MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 26, 2006, MEETING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF VOLUSIA AND FLAGLER COUNTIES

Board Members Present: Betty O’Laughlin, John Baker, Robert Haviland, Don White, Sharon Rich, Brynn Newton, Alexa Ross, Dot Carlson
Others Present: Charlie Carlson

The minutes of the August 22, 2006, meeting were approved as corrected.

Charter Amendments
Betty O’Laughlin reviewed the history of the 2006 proposed Volusia County Charter revisions, including the latest by the Supervisor of Elections, who removed the numbering from the six Charter Review Commission’s proposals and the Volusia County Council’s growth management initiative. Charlie Carlson volunteered to design an educational flyer for distribution.

Gopher Tortoises
Betty O’Laughlin reported that the proposed gopher tortoise protection ordinance is ready to be placed on a Volusia County Council agenda. There was a discussion of locating available land for gopher tortoise relocation, such as 4,000 acres around the Tomoka Landfill owned by Volusia County and the adjacent Port Orange well field. John Baker reported that the City of Winter Springs has nominated Commissioner Joanna Krebs to the statewide Gopher Tortoise Commission. Don White observed that the gopher tortoise is not on the Federal list of threatened species, possibly because no one has ever made the request. Currently plans for development of James Holland Park in Palm Coast call for burying gopher tortoises.

Cooperative Conservation Meeting:
Betty O’Laughlin, Beeg Camarota, and Sharon Rich attended the meeting in Orlando which included appearances by the Secretaries of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency and Jeb Bush. Governor Bush spoke briefly at the “listening session” and then departed. Betty O’Laughlin reported that because of the lack of big-vessel traffic at the location, the Department of Transportation is likely to leave the State Road 415 bridge at the St. Johns River as it is.

Flagler County
Don White attended the interviews of consulting firms who propose to address Flagler Beach erosion. He asked that consideration be given to moving A1A and to the effects that actions taken in Flagler Beach will have on the shore line farther down the coast.