LMAB 02/06/2019 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Management Society. They will be submitting position statements to FWC to reinstate the program. Ms. Williams is a member of these two organizations. She stated that she can forward a link to the board members if they would like to give their input on the current program. They are trying to get residents to submit their views of the program. FWC has also modified their aquatic plant management program from a permitting perspective. All water bodies that are under 160 acres that are not an outstanding Florida water way or connected to an outstanding Florida water way or in the FWC funded program are exempt from FWC permitting. Every permit that the City holds is no longer necessary except for Lake Howell. All other water bodies will no longer require a state permit. They are maintaining the existing permits as active; they run for a three-year basis. They will not be enforcing the existing permits, however, they will be active until they expire. This will change our process in the area of regulation. We had been examining our code for modification and will be drafting language for our wetlands and shoreline regulations locally. We will put in code for our aquatic permitting program. This will allow us to issue permits on a City level on a local scale for residents. The regulatory cut-off used to be 10 acres or less; the extra 160 acres or less makes a large difference for the City that has smaller water bodies. Ms. Williams will be attending a meeting with the FWC tomorrow to discuss the Upland Grant program. They have provided invasive species management grants for five of our conservation areas throughout the City on a one-time basis annually for the last five years. They are now scaling this service in a maintenance rotation cycle. Tomorrow will be a pre - quote meeting with the contractors so that they will be able to give a bid after we have reviewed the services needed. We have the following conservation areas: Marigold, North Winter Park Drive and Secret Lake near the park. The contractors will be selected within a few weeks and we will be notified by FWC which ones we will be using. They will come this winter or spring to treat those conservation areas. We will continue to apply for this program, as they have consistently been approving us to utilize it for the past five years, and because it is free. It benefits us specifically now with us having our additional staff of lake technicians, because some of the plants that are exotic, FWC will not treat unless you have a management plan because continued treatment will be needed after their initial treatment. This a positive move for the City, because these areas had not been given ample attention other than the ditch lines surrounding them. We now have the opportunity to manage these areas into a more native state and eventually move on to new conservation areas needing attention. 4