Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District

Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District
Board of Supervisors
Business Meeting Minutes

The Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District met in regular public session on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 4:00 p.m., in the UF/IFAS auditorium, UF/IFAS Extension Brevard County, 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa, FL.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Bud Crisafulli, at 4:00 p.m. COVID-19 personal and environmental protection procedures for public meetings in Brevard County buildings and areas were in effect at the Board of Supervisors meeting. Video and audio of the entire meeting was provided for public viewing through the UF/IFAS Extension ZOOM web-based video conferencing and recording system. The meeting audio was separately recorded for these minutes by the board secretary, Jim Sloan.
Board members present: Bud Crisafulli, Chairman, Supervisor Group 5
Adam Tritt, Supervisor Group 1
Chelsea Partridge, Supervisor Group 3,
Jonathan Schuman, Group 4
James Sloan, Supervisor Group 2
Staff members present: Mike Engelgau, BSWCD Engineering Technician VI
Joe Walter, Agriculture Extension Agent, UF/IFAS Extension Brevard
Brian Zielinski, District Conservationist, USDA NRCS – Cocoa Service Center
Visitors and Presenters: Pete Neal, Florida Grazing Land Coalition
Visitors were also in attendance through ZOOM conferencing service. No presentations were given at the business meeting.

Presented Documents

Documents as presented by the Staff, Presenters and Supervisors for review, approval and/or information of the Board:

* Supervisor Sloan Report – Brevard County planning and Development Staff Update of Scottsmoor Community Planning Analysis. May 10, 2021.
* Brevard County Comprehensive Plan Presentation, Brevard County Planning& Development Department. May 10, 2021.

Reported for Public Records –

No documents were presented for the public record by the supervisors.

Guest Presentations.
No guest presentations were given at this meeting.

Review and Approval of Minutes for prior Board of Supervisors meeting.
The board secretary, James Sloan, provided the meeting minutes for the April 14th business meeting to the supervisors for review and comment. Changes and corrections requested prior to the meeting, after review by the board of supervisors, were noted as incorporated within the meeting minutes version provided for approval.

A motion to approve meeting minutes for the April 14th, 2021 Board of Supervisors meeting by Adam Tritt, was seconded by Jonathan Schuman. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Review and Approval of the Current Treasurer’s Report.
The board treasurer, Jonathan Schuman, provided the treasurer’s report to the board with comment that it reports no activity (deposits or withdrawals) for the past month. He stated that both accounts with the Bank of America were now managed by the treasurer though their online banking service.
A motion to approve the April 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021 Treasurer’s Report by Chelsea Partridge was seconded by James Sloan. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

The request for donation payment to the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) was set at $100.00. Chelsea Partridge made a motion to authorize the treasurer to make a payment to the NACD as a contribution of $100 and the motion was seconded by Jim Sloan. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Old Business

The board secretary noted the correspondence received during the previous month for information and/or action by the board of supervisors included a notice from the Brevard County Planning & Development Department for a Scottsmoor Community Planning Analysis Meeting No. 2 on May 10th from 5:30 – 7:00 PM. Supervisors Sloan and Partridge attended the meeting and were joined by Levi Watson, a Brevard resident and M.A. Student from the Public History Program of the University of Central Florida. He is researching a timeline of ownership and agricultural land use within the Scottsmoor rural area, from the 1814 Spanish land grant onwards until the 1920’s using records related to Scottsmoor and the Segui land grant.
The agenda for second Scottsmoor community meeting Included:
o The Brevard County Comprehensive Plan Presentation.
o Analysis Discussion of:
* Salt-Water Intrusion
* Roads
* Drainage Ditches: Maintenance, Flooding
* Preserving Rural Community
* Borrow Pits (& Farm Ponds)
o Recommendations for the June 7th Meeting.
Supervisor Sloan provided a statement, at the meeting, to the Brevard County P&D Staff that summarized his forthcoming multipart report covering Brevard S&WC District recommendations on all the agenda items listed under Analysis Discussion. The report will be provided to the Brevard County P&D Staff after review and approval by the District Board of Supervisors at the June 9th board meeting.
Jim Sloan made a motion to authorize a budget funding item, not to exceed $250, that could reimburse him for project expenses incurred during the Scottsmoor Community Planning Analysis project. The motion was seconded by Chelsea Partridge. The expenses incurred would not include any reimbursement for travel and work accomplished personally by supervisor Sloan. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Mike Engelgau, BS&WCD Engineering Technician, reported that the $99.00 billing for website fees was paid by the Florida Association of Conservation Districts. The ADA District website service was up and online, but updates to our Brevard District website were not entirely completed by this meeting of the District Board.
Supervisor’s Chelsea Partridge, Jonathan Schuman, and Adam Tritt verified that arrangements and invitations were complete for the following schedule of guest presenters at Brevard District board meetings.
* Mr. Lew Kontnik, of the Indian River Lagoon Project, at the June 9th District business meeting.
* Director Virginia Barker, of the Brevard County NRMD, at the July 14th District business meeting.
* Mr. John Dowd, of Smart Terra Care LLC, at the August 11th District business meeting.

New Business

The current monthly USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Update from the Cocoa Service Center was not presented to the Board of Supervisors by the USDA/NRCS District Conservationist, Brian Zielinski due to time constraint posed by the following Local Working Group meeting. Brian did provide an overview of the LWG meeting that commences at 5 PM following the District board meeting. He had just run a similar LWG meeting in Seminole County and said the Brevard LWG online guest procedures and questionnaire processing would be the same as used in Seminole’s meeting. He gave a rundown of the rules of the road for our upcoming LWG meeting and its ZOOM service, then thanked the Board supervisors for support they had provided by hosting the LWG meeting.

Joe Walter informed the Board that the 90 Day trial period for ZOOM service for District Board business meetings was ending with this meeting of May 12th. Discussion followed and was concluded with the following motions for continuation of the ZOOM service.

Chelsea Partridge made a motion to continue ZOOM service for District Board business meetings and Adam Tritt seconded the motion. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Jonathan Schuman made a motion to move the video presence to the Soil & Water Facebook page for live streaming video in coordination with ZOOM service at the District Board business meetings. Adam Tritt seconded the motion. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Adam Tritt made a motion to advertise the available live streaming of District Board business meetings on the Soil & Water Facebook page. Jim Sloan seconded the motion. The motion without amendment was passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors.

Upon consensus of the Board, the meeting was adjourned by the Chairman at 4:42 PM in order to setup support for the Local Working Group meeting.

Prepared for board review and approval by ,
Secretary, Board of Supervisors
James E. Sloan
5/27/2021