March 9, 2009 Meeting Summary 10:00 am – noon Call in number: 1‐888‐808‐6959 Conference code: 4513843 Council Member Voting Members Dr. Karl Havens Dr. John Ogden Dr. Lisa Robbins Dr. Thomas Waite Dr. Peter Ortner Dr. James Cato Dr. Bill Causey Holly Greening Dr. Jerome Lorenz Dr. Shirley Pomponi Jane Davis Dr. Ernest Estevez Jim Gray Jerry Sansom Jody Thomas Ex Officio Members Bob Ballard Gil McRae Sherman Wilhelm Staff Becky Prado Lee Edmiston Public 10‐noon X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X None 1. Oceans Day a. Updates from FOA –Dr. Ogden reported that an agenda for the roundtable discussion was now available (attached) which will be held in the Old Capitol Building. Agenda will be backed with a paper which is currently underway titled, “Guidelines for Enhancing Florida’s Ocean and Marine Resources; a process for developing an Ocean Management Plan for Florida” prepared by Lenore Alpert for the Florida Oceans Alliance. Robbin Peach of Massachusetts Ocean Partnership Fund will be discussing management approaches taken in her state. b. Final comments on panel designs (FTP site: ftp://ftp.dep.state.fl.us/pub/incoming/Oceans_Council_Posters/) The Council made the following final change requests for the panels: •
CC panel 3‐ Take out the periods at the end of the statements since they are not complete sentences. Change the last bullet to read: “Altered storms, rainfall and runoff” •
CC Panel 4 – last bullet first line should read: “Floridians will adapt.” •
Economies panel 1 – bottom row second picture‐insert a cruise ship picture. Dr. Ortner will be sending one. If his does not work then we’ll use #5 on the options sheet. Last bullet should read “15 of 20 major population areas are adjacent to a bay, an estuary or a river mouth.” •
Economies panel 4 – change first bullet to read: “Beaches, marine sanctuaries, reefs and estuaries have value above the cash flow generated by their use.” Second bullet: “Our environment and our economy depend on investing in our oceans and coastal areas.” •
The check design was approved by the Council. c. Final comments on handouts (attached). Some hardcopies/CDs/research plans will also be available. The Council decided to remove the introductions to each report and leave the remaining items as they appear. 2. Review meeting agenda (attached) for March face to face meeting • Dr. Estevez asked Dr. Havens for a report from his trip to Washington, D.C. where he distributed the Climate Change Primer at our upcoming meeting. Since Dr. Havens will not be able to attend, he reported during the teleconference that congressional staff was very excited to have a report that they could use. He felt it was well received and appreciated. • Dr. Estevez asked that new Council project ideas be added to the agenda. Dr. Lisa Robbins asked to have it early in the agenda since she will not be available all of the second day. Holly Greening wanted to call in since she will be in Baltimore during the meeting for the new project ideas. She asked if we could have it around 5pm Wednesday. • Council also asked that a discussion on the Council’s next steps in the event that the budget is cut this coming year. a. Room block rate ends today. 3. Public Comment a. None. 4. Other business • Jerry Sansom asked if Governor’s budget included $ for the Council. No funds were included in the Governor’s budget this year. Last year the Council did not have funding in the Governor’s budget but funds were later appropriated. Gil McRae reported that no funds were available and existing funds were cut. Including Becky’s position. Jerry asked Ex‐
Officios to report the Agency’s cuts. Gil McRae reported that the House side requested a 15% cut including positions. That would be 50 positions. This was negotiated so that cuts could be made in other areas besides positions. House side and Senate side both include administrative support for the Council so need to negotiate throughout session. Need to show our work products. • Have extra sets of the one pager for Council members on Oceans Day. • Members asked for one page flyer file be sent to members and that the same file be sent out to the Council distribution lists. • Dr. Ogden and Dr. Estevez volunteered to help set up on the 24th. • Kelly Samek reported on the House Bill 1453, Coral Reef Protection Action. The bill works to refine existing authorities for recovery from damage to reefs on state lands. If you have questions, please contact Kelly Samek at Kelly.samek@dep.state.fl.us Follow up items: 1. Finalize the Panels based on Council comments. 2. Obtain cruise ship picture from Dr. Ortner for panel. 3. Bring extra copies of the one page flyer for Council members to Oceans Day. 4. Send out the one page flyer to Council distribution list. 5. Update agenda to include new Council project ideas and discussion on Council actions without funding.