Friends of Lake Jesup

Chairman Robert King called the meeting to order at 7:10.

Chairman asked for a review of the October 19 minutes.

Tom McCord, Black Hammock Association, asked about the status of the sediment analyses, with regard to the second to last paragraph in the minutes.

Regina Lovings, St. Johns River Management District, corrected the misspelling of Dean Dobberfuhl's last name in the September and October minutes.

The minutes were approved as corrected.

Bill Daniel, made comment of the letter sent out by the St. Johns River Water Management District in the month of October.

Chairman King brought the discussion of the project letter to the floor. The group was provided with copies of the letter in their email notice of the meeting.

Ms. Lovings said the FLJ should draft a letter regarding the purchase of JJ's Marina Isle Fish Camp land, on the State Road 46 causeway, which is listed at $65,000 per acre.

Mark Callahan, CH2MHill, speaking for FDOT, asked for the addition of the word "appropriate" before "mechanism" in the sixth paragraph. He also asked that the word navigation be stricken from the bold paragraph five. He said having to design for navigation would slow things up. He suggested adding a sentence containing the importance of navigation to the FLJ, such as, "In addition, improved navigation between the lake and the river is important to the objectives of the FLJ." The group agreed to these and other changes. (See attached letter.)

Reports:

Gary Bass, Florida Department of Transportation, told the group about a December 11 scheduled meeting with Federal Highway Administration, US Coast Guard, US Army Corps of Engineers, and FDOT, with Chairman King attending.

Harold Webb, FDOT, discussed the MPO four-year plan to study four-laning State Road 46 from Sanford to I-95. He said FDOT will have to take this into consideration with the design of the bridge.

Ed Hayes, FFWCC, gave a report that the bids for the berm removal should come in $50,000 to $100,000 short of the $300,000 budgeted. Mr. Hayes said he would like to use the surplus to plant a desirable species in the foot print of the berm. Mr. Hayes asked if the FLJ would approve of that. Chairman King indicated that he would like to discuss it at length at the December meeting after the bids are let on Dec. 13. Mr. Hayes and Chuck Collins, FDEP, will need to discuss specifics of how the contract will be changed.

Cecilia Height, Sierra Club, gave a report on the ERP rulemaking. She said the sovereignty submerged lands bill is coming back and she would like the FLJ to make a "preemptive strike" against it. (See attached letter.)

Chairman King said that, once again, he had nothing to report from AHRI.

Chairman King said he had spoken to a Mr. Bill Flowers, of the Auditor General's Office, who had requested information regarding the FLJ and the restoration program. He said he would make a full report when he had more details.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.