September 1999, Vol XII, No 3
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Dear LCCC Members
Welcome home. Some of you may have been away for the summer months; others of you may have stayed in Lake County. So, really, this is goodbye summer and welcome fall.
I had a wonderful trip through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and a touch of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. All by automobile; so I could see the countryside and not get stuck in airports and huge traffic jams. I love driving through Vermont. You know, there is a state law regulating the existence, size and shape of signs, so there are no sleazy eye-sores like some places here in our own country. I'm glad our County Commissioners took action this past spring/summer and passed both an on-site and off-site sign ordinance. It will, I hope, prevent any more ticky-tacky clutter of signs on our county highways.
My trip by auto took a sharp turn in New Jersey where I left my car and flew to Ottawa, Ontario and then to a small town in Newfoundland by the name of Deer Lake (nothing like our Deer Island with its financial and building problems) where we took a bus to our small ship on the nearby coast. For the next twelve days we explored small fishing villages up the so-called northern penninsula of northwestern Newfoundland, Labrador and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Quebec. I cannot get over the wonderful Canadian National Park System. It is so user -friendly and has excellent historical exhibits explaining and describing Canada's past and present. And there are little museums and small shops touting local wares way out in tiny villages of the Newfoundland coast and in the nearby inlands. In the Gros Morne National Park there is an Insectarium "featuring stars of the insect world". Higher up, at the very northermost point of Newfoundland, there is an ecological reserve which is home to rare species of plant life.
From everything I observed, Canadians in the northeast are environmentally conscious and show a concern for the natural world. In French-speaking Quebec, I saw ads in journals saying: respect the natural world; "L'environement, c'est notre affaire!" (The environment, it is our business!)
In the Saguenay Saint Lawrence Marine Park, which is simply square miles of water where the Saguenay River flows into the Saint Lawrence, we cruised around watching 50-ton whales cavort and feed. Here, too, Canadians show concern for the health of the environment. Tour guides worried about the impacts on whales of the increasing numbers of tourists renting boats to go out into the marine park just to watch. So even small villages in the Canadian northest suffer from some of the problems we are experience in the us such as overuse of some of our wilderness areas, whether it be by well-meaning tourists or developers. The developers have not yet reached these sparsely-populated ares of Canada's northeast, but they're bound to come. I hope Canadians continue to show their concern for the environment and protest their beautiful natural resources.
Meanwhile, back at home, I see we've been having sewer problems with effluent leaking into Lake Minneola -- which I understand had been temporarily solved. I am delighted to hear that our County Commissioners have adopted an $.10 per $1,000 fee to work on storm water problems in Lake County. We in LCCC have wanted action on this front for a long time.
Ruth Gray, LCCC president
On the Agenda
Thursday, September 16, 1999 7:30PM
Regular LCCC Monthly Meeting
Eustis Women's Club, Eustis
Our speaker will be Cathy Benton giving an up-date on the PEAR Project
Thursday, October 21, 1999 7:30PM
Regular LCCC Monthly Meeting
Eustis Women's Club, Eustis
Our guest speaker will be Sharon Farrell, Senior Director, Department of Growth Management, who will speak about the Lake County Comprehensive Plan and EAR
Thursday, November 18, 1999 7:30PM
Regular LCCC Monthly Meeting
Eustis Women's Club, Eustis
Our guest speaker will be Caroline Shine, Environmental Air Section, DEP, who will speak about Incinerators: how they work and their problems.
Tuesday, December 28, 1999 7:30PM
Annual LCCC Holiday Gathering
Mote-Morris house in Leesburg
Mark your calendar now for the annual holiday get-together. Details will be included in the December Newsletter
The Eustis Women's Club is in the 200 block of Center Stree between MacDonald & Clifford. Take Clifford east (i.e. away from the lake). If you are on Grove St., turn right onto Clifford and
go 2 blocks to Center. If you are on Bay St., turn left onto Clifford and go 4 blocks to Center St. The building is on the corner at Clifford and Center. Parking in the rear or in the library lot nearby off MacDonald St.
LCCC Water Issues Committee Report
by Ann Griffin, Chairman
(note: many links in the article below are external links; use your browser's "back" button to return to this
page)
The Lake County Conservation Council would like to thank the Lake County Commission and the Lake County Water Authority for providing funding for managing stormwater runoff -- a major pollutant to our lakes. Thanks to Commissioner Richard Swartz for his plan, we are especially delighted that the Lake County Commission has establish a permanent funding mechanism for stormwater management. Since 1995, LCCC has been strongly urging the Commission to establish a permanent stormwater funding source. In fact, this was the first issue that the newly formed 1995 LCCC Water Issues Committee, established by then-President Nadine Foley, .chose to undertake. We have won the first part of the battle, but the worst is ahead, with the awesome and expensive retrofitting that must be done. Lake County Water Authority Board member Joe Hill's stormwater summit is a wonderful idea because every entity needs to join in - - the cities, the county, the Lake County Water Authority, the St. John's River Water Management District, the Lake Soil and Water Conservation District and the Legislature.
I would also like to propose to LCCC that we lobby our governments to establish a law which says "No Pesticides Used Next to Lakefront!" Again, this is stormwater runoff because rain brings that poison right into the lake.
Another important issue again concerning stormwater runoff, is the establishment of Pollutant Load Reduction Goals by the state, according to the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act. These PLRG's establish the maximum load a water body can take without becoming polluted. I have read that the Palatlakaha River has been taken off the Department of Environmental Protection's list for PLRG 's because it has been decided that the river is already in good enough shape. This reasoning is wrong. The Palatlakaha River needs to be put back on the protected list for PLRG's. The Palatlakaha is a primary source of water for the Harris Chain of Lakes, and it has a great deal of development on it, including golf courses, with probably more development proposed. The river is also along the PEAR (Palatlakaha Environmental and Agricultural Reserve) site where a beautiful Regional Park is planned. Getting the Palatlakaha back on the Pollutant Load Reduction Goal state list is an issue I will be proposing to the Water Issues Committee and the entire LCCC. The northern portion of the Palatlakaha River was prevented from becoming and Outstanding Florida Waterbody by special interests in the 1980's. The Clermont Chain of Lakes was name an Outstanding Florida Water, but the southern Palatlakaha system (including Lake Lowery) and the northern portion of the river were not given the designation.
The Lake Griffin Restoration Taks Force approved the following projects for legislative funding: $1,000,000 for the SJRWMD to assess stormwater discharges into Lake Griffin, for Lake Griffin Flow-way improvements, for chemical treatment to bind phsophorous in Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area, to assess reconnection of historic flow from Lake Harris to Lake Griffin, to restore aquatic and wetland habitats, for analysis of water quality and plankton communities, and for assessment of Lake Griffin algal blooms; $4,500,000 to the LCWA for dredging of canals to improve boat access for the anticipated fluctuation of the Chain of Lakes; $1.,400,000 to Lake County to retrofit stormwater systems on Lake Griffin, and $600,000 to the Central Florida Wildlife Initiative for Lake Griffin alligator studies and for wildlife toxicity studies of blue-green algae blooms.
The vote on the Lake Griffin drawdown was postponed until the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission does additional assessments concerning the drawdown proposal.
by: Ann W Griffin, Chairman
LCCC Water Issues Committee
The Lake County Impact Fee Committee has spent the last several years studying the use of monies collected for new infrastructure. Along the way, the committee studied how impact was determined in other counties, shortcomings of the current formula for calculating impact fees and other options to pay for infrastructure. Finally, as we approach the beginning of the fourth year of the committee's existence, we are prepared to step forward with recommendations to improve the current fee schedule.
The June meeting of the committe produced a recommendation that the Lake County Commission consider a new evaluation of impact for future fee schedules. The recommendation is based in part on the shortcomings of the current schedule, and in part on current data. The current schedule of impact fees is based on a study that did not include equipping schools as part of education impact, on statistically weak data on the number of school age children per residence, and upon construction costs for schools that were built in the early 1990's. These schedules can be updates with current data on new school construction and inclusion of school equipment. Road impact fees can also be updated with current data collected by the county that reflect current road construction costs and the estimated cost of right-of-way acquisition. The committee has also determined that basing impacts on the number of bedrooms per residence has led to submission of plans that attempt to hide the actual number of bedrooms in new structures.
The anti-fee crowd is still attempting to push broad-based taxes such as document stamps and gas tax to pay for new constructions. Thes approaches all have the same shortcomings. The cost of new growth is passed on in decreased property values (document stamps) and current residents pay for new growth (gas tax). "Broad based" is simpy a catch phrase for "Let's spread the costs to everyone. Maybe they won't notice."
It is clear that a new study will give a more accurate basis for determining impact fees. It is also likely that the study will determine that the current fees fall well short of actual impact. If the Lake County Commission chooses to follow the committee's advice and request (and implement) a new impact fee schedule, it is bound to be met by the same gloom-and-doom forecasts that the last schedule predicted. For those that insist the impact fees have a profound effect on growth, I would note that construction has in fact increased since the implementation of the last fee schedule. Therefor the only logical correlation is that the increased fees will lead to increased construction.
by: Mark E. Schneider
Impact Fee Committee Member
Lake County's Legislative Delegation
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To see what the legislature is up to day by day, wathc "Capitol Update" at 6:00PM, Mon - Fri on WMFE, Channel 24. The web address for the Florida Legislature is http://www.leg.state.fl.us For information on a specific bill call the Legislature Information hotline at (800) 342-1827 or (850) 488-4371 or search the database at the web site.
Once again, LCCC has enough in the Treasury to be able to award LCCC "EnvioGrants" to environmental educators. These grants provide seed money to pursue projects with their students. Environmental Education Committee Chairman Blandine Galbreath and her committee will solicit applications and then award the grants later this fall. Treasurer John Benton has budgeted $1,200 for the "EnviroGrants" this year. If member would care to add to the fund, you may send your check ear-marked for "EnviroGrants" to John.
Thank you for supporting this project
IAn Organizational meeting of a local chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society is being called
for Sunday, September 26, 1999 at 2PM. The meeting will be held at the Trout Lake Nature Center in the Environmental Education Building. Trout Lake Nature Center is located north of
Eustis, 1/4 mile east of Highway 19 on CR 44 (the Eustis by-pass). Turn east at the Eckerds and Winn-Dixie, and go 1/4 mile. For further details about the meeting or the Native Plant Society, contact Nadine Foley,
Now, there's an idea we could get behind! US Representative Bill McCollum has said he will propose legislation in Congress this October to make 42 miles of the Wekiva River and its tributaries a federally protected "wild and scenic" river. The tributaries would include Rock Springs Run, Seminole Creek, and Black Water Creek. A lot of the area around the tributaries has been protected by conservation land purchases. This idea will be discussed at the September 16th LCCC meeting.
Regular County Government Meeting Days
The Board of County Commissioners meets at 9AM on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Tuesdays of the month. Zoning hearings are on the 4th.
The Planning and Zoning Board mmets at 9AM on the 1st Wednesday of the month.
Lake County Water Authority meets at 4:30PM on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.
The Environmental Protection Advisory Board meets at 2PM on the 4th Thursday of the month.
The BCC, P&Z, LCWA all hold their meeting in the BCC chambers, 2nd floor of the County Administration Building, 315 W Main St. Tavares.
The EPAB meets in Room 233 of the Lake County Administration Building.
The public is invited to all regular County government meetings.
In previous newsletters we have listed water conserving tips and suggestions. If you have some ideas that have worked for you, please keep sending your tips to the editor. To keep the ball rolling, here are two more ideas from LCCC members that they mentioned at a Water Issues Committee meeting. Joe Branham suggests that the old cistern idea could be modernized a bit
and used to catch rain water to be used in dried times for yard watering. And Dick Seron says he has noticed in travles that many places the iced glass of water is not just automatically
served in the restaurants. He says the water, the ice, and ocourse, washing the glass, too, all ofter are a waste of water and energy unless the customer really would like that cold glass of water and requests it.
At the September 16th meeting, LCCC meeting attendees will have the opportunity to view "This Old Pond", a 15-minute video on different types of stormwater management techniques and
their maintenance. The video will be shown after the regular meeting and program for those who have not seen it before. And, to check out a unique stormwater management technique,
visit the "babbling brook" in Gilbert Park, Mt Dora.
Regional Water Supply Planning -- Part 1
(this article originally appeared in the July 1999 issue of the LCCC newsletter
which the LCCC webmaster is ashamed to admit she never got uploaded)
In the opening round of discussion of regional water supply planning, the St. Johns River Water Management District sponsored a special workshop on institutional alternative for regional water supply development in Florida. The meeting in June 28th meeting in Sanford was well-attended by people from the whole SJRWMD. Lake County was represented by Commissioner Hansen, Commissioner Pool, Robert Taylor, LCWA; Mike Powers, LS&WD; Allen Hewet, Water Resource Mnager; and Nadine Foley, EPAB. The five speakers were all experienced in the regional approach to managing supply to multiple utility service areas and political jurisdictions. They described a variety of approaches and the pros and cons of each.
John Zimmerman described how Manatee County, which owns the local water supply and management of the source, has built a reservoir, uses reclaimed water for farming, and is looking for storage for reclaimed water. The Manatee County system evolved into a partnership that is now known as the Peace River-Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority which was further described by Pat Lehman, Executive Director. This authority involves four counties: Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto. Mr. Lehman described how the Board is set up for the authority, how voting is weighted by ownership of amount of water and the structure, i.e. each county sells to the end distributors. Now, all new water supply is developed by the authority based on user needs. He described inter-connects using both surface and ground water to best advantage with water harvesting during high flow and storage when needed.
Nest, the Tampa Bay Water experience was described by Johnathan Kelly. This authority was formerly known as the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority. Because of over-pumping of well fields, the water management district pressed them to reduce use of ground water. By 1998, new interlocal agreements resulted in all governments in the authority relinquishing their rights to their developed water. New facilities are being developed in Hillsborough County with water harvesting from three rivers. Eleven well fields are on schedule to reduce pumping groundwater. The desalinization of water is to be increased at the same time
Reported by Nadine Foley
(Note: the SJRWMD will have audio and video tapes of this workshop. Also, copies of the transparencies used in the presentation will be mailed to attendees.)
Regional Water Supply Planning -- Part 2
Pick Tally, Director of Utilities in Pinellas County, gave a historical perspective on water supply in the Tampa-St. Pete area since 1900. By 1928, St. Pete was already drawing water from out of their jurisdiction. In 1969, a third well and pipline were bring water from Pasco County. The "water wars" are nothing new in that area! The Regional Water Authority legislation in 1975, set the stage for water authorities to blur political boundaries. Mr. Tally recommened a careful review of various authority structures and offered many suggestions for equitable arrangements by governments and utility service providers. Since authorities have tried various set-ups, much can be learned from their experience. The ultimate responsibility for water quality and quantity will be with the authority and the economic equity much be distributed fairly for it to be successful.
Mr. Tally suggested that local sources issues be addressed up-front as the authority is created. He said a close working partner should be the Water Management District as they have expertise and money to help achieve the goals of the water supply authority.
The fifth speaker at the workshop was "Woody" Woodraska who has long experience in the public sector of water management as the Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District and at a large water district in southern California. Mr Woodraska has more recently joined the private sector in water supply and her fave the perspective of the "water industry". He is of the opinion that markets regulate water usage better than government planning. In a wide-roving description of areas using privately supplied water, he gave some of the advantages as he saw them. Among the advantages are cost saving in large cities, working out opportunities with agriculture to save water and then passing the "saved" water to urban areas, working with business in decisions and raising money to build infrastructure.
In answer to questions from audience members as to how the environment is protected in a private authority arrangement, Mr. Woodraska said it is basic that a part of the water resource is considered necessary to support the environment and is a public resource. The remainder is the market resource. John Wehle, Assistant Executive Director SJRWMD said the in the Water 2020 planning process, protection of the environment is done first.
The workshop concluded with a few suggestions from the SJRWMD: to get with elected officials and see how they envision cooperation among water supplies, to bring in the community and "erase" some of the political lines where water is concerned and to organize from the bottom up, not top down. The SJRWMD will organize forums in localities as requested.
Audio and video tapes of this workshop are available from the SJRWMD. Copies of the transparencies used in the presentations are also available. You may call (904)-329-4170 or write to POBox 1429, Palatka, FL 32178-1429 to get this workshop information. You may also request the be on the "StreamLines" mailing list to receive the quarterly newsletter of the SJRWMD to keep up on water news.
Reported by Nadine Foley
Jerry Clutts and Charlie Coughlin Retire
Two LCCC members have recently retired from their long careers in managing our country's national forests. Jerry Clutts retired from his position as District Ranger in the Ocala National Forest. His career began in Oregon tending a remote fire tower and he stayed by choice working directly in the forest because he enjoyed that the most.
Charlie Caughlin also retired last spring from his position as Timber Specialist in the Ocala National Forest. Having spend much of career in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Charlie and Judy have chosen to return there for their retirement. Charlie knew the forest inside and out. He could call in the Florida scrub jays or point out an endangered scrub plant and made an excursion into the forest a pure pleasure.
Congratulations to Jerry and Charlie on their valuable careers in forestry and we wish them well in their retirement. Stay in touch with your friends in Lake County.
Upcoming Events
Florida Black Bear Festival
Sponsored by the Defenders of Wildlife, the Florida Sierra Club, the Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish Commission, and the City of Umatilla -- "Gateway to the Ocala National Forest"
Saturday, October 2nd , 1999
9:00AM - 6:00PM at The City Park
Umatilla, Lake County, Florida USA
352-735-3562 -- General Information
http://www.villagecircle.com/flbearfest/
A fun and educational way for families and people of all ages,
Florida residents and visitors alike, to learn about the unique
Florida black bear and the importance of protecting Florida's
natural habitat.
Plan to come and enjoy the Black Bear Festival
and
help out a while at the LCCC booth
Spider Spectacles
It was so nice to take time in August to recharge my batteries around my wildlife refuge. Walking in the early morning gave me opportunity to take a closer look at some of the smaller inhabitants that share my little piece of Florida. The early sun shining on dew-covered webs drew my attention ot the spider realms, large and small. The big of it was well represented by a beatiful Golden Silk Spider, a queen in her intricate web woven from a wall to a tree. For several weeks now I've passed carefully near-by to avoid damaging her web. She has reared several young on her orb allowing them to play all around her. Now they are gone and her only company is her much smaller mate who stays respectfully on the outer perimeter of the web.
Then one morning up at the citrus trees, I came upon the smaller end of spiderdom. I first noticed a three dimensional spider web woven in the leaves of the orange tree. Looking closer I saw tiny, lemon-yellow spiders no bigger than the periods on this page. But, they were casting aside the wisp of husk left from their egg case and emerging ready for the business of the world . Immediately they moved to the outer edge of the web and began to add their silky strands to enlarge and expand the web. I watched this spider spectacle for three days. What a wonderful sight! Then they were all gone, launched off, I suppose, to their little niche in the citrus grove.
So, now you know why spider are the nature theme of this newsletter. All of the spiders shown in the sketches may be found in Florida. Of them, only the bite of the Black Widow or the Brown Recluse can be harmful and that can be avoided with reasonable care. So, enjoy these exquisite creatures that live near-by.
by Nadine Foley, Editor
(Webmaster's note: I can't reproduce the wonderful illustrations that Nadine included in our newsletter. However, a good source of arachnid information for anyone who'd like to know more about spiders is the Golden Guide: Spiders and Their Kin" by Levi and Levi.)
Water 2020 Report to Board of County Commissioners
The Lake County Commissioners were formally presented with the Draft Water 2020 Report at their meeting on July 16, 1999. The report was given by John Wehle, Assistant Director of the SJRWMD and by Barbara Vergara, Project Director. The Commissioners had the opportunity to study the written report beforehand. The Legislature mandated that all water management districts begin to plan water supplies and the final report will be incorporated into the District's Water Management Plan due to the state by fall 1999. In the future this plan will be updated every five years.
Lake County is grouped with other counties in east-central Florida for water supply planning purposes and this Work Group I includes 60 public water utilities. The modeling studies predict a 93% increase in public supplies needed by the year 2020 in Work Group I. The goal of the water supply planning process is to "ensure the availability of affordable water to meet the reasonable-beneficial needs of all water users through 2020 without causing environmental harm". The modeling studies suggest a deficit of anywhere from 100 to 200 million gallons per day in Work Group I. This deficit occurs if all water continues to be taken from the aquifer. Alternative solutions include using a combination of both ground and surface water sources.
The SJRWMD is presently sending out the revised Water 2020 Supply report and officials and participants will be able to comment once again by September 24th before the final report is incorporated into the District's Water Management Plan in November.
This is an on-line transcription of the quarterly newsletter of the
Lake County Conservation Council
1118 Old Mt. Dora Road
Eustis, FL 3272
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Lake County,
FL
