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Record of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting - October 17, 2023

City Council — Tuesday, October 17, 2023
BodyGulfport, Florida
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, October 17, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Unassigned speaker

4:56

Welcome everyone to the october 17th, 2023, regular council meetings for the golf port.

Speaker 1

5:01

Our invocation tonight is given by Councilman Ian O'Hara, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

5:05

Please join us in rising.

Speaker 2

5:10

You never fail until you stop trying an ISNIN.

Unassigned speaker

5:14

Nice.

Unassigned speaker

5:27

All right,

Speaker 1

5:27

roll call, please, City Clerk.

Speaker 3

5:30

Councilmember O'Hara.

Speaker 4

5:31

Here.

Speaker 3

5:32

Councilmember Thanos.

5:33

Here.

5:33

Councilmember Brown.

5:34

Here.

5:35

Vice Mayor Ray?

Speaker 4

5:36

Here.

Speaker 3

5:36

Mayor Henderson.

Speaker 4

5:37

Here.

Speaker 3

5:38

Infra City Attorney Salzman, Attorney Murchy.

5:41

Here.

5:41

City Manager O'Reilly.

5:43

City Clerk Carico present.

Speaker 1

5:45

All right.

5:45

I've got a couple of presentations this evening, starting with Dean Hay from the ISA board certified.

5:50

Uh he's a ISA board certified master arborist, senior urban forestry specialist for the city of St.

5:55

Petersburg.

5:56

Thanks for being with us today.

5:57

Thank you.

5:58

Thank you for inviting

Unassigned speaker

5:59

me.

Unassigned speaker

6:01

Is

Speaker 5

6:01

there if I pull my presentation on the screen here?

6:04

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3

6:05

The uh analysis right

Unassigned speaker

6:07

here

Speaker 3

6:07

is already

Unassigned speaker

6:08

open on the bottom there.

Speaker 5

6:17

So my name uh is Dean Hay.

6:19

I am an ISA board certified arborist.

6:23

Um I live here in Gulfport.

6:25

My address is 5618 13th Avenue South.

6:28

Um, I'm fairly new to uh to Gulfport.

6:31

I moved down here a couple years ago and have been in the uh forestry industry for about 25 years now.

6:40

I prepared this presentation because it's part of a discussion that we've been having at uh internally with some residents to talk more specifically about um how we might preserve the character of the neighborhoods that we have right now and what that process may look like going forward.

7:01

This is just the first step of what we had uh discussed.

7:06

So

Unassigned speaker

7:16

we can

Speaker 5

7:17

see that okay.

7:19

Um tree loss is has become a large part of urbanization as uh development, lack of tree preservation, and senescence, which is the aging out of a of a tree, um, has become more prevalent.

7:32

Uh this is as significant as the replacement species offer uh often offer little to no community benefits in coping with the ever-changing effects that we're seeing in our local and global climate.

7:45

Uh without benchmarking or planning uh around the uh existing forest asset, individual residence cost of living increases, human health coping mechanisms fade, and community resilience remains elusive.

8:19

Trees begin producing benefits that exceed their planting uh establishment and maintenance costs at about uh 20 years of age.

8:28

Many of our trees can last as many as uh 20, or sorry, 200 to 300 years old when cared for and planted correctly.

8:38

The most study and most reliable economic tree benefit models are in the sequestration of carbon, the production of shade uh for energy efficiency, storm water, and air quality.

8:51

As you can see on the right-hand side, uh I've taken uh a fictitious uh 25-inch diameter live oak, which is very common in our uh in our community, and it shows what the annual benefits um uh are as well as what the expected benefits are over the next 20 years, and you can see that's thousands of dollars.

9:13

Um a single live oak can produce thousands of dollars in annual community benefits in these areas, benefits accumulate annually as beneficial trees are planted and preserved in a network, and a network can be as small as a park area, a business district, a residential area, or the entire city of Gulfport.

Unassigned speaker

9:41

Why

Speaker 6

9:41

is it not in the answer?

Unassigned speaker

9:43

There we go.

Speaker 5

9:47

Dramatic losses in tree populations in U.S.

9:50

cities have allowed researchers to measure the causation effects trees have on property values, crime, and traffic calming measures.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Urban Forestry██████████████████████████████30%
Procedural████████████12%
Community Engagement█████████9%
Water And Wastewater Management████████8%
Public Engagement████████8%
Community Events███████7%
Climate Change█████5%
Public Works████4%
Budget Equity Analysis███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting - October 17, 2023

The Gulfport City Council held its regular meeting on October 17, 2023, at 6:00 PM. The agenda included presentations on urban forestry and stormwater management, consent items, ordinances, resolutions for public safety and infrastructure, and a discussion on amending the tree ordinance. The council approved all consent items, passed two pension-related ordinances, and authorized several engineering and design agreements. A consensus was reached to increase the tree replacement fee to $125 per inch for elective removals while keeping the 2-inch DBH requirement.

Presentations

  • Dean Hay, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist and Senior Urban Forestry Specialist for St. Petersburg, presented data showing Gulfport's tree canopy cover is 23%, compared to Pinellas County's 35% and the state average of 33.7%. He recommended setting a 30% canopy goal and using native trees like live oak and gumbo limbo. He noted that a 30% canopy could provide over $400,000 in annual community benefits. Councilmembers asked about resilient species, salt tolerance, and conflicts of interest when arborists assess trees for removal.
  • Justin Keller of Advanced Engineering and Design provided an update on the Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Watershed Management Plan (WMP). The VA, funded by an $80,000 state grant, will inventory critical assets and assess sea level rise impacts. The WMP focuses on rainfall-based flooding and stormwater system improvements. Both studies are designed to be living documents and will inform future capital improvement projects. Coordination with St. Petersburg's data is ongoing.

Consent Calendar

  • 5.a. Approved meeting minutes from October 3, 2023.
  • 5.b. Resolution 2023-92: Established the 2024 Municipal General Election date as March 19, 2024, and authorized a contract with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.
  • 5.c. Resolution 2023-93: Authorized a contract with Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc. for milling and resurfacing on multiple streets.
  • 5.d. Resolution 2023-94: Authorized a contract with Bayside Dredging, LLC for sediment removal at Tomlinson Park Pond.
  • 5.e. Resolution 2023-95: Authorized a contract with Waste Connections of Florida, Inc. for recycling processing services.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Susan Gore announced three $2,000 Branch Out Scholarships from the Resource Center, awarded to Brian Hinkson, June Parlett Northworthy, and Jamie Riley.
  • Kelly Garcia thanked the council for supporting Gulfport Welcome and announced a Halloween block party on Hall Street, part of a rotating ward initiative.
  • Tom Bixler promoted the Lions Club Aloha Dance fundraiser on October 21 at the marina, with tickets $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
  • David Algren expressed support for preserving trees and linking canopy to stormwater savings, suggesting a regeneration policy with required canopy per lot.
  • Lauren Stern questioned the $79,000 marina study cost, asking if a prior study (about eight years ago) could be used. She also raised concerns about the need for restrooms and dinghy storage at the marina.
  • Marlene Shaw suggested the city could gather public input internally before spending on the marina study, and she supported the vice mayor rotation for the auditor selection committee.
  • David Cantor supported the public safety building and marina study, but stressed interim needs for restrooms and dinghy storage.
  • Mary Hanarhan opposed the marina study, saying the prior study was unpopular and the money could be used for immediate improvements like restrooms.
  • Kelly Garcia (second appearance) announced a Halloween block party and future ward-based block parties.
  • Eric Garcia asked about city-provided tree planting advice; the clerk offered to connect him with the city horticulturist.

Discussion Items

  • 8.a. Discussion of Amendment of Chapter 22 – Zoning, Article XX. Trees. The council discussed proposed changes to the tree ordinance, focusing on the fee for elective tree removal and the required replacement tree size. The current ordinance requires a 2-inch DBH replacement tree and a $100 per inch fee (so $200 for a 2-inch tree). Staff had proposed increasing the fee to $125 per inch and the replacement size to 4-inch DBH. After public comment and deliberation, the council reached consensus to:
    • Keep the replacement tree size at 2-inch DBH.
    • Increase the fee for elective removals to $125 per inch ($250 for a 2-inch tree).
    • Ask the city attorney to research options to address conflicts of interest when arborists assess trees.
    • Task staff with developing a plan to work toward a 30% tree canopy goal.
    • Consider updating the list of recommended trees as part of the ordinance amendment. The council also discussed a separate $30,000 tree planting budget for city property and a potential tree giveaway program with educational components, to be brought back for further discussion.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 2023-13 (Firefighters' Pension Plan amendments): Passed 5-0.
  • Ordinance 2023-14 (General Employees' Pension Plan amendments): Passed 5-0.
  • Resolution 2023-96 (Auditor Selection Committee reconvening): Passed 5-0. Council chose to keep the committee composition as is rather than mandate the vice mayor serve.
  • Resolution 2023-97 (Public Safety Building concept design with Harvard Jolly-PBK): Passed 5-0. The concept design is for the 1617 49th Street South property.
  • Resolution 2023-98 (58th Street Roadway Improvements engineering with Advanced Engineering and Design): Passed 5-0. Funded by a $1.2 million state grant with a $400,000 match; reconstruction from 17th Avenue to Gulfport Boulevard includes base replacement, sidewalks, and drainage.
  • Resolution 2023-99 (Priority Two sewer repairs engineering with Stantec): Passed 5-0. Funded by a $1 million state allocation.
  • Resolution 2023-100 (Marina Community Engagement Concept Study with Stantec): Passed 5-0. The $79,000 study will include multiple public charettes to guide long-term marina improvements.
  • Tree Ordinance Consensus: Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance amendment increasing the elective tree removal fee to $125 per inch, retaining the 2-inch DBH replacement requirement, and to explore options for addressing arborist conflicts of interest. A separate plan to work toward a 30% tree canopy goal will be developed.
  • New Business: Councilmember Thanos announced a request from Amanda Moore (National Wildlife Federation) to present on climate communication; scheduled for the November 7, 2023 meeting.
  • Council Comments: Councilmember O'Hara noted a project list will be posted; Councilmember Thanos reported on a Tampa Bay Regional Planning meeting about dark-sky-compliant LED lighting; Councilmember Brown thanked the community for support after a personal loss; Vice Mayor Ray promoted the Halloween block party and requested cost estimates for temporary restrooms at the marina.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned without a motion recorded in the transcript, but the mayor stated "Entertain a motion to make a motion" and the meeting ended.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everyone to the october 17th, 2023, regular council meetings for the golf port. Our invocation tonight is given by Councilman Ian O'Hara, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join us in rising. You never fail until you stop trying an ISNIN. Nice. All right, roll call, please, City Clerk. Councilmember O'Hara. Here. Councilmember Thanos. Here. Councilmember Brown. Here. Vice Mayor Ray? Here. Mayor Henderson. Here. Infra City Attorney Salzman, Attorney Murchy. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. City Clerk Carico present. All right. I've got a couple of presentations this evening, starting with Dean Hay from the ISA board certified. Uh he's a ISA board certified master arborist, senior urban forestry specialist for the city of St. Petersburg. Thanks for being with us today. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Is there if I pull my presentation on the screen here? Yeah, absolutely. The uh analysis right here is already open on the bottom there. So my name uh is Dean Hay. I am an ISA board certified arborist. Um I live here in Gulfport. My address is 5618 13th Avenue South. Um, I'm fairly new to uh to Gulfport. I moved down here a couple years ago and have been in the uh forestry industry for about 25 years now. I prepared this presentation because it's part of a discussion that we've been having at uh internally with some residents to talk more specifically about um how we might preserve the character of the neighborhoods that we have right now and what that process may look like going forward. This is just the first step of what we had uh discussed. So we can see that okay. Um tree loss is has become a large part of urbanization as uh development, lack of tree preservation, and senescence, which is the aging out of a of a tree, um, has become more prevalent. Uh this is as significant as the replacement species offer uh often offer little to no community benefits in coping with the ever-changing effects that we're seeing in our local and global climate. Uh without benchmarking or planning uh around the uh existing forest asset, individual residence cost of living increases, human health coping mechanisms fade, and community resilience remains elusive.

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