's one of the things that we can start putting some thought as to
how we can help the town develop um some walking tours, some eco tourism uh areas that are self- sustainable but promote the the beauty of the environment here which is I think what
they were trying to do. Uh the other thing that was in the comp plan that I didn't get to uh because it's very long, 5400 pages I believe, John, uh give or take. And as I was reading through, but it
also talked about the uh MURF committee working uh to help advise the town on the
taxi and ferry system that is being proposed. and some of the things that will protect the marine area while promoting an economic viable transportation system. And they
mentioned such things as, you know, making sure that they're either jetboats or prop guards. It's something very near and dear to to uh your heart, Rob, and and some of the other things. And so that's kind of the purview and the the
general direction that I thought they were trying to uh utilize the MURF plan and I or the MURF committee and I wanted to kind of introduce the committee to this first and then take some time and meet
with Will and anybody else that he feels, you know, we should do it and come back to the committee and say, "Look, This is this is where the town wants us to expend our energy and let's you know
go out look at what we can do make recommendations on some of the echoourism things that are in the town. uh make some additions or improvements and figure out what we can do and and
try and follow up the direction that the town council just voted on and then they just submitted this to the state. So, it isn't locked in stone yet until the state um approves it, but it's kind of
what they voted on at the last session. And I just wanted to throw this out to the committee members and get their thoughts on it before we started, you know, expending a lot of effort that somebody doesn't feel this is where we
want to be. I think ecourism is a great opportunity for this area because we have beautiful surrounding areas. The beaches are nice. So, we have a lot to draw people in. Uh question I have, we have these street
turtle lights now. Uh does that support um what do they call it? Not night sky, dark sky. Does that support that too? That we can try, you know, try to get the echo tourism in with the
>> dark sky move. >> It would. Um, it also has to um I I I think all the all the turtle lights are the dark sky lights, but they also will have to have certain shadings on them to make sure they're all pointed down. >> Um, some lights, I think, have to go off at a certain time if they don't and
things like that. But if it's turtle friendly, it should all be on that. Is that correct, Chad? >> Yeah, I would I would agree there. Dark sky compliant. I'm not sure about the particulars on if and when they would need to go off to be dark sky compliant,
but um certainly better than the uh the ones we had. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that's a package that, you know, we've already got different pieces in in in motion. And the turtle lights, I assume they're all done now on the streets. >> Not yet.
>> Not yet. >> Not at the north end yet. >> Okay. But >> not at the south end either. Well, about every hundred feet there's a new pole up. >> Yeah. >> No, I think I I mean ecoourism is I mean that's what I'm all about. That's that's my whole thing is education and
especially at the parks once Baldage gets redone and Matanis Pass Park is is getting there. It's like there's a lot of opportunity and potential and most of the issues that we have on the island are from people coming out of ignorance with you know the dog walking off leash
with with those kind of things that are always an issue. most most of the time those things are happening um but with people doing it out of ignorance not knowing why it's important not know and I think you know you don't want signs everywhere but you also want the these
people to make the choices out of you know knowledge and and those types of things and having tours and signs and that that does help it it makes a big thing being able to say we're dark sky compliant being able to say we're a whole island of turtle friendly you know those things are very big to brag about
you know It it's it's something it's something we can be proud of especially when we find the balance like Bri was talking about having a balance of human needs and the bird's needs. You know, do we all agree with the raking? No. Can you do it in a way where it's beneficial
to everybody? Yes. You know, it's like those those kind of inbetweens are are what we need to find. And ecoourism connects people with the environment in a way that just going out and walking on the beach can't. you know, knowing what you're looking at, knowing why it's good not to rake the algae that comes up, you
know, those kinds of things are very beneficial once you learn about why it it does it clicks a thing where it's like, okay, I can see that, you know, we'll let it be algae out there for a couple months, you know. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I think it's great. I'd love to be part of the design of some of the signs.
I love doing that kind of thing. And, >> you know, well, it >> I think it's not just signs. I think it's it's directing tourist activities into the sustainable areas that that you know
rather than a guy taking a boat and running at 70 m an hour up and down the back bay >> or you know you can say boy if you want to boat go on out on the Gulf on a calm day and you know do whatever you want to do just don't do it in the back bay Or
maybe you'd like to do a kayak instead. You'll see more porpuses and manatee and it's a lot more common. >> We don't have porpus, but yeah. >> Yeah. Or dolphin. Okay. But it's it's a it's a
you know, it's a it's a different approach for, you know, making sure that people that come down can't just walk the beach every day. They want to do something. and we have a lot to offer other than just walking the beach. It gives the tourists something to do
that's that's economically sustainable and it still has an interest. I kayaking is an excellent example >> and we don't have any we don't have a lot of places where people can kayak on the back bay.
>> Right. >> Um >> as a kayak guide I disagree. >> Well, I know what you're saying. I'm just giving a hard time. It it's it's hard to find a place to launch a kayak, >> right? Yeah. And >> that's my point. >> Yeah. And there there's a few Yeah. There's there's a few um very few public
launches and and Yeah. It's so it's it's so having the tour guides and the tour companies, you know, having that accessible to people. Um but like you know me, I've been fighting for the prop guards on tour boats and rental boats forever. That would be a huge positive
impact to that. But yeah, the kayaks kay getting back there and seeing the environment in a way that you're just part of you're being passive observation is the way to see and kayaking is the best best way to do it. >> Do you have anything to add? Say yes,
no? >> Uh I think this is brilliant. I think it's a great great idea. And um just a reminder, we do have a boat launch at uh the moundhouse >> that's public >> for kayaks,
>> which which is one of the areas >> paddle boards, >> one of the areas that you know, we should look at. >> Okay. >> And and again, this is nothing more than going back to the town and saying, look, here's some of the stuff we have, but maybe we're not use utilizing it
correctly or to the best of its advantage. >> Okay? so on so forth. And I think that's kind of the direction, counselor, correct me if I'm wrong, that they were trying to push us to advise them where
to go. >> I don't need to correct you. So, >> Bowage has a you're able to launch kayaks from Bowage um there. They don't have a launch, but you can launch from there, >> right? Well, so at any rate,
>> so um if anyone has any doesn't have any objections, then I will try and schedule an appointment and get with uh Will and any of the other town staff and see if I can get some better direction. >> Sure. >> And come back and report in January.
>> No objection from me. I uh look forward to 2026 on on working with MURF on this project. >> Okay. I I agree. >> Now, that being said, and I don't think we need to take a vote on it unless
there someone has any disagreement. Um, the other thing that I asked Chad to send out was the um and I asked uh Chris King if we could borrow this. And I didn't make copies
for everybody because it was sent out and I hope you read it. But Chris went through and did a kind of a revamp of their FMB Anchorage Advisory Committee
starting with the purpose and then limitations and then more importantly they went into the committee sat down and talked about the responsibilities reviewing an analyzing plans and reports
providing feedback and recommend recommendation based on community needs. So, and they they pretty much put their put their game plan on a piece of paper. They pretty much said, "Okay, here's our committee. Here's what we wish to do and
here's our goal." And if you look at what we have under responsibilities that's on the town website says the M marine and environmental resource task force exists to promote the stewardship
of marine resources. This includes stopping further damage and rehabilitating Eststerero Bay and its surrounding waters, wildlife, plant life and air and quality. The task force purpose also involves bringing
Eststerero Bay and its surrounding waters and the Asterero Island shoreline to the point that they will continue to be a driving force of the town's econ economy. The goal is to sustain the
quality of life in cooperation with all whose livelihoods or lifestyles depend upon the health of the stero. And that's what it is. I'm not sure when this was written and what it was, but I'd like to
again get with uh Will and get his thoughts and see u if there's anything we want to do to change this, incorporate some of the echo
tourism, do something else because I'm a firm believer if you have a solid mission statement, it's a lot easier to go out Yeah. and accomplish the mission. You just want to make sure that you're going you're doing what you say you're supposed to be doing.
>> Okay? >> And I think that's a really good goal for us for 2026. And again, um I can sit down with the mayor and get his thoughts on it and bring it back to the committee
in January and say here's what they're talking. I can send it out to Chad. Chad can do it and then in January we can determine if we want to make any changes, make any adjustments. Um maybe it's all good, you know, maybe we we
want to change something, but I think that would be um time well spent as a committee as a committee to number one ensure that we're doing what the town wants us to do. And then number two, um,
putting our words putting those actions into words so that if we start drifting off the subject, we can come back to our mission statement. >> Oh, it's awesome. >> Any thoughts on that? >> I think it's I think it's a good idea.
It's time to kind of, you know, every year I think looking back and rehashing and fine-tuning and things like this is a good idea. So, it's now's a good time. >> Okay. Anybody else? >> I just think that you are doing a great
job as the chair of this advisory committee. I mean, >> you work every minute to plan all this. I I'm I'm very impressed. Thank you. >> That's >> Thank you. Um, at any rate, with that,
that was all of the items that I had that I wanted to put in. And with that, uh, we don't really need a vote. I'll get back to everybody in January. So, that ends that portion of it, unless somebody wants to say anything.
>> Well, I have a question. The anchorage committee, are we to go to those meetings? I get I get a notice. >> You can you can go if you want. >> It's okay. It's just it's optional. >> Sure. >> Uhhuh. Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. It's a it's a committee meeting for
the town. So, it's a we have public speaking just like this meeting. >> Sure. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Everyone's invited. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And again, thanks to Chris King. I encourage everybody to read
>> what she put in for the Anchorage Advisory Committee and allowing us to borrow it and perhaps steal some ideas from it. So, >> okay. >> All right. All right. Coming down the list, we now
get to members items and madame vice chair, you can start. Uh just a reminder in in what we were talking about earlier in the meeting that we have I just found out this morning that the books were being
delivered today uh short notice, but I do need a lot of help uh today at 1:00 uh to get the books into the library. We uh have um dollies and uh Liz from the library. Um
we'll have book carts, but we have 200 boxes that we need to move up. uh into the library and I really really need some help on that today >> at one o'clock. Okay.
>> Anything else? >> No, chair. Thank you. >> Merry Christmas to everyone. >> Merry Christmas. >> Merry Christmas. Absolutely. Um yeah, merry Christmas everybody. Um, not much going on as far as um, things I'm
tackling, just my own stuff. But, um, I'm personally I'm very proud. Uh, my five my, uh, nonprofit is going to get its 501c3 status, uh, in January, and we're going to do our first land acquisition um, to help stop some development, working with Florida GF
Coast University to take out invasives, plant natives. And uh if anybody wants information on that or how to help or be part of that, I'd love we're up and coming, but we'd love some help and ideas. Um that's called Keep It Wild. But uh as far as here on the island, um things are going really good. The dunes
are starting to grow into dunes. They don't look like BMS much anymore. They're growing good. Um the wildlife has been very active. We've had a few baby dolphins out there we've been seeing lately. One was hit, but it did survive uh the boat strike. So, um,
working with pod protectors. Um, we are hoping to get a, um, group to speak about just dolphins getting caught in the wakes of boats. It is illegal to intentionally do that with the dolphins. So, making sure that the tour groups and um, rental boats are aware of that. You know, just watch them
be dolphins. Don't don't encourage that kind of behavior. Um, and other than that, I think I think uh it's really great time to get outside and the dolphins are liking the cool weather. Manatees are up at Manatee Park now. Um, there's still a few migrating through.
We've had a few rescues from um from the cold issues or boat strikes. So, out on the water, be aware of the manatees migrating and the dolphins playing. So, that's all I got. >> I'm good. I'm good.
Um, yep. I'm good, too. That I really want you to think about reading that book that I mentioned last time. I'm not kidding. In the in just just before the 1900s, there wasn't a bird left. People had shot them and women were having plumes in their hats. And
>> you know how they stopped that, right? Besides outlawing it, they convinced the women that only ladies of the night wear the feathers in their hats. And that was a big contribution to why it became taboo to do it and it stopped the hunting.
>> Okay, good. Amazing. >> Okay, that's it for me. Well, the only the only thing I have on my comment was >> Oh, the only thing I have on my comment is I would like to
uh acknowledge Marie Torus for working with uh I believe the Coast Guard Auxiliary and a lot of other people looking at how to improve or control the wakes on the back bay.
she kind of did it on her own and uh u I wasn't aware of it. Uh I actually read about it in one of the publications, but I think uh she's a a citizen that that
said, "Look, there's too many boats going too fast and tried to do something about it." and I acknowledge her efforts uh trying to keep the the shoreline preserved on the Back Bay. And other
than that, um I have no nothing else other than to thank the committee for a good year and I'm looking forward to next year and I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. >> Thank you. Yeah, Pod Protectors was involved in that meeting with with Mary
and it it was very beneficial, I think, getting a lot of people on the same page of of that. It was very very proud of that because >> we're getting washed around back there like a washing machine sometimes on my tours from >> just there's know the laws. You don't need a license to have a boat in
Florida. You just need money. But >> knowing the laws of um what no wake, idle speed, slow speed, they're all very different. And every boat displaces water differently. So it's not a mile per hour law. It's a how your boat displaces the water.
>> Unfortunately, there are wake boats that can move at 5 miles an hour that that resemble boats doing 20 miles an hour. >> Right. >> In regards to that meeting, I I uh I wish it would have been I I I appreciate
that they do they had the meeting. I just think it was maybe possibly a missed opportunity to invite the public out when you have all these people there in one area. It would have been nice to have it open to the public. But uh the
other uh comment I wanted to make is you skip you went to Sharon on on members items but didn't go to these gentlemen. >> They said no. >> Oh, they said no. Okay. Miss >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Look at her. She jumped right in.
Okay. And with that, that ends staff update. Looking at or no, we're down to staff update. You're on. >> All right. Yeah. So, just to reiterate, that was a very productive meeting with uh Miss Mary, uh Miss Chris. We had uh FWC law enforcement, LCSO, uh marine
operations staff there. So, it was educational. And uh for us, just uh reiterating um again, idle versus slow versus uh fast speeds and all the different zones that we have
out here in the back bay. And uh Miss Mary's working on uh as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Miss Jackie was there. Uh so uh Miss Jackie um Mary and Miss Chris are uh looking at um
uh another meeting uh to start working with the liveries uh the boat rental companies as well as uh short-term rentals and condos that have marinas uh to uh bring those folks on board and see how we can all work together to uh
make the Back Bay safer for everyone. one. Um, on another note with the back bay, uh, we had a gentleman offer to perhaps donate some dredging for the Laguna Channel. So, um, staff is going to work with legal and, um, our permitting to
see where we're at on that. Uh, we did have all our permitting for Laguna Channel done, uh, uh, four or five years ago. It looks like it would still be an exempt activity with regards to state permitting, but we may need to uh re-up our US Army Corps permit. Uh did expire
I think in 2022. Um it's not a big deal. It's just a nationwide permit, but should be pretty straightforward. Um so that was uh exciting to hear that. So we'll follow up with that gentleman and see uh how we can work together. Um even
though when things are donated, we still have uh construction management and engineering uh that's needed to uh ensure that we are complying with our permit uh restrictions guidelines uh environmental
guidelines as well as uh ensuring that we're only judging to the death depth that's permitted in the area that's permitted and the material that is excavated. uh goes to the right spot. So, um still some costs involved that
may need to get uh town council involved. Um so, we'll still exciting some forward movement on that. Um also attended a uh FGCU workshop um with uh
Dr. Saves uh Dr. Dailyaly and some other colleagues as well as uh a whole lot of the environmental staff from the localities around here. So, it was a great meeting, very educational. Uh, Dr. Dailyaly and Dr. Savaris uh uh we talked
with them either yesterday or the day before and they reiterated they want to come back into the town and uh follow up on uh the Crant uh study that they did uh the that computer modeling is still underway. Uh I believe he's done some
hinecasting. Dr. Dy's done some hind casting to show that uh the model um does have good fidelity to uh what's actually happening. So they are able to model um using uh past data and show uh
replicate in the model what actually happened in past hurricanes. So that should show that uh uh forecasting should also have um good results that we can that we can trust. Uh so um we don't
have an exact date of when the modeling will be complete to have results but I think they would like to come in and do a uh uh uh interim update and share with us some of the um uh findings that they have uh um gotten
so far. So uh we're looking forward to that. Not sure if that'll be a council meeting or a MURF meeting, but we'll keep youall up to date with that. Um also had a sea turtle workshop. um up in Gainesville at UF. That was um also very
educational. Learned a lot um how other uh localities are uh dealing with their codes, inspections, code enforcement um and also just the technicalities of um
the technicalities of doing uh uh lighting assessments and um uh using the spectrometer. um to do those lighting assessments. So, learned a whole lot and uh looking forward to sharing uh that with y'all uh whenever we get some of
the uh some of those presentations back from um the FWC staff that put it on. So, a big thank you to the uh Archie Car Center um and uh the FWC staff that uh invited us up there and um it was a it
was a great great experience. I think that's all. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Any questions for Chad? >> I just had one. You He had no idea when the computer simulations were going to
be done cuz he had told us they were going to be done last fall and now we're in winter. >> Um, I'll get you. If I can get a date for you, I will. Um, but uh, no, I don't have a date. >> Okay. Thank you. If you could, that'd be
great. Yes, sir. >> Okay. Now, we're down to the final public comment. And again, seeing no one there, I'll close public comment. All right. Murf award.
Anyone have any recommendations? >> Okay. >> Have the in the bank. >> I don't know if we have anything at all. >> No. Okay. Holiday season for Murf. We'll >> keep our eyes open.
>> All right. I did invite U Ben Devolve from U Tuna Skin because we had awarded him and we have a >> a 2025 and uh I because he's going to be
part of the Mhalland award presentation. I didn't want to give them a MURF award, you know, a week before they got to Mhalland. I thought that'd be upstaging a little bit. >> So I said, if if you want to come in in January, we'd love to give you your own
plaque for the shop for the MURF award that you received earlier in the year. And he said that was fine. So I'll put that on the agenda. And other than that, um, we'll just have
to see what we can award next year. So, agenda for next meeting. Again, I I'll come back and >> Sorry, I actually do have a nomination for Murphy award this month. >> Okay.
>> Just came to me. I'm so sorry. uh Liz and the library of the Fort Myers Beach Library for helping us store 200 boxes of children's books. Uh they are are going to be protecting them, uh giving
them out to businesses, uh other people in the community and outside of our community. So, I believe that uh the Fort Mars Beach Library deserves a Murphy award for December. I'm good with that. >> Yeah.
>> Can someone second? >> I'll second. >> I'll >> Okay. Any further discussion? Motion made and seconded for Liz at the FMB Library to get the uh uh
last 2025 Murf Award. >> All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. All righty. Now, thank you. >> Yes. Moving along. Agenda for next meeting. Uh we're going to again I'll come back
give the report from uh Will and from uh Mayor Ellers regarding feedback from what we discussed today. And I think that'll give us more than enough stuff to talk about for the hour that we're
here and or hour and a half and fine-tune. And again, I encourage everyone, please read the Anchorage Advisory Committee report and do some homework and look at it and say, "Okay, how can we make this apply to the MURF
committee?" You know, can we is there something we want to adopt? And you can even send it send in your suggestions and comments to Chad and he can share it with everybody so that we're not coming in here just kind of totally blind. We
can actually constructively go through and say, "Boy, that one makes sense. We can change a couple of words here and there, so on so forth. But I'd really like to get a working document done at the end of Janu at the January meeting so I can present it to the town
council so they can approve it so that we can move forward both on the um direction from the comp plan and just restating our purpose and and what
we want to do going forward. And that's kind of my charge to everybody on the committee. And that's not a violation of sunshine. >> No, you can send it in. You can send it in to Chad and then he can share it with everyone. I believe that's correct.
>> Yeah, it becomes public record. So, it's all in the sunshine. >> So, that's everybody gets a homework assignment before next meeting, which will be setting the date for the next meeting. Second.
>> It's always a second Wednesday of the month. >> I got it. So the 14th. >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> it's on the 14th. >> It's on January 14th, >> 10:00 town hall. And that'll be our meeting date.
And with that, I'll accept a motion for adjournment. Bill Alto made the motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Sharon H made a second. Um, is there the motion made and seconded for
adjournment? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. It's 11:12 Wednesday, December 10th, and the meeting is now adjourned.