Okay, we on. Perfect. Excellent. Where are we? Um, I'm calling to order the the advisory committee of the marine and environmental resource task force for the town of Fort Mills Beach. Uh, could everyone rise for the pledge of
allegiance? I pledge algiance 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. You may be seated. Okay, with that, I'll start with the roll call to ensure we have a quorum. Bill Alto here. Sharon Hagstrom here. Robert How?
David Nusbomb here. Ed RDE here. Jennifer Rusk is said she would be absent. Leo Sand here. Okay. I believe uh Robert Hal also said that he was going to be I'm sorry. Okay. So, we do have a quorum. Right. If we could have a
motion to excuse them. Um certainly. So moved. Seconded. Okay. A motion made and seconded to excuse Robert Howell and and uh Jennifer Rusk. Yes. All those in
favor say I. I. Oppos. Motion carries unanimously. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? Also move. Second. Any any discussion or
additions? Motion made and seconded to approve the agenda. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Okay. We have minutes from our Thursday, April 10th
meeting. I would uh accept a motion to approve the minutes of our April 10th meeting. Put that out. Motion to approve the minutes as written. Bill Eltop. Is there a second? Second. Leo second. All
those in favor of motion made and seconded. Any discussion? Okay, I'll call the question. All those in favor say I. I I oppose. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you everybody. We are now down to public
comment. And I see we have a gentleman here. Would you like to make a public comment? I'll wait. I'll wait. Oh, wait. Okay. Seeing no one else here, I'll close public comment.
All right. Current items on the list. Uh this is a carryover from u our meeting last week and we had some discussion on it uh regarding the invasive exotic vegetation in the environ
environmentally critical zone. The reason we want to uh talk about this a little bit is there were some people u I believe uh Ed brought this up about uh getting some of the Australian pines off of the
beach and I said is there some way that we can get a special permit to allow vehicles or something on there in case some of them are too big or can we get something and ask the town if they can
provide some um speed pass so that we can assist the owners getting rid of some of that stuff. So that was our discussion and asking our staff liaison if there's
something that he feels we can do. Yes. So, we have done it in the past as staff pre and times. We've gotten field permits and generally the condition is not during sea turtle or bird nesting season. Um uh but we can absolutely uh get a field
permit. It would typically be conditioned that we cut it up the substrate and treat it with a EPA approved herbicide. Okay. And so it would be after November. after November 1st. It would be it would be after November 1st. Uh yes, sir.
Unless we had got some sort of concession from um the FWC to proceed sooner, but um I think bird nesting season is probably the the greater um concern because I
mean we have our our beaches are pretty well monitored and the Australian pines are up in the vegetation, not necessarily out on the the doom crest. So, it's behind the the primary dune for the most part. So, I don't think sea turtles are as much of a concern just from my
humble opinion, but um we'd have to ask FWC on that. And then the the bird nesting is a bit more with the roving chicks and you're in vegetation and may step on them. So, I think that's probably from practicality standpoint, that's probably the bigger concern.
How long does it take to get a permit like that? Uh 30 days or less. Oh, okay. or your pizzas for free. Yeah. Okay. Um and then I I had just dubtailing on that a little bit, Chad. U driving up
and down Boulevard going by some of the places and and I'm not just singling any two properties out, but the red coconut is like a nursery for the Australian pines growing there. You can literally
see three different years of Sure. of them since the storm. Sure. And um where the old Junkanoo used to be is another area where they've gotten a foothold. And as I drive around, I see a lot of the empty lots where they're just going
in. Um right. So that's I mean that's out of the EC, but I think it's definitely worth the discussion. I had the same observations where you see mature Australian pines on private property and then you see a proliferation of saplings around there.
So, we can um make an effort to maybe contact these property owners and maybe seek permission to hold harmless and like has a volunteer group if somebody wants to organize that and I can help facilitate that with uh just
a you know, just a a feel-good volunteer. You know, we we we can get in there and remove what's happening because all that, you know, they're called invasive for a reason. and they are going to proliferate and take over as a monoculture. Well, is it is it safe to assume a
question? They weren't nearly as noticeable or as prolific before. So, I'm assuming that they were being dealt with. Yeah. I mean, I think that that's a consequence of the state of properties
not being built and it's just not as well kept when somebody's not living there. Yeah. And evidently they had been being kept up with somewhat even out on the beach. Yeah, like I said, staff has uh I believe uh my first couple years um
you know, I saw the issue, got it permitted, went out with public works um we we we you know, staffing resources since Ian and and other other issues have. Yeah. So basically since Ian there's been more important things and
and And everyone has been spread thin. And so this has been something that just kind of overlooked the last two and a half, three years going on three years. Yes. And it's amazing to me that these things have that they that they take off like they in in just two and a half or
three years. They're everywhere. Yeah. All over the place. And the scavola is also an issue. I mean, we have private properties with scavola. Scavola is that kind of banana leaf longer leaf shrub. Um we have we see a lot of that on private property as well as out on the beach and that's another one where we
would you know cut it at the the substrate otherwise it will it will take over and it's amazing how much of that scola actually survived after Ian that you know between those and seag grapes were probably two of the biggest survivors uh on the beach after Ian well then then
that being said if we organize some type of a volunteer workforce to to to to take the stuff off the beach those could be identifi identified about at the same time and dealt with at the same time. I think, you know, I think a great idea is around Christmas time when we can do a fundraiser for your 501c3. You know, you
can sell Christmas trees and get a tent, get the Boy Scouts out and uh sell Christmas trees. Yeah, that'd be great. So, bringing this back in, obviously, you know, the town
council can make a recommendation. sure it to the owners, but and some owners may take it to heart and others obviously, you know, have have kind of ignored ignored even taking buildings
down. So the code uh in chapter 10 for commercial and multifamily uh three or more multif family uh uh units. Um there is in the code whenever they do their development commercial properties are required to
maintain the property uh invasive you know uh invasive exotic free um in perpetuity. So that is a stipulation on the commercial properties and um we we could contact the property
owners and and give them some education and and say, "Hey, these guys are going to take over and it's only going to get worse and it's only going to get more expensive as they get bigger to remove them, right?" Um let's do something. The single family homes are a little bit more of a challenge. Um especially the
ones where, you know, they just they they have some houses out there. They love their Australian plants. So, um it's a challenge. Uh the code uh doesn't give me a whole lot of power to go in there and say, "Hey, you can't have these exotic species. We need education
and and get some buy in from those property owners." Okay. And if it's an expense thing, I think that's where we can leverage uh between community support and maybe going, you know, I've got some high schoolers that I can, you know, make available and um uh get it done. And and you can count
on Beach Dock Radio to help organize volunteers as well, right? Okay. Do we want to make any u advisory statement to the council? Does the council have to be asked in
order for you to file for the permit? Not necessarily. I mean, I don't I don't know if I I don't know if we did that if it was mentioned in the last Smurf meeting or if I just kind of did it. Um, it's it's it's the right thing to do, but it's always nice to have councils buy in and educate them with what's going on. So, I don't think it
hurts. And motion to put it on put it on paper is always a good idea. Okay. Well, you've talked about Australian pines, the second one that you mentioned. Are there other exotic plants that we can just lump into this or Yeah, we
could just we could just say uh category one invasive exotics would be uh would cover it all. And you know that's the Brazilian pepper uh Australian pines skull takata um which is beach napuka or um is a common
name. So, those are the main three that you'll see around, but there's there's dozens that are on the uh uh Florida invasive exotic plant list. But I I think we ought to keep a broad umbrella on it just, you
know, otherwise you could get down to the minutia of dandelions. Sure. And yeah, category one invasive exotics would would give that umbrella. I think Scavola Data is going to be my next honorary name. Very good.
Or what was the other one you said? Brazilian pepper. Brazilian pepper dance. Sounded Hawaiian. Oh, beach napuka. Beach npuka. I think I like that better. Yeah, I think it is Hawaiian actually. Come see the beach napuka. Napuka. Napuka. Holden court. Probably
saw it in Hawaii. So, Ed, you started this up. Do you want to make a motion way back when? So, we'd be making a motion to present it to the council. just present to the council that we we uh would like staff
to be able to issue um beach permits for the control of category one u invasive plants and also to have the council
encourage private homeowners and uh multi multifamily residents to control the spread of an invad. Okay. So, I make a motion that uh um this be presented to the council to to
instruct um um the per the application for the permits for the uh invasive the stage one invasive u species and also the about looking into notifying the private property owners. Yes, sir. Okay,
sounds good. Second. All right. Any further dis made and seconded. Um any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Hopefully we can get some traction under
that and get them under control because it is every year it's going to get worse and worse and more expensive and more expensive. Okay. It's a growing problem. Ah. There you go.
Next on the list is the Mhalland award. Um, and this is something that MURF as a committee generally takes the applications um from the public sector and uh this
was an award that hasn't been done in the last couple of years obviously because of Ian. So, u I would like the advisory committee to uh agree to
uh send out applications through our public information officer for nominations. And if Chad wants to give a little background, he's probably got a little more on it than I do. Um my understanding the Maholland Ward
um I I don't have it in front of me to read it off but uh for a community member or a community group who's going above and beyond um to uh for the benefit of the environment um to put it to put it
short. And it was named after uh one of the first mayors and founders of of our island, I believe. Yes. Yeah. It's a shame Bill Perry isn't here. He could give us the whole whole history, but um John Yes. named after John
Mahulland originally. I don't think that he was the first mayor, but he was uh instrumental um in the incorporation of the town along with Dan Hughes. I think he and Dan Hughes uh did all the filing and all the paperwork and and everything
that was required for the town to incorporate. Okay, just here's the background. The mayor um mayor John Malh the mayor John Malhullen stewardship award is given annually to
individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations nominated by citizen input and chosen by the MURF committee and town council to honor the voluntary participation and awareness, education
and preservation of our community's natural resources. The award is named in honor of former mayor John Mhalland who is credited with the formation of the town's marine resource task force based upon applications to receive
the MURF award. Okay, that's on a different one. So, uh, that's kind of the history behind it, and I just wanted to get that added to our agenda, uh, because it hasn't been done. I
realize that we had a lot of very important things to do since Ian, but since we're trying to get back to normal, uh, we should go back to normal. And with the uh committee's consent, I would
uh like to make a motion that we uh have the applications for the uh nominations for the Mohalland award be sent to our PIO to be available and the citizens
present their nominations so that we can determine u go through the applications at our meeting. I'll second it. Any further discussion?
Okay. All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. I'm glad we can get back to a little bit more of normal every every month. Okay. Next on the agenda is our
shorebird um and turtle nesting season. And I've got a little shorebird update, but Chad, if you want to just kind of do some of the dos and don'ts
real quick on turtle nesting. Sure. Happy uh first day, official day of sea turtle nesting season. I think they've had a half dozen or so false crawls up in Bonita and one at least one nest. Uh so they are definitely uh around town so
to speak. For uh the dos and don'ts, please um you know look at your lighting. Look at your lighting from the beach. Uh if you uh live on the beach or your house is visible from the beach, uh chances are any exterior lights would be directly or
indirectly visible from the beach and your exterior lighting should be um converted to long wavelength downward directed and shielded uh fixtures. uh long wavelength means that it is a
uh only emitting uh the light wavelength that is greater than 560 nmters which we see as amber to orange and red light. It's important to look at the manufacturer specifications and find that that little
NM that's Nancy uh Michael um NM for nanometers and make sure that it's 560 or greater. If it doesn't mention nan nanometers, but it still is orange or red or yellow, chances are it is still
emitting um non-long wavelength light because it's just a white uh light source in a film covered bulb. And um it would still uh on my spectrometer it would still show that there is blue light being emitted and the turtles
would see it uh a lot more than they would see the long wavelength light and it would cause an issue both with their nesting behavior for the mamas and the um the hatching behavior for the hatchlings uh going towards that light
or um and becoming disoriented. So, please um look at your lighting. Uh also, interior lights are a significant source of lights. Um we've had multiple
um multiple uh disorientations caused by interior lights. So, please blackout curtains are best. Um they they stop any interior light from being visible. um storm shutters down, you know, that's that's another option if you have those
storm shutters. Um but please draw your curtains and look at your interior lights to uh move any uh um full spectrum lights away from the windows so they're not as visible and as bright and draw your curtains.
Um uh you know people kind of laugh and you know it's this is just a suggestion but those long wavelength lights they do create a nice ambiance. You know if you need like a night light to walk around in your uh in your house or your condo. um those long wavelength lights, they,
you know, they screw in just like any other bulb if they're A19 bulb and you can install them in a spot where you know you need light at night and you want to have, you know, and and and get around without tripping. And the added benefit is it doesn't have that blue light that wakes you up as much and kind
of disturbs your sleep pattern. So, um and it kind of looks like a little, you know, glow campfire in your in your in your house. So, you know, it's a little warm ambiance, so it's not the worst thing. Um, so it's for a good cause. Um, and uh, the lighting time frame is 9:00
p.m. to 7 a.m. Correct. No, sir. So, our code reads from sunset to sunrise is defined as nighttime and that will change as the uh, earth orbits around the sun. Sure. Thank you for that clarification. Yes,
sir. Um, also uh, if you have contractors working, please email them in writing. um you know, make them aware that they are responsible for uh uh any lighting issues that are
happening while they're uh under contract as well as the property owner themselves. So, if your contractor does it, you're still liable as a property owner. So, please get in touch with your contractor. temporary shades, temporary paper shades, notes on light switches,
motion detectors on lights are great because, you know, that gets them to go off if nobody's walking around and um kind of makes it a little bit more um idiot proof, so to speak. So, uh especially for the rentals, you know, if you and it also saves you electricity.
So, that's motion detector on interior lights are are a great thing. We have them in our offices. I'm sure it saves the town a lot of money. And um I would also encourage that as well. If anybody has any questions on where to get bulbs or um
what they need to do, um please uh don't hesitate to send me an email or give me a call. I'm happy to help. Okay, Chad. Uh there were some little cards that you would someone had at one of the
presentations where you could hold it up and actually see if the light was a good light or or not so good light. Are those still available or It's It's a blue film. Um Turtle Time has supplied us uh in the past. I did mention it to Missy
Eve the last time we had had spoken. Um and she's going to look into it. I think she has the film. It's a blue film. Um, but they've got a you kind of have to place it in cardboard. It's it's a good quick indicator. It's not a
foolproof indicator. Um, but it is educational and uh it's a good lay person's tool to say, you know, you can see the light screaming through the blue film. Um, and it also shows you that even the uh
sometimes these uh, you know, sea turtle friendly lights that um you can see directly the light source. You can also see it through that blue film which emphasizes why the the lights also need to be shielded. Um so
uh I will follow that up with turtle time and see if we can get something. Um and I can reach out to maybe sea turtle conservancy. Uh, I don't know if that's something that they have the funding for to hand out, but I know Turtle Time has the the film. If there's people that
want to volunteer and help Turtle Time create these little, you know, the cardboard around the blue film to make it people friendly, great. Um, it was just maybe we can get the little blue film on your glasses and kind of tape it up and you Well, I thought I thought it'd be good for a lot of the
beach proper beachfront property owners that they could go out and just kind of if they had a doubt, they could go and check, you know, and it's kind of a quick easy, you know, here's the thing, so on so forth. So, good educational tool. Absolutely. Especially if you have
multiple owners, you know, in a condo or something and you can go out and do a quick read on your building. Yes. Um, so on so forth. So, does somebody have the more sophisticated equipment, too? I do. Okay. You do? Okay. But it's it's uh
it's not something I could loan out. It's No, I forget the cost of it, but it was four figures. So, you mentioned shielding. There's a lot of lights that are amber lights, but they're not shielded. Correct. all over the island. Correct. And they they need to be shielded. I have my work cut out for me.
Okay. I just was check. Yes, sir. Okay. Anything else on that? Well, you're going to go to Shorebird Shoreird Nest. Yes. I just wanted to make sure Chad was done. Okay. Yep. So, May 1st, I I am going to be out on the beach tonight to uh celebrate if anybody wants
to come and party and look for lights. No fireworks. Nope. No, sir. Y'all won't let us have fireworks out on the beach per your code, but um if you'd like to change that, let me know. Well, plus it's a burn ban. You're going to be the one walking around with the light. The white light. Sorry. You're going to be the one walking around with the white
light on the beach? No, sir. I only have red light. I'm going to have some red film over my headlights and I'll be as turtle friendly as can be. I can't do anything about my computer screen that I'm going to be entering in issues, but um I'll call you Roxan. Turtle friendly
as possible. Sorry. We'll call you Roxan because you put out the red light. There we go. Thank you, counselor. Been called worse. Moving along to shorebirds. She That's As long as you don't have to put on the red light to Oh. Oh. Um I did
receive a report from uh Brianna Frankold. She's the uh uh southwest critical wildlife area biologist for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And just to recap everything, she said
only about a third of the lease turned colony has returned thus far. She's talking about the south end of the island. Uh so while it may not look like many birds are using the postings, we expect another two to 300 to return shortly.
for the black skimmers. Only about 10% of their colony has returned and they haven't started nesting yet. Um, she said there's a with heard the concerns about the
property owners, the stakeholders down on the south end about the size of the nesting area. and she said we are going to try and shrink it down uh throughout the season if and when possible based on the current nest
sites. Additionally, with little beachgoer presence, the birds have spread out on the beach, but that doesn't mean the same thing will happen next year. So, it's kind of like with fewer people, the birds spread out, which makes the area bigger, but they
said whenever possible, they will try and bring it back in when the birds are there, but as she said earlier, um, a lot of the birds aren't there. There are accessible walkways along both edges of the colony, and there's a walkway
through the colony towards the eastern side toward the CWA that is only possible because no birds have nested within a certain distance of the walkway or within the walkway at this time. She said, "Thank you for your continued
support in managing the survival of such an important species." Do you have a date on that, Dave? Or uh I think she sent that to me uh last Friday. Okay. Thank you.
So we are again I would just like to uh say that uh Fort Myers Beach is unique in Florida in that we have uh four endangered species all nesting
here at the same time which it's a snowy clover oyster catcher lease turn and black skimmers and there's no other place in Florida that has all four
um types of birds nesting in our area. So, we are very unique and excited and we all want to try and work uh to to ensure that the uh all of the birds, including I missed the snowy clovers.
Um, and they're here, too. Uh have have a successful nesting season. Um, as I've always said, we want to try and live in balance with the people we share the beach with. And
uh, because the birds like to use it during low population times, we can all work to share in their success. So, I just wanted to give that report to the and then and I'm I was so excited when
the posting happened last week. Boom. the the skimmers and the turns came immediately. It was like they know they wait for the posting. Isn't that bizarre? We had none. None. You have to put the signs out so they know where to go. Yeah. What? What? You have to put
the signs out so they know where to go. I couldn't I just honestly was amazed. Shar Sharon, I might add also I don't know if you've been out um but when I met with Brianna last Thursday Oh. Um one of the very first nests
is behind your condominium. Okay. A snowy clover or Uhhuh. Snowy clover. I looked. I couldn't see any. Okay. Yeah, it's it's um they were in the process of roping that particular nest off. Okay. But it's the first one that I've seen on
the south end or where our properties are. Okay. I don't know, Dave, have you seen any of Not not any yet. No. Okay. But we've we've had a we've had a considerable increase in the use of our beach compared to last year. Last year
we barely had anyone there and this year we've actually had daily people. Uh there's there's a lot of beach umbrellas and chairs that are going up in the morning and they're all filled. So, I'm
sure that's going to die off now that we're getting into May as normal normally happens. But, uh, we had a huge surge through the month of April on just beach population down on the 6,000 area.
Okay. So, that probably had a little bit to do with pushing them further south towards a critical wildlife area. So, Okay. Any other? All right. Thank you
everybody. This brings us to members items. Bill, anything you want to bring up? I need to finish up what I started with the FWC about compaction. I haven't made any headway in the last two weeks, but hopefully
next committee I will have something for you. So on that, if I may touch on it, I know um we included me on your communications with uh our coastal engineer. Yeah. Um did you have did you understand the gist of what he was saying or did you have any questions on
that? I think he referenced another name that I haven't tracked down. Right. So um so he typically deals with compactions on beach projects, beach nourishment projects because FWC requires us to till
it to a depth and then um he verifies the uh pressure with the cone penetrometer to make sure that we're meeting the the state spec for that beach for to make it sea turtle uh
friendly for nesting. Um the the the raking issue are to see compaction or uh any um effects of raking uh positive or negative uh from
um on the beach from the raking. Uh I'm not sure you're going to get answers from the state on that necessarily. They they what they regulate is more the
uh tire to ground pressure. Everybody everybody sees sees the 10 PSI or um as a tire pressure. It's not a tire pressure. It's the the weight of the vehicle, the surface area of the tires and getting that ground to um or the
vehicle to ground pressure is what they is what FDP is going to regulate. So my point is is that you may not get your answer there, but I do understand um the gist of uh your question and
um I think it's something that you would need to basically go and measure you know measure yourself or ourselves or to see rake to non-rake areas if there is an effect and what is that effect.
Well, you uh you have that equipment. I do not I do not have a comb penetrometer. I've talked to um our coastal engineer about it and uh I can look into the cost and get that to you to see if it's something that's uh worth
investing in. Um but uh I've mentioned it to town staff as well, management to look into it because what we're really trying to to solve is to have a set of rules that we
can talk to people about to stop the harassment of the betrayers. Sure. Yeah. Data driven management is always encouraged. Absolutely. Okay. Is is it true I have a question, Chad,
while we're on the subject. Uh I was something that I was questioned about last week um last Sunday um by the uh a couple one of the turtle time ladies. Uh it they mentioned that it's possible
that it's not actually an overco compaction issue that it is possible to have an underco compaction issue where the sand is too soft or there's not enough compaction and that when it rains the turtle nests the the tops of them
cave in like an hourglass. Is that is that accurate? I can get back to you on it. I I I feel, you know, I I want to say, yeah, that that's possible. And, you know, it's it's kind of like that that mine sand is feels a little bit looser and doesn't quite hold as well as the the finer
grain native sand. Um, so that kind of lack of compactability um issue with that. Um, maybe I mean it's I I did a little research after the conversation that I had uh w with the the turtle town lady
and it seems that when the mama turtle makes the hole that she pushes the sides out and the mouth of the hole and actually compacts the the sand to her liking.
It's a it they they've survived for millions of years for a reason. They know what they're doing. Yeah. So I so I was I was just wondering if if if the under compaction I can understand where over compaction would be an issue because it makes it difficult to dig. But I'm wondering if there is actually
an issue with if if the sand is slightly undercompacted. I can ask the question. But the other thing to remember is the number one thing that compacts sand is is water. It just makes it like concrete. So, and these nests are laid during rainy season. So, and that's why
we have dunes, you know, that's why they go and seek the higher sand in the dunes and that must be kind of a happy medium of getting rained on but staying dry enough so that the eggs survive. They don't drown out and you know probably a compaction factor in there as well. That
that's the sweet spot. I just I just thought it was interesting. Okay. Thank you. Anything else, Bill? Okay, Sharon. Okay, so last month when I was heatedly talking about my burn being
gone, I brought up Bill Perry. Okay, and I think I presented him in a negative light and I do not want to say it that way because he's been a friend of mine for 20 years and he does a beautiful job on our beach constantly. He's got a lot
of information. He's careful. He's everything. So, I'm just openly apologizing for having put him in a bad light. He's not He's not He's my friend and I want I needed to stay that way. Okay, that's me. Anything else? That's
it. Thank you, Leo. I have nothing at this point. Okay, I only have one thing. Uh just and for the record um being involved in a in a massive project uh in my own right on the beach,
I have to uh state for the record what a tremendous job Chad has done on the beach reourishment. Uh it's been a massive project. Uh I was at the meeting
several years ago uh before Ian where the Leonardo Arms uh board presidents came in and we're begging the town council to do something because they said the next storm is going to is going
to severely damage and our complex. and the next storm came in and severely damaged and crippled their complex. And the I guess tenacity of
Chad in getting the funding, getting the beach put back together on both the north and south ends has been a tremendous asset for the island. So on behalf of the committee, thank you for
your efforts, Chad. Absolutely, Chad. Y'all are welcome. It it is a team effort. Um you know, we have a great coastal engineer uh with the town. Michael Poff has been um a great resource. Um I know our contractor has
had their challenges, but um uh you know, it's not an easy business and as well as Lee County staff has provided a lot of technical assistance and uh guidance um you know, just phone calls and talking things out.
So, I appreciate um and uh you know, he gave me goosebumps. I appreciate it. [Music] Rox and that's all I had. So, uh staff update, you're up, Chad.
Uh so, um where are we at on the beach project? We are, uh down south on the south segment. Very important segment that we added, uh some years back to the project. And uh I know everyone is
happy. Well, I shouldn't say everyone. Never speaking absolutes, right? A lot of people are happy to see that that sand out there. Um it's a great thing. Uh unfortunately, we did have to resort to trucking. Um I, you know, I was really looking forward to getting that
native sand out there. Um but you know, the trucking sand, it's not the worst thing. It it works. It'll blend in. And uh IC has done a great job. um you know, lining up those trucks as I'm sure you've all seen and uh making the best
use of that staging area. Uh a big thanks to Miss Joe, uh um Butterfield, I believe is her last name. I always sometimes I say Butterworth, sometimes I say Butterfield. I just I think it's Butterfield. Miss Joe. um her and all of
the private property owners who have selflessly uh offered up their properties. Um I know your neighbor, Mr. Kurt. Um I mean, there's so many. I mean, we we really when whenever we get this project done, we need to recognize all of these
property owners who um at no benefit to themselves and a tremendous public benefit have um offered up their their properties to stage multiple multiple beach projects that we've been involved in for the last two plus years, nearly
three years now. So, um anyway, back to update. So, uh big project. It's down south. That area, that shoreline is closed off. Please stay out of the caution tape area. Um, stay away from the pipe and all the wet sand that is around that
pipe. You will sink very quickly. It's dangerous. Stay away from the bulldozers that are moving and the piles and all that good stuff. So, um, we're down there. Uh we have gotten some positive information or positive feedback from FD
and FWC and we're expecting a uh an updated update to our permit um to extend uh our our time that we can work down there. Um and that is a testament to
um you know our engineer, our contractor um and uh and town staff doing the right thing by the wildlife, managing the project appropriately, following the conditions of the project permit. Um
whenever you do things right, people trust you and they trust us to finish it right. we've uh employed or the contractor at their cost has employed uh additional bird monitors. Um and just as a side note, everybody knows that that
truck sand is very expensive. Um I think the effective rate for the dredge sand is around $25 and contracts that come forward with truck sand are anywhere from 70 to $100 a cubic yard. So, it is a tremendous cost that our contractor is paying for
out of their pocket, millions of dollars um to get this project done as soon as possible. So, thank you to Atna for recognizing the challenge that we're up against and um uh you
know doing what needed to be done to get it done. Um after this south segment, we will be moving to the central segment. Um, and we'll wait and see what our permit says with regards to our timeline on that. We have about 200,000 cubic yards to pump in the central segment.
It's a very long shoreline, so you would expect more for that length of shoreline, but um we're mostly going to be putting sand from the erosion control line seawward. Um just due to uh folks not signing up for the easement, not
participating in the project and the town council's decision to instead of building up and creating uh a low spot landward of the project um just to build out. So there won't be much of an elevation. We won't get the full design
there, but we will be building out and extending the width width of the beach. And that do you have an idea of where that's going to occur on the central part when we're going to break back and move and and start pumping the central? Yeah, I would anticipate in the next
week or two. I would say by at least by by miday if not sooner. And roughly street wise or locationwise on the island. So, we're going to be going from Red Coconut is about where they stopped. If you if you walk that beach, you'll see a a significant change in elevation
around there. And that's where um they stopped and we'll start building from there, working their way south to about Lark. To about Lenark. Yes, sir. So, we'll see how it goes. Produ uh production should increase because they're getting a lot closer to um the
dredge. So instead of pumping, you know, seven miles or nine miles or whatever it is, they'll be pumping, you know, three, four, five miles and and working their way. Um and adding those boosters incrementally rather than you know part of the issue
with the mechanical issues is that you know because of the the triple header of storms you know we got pushed back and then all of a sudden it's a it's a rush to add you know all of a sudden you're adding two three boosters right away and trying to pump
and it was it you know the the storms on top of the mechanical issues to do that. um uh very quickly rather than incrementally um presented some challenges. So, we do expect production to increase and hopefully give us uh a little bit quicker beach building on the
central. Do you have a time frame on the uh update for the beach closure because I think originally it was loosely based on today being the last day or Right. So, uh yeah, we should update that. I will get with Nicole and get a um a public service announcement out. And uh
again uh we should be out of the south segment completely demobilized uh by miday if not sooner. It just depends on production, weather, mechanical. I hate I hate even giving days these days. I mean how many times you know you can
always finish on time if you extend the deadline. So Chad, I I walked the beach a couple weeks ago and saw the the mound by Red Coconut that drop about a couple feet. Actually, it's foot and a half, couple
feet, but further south of there in the water, there was what we call a logger head sticking out in low tide, but it's not sticking out in high tide. Is can that something be done with that at all? Because it's it's going to it's a danger is what I'm getting at. Tree stump. It's a tree stump or pole or something stuck
in the water. Yeah, I'll go and I'll go and ride the beach at low tide and see and we can um either wrap a chain around it and try and yank it out or uh maybe get our uh water debris um contractor to maybe go and yank it
out. Um it's in that central area is what you're where it is. So, and and the beach does look nice. I mean, you did a great job with everything. So, looks great. Thank you. I wish I could take all the credit, but it's definitely a team effort. I appreciate it. Um, that that big steam shovel could pull it out.
Wrap a chain around the big steam shovel. And then is that the bulldozer? Is that Is that Wisconsin speak for a bulldozer? Steam shovel. Well, it's the one the big hook. The It's Oh, the excavator. That's a steam shovel.
Wisconsin. Gotcha. Um, I hadn't heard that one yet. I call it the school, but I understood exactly what he said. I still call it a steam shovel. Gotcha. Yeah. Okay. Learn something new every day. Just another update. So, we have our waterway debris
um project going on. Uh that last day was yesterday by the contract. We are going to go back to council and ask for a few more days. We uh no more money would be spent on the not seed. Um but they are still pulling out a lot and
we've budgeted for to go up to that. So, we're we're looking to um keep pulling out debris while we have the budgeted funds to do it. And then uh our harbor master is
um uh preparing a kind of a a status canal status canal by canal and we're going to discuss with FEMA kind of where we're at. And unfortunately, these these canals are just they collect a lot of garbage. I
mean, anything that's blowing around or gets kicked around or whatever over, you know, with these storms um flooded out um has ended up in those canals. And uh while we could keep on collecting debris forever, um the the intent is to
restore navigation and get any uh debris that is within in the navigational channel of the canals to uh that's within -3 feet of the lowest drafting sorry -3 feet mean low water.
Uh how do I say this? So you have your deepest drafting vessel within three feet uh of that deepest drafting vessel at mean low water um is the kind of the criteria in the Papa G which is the FEMA guide book. So that's our mission. Um
and my point is while we could keep on collecting there's going to be more debris in there but we're our purpose our our mission is to restore navigation. So, we'll get a status update on navigation and how our harbor master feels about that and go back to
FEMA, see how they feel about it, and then present that to council and see how they feel about um uh either funding additional collection or or not, just depending on our feedback from FEMA. Okay,
I could keep going on. I don't know. I think that's it. Okay, thank you. Can I ask just The cost for trucking was $75 per cubic yard. And how much was dredge? Uh the effective rate for the dredge is around $25 a cubic yard. And trucking, you
know, it can be a lot more than $100 a cubic yard if especially if you're doing it by a single truck where you're only getting, you know, maybe 18 cubic yards um for I don't even know what the going rate is these days at, you know, $900. I'm not sure. So,
um, it's not cheap to truck, but whenever we're doing these high volume pro, uh, projects, depending on the bid, depending on the contract, around $70 to $100, but ATNA is giving that truck sand to us at the contract price of approximately $25 a cubic yard. So, they
are taking a big loss. That's great. Okay. Any other questions for Chad? No, but I I'm at a stereo beach in tennis renting now and they've move they've moved on all the sand finally. Right. It is absolutely fantastic. It is it goes out and when you're sitting looking out
you can't you can only see half a person. So it's they've raised it. They've raised the sand a lot. We're going to see half of the person's walking and then now they're at Leonardo Arms. They're already done with everybody else. So it's good. Yeah. Some very thick sections there. I mean, when
you think about uh over 10,000 cubic yards per 100 feet of shoreline, it's a lot of sand that got put in front of there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um and also some other good news, we should be putting out our ITB next week. Um I think May
8th was the date. ITV, uh invitation to bid for the planting. Sorry. Okay. Okay. Perfect. Thank you, Chad. Yes. Thank you, Chad. You're welcome. Okay. We are now down to public comment.
Okay. Please give your name. Yeah. Michael Thornton. Uh 21541 Madiraa Road. We're building there. We're not living there, but we're building there. Uh just something I want to share with uh the task force. Our HOA
president happened to be at a meeting where Congressman Donald was at. Uh this is maybe a week or so ago and he had the opportunity to ask him about federal funding for canal dredging and
Congressman Donald asked John to follow up with his office which he did. And so the response he got uh this is from Mercedes Price Harry who is the district director for Congressman
Donald's and this this is certainly not new information for probably any of you. Uh thank you for the additional insight. Unfortunately, the project isn't eligible for FEMA funding and the city
would need to make a formal appropriations request in order to receive federal funding. The window for submission opens in the beginning of February, March, and just closed last week.
Uh the city of Fort Myers Beach has many requests this round, but none include the funding for dredging of canals. And I I assume you all know that. Um she said that she will flag the DC
team in case there is an opportunity uh for an infrastructure bill in the near future. If there is something like that she will get back to us. So this I'd
pass that along. Okay. Thank you. It was just a hap Sure. He happened to be at the meeting and you know he's very interested in the health of our canal and so he asked congressman the question. Would it be possible to share that letter? Um, let me make let me
check with John John Mer, our HOA president, and if he's good with it, I'll pass it on to send it to Chad. To Chad, I have his email. Okay. Um, one other thing. Um, I'm only at at the beach maybe two
or three days a week, but I think it was last week I noticed that some new uh light poles were installed. three on MadiRaa Road and three on Williams Drive and they look like they have turtle
lights on them. And my question is, first we didn't know that was going to happen. Is that happening up and down the beach? Yes, it's part of the part of the new lighting project that FPL is putting in. Okay. That is supposed to be turtle light compliant. Yeah. Right.
Okay. It was just curious because I we weren't aware of it. Maybe we just missed a communication. I'm not sure. But yeah, it's been it's been advertised, but apologies for not getting to y'all. Yeah, that's fine. Now, we do have some
street lights that are not turtle friendly. Um, are they going to remain? Are they My my understanding the poles will remain, but my understanding is all street lights will be uh friendly, will be converted.
Gotcha. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Appreciate you uh sitting through the meeting. Okay. Any other public comment? Seeing no one here, I'll close public
comment. Okay. Next on the agenda is a MURF award. Um does anyone have anybody they'd like to nominate this month? I'd like to throw Chad out, but he can't. We don't like to throw chat.
No, I I think there's a there's a I don't think you can put staff on as a MURF award recipient, but that would be an accolade. Uh he's done a great job and I mean that sincerely, Chad. I
appreciate it. I can back that up from our condo perspective. Every question I've asked Chad's had to answer. Same with me. He's done a great job. Appreciate it. So, you can you can having no nominations right now. Will Am I allowed to make a nomination? Sure. I
don't know if I can nominate y'all. That may be the same kind of uh conflict of interest. But I just want to thank the uh Little Eststerero Island um uh what is it? Nonprofit would be the right way to say it. Oh, the one you have the Friends of Little Island.
Friends of Little Eststerero Island, I'm sorry. Um, thank you for funding the FWC signs. I know the FWC uh uh Shorebird staff appreciates uh uh Mr. RDE's um
uh charitable uh purchasing of the signs. Um we're working through some um permitting issues with the the the structure that he um constructed and we're going to get that on the uh get with FTP and FWC to
make sure everybody's on board. But uh we now have um some great educational signs. They're um basically what had what FWC had before. Um, but I guess it's an act of Congress for them to get funding and get things out there and we could do it quick. Uh, Mr. I should say
we, but Mr. Ed could do it quick and get it out there. And, um, I, uh, I truly appreciate, um, you know, the community and town staff synergy to get something done that needed to be done.
Okay. So, that I don't know if you're aware that those CWA big those were the same signs that you brought in. Yeah, they were erected right after Ian within four or five months after Ian. But then
uh Helena Milton. Yeah, Helen and one who knows they were gone after Milton. And so anyway, we we raised the money to replace the signs again. And then this time we uh also provided the material to
construct the framework in the manner that it was uh constructed originally by FWC. And so um I got the uh I got the information from FWC and everything was done uh to
their specifications or measurements what whatever it is whatever you want to call it. Anyway, so they are back now. originally like they were uh preheed back in 2008 or 2010 or
something. Well, nominating you might be a little disingenuous, but the Little Eststerero, what is it? The Little Eststerero, the Friends of Little Eststero Island. Friends of Little Eststerero Island nonprofit would certainly be a recipient
for the MURF award. And given the recommendation and acknowledgement from staff, I would like to make the recommendation that the friends of Littlest Island not profit receive the MURF award this and I would I would second that.
Okay. Any other nominations? Okay, I have one on the floor. All those uh any further discussion? All those in favor for the MURF award as presented say I. I. I opposed. Motion carries. Thank you for
the re Thank you for the suggestion. You're welcome. That'll be great. I'll I'll I'll make sure it gets posted on the uh wonderful on the group uh the group page so that everyone knows. Um we have almost 500
members and probably I would say 90% of them are actual uh either residents or people that stay stay on the island during season. So, they have a vested interest and they do kind of pay attention to what goes on down there.
Good. Excellent. Okay, that being done, agenda for next meeting. Anybody want to throw anything out? Good. Okay. Uh probably just to follow up on
on the uh beach reourishment and where we are because that is a big issue. Okay. Yeah, we can place that as an agenda item. Okay. Hopefully we're done. And then we should have we should have some uh
uh nominations coming back from the Malhallen Award. And I don't know, normally they put a 30-day limit on that. Do we want to extend it out an additional amount of
time or call it just for a 30-day nomination? In the past, they had 30 days. What does the committee think? you want to keep it open. If you're unsure, you're going to
get numerous responses. Um, let's just take a look at the number. We'll put it up for discussion and we can either extend it or not, but we should put it, this is just an agenda item, so we should put that on as an
agenda item. Okay. Uh, the other thing I would like to talk about, and I kind of shot you an email, and I don't want to put you on the spot on this, but again, with all of the construction going on the island, I think we should
have numerous paint collection times for people so that we can get rid of excess paint, excess um stain, excess whatever. uh because
there's a lot of construction going on and if we can get like twice a month, you know, dumps are able to remove the excess, I think that would help a lot of people on the island and help keep the
environment a lot of, you know, from it going into an empty sand lot, so on so forth. Not that people would do that, but yeah, I'll see if we can get and uh revive the uh um hazardous waste collection of days
past and try and revive that practice. Okay. I'd like to put that in so we can at least discuss it and announce it to the people if we can get something set up. Yes, sir. Yeah. Okay. Good idea. Do we have a date for our next meeting? Um it should be the second, the 11th then.
Wednesday of of June. June 11th. June 11th. All right. June 11th it is. And with that, we've reached the end of our agenda. So, I will accept a
motion to adjourn. Wow. 11:07. What time is it? 11:07. We got time for, you know, a little time before lunch. Yeah. I'll make that motion to adjurnn. Motion's made. Is there a second? Seconded. Okay, made and seconded. All those in favor say I. I
oppose. Thank you very much.