Gulfport City Council Workshop on Resilience and Environmental Initiatives - May 22, 2025
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Gulfport City Council Workshop on Resilience and Environmental Initiatives - May 22, 2025
On May 22, 2025, the Gulfport City Council held a workshop at City Hall to receive presentations on drainage, environmental programs, beach restoration, and a citizen-led land conservation effort. Presentations covered the Wood Ibis drainage evaluation, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Sierra Club energy initiatives, native planting, and a proposal to preserve a 5.67-acre coastal parcel. Public comment emphasized urgency and support for conservation. The council reached consensus to bring a resolution endorsing the Gulfport Coastline Coalition's efforts at the June 3 regular meeting, without committing city funds. Additional discussion included potential adoption of a regional resiliency plan and updates from the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Presentations
- Wood Ibis Drainage Evaluation – Mr. Justin Keller of Advanced Engineering & Design presented findings from a watershed management plan and vulnerability assessment. The study identified flooding issues in the Wood Ibis area, with three improvement options: a gravity-only system ($7.5-10 million), an isolation berm (not viable), and a hybrid pump station ($5-7.5 million). A fourth option involving upstream water diversion will be explored in the final watershed management plan, expected by end of 2025. The presentation emphasized level-of-service standards and the need to align goals with financial feasibility.
- Tampa Bay Estuary Program – Ms. Maya Burke overviewed the program’s role in water quality, habitat restoration, and climate resilience. She noted that over 60% of nitrogen in Tampa Bay comes from urban stormwater, not agriculture. The program provides grants, technical assistance, and science-based projections for sea level rise. She highlighted the importance of 21st-century solutions rather than 20th-century drainage practices.
- Sierra Club Energy Initiatives – Mr. Brian Beckman presented pathways to 100% renewable energy for city operations and the community, including efficiency, solar installations, and incentives. He cited examples from Clearwater and Dunedin, and noted that the Inflation Reduction Act still offers federal tax credits for 2025. He encouraged the city to consider a feasibility study and community solar programs.
- Gulfport Beach Native Planting and Erosion Control – Ms. Priscilla Kidder proposed a native vegetation project to stabilize the beach, using deep-rooted plants to prevent sand loss. She applied for a $57,000 grant from Tampa Bay Estuary Program but was not funded; she remains committed to revising the proposal. Ms. Amanda Haygood from Eckerd College offered student volunteer support for educational service-learning.
- Gulfport Coastline Coalition – Coordinator Courtney Prokopas presented a citizen-led effort to conserve a 5.67-acre parcel with riparian rights in the Marina District, currently for sale. The coalition seeks a city resolution endorsing their efforts to acquire the land, which would not commit city funds but would enable grant applications and partnerships. She emphasized the parcel’s ecological and community value, and noted the coalition’s four months of groundwork and regional support.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Several residents expressed strong support for preserving the 5.67-acre parcel, warning that development would be permanent and that the city should act urgently. Speakers noted the parcel’s unique legal status and urged the council to explore financing options, including a bond or referendum.
- One resident asked for a city fiscal update given storm recovery expenses and potential FEMA reimbursements.
- Another resident called for adopting passive cooling standards in new construction and maintaining existing rain gardens before adding new projects.
- A realtor noted that property values increase near preserved natural areas and urged the council to prioritize long-term resilience.
- Several speakers praised the coalition’s youth-led energy and urged quick action, referencing a potential pending developer offer.
Council Discussion & Key Outcomes
- The council unanimously agreed to direct the city manager to draft a resolution supporting the Gulfport Coastline Coalition’s conservation efforts for the June 3, 2025 regular council meeting. The resolution will not commit city funds but will signal official endorsement.
- The council discussed but did not reach consensus on postponing a previously approved paving contract to explore permeable pavement; the mayor and two councilmembers opposed revisiting the vote.
- The council agreed to consider a future resolution to adopt the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council’s resiliency plan, pending member review.
- A suggestion to order hybrid police cars in advance to avoid supply delays was set aside for future council discussion.
- The council discussed potential 406 mitigation funding from FDEM for adding resilient features during reconstruction, particularly for the casino area.
- Mayor Love reported on a Florida Division of Emergency Management meeting, highlighting that reimbursements are not guaranteed and urging decisions not based on expected funding. She noted that only 37% of flood zone residents carry flood insurance.
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a workshop for information and consensus-building.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. So I called the first workshop for many many years. I can't remember a workshop here since uh we were all arguing about the bicycle route through the marina area. That's the last one I remember. But in any case, I called the meeting to order. If you picked up an agenda, I just need to tell you there is one little change to it. Um we're only showing on on the written agenda that there's four presentations, but there's actually five tonight. We have uh uh Mr. Brian Beckman from the Sierra Club, the Florida chapter, he will also be speaking, and we're gonna slide him into the third slot. Okay, so if we will, let's see, we'll start with uh call to order. We had that, so let's all rise and we'll do the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to be public stands. And with that roll call, please. Councilmember Jackson here. Councilmember Early President. Vice Mayor, excuse me, Vice Mayor Thanos here. Councilmember Shaw, present. Mayor Love here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here, City Clerk Carico is present. Very good. So I think it's gonna be another long night, so we're gonna jump right into it. So our first presentation is being given by Mr. Justin Keller, who is president of advanced engineering and design. He has been working locally on the water, much of the water issue. Particularly started, it was I think we might have referred to it as the Wood Ibis Water study, but it's much more than that. So good evening. Good evening, Council. You're gonna do introduction. Yes, I was gonna introduce Justin, sorry about that. Good evening, Council Kendrick Sanderson, public work superintendent. Those who don't know me. Um wanted to, we invited Justin Keller, who's the president of advanced engineering design to come up to present. He had several items that we tasked him with with his firm. It was a watershed management master plan, and he's gonna talk briefly about that. He's gonna briefly go over the vulnerability assessment that he's currently working on too. And he's recently has been tasked with a study for Wood Ibis, the surrounding area, the drainage. Uh so he has a another brief presentation on that. So if I can invite Justin up here. So regarding the watershed management plan, I love abbreviation. So if you hear me refer to it as the WMP watershed management plan, that is what I'm referring to. So that is your first acronym you need to remember today. Um more or less um you know, almost broken down on uh you know a block by block basis, if you will. Um so you'll see on the screen what we're showing is um the city of Gulfport watershed is surrounded by um St. Petersburg, and you can see that before we got going um we had uh the St. P watershed was broken down to this level of detail, and you know, the Gulfport watershed uh you know um needed some additional refinement. And so um part of what we're doing is kind of working within this construct to making sure that we're gonna be able to execute a hydraulic model that runs all the way from 275 all the way over to Bear Creek. So and understand kind of how how the water interacts, um, especially as we start talking about more significant, more impactful storm events, um, you know, water don't care about jurisdictional boundaries. So and then also too, we're gonna be um providing some project and programmatic recommendations um within the report.
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