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Standing Committee Annual Reports for 2008-2009

Natural Resource Committee Annual Report for 2008-2009

Current Members include: Carolyn Kolb, Enid Sisskin, Deborah Nelson, Mary Gutierrez, Ellen Roston, Bonnie Yaste, Kathy Barber, Muriel Wagner, Hugh Turner, Annie Griffith, Marilyn Badessa, Frances Dunham, Carol Moore, and Courtney Winstead.

The Natural Resource Committee has been very involved with numerous issues this past year. Members have been attending the Planning board meeting and workshops and the County Commission Committee of the Whole meetings, as well as the Citizens Environmental Committee for Escambia.

International Paper (IP) Project:
We had speakers from IP speak at Natural Resource Meeting as well as a speaker from Friends of Perdido Bay. Both groups spoke to the upgrades to their existing wastewater treatment system, construction of an effluent transmission pipeline and the experimental wetland project area. Now that the committee has heard from both sides of the issue and we have decided to move forward with the drafting of a viewpoint expressing our environmental concerns associated with the proposed project.

Navarre Pass Issue:
Carolyn Kolb, Deborah Nelson and Carol Moore worked on white paper discussing the concerns and issues associated with Navarre Pass. Some of the progress that has been made is that signs stating, "open the pass" in Holley by the Sea have been removed. There are still at least two remaining in Navarre Neighborhoods however. In addition, a survey initiated by SR County Commissioner Gordon Goodin indicated that residents do not want a marina or condo in the vicinity of/adjacent to the pass area; they would prefer passive recreation instead.

Earth Day
Thanks to Annie, Enid, Ellen, Marilyn, Kathy and Bonnie for participation of the celebration of Earth Day 18 April 2009 at Bayview Park. We set up the history board of the League, with many handouts of government issues, applications to join the League, Recycle information and information to keep our waterways clean of plastics and trash. We had a great day of networking with the public and other agencies and concerned groups. We had a few interested in joining the League.

Santa Rosa Shores:
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) issued a De Minimis Exemption to the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners on April 2, 2009 “to conduct a seagrass transplant pilot project adjacent to the Santa Rosa Shores subdivision canals in Santa Rosa Sound, Class II Waters of the State, Unclassified Shellfish Harvesting Areas, Section 32, Township 2 South, Range 28 West, Latitude 30○ 22’40”, Longitude 87○ 4’43”, Santa Rosa County.

According to the FDEP, the activity is exempt from State Lands Authorization under rules 62-4.040(1)(b), Florida Administrative Code, from the need to obtain a regulatory permit under section 373.4145 of the Florida Statutes and chapter 62-312 of the Florida Administrative Code.

Mary Gutierrez started a draft of a document that will be used as a viewpoint, a letter to the Corps, and possible petition for an administrative hearing. Enid Sisskin will be providing additional information to this draft.

Santa Rosa County Landfill Concerns:
Carolyn reviewed some landfill issues facing Santa Rosa County. After recently permitting a 160-acre construction and demolition landfill in east Milton, another is being permitted by the DEP. This one has been challenged (quite bravely) by three citizens from the neighborhood in an administrative hearing. They could not afford an attorney and it was the three of them vs. two attorneys from Suncoast (the outfit wanting the permit) and one DEP attorney. After noting the decision to permit two large d&d landfills after recent experience in both counties with c&d’s making communities ill, it seems decisions are not made to protect the environment of northwest Florida.

Florencia:
The Natural Resource Committee became involved with this project when it came to our attention that FDOT and possibly the county were wanting to build a park and ride lot on what appeared to be mitigation land that was put into a conservation easement due the development of Florencia Condominiums.
Clif Payne with US Army Corps of Engineers was the project manager on that project. Glen Miley with Edmisten & Associates was the consultant. The FDEP issued a non-jurisdictional statement, but the Corps did issue a permit. This was the first project that Perdido Key Beach Mouse (PKBM) issues came up. The Committee will continue to monitor the site to ensure that development does not occur within this area.
Members of the Natural Resource Committee coordinated the January League meeting addressing the Offshore Drilling.

Social Policy Committee Report for 2008-2009:

Members of the committee include: Sharon Barnett, Sadiqa Ali, Betty Bodde, Vivian Faircloth, Charlyle Parrish, Rosemary Hayes-Thomas, and Chair Paula Montgomery.

The committee has met monthly at area restaurants. The focus this year has been on domestic violence. We have studied what is done locally as far as law enforcement and the judicial system. We designed this to complement the previous League program of 3 years ago which focused on victims and what is done for them. We have met with members of the law enforcement community and observed the judicial process. We have also regularly attended meetings of the local Coalition on Domestic Violence which includes members of Law Enforcement, Legal and Victims Resources.

The plan of the committee is to present a panel discussion of local experts at a regular Saturday meeting. There are ideas and plans to enlarge the reach of the educational effort by possibly collaborating with UWF in presenting a seminar on the topic with granting of education certificates for appropriate professionals. Other plans include the potential of community education with TV coverage and newspaper viewpoints.

Charter Review Report for 2008-2009:

With respect to Charter Review, Sharon Barnett noted that our League is responsible for Charter Review and has monitored and guided the review, which is the first in the history of the City of Pensacola. At the request of the Charter Review commission, Sharon Barnett, the ad hoc chair wrote, and Deborah Nelson, the League President, edited and submitted a White Paper discussing the policy ramifications of various governmental forms and summarizing the comments of speakers who appeared before the Commission.

The League has played a crucial role in monitoring the Review. At the last meeting the Commission proposed to limit citizens' referendum rights in a manner that would preclude the types of referenda previously held in the City. After comments from the League, the Commission amended and broadened the previously proposed referendum provision.

Port Committee Report for 2008-2009

Committee members were Sharon Barnett , Charlotte Crane , Vivian Faircloth, Rosemary Hays-Thomas, and Dian Parsley, Chair.

Our charge was to conduct a review of current position on the Port and make a recommendation about whether the position needed to be updated.

An action plan was developed that included:

  Attending presentations about the Port

  Reviewing archival materials at UWF used in previous study

  Series of interviews with community leaders (8) for input

All steps are completed except review of archival materials

Recommendation: Continue to review League position on Port, materials collected and make proposal with specific recommendations.