MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 25, 2007, MEETING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF VOLUSIA AND FLAGLER COUNTIES



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

Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the August 28, 2007, meeting were approved as corrected.

A motion made by Don White and seconded by Brynn Newton passed, to ask the Volusia County Council to endorse, as has the St. Augustine City Commission, a proposal to make the Florida scrub jay the state bird.

Edgewater
Dot Carlson reported that the Edgewater Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development (ECARD) has sued the city of Edgewater and she described the effort to obtain an emergency writ of mandamus after the City Commission voted to disqualify 340 petition signatures because of the Elections Supervisor’s date of certification. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, she has obtained records that show who is running a “Stop Dot” attack campaign.

Florida Hometown Democracy
The Volusia-Flagler Sierra Club will be collecting signatures at Port Orange Family Days on October 6th.

Soil & Water Conservation District
A motion made by Alexa Ross and seconded by Don White passed, to endorse the Soil & Water Conservation Districts’ promotion of native plant ordinances.

Flagler
Don White reported that Flagler Audubon is promoting a “Jewels of Flagler County” project with a calendar and white paper.

Seville 5
Betty O’Laughlin reported that Frank Bruno, Pat Northey, Andy Kelly, and Carl Persis voted down the proposed rezoning, apparently suspecting longer-range intentions than are represented by the current application. She stated that Andy Kelly has done a good job with regard to this issue.