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Sustainability Advisory Board

April 8, 2024 ·5:00 PM Final

Parking Department Conference Room

Agenda PDF Minutes PDF 📹 Watch video Official record ↗

Agenda — 11 items

  1. 1. Roll Call / Introductions
  2. 2. Public Comment Deter Manstien – Coral Gables resident and junior at Ransom Everglades Upper School i. Interested in the meetings and had no comments for this meeting. Irela Bague – Director of Governments & Water Resilience at Black & Veatch ii. Interested in learning about the most recent updates on the city’s sustainability initiatives.
  3. 3. Approval of February SAB Meeting Minutes Approved on Consent Agenda
  4. 4. Keep Coral Gables Beautiful Program Updates i. Recent Events: 1. A Cleaner Planet Cleanup – Fri, Mar. 8th a. KCGB held a cleanup in partnership with A Cleaner Planet at Coral Gables Preparatory Academy and Philips Park. There were 61 volunteers and 65 pounds of debris collected. 2. Coral Gables Senior High School – Thurs, Mar. 14th a. KCGB staff went to Gables High School to participate in their tabling event to share with the students the different Earth Month events that are planned for April. There were 294 students at the tabling event. 3. Coral Gables Museum Bike Tour – Sat, Mar. 17th a. Matt, Diego, and Jim Murley, County Office of Resilience, guided the 62 bike tour participants and presented on flooding, sea level rise, and saltwater intrusion. They visited the FIU buoy that collects water quality data, Ruth Bryan Owens Waterway Park and saw the waterway, and the Riviera Outfall. 4. Sustainability Village – Sat, Mar. 30th a. There were 120 participants that came out to the first ever Sustainability Village held during the last Farmers Market of the season. Nine local sustainability groups were present to educate the visitors on what they specialize in. It was a great success and will become an annual event. 5. Spring Downtown Community Cleanup – Mon, April 1st a. 42 volunteers came out to the first Downtown Cleanup of the year and the kickoff to Earth Month. They collected 342 pounds of trash from the downtown area. After the cleanup portion of the event, KCGB staff had the volunteers tour the new interactive art installation, The Water Below Us, and went to Sweetgreen to enjoy some light bites. 6. The Water Below Us – Ribbon Cutting – Wed, April 3rd a. There were 80 participants who came to view the unveiling of the newest art installation on Giralda Plaza. This interactive art piece was in partnership with BLUE Missions. The art piece is meant to educate the public about the importance of the Everglades Watershed and Aquafers by using virtual reality. 7. 4th Annual Matheson Hammock Plogging – Sat, April 6th a. 41 participants came to the 4th annual plogging event at Matheson Hammock Park and removed 100 pounds of debris from the mangrove trails before the rainy season came in. ii. Upcoming Events: 1. Commercial Beautification Awards Nominations – March & April a. The Commercial Beautification Awards serve to recognize businesses that have gone above and beyond with the beautification and maintenance of their storefronts and surrounding areas. Nominations are received from the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Code Enforcement Division, Economic Development Department, and the Coral Gables community at large. Nominees must meet all nomination criteria and winners are selected by the SAB as the acting KCGB Board of Directors. Nominations end on April 30. 2. Pinewood Cemetery Invasive Plant Removal – Wed, April 10th a. This event will be the third invasive removal done at the historic Pinewood Cemetery. This event will be held during a teacher planning day during Earth Month. 3. Baynanza – Sat, April 13th a. The 42nd annual Baynanza cleanup, hosted by Miami-Dade County’s DERM, will be held at three Coral Gable’s locations – Chapman Field Park, Matheson Hammock Park, and R. Hardy Matheson Preserve at Bella Vista Point. 4. Bi-Annual Recycling Drive-Thru – Sat, May 4th a. The Recycling Drive-Thru event will be on May 4. This event will be taking place at City Hall and participants can bring household hazardous waste materials, paper shredding, old electronics, and clothing for Camillus House. iii. Grant Updates: 1. Keep America Beautiful – Great American Cleanup Grant a. KCGB was awarded the Great American Cleanup grant. This grant is a cash grant that would allow KCGB to purchase essential supplies for the upcoming GAC season that will be from March 19 to June 20. The grant was for $2,500. One hundred cleanup kits will be sent to continue KCGB’s Litter Kit Program. With this grant, enough supplies, marketing materials, and native plants will be purchased for the many events planned throughout Spring.
  5. 5. Sustainability Related City Commission Items i. Discussion Regarding State Legislation Concerning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers 1. The State Senate just passed a one-year preemption/moratorium until July 2025, no municipality or city is allowed to ban gas powered leaf blowers. The city’s residents and companies may continue to use gas powered leaf blowers if they choose to. It was attached to an appropriation of $100,000 and is going to be used for a life cycle analysis of gas-powered blowers. The results will be published January 2025 and will be used as a recommendation for any future regulations.
  6. 6. Standing Agenda Items i. Sea-Level Rise Update 1. Diego and Matt updated the Board on the city’s plan to submit the second quarter report to Hazen, the consultant, who is assisting with the Resilient Florida Grant to update the Vulnerability Assessment. The U2 report will go to the state once it is finished. A third meeting is coming up to discuss data collection. Additional infrastructure has been added to the report. Once the report has been drafted, Matt plans on having Hazen come to a meeting and provide a comprehensive update on the latest data and report. ii. Water Quality Update 1. FIU is continuing to collect data and will have a report towards the end of the year. The data collected within that report is very valuable as it is used to apply for grants and as justification for the fact that this is important to the city. The data also acts as a roadmap on what needs to be done on land to help mitigate the nutrient levels seeping into the waterways. 2. Tiffany is interested in any septic-to-sewer updates. Matt stated that there is a grant that the city has received, and Public Works is working on this grant. The septic-to-sewer study and the Stormwater Master Plan is still being worked on and should be completed sometime next year. Both Stormwater Master Plant and Vulnerability Assessment are being worked on in tandem.
  7. 7. Member Comments A. Teddy: i. Teddy updated the Board on the upcoming Earth Month events at UM. UM had an event this last Saturday and Vice Mayor Anderson attended. They planted mangroves on a 200-foot strip of canal in front of a small local business who sponsored the event. B. Anabella: i. The Green Business Certification Application was sent to Anabella because she is assisting in this program. She and Mark Trowbridge will be reviewing and providing input. C. Nicolas: i. Interested in any Dashboard update, staff are working on getting the energy and water data through Energy Cap and will be finished around summertime. Once it is drafted, staff will share it with the Board. ii. Was interested in the small amount of electric charging stations found throughout the highway rest stops. A discussion took place on why this is affecting EV sales and companies are looking towards hydrogen cars. D. Katrina: i. Brought to the Board’s attention a bill that was passed a few years ago by the State of Florida regarding the Biscayne Bay license plate for Miami-Dade County. All of the proceeds will be given to helping the Bay. Not many have been ordered yet, so the Miami Foundation will pay for the license plate orders and will be free to the public. This is not well publicized, so it is important to spread the word. E. Martin: i. Has been making progress on his project with the former City Manager and has a meeting with the new City Manager. Martin will report the progress in the next meeting. F. Tiffany: i. Likes the new meeting room but wants to know what will happen if there is a large number of people from the public interested in attending. Matt said that this meeting was a trial and will be meeting in a larger space for the next meeting.
  8. 8. ADJOURNED: 6:36 p.m. Next Meeting – Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 5:00 P.M.
  9. 9 Additional Zoom Meeting Call-In Information Below Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82049614201 Meeting ID: 820 4961 4201 Phone Number: 305-461-6769 For more information on the Sustainability Advisory Board please visit: CoralGables.com/SAB Email Sustainability@coralgables.com
  10. 10 ADJOURNMENT
  11. 11 NOTE