March 26 - City of Melbourne, Florida

CITY OF MELBOURNE, FLORIDA
MINUTES – REGULAR MEETING BEFORE CITY COUNCIL
MARCH 26, 2013
also served two terms on the Southwest Florida Water Management District. In that role, he
has been involved in water conservation and water quality projects. Attempts have been
made to say that the blackout period enacted on the West Coast is responsible for the
recovery of sea grass in Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, and Charlotte Harbor. Mr. Carraway
advised that those recoveries were well underway before ordinances were passed. There
were massive changes in behavior, infrastructure, and policy from the West Coast.
Education has been key; stormwater projects have remediated historical problems; and there
has been a massive redirection of reclaimed water.
Continuing, Mr. Carraway said that the issue at this meeting is the controversial blackout and
formulation provisions, which are shown to promote the opposite effect. The FDEP model
ordinance was painstakingly created with years of effort by a broad stakeholder group. It
works and it represents the best kind of policy – driven by peer reviewed science focused on
education, training, best practices, and collaboration. By contrast, blackout and formulation
styled ordinances reflect the heavy handed regulatory and divisive approach that says it
somehow makes sense to starve turf and landscape plants during their growing season and
feed them when they are dormant. He closed by encouraging Council to adopt the
ordinance as presented.
Spence Guerin, 2112 Helen Street, recommended that Council relay on the expertise of
people from the Marine Resources Council. Mr. Guerin stated that there has been an
absence of dialogue between science and the City Council over this critical issue.
David Botto, Marine Resources Council, said that the opposition to a strong ordinance has
been refuted by the actual experience of the people on the West Coast. He commented that
a strong ordinance is not a silver bullet that will solve all the problems in the lagoon. The
model ordinance is not enforceable; it is vague and ambiguous. For example, the ordinance
indicates the use of low or no phosphorus fertilizer. No phosphorus is defined as .5% or
less; however, there is no upper limit on low phosphorus. He advised that the nitrogen
section is even more complicated.
Dr. Leesa Souto, Executive Director, Marine Resources Council, said she has a great deal of
experience and knowledge on the socio-economics of this issue. With regard to the Vice
Mayor’s question about sloped areas, Dr. Souto reported that they did a study at the
stormwater management academy for the Florida Department of Transportation. FDOT was
interested in that because their roadsides are often sloped and newly constructed. Through
a three-year controlled experiment, depending on slope and species, the leachate and runoff
contained 35 – 65% nitrate. DOT responded by no longer fertilizing roadsides and retention
pond areas. She discussed the characteristics of nitrogen in general and noted that very
little goes back to the atmosphere, which is where it came from originally.
Council Member Jones and Dr. Souto briefly discussed Dr. Souto’s experience on the West
Coast of Florida. Dr. Souto advised that she studied one subdivision in Sarasota. After five
years, they found that there was no impact to turf grass quality. A brief discussion followed
regarding red tide and whether there is a connection with the use of fertilizer. At the request
of Mr. Jones, Dr. Souto provided her education and background.
Page 10 of 26