Is this a women's group? I love it. We are always up for actively seeking to make it more diverse, but it hasn't always been just trying to recruit a
male. He said no, that's true. It's harder to get men. I don't know if you brought a tablet or computer. Here's a printout of our. Oh, okay. The presentation
I'm doing. Okay. Denise. Have there. What is it? It's just the presentation printout that I'll be giving. But you all bring since you bring your tablet, I
just figured I wouldn't. To order the clock in front of me. Says 602. And this is the sustainability meeting for April
17th, 2025. We meet 6 to 8. Is our cut off time, and we're always seeking new members. And we're very excited that we have
a new member tonight. Yay! How many are allowed to be on the committee? Do you have? We have roll call, please. Let's do roll call. And then we will certainly
answer that. Okay. Okay. Denise Menino here. Yvonne neon here. Harold Pickett, present. And
Diane Brown here. Right. Everyone is present tonight. Yes. That's exciting. So. Our
next. Are you going to answer her question? There typically have been. We have. Yes. So we have five full time or I guess
official members and two alternates. That's the makeup of the committee. So at this time, each of you is a full time or permanent, I suppose member. So
we still have a couple of openings. I just got a letter that I'm now a full time. Yes. I'm not an alternate. That's exactly right. So that was what happened when the board
appointed Diane. They moved Siobhan up into one of the permanent, not alternate spots. And so I believe that's what we have now. Great. Watch out.
We'll cover some introductory ground in just a few moments. But have you had a chance in looking at your backup to check
out the sustainability minutes for March 2025? And. Are you in agreement with them? Yes. I'll move to approve the minutes, and
I'll second. All in favor? I. Okay, terrific. Great. So we're so excited. Diane. Welcome. Thank you. And we are just
hoping that, you know, we can spend the first part of our meeting just sharing a little bit about how we came to be
here. So since you're the I'm the new member, tell us. I was taking the Citizens Academy of class, and I was going through
some of the departments and kind of just, you know, musing about which one I would like to join. And then when my friend Linda
liker saw and met Holly at the with the giveaway, it was the Touch-a-truck City open house. Yeah. And I was so excited to talk to her about the openings.
And she's like, yes, come on, do it. And I'm like, okay, you talked me into it because I have a big interest in sustainability. And there's so
many different facets of that word that I was interested to see. What kind of definition that you would be working with, but it's nice to see
socioeconomic and the environment. And there are and then there are tree branches of those three that I'm sure that that go out to. Absolutely. So
I, I started out in teaching special education for ten years, and then I got into a riff with the powers that education
usually. No, in in Illinois, in Chicago. So when I got into that, it was almost like, I love reading. So I started my own publishing company. For 25
years, I ran a publishing company, and I published all sorts of nonfiction fiction, got to know a lot of people who love
to read, love to write, met a lot of directors, actors out in Hollywood and other places, and just absolutely loved editing
books. So with the advent of Amazon and they're getting into the book buying business and selling, I, I think that that's
what probably was the beginning of the end of the publishing business for me, but always in a transitionary state. Amazon I
would love to do something like pair up with a nonprofit, use their membership, and put forth products for the membership to
buy in order to give back to the authors or product. People like artists and things, so it'd be 50 or 25% to the artist, 25% to
the nonprofit, 25% to the organization. And then the overhead costs would be the other one. And I thought, you know, I had a guy who who named a business the Three P's profit.
Well, actually, it was people, places and profit. And it was all about trying to give back to the artists who feel slighted when they're not getting recognition and the remuneration
for their work. That's interesting, because sometimes sustainability is presented as three P's. Also, planet, people and profit. Exactly. And that's
I don't know if he got it from that, but it was it resonated with me because it was all about connecting those three together. Someday it might be what is at
the foundation. You know, the foundational fabric of everything. I mean, that that's our hope. Well, the connectivity that will be the way that things
are and, you know, equal, equal opportunity for people who give and need recognition, don't necessarily need monetarily, you know, to be recognized, but they
want to be at least thought of once in a while. I feel it's really important to say I appreciate you when a lot of people don't get that recognition, maybe where they
work, or maybe their family or other places, but people I don't know, it's always a two edged sword. It's like, so what do you want? What are you really after?
So how did you get to Tarpon? I was in Saint Petersburg. Funny story. And it was at the start of Covid, and I lost my job
because the person I was working with retired, he couldn't sustain Covid. So I decided, well, unemployment is not going
to be a good thing. And I had an author that I knew from New Mexico. So unbeknownst to me, I got married, went out there, and
then that didn't work out. And seven months later, I bounced back here. And the guy that I worked with had a referral for a counselor. I was doing office
management, running for offices with about 25 to 30 employees and scheduling about 150 clients a week. So I I've always been
kind of a multitasker and love to interact with people. So at that point, I came back here, he gave me $10,000 to shut up and
leave him alone. Oh, so I did, and I landed here, got a job in Palm Harbor, lived with a friend for a while, got my own place,
and kind of bounced from. There to here. Yeah, and now I'm thinking about buying a house. So at 65, I will get a house.
That's great. That's my manifestation. Maybe. Carol, can you tell give a just a brief bio of how you ended up here, too.
So. Let's see. So for a long time in my life, I was a philosophy professor. And then I left the academy and started
doing theater at a radio show. I made film, I did some TV, and then. And then I had made a film
about an artist named Robert Stackhouse. And now we are collaborators. So we've been collaborating for over 25 years together. And we make art. We do
sculpture, paintings, prints, mostly paintings. Now about water, ocean, climate change and
ways to mitigate it. And we show in in galleries, museums and do things all around the around the
world. Wonderful. And you can learn about us. You did a. Eight part short series on us. It's
called High Watermark. So you can Google that. It's on. It's on TV all the time. People are always saying, oh. So. And
that's about they used our art to talk about issues about climate change and environment.
And so it was I did the Citizens Academy. There number of years, six years ago maybe. And so I knew about being on these
committees. And this is obviously the committee for me. Yeah, I think I did that too. I just resonated with this. Yeah, it fits with what I do. Yeah.
And my belief system too. Yeah yeah yeah. Thank you. And I live in tarpon. I used to I lived in Saint Pete for 15 years. I grew
up in Jersey and we had a very large. Commercial building with a studio, and we lived in it. And then when we sold that, we
moved here. Yeah. I think that's wonderful. I love the fact that you've been working and live in the same place. And thank you. It just does resonate with the Sustainability Act, doesn't it?
Yeah, yeah. Do you want to. Yeah. Introduce how you came to be here. I moved here to windsurf from Buffalo, New York,
and you still do? Yeah. Oh. How wonderful. And I. Your sustainability character for the hat says it all. That's my
story. And I'm sticking to it, you know. But there's more. I, I'm from an artistic family in Buffalo, New York. Grew up in a beautiful neighborhood full of
trees. My parents were total tree lovers. My mother helped planned the reforestation of Buffalo, New York, after the
Dutch elm disease hit. Yeah. And so I, I gravitated toward trees and gardening because of them. But I, I ended up being an art
director, really following in my father's footsteps because he was an art director. My mother was a ballerina, very beautiful.
And then I studied in Italy for a year in Siena and studied design. And then I came back to the United States, and I was in
a group called the Young Adult Conservation Corps, Carter ERA program, and I built many parks in, in disadvantaged
communities. And then I decided I needed a real job. So I became an art director for advertising agencies. I did that for many years until my husband and I
came down to windsurf for a vacation, and we saw Fred Howard Park and my sister in law said previously, she said, you should move here. And I said, I'm not
moving to Buffalo. I'm not moving to Florida. There's no culture. I saw that water out of Fred Howard and I looked at we both looked at each other and we
said, we got to move here. So it took us three years. Now I'm a landscape designer and I love it, and I'm going to be 70 next year. And I'm still working and
I love what I do. And I started a garden group called the Garden Fairies years ago. Is it still going? No, because I, I just work all the time now. It's an
art group. She's incredibly creative. Oh. Thank you. Well, you guys are not going to believe this, but I. My aunt was an artist for over 50 years in
the Rockford, Chicago area. Oh, nice. So we got to see all the Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Yes. Yeah, Chicago has quite a few. Blew me away. Yeah, yeah, but
it's nice being among friends. Yeah, I moved here in 2012. It's a long story how we came to be
in this area. But in 2012. 2012? Yeah. My daughter, I was working, living in Seattle, working for Recreational Equipment Incorporated, and they
are extremely sustainability minded, steward Earth stewardship. And that was part of our business understanding that if we didn't keep the
environment healthy and keep the human connection to the environment really alive and well, then we wouldn't have an outdoor retail business. But
from every level of that company, there is a lot of sustainability. I worked there for 21 years, but before that I was, you know, just being into natural food, you know, for a
very long time. Becoming a vegetarian when I was very young caused me to pay attention to how food was grown. And, I don't
know, I was thinking about it today. It's there's too many details, obviously, but every path of my life has been
directed to healthy environment, healthy eating and sustainability of the human soul through all of those things. Because I feel like, you know,
you can you can be in an environment. I went to LA about at the beginning of March, and I felt there was so much cement that I just felt like I could
barely breathe, you know? So there is a there's a reflection of life that comes to us through nature and I it can't be
underestimated. But I've been so fortunate that everywhere I've gone, I've been kind of nurtured and have gotten involved in Rei. I was involved with the green
team and our particular store. I was involved with the people that worked at headquarters that were in sustainability. I helped to eliminate a huge waste pool
from the company, but the whole time and I was involved with with human powered transportation, obviously, because it was very much into the bicycles. But, you know, it
always led me to the right people. And now I'm working in Clearwater at Nature's Food Patch. But back in at where my roots were in natural food. So why did you come here? It it's a
really long story, but my son in law's son from his previous marriage had open heart surgery. Heart transplant. And passed
away after it happened. And he was really wanted out of that area. You know, he wanted to come back to a sunny area. He was feeling just too depressed to be in Seattle. So when he
came here and we fought, we followed them. When they went to Europe, we didn't go to live in Europe, but we would visit them there. But it was one of those
things where I told my daughter, I visited you a lot in Europe, but don't expect a lot from me when you move to Florida. But Paul was raised in Palm Harbor
and we came here in February of 2012 and really fell in love with Tarpon Springs. I mean, they were just off of Klosterman and we rented bikes, and we went
riding all over the place because we're really into that. And it was February, and you couldn't ride a bike in Seattle in February. Yeah, thinking, oh,
this is wonderful. Today I've spent my day, spent two hours paddling, you know, out on my paddleboard. So yeah, there's an opportunity. It's beautiful, you
know, to interface with nature that way. It's a beautiful place. It is, it is. I feel the West Coast way over the east coast of Florida. Yes. Yeah,
totally. Never would I have thought about moving to the East Coast because it's too commercialized. Yeah. Holly. Oh, okay. Me, I am the I am the
sustainability coordinator. So you all know that the staff liaison, I have just had a lifelong interest in sustainability. I think it started in middle school for me when, you know some the city
that I grew up in, they did a whole recycling campaign and presentation and they had this character. His name was Duncan Trash. I don't know, it was all about like, you know, cleaning up, obviously, like
beautification and everything. And I don't know, it just it just stuck with me. I did all kinds of, you know, recycling, like education stuff in middle school. All of my science fair projects were all about, you
know, how can we speed up decomposition? I've just always been very interested in, you know, nurturing the Earth. I just feel super connected to it. Went to college, was a geology
major. Where does the geologist for a few years, but decided that I wanted to be on more of like the planning and, you know, like conceptualizing and understanding how projects come to be sides. So then I went and
got a master's degree in city planning from Georgia Tech, which was an amazing experience. And yeah, I've just always been super, like I said, connected to just environmental causes and
work. And then I did work as a planner for several years, but then I married someone in the military. So commenced my turn to move around the United
States, if you will. So yeah, moved to Florida in about 2009. Just yet. Then I work for a regional planning council there and in the Pensacola area, and I
took a number of years to do family things. And anyway, once my kids were of the right age and this job opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it. It's been an amazing fit for
me because I feel like also in the interim, also worked as a substitute teacher. I taught at an outdoor preschool, so loved that job. That was probably my favorite job ever. Just because teaching kids to love the earth
is like, I think, foundational, right? For just bringing them up and understanding the value that is inherently here. And so yeah, so I've done a ton of science education as well. Worked as a
substitute teacher for several years just into, you know, again, like trying to just be sustainable in your personal life. Take care of yourself. You
know, wellness is super important to me. So this is just a great job for me. So I've loved it and I and I love being able to have our meetings once a
month. And what we try to do is we try to talk about issues. Keep you all up to date on what we are implementing as far as the staff aspect of our sustainability plan, which you now have a copy of. So that's
kind of the bulk of our of the sustainability department. So I am I am the sustainability department. We're under public services. So you met Tommy who's the director. And so the bulk of
my programing is about implementation. But there are so many small programs and initiatives and research and different things that come out of having this sustainability plan as our guiding document. So
on a daily basis, I do a number of things, and I'm going to give everyone a little update on kind of the status. Now that we're two years, we're not quite two years into having the plan
adopted, but essentially we're in the second year of implementation. So we're going to kind of give an overview and just bring you up to speed. Diane, on where everything stands. And we're fortunate
tonight we didn't have a super stacked agenda, or else we wouldn't have had any opportunity to really chat like this. But it was. Yeah, it's
wonderful when you look at the, the all the city departments, all the committees, I think that the foundation is that we have a
place to live and planet Earth ultimately, you know, so it's it makes what we're doing very relevant, you know, because
we're looking at ways to maintain our contribution without, you know, it kind of reminds me one of the things that I always said is like,
leave no trace. You know, leave no trace. You take pictures. But that's all. And print shouldn't be. Yeah. Your footprint should be very small on the planet. And
that's what we're hoping we can do at a collective level. Piece it together with a lot of the other communities in Florida. Piece it together with the
state, you know, with the country and with the world. And Holly's been doing a bang up job. Thank you. Just awesome.
I'm so impressed. Every time I leave. I love her energy. I mean, she hasn't been here that long and she's done a really great job. Thank you. Ten months. Well just approaching. Yeah. Ten months. So less than a
year. I can't wait to hit that one year anniversary. It is. It really is. It's just I love coming to do my job. I really, really do. So thank you all for that encouragement. That makes me feel good. So excited to be
here. Good. Well, and I will tell y'all, you know, I participate in a variety of networks around Florida. The we have a Florida Sustainability Directors Network, which is actually merged in with sort of
a Southeastern Directors network. But we had our Florida chapter call today, and it is such a source of encouragement. And I just want to let you all know that you hit the nail on
the head when you say what's happening in other communities around Florida. Florida is a unique state, as we all know, having transported here from various other places, but there are so many people dedicated to doing sustainability work in
this state, and it is heartening. And there are so many people sharing great ideas and, you know, sharing how they've implemented, you know, different plans and worked on
different projects. And there's always someone willing to share resources and ideas. So I can't take credit for just, you know, everything being, you know, for me, I just like to pick stuff up
and run with it and then, you know, try to infuse it with, like you said, energy and information from other places. So I just I do feel very like, bolstered on days where I get to hear about what other people are
doing, you know, in their various communities around the state. It's very encouraging. So don't ever feel Tarpon Springs is amazing, and there are lots of other cities that are doing,
you know, just such good work. I was just talking to one of the movers and shakers of Safety Harbor who's very involved in, in the whole political situation
there, and they're having a lot of problems with their tree, with tree removal there. And they're like, she told me they're looking to hire a sustainability coordinator. Oh,
wow. So I said, well, if there's anything we can do to help you out, you know, definitely. I wish the Hoa's would hire a sustainability coordinator. I know I think they have no clue
on what they're doing for the environment. And their invasive tree definition is not they're just willy nilly moving trees or cutting them down without regard
for where you'll start. You'll start being more informed as you're as you're going along. But go ahead and in this month, read, you know, read the plan
and see where we're at. But we you kind of missed last month's presentation was on the urban forestry management. And that is
so encouraging because there's I feel like we're really on the right track. Yes, absolutely. And. Sorry, PBS last night had a
fantastic program on Nova about trees. Oh, great. And there's a scientist, a PhD postdoc who. He
was the guy who who said that by planting trees, we could overcome. And that got him into a real box because communities
interpret that as monoculture. And but it's an integral system. It's just not. So he got a lot of lot of pushback. So he went
back to the drawing board and he's started. An international program to plant trees all over
the world. And they they have come up with like there's 3 trillion trees and also better
ways of recommending how to do urban forestry and, and also at farming, you know, and one of the examples he brought up was
that they could see from because they have drone footage of, of everything and satellite footage and they, they so he, he. Talked
about this situation in Costa Rica where they go grow arabica coffee. It's, it's understory.
Robusta is grown out in, in the sun. But it's not it's lower quality. But that is an integral system. You could you send the link to Holly and I will. And
then she can send it to us. But we need to stay on. On task here tonight. Okay. But I really would love to hear. I would love to watch it. Yeah, it's
something that we could all. I mean, maybe for the future, we could talk about that more. Okay, that sounds great. And it's on PBS. Just go and search it. Right. And it's Nova. It's
nova. Right? It's Nova. But I'll send you. I'll send you. If you had the link to the particular program, you probably watch it on demand. Yeah. On demand. And I'm sure that Shannon will be
back with a urban forest management plan update sometime in the in the near future, so we probably won't go another month or two without without hearing an update from her. But I'll
give you a short one tonight as well when we get to that. So we're on number two is the Sustainability Action Plans implementation update. And that's something that we do on a
regular basis that Holly will bring to us what we've tackled
so far. Of the plan. Thank you Holly. Here we are okay. So here
I might use it. Okay. So it's not exactly a quarterly update. It's just kind of a when we get to it, I want to make sure
everybody is on the same page. So what has been happening? Well that doesn't want to. Okay I
went into presentation mode and now it's frozen. So give me just a second okay. There we go. I'll just use the touch screen okay. So the action items as you all
as some of us know and then Dan for you. So in the sustainability plan we have 50 actions. And that is the meat of the plan. How we're going to
tackle some just some certainly isn't everything. But 50 actions is a lot. And the way that they are prioritized is essentially the sooner that they were put
in. As far as the implementation time frame, the higher priority that sort of designates. So we started with the 2024 implementation time frame. So
these are the first action items that were listed in the plan. And we started with net zero canopy loss policy. And then the second one is an ordinance
requiring control of invasive species on city property. The third one is land use regulations that establish appropriate wetland, stream and shoreline buffer widths. Then
another one is seawall ordinance moving into a climate action plan, a greenhouse gas reduction target, and lastly, evaluate family friendly workplace policies for local government
employees. So I'm just going to briefly go through each of these and give you an update on where each stands currently. And in case you don't understand, they
the actions aren't sequential necessarily, but they were kind of the low hanging fruit, you know, and that's what puts them
like at 2024 to 2011. So they're they're the achievable. That's right. They were pulled out of their specific sections or categories and put into a table.
And the table is a priority table rather than, as Andy said, a sequentially ordered table. So okay. So action one net zero Canopy loss policy. The verbiage
from the plan states develop a net zero Canopy loss policy through the Land Development Code and preserve habitat areas for threatened animal and plant species. So the way that we're
currently addressing this and working to implement this action is through the Urban Forest Management plan that our municipal arborist is currently working on. So she has a staff
team. I'm collaborating with her. She has brought some methodology and a vision statement to the committee over the past couple of months. So she's been here at our meetings
and everyone in this committee agreed that the methodology she proposed, which is we're calling it the 335 300 methodology, would functionally address the
net zero Canopy loss policy. So that is a policy that says everyone within the city ideally would have would be able to see three trees from their home. We would have a total coverage of
canopy coverage in all neighborhoods of about 35%. Just again, that's kind of like top down looking, thinking about what the percent of our ground cover being covered by tree
canopy is. And then the 300 is everyone would be able to access like a public green space within about a 300 meter. I think it's
a 300 meter or yard walk, one of them. Is yard. Okay. Thank you. Siobhan was like, oh, I lost the lost the measurement yard walk, which is about a five minute walk. So the goal would be that everyone, you know, somewhat of
an equitable access to green space within the city. So we're thinking that this would actually be a great way to address the net zero canopy loss, because it creates things
that can be measured. It establishes metrics. So. I am looking at buying a house, and I've noticed the zoning laws for
some of these houses are in wetlands. Would they be covered under the net canopy loss. That's a little bit of a different question, but I can definitely talk to you about the
zoning after if you want to. Just the zoning really addressed the fact that some of these plots for sale are developer friendly. So they would have
only so much land to build on, but they're building into the swamp or the wetlands. So we have a yeah, they're kind of encroaching there. Are there,
there are restrictions. So I can't speak to any particular development that's happening because I'm not in the planning department. But should you have
a question? We can. But getting we and I will get to Wetland Control's plan about how you have to be. Yes. And we also have our comprehensive plan
updates as well. So we'll get to that action in just a second. But no, that's it's a very good thing to be aware of when you are house hunting is to look at all of the like you said, the
designations. Yes. You're want to check your floodplain, you want to check all of those things just so you're aware of your potential, you know, risks and things. Okay. So the next
action is action five ordinance requiring control of invasive species on city property. Adopt and enforce an ordinance requiring control of invasive species and use of sustainable
landscaping practices on all city properties. Use integrated pest management to limit the use of pesticides on city property, and provide pesticide reduction awareness for community members and property owners. Okay, so
this is a big one in the urban Forest management plan. There will be an updated tree species list of which species are acceptable. And I'm assuming
which ones would be, you know, categorized as invasive. As far as the pest control. There was some research done on that by the previous sustainability coordinator. We haven't really
made a lot of progress as far as what. Changing the way that things are done on city property is not exactly something that, you know, happens super fast. So
these the integrated pest management part is definitely a bigger and a different chunk than the invasive species. They are in the same action, but I think this is one of those that
will ultimately the work on it will be separated into a couple of different pieces. So this is an ongoing one. You know, it's
not a not an instant fix, but okay. Next action land use regulations that establish appropriate wetland stream and shoreline buffer widths. So to your question, Diane, the
comprehensive plan for the city, which is really the ultimate guiding document for how all of our land development code can be changed and updated. And you know what it regulates. The
comprehensive plan essentially dictates that. So the Comprehensive Plan 2040 was just adopted last year in 2024, and it did strengthen wetland
protections. So one thing that it has has objectives and policies around that. So all improving the function of all wetlands is the goal obviously.
And in the future land use element. And the way that they essentially did that was through the policy which is listed here, policy 1.4.4. Their goal is to revise the Land Development Code
acreage thresholds to require all development and redevelopment adjacent to identified wetlands and or areas of significant upland habitat to assess natural systems, biological wildlife impacts, and
evaluate alternatives to eliminate adverse impacts. So that's not necessarily the only policy, but that's just one that I pulled out that speaks to this. And the other thing is
that you can no longer say a developer does want to build or gets the allowance to put something develop inside of a
wetland area they can no longer mitigate outside of the city. They need to do that inside of the city, so that the city is actually getting the benefit of
then not losing wetland area. So that's ultimately more than just one second. Yes. So that is a planning and zoning, you know,
area specialty. And as far as updates to land development code, I believe that those are that's a forthcoming thing. So
yes. Sorry. Yes. So we put all of this together, this plan. Now what influence do we have on the
implementation of this? So the plan itself is the influence I would say, because the sustainability plan was adopted by the Board of commissioners,
essentially all of these policies, that or rather the actions that we have in the plan are essentially policy statements. Right? They're saying that we need to do these
things. And by voting this document into as an adopted guiding document for the city, that's kind of where the document itself provides sort of
standing. And that is the ultimate thing, is that we're saying, well, we said that we would do these things. So now we're working along on them. I
mean, as individuals, you all are obviously in that supporting role. Still, many of you were involved in the creation of the plan and can speak to or answer
questions at any time. You know, could someone, I suppose, elected officials, you know, let me just say the plan is to proceed with implementing the
plan right, until anything changes, because it's an excellent plan and a lot of time and thought went into it. So as far as I know, this is our you
know, it's our guiding document. What's the timeline on it? So it's a ten year timeline, I believe some of these actions do
have different implementation windows. So some might be a short term. So a lot of the ones we're talking about now, 2024 to 2027 is like the goal to have them completed or implemented.
However, some that we will talk about the timeline does go out to 2035. So it is like a ten year timeline and it will be revisited yesterday. So we were
one of the things that was constantly being reiterated as we were working on it, is that we realized that it would be a living document that would be
upgraded. And what happened with the urban, you know, with the no net canopy loss was. Shannon
Brewer, our arborist, came to us and presented a, an a way of implementing it that was maybe slightly different in the wording, but it was for us to
look at and say whether or not we felt like it met the requirements that we had envisioned as we were going, as we were talking about zero net
canopy loss, which we agreed did. But when you were asking about implementation, were you saying, do you feel how we influence it? If it's if it
doesn't feel like it's maintaining the same integrity or, or spirit of that? It was written, for example, in action
five. You know, I'm really concerned about the use of pesticides. Thank you. And I know that the city, I believe
still uses roundup. Yeah, I saw I saw him on out at Sunset Beach and I was really shocked because it was right near the water, right near the water. Right. And
then we talked about that before and been told, well, that's going to be difficult. And that's what I just heard you say. But that is the thing that
could be a major help. Yeah. To everybody. And it has health implications. So it would work sustainably for the people who are using it. And not only that
it affects the animal life and wildlife, the water life and all of us who. Yeah. You know, how could the how could we as as a committee if you could get
answers for us on on how how we can you know, we've we did envision that this would be extremely limited if, if used at
all. But I, I almost am feeling that if, if, if there isn't at some point a bit of a line drawn regarding the use of these
pesticides, which we, we know have a history of destruction to human health and long term
nasty. Detriment to the environment, and they're long lived, it's not like it goes away. And I understand that. It's the same with with
phosphate detergents. You know, I mean that there's, you know, half billion year and once it gets in you, it's pervasive. So anyway, we're we're just asking. No, I think it's a great
question. Committee perspective. It's one of the things where I think we were all we all hoped that there was a hard line where, yes, we've got to look at
another solution, whether people go out with hula hoes and, and are are using that for weed control or, or we do more public
projects and explain to people, you know, we would like to have beach cleanup done with the natural formula is 30% vinegar with salt and it kills
everything immediately and do it very. So why aren't we using it? Well that's that's the. We need to stay on point here. Contact with roundup. No, that's just
the complicated easy. It's easy and it's what they use. And it's probably part of already ordered. I mean I have neighbor
who used it and I went I said what are you doing. Yeah. He didn't have any education on it. And only that we have dogs walking on the grass. We have
cats walking on the grass. And then they bring it in our house and they get it on their paws. And point of order here. We've got. Yeah, we have to come back. To what? Yeah, we'll bring it back. That is wholly why I asked
that question. I think it's a wonderful question. And I will. I mean, can we send a public can. Oh, I was just about to say that you are citizens, first of
all. So you can always use your citizen voice on issues. Right? You have opportunities to make public comments and meetings with elected officials. That's one way that you can take your
influence out. Obviously, from the staff perspective, working on things internally. So it is multifaceted, right? Just as Diane pointed out. So there's the procurement aspect. There's there could be a policy that I
don't personally know about. It's in a different department. So I definitely would have to, you know, reach out to that department, which is not a problem to do at all. And it's
just also sometimes when it's, you know, you as a person, I as a person, we all have things that are super duper important to us. And sometimes we find
resistance where it might not be as big of an issue to other people. So it's just how do we educate? How do we find that opening that opportunity, you know, discuss it in a way that's going to resonate with the
person that we're hoping will receive the message? Sometimes, unfortunately, it just takes more time. I as a staff member, I never want to obligate another department to make a change
that's not sustainable for them. As far as you know, who's going to mix up the natural solution? You know, there's going to be a lot of questions. There's going to be a lot of steps to making
that become a reality. However, it's more than possible. It's super doable. It's just a matter of, again, finding that opening and starting to work on all of those little pieces of the
puzzle. Write a letter. You could. Yeah, I think that's what we. And then and then. No, our new mayor is very invested in health. Okay. Right. He's a
vegetarian. He drives a electric car. I mean, he's a vegan. Actually, he is a vegan. I mean, he's really he's really focused on health. So. And this would
appeal to him, I hope. I would assume so. If I mean. Right, why don't we try to compose a letter? Okay. Okay. I think if you I don't know how I'm not
sure if we have to. Well, I'll do a little bit of research and see if we have to. I don't know if we have to vote. I don't know what we would need to do as far as you know, saying that you all
want to put your support behind. It's sort of like elevating an issue, I guess, as a committee. So I will figure out kind of if there's anything official we need to do behind that. But if you want, can we wait for the
next meeting and Holly will have more. Research and more research now? Answers for all of us and write some things down. And yeah, anything that you. I'm a
roundup freak. So I'm like, please stop it. Okay I agree, that's great. I mean, this is why we have meetings and this is why it is a living document. Because we can, you know, when
there is an opportunity. I mean, we can't speed everything up because I'll be I'll be buried. But we can certainly have issues that, you know, for whatever reason, might, might be pulled
to the forefront. And so we'll just, you know, evaluate that and see what we can do. Great. That's good. Okay. All right. Seawall ordinance review and revise the seawall ordinance to require all newly installed or
renovated seawalls to meet a minimum height based on current base flood projections, evaluate potential use of living seawalls and city seawall improvements. So the seawall ordinance is kind
of interesting because we don't actually permit seawalls within the city. That's a county permitting function. So we can have a policy. And I think we
could utilize like a model ordinance, but the enforcement of the actual permitting is still a little bit beyond our boundaries. But again, the comprehensive plan does address this and talk about the
importance of looking at the living shorelines or nature based solutions, soft shoreline techniques. And this is a very like emerging topic. There's so many coastal communities that
are working on and talking about, you know, living seawalls and different ways to sort of create those. And so I think this is like I said, it's going
to grow legs. It's just kind of a matter of timing. But it's been discussed and it'll, it'll stay there. It's just not a, it's not a with the other projects and plans that I'm
managing. This one's not like a two day thing, but it's and I'm always educating myself on the nature based solutions and staying on top of that potential and actually even had like a
we've had multiple presentations within some of my networks on this lately. So it's a very, very prominent issue. So we will certainly be addressing it. Where are the seawalls located?
A lot of the seawalls are actually on private property. So that's another issue, right. Is you know, the city. It would only apply then if that seawall had to be rebuilt or if a new
seawall was being built, because you can't just retroactively apply things. So, you know, it's kind of a forward thinking, like when a seawall needs to needs
work, then we would make it, you know, taller. However, we are also aware of the fact that at some point, depending on the size of, you know, the amount of water coming towards the
seawall, six inches, however much higher is not going to in some cases make a big difference, you know, but it's certainly worth visiting. This
might be a really excellent topic to review for our education okay, in the future. So maybe, maybe even if it's
possible next month, you know, just to be looking at the current philosophy on building seawalls, what we had that
living walls, several presentations on the seawall, options on that was that was for. Yeah, that was a whole
elevating around what that was. Right. Because that's a big that was that flooding issue or did they stop that that project. There is no funding for that
project at this time. So that's it's interesting. They're all different options. And there's been lots of discussions about
how to maybe do seawalls at the docks, but that would be a whole different. Yeah. I look at our
yearly hurricane season, which tests the volume of the water that the floodwalls can handle, the seawalls can handle, and I
noticed in Saint Pete, yeah, when it became a crumbling situation, then they redid it. But before that, in my neighborhood, a number of people
put in new seawalls and all of them were underwater. Yeah, we don't have we just have we have mangroves and things and we will not put the best. It's the best
defense. Mangrove, from what I understand, you know what they call living seawalls. Correct. That's that's one element or one possibility for creating one is right. Mangrove. You know better
barrier. Exactly. Kind of absorb so much CO2. I mean they are the magic miracle plant. Totally embrace your mangroves. Right.
All right, all right. Speaking of water and potentially climate related things. Action 16 climate action Plan draft a climate action plan with actions
to transition the city toward clean energy goals, including increasing onsite renewable energy production and the use of electric vehicles and alternative fuels. Create staff incentives to encourage the use
of alternative modes of transportation and the transition to electric vehicles. Okay, so status. We initiated work on the Climate Action Plan
last June. We engaged with the consultant quickly, and they did a lot of the modeling. As far as the calculations on what it would kind of what the outcomes
could be, depending on which percentages and which, you know, like amounts of certain things. We were able to transition to clean energy, such as electric vehicles, solar installations,
things like that. So we've just finalized kind of that background information in the last week or so. And, you know, I'd updated you all a couple of
times along the way as far as like, which actions were rising to the top as far as like where our policies will probably focus and that will be solar fleet electrification, small engine
electrification, building, retro commissioning, which is kind of like studying what energy efficiency upgrades we could do. And then of course, another step would be actually implementing
energy efficiency changes that were recommended. And trees obviously is the other one that I didn't put on here. But maintaining our tree canopy, you know, again, pursuing the net
zero canopy loss, trying to, you know, use the urban forestry management plan to, you know, fortify our the work that we're doing here in the city, as you
know, valuing trees because again, they do so many amazing things for us as humans. They help us, you know, get through the challenges of living in a
very, you know, I guess, impervious environment. So what was that? Why aren't we doing anything to include boats on this? This is just city actions.
So just to clarify. So the climate action plan that the plan specified was what actions can the city take for city operations. So we're not talking about personal like we're not
talking about what people can do in their homes. And we're not talking about, you know, boats or or or personal vehicles, though the, the idea is that by the city setting policies for
what we can do that would lead by example and say, and also, you know, the residents, you know, could be considering doing these same things in their homes, in their personal lives.
It has both. The city has a couple of boats, but that it and. I mean that's two we have two boats. That's not when we
were doing this, the issue of boats came up because I know because I raised it and the reply was just basically the
city doesn't have like a couple, the scale is not large. And now they are developing electric boats. Actually, it's someone in Pinellas is designing them and selling them. Yeah, that's been
that's been going for a while. But the amount of use that the boats get I mean they're certainly changes that would have a more significant impact. So you know looking at city operations, that's what we're
looking at is kind of the bang for your buck. Right. Where do you see a return on not only the investment, you know, where are you going to see savings, cost savings. And then where are we going to see the greatest
reductions in those greenhouse gas emissions to boats? What are they being used for? I they are I believe police may be fire and. Yeah. So they're free.
They're essentially emergency services related vehicles. So they're not a daily use situation. And they have hoses on them and stuff like that. But
boats create a lot. As you I know neighbors, they go out and all this stuff goes in there. So I mean it is something that is good to mention and I think
should be. So here's the, here's the, the tricky thing again is that this climate action plan is only speaking to city operations for that reason, because it's
very hard to quantify the emissions from the community as a whole. Right. So I think that there's another piece. Right. There's a there's definitely a follow on, you know, maybe
there's another chapter in our overall city resilience that's going to talk about citizen, you know, awareness and reduction and education for those things. But in this climate action plan
we're just focusing on the city operations because that just is a very clear line that we could draw. Once you start going beyond that, it's very the
waters get very muddy as far as what the city could be dictating for residents to do and are. Yes, there are potential preemption issues. So that's why
we're just doing city operations. It's a very you know, it sets out clear path and step by step process that the city could then follow to say, okay, here's what we're going to
do. We're going to start transitioning our fleet. We're going to start installing solar, you know, again, funding and all of those allowances being in
place. So. I hope that helps. Oh, and this does bring up that question though of Denise asked if I could just speak a little bit to how the Climate Action
Plan relates to the vulnerability assessment. So, Diane, for your information and awareness, we are also in the process of finalizing a vulnerability assessment and
action plan. That is a document that we receive some grant funding through the Department of Environmental Protection to create. We had a consultant for that. The document itself is
still under review with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. However, the way that these tie in is that the vulnerability assessment looks at potential
future conditions related to sea level rise, so flooding conditions related to sea level rise, as well as to rainfall,
stormwater flooding conditions. So there are maps that are in the vulnerability assessment that show those future conditions. Well, the Climate Action Plan is also talking
about how human activities essentially contribute to the, you know, current climate conditions that we have. There will be a sea level rise that's,
you know, proven science. And so looking at taking the vulnerability assessment maps and putting them in the context of climate change, and what can we do as a city to, you know,
stem any impacts from that. So by reducing our emissions, we're trying to take action to, you know, reduce the impacts of climate change on the level that
we can act as a city that is operating and trying to take ownership of the fact that, you know, we do create we do burn fossil fuels and we do create
emissions. So that's kind of the I look at the climate action Plan and the vulnerability assessment as kind of two chapters of one book. And the book that we're kind of writing is the a resilience plan for the
city. So the sustainability plan is part of that. The vulnerability assessment is part of that. The climate action plan is part of that. And the intricacy comes in making sure that they're all referencing
each other and talking about each other and that we're, you know, connecting those chapters, that they're not just like independent things. So that's it's kind of a heavy load because they've all been written
at different times and by different either groups of, you know, staff or consultants or different entities. But it's kind of part of my, my job. And my goal is to find a way to
bring all of those together. So I hope that helps a little bit. Okay. And within the Climate Action Plan, we are setting a specific greenhouse gas
reduction target. The wording from the plan was adopt an official greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, such as just for example, 30% reduction by 2030 and 80% reduction by 2050, in local
government greenhouse gas emissions. So what we kind of have come to and I did bring this to you all in the analysis. You know, we kind of arrived at
the place where the city could reach an almost net zero target. Right? So it's going to be like an 87, 88% reduction by 2050. So
it's very hard to achieve a 100% net zero goal. And why? Well, there are unknown future technologies and applications of those we don't know. We don't
know that 100% of our fleet will be able to be transitioned by 2050. You know, it's a goal that would be great, but we just don't know if that's going to be possible. There will always be a
certain amount of fuel use due to generator exercising as well as use in storms. We do have to keep city services running in the event of natural disasters.
So you know, that is just a true that's kind of an immovable one, right? At some point, sure. You could possibly have batteries. There's there are other you know, there are evolving technologies there as well. But
it's just not a for sure thing that you would say, oh, I could never it's a state level requirement still at, you know, at this time we have to have this generator. We have to exercise it once a week, you
know. ET cetera. ET cetera. So and then legacy emissions from certain processes or facilities such as, you know, the wastewater treatment process, there will always be some, you
know, gases that come from that. So that's just those are kind of the reasons that we will have an almost net zero target. But I
think that's still really great. And you know, the example in the plan was 80% reduction by 2050. So will be well you know over that in our in our targeting and in the steps that we're taking
to get there. And also just, you know, looking at what we can do, what is achievable. And so that's really, you know, a lot of cities a lot of municipalities around the
country said 100%, you know, said net zero by 2050. They're having to walk it back because they're realizing that's not realistic. Now, can they do maybe 100% of certain things?
Yes. Like I think some cities will hit 100% fleet electrification by, you know, they'll do it even before that. There are many cities that are tracking on certain areas and
kind of focusing on that. But to truly have a 100% net zero from local government operations within the next 25 years is, you know, not only that, you've got
all these cities. This is the air we're talking about. There's no containment with gas for air emissions. No. But I will say in Pinellas County, we all the cities are serious. You know,
they're every every one is doing truly their part. You know, everyone has plans. Everyone is taking actions. I mean, I think that, again, we really do value our natural environment here,
even though sometimes it it may seem otherwise. I think when you look at the local level, it there really is a lot of evidence and, and again planning and actions towards that. So no,
there are no natural barriers. But I do think that because a lot of the entities here kind of have the same mindset and do work along the same lines, that there could be a greater, you
know, impact, a greater benefit. I mean, that's our goal, you know, because we know that what we're what we're here working on is what the city can do to
improve. And I think even what Holly was saying is that 80% is a goal, very realistic. But, you know, it's super possible that
technologies are I really think in the next decade we're going to see explosion of new technologies that are going to help mitigate some of those
greenhouse gases and give us, you know, the same, same modern conveniences, but modern conveniences without, you know, without a sink hole of, of
disaster attached to them. But I think when, when it comes to connection, I mean, that's, that's what I have felt very passionate about because I came
from a city that was, you know, from a place where the public put a lot of pressure on the city to adopt a zero waste policy. Just an example. It was
quite a while ago, but it was, and it was really difficult because to inform people that didn't care, you know, and to start charging them for not
doing if they, they hadn't separated their, their trash or they hadn't put their, their compostables, you know, and in one place people were getting fined. It was there was a
learning curve. It was a big learning curve. But there were there were more people that wanted it from the public that put pressure on the city to
adopt it. Whereas here we are adopting policy and maybe there's half and half, I think. I mean, I could be more generous
60% maybe, of people that are super are aware and that really are passionate about the environment. So we've been talking since the beginning of
this committee. How do we roll it out to get to educate and inspire? Yeah, the average person. Because if you if you really want to have an effect,
it's not just what the city does, but it's what the whole community does. And you've got your snowbird. I mean, you've got people that are part timers. You've got people that are less
than part timers, you've got tourists, and they all integrate into wouldn't it be wonderful if they go back to their homes and they say, this is what we do in
Tarpon Springs when I'm there and they take they take education with them home. Yeah. So that that's a goal that we've had. And it is there's going to be so much new technology and
new ways of doing things. That's why it's important that this document is a living document, because in five years, you know what? We're going to have to revisit it, right? Because
things will be really changed. Things are moving, although things are also moving backwards. But, you know. But that I don't know. That's right. What we don't know. And we it
will be reevaluated. And as you pointed out previously, and I agree, if the technology supports us moving more quickly into some of these things. Amazing. You know, right. Why wouldn't we be able to do that
again as long as we were able to justify it from an expenditure and a, you know, return on investment and the community benefit, you know, there's so many, so many good some for
these people. Yeah. Well, you know, I, I just hope again that it's, it's, it comes into people's consciousness, as Denise has said and that, you know, she'll be presenting on
Earth Day an update to the board of commissioners. So that's an opportunity for, you know, some members of the general public to hear. So it's really just about how often we can get out and
find different ways to share this. So bring, you know, once the climate Action Plan is done and hopefully adopted, you know, that's bring it into into being into people's awareness. So one
little will have a cascade effect I believe so. Okay. So that oh and the last 2024 implementation action item is evaluate family friendly
workplace policies for local government employees. Oh actually I did want to go back really quickly though, to the to our greenhouse gas emission. Oh no it wasn't that one. It was
the Climate Action plan where it said create staff incentives to encourage the use of alternative modes. We haven't done that yet. But what we do actually, we do have a default staff incentive and it's shown in the picture.
So where the Nissan Leaf is, that's our sustainability electric vehicle. Those chargers you can see one car over that is a staff member's car charging. And I can testify to the fact
that we now have quite a hand, more than a handful of staff members who are taking advantage of the fact that we have a charger. And that's a huge we have three chargers that are for
staff, and that's a huge benefit. So if you have an electric vehicle and you work for the city, you can come to work and you can charge your vehicle instead of having to charge it at your house. And so
that's a little extra benefit. And I myself have an EV now. So I, I know. So it's fun to get to work and be like, oh no, they're all full. That's a great problem to have. So we, you know, the
people that can't use them, not the ones that are right here at City Hall. The public can use all the other chargers in the city for free, but the ones on City Hall are reserved for staff
now. So our other public chargers that are available for free use, we have four that are in the parking lot across from the library by Court Street. And do they work? They at one point
I'll get back to that. I'll get back to that. I have I have an exciting update for you on that. So we have four there at the library. We have two at the splash park, two at the
recreation center. The new city clerk's building. There were chargers there that were public facing. And they there will be they will be reinstalled. I feel
like I'm forgetting a couple rec library splash pad. So point being, the ones that have been malfunctioning in the past, there was one at the rec center
and there was one in the library area, and we have purchased new chargers. They are in the hands of one of our our electrician, sort of specialists in our project administration
department, and he's going to oversee changing those units out. And so in very short order, we should have two new units. And that as far as I'm aware,
those are the only two that were not functioning properly. But I have ordered stickers to put on all of them, you know, for people to report issues to me so that I will know if there is a malfunction. So yeah, we're
we're always we're working behind the scenes. There's slow charges. They aren't there. Level two chargers. So you know better than plugging it into the wall. But not not fast. So kind
of that that middle ground. Yes. And that's what we have on City Hall as well for staff. So yeah it's I will say it's a benefit that does make a difference. And
people are taking advantage of. And I hope that we can make a bigger like incentive program around that as well as some other things for our staff. But that's kind of like a work in
progress. Okay, so speaking of other benefits, this is another action that has so many pieces. So we it's talking about multiple kind of benefits. So the city is undertaking a pay
study right now that's ongoing. And so that study is actually looking at the living wage qualification to the extent possible under that. And then
there would be creation of, you know, related policies whenever whatever action the city decides to take. As far as the results of that pay study. So that's all under evaluation right now. But
that is very much in progress. And we do currently have a statement in our procurement guidelines about, you know, when someone wants to do business
with the city, that they need to be an equal opportunity employer. So we already have that language in place. And how about things about childcare and this. So that's kind of part of
the we do have some benefits around that. I mean we have a. We have like a flexible I guess like it's a you can set aside
pretax, you know funds for childcare purposes and things. This policy specifically talking about, you know, the flexible scheduling, the teleworking things like that. Those are some
of the things that will be evaluated. And I hope that we'll have more of an update in the near future on as far as you know, how that could contribute to when people have challenges
with their childcare or, you know, things of that nature. So, you know, we have easily available childcare. I mean, that would be ideal thing that
would that would be easily available. The what you see on paper makes it sound really simple. So I hope that there'll be something that. Yeah, I, I a
number of I mean businesses have it and it makes well the insurance was the biggest detriment to having healthcare on site at most corporations. Yeah. I mean I tried so hard to
get them to understand that your employees would not be able to take off if the, you know, child was sick because they have the facilities right there on site.
We have one in my hometown that had a dentist and had child care on site. It had a barber shop on site, and it was amazing because
it was a Honeywell corporation. And of course, you know, funding was easy for them. But I think the funding and the insurance is
probably the hardest overcomer. I know that in Fort Myers, Chico's, which is located there, has an amazing facility for their people. It's probably
going to be a matter of sharing so that we're not just reinventing the wheel. Invited people. Yeah, well, I think too, is there do the employees have
do they meet and talk about this? Do they have influence? I mean, I know there's no union, but do they have so some city employees, depending on what department you're in, some there
may be representation. So they might not have this. They might be able to have their own conversations about that. However, for those people who don't have, you know,
representation as far as a union or anything of that nature, there are typically with any policy change that comes, there is usually a staff team or committee that discusses it and
kind of, you know, seeks input. And is there a committee staff committee for this? So there has been we had one going. We were getting it restarted. But then
these changes and the pay study and everything just kind of started happening a little bit organically. So that's why it's we're kind of waiting to see what comes out of that before we
spend too much time spinning our wheels, because it could be that what happens with them saying, oh, certain benefits might, you know, be better off if they elevate certain things or change
certain things, then, you know, we would then reevaluate it. I think, on the back end of that. So this, you know, we talked about this the last time and it certainly is one of their
pillars is that of all of these actions. Right. All of the one, two, three, four, five, six, six of the seven actions, they're all about the environment. And
this is the only one that's about people you know directly about sustaining their lives. And just the low hanging fruit
we talked about. Yeah, we talked last time about how it's important to remember to focus on this aspect for sure. And
it's one of the pillars that you set up, Denise, you know, and these seem when people talk about sustainability, we tend to go to the environment first.
Well, you know, it's important, but these other things are important too. Oh they they absolutely are. And you know, I think that as a little bit, you know, as each year goes on, I
think we're going to see more of the economy being pulled in. But not to be discouraged because the city, of course, is undertaking just a slew of economic development related initiatives. And, you know, so I
think that you're going to see a lot of, again, things that sort of happen organically that aren't they don't have to be directed by the sustainability plan. But then down the road,
the creation of different programing would be more collaborative with sustainability. So when our policies come up and nothing has organically happened in that regard, that will be a moment to
collaborate and sustainability, to then be involved with whatever department is sort of the lead, you know. So that's why I kind of tried to talk about which department is the lead, because it's in some
cases, you know, if it's a policy that or an action rather that the plan discusses, but it's not something that the sustainability department can implement. We have to wait until that department is doing it and
then say, okay, I would love, you know, input and collaboration. And this was the intent in our plan. And how can we meet this? So we spoke last
time about maybe having economic development. You know, Karen and I did call her and she is incredibly busy. She had a conflict with this meeting and the next meeting as far as just
calendar, you know, prescheduled things, and one of which is actually the governor's hurricane conference that's in May. So a lot of city staff, I say a lot. There will be city staff representatives from several departments that are
going to the governor's hurricane conference, which is a great learning opportunity and, you know, connection. And that's an important place for them to go and get resources and bring them back to the city. But she
did tell me something she's working on. There's a CRA plan. There is a whole marketing strategy, there's a downtown redevelopment initiative. There
is also the mainstream program that the city manager has started. Of course, she's kind of our default communications person. So when you see, you know, she does a lot. She just
does a lot, a lot, a lot. She does track. She has a list of green businesses or businesses that do provide either eco friendly products or green
product or related services. And I meant to actually bring that and forgot, but I can send that out to you all. So she kind of tracks that, which is really nice. And I do know that, you
know, we have talked about Karen and I have talked about our future collaboration as far as, like what kind of program could we develop with getting businesses interested in doing more, you know, sustainability
related things, you know, making sustainability related choices, you know, again, whether it's their products or, you know, kind of what, however, that would look, incentivizing them.
So that's that's a future thing. But it's and it kind of starts coming in into like the 2025 and then more down the line. So she did. Yes. She she was great. She
obviously would love to share. But her schedule was just not not open to that right now to the school system. I mean, the government seems to be a big
thing for eighth grade because they have to take a state constitution test. Or do they still I don't know, I don't know. I know at high school
there's a lot of, you know, community involvement because a lot of these kids want to know or it's good on their resume. And if even if they wanted just to put it on their resume, so
what? Who cares? At least they're involved. We have looked at partnering with the schools we do. We used to do an education well, newspapers and
education. That was a big inroad to getting the kids involved in environment and sustainability in fish and Wildlife. And I did
this in Sarasota. I ran it for the Herald and they were wonderful. The kids we had Publix who funded the entire thing. So it was nice that
Publix got involved. And that was the whole economic development thing, because it gave the kids a chance to see that there was community and corporation working together in
order to sustain the economic development and give them maybe some ideas about what the future looked like if they wanted to start being more involved in the future. Lots of ideas about
outreach. That's a great one. I like that a lot. And, you know, all kinds of side conversations always happen about what, you know, how we can sort of plus up
what we're doing with outreach efforts in the future. So that's a great I mean, kids are into podcasting right now. And they'll they'll watch a good idea, you know, podcasts. I
wanted to start a podcasting at a high school that would give the English department, you know, what the drama department with the arts and other
departments, it would work across the board to get them on board, and then the parents would get involved because the kids would be involved. Well, Denise, you mentioned that the
environmental club right over at Tarpon High was were you? I wasn't me, it was me because you. Yes. Because the president
of the environmental club, I think that's the name of it at Tarpon Springs High School. They are looking to do implement like a legacy project of some kind
that would be ongoing over years. So that farm over there, they should get ready to do a farm. Well, that I tried that a,
at Howard Park and I, I had I developed a outreach program for the middle schoolers who were at risk and but then the county
wasn't, you know, I started the whole program and then the county was like, oh, insurance. And I will say, yes, that's a concern. It was just schools are
county. You know, it was really successful. The kids were fantastic. And they love they let's get back on track here to we're going to kind of cruise. Yeah. We're going to kind of
cruise through since we're in fiscal year 2025 now and calendar year 2025 as well. Her presentation, the yes, Denise, wants to give you a quick overview of her just just the
changes. So we want to get through that. So this is going to be a little quicker because some of these are we haven't started them yet. So it's just going to be a little blip. But I do love the ideas. And there's
always a place for sharing that. And if we don't have time to talk here, you can always email me after with those. Okay, so 2025 action 15 improve facilities and infrastructure okay. This is specifically
related to improved facilities and infrastructure throughout the community to better prepare to be better prepared for climate change threats. So ongoing. This has a long implementation window. First of
all this is a ten year one. So this is not an overnight situation. But the things that I can list here, we will always have ongoing resilience planning and projects. We have an electrical upgrade that we're
working on for the wastewater treatment plant. That is the biggest probably resilience project that's going to be happening in the city in the next year or two. We're always upgrading our, you know, GIS
mapping to look at current conditions. What happened as far as like the actual, you know, as close as they can map for the storm conditions that we experienced, that's kind of becoming available. And then, of
course, finishing our vulnerability assessment and our climate action plan. So all of those will then dictate the step, dictate the steps that we can take for those facility
improvements. And then again, organically within all these other departments there they have their own master plans and or capital improvement plan lists. And, you know, so they
are sometimes working on things that, you know, sustainability, again, doesn't necessarily have purview on. But when I can collaborate, I certainly do
that. Okay. Solar feasibility study. It's going we did it on April 4th. We had a couple of consultants come and do a site
assessment of eight sites in the city, and so they will be producing an analysis and a report that prioritizes our projects. So really, really cool
stuff. I really like being out and just kind of looking at all of our facilities and learning from them about what structures and areas would be very suitable. And the great news is
I think we have a lot that would be so we'll get that final report in the in the next probably a couple of months, I think. And then the Climate Action Plan, of course, ties
into the fact that that is going to have policies that say we're supposed to be moving towards renewable energy sources. So who funds those feasibility studies? So that's a that's funding that
we budgeted actually within the sustainability department budget for this fiscal year. We had a section for professional services. And that's it's not a
ton of money, but we it was enough to get the study done. And it's important to you know have that. And so the sustainability budget is funded somewhat from the water and
sewer, the enterprise fund. And we're also from the general fund. So it's like a where the consultant local they are our one of our engineers of record. So the city has a couple of
consulting firms that we keep. As you know we have an ongoing contract for services with them. So we utilize one of those. Yeah. So I'm going to make a
request given the time. And there's a bunch of these to go through. I would. So my what I'm
going to suggest is that we skip to Denise's presentation because that's happening on Tuesday. And we should look at that. That's
fine. And then we can come back to this if there's time left. There's this is super fast. I mean, I'll just honestly flip through them really quickly like this one. Proactive green
infrastructure. We aren't that's not started. There's a preemption issue there with I'm you know I want to make sure that, you know, we're all on the same page with this presentation
and that Denise feels good. I don't think that we can change it at this point. So I hope that I just reflected what you suggested. Yes. Because the time
they they request the materials for the packet for the Board of Commissioners a week ahead of time. So we did have to go ahead and submit the final version of that. Even if you can't change
it, you can say stuff. Right. So I would like to go through it and okay, that's, that's I just want to make sure that I'm just going to read the rest of these
just so we know. Never mind. It's fine. So we really some of these, we're not going to be able to do a lot with. Also, just so you know, we can always revisit a conversation. But for example this one there are
preemption levels as far as like the state says that we can't make rules about this now. And that's happened since the sustainability plan was adopted. So sometimes we're going to face
obstacles that we can't overcome in some of these areas. So just keeping that in mind, as it is a living document, we may find things that are, you know, too
hard, too hard connectivity, wildlife corridors. That's another ten year implementation window. So we're not really super talking about this yet. But you know, we are we it is
very important. And the Klosterman preserve just got finalized this week. So that was great. A park and open space plan again hasn't started, but it should be budgeted within the
implementation window that we have here. And that's a very like multi departmental plan. And then going back to the economic development part focusing, you know, market
demand for jobs, technology, products, services. We are we will be in conversation ongoing about that. And I think this is the last one adopt to climate in all policies or sustainability
in all policy statement. And I'm hoping that the adoption of the Climate Action Plan prompts like that would be the kind of final overarching step to say, yes, we should be considering
sustainability throughout all of our, you know, city actions and decisions. So that's the hope is to get there. So thank you all for sharing your ideas, your knowledge, your time. And we
just keep working. That's what we do. So now thank you Holly thank you Holly. Very welcome.
And now Denise we will exit this.
So we've been just to update you the last couple meetings we've had. You know, I've been hearing feedback on things that we did
last year and part of part of what I hoped to do with every opportunity that we have to present at the Board of
Commissioners in front of an audience, and there might be quite a few people there. I don't know what the what the plan is, but I've think I've heard that there's going to be
it is also there are like four different proclamations being done. So it is there is the potential for there to be, you know, more more citizens there than typical. So yeah, and it's happening right at the
beginning. So we're not going to be sitting through an entire four hour meeting or however long it might be. They've they've been a little notorious for getting lengthy, but I think
that this is going to be she'll she'll introduce us as being part of the committee. So we'll be really I hope everybody is there. It's just this Tuesday
night, the 22nd. Yeah. 630 I'm going to Greece 630. Oh good. Well, that's a good reason not to be there at 630. 630.
Correct. 637. 7:00 I leave out. I'm sorry. Well, you'll just have to report back to us on that later, so. Okay, my own initiatives in Greece. Yeah.
Going to Greece. Oh, wow. Well that's wonderful. Okay, so this was this is just the opening, and we added your name. Diane. Oh. Thank you. Because we're so
glad that we have a new member. Yes. And round out the team okay. That was an amendment to the original. Yeah. And I will
do my best to just represent sustainability. It became a really popular word right after the hurricanes. People kept talking about it all the time.
But I think it's really fantastic. Teachable moment. Whenever you have a crowd of people together and they don't know too much about what it really means, where when the
rubber hits the road for sustainability. But this is kind of what my thought was. We can move to the next slide. And initially this is what I had.
What motivates sustainability, our children and our grandchildren and our future through them. But Carol and Siobhan mentioned that they felt like that kind of excludes
people that have chosen not to have children voluntarily or, you know, just it's been a life course, you know, to not have children, but they're yet
they're still very passionate about sustainability. So the next slide, I think that's true what you just said. Okay. I mean
it's not because we don't have children. I mean I, I but you say our children and our grandchildren, maybe our one great one. I know I saw that,
but my point is I'm all for our children, people's future. I look at it as a village, a collective, a collective, the village, you know, so we're when we when I say our children and
our grandchildren, I'm talking about the collective. I know, but my point was that that's not the only reason. And I know you say and pure gift. Yeah. And,
well, I don't slide beyond that. Yeah. I think the word is responsibility. And that's a word. Okay. So responsibility
that we have a responsibility to our to the planet, to our children, to all future, to all future generations. What I had planned on, on addressing is
that we have no capacity to create this environment. We can only protect it. We can't. Could we create the Earth? No. Can we
create? We can enhance. We have a responsibility to I. But that's it. Is that our our capacity responsibility, our stewardship? Yeah. Our
responsibility. And we do it willingly. Yes. And we do it by necessity. Because yeah, if we don't do it, all these committees and all of these departments are irrelevant.
Because if you don't have a plan, what? You don't have anything. What you're saying now is really good. And I think that that sense, that's how I planned on feeling the sense of
responsibility. Yeah. I mean, whether it's to children, the planet or whatever, we're here and we're responsible for what's
around us, right? Just like we're responsible for ourselves. So I just imploring, you see, when I said pure gift, I mean,
quite sure what that means, but. So I'm just asking you to do more about its responsibility. I will perfect lots of Denise is
excellent at adding the sentiment behind it. So I think responsibility is you can definitely key in on that. It would be great. Okay. So and that that's where there it is.
Since we cannot recreate the perfection of the planet, we're called to be good stewards. Okay. We can go to the next slide. So it defines
sustainability I don't think I changed anything about this. I do hope to mention that this, you know, this mayor's had a lot
to say about happiness, of creating the conditions for happiness. And I feel like he said, we can't we can't make you happy, but we can create the
conditions. And I feel like the quality of life that we have when we take care of our environment and when we're responsible for the things that we're gifted, you know, that
makes all the difference, because it makes that quality available to all of us. It makes the opportunity for happiness and available. And that includes inherent health of our
environment, our economy, and our social fabric and the for present and future generations. Okay, so this was just a historical would you have to.
Well, and so I think it's important. So it's important that it's not just sustainability for people. It's this is really people centric
future generations. It's also just for the world for all the animals and anything, just the planet. I totally agree, as a vegan, I get that right. So I
think that without you can add that it's because this seems people centric. Well, you know, it's and the only reason that I made it people centric is that
there are there are a lot of humans that seem to think that we're at the top of the pinnacle of creation, and that is the that is the way that they've
been indoctrinated throughout their entire lives. And that's why it's we're not sustainable. Exactly. Because if we were if we were an animal species, we
certainly would not be destroying. Right? Our animal species. I mean, scientists have proven that over and over again that it's only one species that
has created an environment that's extinction focused on ourselves. We'd have a much broader view of this. I feel like this presentation might
push people into a territory that is a little sensitive. I was aware of that because I was not this bold last time, but I thought, there's no messing around. I'm taking the gloves
off. We need to be right now. We need to get off the fence. Yeah, I feel like I feel like it's very important. So because we're doing this on Earth Day, which is perfect, you know, it kind of
let up. You know, we've we had a lot of contemporary disasters that were a wake up call. And I think that's why in 1972, they
established Earth Day. You know, it's a lot of people died in the Great Smog. And we're talking about when there were a quarter of the people on the planet.
Right. And look at the fires we've had. Yeah. The devastation to California. Yeah. We can move forward because you'll hear a lot of this and hopefully you'll
get to read it and go through it or or Diane, you can watch online eventually, you know, just to hear it. So currently the world's population is 8.2
billion. And I have shown kind of I've shown a little sample of every the extremes from floods to fires, that we're making an
impact that isn't necessarily positive. But I the reason that I said hope dies last, according to author Studs Terkel, is that he wrote a book many years ago
that was very, very impactful because no matter how grim things are, he wrote stories about the essence of human
beings that comes forth in the midst of the worst disasters. And I think that's what's really heartening is that sometimes we get pushed to the 11th hour plus
before we start to really come together as human action without sort of a desire, or that's what
moves us. So Hope's one of those things that moves us. Compassion is another one gets us out of bed. Animals have it, too. I mean, you do. You can see how
animal trees have it. Yes. You know, every living thing. Yeah. And fungus. Fungus, fungi. Okay. This is the redesigned the
redesigned image. Oh, nice, I like that. Very good. That is the water in the in the Gulf. Right. And everything is done vertically. So is everybody
really good. Pleased with that? Yes. Lovely. I like that my husband Jim for helping me with that. That's really good. Great. And I like that, you know social
starts and yeah you have them all. So when we get to the next slide it's basically just the bam bam bam. The highlights of what happened in 2024. You know
that the sustainability plan was woven into the comp plan. I mean, we were really fortunate that when we were writing it, three things were happening
simultaneously. Strategic plan. The comprehensive plan and our plan was being written, and I should say, even the plan for Pinellas was being written at
the same time. So we were all thinking along the same lines, but of 50 actions and our plan, then the sustainability plan 31 were written into the comp plan.
So it's at the city has invested their heart in what we're doing. We received regular staff updates on the implementation. We connected with all
departments. We were educated, we focused on feedback. So yeah, those are all things that happen, right? So moving forward, the committee will. And
there we are moving forward on our bicycles with tree covered streets. I love that this is Sunset Park at sunset. Provide
feedback on ordinances regarding sustainability and all policies which we were just hearing about tonight. You know, that's going to be implemented. Continue our
relevant educational process through department presentations, continue to provide feedback on the urban forestry plan. Okay, I'm providing feedback should come
from the public. That's what does it does as well. But we are representatives of the public because we're the advisory committee that was chosen from citizens. Yes. So, Diane, just
in a lot of in some of the planning work that we do, depending on what the funding is, we're required to do public outreach. So in a lot of our planning efforts, we do that. So with the sustainability plan,
there were public meetings with the vulnerability assessment. There were public meetings with some of them. It's more directed from there have already been public components of the urban
forestry part. So now it's like the staff is compiling the plan essentially with the consultant. So and then we also do have a new there will be some some
public outreach aspects will come out of that. But you all essentially do exactly what Denise said. So you represent the public. You have experience,
expertise, you know, the foresight to give feedback. So when we some feedback comes specifically from the committee, other times there are general
public meetings. We're doing everything we can to try to get people here. Are we on Facebook? We are. This meeting is being recorded. We're on Facebook.
This every meeting, every meeting is on YouTube. Okay. The camera. Yep. Yes. What? You know, there's so many ways that
we are attempting to reach out. And Holly makes her presentation whenever she is able to. She goes to public spaces or to
represent the sustainability committee and get our word out. But it's really our our word of mouth, I think is very, very important. I mean, we've had
events just for the public, like the tough, the touch of truck that we've had presentations at Heritage Foundation, we've had
we've done a lot of things to engage the knowledge, and it's not as robust an audience as we would like, but we're plugging along. There's always the
opportunity for more public participation. I think, again, it would be great for Denise to be able to give this presentation to our board of elected officials. With a large audience present. We couldn't
ask for a better time for that. So I think it's just yeah, we're always plugging along, looking for the next opportunity. But certainly, you know, people can attend these meetings and provide public comments on
anything that we are talking about. You know, do you address the demographic issue of sustainability for, say, elderly? Well, in ideally when
we are talking about social, when you read through the plan, I think you'll see as you get into the social component that a lot of that does come out and we're trying to address, you
know, in the in the ways that we can have an impact, you know, equity in a variety of ways. Again, that's well, I mean, that's a big one. That's that's
something that's going to come in within certain aspects of planning as well, planning and zoning. So if you're talking about like safe streets and different things like that. Yeah, it's there's a lot of
interconnection. So let's let Denise get back to her. But yes, lots of public outreach is our goal. We're going to always try to amp up on that. Library does a lot. The library does
excellent work. I love our library and they have lots of programs for older citizens. And
that was. The mayor. The mayor ago. He was talking about programs I'm talking about resources for topic for future
meeting because it has been one of the ongoing not even back burner. Yeah, it's been pretty much front burner. We keep trying to figure out how to
engage the public, how to engage the public. I mean, that is really been something that has been foundational. Yeah, nagging at me as a as a primary
connection point. You know, it's we've got to have that. So we prioritize effectively engaging the citizen partners of Tarpon
Springs. That's a huge priority. So Holly, we can are you going on. Yeah. What? Oh yeah. Okay. Here we go. Yeah. Can
recommendations continue to actively seek resiliency funding I think that's that's everybody's priority right now. Educate residents on adjusting their sails to the changing
winds. And that means, you know, hurricane preparation. There's a lot of a lot more interest in that. Now that we know that this
area can be. And be hit, prioritize a much more user friendly city website to improve communications. And we've talked about that almost since day one,
because we felt like that we had difficulty with the site ourselves. Did did these did just looking at the way that these laps, that is that the way
it came to you when I sent it, when I exported it to, I would have to look at the actual presentation or it could have happened when it's not that way
on my computer. Right. So what happens when I upload into they it turns it into a PDF. And in that process some little
formatting shifts do happen unfortunately. But I think yeah, but I think it looks okay. I mean I think it looks fine. It's just I was thinking that's not the way it was. No. Yeah. There's a weird mechanism where
if it's I think to like Helene was on another line. Exactly. It'll just wrap something. If it can't fit it within the, the parameters, the border. So, so really big thing is supporting
city and resident alignment for resilience and adaptation. Because we all want to survive and keep our city beautiful. And that's a very important aspect
of what sustainability is about. But we're talking about sustainability more from the resiliency perspective and
adapting now because, you know, maybe, maybe it was impossible to prepare for everything, right? I mean, you can't solar
activity really forces a lot of how do you like this for the end? I like I love that that's so pretty. That's very
beautiful. I want the t shirt. Excellent. Denise, I love that. I think that's it. I think that's the last slide. Great. Thank you. Happy earth day. Yes.
Thank you. Happy earth day. Love it. That's excellent. Well thank you, thank you thank you. Great job great job. Appreciate your feedback. And I think when you're there you'll you'll see
how I can manage to fill in the gap because there's nothing. If you wrote it all out. Yeah. It's just meant to be a visual aid.
And could you because so much of this is environment that you talk about, even the recommendations when you get to the pillars, could you stress
that there's three pillars? It's not just environment, because most everything about the environment, I hope that I'm, I, I will do my very best. I know
you will because I've seen you in action. You'll you'll shine and it'll be a grand success. Well, thank you for your vote of confidence, I love that. Keep
visualizing that. That's the way it's going to be on Tuesday night. Positivity. Thank you so much, Holly. Thank you for your presentation and for the update.
We have just about a few minutes to possibly look at agenda items. Next step. Denise, take it away. Yeah. We mentioned a
couple of things. Help me remember that I will do the research on if we need to put forth a vote or anything about a letter on the pesticide issue,
and we're going to talk, you know, I think something that came up tonight. Sorry. Thank you. Siobhan. Yeah. Not a pesticide, but it fell under the pesticide. Yes. Heading. So
that's why I said that. Yes. It's so one of the things that came up a couple of times tonight was state regulation and
how that they might occasionally preempt occasionally. Well, yeah. And we are in the midst of a session and it absolutely
happens, you know, especially where private property is, is concerned. So that that is that's the only yeah, the only
way around it is to educate and inspire people to do what's, you know, what's right. Well, and not only that, like in my case, I live in a community that is
segregated itself into a dictatorship, if you will. And most of these owners that are not there are non-compliant because they have no idea
they're in New York. They have no idea what it's like living here and the issues that the ground and trenches see are not
something they feel are important until it affects their house and their money, then it's important. And I feel like
unless you hit them where either they feel their money's being violated or their morals are being violated, or their ethics are questioned, they do not
understand the gravity of what they're allowing to happen because they're not. They might not have the voting capacity
here. It is a little complex because we live in an area where where people are are visiting, but they have to be welcomed because the tourism and the economic vitality of our city
and the state of Florida truly depends upon them. But what we should envision is that we have enough foundation, enough of a
high integrity of a, of an environmental and economic and social foundation that they feel it. Yeah, they plug into it.
They're inspired by it when they come down here. And my vision is that they take the ideas that they attain through being here a few months out of every year back to their home states. But
you're talking about the owner of the whole well, I'm talking about owners that are are they're kind of in absenteeism
because they don't understand that. Own your complex. Okay. This is a little over that. It's not only that though. Sorry. It's just a little bit of a time constraint because our meeting is eight. So okay. We just need
to make sure that we get our list of potential topics for next agenda. And we can always have a side convo after of something of that nature. Yes.
Thank you. Any. Do you remember any other things that we might have? Well, I wanted to talk about economic development, but Karen, two months from now probably is going to be the
earliest and depending, you know, kind of on the status of her projects and things. It's just it's not it's not a guarantee. But I will always be following up with her. That's,
that's and I'm sure that that Megan is probably going to be part of the plan. So she will not she will be available in
May, but she did express that she would be happy to come and do a presentation, you know, at some point as well. So I will continue to follow up with both of those, and we'll be
debriefing from the presentation to the BOC. Yeah. So hopefully if you didn't, if you weren't there, maybe you can watch it on YouTube and at least just watch the presentation and maybe
there'll be some upcoming developments on some of the things that you talk about. I'm thinking there might be something communications related that we can talk about. Hopefully by the May meeting. So
okay. What do you mean communication? We'll just I'll just have to see if anything in Denise's presentation prompts any information that I can. Yes.
Yes. Yeah. And I and what about ongoing ideas about how to reach the, the community? That's what I mean. Communications as far as, like elevating what the city
is doing for outreach as far as, you know, website and things of that nature. So I'm thinking that will be, well, one one thing that's really top of mind for people is how to weather
another big storm. And I think that we, we might be able to get a lot of people, you know, maybe that's a way to get a lot of
people into. To, you know, for a presentation. And then the side thing that we slip that we address is sustainability as a
whole. So, you know, hurricane preparedness. You weren't here. One of the issues about having
these outside meetings is that all of us can't attend, because for us to attend, there have to
be minutes taken because we aren't allowed to talk to each other about these issues right now. One time it happened and you and Dory went and you just
stayed on different sides of the room. But it's counterintuitive that all of us couldn't go there and talk about issues and talk
about people, but it's we're not allowed to. And we explored it. Yeah, because one of us might say something that's not really
okay. So we I think we need a motion to extend the meeting for two more minutes. Yeah. So I think Polly talking about we'll have staff and committee
together, talking about talking about engagement again, I think a motion to extend the meeting for five. I have a make a motion to extend the meeting to 805. A
second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Okay, I okay. So at that point, one of the other things we could
do is we could invite different. Neighborhoods to come here and present to us what their concerns are about
sustainability. That's a good idea. So I do know that. Are you saying HOA extend or not about the Citizens Alliance? Exactly.
The Citizens Alliance are now they meet in a community and it's been generated by a lot by this art project. And so and
that's a very interesting and active group. And that group would, I think, want to want to say, okay, these are our issues about sustainability. That would
be a hub that we could access. Right. And then go from there. And I could ask them because yeah, that sounds great. Okay. And if they'd be interested we
can also ask HOA, you know, or a group, you know, in different neighborhoods because they're active groups. Right. That I think if we invited them to come
and present to us, it would be another way to get them involved. I'm just going to throw this out just as a as a reverse thought is, sometimes we may have to meet people where
they are, which is complicated because of sunshine laws, but it is something that, you know, perhaps I could facilitate or, you know, me and one member, if there were opportunities out in
the community, we could ask, think about that as well. Come to our meeting, because I know that the Citizen Alliance people
come to the commission meetings. I mean, there are they're really active and we need to hear from them, and we need to hear from other hubs in the city. And
that's a way of getting people maybe to be on the committee. Yeah. And to come to these meetings. Yeah. Sounds great. Excellent. Okay. We're going to
leave it at that. And I have a quick staff comment just for Earth Day. There is a library display that will be available for all citizens to interact
with. From April 22nd to 25th. There'll be like seed kits, trees, info, sustainability information, all of that at the library. There's such a great resource. The police department
is hosting a shred event on April 26th. That's for all citizens. So that's kind of their contribution to Earth Day. We also, I told you last time
that the sustainability plan was submitted for a future of the region award, and I found out that we will, in fact, be recognized. We will be honored with an award, the city of Tarpon Springs. So that's
exciting. That's through the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. So the awards are May 16th, which is actually the day after our next meeting. So I could have waited, but it's exciting news. So I want to
share that. So congratulations to all who worked on the plan and have had any role in that. Super exciting. And Dorian. Yeah, I was going to send Dorian
email, let her know. And yeah, she could come and Robin and. I can't remember the gentleman's name. The young man who. No. Oh
the. Oh, doctor. Yeah. Doctor Robertson. But he's Robinson. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, but he should be emailed because he was in one of you. Got one of
you guys could email him. I don't know him personally. I think I, I don't know if I ever email, I don't know if I was ever allowed to. Well that that was that's it for my staff comments. But great meeting and
any comments from the committee members. I will say we've got two minutes, two minutes. We've got just said if we were get together with these groups, I think we'd have a lot of dissemination in different areas
that we really don't touch upon. I always look forward to having more connection. I just wanted an update on The Klosterman preservation. I, I don't know
what happened. The county joined with the Klosterman people and they purchased the and they finalized the agreement. So the county a lot of money they they
they inked it this week is my understanding. Yeah. Got away from bought it from the school system. Right. Okay. Fantastic. That was a that was a that was a
wonderful deal. Conservation sustainability win. That was huge. Maybe that's what we should mention to our wins. And I just want to share anybody
that's interested in kind of a magazine co-op. This is Green America I think I've mentioned them before, but they membership
they they used to produce a fantastic, very, very large convention, you know, in various cities. They may still do that, but I don't know whether they have, whether it's been
happening since Covid, but they're great resources for every level of sustainability, from your green shopping to
investments. ET cetera. And I've been a member of them for a long time. Yeah, it's green america.org okay okay okay. And
we're right at that moment. So. Is that everybody satisfied with what you said? Definitely. Yeah. Thank you. Good. And we move to
adjourn. We've figured out we've we've completed I move that we adjourn our meeting. I second
all in favor. We are all in favor. I will record Diane.