City of Live Oak Brownfield Assessment Cooperative Agreement BF-00D32015 Submitted by: City of Live Oak 101 White Avenue S.E. Live Oak, Florida 32064 Prepared by: 3701 Northwest 98 th Street Gainesville, Florida 32606 ECT No. 150751 December 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1.0 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN OVERVIEW 1 1.1 POINT OF CONTACT 1 1.2 INFORMATION REPOSITORY 2 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PROJECT AREA 3 3.0 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES 4 4.0 CONCLUSION 5 5.0 CONTACT INFORMATION 6 6.0 CITY OF LIVE OAK/CRA MAP 10 i
1.0 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN OVERVIEW The purpose of this (CEP) is to describe the communication strategies that will be utilized to address the concerns and needs of the residents potentially affected by environmental assessment activities conducted in the City of Live Oak (City) community in Suwannee County, Florida. The plan outlines how the City will involve community residents, local organizations, interested parties and town officials regarding the environmental assessments that will be conducted using grant funding. 1.1 POINT OF CONTACT The City has appointed Mr. George Curtis as the primary point of contact for this grant, and his contact information is provided below: Mr. George Curtis Development Manager and Director of Planning & Zoning City of Live Oak 101 White Avenue S.E. Live Oak, Florida 32064 Phone: (386) 362-2276 Email: gcurtis@cityofliveoak.org Mr. Curtis is responsible for the City's planning, zoning and land development regulation administration and has 18 years of governmental experience. Mr. Curtis will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the brownfields program and the overall grant administration and will attend meetings, legislative hearings, and other functions that impact grant-funded projects. The City also has financial and technical support needed to execute this cooperative agreement, as listed below: The interim Live Oak City Manager and Director of Finance, Ms. Janet Parkhurst, C.P.A., is responsible for financial oversight and tracking. With the City since 2005, she has been involved in governmental accounting for over 25 years. Ms. Parkhurst has managed millions of dollars in federal grants to aid in the development of Live Oak. Key staff members have been designated to assist Ms. Parkhurst with implementation of the grant. 1
Project Specialist, Kim Smiley, has been with the City for 10 years and has been involved with grant administration and CRA duties. Ms. Smiley acts as the purchasing agent for the city, with over 8 years of Public Purchasing experience. She holds a certificate in Public Procurement from the Florida Atlantic University (FAU). The City has highly qualified management and supervisory staff. This record is exemplified by the long tenure of many of the employees. Should a change in staff be required, the City has procedures established to ensure a smooth transition and ensure highly qualified and experienced individuals will be hired to fill vacancies. Additional contact information is listed in Section 5.0. 1.2 INFORMATION REPOSITORY Documents generated as part of this project will be available for review in both hard and electronic copy at the following locations: Hard copy: The City of Live Oak City Hall 101 White Avenue S.E. Live Oak, Florida 32064 Electronic copy: http://www.cityofliveoak.org The informational repository file includes copies of the following documents (as available) related to the grant reporting requirements and the environmental assessments of properties in the City: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfield Assessment Grant Application Assessment Grant Cooperative Agreement Assessment Grant Work Plan Assessment Grant Quarterly Reports Generic Quality Assurance Project Plan Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Reports Site Specific Quality Assurance Project Plans Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Reports Assessment Grant Closeout Documentation 2
2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND PROJECT AREA The City requested brownfields funding to provide support for efforts to perform petroleum (50% or $200,000) and hazardous substance (50% or $200,000) assessments in its Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). The CRA is a special defined district where future tax revenue from increases in property values are set aside to support and facilitate economic development and redevelopment projects within the dstrict. Because t h e C i t y has suffered from substantially high unemployment, a primary focus of the brownfields program will be to provide environmental assessment and technical assistance to encourage living wage job creation. Over time, the CRA deteriorated due to age, perceived environmental problems, and a lack of investment. Use of brownfields assessment funding can be used to stimulate redevelopment of abandoned and/or underutilized sites to bring in businesses that create jobs. These areas include residential districts, under-utilized lands in predominately minority neighborhoods, vacant commercial, industrial, and agricultural sites within the area. The brownfields assessment program will provide quality data to sort out "real versus potential" contaminants regarding health and environmental impairment inhibiting redevelopment. The assessment program will provide a missing technical bridge for Live Oak citizens and stakeholders of the CRA to help us more quickly move sustainable redevelopment into the hands of developers and business. Additionally, continued assessment of the Floridian aquifer and surficial groundwater quality is required to ensure protection of public health. The City seeks to improve environmental justice in low income and sensitive communities of the CRA through assessment and ultimate redevelopment of brownfield properties. A map depicting the City and CRA boundaries is provided in Section 6.0 3
3.0 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES The City will appoint representatives from their management staff and utilize outside consulting assistance to fully engage the community. The following components will be utilized to ensure stakeholders have the opportunity to remain involved in the project: a) The City s representatives and consultants will meet periodically to provide a forum for members to refine and develop the work plan and to identify effective means of public participation. b) The City will conduct a brownfields kick-off meeting to prepare for implementation of the grant. The kick-off meeting invitees will include the EPA s Region 4 Brownfields Grant Project Officer, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Northeast District Brownfields Coordinator, local government officials and other stakeholder agencies. c) Community-based organizations (CBOs) will be asked to select representative to serve on a Brownfield Advisory Council (BAC). The BAC will meet periodically to advise the partnerships, assist in identifying potential brownfields sites, help with developing a history of the sites, publicize projects, explain the goals of assessment grant, and keep the community informed. d) The City will hold regularly advertised and scheduled public meetings where project progress will be communicated. e) The City will work with the Suwannee County Health Department and health care providers to first identify the health challenges for the community that may be associated with environmental conditions, then develop a health monitoring plan. Potential health monitoring may include evaluation of potential health impacts from soil/groundwater contamination sites possibly impacting sensitive populations. Additionally, this may include sampling of private water wells or water quality sampling within the City near areas of documented soil and groundwater contamination. f) A link on the City s web site will be developed for additional information about the brownfields assessment grant program as well as meeting dates, locations and other related announcements. 4
4.0 CONCLUSION The CEP provides an initial roadmap to community outreach. However, community outreach is a fluid, dynamic process, and periodic evaluation of the outreach efforts and community response to these efforts will need to be completed in order to determine whether the outreach is effective. This is a process that will be continually evaluated and improved upon to ensure that we are utilizing the most effective and beneficial means possible to keep the community informed about grant funded activities. 5
5.0 CONTACT INFORMATION A. City of Live Oak Brownfield Contacts Janet L. Parkhurst Interim City Manager & Finance Director City of Live Oak, Florida Planning and Zoning Department 101 White Ave. S.E. Live Oak, FL 32064 386.362.2276 (O) 386.362.4305 (F) Email: jparkhurst@cityofliveoak.org Webpage: http://www.cityofliveoak.org George Curtis Development Manager / Zoning & Land Development Regulation Administrator City of Live Oak, Florida Planning and Zoning Department 101 White Ave. S.E. Live Oak, FL 32064 386.362.2276 (O) 386.362.4305 (F) Email: gcurtis@cityofliveoak.org Webpage: http://www.cityofliveoak.org Kim Smiley Project Specialist / Purchasing Agent 101 White Ave. S.E. Live Oak, FL 32064 386.362.2276 (O) 386.362.4305 (F) Email: ksmiley@cityofliveoak.org Webpage: http://www.cityofliveoak.org B. EPA Region 4 Brownfield Contacts Kathleen Curry Project Officer Region 4 Brownfields Coordinator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta GA 30303-8960 404.562.8923/curry.kathleen@epa.gov Barbara Alfona Region 4 Brownfields Coordinator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta GA 30303-8960 404.562.8923/alfano.barbara@epa.gov 6
C. State Brownfield Contacts Kim Walker, Administrator DoD & Brownfields Partnerships 850.245.8934 Florida Department of Environmental Protection 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4505 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400 Darrin A. McKeehen, P.G. Brownfields Coordinator Waste Cleanup Section - Northeast District Florida Department of Environmental Protection 904. 256.1545 / Fax 904.256.1587 darrin.mckeehen@dep.state.fl.us Brownfields Redevelopment Program D. Federal Elected Officials US Congressman John L. Mica 5th District of Florida 2187 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 202.225.4035 mica.house.gov/contact-me US Senator Bill Nelson 716 Senate Hart Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202.224.5274 billnelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm 7
E. State Elected Officials Office of Governor Rick Scott State of Florida The Capital 400 S. Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 850.488.7146 www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/email-the-governor Senator David Simmons 251 Maitland Avenue Suite 304 Altamonte Springs, FL 32701 407.262.7578 simmons.david.web@flsenate.gov Senator Dorothy L. Hukil 209 Dunlawton Avenue, Unit 17 Port Orange, FL 32127 386.304.7630 hukill.dorothy.web@flsenate.gov Senator John Thrasher 113 Nature Walk Parkway, Suite 106 St. Augustine, FL 32092 904.287.4222 thrasher.john.web@flsenate.gov 8
F. Local Officials Mayor Garth R. (Sonny) Nobles Jr. 101 S.E. White Avenue Live Oak, Florida 32064 Phone: 386.362.2276/ Fax: 386.362.4305 Email: gnobles@cityofliveoak.org City Clerk, John W. Gill 101 S.E. White Avenue Live Oak, Florida 32064 Phone: 386.362.2276 Email:jgill@cityofliveoak.org Councilman District 1 John W. Yulee, Sr. 386.362.5145 Email: jyulee@cityofliveoak.org Councilman District 2 Bennie L. Thomas 386.364.5535 Email: bthomas@cityofliveoak.org Councilman District 3 Jacob Grantham 386.208.3012 Email: jgrantham@cityofliveoak.org Councilman District 4 Frank C. Davis 386.362.8537 Email: fdavis@cityofliveoak.org Councilman District 5 Keith Mixon 386.249.0585 Email: kmixon@cityofliveoak.org G. Media Suwannee Valley Times Newspaper Suwannee Democrat Newspaper Social Media Facebook City of Live Oak City of Live Oak Webpage: http://www.cityofliveoak.org 9
6.0 CITY OF LIVE OAK/CRA MAP 10