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Record of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting October 17, 2023: Tree Ordinance, Marina Study, Public Safety Building

City Council — Tuesday, October 17, 2023
BodyGulfport, Mississippi
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, October 17, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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4:56

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

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.

5:10

You never fail until you stop trying an ISNIN.

5:14

Nice.

5:27

All right, roll call, please, City Clerk.

5:30

Councilmember O'Hara.

5:31

Here.

5:32

Councilmember Thanos.

5:33

Here.

5:33

Councilmember Brown.

5:34

Here.

5:35

Vice Mayor Ray?

5:36

Here.

5:36

Mayor Henderson.

5:37

Here.

5:38

Infra City Attorney Salzman, Attorney Murchy.

5:41

Here.

5:41

City Manager O'Reilly.

5:43

City Clerk Carico present.

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 me.

6:01

Is there if I pull my presentation on the screen here?

6:04

Yeah, absolutely.

6:05

The uh analysis right here is already open on the bottom there.

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 we can 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.

9:41

Why is it not in the answer?

9:43

There we go.

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.

10:00

Examples of this are Boston in the early 2000s, they lost all of their ash trees as a result of a pest called Emerald Ash Bore, and one neighborhood which had a very high prominence of ash trees, had to have their trees all removed in two-year period.

10:21

Immediately crime went up to uh 20 or 30 percent from the previous years when those trees were healthy.

10:27

Uh traffic calming also started to go away.

10:31

Um, it was a very secure neighborhood, and because there were open, very open streets, um people uh used this neighborhood as a cut through to the highway where before they were using the arterial streets.

10:45

And um housing values also dropped in this area because uh people were looking for other areas where established tree canopy cover will was uh more prominent.

10:58

Uh published research on the human prevalence or excuse me, human preference for the character trees provide in commercial and residential districts date back to the 1980s.

11:10

Can it be producing tree-lined streets foster a human sense of serenity and stability that cannot be matched with any other more costly infrastructure methods?

11:26

Finally, um Tofer and I did a um a uh research study uh using the iTree Canopy tool, which is a USDA US Forest Service uh online tool that allows you to use um current uh uh mapping um aerial mapping in order to establish boundaries and the boundary that we chose was to the Gulfport City limits.

11:53

And um this is uh this imagery was based off of 2022 Google aerial, and it showed that Gulfport had a little over a 23% tree canopy cover.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Tree Management████████████████████████████28%
Public Comment███████████████15%
Procedural███████████11%
Community Engagement█████████9%
Water And Wastewater Management████████8%
Floodplain Management████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Council Comments████4%
Hurricane Preparedness███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting - October 17, 2023

The Gulfport City Council met on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at 6:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting included presentations on urban forestry and a watershed management plan, approval of consent items and multiple resolutions, second readings of two pension ordinances, and a detailed discussion on amending the tree ordinance. All votes and decisions were taken after public comment periods.

Presentations

  • Dean Hay, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist (City of St. Petersburg) presented on the value of tree canopy. He noted Gulfport’s current canopy is just over 23%, below the county average of 35% and state average of 33.7%. He recommended a 30% canopy goal, noting a single live oak can provide thousands of dollars in annual community benefits. He answered questions about species resilience (e.g., live oaks require 15 feet of space; palms provide minimal benefits) and the importance of proper planting and maintenance.
  • Justin Keller, Advanced Engineering and Design, Inc. updated the Council on the Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Watershed Management Plan (WMP). The VA is funded by an $80,000 DEP grant with no city match and will map critical assets and flood risks. The WMP will develop a stormwater model incorporating data from St. Petersburg. The studies are designed to be living documents, updated every 5–10 years, and will support future grant applications for infrastructure projects.

Consent Calendar

  • Item 5.a: Approval of meeting minutes from October 3, 2023.
  • Item 5.b: Resolution 2023-92 setting the 2024 Municipal General Election date as March 19, 2024, and authorizing a contract with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections.
  • Item 5.c: Resolution 2023-93 authorizing a contract with Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc. for milling and resurfacing of multiple streets (54th St S, 19th Ave S, Tangerine Ave S, 51st Way S, 50th St S, 46th St S, 28th Ave S, Quincy St S, 45th St S, 23rd Ave S, and 57th St S).
  • Item 5.d: Resolution 2023-94 authorizing a contract with Bayside Dredging, LLC for sediment removal at Tomlinson Park Pond.
  • Item 5.e: Resolution 2023-95 authorizing a contract with Waste Connections of Florida, Inc. for recycling processing services. All consent items were approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Susan Gore (Town Shores) announced the three $2,000 Branch Out Scholarship winners from the Resource Center: Brian Hinkson, June Parlett Northworthy, and Jamie Riley.
  • David Algren spoke in favor of strengthening the tree ordinance, urging a sustainable regeneration policy and requiring canopy replacement on both commercial and residential properties.
  • Kelly Garcia thanked the Council for supporting the Gulfport Welcome event and announced a Halloween block party on Hall Street, planned to rotate ward-to-ward.
  • Barney (Gulfport Merchants Chamber of Commerce) reported on upcoming events and promotions, including a ribbon cutting at The Boutique at Studio 49.
  • Tom Bixler (Town Shores) promoted the Lions Club Aloha Dance on October 21, with ticket proceeds supporting the community.
  • Marlene Shaw spoke on the auditor selection committee rotation and later questioned spending $79,000 on a marina community engagement study, suggesting internal town halls instead.
  • Lauren Stern asked about previous marina studies and whether the project had broad community support.
  • David Cantor expressed strong support for the public safety building and marina study, requesting interim solutions for restrooms and dinghy storage at the marina.
  • Glory Ford asked about repairs to the seawall at the marina, noting it is currently under contract and in permitting.
  • Mary Hanarhan (Marina District) opposed the marina study, stating past studies were unpopular and that the funds could be better used for immediate upgrades.

Discussion Items

  • Tree Ordinance Amendment (Chapter 22, Article XX – Trees): Council members debated increasing the replacement tree size and fee. After consideration, consensus was reached to:
    • Keep the required replacement tree size at 2 inches DBH (current standard).
    • Increase the fee for elective removals from $100 per inch to $125 per inch to better cover the cost of planting and maintenance.
    • Direct the City Attorney to explore ways to address the conflict of interest when arborists are hired by property owners.
    • Task staff with developing a plan to reach a 30% tree canopy goal, including a potential tree giveaway program with an educational component.
    • Update the city’s recommended tree species list in consultation with experts.

New Business

  • Councilmember O’Hara requested that a representative from the National Wildlife Federation be invited to present on climate change communication and coastal risks. The Council agreed to schedule this for the November 7, 2023 meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda (Items 5.a–5.e): Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 2023-13 (Firefighters’ Pension Plan amendments): Approved unanimously on second reading.
  • Ordinance 2023-14 (General Employees’ Pension Plan amendments): Approved unanimously on second reading.
  • Resolution 2023-96 (Reconvening Auditor Selection Committee): Approved unanimously.
  • Resolution 2023-97 (Public Safety Building Concept Design with Harvard Jolly-PBK): Approved unanimously. The agreement funds a concept design for the 1617 49th Street South property.
  • Resolution 2023-98 (58th Street Roadway Improvements engineering with Advanced Engineering & Design): Approved unanimously. The project is funded by a $1.2 million state grant, with $400,000 city match; design covers from 17th Avenue to Gulfport Boulevard.
  • Resolution 2023-99 (Priority Two sewer repairs engineering with Stantec): Approved unanimously. Funded by a $1 million state allocation.
  • Resolution 2023-100 (Marina Community Engagement Concept Study with Stantec): Approved unanimously. The $79,000 study will include multiple public charettes to gather community input on future marina improvements.
  • Tree Ordinance Direction: Council provided consensus to amend the ordinance to increase the tree mitigation fee to $125 per inch for elective removals, maintain the 2-inch DBH replacement size, and pursue a 30% canopy goal; staff will prepare a revised ordinance for a future vote.

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. Trees begin producing benefits that exceed their planting uh establishment and maintenance costs at about uh 20 years of age. Many of our trees can last as many as uh 20, or sorry, 200 to 300 years old when cared for and planted correctly. 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. 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. 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. Why is it not in the answer? There we go. Dramatic losses in tree populations in U.S.

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